Evergreen Park Mud Festival, 2003

by Joseph King

Kaboom! That's not the sound of thunder or a crash in the field, that's the sound of Stephen Balsley and myself blowing up on the second lap! Still I think the unhappy rider of the day award goes to Jeff McFarland. I considered offering him $20 for his bike right after the race but I guess that would have been a little too mean. Besides he knows where I live. His race had a nice big down pouring of rain at the beginning. This was the 30+ race which was won by one of the 40+ strong men, John Van Susteran. Halverson was a no show for the 40+ race but Van Susteran and another Team Wisconsin rider marked Greg Andrews, waited for the right moment, and jumped past him hard. Until that point it looked like Greg was going to finish third overall. He rode hard to 5th overall, 4th among the 40+, I think.

Back to the 4/5's race. Stephen went hard on the first lap while I kept the wheels of a couple of cyclists he pointed out to me before the race. I'm not sure who chased him down on that lap because visibility is very limited on the closed course. Right at the start of the second lap there was an attack and I was not in position to respond. By the time I got myself up near the front they were going away so with encouragement from Stephen I launched myself into the gap but began to fade a bit too quickly. Stephen launched past and I dug deep to get up to him in vain. By the time I hit the bottom of the climb, I was done. I did the best I could to keep the group coming up from behind from leaving me when they went past and then I dug deep just to keep them is sight. Next thing I know I'm climbing the hill with vigor just to forestall the inevitable moment of getting lapped. I did overtake two riders that fell off the main group to avoid the much expected DFL finish.

Still I learned a lot from this race -- too much to list here. I also got a big kick out of how much everyone that started this race looked like they had just finished the Paris-Roubaix on muddy Sunday in Hell. The smooth narrow roads looked wet and clean but were in fact a constant source mud. I'd do this race again in a shot -- rain or shine. Well, maybe not the rain judging from the look on Jeff McFarland's face.

Reply from Jeff McFarland

My biggest problem was that I under dressed and when it was time to go hard my legs felt like wood. Ended up by myself for a while, and then jumped on Pat and a Team WI guy when they lapped me. Ended up finishing 10th due to all the riders who dropped out. I usually don't stay in a race after I get dropped, but since I was already wet I figured I might as well get in the training. It looked like things were clearing up for the CAT 3 race, but I didn't have an extra set of cloths, so no go. The mud inside my shoes kinda told the story of the race. On the upside, my new bike is now completely broken in, so no need to baby anymore.