Muddy Buddy 2007

This year's Muddy Buddy race was a lot of fun, as usual. Unfortunately, Tricia was in Connecticut so she couldn't make it. Her sister Gina helped take care of the kids though.

Jordan and I had pretty low expectations going in; not really prepared at all, and ended up doing better than we did last year! The results show us coming in 11th place at 47:30, but we have a very clear photo of us coming in at 46:45. But oh well, it's always a lot of fun. One of these years we'll actually train for it and take the podium.

Can't wait till next year... Here are the photos.

Muddy Buddy 2006

This year's Muddy Buddy race was the best so far. The kids were way more into it and our team did pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. After last year's race, Jordan and I both said we'd shoot for top 10. Out of 62 teams in our division this year, we ended up at a respectable 14th place. Not too shabby. But besides all that, we had an absolute blast.

Ethan did great this year by just getting dirty. Last year, I had to carry him through the mud pit, but this year he was a trooper. About half-way through the pit, I let go of his hand for a second to lift up the rope. At that very second, he slipped, catching himself with his hands and splashing his face with a good dose of muddy water. I knew right there that he would either get really freaked out, or totally get into it. Fortunately it was the later; he thought it was great. So he scurried across the finish line with a stern look of dedication and grabbed his medal.

Ryann was simply awesome. Last year, she basically tip-toed through the pit like a little girl, but this year she literally dove right in. For some reason, she figured that the fastest way through the flagged ropes would be to duck her head deep into the muddy water. Quite the contrast from last year!

Next year, Tricia is talking about doing the race as well. She'll at least have to go through the pit with Ava.

Good times... can't wait 'till next year!

Here are the photos

Muddy Buddy 2005

Today I did the Muddy Buddy Race for the second year in a row. The Muddy Buddy is a running and mountain biking race you do with a partner. I was supposed to do it with my neighbor Eric again, but he was cool enough to let me race with with my 14-year old nephew, Jordan. Thanks Eric! Yes, you're supposed to be 16 to race, but hey, what's wrong with a little heated competition from a young whipper-snapper.

I came into the race on the verge of a cold, plus I threw my back out the week prior playing Ultimate, so I had no training time whatsoever. Jordan's been kicking ass on his cross country team (they just won league championship), but he's never ridden a mountain bike before. So I had to basically show him how to switch gears in front of the house, on flat ground, which is not realistic at all. I also showed him how to change a flat, just in case. So basically, we had low expectations going into this and simply wanted to have fun. Our team name was Pythagorean's Serum.

Turns out, we actually did pretty well. We placed 25th in our division of 62 teams, and beat all of my riding buddies. So I had to rub it in a little.

I created this logo as a friendly reminder of how they got smoked and told them I'm going to make them t-shirts for Christmas. Then they all complained about how I basically "cheated" by using a minor and they joked about turning me into the Muddy Buddy authorities. So, I updated the logo to make them feel better about the situation. No more responses after that... I call that the virtual smack down.

There was also a kids race, which was a blast. The kids had to go through a small obstacle course then through the mud pit. I took Ethan through the course, but right when he got to the pit, he didn't want to go in. So I picked him up and started to walk through the mud, thinking that he might see it as fun. Instead, he started crying. So I'm stuck carrying him through the mud, trying not to laugh. My friends are on the sideline yelling "Throw him in! Throw him in!" I just couldn't. I saw those tears and with my luck it would've damaged him somehow and he would spend the rest of his life freaking out at the sight of dirt or something.

Ryann did the race with no problem. She tackled the obstacle course and basically tip-toed through the mud like a little girl. Totally appropriate.

Here are photos of the event. Can't wait for next year!

Muddy Buddy 2004

This morning, my neighbor Eric and I did the Muddy Buddy Race in San Dimas, Ca. Although I haven't done many races, this was definitely my favorite. Mainly because it mixed mountain biking with cross country running. I really like the idea of mixing it up.

Out of 79 teams in our class, we came in 33rd. Right smack dab in the middle and pretty damned good according to our standards. The most important thing was that we had a blast.

Here are the results. We're team "Ball Busters" in the Male 56-69 class (that's a combined age).