Rained out
Is it really gonna rain out here in the desert?
The Maah Daah Hey 100 is my favorite race. I've only done it twice, but each was time incredible.
I was particularly looking forward to the race his year because my wife was coming along to provide much needed support. I was excited to share the with experience with her; the hot, dry, stark and beautiful North Dakota badlands are too awesome to experience alone.
Instead we got rain. And the Maah Daah Hey is just flat out not ridable when wet. The dirt turns to extra-clingy peanut butter and gums up every moving part of your bike. Tires become 15 pound immovable mud-donuts and derailleurs get ripped from their hangers.
I could have done the 50, apparently the southern half of the trail was dry enough to ride. And in hindsight I kind of wish that I did, but at the time I was just too wary of the rain and scared off by the prospects of having to carry my bike through the mud.
So I saved some energy, we had a little lunch and a few beers in Medora then headed down to the Black Hills.
Yup, that's rain.
Making hay while the sun don't shine.
We'll try again next year.