Back in the Mud

Well, after the mud-fest that was race number one of the 2010 Winter Short Track Series, I was faced with a minor dilemma. After the race ended, I was covered head to toe in muddy disgustitude. I headed over to the impromptu “bike wash”station to try to remove some of it. The caked-on gunk I had accumulated on The Greatest Short Track Bike on Earth was easily removed, so then it was on to me and my clothing. As I began my sad attempt to clean up, I realized that wearing my all white team kit from Middle Ring Cycles was probably not the best idea in the world (at least for that muddy race.)


While I did have an alternative (my long-sleeved Cane Creek Cycling Components jersey), I opted to represent my shop sponsor first and accessorize wit some other goods from Cane Creek. I rinsed off the mud as best I could, and I figured I would get home so Little Miss Sunshine and I could work some sort of mud-removing miracle. I tossed my soaking wet muddy garments into a bag and brought them home, ready for the final phase of cleaning (or so I thought.)


When I arrived at home, LMS quickly shouted out, “Grab the Spray and Wash!” like it was some sort of medical emergency (she is in the medical field you know.) She grabbed a small tub and got busy. I watched in amazement as she scrubbed away, but I soon decided that I should join in.





We scrubbed and scrubbed, and then let it soak overnight (actually two nights.) When I got home yesterday, she had washed everything in the washing machine and hung it up to dry. I looked at the shorts, and they were as clean as new. The jersey however was nearly as dirty as it was before we started the Spray and Wash fest. She said that she didn’t understand why the mud didn’t come out, and that maybe we needed to take more drastic measures. She came up with the idea that I should go get some help from a recently deceased quasi-celebrity.





Yep, I headed out to the store to sum up the power of Billy Mays and his Oxy Clean. I grabbed the tub and filled it with warm water, while scooping copious amounts of the super-cleaning substance. I scrubbed a little and let it soak.




Now I play the waiting game. Hopefully I can wear my Middle Ring Cycles team kit without displaying the unwanted sponsor logo of polka dotted mud (they aren’t good representatives of the sport anyway.) I do have a backup plan in the works. Until I can get to Albemarle, NC to pick up a new team jersey, I can wear my fresh off the UPS truck short-sleeved Cane Creek Cycling Components jersey (thanks Gary!):


The kitty in the photo will not accompany me on race day.

I guess we’ll see if my efforts are successful when I get home this evening. Out of all the race preparation I need to do, I never thought that cleaning my clothing would be an integral part. I bet when you came to this blog, you didn’t think you would be reading an entire post about handwashing muddy race garments. Maybe tomorrow I’ll switch it up a bit.