World Cup #3 in Francorchamps was interesting (“interesting” is the word I use when someone asks me: “How do you like my risotto?” and I don’t want to lie and say “good”). It reminded me a lot of Canadian Nationals two years ago at Mont Ste-Anne, Que., when it was a muddy gong show and all about running. And just like at Nationals two years ago, I flatted. I flatted in Spa last year as well! I don't know what the deal is with that. What IS the deal?!

I'm kicking myself about not going to the manager's meeting the night before. Like a rookie (can you believe I’d do something so silly after racing for nearly 10 years!), I missed the memo about the race being moved half an hour earlier. So irresponsible of me, but I won't let it happen again. Just like locking keys in the car – you only do that once in your life… or twice if you’re a slow learner.

Because I arrived when the commissaire was saying "30 seconds to the start," I was stuck at the very back of the field and got gapped from the front pack right away, which was a bummer, because that meant I was chasing from the beginning. I started picking off girls right away and was moving up steadily when I flatted on the first full lap (we did half a lap followed by three full laps). Before I flatted I had caught and passed Mascarreras and Sophokleous – they are usually a lot farther up in the field than I am, so I was quite pleased. I was pretty much at the tail end of the field after flatting, but picked off a lot of girls as soon as I was up and rolling again.

Lots of women had shifting problems because the mud was so abundant and stuck everywhere. During my pre-ride the day before, I even found a live earthworm hanging out on my front derailleur! I was very impressed with my SRAM X.O drivetrain. Despite gunk all over the place, the shifters hardly missed a beat! My narrow Hutchinson Bulldogs sliced through the hub-deep mud – the mud was so thick, I had to PEDAL downhill so I wouldn’t stop!

I found it really tough to keep up a good rhythm with the constant dismounting, running and re-mounting. Despite the gong show that it was, my morale was pretty good. I just focused on catching the next girl and getting through the race so I could collect those UCI points! And it was fun mucking around in all that mud!

I finished 75 th out of 107 women. Andri kept me going by giving me bottles and Maxim energy gels and yelling “WOOLY!” at the top of his lungs. That kept a smile on my dirty little face. I also saw Martina quite often because she passed me when I flatted and then I saw her again after my flat. That was fun! Martina persevered despite her hip still being sore and finished 79 th. Way to go!

Thanks to Andri, the boys of SRAM, Michel B. and everyone else who showed their support out there despite the miserable, cold weather. I love Belgium!