Nowhere near the poetry of Jeff Williams but here is the race report (with some editing) I posted over at my MTB club forum:

The raid I decided to enter followed heavy rainfalls that were the remnants of Hurricaine Ophelia and this made for very wet and muddy conditions. Since I was committed to enter at least one race at the end of my first season mountain biking, I wasn't going to back down. I did decide to only do the Petit Raid (21km) since I never rode a distance of 60+ kilometers on trails and I had no real idea of how to properly hydrate or nourish myself. I figured the shorter distance would be a good test.

I showed up relatively early (7h15) which was a good thing because it meant I was able to get a parking spot on the gravel parking lot. The latecomers were sent to a water-logged field. I saw a lot of cars get stuck trying to get out. With the tires I have on my car, there was no way I would be able to get out of that parking lot.

My only goal for this race was to participate. I had no goals to chase people down. I wanted to ride at my own pace and finish. With the added issue of muddy, slippery conditions this was definitely a good plan to have as i had no experience riding in the mud.

I really was trying to figure out water and energy management as I've never done any sport that required this. I drank like crazy before the race and I felt like a water pinata at the start of the race. Also as I was riding I kept hearing Greg Meunier's voice telling me, "Ne laisse pas la fureur du coureur te faire oublier de boire!" I swear to you, it was like Obi-Wan Kenobi was telling me what to do. (NB - Greg Meunier is a club member and he gave me advise, "Don't get carried away with the race to the point that you forget to drink")

Riding conditions. What can be said, muddy and slippery. The clay stuff was crazy. The first few kilometers were the worst. The stuff was deep, slippery and tough to push through. The fact that the group doing the shorter distance were the last to start meant that we had lots of tire ruts to go through. I did choose to power my way through the stuff rather than walking. I actually caught up to a few peole who prefered walking this stuff but as soon as the nasty stuff cleared up they pedaled away from me.

The slippery hills were impossible to climb even by foot. I can see how the shoes with the toe studs could help under these conditions. I also preferred to walk down the slippery hills that were indicated with "DANGER!" signs. However, once we were on the single track, it was pretty doable and fun. There was mud but at least it wasn't clay and there were actually some sections that obviously had good drainage because I was able to actually pick up some speed.

I could not believe how much mud got accumulated on the bike. Shifting was next to impossible. I was pretty much stuck on one gear because anytime I tried changing from it, the chain kept spinning or bouncing between gears. My front tire looked like a giant brown marshmellow.

For the longest time I was riding alone. I could see no one in front of me and no one in back of me. I actually was worried that I might have taken a wrong turn and was inadvertently following the Grand Raid trail. Then at one point I came down a hill and was told that my race was over. What!?! I could have gone on for more. I had tons of energy left, I wasn't feeling cramped or anything. I should have signed up for the longer distance.

I did have fun and I am definitely hooked. The results showed that I finished close to the bottom in my class (30-39 males). I was pretty excited to see two people were classified after my name. They were DNS.