White's today - could have been nasty.

Feeling a bit battered and bruised this afternoon, did the whites level today with MrK. Talk about rain! it tipped down, I've not been as muddy since I played football. MrK's tires were a truly impressive 2.7, made mine look like elastic bands! Made pretty good time despite the rain, we were spurred on by the weather as much as hindered by it. I'm not a fan of wearing a rain jacket, I had three T-shirts on instead to keep warm. An extra encouragement to do well on the climb was due to a sarcastic comment regarding my choice of attire from a member of a group of five cyclists who were ahead of us. All was well, until halfway through Energy, my chain locked up on the front granny ring and I came to a complete stop. Checked it, and it appeared to be OK, from what I could tell from under the mud. Further along the trail it seized again, once again bringing me to a dead halt. The third time it locked was slightly more dangerous, cycling up a hill on a narrow section of trail the chain locked once again. Yet again bringing me to a dead halt, this time however it was at a point where I had a drain gully either side of me. Oh down I go! I just about managed to turn the crash into a jump to get clear of the frame and land on my feet (just about). It was a close call though, and will have to get the bike checked out, I was lucky that I more or less managed to get clear, but if it had happened on some of the other sections of the trail if really could have been nasty. I just ended up with a few sratches, as did my bike, but I can heal, she can't! - noooo! I decided that discretion would be wise on the boardwalk section and I carried my bike, and I had to complete the remainder of Whites with just the top two rings in the front.