5 Things that might end in a bad result in Chronological order.
1. The day before your race you find out the carbon on the bottom of your shoe is so worn out that the cleat will not stay in place and you strip out every bolt trying to get them to stick. So you use the wife’s shoes that cramp your feet and do not place your leg or foot in a position that your used to reducing power output, or maybe that is just in my head.
That was no big deal and by Saturday night after my pre-ride finally happened I had forgotten about it.
2. Race starts and I hear carnage right behind my wheel and am thankful I was not in it. Stay with the break for the first half of a lap. I didn't fight quite hard enough for a good spot and got nudged off of Marko’s wheel by Tristan, so I found myself at the back of the break with the Yo-Yo effect out of every opening into double track. I knew the race deciding moment was coming as soon as the sharp power climbing started at the back end of the course so I put in an effort and got by a couple people in the group for 5th wheel while Jesse did what he loves to do at the front. So it is Jesse, Brian, Marko, Bender, and me, with Tristan Chasing back on. Bender starts to let a little gap on an uphill as the pace starts to pick up some more and I get by to close the gap and on the very next corner I hear a crazy loud ping noise and what sounded like something went flying off my bike. Immediately it feels like something upfront is loose and I thought my race was over. Up to this point I was really confident into all the corners and was definitely using this to my advantage to stay with Matter and the bros. Without a steady front end and thinking I was going to find my face buried into my bars at any second, I started riding like a little baby and had to let Tristan and Bender get by. So I assume I have to ride with a sketchy front end the rest the race and just live with it. Later I will figure out it was actually a flat tire, which Bender said he thought I burped my tire before I let him by, but I was convinced it was something metal from the sound. But this is unknown till #4.
3. While riding like a little baby I decide to be a man and pound the hills cause that is the only place I can really make time with no front end. Suddenly I find myself standing in place with no rear wheel attached. Somehow my Wheel came out of the stays on an uphill, so I jump off, accidently pull my rear brake, which closes the pistons…….force the disc back into the rear brake body pushing the pistons apart with the disc. At this point a few riders had gone by and I got back on the bike to chase Matt Gehling and Macje down. Got by them and out into the sandy flats.
4. Now I hate flats, I wish it was all climbing, descending, and single-track all the time. But I was going really slow and wondering what was going on and this is when I realized I had no air in the front tire. I don’t know if it was a slow leak from the burp or it was always flat from there on and I was just in too much a race mode to realize that may be why I felt completely out of control….DUH. So I go to pull over to the right, and since I was going so slow Ryan Krayer and Seth Lenss came upon me at just the right moment to take me out while pulling off the course. Krayer got me to the ground and Seth’s pedal kissed my helmet (see previous post for visual). So I lay for a second in that state some of us know, the daze of am I ok or is this gonna be really bad?! I get to my feet look at chunks of helmet on ground, inspect helmet and then realize no major damage is done and get to fixing the flat I had originally pulled over for. Co2 works and I am up and running, with too much pressure for a bumpy ride, but up and running none the less.
5. Finished my first lap with Lirrette, Pietz and a few others, grabbed bottle from Lindsay and thought man I got my work cut out for me for a top ten. We hit the sand hill and I got to work. Picked off a few people and saw James ahead, rode with him long enough to discuss the carnage and appreciate the kind words from him, since I was still in one piece. Saw Landon around a corner and knew a respectable placing was possible and then…..my chain begins to skip over teeth under any pressure. I think I can ride it out, but it continues to get worse and I stop to see if I can fix something knocked wrong from the crash. No avail, back on bike going no where and decide to ride “for fun”. Get to Lindsay for last bottle and last lap, stop and explain what happened, and get going again. A little ways in chain magically stops skipping over??? But I am so cold and somewhat hopeless and beat up by the course that is almost impossible to ride “for fun” that I just continue to pedal it in easy for 5 points in my series overall.
Well that is what happened, slightly frustrating but really I was thankful at the end for a great weekend and great people to ride around with and great people who I would rather have running into me from behind and knocking my head all crazy than not knowing them at all. :)
Now for a recovery ride
Thanks for reading,
Nathan
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