The Crash Cronicles

Whew, what a race. Didnt go anything like I was hoping but none the less was quite eventful and even as I sit here aching got to say I very much enjoyed the day.
I must say however that I have never crashed so much in one day. All in all I didnt have a lap go by that I didnt crash atleast twice, my legs and arms look like I was an escape convict crawling over that razor wire you see atop the prisons, and they feel real nice too.

Guess I should of figured by the way things started that it wasnt going to be a ride without incident as when I unloaded my bike my front tire was about 10psi. But, overpacking as I do Im thinking no worries, let me go ahead and just swap this baby out. Well, thats when things started going wrong, put the new tube in and after fighting to get the presta valve unstuck, bead popped on good then , hisss started coming out from some pin hole atop one of my trusty excavator knobs. Dang, must of missed something inside the tire so back off it came. This was one of atleast 3 on and off ventures and I still could never find where that air was coming from. 15 minutes to start time we finally ruled it must be air coming from between the tube and tire and had to let her fly. Luckily, good ole Harry from cycle center wandered up and seeing me looking all worried volunteered lending me a spare tube to carry along. Thanks Harry, that really made a difference in me not worring the entire time that my tire was going flat and Im screwed if this thing goes down on me. Although this made for the heaviest pack Ive carried to date, xtra tube, 3 cans of gas and pump, but I was determined Im finishing this bitch one way or another.

Ok, so time to race, lets roll. Well, that was the next incident, but Toby got me straight on that one and pointed me to the right group of riders; was about to start with the wrong class of riders behind the 30-39 group. Boy, look at this amature here Im thinking, so Im now ready, my 20lb pack and all hobling over the bike frame from pack to pack, I didnt even bother to try and wiggle to the front of the line and think I was the last out of the gate. Now Im really just grateful to be on the way.

So now were rolling and I was feeling good, think I passed 4 or 5 people headed down accross the power lines thru the creek, then up we go. But no, not again, my front derailer that after 5 trips to the shop was finally shifting good wont downshift out of the big ring. Clank clank clank, maybe a couple more times and no downshift, finally couldnt hold the big gear and I started to tumble sideways, of course were not even 1/4 mile in yet so remaining pack is all right behind me and here they come, oh no I see Jason coming first, I dont want to ruin his day too but I quickly heard him yell a "oh sh$t" , and he pulled off a manuever Monty would of been proud of and up and around he went, whew, I didnt want both of us to get knocked out of this thing already, let alone by the cause of me. After I got up the hill I saw Jason looked to be back in his groove and was moving along good and it was all I could do to keep him in site from time to time the remainder of the lap till I closed in to a bikes length accross the mats. After being wipped around by the course and the crashes from the first lap it was almost like our wednesday rides and had a moral boost as out of nowhere Monty and Toby S came shooting down the sideline giving support and thumbs up, thanks fellas.

If anything atleast I feel good that I was consistent. The details from within the laps were pretty much the same for me from lap to lap, while I did take note and learn from mistakes made the lap before I somehow seemed to find a new place to crash each iteration. I didnt complete a lap without crashing atleast twice, unfortunately though, the severity of the crashes kept getting worse. There at the end when those pro/expert level guys started wipping by I got off my line and couldnt regain it quick enough and hit that big oak around that downhill 90 degree left and went rolling down the hill. Man, thats when I really realized I was spent, when I got up to try and walk back up the hill to get my bike I could hardly move, every muscle in my legs felt locked and felt I was tearing those muscles with each step climbing back to the bike. Ya know, in hindsite I think that may have actually helped as it forced me to stretch them out no matter how unpleasant it was at the time.

Finished somewhere in the last heap of the pack but all in all it was a good experience and good motivation for PLENTY of room for improvement. I gotta limit these crashes though next time, I even lost my darn ankle timer somewhere in those woods today, luckily the guy at the end that normally cut them off went straight to the judge and had her log it manually.
Good riding to all the other guys today and especially Toby who got podium on single speed.