When I woke up, the first thing I did was look out the window. Much to my dismay, I saw it had rained last night. My first thought was, every race this season has had a storm come through making the track muddy. Regardless of the conditions, this race was for double points and I had to do it.
When I arrived at Stony Creek the turnout of racers was impressive. Our team alone had seven riders.
When I arrived at Stony Creek the turnout of racers was impressive. Our team alone had seven riders.
The muddy conditions did improve after the race started, well not until the third lap. As my group took off I stayed back in third knowing that the first little climb would be crowded with riders. This little conservation of energy allowed me to pass the first and second place riders to grab first place about two miles into the race. The first lap went flawless. It was not until the short climb at the begining of the course of the second lap that I started getting "chain suck". By the second hill climb I had lost my shifting in the front. Luckily the guy who was in second place came by and applied some oil to the chain, enough to get back to the start.
When I got to our pit area I was lucky that some of the family members where there and helped clean all the mud out, spray down the chain and oil it. Within a few minutes I was off on the third lap!!
This lap went "ok" but I started to cramp in the back of my legs. Too much thought put into the mechanical issues and not enough thought put into drinking liquids slowed my pace down greatly. As I got back to the pit area all I could think about was holding on to second place. I made my bottle switch, did a quick spray of cleaner on the chain and I was off on the last lap.
In the roller coaster I was beginning to feel the lack of energy, a couple of my teammates passed me as I was standing to the side of the track trying to muster some energy, they offered to help but I was too far gone and only had 4 or 5 miles to the finish. Then everything feel apart!
About three miles from the finish I moved over to let some faster riders pass and wham.... flat tire! No problem, fix the tire and finish, right! I was using my CO2 to fill the tube and snap.... the valve froze on my spare tube and snapped off letting all the air out. Just about that time the third place rider passed me.
I had no choice but to hike in and try to finish the race and obtain some point. The end result of the marathon for me was a fourth place finish. But on a better note the team took several first place finishes! Congrats to Brian, Montana, Forest, Lisa, Derek, Mark, and Mark for finishing... Great job!
Some Pics!
When I got to our pit area I was lucky that some of the family members where there and helped clean all the mud out, spray down the chain and oil it. Within a few minutes I was off on the third lap!!
This lap went "ok" but I started to cramp in the back of my legs. Too much thought put into the mechanical issues and not enough thought put into drinking liquids slowed my pace down greatly. As I got back to the pit area all I could think about was holding on to second place. I made my bottle switch, did a quick spray of cleaner on the chain and I was off on the last lap.
In the roller coaster I was beginning to feel the lack of energy, a couple of my teammates passed me as I was standing to the side of the track trying to muster some energy, they offered to help but I was too far gone and only had 4 or 5 miles to the finish. Then everything feel apart!
About three miles from the finish I moved over to let some faster riders pass and wham.... flat tire! No problem, fix the tire and finish, right! I was using my CO2 to fill the tube and snap.... the valve froze on my spare tube and snapped off letting all the air out. Just about that time the third place rider passed me.
I had no choice but to hike in and try to finish the race and obtain some point. The end result of the marathon for me was a fourth place finish. But on a better note the team took several first place finishes! Congrats to Brian, Montana, Forest, Lisa, Derek, Mark, and Mark for finishing... Great job!
Some Pics!
