Pontiac Lake TT

I arrived at Pontiac lake at 8:30 a.m. thinking that I would help set up for the race. To my surprise there were plenty of volunteers already there and they seemed to have everything under control. So instead, I helped Ernie set up his tent and unload all of the demo bikes. After that, I got ready to warm up. I gave myself enough time to get back and check over my bike before I lined up.

I was the fourth rider to go out. All I was thinking about as I left the starting tent was that I hoped nothing would go wrong with the bike being a new build. I caught two of the riders in front of me shortly after 2 mile hill. I was riding hard, trying to get a glimpse of the rider in front. Then about three-quarters of the way through, I picked up a stick and it wedged in my big ring. At every revolution, the stick would come around and stab me in the leg. So, I had to stop at the top of the next hill and yank it out. Luckily there was no damage to the bike and I was off again. The second lap went a little smoother as some of the mud had started to dry up. I never did catch the rider in front, but I felt I had put in some good times. I managed to get 2nd place with a total time of 1:18:17 for the 2 laps. My first race of the day was over and it was time to rest up for the second race of the day on the single speed.

I took a very quick warm up before the beginning of the race and I could tell my legs were tired, but it was too late to back out now. When I was lined up at the start line, I went to take off and heard a loud pop and went nowhere. My chain had slipped and delayed my start. So, I tried to start again and this time took off after the rider I lined up with. I managed to get around right before we crossed the two tracks. Before we got to two mile hill, I heard something else rattling on my bike. I started looking down at my bike trying to diagnose the cause of the noise. I finally noticed the quick release on my front wheel had come undone. Quickly, I pulled off to the side of the trail, jumped off the bike and closed the quick release, then took off. By this time the rider I had started with had passed me. I spent the rest of the time chasing him. He would pull away from me on the climbs, but I seemed to make up time in some of the more technical sections. I didn’t really know if we were making good time, I just wanted to keep him in my sights. When we hit some traffic everyone was kind enough to let us pass very quickly. I had closed the gap coming up to the last hill and he went wide to the left. I was able to pass him by going straight up the middle. I made it to the two tracks first, but shortly after we hit grass he got around me. I didn’t think I was going to be able to stay with him but I dug deep and gave one last burst coming to the finish line. He beat me by about half a bike length. As the results came up, I questioned the fact that I took first since the rider I started with had beat me across the line. Come to find out that because of my chain slip at the start line, my timer didn’t start until a second after his. So being such a close finish gave me a faster time by .3 seconds, making my total time 40:37.

Overall, it was a good day for me. The only downfall was that now I had two bikes covered in mud that needed to be washed.