Nailed it...

Last race tassles


Saturday preparation involved getting the gearing pretty much on so I wouldn't have to hoof it that much. I picked up a pair of matching handlebar streamers as I left town and it was a relatively boring 2 hour drive to Sheboygan. I rolled in at ~ 2:30 and hopped onto the trail with Russell, Joe and Coop for a refresher of the trail. Last year I'd put the skinny 'cross wheels on and suffered through the Elite race. Poor judgment on my part largely due to my late arrival after the Sport race. Why not the Comp race instead? I forget...

After roughly half a lap I pinch flatted on the rocks of the creek crossing. I hoofed it back to the truck for my tubes. After the change and proper tire pressure I short-cutted back to the site of the flat and continued on with the lap. After that I rode another with Bubba with Kerry shadowing.

Running the 34x20 felt pretty good and the only hill I had to climb was the "equalizer" on the last portion of the course. But let's face it, if a singlespeeder geared low enough for that climb they would be off the back before the prime. Not even Jesse and Marco would ride up.

That evening was spent with Rick and Liz until we met with Mark and Trevor. A few beers at a mid-life crisis bar had us ready for pillow time by 10:30.

That night I'd lost maybe 2 minutes of sleep wondering if the 20t was the gear to have. By morning I'd decided to change to a 19t and did so before going out for pancakes and eggs.

In my mind I was only racing one person, Roger. He'd had a good stretch of races while I missed two and had eeked 4 points ahead in the standings. I didn't want to "go quietly" despite the still swollen ankle. I could ride the trails without any pain, running was out of the question but staying in the saddle for everything but the Equalizer was doable.

Don did call-up 4 deep in the standings so I got a good spot between Roger and Stuart. When "Goooooooooooo!" was yelled I did with Ryan coming to the front and vanishing well ahead of us all. Coming through the park area before the prime spot my rear tire felt quite soft in the corner. By the pavement it was to the rim and everyone saw my state. I pulled in under the awning at the prime line and started to change the tube. When I pulled the tube out it stopped and I had to focus on the cause. A 1 1/2" nail had gone through the tread and out the sidewall like a rusty piercing. A fresh tube and air put me behind at least two waves, perhaps three. I hopped on the Ferrous and pinned the heartrate at 174bpm.

Most of the singletrack was wide enough I could pass all the multispeeds in my way. Even on the flats they were coming back to me. I had one conversation with the Clyde on the pink Trek full suspension as all I had was going into the ride. On the second lap I passed my first two singlespeeds and by the start of the third I'd passed one more. I noticed another fixing either a chain or a tire but I kept it pinned.

On the last lap I was flying by everyone. I had the right gearing and still felt fresh. I could keep a sweet tempo in the singletrack and on the climbs I was railing past the multis spun out in their 22x32's. I didn't think I was going to catch Roger but I wasn't going to DNF or go easily.


In the end Roger had a great race. He'd finished 4th and during the race he wondered when (not if?) I was going to come around him before the end. I congratulate him for a solid performance and a solid season which earned his 3rd place in the series.

Really.

Here's the low down on who mattered...

Ryan- 1st place in 1.18:11
Stuart 3rd at +1:54
Roger 4th at +5:04
Dan 5th at +6:12
Andy 7th at +7:13
Josh 8th at +7:28
Me 12th at +13:31

While it doesn't make me happy picking up that nail, that's racing, plus there's comfort in knowing all of my performances were honest and I rode as hard as I could every race.