Second, a race report. Today was the Border Battle, as WORS race that counted as both MNSCS race number 8 and WORS race number??. The course was flat, which I expected, but had lots of singletrack, which I didn't expect. Anyway, I got to catch up w/ a few Wisco dudes before the race and at the starting line. It is always good to see them.
At the gun, my chain fell off which wasn't cool...still don't know why. Up the first hill I rode in the woods to get back into position. We were going pretty slow through first singletrack so I made a move at the next open section. When we entered the second section of single track, I grabbed for a gear or two and there was nothing...the rear derailleur stopped working. I tried to figure out what was going on but just decided to go with it (turns out I couldn't have done anything anyway, see below).
I was left with a single speed dual suspension and a 34-11 gear ratio. I don't know much about single speeding, but that seems a little tall to me=) Anyway, rather than get frustrated and quit, I had fun with it learning how to race a single speed for the first time. It took me a bit, but I started to get the hang of it by the end. I have no idea how I finished (Tego was in need of a nap, so Jen and I made a quick exit), but it couldn't have been good. I am lucky the course was flat because with that gear ratio, I would have had to run a lot or DNF on one of our typical hilly courses.
The mechanical was unfortunate because I had good legs...in fact they didn't hurt at all afterwards. Oh well, life goes on. I had fun, single speeding was mildly entertaining, and it leaves me feeling good about the coming long race weekend up at Maplelag.
BTW, it turned out that the failure was with the cable housing...it exploded! I didn't know it could do that.
3 comments:
You got 9th and some $. 3rd minnesota rider to cross the line. Wisco took home the trophy. 94 points to 112. I didn't know you were that close behind because I dropped Chris on the last downhill after he blew his fork and was chasing Jesrin. I got hung up in some lap traffic on that final lower single track which allowed Jesrin to get a little gap. Nice job single speeding it out for a result like that. See you next weekend. Congrats on the #2 also. Boy or Girl?
Cool. Nice work to you too. Next weekend should be really fun.
Yeah, my back was the only thing that started to hurt because I am not used to 15 rpm up hill=) My handlebar/stem/fork was making cracking noises up that climb! I though for sure the chain would break at some point, but she held.
We don't know the sex at this point...I would like to find out but Jen is on the fence.
Big congrats! You are a great dad and can still be a great racer with kids.
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