Since I am still waiting for my new shiny parts to come in, I was allowed to borrow Jays Kona "The King" for the race, on a condition that I buy him a drink, and don't break anything. Also sorry for the crappy pic but it was from the cell phone.
After taking it on a test ride for about 3 miles I decided this would do, plus I like the color and that is all that really matters. After all of the mayhem and madness of trying to get everyone registered for a 6 hr race, pro class, expert class while dealing with losing an hour of sleep and jumping on one foot while eating a twinkee (I made that last part up) the race was ready to begin about an hour later than scheduled.
I lined up and then took off with the rest of my class. As usual I let the fast guys go ahead and I just waited patiently for my turn to head into the woods and into the single track. After about 6 turns I was catching up with people who started to fast. A little quicker than usual but I wasn't complaining.
I am just riding along, minding my own business on a trail I have never rides before (and wisely decided to race without ever seeing it) and I start to run into race traffic. This is a new experience for me as I am usually the race traffic and never have to deal with going around a slow person. A few miles and a few passes later I get bottlenecked into a hike-a-bike section. This is one of 2 in which I was going to find out.
About 6 miles into a 9 mile lap I started to notice that something was wrong with "The King". The rear brake was getting a little, whats the word for it? Sucky. yeah, thats the word. I kept pulling it hoping for some stopping power and it just wasnt working.
When you pull the brake all the way like this, and nothing happens, it is going to be a long day
By the end of the first lap I was right were I wanted to be, near the back middle of the pack with plenty of energy. I also was without a rear brake. This was not part of my plan and had to adjust how I rode to make sure that I didn't break a bike that wasn't mine. As I crossed the start/finish line I noticed one of the Clydesdale racers (200 +lbs) mashing his pedals and zooming up behind me, I kindly moved over to the side to watch him pass when out of nowhere a 78 lb 12 year old girl comes right into the course.
She darts in front of him and knocks his handle bars. She is thrown to the ground and he gets bucked from his bike. I didn't bother to stop and see how they were doing as it happed right in front of the ambulance so they were better prepared to deal with the issue than I was. I did see her start to get up as I walked past but she looked like she was in shock. The Clydesdale was lucky he didn't get thrown into one of the 4 foot around boulders in all the chaos, that really could have been bad for everyone. On a side note I am pretty sure they were both ok as he finished the race behind me and I can only hope the little girl was ok, but having learned a lesson about physics.
That is lap one, complete.
Tomorrow, the final lap and the letdown finish.
Dragging out a report on a 2 hour race over multiple days? Obi Wan has taught you well.
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