July 5th, 2009

Rode the course backwards (oops) for 5.75 miles. The race director happened to be there and drove us back to the start.

Second Cat1/Expert start.

On Thursday Pedal Power discovered that the rear brake cable of my GT Marathon has literally rubbed through the seat tube. I’ve heard of cable rub, but never this bad! The frame is no longer safe to ride. We’re working on having it replaced under warranty, but we’ll see what GT has to say about that. The effected area of the frame was only visible once the front and rear triangles of the bike were separated. Best case: a new frame, Worst case: a very expensive piece of wall art.

I had planned on racing my old GT Avalanche hard tail, but the course was better suited to a full suspension bike. Instead I rode Cheryl’s Specialized FSR Pro. It handled the descents great, but was a bit heavy on the climbs. With all the mud it didn’t matter much. Some sections had to be walked.

I started the day off in a bad mood and was essentially defeated from the start (upset about my bike, mainly). I intended to merely complete the race but managed to finish in the top 10. Even so, I was still 5 minutes behind 9th which means I was really lagging. Racing is as much of a mental challenge as it is physical — I did not come prepared. Regardless, I started, endured and finished on a bike I wasn’t familiar with. I know there is much room to improve. I will refocus.

Other notes:

• Despite the weather being near perfect the course was a fucking mud pit. I’m talking about knee-deep mud in some sections. That’s 5 out of 6 races in the mud.
• I’m still the series leader for Cat2 19-29 by 2 points. I will lose that position next race to Jon with the pink helmet.
• There was several reports of a bear. Really.