Adam R.

Portland, CT

Profile - Calendar - Record Book - Places - Workouts - Events - Tags

August 23rd, 2009

11:30 AM – Workout

Name

2009 MTB Race #10 - Bikes for Bovines at Stonewall Farm

Event

MTB Racing > Bikes for Bovines at Stonewall Farm

Location

Stonewall Farm

Focus

Cycling > Mountain

Summary

Bikes For Bovines at Stonewall Farm MTB Race
Race #10 of the 2009 Root 66 Mountain Bike Series
Cat1 — 19-29
26 miles (13 miles x 2 laps)

Notes

Small class today with only 7 riders. I recognized two — one was tall, thin and weak (but no doubt fast on a bicycle) and the other, Eric Carlson, is the series leader. Timothy, 2nd in the series and exceptionally fast (albeit a sandbagger having raced Cat 1 and finished top 5 for the last three years) was not in attendance. My goal today was to beat Eric. I had ridden with him for a bit at Mt. Snow, and finished 30 seconds behind him at Hodges Dam.

This race is considered the climber’s course for having over 2000ft of elevation gain per lap. That fact translated to the first five miles being straight uphill. Most races that start with climbs are won in the first few miles. That being said (and despite the humidity) I felt strong — much stronger than the last two races (blood tests ruled out Lyme disease, but the antibiotics seem to have helped out regardless). Within the first mile I had passed everyone in my class and was holding onto the back of the lead group. After four miles (still climbing), nobody was in the sight and the gap was widening.

But as I reached the peak of the climb at mile 5 I heard the horrible sound of rubber slapping against rock. Flat. I had no spare tube and no CO2.

Fuck. I was going to win this race.

Complete despair and disappointment.

Five minutes later Eric Carlson rolled by me. Five minutes. That’s an almost insurmountable lead this early into the race.

I was about to have a lot of time to think about what had just happened. The closest cut off point was at mile 8.

The single track was beautiful. Everything about this course favored my riding style and all I could do was walk my bike through it. Passing riders asked if I was alright and one even offered me her tube to which I was extremely grateful, but the cause was lost. Finally at the aid station I tried to pump the rear tire to determine the cause of the flat. I had figured it was a gash in the sidewall, but it turned out that the valve stem failed. So even if I had CO2, it would’ve been wasted.

DNF

Next race in a week.