|   Déjà vu all over again my 1st Expert race (short rept.) | *rt*
Aug 4, 2003 7:18 AM | | On threat of being lynched by the women with whom I'd been racing this season if I continued to race Sport I decided to move up to Expert starting this month. Rather than completely embarrass myself in the series in which I'm accruing points, I decided to practice getting my butt kicked in a race outside the Cane Creek series. The race I chose as my 1st Expert experience was the SERC series race at the Dauset trails in Jackson GA.
My 1st hint that maybe I was not meant to do this race came when we finally arrived at the trail to preride on Sat, after taking a facinating tour of lovely, sh!thole-quaint Jackson. Really, it's lovely. But I digress. So we finally arrive at the trail (no, getting lost wasn't my fault. I just got bad directions. Really....), meet up with another guy whom I'm surprised hadn't given up on us (since we were at least an hour late), unload the bikes, and start getting ready. I put my front wheel on, tighten the skewer, put my hands on the handle bars so I can clip in, and..*fffff-whump* my fork compresses completely. Huh?!
Weeeellll, on Thurs while cleaning my bike I'd decided that now that I have disk brakes there really was no reason why I should have the brake posts sticking out of my fork. After all, they'll only catch on stuff, right? So I took them off...I have a Marz. X-Fly. For those of you who aren't already laughing at me, here's the joke: those little brake posts are SEALS! When you take them out all the air in your fork goes with them. DOH!
So I ended up doing my preride on a borrowed bike. A size MEDIUM borrowed bike. A size medium borrowed Crack-n-fail Jeckel with a lefty. No offense to those of you who ride & like this bike but IT SUCKS!! The fact that the bike was 3 sizes too big probably didn't help but the lefty is one flexy fork.
After the preride i went home & promptly reinstalled the brake posts. ta da! fork like new again!
My second and final hint that I was not meant to do this race did not come until 21 minutes into the actual race on Sunday. There were 4 expert women racing (including me). I knew one of them but not the other two. I figured if I could hang on the wheel of the girl I knew I would be ok. I was hoping for 3rd (3 out of 4 ain't bad, right?). Our race was scheduled for 3 laps (~32 miles). The airhorn sounded and we were off. One of the girls took off like a shot. Turns out, she is a former Masters World Cup champ. Oh.
The race starts with a short fireroad section into the singletrack, after which the course is mostly smooth & fast with about a 3 mile anerobic, up & down section toward the middle of the lap. Laps were 10.5 mi each. It had rained Saturday night and we heard that the middle section of the course was sloppy.
I was 4th going into the single track and then passed the girl in front of me early on. I still had the girl I knew in my sight. I bobbled on a slick root and got passed by the girl behind me. I caught up to her, let the 1st place Sport guy pass (go Ed!) and just as I was getting ready to pass back into 3rd my foot was suddenly no longer attached to the bike.
Hey! Haven't I already done this before???? I look down and there is my left pedal attached to my shoe but not to the crank arm. I exercised my extensive vocabulary of words that would make a sailor blush; Made a futile effort at trying to thread the pedal back onto the crankarm; Made additional use of my extensive vocabulary of words that can't be repeated on primetime television; and finally, gave up and started my hike back to the start-finish.
While I was hiking back it started to rain. peachy! Then a huge thunder storm moved in and the rain came down in sheets. peachier! At some point after I had made to back to the start-finish they called the race due to weather.
All in all I got about 6 miles for the day (3 riding, 2.5 hiking, & .5 one-leg pedaling), DNF'ed in my 1st expert race & ranted at anyone who would listen.
At this point I am convinced that it is a crank issue and not a pedal issue so my solution is probably going to be to throw money at the problem and hope it goes away: Goodbye TruVativ Team Stylo. Hello XTR.
Cudos to Ed for taking 1st in men's sport 19-29, kathleen for taking 2nd in women's sport, & to Joe for a strong finish in men's beginner.
rt |
| Yuck! | glenzx
Aug 4, 2003 7:30 AM | | Sheesh, when it rains it pours, huh? (haha, pun intended....ugh, it IS monday...) I think it's good you've decided to move up to expert, as based on your (excellently written, btw) reports, you seem to whoop ass! I believe it's better to challenge yourself in a hard class than to keep thumping your existing class. When I did my first ever MTBike race this year, I should have been in beginner class. But I felt that I was (or should be!) strong enough to do the harder/longer sport class course in a respectable time. Well, let me tell you, the Mountain States Cup/Subaru race series has some of the strongest racers/riders I've seen anywhere! The top 4 or 5 guys SHOULD be expert, no doubt, but that almighty quest for a year-end title is keeping them in this class. If it were me, I push myself up to that next level and worry about year-end titles NEXT season, in a class I am challenging myself in! These guys are finishing 16-20 mile course in 10-15 minutes less time than the nearest STRONG competitors! That's too much of a disparity, IMO.
As for your mechanical woes, what's up with the pedal detachment? Not tightened? Threads in the crank damaged? I guess I'll read your post about it! Anyhow, good luck making the transition to Expert. Hopefully you get your butt kicked and this makes you train harder and go faster! I mean this in a positive way, of course, as it's working pretty well for me this year. (I'll try to post some info about the Steamboat Springs, CO race I did this weekend) |
| She's 5'1", weighs 97 pounds | Ichabod
Aug 4, 2003 8:18 AM | | and finds the lefty flexy. That must be one flexy fork. Or half a flexy fork.
Me gustan los race reports, a dying art. |
| lefty: looks cool, rides like..... | *rt*
Aug 4, 2003 8:50 AM | | well, i think i'll just stop there. ;-)
translation please? my french is far better than my spanish (?). :)
rt |
| "My hovercraft is full of eels" | Ichabod
Aug 4, 2003 9:04 AM | | J'aime les race reports.
Did you consider the possibility that you are under the recommended wieght for the cranks? Perhaps the (97/2) 48.5 lbs average weight on the pedal is not enough to keep the threads from jiggling loose...the only answer is an intravenous supply of grease and maple syrup. |
| ahh, gracias | *rt*
Aug 4, 2003 9:11 AM | | that must be it. i'm under-weight for the cranks. now i understand.
mmmmm, grease & maple syrup. my favorite combo!!
rt - going to go eat a box of krispy kremes now |
| I remember it differently.... | EddieO
Aug 4, 2003 8:30 AM | | I am sorry for your woes, some day you will finish a race when I am there.
Here I am leading my class as we come up on the women's expert group and this fine young lady is right in front of me lookin' real good in lycra. I slow down and try to sit in, but she pulls off and I go ahead and pass. Not 5 seconds latter, I swear I hear 3 sailors in a pissing match right behind me. In my distraction, I endo into a pile of rocks. I was able to gather myself quickly and carry on. I figured since the pissing match was not followed by screams the damage was minimal. In the end I won my race, but I am typing one handed from the endo.
Eddie O |
| you should be sorry.... | *rt*
Aug 4, 2003 8:39 AM | | i'm holding you personally accountable. the two times my pedal has come off & i've DNF'ed you were there. hmmmm....coincidence? i think not. how my pedals remained attached to my bike in your presence during the off road assault i can't figure out.
you should be careful not to get distracted by pissing sailors. i'll make it up to you. i've got this great bottle of wine in my fridge...
rt |
| Ugh! Going through that once... | radair
Aug 4, 2003 8:38 AM | | ...is too much, sorry to hear you had to relive that nightmare. At least you got rinsed off before you got back to the start.
Are those the same pedals that ripped out of the last crank? What do the threads look like? |
| new pedals, new crankarm... | *rt*
Aug 4, 2003 8:43 AM | | pedal threads look fine. crankarm threads look like they went through the blender.
i definately got rinsed! that was some serious rain that came down.
rt |
| Pretty Obvious... | DM-SC
Aug 4, 2003 8:46 AM | | You are just WAY too powerfull to be riding on average equipment!
Perhaps you should contact TruVativ about becoming a product tester.... |
| lol! someone else suggested... | *rt*
Aug 4, 2003 8:48 AM | | that the problem obviously lies in the leg. same leg both times. so i'm currently searching ebay for 31" inseam left legs....
rt |
| Oh...if only it were that easy | DM-SC
Aug 4, 2003 8:58 AM | | "31" inseam left legs"
You had better get a pair or you'll be wobbling around so much you'll be tearing up shoes and saddles during races! |
| ya, it's hard to find... | *rt*
Aug 4, 2003 9:12 AM | | only the left one.....i keep looking to see if i can find a pair of Lance legs but they seem to be sold out right now.
go figure.
rt |
| try this! | LW
Aug 4, 2003 9:25 AM | | Hey *rt*, I may have your answer here -
look!
"Just in from a very upscale estate" indeed. |
| OMG!! that's disgusting! | *rt*
Aug 4, 2003 11:21 AM | | but it does have carbon fiber.....
rt |
| Ya better be careful there... | DM-SC
Aug 4, 2003 10:41 AM | | If you do find a pair of "Lance Legs", don't forget you'll need the "Lance Heart" and a pair of "Lance Lungs" to fuel 'em.
Also, I'd bet you'd be even harder on equipment than you already are...but then, you'd make lots of $$$ and get all of your bike stuff for free... |
| i'd settle for 1 lance lung instead of the pair.... | *rt*
Aug 4, 2003 11:23 AM | | i doubt there's room in my chest for two of those suckers! (pun intended)
;-P
rt |
| Should we change your name to "Calamity rt"? ;-) | Mary Ann
Aug 4, 2003 9:37 AM | | That`s some bad luck. Sorry to hear. I sure hope the new (and expensive) cranks fix the problem.
If there`s any consolation to be had, your exploits are certainly entertaining for the reader. ;-)
Mary Ann |
| we aim to please! ;-) | *rt*
Aug 4, 2003 11:25 AM | | if everyone on the internet can't laugh at me, who can?
hehehehehe!
maybe i'll just rename my bike Calamity?
rt |
| I'm really disappointed in you rt.... | namaSSte
Aug 4, 2003 12:11 PM | | I mean, haven't you seen the guy at the Norba's that races with only one leg? Sheesh, you must be goin soft or something!
Actually, I admire you stepping up and racing where you were the underdog rather than the favorite. That was the hardest part of going to expert for me. Still, I think you need to push yourself always (and you definitely do). Keep up the hard work and for cryin out loud, fix that freakin bike! |
| hehe... | *rt*
Aug 4, 2003 12:37 PM | | yeah, i was wondering what it would be like to go into a race knowing that there was no way i could win.....i wondered if the motivation to race would be as strong. what i came away with from this race (aside from the conviction that my cranks suck @ss) is that i really need to get onto some sort of real training schedule if i ever expect to finish higher than 3rd in expert.
as for the bike, i will just throw money at it for a while and see what happens! ;-)
rt |
| re: Déjà vu all over again my 1st Expert race (short rept.) | Blue 'Goose
Aug 4, 2003 12:44 PM | | Your experience may have not been the most fun you ever had, but you
certainly have a way with words! I was on the edge of my seat and
when you described the thunderstorm coming in I nearly died laughing.
But not at you! It's one of those "murphy's law working overtime."
Here's hoping next time out things will be better on your races! |
| thanks! | *rt*
Aug 5, 2003 4:40 AM | | the t-storm really was the kicker. and the best part of it was when i decided that the best time to put my bike back on top of my car was in the middle of the downpour. so there i am in a torrential downpour, thunder & lightening occurring at the same time, running across an open field with my bike like a 2-wheeled lightening rod. it was brilliant! ;-)
rt |
| Nice write up. Bad luck. | scorcher seb
Aug 4, 2003 2:09 PM | | You should definitely incorporate one-legged pedaling into your training.
I'm surprised they have races at Daussett - they seem to shut it down for the slightest drizzle, and then hold a race when it's "sloppy." It is a fun little place to ride though. |
| thanks.... | *rt*
Aug 5, 2003 4:42 AM | | there were a lot of comments about how this was probably the first time anyone had ever ridden the trails in the rain. it is a fun place to ride though.
i'm hoping to incorporate one-legged pedaling into my training for BOTH legs. ;-)
rt |
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