Mediocre Attempt at Race Reports

Two races in 2011 thus far--and two ridiculous mechanicals.

Part 1: le Icycle.

massive circus wheels for the Mountain Domination Squad's DSF chapter

Lap 1: 37ish mins
Lap 2: 37ish mins
Lap 3: En route to a 38:00 final lap, I was reasonably psyched. (Let's be honest - we all know that I neither am fast nor will ever be fast...and that I find disdain with riding my mountain bike in circles.) After frittering away 4-5 minutes to a near-emergency incident likely associated with Bojangles biscuit consumption at 10AM, mass chain chaos ensued near the end of the lap. My chain fell off the cassette, lodging itself securely between the cassette and the spokes near the hub. Seriously. How many hours have I rode this mighty steed and this happens NOW? Really? Ten minutes of fumbling later (interspersed with 5 minutes of running with the bike), the Epic and I were back on a roll. Money, drink, dinner from the Bergmarks (thanks, guys!), and great music by J Miles and the Enemy Lovers awaited.

Part 2: Greenville Spring Series

What could be more fun than racing road bikes around a 7-mile flat-to-modestly-rolling course with a 15+mph wind? Why, racing with the pro/1/2/3 women, of course! The first lap around the Donaldson Center started off calmly for the first few miles and ramped up about halfway through the lap on the backside. With exactly 1 road ride in 5 months (and 1 group ride about year ago), pacelining at 31mph with 6-inch distance between me and both the women to my front and rear wheels pretty much scared the living hell out of me and concurrently thrilled me.

Around the sixth mile, I was holding my own and not dying in the peleton when my left pedal suddenly fell off. Counterbalancing and pedaling with one foot, I recovered to the side of the road and quickly threaded the pedal back into the crank with my multitool. The group was gone. Like tumbleweed-blowing-through-the-deserted-town gone. In road racing, if you are dropped from the peleton and riding solo, you're finished. Abhoring the vision of my named recorded with a DNF, pride eschewed, strongly desiring more rays of sunshine for my cycling tan, I sprinted into a faster pace and then maintained a fairly steady 19-21 mph pace--for 4 more laps. On the third lap, the wind really escalated and I couldn't stop wondering, "Where are those damned Cat 5 men?!" I had been hoping to jump on the back of their paceline. They never appeared.

I could have given up, but surrendering just is not an option in 2011. I just kept rolling through the finish area by myself. I never caught back up to the women, but none of the women ever caught me.

What is the overall theme here? Failure? No, friends, this post is about making lemonade out of the lemons life hands you, seeing the beauty and glory in the moment, having balls, and first and foremost, properly maintaining your bike(s).