Cycle-Smart Day 1

Thanks to the bureaucracy of Cornell and Ithaca canceling the Ithacross event, the weekend of October 25/26 saw no racing. I decided against a race in Rochester in lieu of training and chainsaw operation at Swan's. This meant a few good workouts during the last couple weeks...we'll see how this whole "planned training" goes.

Saturday's Cycle-Smart race featured the same course as last year where I finished 3rd in the cat4's, losing the sprint for 2nd to Tyler Sage. This year was my chance with the killer B's. I was not looking forward to that first right hand turn onto the gravel with 100+ riders behind, but I was looking forward to a good result, given my improving form of two weeks prior. Maybe I could move up into 2nd place in the Verge standings...

I staged with the usual suspects at the front, eager to botch my clip-in and lose my great starting position...

Within the first 20m I had slid a few places back, but I was still in the top 10 as we flew into the first right-hander and into the first turns down to the railroad tracks. Colin was on the front setting a pretty ridiculous pace. I managed to find my way safely over the first section of tracks and sprinted down the straight to make up a place or two before the sharp turn over the second track section. Remember...everything in moderation.

As we came to the turn, the riders ahead stacked up in typical fashion and I was not quick enough on the brakes to avoid plowing into them. Great. I went into someone's back wheel, but was going too fast to avoid losing it and hitting the grass. Normally, given the relative speed of the riders around me, this wouldn't be a big deal. Pick up your bike and carry on. Not so.

As I stood up and pushed my bike to remount, my rear wheel popped up, indicative of a locked front wheel. Apparently my pre-race brake adjustment allowed my pad to slip below the brake track, which is unusually thin on my front wheel (lower weight?). This required a couple curses and some quick muscling to get the brake back to normal. 50 places lost, I got back into the mix. But now I was stuck midpack, as the Verge leaders pulled further away. Nooooooooooooooooo!

I frantically made back a few positions just in time to get horribly backed up at the run-up (read: wasted energy). Bottlenecks are no joke. I came to a complete stop for over 10 seconds before I began my slow trudge up the slope. At least everyone back there was pretty cool and laid back. I wasn't exactly happy with the situation, but I didn't succumb to yelling in vain like a Long Island driver in an LIE traffic jam. Mountain scaled, I remounted and continued the good fight.

As I came around the rooty turns at the top of the course, lightning struck twice as my pad went completely into my wheel as I came out of the turn. The spokes completely sheared off my right brake pad. I signaled my pull-off and finally ended my disaster of a race. Given the current situation, the heavy traffic, and the lack of a front brake, I decided to save it for tomorrow.

As "luck" would have it, a few of the other Verge contenders had their fair share of mishaps between flatted wheels and broken shifters, so my losses were somewhat limited, and I would start on the front row the next day as well. Nothing like a mechanical and only a half-lap of crappy racing to make you look forward to tomorrow.