Great Ride, Not So Great Race...

Keith G aka Bobby's Boy was in town for a little ride. It was good to see Keith and to get to ride with him againn.












Also joining in on the fun was James sporting his Fort Prototype single speed.

The plan was for a nice easy ride with maybe one or two efforts. The trails were awesome, dry and fast. Keith has been away for a while so he hadn't seen some of the new stuff at Middle run so I made sure we hit it all. It's good to hear people say how much they miss the trails around here, it just shows you how lucky we are.

Greenbrier.

I was really looking forward to this race. It always draws a huge single speed class, and I was looking for a gauge as to where my fitness is. Fort James made the trip too and was also doing the single speed class. Because the race is in western Maryland it drew all the DC boys as well. Joe P., Ricky D, and Godzilla. The single speed class was huge about 30 + strong. I thought I had a good shot at top 5, I knew the win was out of the question with Wes the Conqueror in town. The race was 3 short laps, about 17.5 miles total. Just as I thought the start was really fast. I was trying to hold back a little knowing blowing up early would kill me. I hit the single track about 10th or 12th and was feeling pretty good. It didn't take long for me to start moving up. I was passing people through the first rock garden. I am still amazed at how my Spot 29er seems to float over the rough stuff.

I had worked my way up to about 6th or 7th, when some guy in my class passed me on the last climb. This really pissed me off and I proceeded to blow by him on the last down hill. This is where my problem started, I jumped a log and landed funny. In the process I rolled my back tire and it started going flat. I didn't notice it until the first rock garden at the beginning of my second lap. Since I run Stan's I stopped to add some air and keep going. That lasted about 30 seconds, so I hit it with another Co2 and the result was the same. All of the sudden I realized, my Stan's was all dried up and I was fucked. Yeah I still had a tube, but I had no way of getting air into it. While walking I got passed by everybody. I had a girl give me a pump but it was only good fro Schroeder valves. Then John "Pos" Posner hooked me up with a Big Air so I could at least ride the back to my truck.
So in the end I drove 137 miles to race 11 and not even finish. Now I have a chart to know when my wheels were filled with Stan's so I know when to top them off. At least I will be well rested for Lodi Farms next weekend.

Peace Out,
Buddy