What a whack day on the bike! This will be a brief update with a more encompassing race report to come...
As per the weather forecast this morning, there was a 10% chance of rain and highs of low 60's for the day. Suffice it to say the forecaster were way way WAY wrong! It never got above 45 during the race and it rained all day! The clouds were full of moisture and the longer the race was, the wetter and colder everyone got. It was not noticeable until you stopped at an aid station, etc.
The trail conditions were absolutely horrendous! There are a couple places one the course where the mud/clay just collected on anything and everything. My tires had over an inch thick coat of mud coated on them at certain points...and it was the kind of mud that does not wash off, it clings and collects.
The race organizers eventually called the race off at a certain point and told everyone to pack it in...only about 10 people (out of 175) beat 'the race is called off' and finished the race - no single speed finishers....the bummer was that I only had one more short loop to do (all the hard stuff was behind me already!) and then a few miles of fire road and about a mile of pavement. They pulled us off the course and gave us the option to ride back via the road or get a lift back...I opted to ride the 6 miles back...I still put in a 43 mile day and the legs actually felt better than I expected. The new bike handled well but unfortunately due to conditions, I will have to replace a few things like the chain, brake pads (both sets of NEW brake pads done in 1 ride due to conditions....I have no pads left on the disc brakes - crazy!).
It took my hands a while to un-claw from the bar grip position and it took a couple of hrs until I could get feeling back in the hands. I don't think I have ever had that much mud on my bike or myself...I might very well have had more mud in my shorts than on them.
Of all things that I was trying to manage, rain in the desert was not one of them...still a good day and a good barometer of where the legs are.
As per the weather forecast this morning, there was a 10% chance of rain and highs of low 60's for the day. Suffice it to say the forecaster were way way WAY wrong! It never got above 45 during the race and it rained all day! The clouds were full of moisture and the longer the race was, the wetter and colder everyone got. It was not noticeable until you stopped at an aid station, etc.
The trail conditions were absolutely horrendous! There are a couple places one the course where the mud/clay just collected on anything and everything. My tires had over an inch thick coat of mud coated on them at certain points...and it was the kind of mud that does not wash off, it clings and collects.
The race organizers eventually called the race off at a certain point and told everyone to pack it in...only about 10 people (out of 175) beat 'the race is called off' and finished the race - no single speed finishers....the bummer was that I only had one more short loop to do (all the hard stuff was behind me already!) and then a few miles of fire road and about a mile of pavement. They pulled us off the course and gave us the option to ride back via the road or get a lift back...I opted to ride the 6 miles back...I still put in a 43 mile day and the legs actually felt better than I expected. The new bike handled well but unfortunately due to conditions, I will have to replace a few things like the chain, brake pads (both sets of NEW brake pads done in 1 ride due to conditions....I have no pads left on the disc brakes - crazy!).
It took my hands a while to un-claw from the bar grip position and it took a couple of hrs until I could get feeling back in the hands. I don't think I have ever had that much mud on my bike or myself...I might very well have had more mud in my shorts than on them.
Of all things that I was trying to manage, rain in the desert was not one of them...still a good day and a good barometer of where the legs are.
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