Cycle-Smart International Race Reports
I finally did it! After eight seasons, a double-DNF weekend. It's exactly as fun as it sounds.
The best ten minutes of racing I did are in this video:
Cycle-Smart International Chainstay Cam from colin reuter on Vimeo.
Day 1 I drew a back row start, somehow sliced my way to thirty-sixth in a lap, broke a spoke after 15 minutes and decided that "it wasn't that bad" and "my pit bike has mud tires and janky shifting" so I should just keep riding it.
Thirty minutes of being inexplicably unable to hold a wheel later, I stepped off the course thinking about what a failure of a human being I was. Tried to roll my now-dismounted bike away and....ka-shuck. Brake was hitting the blown wheel in a spot so bad it barely turned. How did I not feel this riding? Nevermind. I'm an idiot. Good thing there's Sunday...
Day 2 I had just reached the "hey, you might be able to do this for the rest of the race" point, and Charlie Schubert had just come by so it was clear I wouldn't have to take any pulls for the remainder of the day. So then I dropped my chain, jammed it into the chainstay, and threw it into the woods. It was jammed so bad that three spectators couldn't get it out, hell it's STILL there as I write this blog post on a Tuesday.
Of all the drivetrain problems I've had this year, this is the first one that wasn't Di2-specific, anyone can chain drop and anyone can have the spider push the chain up into the chainstay -- but on my Focus the clearance in that space is such that if you get your chain in there with mechanical advantage (i.e. pedaling), you're never getting it out.
If you need me I'll be rebuilding my pit bike and making it my race bike for the rest of the year.
The best ten minutes of racing I did are in this video:
Cycle-Smart International Chainstay Cam from colin reuter on Vimeo.
Day 1 I drew a back row start, somehow sliced my way to thirty-sixth in a lap, broke a spoke after 15 minutes and decided that "it wasn't that bad" and "my pit bike has mud tires and janky shifting" so I should just keep riding it.
Thirty minutes of being inexplicably unable to hold a wheel later, I stepped off the course thinking about what a failure of a human being I was. Tried to roll my now-dismounted bike away and....ka-shuck. Brake was hitting the blown wheel in a spot so bad it barely turned. How did I not feel this riding? Nevermind. I'm an idiot. Good thing there's Sunday...
Day 2 I had just reached the "hey, you might be able to do this for the rest of the race" point, and Charlie Schubert had just come by so it was clear I wouldn't have to take any pulls for the remainder of the day. So then I dropped my chain, jammed it into the chainstay, and threw it into the woods. It was jammed so bad that three spectators couldn't get it out, hell it's STILL there as I write this blog post on a Tuesday.
Of all the drivetrain problems I've had this year, this is the first one that wasn't Di2-specific, anyone can chain drop and anyone can have the spider push the chain up into the chainstay -- but on my Focus the clearance in that space is such that if you get your chain in there with mechanical advantage (i.e. pedaling), you're never getting it out.
If you need me I'll be rebuilding my pit bike and making it my race bike for the rest of the year.
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