Sunday, November 19, 2006

What could possibly go wrong?

So I got the single-speed cross bike up and running Friday night and then went out and hacked around yesterday for about a half hour to get used to it. This morning I threw it on the car and headed up to Lowell for the BRC cross race. Got in a decent warmup and decided that my 36x17 gear was going to work out pretty well overall. Got a terrible start so I was way back by the time we headed up the stairs the first time, but didn't panic too much because some guys started coming back. After 3 laps I was really feeling pretty good and was making up time on the upper half of the course while not getting beat too bad on the lower (flat) half. Then it all came apart... literally. Going over the barriers, I jump back on the bike and suddenly I dropped the chain. I'm thinking to myself "How the hell do you drop the chain on a SS?" so of course panic set in that the rear wheel had come loose and the chain tension was gone. I finally got the chain back on, made it through the cinder, up the stairs, and headed up the hill then dropped it again at the top. One more quick fix, down the hill, around the u-turn and then it goes again sprinting into the next little bump. Finally this time I noticed that 2 chain ring bolts were completely missing so the chain ring was all out of whack. Game over for me. It was a real pisser because I was making up ground on some guys that I thought I could catch by the end. Oh well... Saturday is Sterling so I'll hope for better. I did have to head straight to the shop after the race and give it to them a little since they did the install of the new parts. Oh well... my own fault for not double-checking.

Hung around after for parts of the master's race. Highlights were Coley riding the stairs like they were barely a speed bump and getting to chat for a while with Kerry Litka . She seems pretty cool and down to earth and we got to compare the various woes we suffer in cross/riding from our extreme heights or lack of.

In non-bike news, I finally made progress on the new bathroom project yesterday and I may even make more this week. If I can have it painted by the end of the long weekend I'm doing well.

1 comment:

GCDavid said...

Hey Rich, I have a chain ring bolt tool to lend you!!!
gcdavid.blogspot.com