Diamond Blackfan Cross

Not too sure how to write this one up. I've got to say that I'm still totally out of sync when it comes to getting prepared to race. All season I've been showing up to races unprepared and today was no exception. Today's problem started with a malfunctioning Air pump that would not work with my wheels. Yea, I knew about it a few days ago but forgot to do anything about it. So I rolled out to race with my tires just a bit low on air pressure. After a crappy start Cam and I were dicing with each other and moving up through the field. Unfortunately I tried my best inside/outside move on Cam and my squishy tires gave out and I slid into him. Once we got tangled up I ended up going over the top of both Cam and his bike. Hard crash........I'm trying to get Cam to answer me that he's ok before I ride off, but I'm starting to freak as I'm getting no answer. Finally he answers and then it's time to clean up my yard sale before get back into the race.

So now I'm back in the race and catching people and just as I'm all most at the back of the group the chain falls off. In the space of the next few laps it falls off 6-7 times, hell I lost track. Finally if falls off and somehow gets past the chain keeper without moving it, time to go for a little jog. So I get to the pit, take a nice long drink, and take off on the spare bike. Imagine this... the tires have more pressure and the bike handles much better! Now it's only a few laps more to go so I kept going and manage to catch a few other guys who have blown or crashed. I never did check to see where I finished but it really doesn't matter.

Today was a learning experience for sure. The fitness is OK but should get better before the next race in a couple of weeks. I all ready went to the shop to get the parts to fix the chain issues and the pump.

A few really cool things from today:

Jonas wanted to try out the cross course, very fun to ride with him on the course (it's unfortunate that his bike is 10 pounds heavier than my cross bike)

The number of riders in attendance, I knew there were a ton of riders in all the categories and heard they had around 200 riders.

A new venue to race. Good course in a park close to home.