A) Test the effectiveness of my rain gear (very effective)
B) Ride the course in the worst possible conditions (not very bad at all)
The rain eventually let up and I pulled into Zach's car at around 5:30ish. T'was a fun time...
The race started at 10 AM the next day. A nice break from 8AM races at US Cup stuff. About 60 of us rolled out and jetted up the first climb. I dropped back out of the top 10 on the climb and began to pace myself up the 25min climb. Then we ripped some singletrack with some rocks. Then more road. Then more singletrack. Then my leg of the race...
About two thirds of the way through the leg, my fork stuck all the way down. I had to ride Wolf's Pond, Rim trail, and the ensuing descent to CP#2 with no fork. It sucked. Nancy Adams saved the day with a shock pump, which brought my fork back to full travel. Then about 2/3 of the way through the next leg of the race, on my way down Rattling Creek Trail, it happenned again. I just love rocky descents with no fork. If I had wanted to ride a rigid bike I would have brought my freaking singlespeed with its plush steel tubes. I now see why I ride steel on my rigid bike. This gave me the opportunity to:
A) Test the durability of the Lefty fork to effectively direct impacts (very durable)
B) Decide if riding non-steel rigid bikes was good or not (not good at all)
At CP#3 Randy helped me fix my fork and we pumped it to about 250psi so it wouldn't compress and stick down too much, It stayed that way for the rest of the race, which sucked a lot. A lot. Finished 20th overall in 6:22. It hurt lots, but I felt basically good all day.
Now to get pumped for 7 Springs solo...
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