strange event it turned out to be. 400+ racers in attendance.
First lap, my CGMS stopped working. Trail was damp, but not wet or
muddy at all. Took my time, and set a solid 12 hour pace.
About 2.5hrs in the first MASSIVE rainstorm came in. I had just
started a lap (like 1 mile in). It was crazy. In about 10 minutes the
climbs where downhill creeks, and there was standing water covering
50% of the trail.
That began to dry and run off about 45 minutes later. What followed
was best described as rice pudding. 3 inches of wet, churned up
Georgia red mud.
The riders with support made out best. The neutral shop support was
completly overwhelmed. My drive train began to complain, but hung in
there for a bit.
I crashed hard on a slick mud bog fast downhill section on lap 3, and
that really sealed the drive train's fate. The bike ended up on it's
right side in about 6 inches of mud. No gear changes until I got back
to the pits.
Cleaned and lubed the best I could, then headed out for more laps.
Couldn't use the small ring as the chain sucked everytime I did. Using
the one available gear it would hold on the middle ring was ok, but
climbing on the slick mud was a challenge at best.
Another smaller rain storm followed 30 minutes after the first. The
weather and condition messed with the scoring and timing chip systems.
Tons of folks up there discussing with officials.
Another big storm was coming in, and there was serious discussion
about shorting the race when I completed what turned out to be my last
lap. No gear changes happening, and chain suck and skip in every gear.
Figured I would call it a day at that point.
Headed back to hotel and showered (a 25 minute process). :). Then
checked out and headed home.
BG were ok, considering the fairly long pit stops to make drivetrain
repairs. Ranged from 198-67.
Not overly successful, but I was stoked of the way I road in the just
plain stupid conditions. My Superfly is just worked.
Will get pics up asap.
Tony Cervati
tony@type1rider.org
http://www.type1rider.org
"1every21"
Sent from my iPhone
