Jonathan Vinson
All,
What a fabulous race! I'm a roadie; had never even seen a 'cross race
before. The family and I just moved back to PDX after being away for a few
years, so we had to find out what all the buzz was about. Having no
dedicated cross bike, I dusted off my 12-year-old hardtail MTB for the
event. I literally had not ridden the thing in close to 10 years, but it
seemed to be running fine (queue eerie foreshadowing music).
The GREAT!
--The cats from Veloshop did a fantastic job; plenty of friendly folks to
help, clearly marked course, and most importantly (to me), a family friendly
atmosphere. I hope more race promoters follow suit; a kiddie race changes
the whole tenor of the event for those of us with wee goobers. My 4yo had
her very first bike race, had a great time, and got a ribbon. She is still
sporting a bitchin' number plate on her bike.....sweet!
The good:
--somebody ordered up some ideal weather...
--I was riding strong and feeling good until my day ended prematurely (see
below). Having a MTB didn't feel like a particular disadvantage, but what do
I know?
--everyone in my field seemed friendly and collegial on the course
--the wife got intrigued, and now wants to try riding off road...she's even
making noise about trying a race.
The bad:
--I am seriously bad at passing. If somebody passed you and messed up your
line, knocked you off your bike, slowed you down, or otherwise pulled a
Fred-ish move, that was probably me, and I am sorry. I'll get better.
The UGLY:
--nearing the end of the second to last lap, I bomb through that brief
section of deep, large gravel and get my bike *mostly* onto the little
bridge before losing it and falling OFF the bridge and into the brambles and
weeds by the creek. The collective "OOOHHHHH" from nearby onlookers told me
it wasn't pretty, but no apparent injury, so I hop up and back on the bike.
Immediately, ugly sounds ensue--metal on metal--some kind of drivetrain
issue, for sure--but hey, the cranks still turn, chain is back on, and bike
is moving, so maybe I can hold off the inevitable.....
Bomb down the trail, over the barriers, up the run-up, and hop back on.
Worsening, sickening, sounds....look down, and the chain disintegrates. Even
if you're not from New England, this is "wicked bad."
With all of my blood shunted to lungs and legs, it took a full 10 seconds
of staring at the drivetrain to fully comprehend that I couldn't make this
bike go without a chain. Still, I wasn't far from the pits, so I indulged a
fantasy that I'd be greeted there by a NASCAR-esque 12-person pit crew who
would slap a new chain on and push me back into the race. Sadly, the pits
were only populated by the wheels of the well-prepared. DNF, baby.
Happily, this sets the bar for improvement nice and low. Next time, JV aims
to finish the race.
Thanks to OBRA and Veloshop for a fun day.....see you all next time.
Cheers,
JV