Well, day one of the nez -- gapped by a crash that split the pack, came around and chased back on only to get gapped by a second crash. Chased solo for 2 laps passing other girls who were off the back too, only to come around the corner causing the crashes and narrowly avoiding yet another girl on the ground by going off course and beyond the course barriers! At that point I was like like WTF. Oh, and no course marshaling whatsoever. I was zig and zagging through drunk people the rest of the race. The only notice of anything wrong in the corner was everyone on the hay bales doing the wave -- which was really the signal to slow down lol. But it looked like the wave to me! At least the punk band on the corner was good! They we're singing "dead body on the street" because it took 4 laps to get the girl off the ground lol. If I were a superstitious person I had a pre-race omen: boy on a bike with training wheels hit me full-on with his head down knocking me onto his dad which I bounced off of. Somehow I managed to right myself to the applause of everyone watching the near disaster!
Day two. Reno downtown crit -- very cool course with a tough climb, a downhill corkscrew and two river crossings. I was tired because Ron and E snored all night and kept me up -- I was about to just go downstairs and gamble because at least that would be a legitimate excuse for being up all night!! But, once I saw the course I was like okay, this looks cool -- hill and all and my motivation came back. I was worried I might not be able to hang with the big shots over the climb but 5 laps into it I was still there and matching their speeds. Granted I probably would have been in the 2nd group that formed during the race -- but I will never know because as I crested the hill on lap 6 and rounded the false flat my "repaired" shifter flew off. I was center of the pack and put my hand up. John Bolton rode over and sent me to the pits. I had asked the SRAM dudes the day before if they had a spare shifter -- like off the emergency bikes -- that I could use explaining that my replacement shifter was still coming in. They told me nada. I was having trouble shifting the replacement Kevin made (Bic pen and epoxy works well for general shifting needs) because I was having to shift so much. Getting my fingers around the slim pen was proving difficult in sudden shift situations -- like sprinting to chase down a gap after coming to near stop. Anyhow, back in the pits they yanked a spare bike off the rack, raised the seat and got me ready for the push off. The dude promised me he was good at push offs. Then he nearly tipped me over lol -- yeah real good indeed! I had to unclip and start over. The ref said one more lap due to the bobble. He righted me again and I waited. Remind you, this is at the base of the downhill so speeds were at 30 plus. Homeboy WAITS until the fast moving pack went almost completely by before starting the push!!! I chased in vain going into the first corner, into the tail wind section but my speed was no faster than the pack and the gap remained. Then I started noticing that the seat was way too low, and the stem was way toooooooo long. I felt like I was riding a low rider ha! I entered the climb in the big chain ring but instead of a 26 I think this bike had a 23. So that slowed me down too. Regardless to say, I spent the rest of the race chasing but I was too gassed and really fed up.
Day 3. I came home. If were to race at 3pm that would mean I would not be home in time to have kev put my new shifter on that was, of course waiting on me at the house. So I decided if I wanted to have my bike for Sunday I better just quit before a lightning bolt struck me!
Great way to drop 150 bucks!
The good news: being the underdog gets you noticed. Two days in a row I was the "chaser." Which in Truckee seemed embarrassing but by Reno it was cool -- what could I do. And, I met with some Hawley guys who really liked the Stork and said I put on a good show. And, lots of New Belgium beer ;-)
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