when a win isn't really a win...

Pre-race thoughts
The Point-to-Point race is a fun ~20 mile 1900feet elevation gain course. I've done this race for the past 2 years. This year I figured it'd be a good one to do the SS.

After all my flatting incidents - i was prepared - I had converted to Stan's tubeless -so in theory i would flat.

Race Start
There was only 1 other girl SSer. Marla - she kicked my ass pretty good on the Circuit Race back in June. She had missed the start and managed to catch me halfway through the 1st lap and beat me by a whopping 9(!) minutes. Yeah - she's 12 years younger than me - but so what! I should still have a fighting chance, right?? We get the count down for the start and I don't see Marla. 1-2-3-GO! I don't go all out at first because the first climb is a real bitch. ~8.5 - 9% grade for 1 mile - lasts about 11 minutes. I knew within 2 minutes I'd be totally maxed out cardio wise.

First Mechancial
I'm cranking along for about 4 minutes then i have to get off the bike and walk a bit to recover. I wanted to stay on - but I knew i stood a good chance of blowing myself up if I stayed on. I walked my bike for 1 minute - hopped back on and notice I had a really hard time getting my right foot clipped in. Rode for 2 more minutes - got off for 1 minute as a super steep singletrack section - hopped back on the bike and could not get my right foot clipped in at all. WTF???? I ride along and by this time i had passed 4 Expert women and all the while try to get my right foot in. Finally at the top of the climb I stopped and looked at my shoe. Crap! One of the screws in my cleat had come loose and was sticking out far enough to not allow me to clip in. I screw it in the best I can with my fingers and am able to get clipped back in. But by this time all the girls I had passed had passed me back - and then here comes Marla. Crap! I take off down the descent in pursuit.

I passed 2 of the Expert women and then about 2 minutes later see Marla on the side of the trail with a flat. I ask her if she has everything and she say 'yeah'. I think "Man - big time bummer for her!"

Second Mechancial
At the bottom of the 1st descent I notice my rear tire is mushy. WTF?? how can i be flat? I'm tubeless. I stop and shoot some C02 into my tire and hear air hissing out. What?? It appears to me that I bent the rim on the descent and now the tire isn't sealing. I notice when I spin the tire that the hissing stops so I think "well - maybe if i keep rolling it won't be an issue". I shoot some more C02 and I hop back on the bike and take off.

Crap - I stop again.
when i realize my rear tire is getting low. I figured I'd better throw in a tube. Now changing the eno hub is a PIA. It doesn't have a quick release so i have to use allen wrenches to take off the wheel. I removed the Stan's value and dump out the Stan's gu and throw in a tube and fill up the tire.

The tire won't go into the dropouts.

OH MAN!!! I'm such a dumbass!! I had TOTALLY forgotten that I can't put a fully inflated tire in my bike due to chainstay clearance. I have to let out some air put the tire in and fill it back up. By this time I'm going through my 3rd(and last) C02 cartriage - I'm not carrying a pump or another tube so if i flat again - i'm screwed. my tire isn't as firm as I like but I have no other options at this point.

I hop back on the bike and am super bummed that I've had to stop so much. As i start riding - Marla catches up to me.

Racing Marla
For the next 5 miles Marla and I battle it out. When the climbs get short and steep - she passes me. While she's in front i can see she's as skinny as a toothpick. I think to myself "damn - i NEED to lose more weight so i can climb better!" When the climbs become more moderate or technical - I pass her. On the descents we are close to being the same. We head up a 1.5 mile rocky climb and she pulls away from me. I ride as hard as possible and try to keep her in sight hoping to catch her on the descents and reel her in on the last 5 miles of moderate climb and techncial singletrack.

I do catch her on the descent - she's on the side of the trail with a flat! damn! that totally sucks.

Finishing
I ride the rest of the course as fast as i can. I am babying the descents due to my low tire pressure and the fact i don't have anything to fixed a flat with. I end up in the middle of the Sport Women pack and am pleased that once in the middle I was able to keep up fairly well. I finish and see my total time is 2:11 and my ride time was 1:53.


aftermath
I'm pretty stoked that my ride time has improved by a whopping 6 minutes from last year and I was on my gearie last year. I don't feel so good about my "win" as it was due to someone elses bad luck. But I'm happy I was able to battle it out for a while. Now that I know were the strengths are I can use that knowledge for the future races. :)