Somethingclassicinkc: Tulsa Tough

Friday, June 24, 2011

Tulsa Tough - my sunday race

The Sunday race at Tulsa Tough is pretty hard.

The Hill is fairly steep and comes pretty quickly due to the short loop. Last year i lasted maybe 5 laps, this year was considerably better but a mechanical ended my day early.

On the first pass up the climb i broke my chain. First time thats happened to me. My reaction was somewhere between panic and calm. I knew i had time to get to the pit, but i was still a little frazzled. So instead of just coasting around the course to get to the pit i decided to cut thru the middle and between peoples back yards and down some funky steps. it was very cross like. Naturally i dominated this portion of the race.

I hustled to the pit only to be told by an official that i should have taken my time. 'Watch the pro's' he said, 'they walk'. He said it's a time to gather yourself. Noted.

So i get the new chain and i'm off and feeling good. I have plenty of power on the hill and on the flats. Racing is fun when your not constantly at your limit and just waiting for the inevitable blow up. Then with 8 laps to go i have my race ending mechanical, a mis-shift (or something like that) in the front derailleur. It was totally locked up so i couldn't simply down shift and pedal out of it. Just like at last years MO state road race, just like this years Sheehan race. Son of a. Im pretty sure i could have gone to the pit again. But honestly, i was a little embarrassed. Plus i was pissed. So that was it. i didn't finish.

The race finished in basically a bunch sprint and i'm pretty sure i would have been there at the end.

When i told this story to Britton he said 'What were you doing in the small ring?'

Shit!

Here's to better luck next time.

And big thanks to Britton at Volker Bicycles for taking it upon himself to give me a better front derailleur plus a chain guard. I think he took pity on me after my Tulsa troubles.

Final answer, i had an awesome time in Tulsa.

Tour of KC Tomorrow!!!!