We had a perfect Arizona December day for the Dawn to Dusk mountain bike race. I camped out at the venue the night before along with several hundred other like-minded riders.
It is a beautiful desert park and every night I have spent there has included a serenade by packs of coyotes...this night was no different...once at about 10pm and again around 1:30 am....sounded as if it was the 'yotes dinner time. Not a snack mind you but a full on feast...took me a little while to fall asleep again...man we humans are wired with something primal there.
The race starts at sunrise and the temp felt like the high 40's...good mtn biking weather. At around 8 miles in I nailed a big rock with my rear wheel. It was a hit that I KNEW would go flat...and sure enough that is what happened. Stop...remove rear wheel...get out tire levers and co2...remove bad tube...dig new tube out of my pack...inflate slightly...install in tire...put tire back on rim...pray the new tube holds air...inflate tire...prayer appeared to be answered...close tube valve...reinstall wheel in bike which is typically a quick process which I have done many times...but that was not to be...it was as if I had never installed a wheel before....breathe Bradley....take your time...the dropout-axle-rotor-caliper-axletug-quick release assembly appeared to have the upper hand in a silent-smug-snickering-under-its-breath-conspiracy against me and only thru perserverance did I finally get the wheel back on the bike...could someone stop the clock...what??...did an eternity just pass??...congrats Brad on the slowest wheel change in the history of mtn biking! After my wheel debacle all I had to do was ride the rest of the day.
My legs had 93 miles in them for the day...18th place in the singlespeed category...if they gave out medals for 18th place it would probably be made of dirt...or maybe rock...which would be somewhat ironic.
All in all it was a great day!
