The Cave Creek Bicycle Festival

Yesterday I raced...OK, maybe RODE is a better way to describe what I did...in the 2012 Cave Creek Bicycle Festival 25-Mile Mountain Bike Race.  While I would like to think that I raced...I finished 38-minutes behind the winner of the race.  So...with that little tidbit of information in mind, it makes more sense to describe what I did, as riding rather than racing!

Cave Creek, Arizona is a relatively small town located just north of Scottsdale.  It is a major tourist attraction due to it's eclectic shops and it's western heritage.  I have been visiting the Town of Cave Creek since my childhood, and have always thought it was a great little town.  Cave Creek is also the home to my favorite wine bar...Brix Wine Spot, and Brix is also where I met Josh, whom I rode with yesterday in the race.  Bryan, the owner of Brix, has also committed to ride in the 2013 Ride 430 Challenge, so he I and will be tackling the challenge together next year as rookies.  

Alright, enough shameless plugging of a great wine bar, owned by great people, and full of great customers (Brix family)!

I wasn't sure I would even be racing...riding...due to the weather.  You see, winter finally arrived here in the Phoenix area, and it didn't mess around.  Cold temperatures and rain were welcomed however, they threatened my participation in the race...I don't particularly care for riding in the rain.  I will be riding on December 1st, come rain or shine.  It's the least I can do.  Those brave men and women of the US Marine Corps are willing to put their lives on the line for you and I 24-7-365.  The least I can do is ride in the rain for 10 hours to raise some much need financial support!

The forecast was calling for rain all night long on Friday, and not letting up until 0600 hours Saturday morning...just three hours prior to the start of the race.  In the sport of mountain biking rain can be beneficial if it is in the right amount...at the right time.  The Arizona soil tends to soak up the rain like a bone dry sponge, usually resulting in super tacky, Velcro-like trails that beg to be ridden fast.  Fortunately, that was the case in Cave Creek.  The rain let up early enough to be helpful rather than hindering.  Trail conditions were perfect!

My new Ride 430 Team Gear...so proud and thankful!

This would be my first ride, sporting my fancy new Ride 430 team gear.  I was so proud to be wearing it, and even more proud to be riding with Josh who was also wearing his team gear.  Go team Ride 430! 

As the 0900 start time drew closer, the sun began to rise over the roof-line of the Frontier Town buildings.  The warmth was certainly welcomed, and I was glad to know I wouldn't have to wear any arm or leg warmers.  The problem with wearing those on long rides...especially those against a clock...is that as the temperature increases it becomes necessary to peel of the warmers.  Doing so requires stopping.  Stopping during a race means losing valuable positioning that you may have had to work very hard to gain in the first place...and as it would turn out, I'd lose some places anyway, so I didn't need to give up any more.

Let's rewind to Friday afternoon.  In my last post I mentioned that I was working feverishly to build up my race bike.  I also mentioned that my efforts were in vain, as I was unable to get it dialed in and working just right.  Thankfully, I have been blessed with a second bike.  Something that I am very thankful for, as many people do not even have one bike...let alone bikes like mine.  My 'everyday' bike is an amazing piece of machinery as well, and is limited only by it's motor...me.  Unfortunately however, I had noticed that the rear wheel was experiencing some problems.  It had a fair amount of lateral play, which is a fancy way of saying that I could grab it and wobble it from side to side about 1/8".  Even if you don't ride bikes, you know that that is not good.

I took the wheel to my local bike shop Swiss American Bikes, and they were gracious enough to look at it for me while I waited...Thank you Gary!  What he found however, was not good news.  It appears that the 'pocket' that one of the bearings sits within, has become wallowed out, and is allowing the bearing case to move around.  This ultimately results in the wheel wobbling side to side when riding...aka, lateral play. With no other wheel to use, I had to just go for it and pray that my wheel wouldn't fall off, or the hub seize up and lock up the rear wheel.

While Josh and I waited, mid-pack, amongst the other riders for the start of the race, I began to get a little nervous about my wheel.  Moments before the start, and Episcopalian Priest prayed for our safety during the race...I prayed specifically that my wheel would stay intact!  

The countdown started...5-4-3-2-1 GO!  We were off!  I have never ridden in such a large pack of mountain bikes on an asphalt road.  The sound of the knobby tires along the tarmac sounded exactly like a large swarm of bees.  A police escort lead us West through town, then North toward the trail head, where the race would really begin.  Less than a mile into the race I began hearing a strange sound coming from my rear wheel...great.  Those of you who know me well, know that I absolutely hate noises from my bike, and that I am a little neurotic about finding the source of ANY noise that should not be occurring.  While certainly irritating, the sound from my wheel was less of an annoyance, and much more of a concern as I thought about the fact that I had another 24-miles to go.  

I plugged along mile after mile, climb after climb until we reached the summit of the first big mountain.  As I neared the top I began to think about the stress the my rear wheel would soon undergo as I raced downhill, through tight turns and over quite a few rocks.  I was certainly concerned, but I knew that if I rode apprehensively, my chances for a significant crash were far greater...so I tried to put it out of my mind.  As hard as I tried however, I could not ignore the feeling of my wheel shifting under me as I leaned hard into high-speed corners, fighting to keep the bike on the right line.  

One of the complications of a wheel that has lateral play is a condition known as chain-drop.  Chain drop simply means that the chain falls off of the sprocket in the front, or the cogs of the cassette on the rear wheel.  Unfortunately, when this happens it is often while climbing steep sections of the trail.  If the chain drops, you stop.  When you stop, you lose valuable time...remember?  Well, I had at least three chain drops that I can remember, each resulting in the need to place the chain back on the sprocket, and the need to hike my bike up a couple sections...all of which caused me to lose time and position.

At the 20-mile mark, I was faced with a large section of the trail that was covered in large rocks.  There really was very little recognizable trail...just rocks all the way down the hill.  At the bottom of the hill was a thick, sandy dry creek.  As I entered the sand section, I heard the unmistakable hiss-hiss-hiss of a punctured tire turning...hiss-hiss-hiss.  "Great...only 5-miles left, and I've got a flat!" I said out loud.  I stopped, quickly dismounted, and flipped my bike upside down so I could inspect my tire.  

I was looking for some white liquid seeping out of the hole in my tire...but it was not there.  Let me explain.  You see, I run tubeless tires on my bike.  Tubeless tires use a liquid sealant to quickly seal up punctures, and prevent the tire from deflating.  Typically, you hear the tell tale hiss-hiss-hiss...but it usually goes away quickly as the sealant goes to work and plugs the leak.  This time, the sound was not stopping.  So I did.  No sealant to be found.  That meant that I had allowed the sealant to dry out, and I had not added any more to the tire...a big mistake.  Fortunately, I carry a small tube of sealant and a valve core remover, as removing the core is necessary to inject the sealant into the tire.  I quickly added the sealant, replaced the valve core, grabbed my CO2 (compressed air) cartridge to re-inflate my tire, and...and nothing, the CO2 wasn't coming out.  If it wasn't coming out, then it was not inflating my flat tire.  In a bit of a panic (due to the roughly 15 riders that passed me while I fumbled with my tire) I replaced the CO2 cartridge with another, and voila, an inflated tire.  A couple of spins to disperse the sealant within the tire, and I was back in the saddle...roughly 7-minutes later.

As I pedaled off, hell-bent on catching some of those riders I had worked so hard to pass before, I once again heard the ominous hiss-hiss-hiss. Once again I dismounted.  I lifted my rear wheel off the ground, and rotated the wheel so that the puncture was as the bottom of the tire.  I held it there to allow the sealant to seep into the puncture, then patiently counted to sixty.  Another 90-seconds, and five places lost. 

A few minutes later I crossed the finish line, and pressed the STOP button on my Polar CS500 cycle computer.  The readout read 25.0 miles, and 2 hours 11 minutes in duration.  I was finished, and my rear wheel was still attached to my bike...although I had thought about ripping it clean off while trying to fix my flat.

I would later learn that the winner of the race finished with a time of 1:36:19.  There was a discrepancy between my official time, and the time on my computer.  Officially, I finished in 2:14:56, roughly three minutes longer than my computer had calculated.  No need to argue the results, as I am sure the podium did not have enough spots for my 95th place finish.  Yep 95th place...not the story-book, Tour de France-esque finish that I have dreamed of many a night.  

the official results

I suppose, barring any mechanical difficulties, I could have finished somewhere around the 2-hour mark...somewhere around 75th place...oh well, still no podium.  There were 196 racers who began the race however, so...I was in the top 50% of the riders, and I can live with that.

All in all, I had a lot of fun...as much fun as you can have riding 25-miles on your mountain bike!