big bear 2x12

2011_BigBear2x12_(103), originally uploaded by solo_goat.

big bear was setting up to be an epic battle, nick waite teamed up with jeff schalk - and a few other teams joined up fast guy forces to make the top 3 spots hotly contested. it was not going to be a race to hold back on.

pre-ride on friday was great and course conditions could not be better - was the best conditions i have seen the course in years, guessing that the mini dry spell we had the week before really helped. it was going to make it a fast race.

rain came in after the pre-ride and more rain came early the morning of the race, but nothing to really change the conditions.

dave would start off first. gun went off, dave was at the front with the leaders. awesome. i went back to start gearing up.

not 10-15 minutes later, dave is running back. not awesome. looked like the chain jumped off, landed on the outer plate of the derailleur and when he pedaled, it basically torqued the upper derailleur bolt so much that it actually snapped inside the derailleur.

not thinking straight, we yanked a derailleur off a bike, got it going and sent him on his way. in hindsight, i should of either given him my spare bike or i should of went out.

so, dave went off in speed. on the downhill about 1/2 way through the course, he cut a tire. not awesome either. he would have to run about 6 miles.

far back at this point, my mind was determined to do some fast laps. my race at this point was to try to better my lap times.

first lap was fast, but my garmin decided to turn off - later i would change the "auto turn off" "feature" on my garmin.

dave's next lap was 1:04.

my next lap would be 1:03, dave's was somewhere around 1:08'ish - no doubt due to a ton of running.

i would wrap up the day with a last lap at 1:02.

not the day either of us planned and from the lap times we were turning, we would of been mixing it up with 1rst and 2nd - as odd fate would have it, nick also cut a tire and lost major time.

at the end of the day, stuff like this happens - it's racing and it's going to happen. better to get past it, enjoy the event, get some great fast laps in to hone up for the next event, eat an awesome bbq sandwich and drink a few good pints of brew.

i'll be back in 2012 to get the mechanical monkey off my back. also, need to get the word out to race organizer mark that he needs to get a solo class in this event.

sologoat out