Winter Shart Tarck Series '21: Race Two... I'm nervous and my socks are too loose.

I wake up Sunday morning, start my coffee, grab my Pop Tarts and open the front curtains.  Look out and I can see the rain water that's pumping outta my backyard and down my driveway.  It may only be drizzling now, but it musta dumped last night.

*sigh*

At least I'm ready?

Dr Mike scoops me up and we both discuss a game plan.  If it's raining when we get there, mebbe skip warming up?  What's worse, starting the race not warmed up or starting the race already pre-damped and cold?

Let's find out.

We spend so much time dicking around tryna put together the perfect wardrobe for 38° and mebbe drizzle but possible rain but definite puddle water up the butt that there is zero time for a warm up ride.  They're calling single speeders to the line already when we're finally suited up.

Roll down to the start, passing a mud covered Charles Robinson on the gravel road.

"Was it fun?"

"Just stay off the brakes."

¿Qué?

Get to the start with moments to spare.  We get called to the line but I remind promoter Neal that the fast 50+ guys were up our ass pretty quick last week, so he decides to let them go first.  I know this means I'll have to get around lapped 50+ racers sooner and more frequently, but "sauce for the goose, Mr Saavik."

I don't care if you get that dated reference or not.

Look around.  No Robert Marion.  No Chase P... who's missed roll call two weeks in a row now.  Last week's field of fifteen reduced to eleven.  I guess some people decided to not enjoy this fine Scottish weather we're having.

I don't care if you get that dated reference or not.

Go and without Robert or unplugged AXS guy from last week to pace off of, I decide to be the front.  Up the gravel, bang a left, and it's the first I've seen of the course conditions.  It's as bad and as good as I'd imagined when I was doing trail work a weeks ag.  The hard pack is holding up, the puddles are deep but solid at the bottom, and the soft spots... they are mush.

Look back over my shoulder and mebbe that's Shawn behind me?  Look at my Wahoo, and I'm disturbed.  If I'd ever wondered if warming up was important, I know the answer now.  I feel like I'm pegged, but I'm at least fifteen to twenty beats per minute lower than I feel.  Poop.

Slip and slide my way through the first woods portion and get back to the garvel.  Open it up and I finally see some BPMs that are close but not what I'd expect.  More poop.

Lap two (or three?) and I'm running into the back of the 50+ racers and my own self-created issues.  Member that staged photo I from my last post?  Those brake pads were for after this race, but apparently this is the bridge too far for my stopper grabbies.  I didn't think those pads had that much use on them... not like I ever checked.  My rear lever is already going back to the grip, and I'm only a little over halfway through the race.

I start thinking ahead (too late, I know). 

"Which corners do I really need my brakes for?"

Obviously, the ninety degree right hander off the gravel descent.  Mebbe the hairpin directly after that.  Where else?

Guess I'll find out.

Did you know banging the end of your bars off a tree is a great way to slow forward momentum?  It works in a pinch.  You don't even have to make a conscience decision to do it.

More poop on the pile.

photo cred: Supercycling

Make an actual conscience decision to back way off in the woods and save myself for the garvel climb and from hitting more trees.

Manage to keep my gap, not hit any more trees, and stay upright for... a win?

I won.  Strange and also bummer.

I'd really hoped to line up against the usual single speed Shart Tarck protagonists this year.  It's the fittest I've ever (accidentally) been, and I wanted to see how things would shake out.  With this being a new course, I can't even compare lap times or anything else to play out a virtual race with my little friends.

*sigh*

But I did finally "win" a Winter Shart Tarck race for the first time in a very, very long time.

So there's that.

At what cost?

If you're thinking mebbe you can get forty more minutes of riding in the mud outta your brake pads, you might be right.  You might be wrong.  Guess when you find out?  When the pad material is worn down to the springs.

Don't be a Dick.  TruckerCo pads are cheap, usually in stock, and work great.  Just replace them... before the race.

Also, if you look like this after forty minutes (even with two front fenders):

and your helmet looks like this:

then things might look like this on the inside parts of your bike:

So mebbe a good time to "air things out a little."

So who "won" the race?  The guy who crossed the finish line first or the guy who didn't spend thirty minutes hosing of their clothes and bike and another thirty minutes pulling their bike apart?

Dunno but it's still not put back together either.