Iowa Games Reschedule

Keaton and I raced in the Iowa Games mountain bike race yesterday. We had a blast. The weather was perfect, the turnout was good, and the course conditions were as good as I’ve ever seen a Peterson’s.

Keaton went first in the beginner’s race. It was his first race, and like his Dad, was obsessing over trivial details. He got Iowa Games Gold for his effort. That’s pretty cool.

I felt very good during my warm-up. My goal for the race was to finish ahead of Nick, but I wanted to give him a fighting chance, so on the pre-ride I showed him all of my secret lines. The course at Peterson’s suits me well (no climbing), and I have the course dialed-in after riding it 2-3 times a week.

At the start I had a little trouble clipping in, but once I was past that, I passed a few people before the first single track. Once there, I hung with those in front of me until the gravel section, and passed a few more people, including Nick and Cory. I was feeling good. I was near my limit, but still had a little more. After the sandy hill I was setting up another pass when . . .

My chain broke.

AARHG!!! I could see the front of the race, but could do nothing about it. I had a few warning “tinks” during the start, but nothing before that. I don’t know what caused it. The chain was a near new (six rides and two races) SRAM 991. I had been riding with Keaton the night before, and had gotten my drive train clogged with leaves a few times, but nothing serious. Hmmmm.

I pull out my tools and spare parts and fixed it as quick as I could. Everyone passed me when I was down. I got several shouts of encouragement “Are you OK”, “You need any thing?, etc. but spotting the field six minutes is no way to win races.

So, my revised race goal was to pass as many people as possible in the 2-½ laps that were remaining. No need to worry about blowing up, because I had nothing left to lose. I managed to pass 10 racers before the end of the race.

Thad and Chris Hansen won the Sport race in a group effort, Cory got a gold in the single speed competition, and Nick got a bronze in our age group.

As far as IMBCS goes, I finished where I should, behind Landon, and in front of Bruce. Even with the trouble, things turned out as they should.

As an insult to injury, I must not have zipped my seat bag up after the fix. When I got home, I noticed that my seat bag had puked it contents on the trail somewhere. Oh well, I like buying new tools.