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It's probably been out there for years, but I first saw "DFL > DNF > DNS" on some bike shorts at Midnight Ride*. The Saturday Cat 4/5 Masters 35+ race came perilously close to earning me that DNF. *I've since learned that this was the Team Monster Truck kit (Twitter: @TmMonsterTruck). I arrived for the Rapha Supercross Gloucester, registered, dropped my Fuji at the pit, and did two practice laps around the course.  I got to the start in advance of the 8:45a whistle and surveyed my competition. The field was stacked. Allred. Collins. Gaspar. Goldman. McNeil. Pincince. My work was cut out for me. At my call-up, I opted for an empty slot in the middle of the row ahead rather than the left end of my row. My plan was an all-out charge to the top of the hill, then recover in the inevitable bottlneck. I figured that this would be easier from the edge, goofed that with the middle selection, but as it happened, a nice diagonal channel opened for me and I worked my way left. I gained a number of riders, then did a double-take as I saw Jon M's jersey just a few bikes ahead. Sure, he was nursing a bum wing, but with his start 5-6 rows ahead of me, I figured I wouldn't see him until the finish. Hmm, if I'm keeping up with Jon, maybe I'm going to have a pretty good race. Well, that thought didn't last as long as a Brad W tube (can we PLEASE take up a collection and get that boy some tubulars?)--the next thing I knew, I was bottlenecked and Jon was gone. Down past the registration building and through the chicane. I rode the whole thing through a total cluster of runners until we got to the steps, then dismounted. Back on board, I bombed the descent past the pit and settled in. Up to the north side, past the racer puking into the playground, u-turn along the seawall, and back to the south side. Past the pit again, up the steps, off-camber, then down onto the baseball field for the barriers. Now, I'm okay at barriers, but I'm nowhere close to being in the same league as Jeremy Powers, who would ride away from the Pro/1/2 field later in the day. Savor his technique in the images below (side note: if you squint, you can see me in these pics--I'm in the white shirt/black shoulders two people to the left of the leftmost red SRAM tent, white GnarlyMonkey truck behind me).   Most riders do the simple suitcase carry. A few may bunny hop. But apparently, only the elite do a full release of the bike, summersault, and recovery. Back to me. Because after all, it's all about me. Up the hill to the south end, back down, and through the sand pit. This was my first experience riding sand. I've watched enough Sven Nys to know that I had no clue what to do. Fortunately, during one of my practice laps, a guy was coaching up some kids. Sure, he was no Brian I, but still, he was a coach. "Upshift. Stay on your saddle. Look to the end of the pit, not down at your wheel. Keep pedaling." Worked for me in practice, worked again during the race, and I even gained a few places passing runners and slower riders. Back onto the pavement and up the hill to the finish line to begin lap 2. All the way back at the beginning of this ramble, I promised some DNF drama. I didn't know it at the time, but that drama was already being foreshadowed in the form of an odd clicking noise. No idea what it was, no time to stop and investigate. The clicking sound persisted through lap 2 of what would be a shorter-than-normal 3 lap race. (To allow for more fields, the normal 45 minute race was reduced to 30 for the Cat 4/5 and perhaps other fields.) Shortly past the pit, the clicking announced itself--my saddle came loose. Mind you, it didn't fall off, but while it was supporting my weight for now (no small ask), that didn't seem likely to last. Passing through the finish line to head out on lap 3, I noticed Lewis C in street clothes. He'd started in the front row, but since I hadn't been lapped, I couldn't conceive of a way that he was finished and already packed up. Turns out, he'd flatted far from the pit, and with no set of backup wheels, saw the writing on the wall. By the time I made my way around to the first pit entrance on lap 3, the lack of a secure perch was beginning to affect my speed (please, no jokes). So, into the pit, swap bikes (my pit crew must have been otherwise occupied--this didn't look at all like how Sven does it), remember to grab my Garmin and drop it in my pocket, and I was on my way. The field was stretched out enough at this point that I only lost one rider. No idea if I would have been able to catch him, but I was only 2 seconds slower than him on each of laps 1 and 2. (As an aside, how cool is it that we received results by email less than 30 minutes after finishing?!) Any chance of that catch was nixed by problem number two. Specifically, a jingling sound. And more specifically, the jingling sound that a loose cleat makes when you're running. I heard that at the short 3-stair-step dismount as we moved from the north side back to the south side for the final time. I still had 2 more dismounts to do, and a loose cleat would surely boost my chances of becoming an Internet Sensation. (Google "cyclocross joey" or simply click here.) My luck--and more importantly, two small screws--held, and I was safely back on my bike for good following the barriers. Back onto the pavement for the final sprint, I looked over my shoulder to see empty space. No pressure, but time to give any remaining interested fans their money's worth, so I gave it a good final sprint. Phew, no DNF! After the finish, I connected up with the rest of Mac545WestonWellesleyPosseVelo to debrief. Robert the J and Troy K had been spectating and joined us. Next, I took a volunteering stint as a crossing guard down by the barriers, then hung out with BT watching the rest of the day. Great finish to another great event. Well, great finish except for the part about how I took my Focus bike by the not-even-remotely-busy Rapha Focus tent and asked if they could tighten up the saddle. Sure, I could do it myself in 5 minutes, but I was right there and it was their bike. "No, we can't help you, you'll have to go to neutral support in the pit." Great customer service, Focus, truly great.  The Numbers: click here for Strava
Other Galleries: Eric Papetti (video from the race right before mine, good view of what the course was like for me) geoffmart65 Jay Glickman Drstearn68 |
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