Flaggstaff prep work

i began writing my account of the barn burner race, and rather than double it's length, i've decided to break out the warm up story.

So it seemed like a good idea: 4 x 26 mile loops = 104 mile mountain bike race, how else would one get started racing mountain bikes? truthfully, i'm really only racing myself, that's my story, i'm sticking to it.

the plan is simple, get all my shite together, meet sara at PULSE between 2;30 and 3pm, head out by 3:30. plans are a list of things that don't happen:

got down to PULSE a little before 3pm to pick up my bikes and crap and head out to flagstaff (8 hours of driving). race packet pickup would start at 5:30 saturday morning. no problem, i get out of here by 4 and over to flagstaff by 12 call it good, still get my requisite 5 hours of sleep.

juan starts asking questions, have you ever adjusted the pressure in your shocks? you going to bring spare tubes? do you have airlock tubes (tubes with sealant for flat protection)? my answers were very simple. no, should it? juan shakes his head and continues the battery of questions how much do you weigh, you gonna pre-ride the course? you gonna leave the reflectors on your bike, and the retard guard?

since it's now past 3:30 and sara is running late, i'm distracted, and before you know it, juan is going to town on the epic: changing tubes, airing up shock pressure removing reflectors all sorts of helpful crap. including shift adjustments (who needs 27 gears??)

sweet, juan has the mountain bike handled, it will be good to go, so i switch my attention my tri bike, gotta be ready for that nice sunday ride out in the northern arizona area. it's the only logical answer based on the proximity of my knuckles and the ground.

juan finishes up rides around and advises me to pre-ride the bike before the race and take a shock pump in case anything needs to be adjusted. i might drag my knuckles, but i'm not very good at lieing, so i tell him very simply. it's almost 5, i'm giong to sit in traffic get in around midnight sleep for a few hours wake up get my shit together and ride. test riding and adjusting. not going to happen. thanks for the advise and getting my bike set up.

Got into the race venue around 1:30am. parking and camping was easy to find. set camp, curled up and went to sleep. or so i thought. i'd wind up sleeping for brief periods of time before finally waking at 4am. after laying there contemplating the rain and coming race for almost 1.5 hours, i rolled out and headed over to registration.

perfect conditions, cold, rainy, muddy, and mountain bikes, the course is primarily fire roads. how bad can it be? i'd soon find out the importance of practicing how you plan on racing. my ignorance is far greater than i thought it could be, and much of that was pointed out during my pre-race prep - aka juan shaking his head on my i don't know? answers to his questions. Juan, there's a reason my knuckles are so damned callous. (juan probably saved my ass on this one).

got my packet and crap on my bike and in my camelback, i'm ready, one more trip back to the tent to rouse sara from her slumber as she requested. she walks back over to the start line and grabs a coffee.

by now the rain has started to subside, but there is a nice layer of mud which promises for an interesting start.