tsali SERC #2 - asheville sunday. fun!

So…. After going to Banff and hanging out with great friends Friday/Saturday we loaded up and headed west. Staying the night with Matt/Kinsay was fun and we headed out Sunday morning towards Tsali.

For some reason, I began getting dressed THEN headed up to registration/packet pick-up. Seeing the line of 25+ people I was reminded why I decided I would always head directly from the parking lot to pick-up… I had just enough time to run back down to the car and then make my way to the start line….

After a lackluster warm-up consisting of two sprints up the gravel road and an EVEN worse start I found myself riding around 20th of 26 people. After eventually warming up, settling in and passing a few people – moving into the genuine middle of the pack, climbing surprisingly well, and feeling good I hear “Swish……. Swish…… swish…..”

Stan’s sealant squirting out the right side of my front tire and I know whats going on - PUNCTURE!!! Lean to the side, hope the sealant works – wait – nothing. Stop, lean the bike over, puncture to the lowest point, gravity will surely take over and the sealant will do its job. PERFECT, jump back on the bike roll. A few people passed, no problem. Get back into it, ride for 5 minutes or so. Soft front tire. Pull over off the trail – Should I just put in a tube?! NO – it will waste too much time!! Blast a CO2 and shake the front tire. Wheel back on the bike.



Now riding along – gaining a place or two back. Riding blue jersey guy’s wheel for a bit – pass him. Gosh, as expected, my right knee starts to hurt. No problem – I took some advil a few hours ago and brought emergency advil in my pocket. When should I stop to dig those out?? Ahhh, now seems look a good idea: soft front tire again!!! This being the third stop to deal with my front tire knowing I only have two cartridges left I opt to be grumpy, and fix my flat (tubeless filled with sealant) with a new tube (ie deflate the tire completely, pop the bead off the shoulder of the rim, take out the tubeless valve, now seems like a good time to pop the advil, tire lever, ugh – sealant everywhere – unhook tube from under saddle, unscrew empty CO2, thread in new CO2, tube into the tire – did the wind really just blow a leaf into the puddle of stan’s in my tire. Yes. Toss the leaf to the side. Tube into the tire, tire bead back on – by hand – no lever needed!! Blast a CO2 – wow it still feels squishy, maybe 18psi, good thing I had another cartridge. Who carries three cartridges?? Tire feels firm at least 27psi, bead hasn’t popped up yet everywhere, no worry – wheel back on bike). Shovel the trash heap into my back pockets and go go go! Unfortunately I lost count of the people who passed me. At least four or five minutes has gone by and I know i'm in DFL. Dead freaking last.



Thankfully this stop proved to give my legs, right knee, and lungs a break. Back on the bike – pedal time – finish my first lap. Wow – only an hour and fifteen minute first lap – 15 miles?? I guess I stood on the side of the trail. Roll into the feed zone – Darcy, focused, is ready to quickly hand off a bottle and chase my empties. Unclip – foot out. Sit on toptube. Be grumpy some more. She hands my bottle and I explain my first lap. She says I was worried your knee quit working. “I took my advil while fixing my flat tire.” She cheers me on as I begin my second lap and I’m off. Rolling up the gravel road toward singletrack I had three things go through my head:

1. Nine Ball Diaries – Richard Fries – Tim Johnson rolls a tubular tire in a UCI Grand Prix cyclocross race. Losing 50+ spots but jumping back on to catch back up to 12th place – “Tim can really fight when the chips are down.” Then speaking of my all-important regional expert race… “Grimes can really get up off the mat.” I haven’t even met Richard Fries – how did he know I was having a bad race?

2. Chopper Reid – being played by Matt Herdklotz with a thick australian accent – is making fun of me and other random people on the street. “Oh, you spent more on your hair product than you did on your show-winning poodle?!? Harden… UP!!! “Oh, your right knee feels like someone is driving a knife into it and twisting?? You had to stop three times and use all your CO2 and a tube on your front wheel?? Harden… UP!!!

3. Honey Badger – “So what – you had bad warmup, flat tire and now you’re in last place?? Honey Badger don’t care – he don’t give a (insert here).”

Then the entire Honey Badger youtube clip played in my head and cheered me up. Entering the singletrack I decided to make the most of the day and the race. I got a bad warmup, I got a flat tire, my knee hurts real bad. Well on the bright side, all these bad things happened on the same day. I can’t help that but I can put the hammer down and catch as many people as possible.

Well – I passed at least fifteen people, most were 30+, 40+ or women pro category, but three were my cat1 19-29 category. Turn the last corner, zip-up my jersey for the media – hey, Velonews might be there – and cross the line with a wheelie and a ring of my bell.
So I not only made up my “DFL by three or more minutes situation” but managed to work back into 23rd of 26. I think my second lap only took an hour, maybe an hour ten. Pretty good for a 15 mile lap. Overall not really a great day, but certainly better than DNF or just being grumpy and getting mad like a fifth grader and sitting up and not trying. results here

After the race, I drank my recovery drink and dug out my leftover Puerto Nuevo taco – yup, the cooler did its job. Definitely safe to eat. What a great snack!!



Back at the car I emptied my pockets out and decided to document everything used and the trash heap for all of you. Well, three empty CO2 cartridges, a ziplock (containing two advil earlier), a tire lever (glad I had it), Kyle Velcro strap (originally held a tube under seat), and multi-tool and chain tool proved good to have today.



Change, take a look at the results page, load up and head to west Asheville for Universal Joint bugers, a quick stop at david’s bridal, a couple brewery visits, and Tupelo Honey – breakfast for dinner. I’m glad we got to see Matt/Kinsay, our friend Daniel, and even meet some new Asheville bike racer dorks too. Quite a good weekend – now I’m putting my feet up, taking a week off from ‘training’, doing my civic duty (jury duty), and hanging out with my parents. Next up is Stumpjump April 17th or as Jay-Z would say, "On the next one... with my flip-flops, white louie boat shoes...” Thanks for reading. jg