Carbon Bars + 'Cross = Ouch

In this case, a picture is worth more than 1000 words....

Mike TOLD me to warm up on the trainer, but I HATE the trainer and decided instead to go warm up on the roads. I cruised up the pavement from the parking lot, and took a right by a school. Knowing that the pavement isn't good on my 'cross tires, I hopped up to ride on the grass alongside the sidewalk, and BOOM - hit a hole. As I was headed off my bike, I heard a snap and knew this was going to 1) hurt a lot, and 2) damage my bike. I was right on both counts.

A HUGE thanks to my teammate (and National Champion) Julie - she let me race her BRAND NEW Redline after a pedal swap and a quick lesson on how to work the SRAM shifters. If it weren't for Julie, I wouldn't have been able to race, so thanks, Julie!

Unfortunately, because my head wasn't really in the game after crashing so hard, and I was riding a bike I didn't know (have to say, not a big fan of the SRAM...), I didn't end up doing that well in the race - finishing 10th out of 12 starters. It's too bad too - the course was FAST and FUN.

Mike decided to try a race with the big boys - P/1/2/3 men. He's been racing A Masters for two seasons, and has been doing fairly well at it this year, typically finishing in the top half of the field. The difference in this race was that the juniors took the line as well, and the race was 60 minutes vs. the 45 he usually does. In his usual fashion though, he got stronger as the race went on, and looked great, finishing 21st in a field of 31 finishers.

Sadly, instead of heading up to the house in Bethel, we had to drive back to MA to buy and install new [aluminum] bars and cables on my bike to prep for the next day's race.