Cranky #3

August 19- Fountainhead Park Fairfax Station, VA

A great day for a race. The weather was cool, by august standards, and the course was in good condition. Fountainhead(FH) is a course that is ROOTY, and has many short, steep ups and the infamous downhill called Shock-o-billy(SOB). This course has been a nemesis of mine. I pre-rode the course last Sunday with a friend of mine in the Sport 45+ group that is an excellent racer. He always fills the time with strategy discussion about cycling. This race starts with about a mile or so of road, to thing out the pack before entering the single track. Though this is a great idea, if your not in the top 10 entering the single track, it still gets backed up enough that you can't carry momentum up some of the early sections because of the congestion on the course. I entered the single track in about 20th, typical for me. The single track has a one mile lead in section, then we do two laps around the 6 mile loop, with a final ascent out on the stairway to heaven climb. I was moving along pretty well on the first lap, passing a couple of racers in my category, a few expert women and one expert man(he must have been having a terrible day or didn't really know what he signed up to do.) coming to the end of lap #1, you have the final descent down SOB, which gathers a crowd of spectators and photographers to cheer on successful riders and witness the carnage of the unsuccessful. I fly down this section, make the turn for lap #2, hear the encouragement of teammates and friends that keep me going. I reach down for a Hammer Gel to get the energy the the second half, and I hear a ticking sound. Damn, what is that. I stop on a little flat section by the creek before the next climb to inspect the bike. I've blown a spoke on the rear wheel during my Knievel-like descent of SOB. The wheel is WAY outta true, so Better judgement tells me to bag it, rather than destroy a wheel. I was feeling pretty good, too. I had a couple of riders in sight, and I felt as if I might be able to pull them in. Oh well. Another DNF do to a mechanical. I'll be rebuilding a wheel next weekend....