Tomorrow is the last cyclocross race of the season. My results haven’t been too good this year, partially because I do dumb things before the start of races like decide to take off a layer of clothing three seconds before the director yells “go.”
Last Saturday it was a flat tire that fouled me up. It happened on the second or third lap. I rode a lap hoping the slime in my tube would seal the leak, but pretty soon I was feeling my rim on every bump.
I stopped to fill it with CO2, giving the slime another chance to seal the leak. When I was about finished, Aaron and Fish, two members of my team, ran to me to offer their help. Fish even had a spare wheel ready for me.
I told them I was OK and set out on another lap but the slime didn’t seal and I was feeling my rim again within minutes. I stopped and tried to inflate it again, but it was no use. I decided I was done and walked to the parking lot.
Fish wasn’t around with the spare wheel but Aaron was there and he offered me his mountain bike to ride. It is his backup bike in case he gets a flat tire.
I rode the rest of the race standing up on his mountain bike because the seat was about three inches too low for me. When the burning in my quadriceps was too much to bear I sat down until another part of my thighs burned, then stood up again and repeated the process. I didn’t care, it was a short race. Fish and Aaron were there cheering me on so I rode hard, had fun, crashed once, passed lots of riders and finished 16th out of 27.
It’s nice to be on a team. They pull you up when you’re down. They back you up when things go wrong.
I’m on several teams; my cycling team, a bowling team, and my section at work is kind of a team. Another team I’m on is down right now. Things have gone terribly wrong. Teamwork is give and take. Push and pull. Scratch and be scratched. But what do we do when part of the team won’t seal? Head for the parking lot? The team has been through a lot and we are strong.
It’s a long race. I'm going to keep riding.
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