With a recent rash of slashed sidewalls on the mountain bike lately, I thought it would be best to step up to the more resilient UST platform. Fewer flats is worth the extra weight, especially for the rocky and rough desert terrain around here.
Today’s race at Estrella Regional Mountain Park was the testing grounds, not only for the bike, but also for the legs and the mind. The first MTB race of the season is always a tough one as finding that rhythm can be a challenge. The start was tough, but 100% manageable as I followed wheels moving my way up to third in line, just behind Paul. Of course we both really wanted to put in good races and be at the front and able to dictate the pace. As our leader faltered a bit, Paul took control of the pace making as I jumped on with him. With a steady increase in climbing grade and our effort the line of riders began to stretch thin.
Through the steep up and downs of the wash section the gaps had legitimized with Paul still leading, me just three seconds back and Kamden on my wheel. My luck ran out as quickly as my rear tire blew completely off the rim. And that was awfully fast! I came to a stop as quickly as possible, nearly losing it in the process. I pulled the rear wheel out and it appeared to be fine - no holes or thorns.
“I’ll just put it back on tubeless� I think. So all of my Big Air is used up in this attempt but the pressure wasn’t enough to set the bead to the rim. Now it’s more like, “I should have put in my tube!� Luckily in the long string of riders rolling by I got some friendly help. Toby had a couple small CO2 cartridges that allowed me to get the tube in there. So after a stop of 5-10 minutes I was rolling again, behind the pros, semi pros, experts and singlespeeders. It was time to chase!
I finished in 2:29 and some change, a full 15 minutes down from Paul, but I did manage to crack into the top 10 with my efforts in passing nearly everyone on the course (sport and marathoners were also en route, having different wave start times, thus staggering riders all over the course). Minus the trailside repair things surely would have been different and perhaps I could have given Paul more than the 35 minutes of company at the front. His win of over six minutes was quite impressive and who knows if I could have matched the blistering pace. Unfortunately, due to a freak mechanical, I didn’t get to find out. Such is bike racing.
So my impression of UST tubeless tires; no bueno…
Keeping it real and hoping for some better luck, -TJ
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