Having placed 2nd at last year’s Ore to Shore I was really motivated to improve on my result. I knew that I could be in the mix and with some great training rides within the past couple of weeks I was feeling good and ready to give the race my 100% energy. Traveling to Marquette with Chad made for an old school road trip and we got in a great pre ride on Friday with the company of Matt and my 212 bros Chris and Mike. Flying through the final 20 miles of the course was a great refresher as to just how much fun this race is and fast the trail allow you to go. Overnight rain showers had the course in perfect condition and I was ready to go. All of the MI, WI, and MN riders were there with only two notable exceptions so it was sure to be an intense race.
Mike did the leadout on the pavement and the 212 train was rolling smoothly until I was forced to exit the front group with a rear puncture. It was one of those flats that you knew it happened right away. I kicked up a softball-sized rock with my front wheel and it went squarely under my rear wheel. It was enough of an impact to put some small cuts in the sidewall just above bead on either side of the tire. I used my CO2 to seal off one side and Sova graciously supplied some more air to get me back and rolling down the trail two minutes after stopping.
I was in full chase mode, trying to negotiate my way back to the front end of the race, passing what must have been 100 riders in the process. Inspired by Brian Matter’s ride from ‘08 (he flatted in just about the same spot and chased back to finish 7th) I was still racing and more focused than ever. My goal was to contact the fast guys near the front and get myself back into some sort of contention, whether for the win or otherwise I wanted to be in the mix. After 50+ minutes of solo chasing I was caught by Doug, Marko, Jeff, and one other rider to my suprise since these were the guys that I thought I was chasing. It turns out that they had taken a wrong turn so poor luck for them made for good luck for me since I now had riders to share the workload with. Jeff and I did the bulk of the pacemaking and if any of us would catch the leaders I would have been happy with my efforts. We rode hard across the paved section and were still charging once in the woods.
At twelve miles to go I felt my rear tire getting soft and before I knew it I was dismounted and scrabling to put in an inner tube. This time I found a two-inch long square headed nail lodged into the tread. This was likely the source of the slow leak and with the low pressure before I stopped I managed to put another cut into the tire too. This time the tire was more or less done for so installing the tube was the only option. I got the tube in and the wheel back on the bike only to discover that I had nothing left in my CO2 but the white cloud that exits once the canister is empty. Eventually Nathan Guerra stopped and offered me his CO2 cartridges so that we were able to ride in to the finish together. At this point we weren’t so much racing, but rather enjoying the trail and finishing off what has been an adventurous race. I was completely drained at the finish, happy with my riding and bummed about my luck. Such is racing on occasion and I’ll be more motivate for the next one…
Thanks to Adventure 212 and Specialized for the support and to Justin for the late race bottle handup. Chad’s help allowed me back into the mix early on and Nate’s help allowed me to ride it in instead of walk. There’s an awful lot of great people in this sport and I’m thankful for all the help along the way. See you at the Border Battle on Sunday!
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