So I am going to put to rest all the questions about whether or not a cyclocross bike is a fast situation at the
Barn Burner 104 in Flagstaff, AZ.....it's not. But.....I had my
Cortina custom painted and rocked some White Industries ENO hubs to convert it to a singlespeed.
WTB shot me down a pair of their
MTN Drop bars, thanks Mike. And I actually used the
Freedom Ryder tire on the rear (zero flats) and a different tire on the front, non
WTB(7 flats). I rolled up to Flagstaff the day before the race and visited Cosmic Cycles, a Marin dealer, and then to the camping area. I made some final adjustments and tested out a couple tire options on course before deciding on what I used. As I rode around the campground that evening, I could feel eyes on me and whispers that I was crazy.
The race morning came and I staged the bike at the end of the run as I could run through a crowd faster than pushing my bike through. I had a good start and rolled the first 2 laps (52 miles) without incident. I kept thinking in my head that I was Rock Jedi as I finessed the bike down the tech sections without fail. It wasn't until the 3rd lap that I started getting some flats....like 3 flats. I had enough CO2, 1 tube and many patches. I was close enough on the 3nd flat that I ran the bike in (1/4 mile) to the finish like a true CX racer. The 4th and final lap came and so did the rain. It actually felt good but on the tech sections the rocks began to get slippery. I took it easy but still kept a good pace. The last decent was super fast and knew that my slow leak wouldn't be safe. Knowing that I was going to make the 9hr cutoff for the "big belt buckle" I sill made the decision to stop and fix it to be safe. I ended up having 4 flats on the final lap and had to patch 2 of them ultimately running into the finish again from 1/4 mile out. All in all a 9:14 in a 104mi MTB race on a SSCX bike isn't all that bad. As you can see in the picture, my triceps were as tight as guitar strings. I will race this same set up next year, bring it!
