Ah the 4^th and final big race for the East Coast. After three long weeks of racing world cups and US cups I was ready for it to be over. Actually I almost didn’t even go to Windham.

I had been taken over by a cold early in the week leading up to the Windham race. My body was tired and sore from traveling + racing for 4 days, then being home and working at the S-bux for 3 days then repeating. My moral was a tad bit low after Mount Snow and I just wasn’t all that fired up to do it again. Registration for Windham closed at 11:59am on Thursday, I somehow registered at 12:01pm as it truly was a last minute decision of mine. I didn’t want to be stuck with the “what if?” question a week after the race. Plus I was starting to feel much better after a few days of rest so I decided to race.

Friday morning rolled around and again Hattie and I were off in the Saturn for another five hour drive. We made it to Windham with no problems. The weather was awesome! ( finally the East Coast is starting to  dry out after the wettest summer on record! )I met up with my roommate Burns (he drove up from his parents place in NJ and our friend Mike for a pre ride. The course was really short,  21 minutes short at a very easy pace. The climbs were long but gradual and were broken up with some short descents to keep things interesting. After checking out the course and picking up my registration number I packed up the car and was going to head over to our condo, about 2 miles away. When I sat in my car and turned the key there was nothing. The car didn’t do anything, didn’t even make a noise. What could it be? A dead battery, alternator, starter or something else? Mike was able to jump start the car but it kept on dying. My low fuel light was coming on but I knew I wasn’t completely empty, or did someone siphon my gas? I knew there was a gas station about a half mile downhill from where I was, I pretty much rolled the car to the gas station and filled it up. Still the car wouldn’t start. Great it is Friday, 4pm and my car has broken down right before a US Cup race, just the stress that I need to deal with. Long story short I somehow managed to get the car up to the condo where I let it be. After doing some research with the I-phone I found a garage nearby that was open on Saturday, called AAA and had them tow the car away. To help unwind from the car stress and the thought that the bill would most likely be $500+ that I don’t have an Ice bath and a game of Monopoly were scheduled in. Turns out my luck in Monopoly didn’t pan out, I was quite wealthy in real-estate, but short on cash. Two bad rolls of the dice and I was broke and out of the game.

Saturday Morning- I received a phone call from the garage just before 11:00am, turns out my car just needed a new battery. Something about a car battery being 10 years old and a really hot day like Friday can cause the electrons to completely fry, $160 to get it fixed, not too shabby, could have been worse. The down side was that the garage closed at 2, my race started at two. I tried giving the guy at the garage my credit card number; guy said I had to be there in person. Great, 3 hours before my race and I now need to spend 45 minutes driving around to pay for my car so I can drive home after the race!

Ok onto the race, it was wicked hot outside, like 90 degrees and 100% humidity. The strategy was to ride a hard pace but not go out to hard at the start and stay as hydrated as possible. Things were going great right from the beginning. I had a great call up thanks to the few UCI points I currently hold. By the time the field entered the first section of single track I was in the top 15. Things were going really well. I was riding on Chris Sneddon’s wheel and feeling comfortable by the time we made it to the top of the climb. About ¼ of the way down the mountain I hit the one rock I told myself not to hit during the pre ride. This was a nasty rock, small but very sharp and it sat right in the middle of the trail. I heard the sound of air coming out of my tire and about 5 seconds later it stopped. The Stan’s must have sealed it up! I thought great, I can still hold onto a top 15 result. As soon as this thought went through my head my tire blew up and  went completely flat! There I was standing on the side of the trail watching everyone go by. I went from top 15 to dfl. That was about the end of the race for myself. Kabush was putting in 15 to 16 minute laps, so there wasn’t much racing for me after that. I wasn’t going to DNF though, instead you keep on racing and if you get pulled with 3 to go then that’s what happens and that’s what I did.

It really is a bummer to suffer a mechanical when you are feeling so good, but hey that’s racing. I am looking on the bright side of things, I’ve done a TON of racing this year and this is my first flat in an XC event (one flat during the BC Bike Race). This is a huge improvement compared to past years so why be upset? My legs and lungs felt great and I know I can ride within the top 15, it is just a matter of time before it happens.