Sea Otter 2011

[Carl Sanders]

This has not been my race. Last year at Sea Otter, I had just crested the first climb when my pedal fell apart. I coasted down, throwing the towel in a my top ten attempt. Bum deal.

This year, feeling strong and mostly recovered from last weekend's NVDC crash, I felt confident of pulling off a top ten, and quite possibly even a top five finish. No luck. 

Around the track and onto to the dirt, I hung on to the back of the lead riders in my group. Past the first climb and down the fast rollers, I was holding ground, planning to tap my endurance strengths with the hope of slowly picking off the riders ahead, gaining position by attrition as other riders faltered. Not this time.

On a steep, rutted descent, with other riders immediately fore and aft, my chain began to lock up. With nowhere to pull off and not wanting to loose my position so early in the race, I first tried easily back-pedaling, then gently shifting to get my drivetrain free. No good. 

Trying to hold my line and not crash, I continued to fumble now with the front derailleur when I dropped the chain. Still gaining speed on the loose descent, the drivetrain had now completely seized. Reluctantly, I coasted to a stop near the race marshals by the Lookout trail intersection. A quick inspection made clear that I had broken the derailleur pulley and lower cage and the chain had bent running through this mechanical mess. Bad news.

Options included rigging the bike as a single speed and getting back on the track or not. I watched the other younger Cat I riders go by, apparently completing a small loop at the intersection where I now found myself. Game over.

Waiting for a gap, I coasted my broken bike and crushed aspirations down the single track to the aid station below.

Thankfully, there's always next year! 

[Jim Hewett]

Tough luck, Carl.  Not even a muddy course to blame for the derailer failure!