TDC, DNF

[Paul Montgomery]

Well I was hoping to have more to write about, but my first race in Cat 1 ended after about thirty minutes. Coming into the Tamarancho Dirt Classic well prepared and ready to be swamped by the Cat 1 field. The starting line organization was the usual haphazard affair, except more-so. Happy to be ahead of the Cat 2 hoard, I found myself standing well off the official fire road starting position with spectators between me and my oncoming destiny. We could only hope for “gridding” intervention from the race director. "Thirty seconds to start", oh well, time to race. After running over a hammered-in-the-ground course marker, it was the usual full gas boogie. Slotting into every gap that opened, I began to move forward.

Not having been passed, yet, we were now in the two-way fire road section, marked by upturned orange five gallon buckets. Oddly enough, there is something comically gratifying about the sound of ricocheting utility buckets. Feeling on target with the effort outlay so far (IOW not too far into the red) it was clear I was being held up by a few of my new Cat 1 brethren. So given the opportunity I pushed pass, occasionally getting a little out of shape. Still upright and arriving at the single track lead up to the infamous Dead Heifer climb, all was good. Ready to start the race in earnest, I happened to glance down and notice a completely flat rear Racing Ralph, and it was mine. Not so good.

As it happens, teammate Carl Sanders blew past right at the same time, with a “twenty-niners rule” battle cry. Running a tubeless setup, all I could do was hope my problem was just a “burp”. Well, long story short, after releasing half of my CO2 cartridge through a sidewall tear, I got another twenty minutes on an under inflated tube before my race was over…flat number two and no CO2. Lesson learned, from now on, I’ll heed David Curtis’s sage advice; carry TWO cartridges, “one for the burp and one for the tube”…