I once had more sympathy for Paul ... (and other thoughts by Fleck)

Poor Paul. He's told me some of the worst stories about his bad luck with mechanicals. Ken Woods was no different for him. I don't remember all the particulars. Something to the tune of dropping the chain, then sucking the chain and derailleur into the cassette. Oh, he also flatted. Bummer. What you can't see is the huge chunk bitten out of his chainstay near the BB shell. The derailleur is toast. The chain is twisted (don't see that often). And the derailleur hanger is jacked. Ow-wee. Paul arrived at the finish covered in more grease than a pit mechanic at a cross race.

Anyway, as the title of the post implies, I had more sympathy for him until he let the cat out of the bag on his plans for a new bike -- a Cervelo R3 with either DA or Chorus. Don't get me wrong -- the Croll is classy -- but the new machine will be enough to instill a healthy sense of envy in opponents and teammates alike. Paul, I think you should bring your new bike on the Hub bar ride (if we ever get it together), so we can all test ride it.

Here I am, managing a smile right after finishing Ken Woods. It was a fun race, but frustrating too. Our field was 60 or so. We let two yahoos go off the front in the first mile and somehow they managed to stay out the whole race. A good pile up in the first lap sorted things out a bit (you gotta kind of feel guilty punching it when racers are lying on the ground bleeding). Three-quarters of the way through the race I realized I was riding with a friend of an old friend -- a former Cat 2 -- Chad Christiansen. He and I worked together some, trying to motivate the leeches in our field. Our finish was a free-for-all up the hill and onto the line. I was happy with 11th (especially because I was only 3 spots behind my Cat 2 friend). It must be the longer distances of the Cat 4 races this year, but I keep getting to the line with legs that ran out of gas a few miles prior to the finish.

Gluek ... what is there to say about Gluek? I rode out to Marty, MN with USCF official Matt Anderson, arriving by 9am even though my race wasn't until 1:30. Great, I thought. I can get in a nice long warm-up, maybe even ride a full lap beforehand. Instead, I got drafted to drive the men's 1/2 wheel sag vehicle. It was exciting -- squawking on the 2-way radios with officials, helping pampered riders put their chains back on their bikes (in all fairness, maybe the chap was allergic to bike grease). Then, on lap 3 the rain hit. I was not looking forward to my race going off in the rain and 50 degree temps. The rain let up by the time we rolled out. But it was chilly and windy as all hell. I had loned my arm and knee warmers to a fellow rider, so they were almost soaking wet for my racing enjoyment. I actually rode the first lap in a PVC rain jacket and didn't break much of a sweat. On lap 2 we were rolling the tailwind sections at 30-35mph. Our field had a nasty domino-effect crash in a cross-wind section. Winds were gusting to 40+ mph. At least a dozen riders went down. I later heard one had sustained a broken collar bone and one a dislocated shoulder. I was too focused in the moment on watching the trajectory of flipping bikes to make sure I missed becoming a casualty as well. The rest of the race was one strong pull. By lap 4 my time at the front was beginning to catch up and I knew I had nothing for the sprint. I concentrated on keeping the hammer all the way down to the finish. Our pace managed to split the field before the line. I watched as Chad jumped first and went on to win his category. I held on for 8th.

If you ever find yourself in Marty (a town of only 18 residents), stop by the Pearl Lake Lodge. Burgers and fries are $5 and tap beers are $2. Unfortunately, Lienie's (coming from across the St Croix River) is considered an import, so leave your microbrew tastes at home.