Nooksak Road Race

After last weekends flat with 1k to go I was itching to get that out of my system and have a good finish. I got a ride down to the course in Ravensdale with Shawn who was taking a weekend off. We arrived and had several Cycle U guys racing as well as one of the girls racing too who finished 5th in her first road race!! The first lap had a fair bit of drama. As we came around to the back side of the course there was some wheel touching going on in front of me. I was thinking to myself as I was right next to the shoulder where would I go if anyone went down in front of me? About 2 minutes later Mark was on the ground right in front of me. I took evasive action and swerved over in the dirt and missed running over his rear wheel by about 2 inches. I was close to going in the ditch as well but was able to get it under control. The wheel touching that was going on a few minutes earlier was apparently the same guys and this time they swerved over and took several guys down including Mark. As I came around I asked if he was ok and he was up and just about back on his bike. I made sure to get back on the pavement and then slowed with another Cycle U teammate to see if we could get Mark back in the pack. As the pack sped off I couldn't see Mark on the road behind me and the other Mark was hanging out so I decided I should go and get back on before I got dropped. As I read Mark's race report his chain came off as well as his seat was a bit turned, however both Mark's finished the race together. Good work guys.
The course was pretty fun with some rolling hills and a good little climb 1k before the finish and then flattened out at the line. The plan was for Rolly and myself to try and lead each other out at the line. Travis was going to try and stay with us to help lead us out too. Most of the race I was on the shoulder side of the road and as we came up to the hill right before the start line for our final lap, I looked over at Trav and asked him if my rear tire was low. "Yup sure looks like it". Just as he said that it was completely flat and I was out for the 2nd race in a row with a flat. I kinda stood there for a moment and cursed the tire god's. Then I decided to push my bike back to the finish line and once again I was at about the 1k to go sign. Thankfully this time it wasn't the last lap but still pretty frustrating. I arrived at the start/finish to see Shawn and we stood there and watched the finish. Pretty awesome to see Rolly come to the line in 2nd place!!! Atleast that part of the plan worked and I wish I could have been there to help him and get myself a finish. The brand new $45 rear tire I bought 4 days before was toast. It looked like someone took a pocket knife and sliced across the width of the tire. The cut went all the way through the tire. I think next week in Wenatchee I will stay away from the shoulder.