2009 Xterra SE Cup

I gained a small piece of fame this past weekend. Unfortunately, it was for accidentally breaking the nose of 3 time Xterra World Champ Conrad Stoltz. The accident occurred less than 10 minutes before the start of the SE Xterra Cup Race. Conrad and I collided in the water while warming up in the murky lake water. Although the collision didn’t seem hard, the top of my head caught the bridge of his nose. Fortunately, Conrad remained in good spirits, and still pulled off a convincing race win. Unfortunately, my race didn’t go quite as well.

With a week old bruised hip muscle still nagging, I went into the race with some lingering hip pain. Fortunately, my bruised muscle, suffered during a mountain bike training ride crash, held up fine through the race. My main problem was on the mountain bike. About a third of the way into the course, I managed to puncture the casing on my rear tire. The leak was slow, so I attempted to keep riding. After a few minutes of loosing pressure, I was forced to stop and empty a CO2 cartridge into the tire (tubeless). I continued, and after a few more minutes, I started to loose pressure again. Once the tire started to roll on the rim, I stopped, put in a tube, and finished the race.

I learned a few things from this experience. Once a tire starts to loose pressure, STOP and fix. I probably lost an additional minute or two just trying to ride on a nearly flat tire. Also, although I’ve changed flats for years, I need to practice quick flat repair for race conditions. Conrad is notorious for flatting during races, but he gave a few tips for overcoming them. He recommended mixing Stans and Slime for a more effective tubeless tire sealant. He also recommended carrying small automotive tire plugs. Apparently they work on tubeless bike tires as well.

Although the flat put a dmaper on my overall race, I still managed to finish second in my age group and qualify for the Xterra World Championship race in Hawaii later this year. Next up, the 2009 Bump and Grind MTB race….

Omar

www.ozonexterra.com