DNF

Derailleur Not Function. Duluth Not Favorite. Did Not Finish.

Second year in a row I've crashed out of this race. Guy in front of me goes over a log pile in front of a bridge. He knocks a log loose (which comes flying towards me) and goes down. I avoid the log, get around him and onto the bridge, but my momentum carries me too far left. Back wheel slips over the edge, derailleur snaps and I go down down hard onto a shingle covered bridge. Bike is toast and my arm is shredded. I was 5th place in the middle of Lap 2 and feeling good. I had about a 2 minute gap on the guys behind me, and I was reeling in a couple guys in front of me. I'm still pissed off today. I know there's nothing you can do about that kind of stuff, but it's frustrating as hell to finally be feeling good and riding well on perhaps the toughest course in the series only to have your bike explode.

So, weekend summary:
Saturday pre-ride: gash/dent shin on rock (the kind of pain that makes you feel like puking)
Driving-5 hours, $50 in gas
Hotel - $175
Meals- $50
Race - $32
Derailleur replacement/hangar repair (if hangar can be bent back) - $250-300
You do the math, I don't want to know.

Then driving home, driver's side windshield wiper literally explodes. There's metal scraping the glass and I can't see. So we had about a 20 minute detour to deal with that. Then at North Branch there's an accident so we are stop and go for about 15 minutes. I haul ass and make it to the bike shop in Shoreview at 4:58 and they are all leaving and have locked up for the day. Best day ever. Oh, I won a Trek baseball hat and a Giro water bottle at the race, so I guess that makes it worthwhile. Best $600 water bottle ever.