Well sometimes racing means you are horribly disappointed.

After all the work for the last two weeks preparing for this race, it was over for me less than 1 mile in.

Before the race I went out and pre-rode a lap of the course.  It was mostly fire road but the relatively short climbs are ideal for my power to weight ratio and I felt that I would be very competitive.  My legs felt great and I had a good strategy for the race.

As we lined up I was looking for guys in my class and it didn't look like there were very many.  I was not happy with the low turnout as I had hoped for a good race.

We waited for what seemed like forever, it was somewhere around 10 minutes, and then were off.  I pedaled hard to stay near the front as last year the first bottle neck was nasty.  Up the first climb I picked off a couple of riders and felt awesome, my heart rate was staying pretty low.  This was going to be great!

As we turned to head down the first steep/loose descent I passed a guy so as not to be held up, unfortunately there were a pair of roadies just ahead of him and they slammed on the brakes.  I was looking for passing opportunities and found one near the bottom.  I passed them both but the damage was done.  I was in a tall gear and didn't carry enough momentum into the next climb.  I stood and was putting all I had into the pedals when my chain snapped. 

I flew forward on the bike smashing my knee into the crown of my fork.  My knee left a big chunk of meat on the knob on the crown and was now bleeding pretty good.  I stood there begging for a SRAM Power-Link to fix it, I was offering 20 bucks for one, nobody helped me out.  I debated running the remaining 3.5 miles of the lap to continue racing, but the pain coming from my knee changed my mind.  The race was over for me.  My first DNF.

Although I am dissappointed and now dealing with a very swollen knee and no riding, that is racing.  When I can ride again I will be back on the training for the next race and for next year!  I will now make sure I have a light chain tool and a power link with me during races.  :)