"Seriously derailleur?!?"
A few weeks ago we were browsing for some races to enlist in over the next couple months. I was considering doing a half marathon.. that was until I saw that Nanaimo Mountain Bike Club was hosting their first XC race! So I said screw running and Darryl signed us up. It was only $20 to enter, what a steal of a deal! The race was this past Sunday in the Abyss Trail System, which I had never been into before. We started and finished at Extension Road. My dad (who currently lives in Nanaimo) is an avid explorer of the Doumont Trails, but said that he had not really been through the Abyss area. Therefore, we were going into this race a little bit blind. The weather forecast looked pretty promising, calling for sun with a few clouds, but literally right up until we parked at the start line it was cloudy and raining. It was also quite chilly and I wore my heavy duty shin pads mainly for warmth... |
Darryl and I signed up in the intermediate division, which required us to do two laps of the loop in the above map that is outlined in red. Beginners did one lap and advanced riders did three. Each lap is 7.5kms, making the race 15kms for us in total. I didn't know what to think about how long the laps would take so I imagined each lap might take an hour. At 0945 there was a quick race briefing and we all lined up in our selected groups with advanced riders in the front and beginners in the back. The plan was to start the race at 1000 and space each group out by two minutes, which was quite nice. When Darryl and I heard the "ready, set, go!" we were off at a good clip. After a few minutes she was ahead of me (as per usual) and we slugged up a logging road on a quick steep hill. After a few minutes I was clipping along on some muddy, rooty, wet single track. It was pretty fun. I even passed a couple advanced riders that stopped to catch their breath. The trails we rode to start were called "humility," "anniversary," and "easy peasy." The trails were pretty greasy, and I kept in mind that the conditions would not be forgiving if I hit a root on a bad angle or banked too hard into a corner. The course was filled with some great XC trails followed by short bursts of road. At every turn there were cheering course marshals. However, at about 5kms into my first lap the unthinkable happened.... My derailleur snapped off.... I had just finished "secret ninja" to "keiths," and was nearing the end of "nookie." | I heard the loud "clunk" and knew it was not going to be good... I whipped my bike off to the side of the trail and surveyed the damage... The whole cage plate and lower pulley had ripped straight off... far worse then a simple hanger break... Regardless of my situation, I was very impressed at how many people stopped to ask me if I needed help. Eventually I asked one passerby if it was better to turn around and run back or keep going forward. She told me that if I kept going there would be a marshall straight ahead. In the picture to the left I am coasting into the course marshall's station, gliding with my feet. They immediately saw my bike disaster and informed me that I was the farthest possible distance from the start.... great. If you look at the map above I am broken down at top left of the loop, with the start/finish being the bottom right. |
The race was very short-lived for me; however Darryl was still out there. I ran and got changed and sat at the finish line waiting. Not too long after 1100 a few people started to cross. I did a few calculations and assumed Darryl would be finished between 1130 and 1135. To my surprise she came in at 1126. Nice work lady! 15kms in 1hr26mins. She was the first intermediate girl to cross.
I hope that they hold this race again next year and maybe host a few more. Nice work and great trails!