Pyrrhic Podium
King Pyrrhus of Epirus defeated the Romans at Heraclea and Asculum during the Pyrrhic War, but his army could not replace the casualties it incurred during the campaign. Thus, a "Pyrrhic victory" is one where the cost outweighs the benefits.
I managed to weasel my way onto the podium of the Spring Stage Race, but it didn't come cheap.
As I was preparing for the second stage, I noticed a crack in my rear wheel. Jagged and in the brake track, it immediately rendered the wheel useless. I had glued up the tubular the week prior, and spent a lot of time inspecting the wheel while removing excess glue, so this was completely new development. It didn't make me happy, given that I had less than 8 race days on the wheel, but there are worse ways to discover an equipment failure. Riding on an obviously compromised wheel was just not a risk I was willing to take. It was a small crack, and didn't go through all of the layers, but given the location of the crack and the fact that I had other options, I set it aside. Instead I raced on my big, fat Chinese carbon wheel and ended up with two solid sprint results. When I got home, I immediately removed the tire from the rim to avoid the temptation of using the wheel. It's done.
Thirty minutes before the third stage, I noticed my race bike wasn't shifting correctly. An inline barrel adjuster had cracked, causing the cable to intermittently flop around and the chain to skip up and down the cassette. A temporary fix with a pen top and some pink duct tape (Save the Boobies) got it in the ballpark enough to be stable on the relatively flat criterium course and give me the gearing I needed to contest the sprint. After the stage, the bike was placed in injured reserve status and the backup race bike was called up from the bullpen. The race bike is going to need some work before I trust it again, and that may not happen until after Fairbanks. Since I've won more on the backup than I have on my actual race bike, role designations may require review.
After the last stage, I picked up my spare wheels from the pit. I noticed a small bulge in one of the tires. The base tape was starting to separate from the tubular casing, which is another failure you don't want to discover in the middle of a turn. This set of tubulars was starting to show some wear, which is why they were on the spare wheels, and a new set ready to be glued up was waiting at home. Not a real loss, but I dodged another bullet.
I had no real goals for the Spring Stage Race other than to get in some badly-needed race days, so the cost of the broken and lost equipment may seem a little high. However, it's better to have these kinds of issues affect a "meaningless" race (they're really all meaningless) instead of one that I place an unjustified and irrational amount of importance on. Still, the way the costs kept adding up for my podium spot was a bit alarming.
Hopefully the next stage race is devoid of such mechanical surprises.
I managed to weasel my way onto the podium of the Spring Stage Race, but it didn't come cheap.
As I was preparing for the second stage, I noticed a crack in my rear wheel. Jagged and in the brake track, it immediately rendered the wheel useless. I had glued up the tubular the week prior, and spent a lot of time inspecting the wheel while removing excess glue, so this was completely new development. It didn't make me happy, given that I had less than 8 race days on the wheel, but there are worse ways to discover an equipment failure. Riding on an obviously compromised wheel was just not a risk I was willing to take. It was a small crack, and didn't go through all of the layers, but given the location of the crack and the fact that I had other options, I set it aside. Instead I raced on my big, fat Chinese carbon wheel and ended up with two solid sprint results. When I got home, I immediately removed the tire from the rim to avoid the temptation of using the wheel. It's done.
Thirty minutes before the third stage, I noticed my race bike wasn't shifting correctly. An inline barrel adjuster had cracked, causing the cable to intermittently flop around and the chain to skip up and down the cassette. A temporary fix with a pen top and some pink duct tape (Save the Boobies) got it in the ballpark enough to be stable on the relatively flat criterium course and give me the gearing I needed to contest the sprint. After the stage, the bike was placed in injured reserve status and the backup race bike was called up from the bullpen. The race bike is going to need some work before I trust it again, and that may not happen until after Fairbanks. Since I've won more on the backup than I have on my actual race bike, role designations may require review.
After the last stage, I picked up my spare wheels from the pit. I noticed a small bulge in one of the tires. The base tape was starting to separate from the tubular casing, which is another failure you don't want to discover in the middle of a turn. This set of tubulars was starting to show some wear, which is why they were on the spare wheels, and a new set ready to be glued up was waiting at home. Not a real loss, but I dodged another bullet.
I had no real goals for the Spring Stage Race other than to get in some badly-needed race days, so the cost of the broken and lost equipment may seem a little high. However, it's better to have these kinds of issues affect a "meaningless" race (they're really all meaningless) instead of one that I place an unjustified and irrational amount of importance on. Still, the way the costs kept adding up for my podium spot was a bit alarming.
Hopefully the next stage race is devoid of such mechanical surprises.
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