CTS Day 3 - Handicap

Day 3 I woke up, ate a quick small breakfast and prepped my pack and bike.  I was going to ride. 

Enjoyed a beautiful, if cold, 10K neutral ride to the start of the 3rd stage at a ski resort.  I started near the back again to avoid slowing anyone up and then proceeded to pass riders up the hill.  Hooked up with Tom, a dinner companion from the night before, who was riding at about the same pace (he had missed the start and was trying to get up in the pack to riders at his level).  I anxiously completed the relatively technical (read – slow) downhill section by staying way back over the rear tire to keep it from losing traction and locking up - it was my only resistance to the force of gravity.  Since I wasn’t loading the front tire with braking forces my steering was super accurate and everything worked out fine.  This new approach to riding was fun!  Tom, my new ad hoc riding partner, knew we had a long paved section ahead and suggested we start a draft.  This would be a first for me but I knew the theory and agreed with excitement.  We started out and encouraged anyone we passed to join in if they could keep up.  In the end there were four of us taking turns in the lead and pushing really hard.  We were a freight train pushing past other riders seemingly effortlessly.  It was very exhilarating.  At one point Tom, feeling responsible for keeping the group together, looked back over his shoulder after giving up the lead position.  When he looked back to front he had gained slightly on the lead rider and their tires were now overlapping (meaning they could not move side to side without contact).   Unfortunately, the adage ‘look where you want to go’ applies equally to looking at what you want to avoid and since he was fixated on the lead rider’s rear tire he inadvertently yet seemingly inevitably moved into it.  I heard the rub and reacted to create space around Tom who was right in front of me.  Luckily everyone else close did the same.  Tom tried to correct but going down at this point was basically unavoidable.  He crashed  and slid hard on the pavement but as we all stopped he jumped right back up, checked himself and his bike and kept right on riding.  He even lead a couple more pulls of the group draft before we turned off into the woods.  Unfortunately he was forced to stop for aid before the end of the race and was unable to finish.  Thankfully he greeted me at the end all smiles – whew!  Further excitement awaited as I completed a fantastic swooping gravel downhill section (again, the Mojo is perfect for this) and had to pull up with a flat in the rear.  My guess is that since I was loading the rear tire to keep traction while braking I applied too much force and punctured on something that otherwise I would have rolled over without incident.  I run tubeless so I tried my first CO2 cartridge after checking the bead was still seated to see if it would self-heal.  No luck with that so I pulled off the tire and inserted my first tube and then used my last CO2 cartridge to inflate the tire and rode on.  Unfortunately I flatted again about ten kilometers later which I believe was due to rushing the first fix and folding the tube.  I located the leak, carefully inspected the tire at that point for any foreign objects, inserted my last tube and started to pump.  A passing rider gave me one of his CO2 cartridges to speed this process along (thanks Mike!) and I was back in motion.  The remainder of the race passed without further mishap but it was fairly slow.  I was running low on energy at this point and the trail had become muddy again.  The weather was gorgeous though and my spirits picked up for the very fun section that the organizers had saved for the finale of the race.  Crossing the start finish line was a relief.