Best Laid Plans . . . 2015 Boulder Roubaix

Well, that didn't go as expected . . .

Today was the 2015 Boulder Roubaix.  This was a gold-level race with a lot of Rocky Mountain Road Cup points available.  Not one of my main goal-events of the year, but a prominent race nonetheless, and one I hoped to do well at.

I put some effort into this one:

• Rode a couple laps of the course a couple weekends ago
• Picked up my race number last night, so I could just concentrate on getting in a good warmup today.
• Ate well last night
• Ate well this morning
• Got there plenty early today
• Put some thought into wheels and tires.  Decided to ride my training wheels (Mavic Ksyerium Elite) and training tires (Gatorskins) since the wheels are pretty much bulletproof and the tires are really tough.  With a half-paved / half-dirt course, this seemed like a good idea.
• I dropped my tire pressure to about 90psi front and rear, instead of the usual 110-120psi, to give me a little better traction on the dirt and soften the ride a little bit.
• For a 90-ish minute race, I figured I'd only need one bottle of water.  But with the rough road, I thought I'd carry two half-bottles, instead of a full bottle.  This would put less stress on the bottle cages from all that bouncing around.  Plus I'd still have some water left if I lost a bottle.
• I warmed up on the roads instead of the trainer.  I thought this would help me get to the line sooner.
• Talked with teammate Keith to discuss a plan for the race, and how I could help him.

And all for nothing.

I started ok, ending up in the middle of the pack for the first few miles.  There was a lot of unnecessary braking, but it was manageable.  And then - ugh.  Flat tire.  Just about 4 1/2 miles into a 37-mile race.  I pulled off to the side and watched my race ride away from me.  At that point, I had all but given up on the day.  Even if I could change a tube in a couple minutes, that would be a couple minutes of hard chasing.  So, I just took my time.  Got my tube changed in about 8 minutes, watching other categories of racers go flying past.  I got back on the bike and continued on my lap.  I still rode pretty hard, but decided my day was done.  I passed a few people here and there, but was sure I wasn't making up any ground on my group.  As I approached the start/finish line, I debated continuing for my second and final lap, just to finish the race, but decided it wasn't worth it.  I was a little concerned about being out in the middle of nowhere and possibly getting another flat.  At that point, I would have to be patching a tube, which I really didn't want to be doing.  So, I rolled across the finish and turned in my timing chip, taking my first ever DNF (did not finish) in a race.

At that point, I was able to hang around the finish line for a while to catch the end of a couple other races, getting to see teammates Keith Collins and Brad Clemmons get 3rd place in their respective races.  Keith was actually in my race, but I guess he really didn't need any help from me after all.  And Brad was in the MM50+ 4 race.

After sticking around a bit to congratulate some teammates and find out how their races went, I sulked back to the car, got changed and headed home, stopping to drown my sorrows in some pizza on the way.  Not racing tomorrow, so back to training and getting ready for next weekend.

A couple thoughts:

• Should I have sacrificed the ride quality, and put the normal amount of air in my tires?  That may have prevented the pinch flat.
• Should I have tried some puncture-resistant tubes?  Almost certainly would have prevented a flat, but they are quite a bit heavier than normal tubes.
• Should I have invested in some new 25mm tires?  Not sure that would have made a difference.
• What if I had just ridden my normal race wheels and tires?