Not that I care of course but just in case, I’d like to know.
Went to bed the night before with a nasty headache, woke up at 3:45 feeling better but really fuzzy and honestly I did not feel like racing which is distressingly common for me but a different subject entirely. I managed to get to the race on time, went through the motions and waded out with the last swim wave to fulfill my destiny. At this local race I’ve been the first out of the water in my wave but this time I had company both in front and right behind me.
Got on the bike but had a feeling that I just “didn’t have the legs”. One of my Aquabike competitors passed me and I slotted in behind him 3 lengths back and even though he was in front I still couldn’t hold my position. Then the baby ass smooth tarmac started feeling weird and a few seconds later I could feel my rear rim bumping the pavement. Evidently I was feeling fine all along but my back tire was flat.
It’s only a 15 mile bike sprint so I took my time fixing it with no thought to finishing. I rarely flat but I’m proficient at changing a tube on the side of the road. I put it all together and tried to fill my spare - nothing. The spare tube has a big hole in it since it’s been dry rotted from age and repeated folding. So I turned my attention to the old Silca tube. The first thing I notice is that the valve extender is not screwed in tight but the tube is in otherwise perfect condition. I have no idea how that happens but I put it all back together again and used my last CO2 cartridge. Success!
I would have just finished the course but for the fact that a latex tube filled with CO2 is supposedly a short term fix. Not having any direct experience with the time limits I elected to cruise back to the transition area and felt grateful that I didn’t have to walk back.
I told the RD personally that I DNF’d as I went across the timing mat and headed home. The online results show me as a pretty good swimmer and a biker who is 20 minutes slower than molasses but an athlete who completed the course none the less. So a few questions:
Which is worse for your USAT ranking, a true DNF or just a really low rating for 1 of the 3 races I’ll do this year.
Should I bother to correct the record even though I personally talked to the RD? It seems pretty inconsequential to everyone involved but these days I’ve become hyper vigilant concerning ethics, particularly my own, because you know, character matters.