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OPINION

A lonely ride back to race HQ

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Sam punctures in the VC Glasgow South RR and has a lonely ride back to race HQ

Blow out

Yesterday's VC Glasgow South race was going well until I punctured on lap 2.  I'd gotten past the point at which I was dropped during last years race and feeling ok for the last lap, with thoughts wandering to the climb up to the finish line at the top of Eaglesham moor, but it wasn't to be...

No man's land

The last section of singletrack road towards the A77 took my front wheel (snake-bite puncture) and being up near the front of the race I had to wait a while before the rest of the race passed for service.  This came after a series of short climbs so the race was fairly strung out, by the time I got a new wheel the race had disappeared and the service truck got me rolling then promptly left me on my own - you don't get drafted back on in a 3/4 race and there's no team car with a "sticky bottle" either!

I'm so ronery!

So the last 20 miles were spent trying to half-wheel myself in an attempt to get to anybody else so we could work together, the only people I saw were marshalls though - who were kind enough to give me a clap or shout of encouragement as I passed them.  The run up to the finish wasn't as bad as I'd expected and a mate from another local team did well, placing 7th.  There was a crash on the run up to the finish line - demonstrated by the Litespeed with a rather nasty looking broken fork steerer sitting outside race HQ when I got back - hope none of the riders were seriously hurt.  I came in 57th out of 63, 14mins and 23secs down... the bunch was travelling at 30-35mph down the A77 with a decent tailwind, there's no way I was going to match that on my own and the climbs on the back section of the course were brutal with no shelter from the headwind, it was game over after the puncture.

Rationalising

Punctures happen, it's a fact of riding a bike, especially on 23mm tyres on single-track back roads travelling in a bunch at speed.  Could I have prevented the puncture?  Maybe, if I'd been better positioned, taken more note of the road surface on the previous lap, bought a set of tubs (if my wife is reading this... they're on the birthday/Christmas/birthday/Christmas/birthday/Christmas list).  It's good to learn a lesson from races where I've not done that well (ok, that's all of them then!), this one is to be more aware of my positioning, especially where there's a rough road surface.

Unfinished business

Having done better than last year in the races I've entered in 2013, I feel like this one is going to be on the event calendar for 2014, I'm determined to get round in one piece and finish with the rest of the race.  It's a great course, and the organisation is fantastic, I'm somewhat oddly looking forward to it already!

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10 comments

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Lane71 (not verified) | 11 years ago
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Could I have prevented the puncture?

Yes,put some continental Gatorskins on

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SamShaw replied to Lane71 | 11 years ago
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Lane71 wrote:

Could I have prevented the puncture?

Yes,put some continental Gatorskins on

Doubt it. Never had so many punctures than the time I had (two sets) of Gatorskins on my bike! Don't fit them any more, don't rate their wet weather grip either. I know a lot of cyclists swear by them but I had nothing but grief.

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Lane71 (not verified) replied to SamShaw | 11 years ago
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Doubt it. Never had so many punctures than the time I had (two sets) of Gatorskins on my bike! Don't fit them any more, don't rate their wet weather grip either. I know a lot of cyclists swear by them but I had nothing but grief.[/quote]

Utter nonsense,had them on my bike for a while over all sorts of crap,rocks,glass,pot holes everything
They seem pretty bomb proof to me
I have Schwalbe durano plus on my other bike and i prefer them to them
You must be riding your bike wrecklessly thats all i can think

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SamShaw replied to Lane71 | 11 years ago
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Lane71 wrote:

had them on my bike for a while over all sorts of crap,rocks,glass,pot holes everything

...and I'm the one riding recklessly?!  7

Every tyre I've ever ridden has punctured at some point; it's pointless debating whether a certain favoured make/type would resist a puncture to which another tyre might've succumbed!

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big mick replied to SamShaw | 11 years ago
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SamShaw wrote:
Lane71 wrote:

had them on my bike for a while over all sorts of crap,rocks,glass,pot holes everything

...and I'm the one riding recklessly?!  7

Every tyre I've ever ridden has punctured at some point; it's pointless debating whether a certain favoured make/type would resist a puncture to which another tyre might've succumbed!

VERY TRUE I hear good things about slime inner tubes but have not tried them yet

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Squiggle | 11 years ago
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Lucky you Sam! I ended up at the bottom of a heap with a mile to go, bruised ribs, £500 front wheel write off, and a potential bag of points down the pan  14

Actually having suffered a puncture and a mechanical in my previous 2 races I'm much happier to be taken out in a crash while feeling strong at the foot of the final climb.

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SamShaw replied to Squiggle | 11 years ago
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Squiggle wrote:

Lucky you Sam! I ended up at the bottom of a heap with a mile to go, bruised ribs, £500 front wheel write off, and a potential bag of points down the pan  14

Actually having suffered a puncture and a mechanical in my previous 2 races I'm much happier to be taken out in a crash while feeling strong at the foot of the final climb.

Ouch! Sorry to hear that.

Dunno about the last paragraph though... £500 vs. £5 for a new tube!  39

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h1howareyou (not verified) | 11 years ago
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racing news

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risb98 | 11 years ago
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sorry for the advice sam, middle of the clunch is generally the best line......

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SamShaw replied to risb98 | 11 years ago
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risb98 wrote:

sorry for the advice sam, middle of the clunch is generally the best line......

No worries, Ronnie! I'll know for next year...  4

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