would help with that missed turn.
so what caused the flat?
but pace counting on a bike? just know the pace for a given gear, don't coast, and count pedal strokes? or ride a fixie? so hip. what screwed me was excitedly cutting through a parking lot, and not keeping tabs on where i came out.
that sidewall tumor jeff pointed out finally gave, oddly enough on beautiful pavement. freaked out the sunbathers at Bentley. I've had that slice in the sidewall since 'nam, and I've always had a scrap of whatever food-bar mylar wrapper between the tube and the cut. i was kind of curious if the mylar was actually doing anything, so I left it out a few months back and then forgot about it. i always put my wheel back on clocked the same, so the latest patch still lined up with the cut, and the tumor was that patch (a glueless park tool patch, kinda thin) bulging through. put a fatter glueless patch on the tire this time. swung by belmont wheelworks, but they were closed for the holiday. wouldn't've minded some 'cross tires for the backside of CP91. 22mm of sand doesn't provide a whole lot of traction.
what worked for me was memorizing the turns: left to end, right, 8th street on left, right at fork. repeat 40 times. you approached the intersection from a different direction. because we had to climb the stairs we were stuck on the south side of the road. this forced us to cross at the intersection and from there we just took the first real left.
sunbathers? lucky guy.
I would try to find some sort of attackpoint, usually a straight crossroad, or zig or zag or something. Wasn't always possible, but I found I needed that time off navigating just to be able to read the clue ahead of time and plan the next leg's route.
Alex, even when we (jeff and I) read the clue together at the previous cp we forgot what it was most of the time. we guessed sometimes that it was a pole or firebox and then looked it up again. We might have had a small advantage with two of us and only one person recording the answers while the other picked the route. go ahead, let me have it. not fair.
The only part that isn't fair is that you had somebody to talk to! y'all shoulda won. carry a chain tool and extra links next time?
Joe gets lonely when he races solo.
Ben just talks to Ben during the race. More of a mutter than a talk, but it keeps team morale up.
Definitely had the same problem as Joe - even when I went out the second time and was diligent about reading the next clue. There were enough decisions to make en route that I'd totally plow under any memory of the clue. I had a wrist-mounted clue holder, but I wasn't proactive about folding it correctly. Jim Crawford had made his into a loop around his forearm, which might've worked.
Alex, how'd the ski-o board work on the bike?
chest mounted map board was great. I could always read the map and it never interfered with bike handling. The only drawback is it doesn't fold up enough to get aero (my chin is in the way), so I was never in the drops.
I was usually able to remember the clue, but I'd just keep repeating it over and over in my head, sort of like I do in forest o'. I should have put the clues on my arm or my stem or something.
Because of the urban setting I would say that my brain was too busy processing traffic and the fastest way (weighing risk of death vs speed) through intersections to effectively remember the clue as we approached the circle.
Bgallup: I figure you will want to contribute to
this discussion.