MBOSC’s First Ever “Old Growth Classic”
Mixed Terrain Race, Part 3: The Middle! • 8/25/18
The middle was a bit of a challenge: I discovered on the first real descent that the rear brake on my demo Ibis Hakka MX bike didn’t work. It seemed fine on flat ground, if a bit noisy, but when the descent pitched down at a significant angle the brake lever would squish all the way to the handlebar without making much difference in my velocity.
I made the sharp left at the bottom of the descent at the direction of, hey, that’s Dimitri of The Next Ride mountain bike group! Hi Dimitri! He indicated a sharp left to the first aid stop, which I just made by dragging a foot to slow down around the corner.
I rolled up to the Trail Head Cyclery tent, where Lar’s, the owner, was working on someone else’s demo Hakka MX, which was also having problems with its rear brake(!) That one was Shimano-equipped, and Lars had it up on a work stand and was bleeding the air out of the mineral oil.
While Lars was finishing up, I had some bacon and delicious homemade savory baked goods that they had out for the riders. While I was eating, Lars put my bike up on the stand, and then realized mine was SRAM-equipped, and so the Shimano bleeding tool and mineral oil he had out wasn’t going to work. He started rummaging through boxes and tool kits. I had another muffin. He rummaged some more, so I had another piece of bacon. Ultimately he realized that the SRAM hydraulic brake stuff he needed was still back at the shop.
The next aid stop had a crew from Mike’s Bikes there, and it was only 14 miles ahead, so I figured I’d ride cautiously and hope that they had the stuff needed to get me fixed up.
With the exception of one really steep, short climb on loose, blasted-looking white rock up to the top of Chalk Mountain (in Big Basin State Park), the majority of the ride to the next stop was either downhill on the Chalks Truck Trail, or flat on Hwy 1 out along the coast.
I couldn’t really let it rip on the descents, but got a good head of steam going north along Hwy 1. I made the turn onto Gazos Creek Road, and found the next stop at the intersection with Cloverdale Road.
I rolled up to the Mike’s Bikes mechanic, Kyle, and told him what was up. He said no problem, so I went to find the porta potty. When I came back I saw him working on someone else’s bike. Could he be done with mine already?! No, it turns out that the SRAM bleed kit was stuck in a drawer in their van; he had literally ripped the handle off the drawer trying to get it open. Dang! There was some high-octane adult beverages available, and I just about availed myself of them. Ah well, only another 28 miles to go....without a rear brake. On the plus side, it was beautiful out there.
