Paskenta recap

Well, that race was interesting.. I had been looking forward to it for quite some time.  It seemed to be getting a lot of hype, and naturally I was gaining excitement for the race.  Riding in the cold, thinking about that race coming soon where all the long cold mornings of riding would pay off.  Well, that day came.  It was a great weather day, a bit windy, but that was expected.  Everything went great, I had great positioning, raced smart, enjoyed everything about the race right until the gravel.  At that point all heck broke loose and the race went down the hill.  Well, for those that flatted.. Let me back up a bit.  Right before the gravel we (the group) managed to let another group of riders off the front.  Why? I have no clue, but after a while, Paul Mach and other strong riders (including Ian) took off and I joined in.  After taking a pull or two, I literally sat on their wheel and they pulled us all the way through the rollers back to the lead group.  Man that hurt!  THEN we came to the gravel, all united.  I went into the gravel maybe 8th or 10th wheel (near Jeff) and we rode single file through the dry, deep and wicked gravel.  One by one everyone flatted and pulled off the road.  I looked back and there were like six or seven of us left and other stragglers riding through the gravel.  I went from 5th wheel to 4th, to 3rd, then it was just one dude in front of me!  Then, he too flatted.  I thought to myself, "Dude, I'm next.. ah dangit.." and at the sametime I was like "Dude!! I made it this far, AND I'm leading the race on the gravel. This is unreal!"  Then, after riding for a while on what seemed like a low tire, I asked the Team Chico guys behind me if I was out, and they said they thought so.  Sure enough I too had a flat on my rear tire.  The thing is, I thought my tubular would hold up, not my front tire. I had only brought a spare front tire.  With that dilemma, I was done for.  Alex picked me up and I watched the rest of the race from there.
The worst part? Not only not getting to finish the race (or be in any of those lead/chase groups) I saw that the gravel had destroyed my carbon wheel.  YAY!

Anyways, I am a bit frustrated with the overwhelming maintenance costs of wheels.  I literally got that tire glued on days ago, and I had just sent the front one into Ritchey for a fix so I'd have a set for the season.  Not anymore!

Well, the race was fun and exciting, but frustrating at the same time.
More races to come, hopefully most of them on pavement that won't jack up my wheels.