Kings Valley...a dismal failure

 So...Kings Valley has come and gone again this year. I had high hopes heading into the race as I knew my power was there and my weight has been dropping. The conditions were perfect this year with temps in the 60's and a nice south wind, which would make the back side of the course perfect for breaking away.

The race started as expected...a few hard efforts, a couple people trying to establish an early break and basically the general feeling out that takes place during a race. The Masters 3/4/5 field was "HUGE" with 80 riders starting the race.

Up the first climb we were not going that fast...but it opened up a great opportunity to start a break. As we crested the hill I accelerated to catch a guy that had gaped the field by a short distance. When I reached him two others had jumped with me and we had a solid group of 4.

I knew one of the members of the break as he was a former teammate and a strong rider. One of the other riders appeared to be very strong as well...but the 4th member didn't seem very strong as he couldn't pull through on a downhill section.

By the bottom of the hill (spanning about 3 miles) we had opened up a gap of 40-50 seconds and were opening it up.

Then came a sharp right hand turn when everything went downhill for me. Before entering the corner the lead guy wasn't holding his line, which caused me to brake hard...then we made it through the corner...so I thought. Just after hitting the backside of the apex I was on the ground...HARD. The only thing I can recall is  the weakest guy blew through the corner, didn't hold his line and took my front wheel out...but I can't totally verify if this is true because of how quickly it happened.

Looking back at my Garmin data I hit the ground at 29.8 mph...the crash destroyed my custom Tsunami frame and most of the components on my bike as seen by the photos below:

 As you can see by the right seat stay, it's bowed inwards...when it should be straight like the left side.

The right side chainstay got dented and has a small gash now. I'm really not sure how this happened unless my bike was hit from the back side because I basically just laid the bike down from my recollection.

Both shifters were broken in the crash. The front shifter paddle broke off, the rear shifter was bent and the paddle damaged in the crash. The bars were also damaged as you don't see the bar tape worn off and all the gashes on the side of the handlebar.


Other parts that were broken in the crash: The saddle was destroyed as the sides were worn off as it skidded down the road. Both tubular tires are trashed with the rear tire rubbing on the chainstay and the front now punctured...so there is another $200.00 or so to get new tires glued onto the wheels...however the wheels appear to have made it through the crash extremely well. With that said...I'll highly recommend Corsa Concepts for wheels if you are looking as they are fairly light and "Extremely" well built (hand built in house).

Here is a picture of my helmet...another casualty of the crash. There are several cracks in the helmet now and it shows the importance of wearing your helmet.

I also lost my brand new team kit as both the jersey and shorts were shredded.


With all the damage to my bike and it being totaled...on the way home wife told me to just buy a new bike. So with that in mind, after cleaning my wounds up...I headed out after the race and did a little bike shopping. I really wanted a Scott Foil 40 but couldn't find one around in my size and the extra money for it just didn't seem worth it for a bike that could end up like my Tsunami.

Knowing the geometry of many, many bikes...I decided to go and pick up a new Cannondal CAAD10 (4). I had them put a new top cap on the headset that dropped the bars by 1.5cm (stock is 25mm, replacement is 10mm). I then added a -17 degree Thompson stem I already had and a Thompson 0 degree seat post. I also replaced the saddle with a Specialized Romin, which so far I really like and the bars with some Pro Vibe 7 round bend bars I already had to give me a lower position in the drops.

I'm still a little taller than I want to be, but overall the bike fits really well. It came in a little lighter than I expected an $1800 bike to be. With two cages, my Powertap training wheels and Garmin computer it weighs in at 17.13 pounds. With my race wheels on it will come in right at 16 pounds...not bad for a Rival equipped, aluminum framed bike.

Overall...a crappy day on the bike, but I should heal up quickly and am already planning a 3+ hour ride on the new Cannondale tomorrow...to better associate myself with the new bike...Bonding time and all. I'll probably get in some good climbing and enjoy some extra gearing as I now have a compact crank instead of standard, which I needed for the steeper sections (over 8% grades). I will likely eventually replace the stock crank with a SRAM Red or Force compact with 50x36 gearing instead of 50x34 since I think it will fit me perfectly.

Anyway...a dismal race, some injuries, a totaled bike and a new bike. Quite the Saturday for me...hope your's was better.