That's not supposed to happen

It's a bad thing when your chainring bolts get loose at any time, let alone in the middle of a cyclocross race. It made for some good spectating and a pseudo-heroic finish, I hope.

CCCX #1 was held at the Fort Ord DOD building, a roughly counter-clockwise loop of the roads and sandy singletrack. My B race at 10am went OK, but the field was clearly much stronger than the LAPRD field. The CCCX course was also hillier than LAPRD's, so I got to say hello to my back muscles for the first time this year...Got 11th out of 18-19, and frustrated that I couldn't figure out how to ride up the sandy climb.

After two hours, lunch, and some advice from Josh Snead on how to ride the sandy climb, I lined up for the singlespeed A race. I had a reasonable start, but spun out/slowed down before the first corner and that was the last I saw of most everyone else in the field. It gave me time to think more about lines through the loose stuff (having my speed governed by the fixed gear ratio probably helped too).

Last corner, just after getting lapped by J.S., I hopped back on after the last barriers, pushed on the pedal, and rather than moving forward, I bent the bejeezus out of my chainring (see pic above). Since it was the last corner, I picked up the bike to jog over the finish line, no effect on final results. I had heard suspicious pinging noises from my drivetrain somewhere and thought I might've broken a spoke, but it seems to have been a chainring bolt or bolts coming loose. I lost two of five in the end. Yes, I feel a fool, but let my story be the cautionary tale: when's the last time you checked if your chainring bolts were tight?

Thanks to Gannon M. for advice on tire inflation, J.S. on the riding advice (worked a charm), the SS field for the commiserations/mocking, and Rod for not making me do another lap post-Chainring Incident. We'll see if I "man up" to a 42t or replace my girly-man 38t...