I HAD EVERY INTENTION OF STARTING TODAY'S DIRTY 30, and no intention of racing it.  But, then I pulled in and saw the Start banners and the Finish arch.  Well... once you throw your I'm just gonna have fun plan out the window all kinds of things can happen.

For me, the best was meeting Paul from Velofix.  I asked if he planned on working much, he said Racers come prepared, should be a light day. And just like that I remembered how awful my cranks have felt all summer. 

He brought in Adam who said, Dude, that's 200 watts easy.

What?

The drag.

What's causing it?

You're missing a washer which is causing the seal to bind.  This is terrible.

Being that I haven't focused much on mountain bike racing I'm not surprised I neglected my rig's maintenance.  That also goes a long way to explaining my truly disheartening performance on TMWC Gravel this week, and last Saturday's slog to Cocktail Rock.

The best racers are always good mechanics... and boy, have I ever failed at this.

Which brings me back to the title.  We start to finish. 

We start every race/ride to finish it. 

Nobody starts with the intention of quitting.  Quitters never finish. 

But, it's not just finishing. 

I could have finished today, even giving up all those watts.  But, by default it would have been less than my best.  My best would have seen to it that the rocket was ready to shoot skyward vs a sputter and flame out. 

If I'm gonna start something, the goal is to finish as best as possible.  That's it. 

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What a beautiful day ahead.

Among the first to set up

Adam, gettin' 'er dialed in

Chris comes through with the Mexican Coke!

Plenty a peeps

Not too shabby... I started with the wrong wave, but Timing said gaps wouldn't have made a difference.  Just happy to be here...

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