Excited and anxious is an understatement in describing how I was so looking forward to the Bike King Duathlon (6km run - 60km bike - 4km run) event which was held at Clark, Pampanga last Sunday, May 12. Not only did I rack in the needed mileage in preparation for this race but was mentally and physically good to go. Needless to say I was totally psyched up in spite of the fact that I have just recovered from a fractured left rib due to a terrible bike fall just a month ago.
So I went to the race venue and was just doing the usual last minute preps before checking in. I decided to do some “technical” tinkering with my bike which unfortunately resulted in a total disaster. I ended up with a deflated tire which was irreparable. The only solution was to change the tire / interior but at that point I knew I no longer had the luxury of time with only minutes to gun start compounded by the fact that I had zero experience on tire changing 101. It was then that I realized I had no choice but to just call it a day resulting in a DNS (Did Not Start). I won’t deny that I was pretty devastated and ultimately decided to go for a 20.5 km run instead to calm my frustration.
So what is the moral in all of this ... DO NOT TINKER WITH YOUR BIKE MINUTES BEFORE RACE TIME!!! But then again, “shit” does happen. Unexplainable random events that we have no control over. "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong ” as the old adage goes. I know there will be more duo races to come and this time I will I be ready and hungry for it... barring Murphy’s Law.
