neutral support is so dang cool. before the race my gears were slipping so linda said go to neutral support. so off i went, a little intimidated, to bring my old cannondale with dents, dried salamanders clinging to the downtube and the crazy plastic doll thingy on the handlebars. i rolled up and offered my technical analysis of the problem. "er, it won't stay in gear and stuff." immediately the mechanic put it up on the stand and went to work. while i waited for him to turn a screw here, adjust a nut (on the bike) there, and send me on my way, a few other riders rolled up with various problems. one wanted her back wheel trued (uh, this is ten minutes before the start). another rolled up and said that her chain kept dropping into the small ring, the rear derailler wouldn't shift down, her left shifter was sticking now and then, and would he mind oiling her chain.

meanwhile my mechanic was diligently adjusting, readjusting, lubing and relubing and still my silly gears were suffering from major slippage. I was about to say, "that's fine. i'll just stay in those 3 gears," when he grabbed some pliers and ripped out the cable and started from scratch. so cool. i think I'll follow the NRC calendar for all my bike repairs.

and racing with the men was super fun. i hung on the whole way (a lot like the salamander on my downtube) and then got shelled with 5K to go. a super good fast steady workout. ippoc has such good ideas.