Murphy's Law

From Wikipedia:

Murphy's law is an adage in Western culture that broadly states, "if anything can go wrong, it will." It is also cited as: "If there's more than one possible outcome of a job or task, and one of those outcomes will result in disaster or an undesirable consequence, then somebody will do it that way"

I'm not sure if this applies more to my race today, or if maybe the good old "if it ain't broke don't fix it" sums it up better...

I've been having a great time racing cross this fall and have had some pretty good results despite being a newbie and a hack. My bike isn't ideal as it is a size or two to big and the wheels are beater- but here the other adage of "its not the bike its the rider" comes in to play and I don't think its really been holding me back that much. Anyway- Brandon was nice enough to offer up his bike for states and I figured, hey, yeah I'll ride some sweet deep dish carbon wheels and a bike that fits! Not that the wheels would make me go any faster- but I figured they'd make me feel faster which is just as important. With Bart out of town the door was open and anything could happen...

So first let me say that carbon wheels are noticeably stiffer, lighter, and faster- wow. Also it was nice not to be so stretched out. I had a pretty good start and was riding with the lead group for the first lap. Enter Murphy's law- my front tire started to go flat and I was folding it over a little in the corners and started to lose a few spots. Then I bunny hopped a little log in to a corner and blew the tubular right off the rim and stacked it. I got the tire back on the rim and rode gingerly to the tech zone where for the first time ever I had a spare bike. Problem is I had borrowed my seat post and replaced it with Brandon's... but hadn't remembered to dial in the height. That was pretty much it for my motivation...

What's the lesson here? If it ain't broke don't try to fix it, sometimes you have to be the one to realize Murphy's law, and its not the bike its the rider (as in these aren't excuses!)

Next weekdend: Thanksgiving in St. George. MTB here I come! Though Murphy's law will probably bring some rain...