Look Ma, No Brakes!

Rode the Cape Argus MTB Race at Boschendal last Sunday. I was really looking forward to racing the mtb again.

So I’m standing in the startpen waiting for the off and I squeeze my front brake lever… all the way to the bars! Woah! Not supposed to do that! Problem… and we’re off… Ok, so I figure I’ll stop at the top of the first proper climb and adjust things to get them working again.

So I stop and fiddle with brakes and calipers for about 5 minutes. The only result being that I make it even worse and now I have no front brakes at all. I descend very gently contemplating my next move, and hit a rock and get a rear pinch-flat. mmmph. Not a great day, is it? Mentally I’ve given up on the race now, so I fix the puncture at a leisurely pace and carry on the ride with some hard riding mixed with the occasional stop to help others with their punctures. Then I get another puncture about 1.5km’s from the finish and cross the line on a completely flat rear.

Nice ride, but crap race.

Never have had much luck with my Marta SL brakes. I’m going to try bleeding that front brake one more time, and if that doesn’t fix things for good I think they’ll be looking for a new home somewhere else.