Sorry for getting this posted a little late, but things have been a little crazy recently!
At the start of the month, I participated in a little mixed-surface racing that the organizers called a Kermesse race. The course, a roughly 2 mile loop, was part asphalt (mostly a short up-hill) followed by a combination of climbing and downhill on a rock field trail. I would point out, this offroad section would be an easy little ride at normal pace, however we were bombing through it at race pace, and it was a little harsh!
I decided this would be a good race to break out the R5, since it is very responsive and has some extra clearance for some wider tires (the S5 doesn't do a good job in that regard).
Continuing my road/cross trial for Mad Fiber, I decided to race these wheels with a 25mm tubular tire - giving a decent ride through the rough section. These did the job without complaint, other than being very bumpy.
Our mixed 1/2/3 field started the course at high speed and hit the rough section going over 20mph. At this speed, the rocky road was pretty bouncy, and unfortunately my water bottle decided to dive off for the safety of the bushes (along with about 75% of the other bottles in the race) - note for future events, use a tight cage! This lack of water was definitely a set-back, but luckily the race was only 13 laps, so it was doable.
I was in the lead group of 5 for the first four laps and then one of the group blew up during the dirt section, causing a split. There were now 3 guys up the road, and my group of 3 chasing hard behind them. We kept up a high pace and eventually the lead group dropped to 2 riders. After about 7 laps, my rear wheel developed an interesting knock. I thought that I must have broken a spoke, however the wheel was still spinning true, so I kept racing hard. A few more laps and the noise became more evident - something that other racers and the spectators/announcers noticed and mentioned at the end. With about 3 laps to go, I finally began to succumb to the heat and lack of water (and the drag on the wheel). I fell off the back of my group and would spend the next few laps trying to catch back on (finished less than 200m from their group).
As I finally rolled across the line in 5th place, I was definitely spent! I rolled around to cool down and then drank about 2 bottles to get re-hydrated. It turned out that the noise was actually caused by the carbon wall on the wheel de-laminating from the rim and smacking into the brakes - so in addition to the metronome of noise, I was also fighting against the brake-drag for the last half of the race. Not cool, but at least nothing terribly damaging. I took the wheels into Mad Fiber to look over and they believe the damage was caused by the wheel hitting against the rocks with a decent amount of force - understandable given the rocks I encountered on that course!
So, 5th place, so not what I wanted, but a decent result none-the-less. I definitely learned from the experience though, and next year I will be back with a tighter cage and some bigger tires for better rolling (less bumpy) and try to get the wheels through without trouble!
Now, it is time to change pace and get ready for Cyclocross!
