Are you mad?

Yesterday, Hungary along with most other countries had their XC National Championships. The first thing you should know is that it was a huge pain for me to even be able to register for the event, partially due to me being a Hungarian citizen but not a Hungarian resident, partially due to my dual citizenship, and partially due to the fact that my UCI license was being secured through the USCF and not Hungary and I therefore needed to complete a bunch of paperwork through USCF in Colorado and my residence in Georgia. There was apparent to me some doubt as to my eligibility to race, especially in the Elite category, in the national championships of the country in which I was born but do not permanently reside.

Anyway, so I arrived at the venue in Zalaegerszeg in the foothills of the Alps yesterday morning relieved to find at registration that my bib number and timing chip were waiting for me in the hands of a very professional and friendly race staff. The spectators and media seemed really keen to talk to me about my foreign kit and my super sweet carbon Jamis D-29 (I was one of maybe 10 racers total with a 29er, one of maybe two or three in my category and the only one with a carbon 29er) given that both the type and brand are still very much a rare breed in Europe.

I lined up at the start, called up to the second row directly behind Olympians and multiple Hungarian Champions. We took our first parade lap around the field and I went into the woods in the top 15. There were to be 6x 5.1 km. laps. The temperature was 33ºC (over 91ºF) and very very dusty. The course was short but extremely hilly with very steep grades throughout. We were wheel to wheel the entire time with nobody able to pass with the exception of a few racers who were able to take advantage of the small mistakes made by others to gain a position here or there.

Towards the end of the first lap, we entered a section of the course with a long downhill of increasing grade and speed. The soil was hardpack that had degraded from the wear from previous races to a very fine chalk-dust. Into the sun on this steep downhill, nobody was able to see anything and we were basically flying blind and following only the wheel in front. At some point, I hit what I presume to be perhaps the trunk of a small tree that had been felled. The obstacle was no more than 20 cm tall but rigid and I went over the bars, with the riders behind following me off the course and into the trees. I somersault off my bike and landed on my feet, able to look back to see a column of riders two abreast aimed right for me, some already with their rear wheels in the air preparing to crash. I braced myself as my bike was pulled from me again. I finally was able to grab my bike and head downhill, having lost only around 10 places because some of the obstruction created by the crashes. I got towards the bottom of the hill and and realized that my rear brake lever was coming to the bar and there was barely any force on the rotor. I had maybe 10% from the rear brake.

I finished my first lap and got my first bottle feed; rolling through the start-finish I thought I had a chance to pump my brake and get rid of the air bubble in the system. So I set off on the second lap and on the first hard downhill I completely lost the rear brake and saw hydro fluid at the junction of the master cylinder and the line. The line was out of the lever.
I climbed one more hill at full gas just out of frustration and took off my jersey at the top with the photogs snapping away and asked which way back to the start-finish.

Game over.

At the start-finish, I gave the chip back to the promoters and officially was officially DNF. A kid with a camera came over and started taking photos of me and asked me what happened. I didn't even want to talk to him but I remember when I was his age and Elite racers were my absolute heroes. He asked if I was mad and I wanted to just yell "YES!" but in reality, there was nothing I could be mad about. Frustrated, yes, but this was as random of a problem that anyone could have. I told him there is always next year and he seemed OK with that answer.

Usually, when something goes wrong during a race, there is at least something you can learn from it. This was my second DNF of the season, the first one being a SERC race back in the U.S. earlier this season due to a crash. At that race, I was comfortably in third place, but got greedy and crashed into tree and twisted my ankle because I was trying to chase for second. What I learned from that is that I have to get better at weighing risks against benefits when I'm cross-eyed in anaerobic hell. Fair enough. But there was nothing I could do here at Nationals. I would have needed a second bike in the Pit which I didn't have.

I had to look back to Dave Z.'s Twitter quote from when he had to abandon at the TdF this year: "So be it." True indeed.

And last but not least, a massive shoutout to my amazing parents without whose unyielding guidance and support I would never have had these opportunities.
I am not one to let my fans down. I will keep pushing always.