let's contemplate for a minute some of the terrible things that could happen to you in a race. mmmmm??? well...you could crash and hurt yourself or your bike. You could get pipped on the line in a bunch sprint for the finish. You could get dropped...the list is endless.

However this particular scenario i would have never thought of in a million years...but it happened and because of it my whole race was ruined. here's what happened.

So it's turning out to be a beautiful day in muskego. a little cold and the odd spat of rain but for the most part a nice day. I go out for a warm up prior to the race. check over my bike...everything is in working order. check.

I arrived early at the start line as you should do and as a result i gained myself a front line starting position..nice (i thought to myself).

well everything was in place, bike in order, i am feeling good, good position to start...then it begins. (haha i am laughing and kicking myself at the same time while writing this.)

We get the all clear to start, i push forward on the bike, move my right foot to clip in and my pedal flips upside down my foot proceeds to slip off the pedal and somehow i managed to whack my chain with my foot as it slipped and my chain comes off!!!

unbelievable!!! what a crap day this was going to be. anyways i try to push off again not realizing my chain had come off until all the riders flying past me shout "dropped chain" bollocks!!! is basically what i said and was thinking at this moment in time.

i was in such a state of panic that it took me a few seconds to realize and comprehend what had just happened. so i proceeded to try and put my chain back on in a state of frenzy. A guy runs over to help me i get back on...he pushes me off and i am away.

well your probably thinking two things. 1, you're an idiot...how does anyone make such a mistake. 2, thats unlucky surely nothing else could happen to you.

well as i started to ride i felt a lot of resistance. i look back and my rear brake somehow was rubbing on my rear wheel. so once again i stop get off and rearrange my brake caliper.

finally i am away but by this point the pack is way ahead. i burst into a time trial state to try and bring them back but it wasn't to be. i realized after a couple of laps that i couldn't maintain this pace if i wanted to finish this thing.

also a random guy was running on the side of the road and he told me they were about half a lap ahead which proceeded to 3 quarters.

as you can imagine, a lot of things were running through my mind...you should just quit you have no chance. you will never catch them. this burning in my legs sucks i want to stop!!!

but somehow in the so common battle of the mind that we all go through as cyclists in tough times. i managed to fight the urge to quit.

there's no way i am quitting this darn race no matter how far back or how much this hurts. i paid for this thing...i am going to finish.

so that is what i did, and to my amazement i managed to catch about 4 guys and achieve what i swore to never do in a race...finish last.

I have always said no matter what happens i am here representing xxx and i will not finish last. plus i wanted the race to count to my 10 for the season. plus i just paid $27 for this thing.

so i fought the urges to give up and finished completely exhausted and disappointed at the fateful events that occurred on this day in muskego. but there is always positives and negatives to take away. i was glad that i managed to continue and catch some guys. plus as a whole my body felt strong on the hills so there were some plus points to this nightmare scenario.

hopefully this never happens to any of you coz believe me...it sucks!!