At one point during my pre-ride of the GrillZ course on Thursday I heard a pop in the vecinity of my handlebar area after torquing the front end pretty hard on a technical climb. An earlier crash had bent my left brake lever in, so I was not feeling good about this situation. I stopped and did a visual but couldn't find a crack anywhere on the bar. There felt like more flex in the stem/steerer tube area but I couldn't be sure. I deduced I damaged the carbon fork steerer tube and gingerly rode out the rest of the way.
I dropped the bike off at Kennebec Bike & Ski on my way back to school. After breaking it down, there were no signd of damage to the fork. Now I was hearing things I guess!
I returned to the shop Friday to pick up the bike when Steve and I checked the flex and it still felt squishy. He had me put my hand on the stem to feel the flex and that's when it all came to light. I had caused a hairline crack the entire length of the bottom of the stem.
Thanks to everyone at the shop, I was quickly outfitted with a replacement and sent on my way, race ready!
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