I was hoping that I would not need to buy anything for my bike since I am broke. And, sure enough, bad luck has hit me. I just noticed that the headset is completely loose so that my whole shock moves in a rather unpleasant way. No wonder the bike sounded funny during the race. The bottom bearing has fallen down a bit from the frame and when I turn the bars I hear a 'scratchy mud' sound. So it looks like I will have to change the headset.

In some way this is good because I do need to learn how to change these things. But the problem is to get whatever parts I need before next weekend. Good luck. First I am injured. Now my bike is falling apart. 2010 is not getting any better...