Early in the first loop, Martin—competing in his debut ISDT—arrived at a time check five minutes too soon. The mistake earned him a harsh 300 route points (calculated at 60 points per minute early) and immediately dropped him to the bronze medal standard before he had even settled into the race.
After the day’s ride, Martin explained the mishap: “I wrote my check arrival times on duct tape with a pen, but the ink smeared. I misread a ‘7’ as a ‘1’ and thought I was running late. In a panic, I rushed to the checkpoint. When I saw minute three counting down, I thought I could still make it within my two-minute grace period. It was gutting when they stamped me in five minutes early. A tough lesson, but one I won’t forget.”
The full weight of his mistake only became clear at the end of the event. Had those 300 points not been added to his score, Martin would have achieved the best performance of any American rider in the competition—a painful reminder of how a single misjudgment can change everything. (Gary Van Voorhis photo)
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