Early this morning I checked the hourly forecast for Salisbury, NC. By 1:00 it was supposed to be 101 degrees. Ouch!!! Our race start was at 1:40. Andre and I arrived and it was hot. But, our warm-up (ha ha ha) felt good and we both felt good.In the first 10 miles I was having issues with the heat. I just don't do well in the heat. Felt like if I stayed on the bike I was going to pass out. I had no problems keeping up with the group, but if the pace picked up I could be in trouble.....where I thought an ambulance may be involved. The heat bouncing off the pavement was just unbearable for me and the white space around my vision was closing in. So, at the end of lap one, I turned for the car.
Once at the car I found some AC and my body just cried with sweat. I'm a guy who usually doesn't sweat that much. Once back to normal, I drove to the feed zone to hand Andre a water bottle if he needed it. He was unaware that I had dropped out, but we talked about what we would do if one of us dropped out. As his group came through, I couldn't pick him out. So, he didn't get a fresh water bottle.
So, I drove back to the start/finish and changed and picked up my camera to snap some shots. The Cat 4s came in and sure enough Andre was in the middle of the pack sprinting for the line. Not sure yet, but he certainly got top 15th. And the top 3 juniors get a payout. So, he probably has some winnings coming to him.
Here he is sitting up after crossing the line.As for me, I wimped out on this race....but, felt I made the smart decision. I'm not going to bother with hot days like this again unless my race in early in the AM. I've never liked the extreme heat and over the years have not done much riding through the hot summer months. Today was a good reminder why.
A phone call from Asheville I heard it was raining and the sound of it through the phone sounded wonderful. As we drove out of Salisbury we saw a bank clock and the temperature read 105 degrees. Ouch!
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Andre's Race Report:
Ok, so Saturday was a pretty good day. It was the Cat 4 race. 3 laps 42 miles. It was way to hot to be racing. On our way home Frank and I saw a thermometer say 105 degrees! anyway we started the race and the first lap was really easy. I just stayed in the back conserving energy. Coming around the first lap going through the feed zone I decided it would be a good time to make my way towards the front of the group. 3 guys also thought it would be a good time to attack. 3 guys went off the front and I just stayed back and waited to see what would happen. They never got to far up the road. The group did not let them. However they did have some guys trying to block up front. I made my way to the very front and started pushing the pace to catch them. We caught the break and then I chilled out in the middle of the group recovering from my effort. Coming around the start the 3rd lap the group was still all together. Again some more guys went off the front. They got caught halfway through the last lap. The group also decided to take a rest break after the guys were caught. We made the turn on the road to the finish, about 1 mile to go now. I made my way to the front sitting about 3rd wheel. at the 1k to go mark the guys starting hitting it hard, I was right there with them. I found myself in the very front of the sprint. at about 100 meters to go my calf cramped up and i could no longer pedal. I got passed by about 7 guys, not for sure. I did not stick around for the results. Frank said I got about 10-15th spot. I also ran out of water 3 miles to go so I think that had something to do with me cramping considering it was 105 degrees outside. I am at work so I will post about the Hilly later on tonight. It was a good ride though. ANDRE
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