It was a rainy drive down from Asheville.My race was 6 laps of the 7 mile course, 42 miles. The first two laps I was just trying to get my race legs. After the 3rd lap I shot off the front to see what would happen. I normally just sit in the pack and wait for the sprint. My effort was good and I tried to catch a couple guys already up the road. Just as I about caught them, they sat up. The field was on our wheels. So, I sat up and rejoined the group. I wanted to see how long it would take me to recover.
Shortly after I was back in the group the heavens open up with a torrential downpour and the rain drops hurt and stung. Then there was some lightening and thunder which made for a more interesting race. I felt like superman, Teddy King and the gang in the Stage 4 break away of the Tour of California. I just kept on going. It rained hard for lap 4 and 5 and the less so on lap 6. About a mile from the finish we were going so freaking slow that there was an incident ahead of me that resolved itself and then immediately after the was an actual crash. I didn't think at first it was going to affect me, but when I hit my breaks and I was not slowing down because of the wet rims.....it did push me off the side of the road. I did not make contact with anyone or the ground. I quickly got back on the road with my bike and tried to catch on to the pack, but it was not going to happen.
I was feeling good to and was hoping to contest the sprint. Oh well. Lets see what happens next weekend!
When I got home I realized that I had a "swishing" sound in my bike. I quickly figured out that I had water in my wheels. So, I took off the tires and the tubes and sure enough there was water in my rims. I dried it out in the sun and she's all better now for the crits next week.
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