I arrived at Country Park around 12:30 and just in time to see the finish of the Cat 4 Women's Race. It was great to see Stacy Brown win the sprint and the Gold Medal. Great job, Stacy!
I settled in during the lunch break and then watched the Pro 1,2,3 guys start. The field was almost 50 strong. I left after 3 or 4 laps in order to get my gear ready and warm up. Unfortunately, it started to rain (hail as well) and there were some good lightning flashes. From the cover of a picnic building I watched as the Pro 1,2,3 guys rode in this mess. Ughh. The rain let up and I went out to warm up some.
The Cat 4 guys went out after the rain while I was warming up and apparently had 4, or so, crashes.
Great. Rain. Wet course. Cat 5 + Citizens 18-34 (read "inexperience", mea culpa). Much fear and trembling in the peleton. My plan was to stick on Chip Duckett's wheel for as long as I could and try to stay clear of any mayhem. We made it through the first lap without any issues. Just before the first turn on the second lap some guy goes down mid-peleton and mayhem ensues. I'd guess 12-14 guys made it by. I don't think anyone went down for the rest of that lap, but, on lap 3 when we got to the "Black Forest Bends" on the backside someone slid out and took another rider or two with him. There was at least one more slide out (possibly two) at that turn and some guy went down on the initial hill on the last lap. I was behind him when he went down and popped off the back glad to be able to take my skin home.
It was an ugly day of racing. After the race, Chip Duckett suggested that one of the problems might have been folks getting back on the gas coming through the "Black Forest Bends" and having the rear tire slip as they applied the pressure to the pedals. Whatever the reason, it was one hazardous day. I finished somewhere in the top ten and didn't stick around to see the results.
Greg