Update From the Weekend: WET

DAY 1- Saturday's Breast Cancer ride was wet. I mean really wet.  I don't think it eased up the whole time we were out there. The turn out was pretty darn good considering the weather.

Everyone staid together out of town and as the country roads opened up so did the gaps in the group. Which I really think was to be expected. I hung in the back just to make sure no one got dropped. (I was threatened with a caning by Christy the organizer if we lost anyone. JK)

I have to admit it was a tough one for me. I can't remember the last time I went that slow for just 25 miles. And couple that with the rain it felt like a tougher day than it actually was. But there was nice conversation. And Oregon always looks nice no matter what the weather.

At the end there was lovely food and chair massages for anyone that wanted them. And lots of volunteers that were very cheery and full of encouragement. So despite the weather it was still worth it.


DAY 2-I think maybe ouch would be the best word to describe the Sunday Cross Crusade race at Rainer.  On many many levels.

First is the wake up call. 4 o'clock in the morning is not right. I don't care what you say. It just isn't. No no. Don't try and change my mind on that. Because I'm not going to budge.

Then there is the rain. Not just the pitter patter of rain drops pleasantly playing on the roof. We are talking torrential down pour. Like any moment your expecting an arc to float by with Noah giving you a, "Poor sap." kinda look. Meeting up with Jason and Mel to head to Rainier and having small rivers flowing down I-5 made the drive up anything but relaxing (Thanks J for driving. I wouldn't have wanted to do it.)

We also had a small crisis of not being able to find coffee. NO COFFEE BEFORE A RACE!? Sacrilege! But as they say, the show must go on.

As we pulled into the parking lot I'd love to say that the sky's cleared and the birds chirped and all that wonderful crap. But that would be a lie. It continued to piss rain until about 1 lap into my race.

Pour J had to do all his warm up and his race in the rain. It was warm at least but still pretty miserable.

With that first race done it was time for mine to start and as I was close to the back of the pack it was going to be an up hill battle (a lot of the time literally) for most of the race. That course has one brutal hill on it.  With each lap, it sucked out a little more of my will to live. But I did manage to make up some time on the down hill (fat guys go down hill well...) sections.

However, the longer the race went on the more slimy the course became. On the down hill sections just staying up right became a real challenge. A challenge that I failed at on the second to last lap.

A guy went down right in front of me and there wasn't anything I could do about it. Lucky neither the bike nor myself were hurt and I was back up on on my way quickly. But even some of the slightest up hill parts. Things that a small child would have a hard time riding up under normal circumstances. I couldn't ride to save my sole. It was like greased Teflon out there. As hard as I tried to keep the rear wheel from slipping it still did it. I guess I need to work on my mediocre technical skills. Meh.

So I finished. Not well. But I finished. Got cleaned up and got out of there. The irony was about the time I finished cleaning up it was starting to get pretty nice out there. Oh well what can you do. Next weekend I'm not racing.

It's my wonderful wife's Birthday and we are headed out of town. So I guess the next race is PIR. Here's hoping everyone!

Rubber side down,

Big E