Last weekend, three of us showed up to the soggy Halton O-cup road race. Conditions were grim, early in the morning with steady light rain. By the time the Cat 1/2 riders were off the rain seemed to stop just in time. Things were looking great. The course was especially my kind of course, given the hills.
Minutes before our race, the three of us took a quick spin and had a pre-race chat. I then realised that the tires I was riding on were over-inflated for the wet conditions. 140 psi for a 145 Ibs rider was too much for wet roads. I got off my bike and let some pressure out, but I let too much out by accident. Now I had to find a pump to put a bit more air in. Luckily, I found someone, who I asked to inflate my tire, but the pump head couldn't fit properly on the short valve stem. Instead, air was completely let out of my front tire and I now had a flat with four minutes to go. I desperately ran up to anybody asking for a pump, but nobody seemed to have one ready, until I reached a cyclist who had finished his race and was waiting in his car for the last race to go. He saved my life with his pump! I was all inflated and made it to the start on time. That is a mistake I will never make again!
Seconds after our race started, the rain came in with a vengeance. For nearly 4 hours of the 153km race, it poured off and on. At times we would be descending at high speeds almost blinded by the spray of water. Isaac, Justin and I were feeling good, chasing attacks. At one point, Justin got into a good chase group. The field eventually re-grouped with a few riders up the road still. Justin rode impressively into the top ten while I finished with the group about a minute behind. Isaac pulled out due to his recovery from a cold he got while training in the rain a couple weeks ago. He also rode well.
