I held a small ceremony in my car on Friday celebrating the official passing of winter. It was nearly 70 degrees and sunny outside, so I marked the occasion by turning off the heated seats. They had been on since mid-November. So, I made the declaration that Her Majesty Queen Winter MMVIII was dead. Long live the Queen.
The seats are back on. 36 hours later. So much for Friday's ceremony.
Saturday's weather was also crap. And there was a bike race scheduled. It was an uninviting 43 degrees and rainy with a strong biting wind, but I was still contemplating the idea of racing. You see, on VeloNews.com this week, there's a cool and inspiring photo of George Hincapie covered in mud riding through the Arenberg Forest during the 2001 Paris-Roubaix (Paris Roubaix is happening right now - Sunday morning, 13 APR). The photo had a negative effect on me: it made me want to race regardless of the conditions.
We normal people aren't involved in epic rides very often, so it seemed OK to create one. I arrived only an hour before the race to find that I was the second rider to sign up. By the start of the race, only 12 more had joined the field. That's not a good sign. I have found that the smaller the field, the harder the racing. That's exactly what happened. We spend the next two hours beating each other senseless. It was awesome.
It was awesome until I flatted. Twice. Out of the race.
Two things about this that I want to share:
1. I was surprised to see several well-known riders drive into the parking lot, sit and grumble, then turn around and leave without even getting out of the car. They made the mistake of sitting in a warm car with the heater (and seats) turned on full blast. Bad move. It prevents them from seeing that it was 43 degrees. Just a few weeks ago - when the weather was 28 degrees and snowing sideways - we would have given anything for 43 degrees. OK, so the wind and rain made it worse; it didn't make it horrible.
2. My old friend Rich Snodsmith was in town visiting from San Francisco. He borrowed a bike and came to race. Now, he may not want me to tell you but I will: he's been fighting cancer for the fourth time, and just had his last round of chemo only a few weeks ago. Here he is riding in this crap. After the race, soaked with road grit everywhere and dried worms stuck to the downtube, he's smiling. Sore, but happy. It's the Roadie Way.
OK, I gots to go. Paris-Roubaix is on Velonews.com.
(EPILOGUE - Is this poetic or ironic? George Hincapie - my inspiration for racing in the rain -flatted in the race and was out of contention. I feel his pain. He feels mine.