Ken Woods Memorial Road Race
45 degrees, steady rain and 25mph winds. A true spring classic.

Having come down with a cold the day before, I wasn't even sure I was going to do this race. I decided to give it a go, in the hopes I could contribute to the team competition. After a 20 minute "warm-up" which did nothing but get me completely soaked we sat at the line for the start. After waiting for about 5 minutes nearly all of us where shivering like crazy. The start comes, and I'm shaking so much I can't even clip in. I finally find my pedal and make my way into the group.

Turn 1 greets us with a massive cross-wind. My bike is swerving so much I think I've got headset issues again, so I fall off the back to make sure my bars aren't about to come off. Turns out it was just the wind. Great. Now I've got to chase to get back on. I pull myself back up to the pack just in time, as the stragglers I was with get dropped for good. Turn 2 provides a 25-30mph tail wind, and the lead group drills it. Much like last week, I'm too far back to react to the surge in time, and get caught in the split. Again, I chase like crazy, taking a big pull. My teammate, Matt, swings around and reaches the group. Sweet. About 2 minutes later I see him on the side of the road with a flat. He's done for the day. I stay with the chase group through turn 3 where again, we encounter the crazy cross-wind. We've got about 10 guys in this group and only 4 of us are willing to form an eschelon. That lasts until the big roller when the wheel suckers come around and attack. Now those of us doing the work get left behind. The three other guys who just got dropped scramble to catch the chase group. I spin out the rest of the roller and prepare for the big climb ahead. Sure enough, once we hit the big one I'm able to pass those guys. I catch an Erik's rider (Mike?) by the church and we trade pulls going into the cross-wind.

By turn 3 I'm feeling much better, and I pull the entire stretch, easing up enough to keep 2 riders with me to help work on the backside of the course. We catch 2 riders up the road, one of whom is my teammate, Andy. Always good to have a teammate. We immediately get a paceline going, taking short but brutal pulls into the driving wind and rain. By this time none of us can feel our feet, but our communal bitching about the conditions is a morale booster nonetheless. We hit the big roller at a sensible pace, saving a little for the final push up Sogn Hill.

We round the corner and begin the climb. I find a good cadence, put my head down and get into a rhythym. The Masters group that passed us about 2 miles back is now only a couple of hundred meters away, so I give it a little more gas and latch on. They pick up the pace, and I struggle to stay on and out of the headwind. I look back to see if someone can come around and pull, but nobody is there, so I keep chugging up the hill to the finish. (see photo, I'm the one on the back)

I don't know where I placed and I don't really care. That was a true death march, and I'm just glad I finished. I began shivering like crazy once I stopped pedalling, and struggled for about 15 minutes to get into some dry clothes. Good times.

Photo courtesy of Skinnyski.com