Chantilly Crit 4/16/11???

I think I’m setting a record here of some sort.  That’s correct its the first race report that contains no racing.  Let me explain:

For the past two months or so everyone has been going back and forth and trying to coerce each other into what race to do the weekend of April 16th, The newly developed Roanoke Twilight Crit or the established Chantilly Crit.  There were pros and cons to both.  The Roanoke Crit had a prize purse somewhere in the publisher’s clearing house neighborhood along with a pro race that was expected to put out lap speeds somewhere around that comparative of Jimmy Johnson’s from Talladega yesterday, as well as a post-race party to embarrass Mardi Gras.  The downsides were that it was 4-5 hours away, and it wasn’t a VA BAR race.  The Chantilly Crit was a BAR race, as well as a Gam Jams Cat 3 Khaki Cup race, and it was only 3 hours away.  In the end Dan Netzer and myself picked Chantilly.  It should have been easy BAR points with everybody being drawn to Roanoke like ants to sugar.

This is where it gets “fun”.  Dan signed up to do the Master’s 35+ race at 11:15am.  Something about having to impress his family and friends, I’m not really sure, but I tagged along with him even though the Cat 3 race wasn’t until 5pm.  He met me at my house where I was waiting with freshly made Nutella and Banana Crepes, courtesy of Old Dominion University’s F.O.R.E.I.G.N.E.R.S. Club, which I am proud to be a part of.  We were raising money for Relay for Life.  We reached the race 45 minutes before Dan’s race, and I instantly decided that I would not be doing the 1/2/3 race which took place immediately after the Master’s race.  As much as I wanted to get a kit on and go in really fast circles for 30 miles in 50 degree temps with rain and winds gusting to 40mph I decided to save my legs for our main event at 5pm.  After Dan’s race we got lunch at IHOP with some delicious banana pancakes, not the Jack Johnson kind,  and a omelete; not too worried about the calories as I was sure that they would be worked off later that day.

Around 3pm Mickey Turner showed up with his mobile base/ trailer and we hung out in it until about an hour before.  With 30 minutes to our race I put on my kit, lathered up my legs with embro (which is awesome stuff by the way), and jumped on the bike for a warm-up.  The weather was not improving, and by the looks of the radar would prove for epic race conditions.  Then it happened; as Dan rubbed in the embro on his legs one of the promoters came over to tell us that the officials decided to cancel the last race due to some sort of “Tornado Warning”.  There was a storm cell fast approaching carrying with it, rain, hail, 80mph winds, dogs, cats, Dorothy, and the Yellow brick road.  We, being the die-hard cyclists we are, quickly read the rules, and referenced #5 and #9, smiled and beckoned for them to let us race.  They did not, and we packed up and drove home through the storm. On a side note, the rain was so bad that with my powertap hub strapped to the roof it actually got water in it, and subsequently did not work for my training ride on Sunday.  It instead got to be taken apart and sit in the garage drying out.  Not happy. On another note, I received ample phone calls, text messages, pictures, carrier pigeons, and one pony express telling me that the weather in Roanoke had gone rom frightful to extremely delightful, and that it was an amazing night.  Thanks for that salt in the wound.

In the end I wasn’t mad at anyone, but myself.  I took several gambles that weekend, and they all ended up being losing bets.  At least it’s just bike racing, and I won’t end up with my legs broken or anything of that sort.  I hope to see all of your shining faces as I pull a move you will only see in “The Illusionist”, and race the Dismal Dash #2 in Chesapeake, VA only to follow it up with a showing at the Meadows Crit just north of Richmond in the 1/2/3 race.