As a season
opener Craig, Scott, Mark and I decided to do a race called the
Running of the Dogs. The format was a little different then
what we're used to. Instead doing a set number of laps in the
quickest time, the different classes had to do the most number of
laps in a set time. Expert was giving four hours. Sport and
Single Speed had three hours. The week prior to the race the
temperatures had been in the sixties. The morning of the race the
temperature was in the fifties. By the time the race got underway,
the temperature was hovering in the mid-thirties. It poured rain,
sleet and snow for the entire race.
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Scott and Craig bailed out of
their races early. Mark and I slogged on to the finish. It got to
the point I didn't want to stop. As long as I was
moving on the
bike, I could deal with the numbing cold. Stopping I dreaded
the shivering thawing pain I'd have
to
endure.
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Mark's fingers were so numb
I had to take his helmet off
for him.
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The
bikes got it the worst. All of us had completely worn through our
brake pads and into the metal backing. Hubs, headsets and
bottom-brackets had to
be
rebuilt.
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At
the end of the race there were no results, rewards or even thank
yous. They basically told us to go home and get warm. I don't really
blame them. It was a tough day for all involved. When the
results did finally come out, I had third in the Single
Speed class with five laps. The
winner had six laps.
Mark was listed on the lead expert lap with seven laps, though
he says he only did six. Though very painful, for me it was
a
worthwhile
experience.
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