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Jacque went with me today, to see some of this racing first hand for herself. We did a little wondering around trying to find the place because of a detour on Jamieson and I didn't follow the detour signs far enough west to complete the detour. Add on top of that not being familiar with the area, one way streets, and streets that go diagonally on the grid. We finally found the neighborhood and a place to park about two blocks from the start/finish. As we walked from the truck to the race we heard a clap of thunder in the distance, so I ran back to the truck to grab an umbrella - good thing.
We then made our way and found a spot just past the finish line in time to see the finish of the Cat 3 Men's Race. Then with a couple minuts to transition to the childrens races - ages brackets ranging from three to 12, with the smaller ones riding trikes & Big Wheels, and the older ones riding regular bikes & BMX bikes. And right as they were starting the first of these heats the rain started coming down. It came down hard - big drops, no sprinles for warning - and it came down fast. The consensous was the kids didn't mind - who doesn't like riding a bike in the rain?
As the last group of kids finished - some having problems stopping with the wet brakes - the rain came to an end too. There was a little bit of a delay before the Gateway Cup Women's Series would start, and now they would have to contend with wet pavement and the leaves that fail during the rain could cause some traction & control issues too. Their first few lapse did seem slow & cautious, but the natural breeze and with them continue to pass over the streets they were soon dry and they were cooking at a normal racing speed with have the race still to go. Jacque & I walked the perimiter of the park (the streets making up the race course) in the same direction the race was travelling - they completed 7 or 8 laps to our one - and we found our way to the finish as they were starting the last lap of the race.
Then all that was left on the agend for the day was the Pro/1/2 Men's race. Once again there were different small groups and solo leaders each lap; there was even a group of 4 or 5 that lead for as much as 19 seconds with just 4 laps to go. They were caught by the group and the peleton came through the start/finish as bunched up group with one lap to go - not a stretched out train like they did many of the laps during the race - and there was crash on the far side of the road about 60-70 yards after the finish line. There were no major injuries to the half-dozen to a dozen riders no longer able to race, and slowed down the progress of several others. It all lead up to a close finish.
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