Before I get into the details of today’s race, it’s worth mentioning my new race day breakfast concoction.  I mentioned a while back in my race prep post that I ususally make pasta the night before the race and eat the leftovers in the morning. Additionally, I like to make eggs on race day morning.  That post got me thinking, why not make eggs the night before as well?

Introducing: My race day breakfast.

Absurd as it may seem, it’s actually quite tasty.  The bottom layer consists of plain elbow macaroni.  This is topped with bits of lunch meat or some other type of meat.  The next layer is scrambled eggs, and to top it all off I add some shredded cheese that melts in the microwave the next morning.  It’s very plain on the pallatte, which is a good thing because it doesn’t upset your stomach before the race.  The main thing it lacks is some sort of glucose, but this morning I fixed that problem with a leftover slice of pie.

Anyway, the race.

Banana Belt #3, which is the second race in the series due to last week being cancelled, was held in conditions very similar to yesterday’s miserable ride.  Rain, wind, and cold.  Two miles into the race we were soaked, but luckily the racing made it bearable by getting the core temperature up.  I was feeling pretty good considering, and spent some time at the front chasing attacks and waiting to follow a move I thought might have a chance.

In the second lap, plans changed as my rear tire went flat.  I dropped back to the wheel car and got a spare wheel changed in under a minute and wasn’t particularly concerned about my situation.  I figured it wouldn’t be too difficult to make contact with the pack again.  I set about chasing the pack and worked with a couple other guys off the back due to flats, and we eventually came within several hundred yards of the field.  At this point I let them go ahead to rejoin the group while I dropped back and cruised into the parking lot.

Why would I do that, you might ask?  Well, it turns out the spare wheel I was given had a 10 speed cassette, but my bike has a 9 speed drivetrain.  This resulted in severe misalignment between my derailer and the cassette, so I only had 2-3 good gears to work with.  In most gears, the chain would simply fail to grab and hop around, leaving me spinning my legs helplessly.  I was able to chase the pack using my few good gears, but if I’d gotten back into the pack I would have needed a much better functioning bike than I had to be competitive.

Joel (my ride to/from the course) was still racing and the car was locked, so I went out and did a lap backwards on the course with my two good gears to watch the remainder of the racing and try to stay warm in my soaked state.  The day was a good workout, if nothing else.  That’s bike racing for you.

The team’s win for the day came from Lindsay in the women’s 4 race.  She flatted early on, got back in the race, and then attacked and went for a solo break the entire last lap to win.  As if that weren’t enough, she even brought us cookies.

The post-race scene was mostly marked by a bunch of us huddling under a tent in the parking lot trying to stay dry out of the pouring rain.

tent party!