June 14, 2011, Boxwood Criterium #7
Nanaimo BC

This last week returned to normal weather conditions with no chance of improving on my tan, but enough dry periods to ride outside everyday.

On the drive to the race, I had to periodically use the windshield wipers, but the course was dry when I arrived. Temperatures were back at 55 degrees, so I was still wearing my heavy jacket and full fingered gloves. We had no wind, but the air felt thick due to the cold and humidity. A good crowd of 20 riders was in attendance, including a group from Comox and some riders from the Duncan Thursday ride. We'd start our 35 laps with 2 neutral laps due to the junior riders and women that would benefit from a bit of pack experience.

Warren Muir pushed the pace starting with the third lap, getting a small gap on us. Ian jumped up to him a lap later and the pack stuck to my wheel when I tried to bridge up to the two of them and thus putting us all back into a pack again. We were averaging about 26 mph as a few other riders tried to escape off the front. I did another strong pull when a solo rider was off the front and I was surprised how it drained me as I had to then struggle to stay in contact with the pack afterwards.

After five and a half laps at racing pace, a few sprinkles started to fall and the road quickly became solid wet. I moved up near the front to avoid becoming entangled in any crashes. A lap later the rain was a bit harder and as we went through the tightest corner, turn 3, I was in third position and felt my rear tire slip just a little. Then I heard a big slip right behind me and the crunching of bikes against the pavement and each other as two riders wiped out.

Due to the crash the previous week, the protocol was determined to regroup at the finish line to assess the status of the injured and then restart the race. As we lined up again, the two crash victims also joined us and the remaining laps were reduced to just 20 (6 laps less). I let a bit more air out of my tires, taking them down to the minimum rating. We set off again, but the rain immediately came down even harder and I couldn't see through my glasses. I knew I'd be soaked to the bone in about 5 minutes, which would not be comfortable in the cold conditions. The risk of crashing was now even higher and half of us, including myself, decided that this wasn't the kind of fun we were looking for and called it quits.

So a short ride for me, but I left with no injuries.

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