"Race in snow" 4/7/2007
-by Janet Edgerton
We didn't actually race in the snow, but this message sent to Missy from the race promoter's Blackberry certainly captures the spirit of the day in Richmond, Va., for the US Open Cycling Championships on April 7, 2007. Dan and I decided to head north despite the forecast of SNOW for the Richmond area. We found the motel Missy had pricelined; after parading through the construction zone in the being-renovated lobby, we found a very nice, newly-decorated non-smoking room on the 8th floor. Missy & John arrived later and after another disbelieving glance at the weather station, we turned in.
6:00 a.m.: Dan is first to the window: "There's just a light dusting of snow on the top of the cars." Janet & Missy check out the view: "But what about that snow blowing horizontally past that streetlight???" OK, now we are operating on the just-do-the-next-thing plan.
First stop, breakfast. No problem, the motel serves breakfast. Oh no! The cook didn't show up. No problem; the nice lady at registration tells us of 2 diners in close proximity. We pile into the car and head out. Man, is it cold out! The first 24-hour diner is not open; the 2nd 24-hour diner IS open. We cheer and head inside--to the enticing aroma of last night's alcohol being sweated out by the other patrons, all of whom are smoking 3 cigarettes at one time. And there is only one waitress for the entire joint. OK, no problem--no, this IS a problem. We head outside again.
Finally we snag breakfast and then drive to check in and pick up race numbers before getting dressed. Man, is it cold out! We are warmed by hugs from Mandy and by the sight of Tonya's daughter Alex. The middle 3 inches of Alex's face are cute as a button; I never saw any more of her than that because she was sensibly bundled up to the max. We chat briefly with Laura and Emory. The race start has been delayed by one hour; we learn that if the helicopter covering the men's race still can't fly in one hour, that the races will be cancelled.
OK, back to the motel room. What to wear??? No problem, just put on everything you brought. I don't think Missy and John thought too highly of my plastic grocery bag between my shorts and my tights as a butt fender, but hey, it works. Missy has proclaimed repeatedly that she is not starting a race in these awful conditions. So of course she and I roll away from the motel to head to the course to scope out what she is not going to do. We roll twice around the course, noting the location of potholes (everywhere). At least the road surface is nearly dry because of the wind blowing across it. Lauren and Tonya join us on the line, and the field of about 55 crazy ladies is off! The dad-gum hill I was hoping to avoid with this new course is back, badder than ever. For some reason, I can't keep up with Tina Pic and Jenn McRae, and I come off the pace a bit. But I see some more BMW blue in my group and I am glad to be riding with my teammates. On the 2nd lap, I drop my chain after hitting a monster pothole. I'm trying to baby it back on, gently, gently, and the woman who was behind me scoots around me, saying "You lost your chain." I didn't have enough oxygen to respond, but I was thinking "Duh, no kidding; I'm doing my best to get it back on the small chainring." Something doesn't feel right ... glance down. I have LOST my chain!! It is gone, gone, gone. Of course I coast to a stop as soon as the hill starts to turn up--losing face with spectators for bailing before I have to climb that monster again. So, my 15-minute race is over. I pout for 5 minutes, then buck up to cheer my hot teammates, all of whom finished. Then we watched some of the guys' race. And I was not the only one wearing inventive cold weather gear.
Missy got tapped at random for drug testing; I'll let her tell her own story about that. In summary; Pollen was not a problem; Dan got some good pics; misery loves company; I have a really cool race number that has "U.S. Open Cycling Championships" printed on it.