Seriously?!?

Rain. And lots of it.

The 5:00 PM rain struck with a vengeance today. The weather was great all day, I got in a really nice mid-day ride to loosen up, and took a nap, and woke up with the clouds massing in the mountains to the west. If you've never been to Colorado Springs, it sits right at the eastern edge of the Rockies. From what I hear, the standard summer weather is to have beautiful day until about 4:00, then the clouds roll over the front range, and at 5:00 the rain hits. It's like clockwork, and today was no exception. It begs the question of why they schedule races in the evening here in the summers. I guess it usually dries out quickly, but it seems like quite a gamble. Last year was the same thing, and the weather for tomorrow doesn't look particularly promising either. The races from tonight have been rescheduled for tomorrow morning, so we should get in at least the 10 mile scratch race. But if the madison gets rained out for the second year in a row, I doubt that I'll ever come back to this one.

Everyone took cover in the tunnel to wait for an official communique about racing. Ultimately we
got cancelled for the night, and pushed back to tomorrow morning.

Bummer. I was feeling good, too. Anyway, here are some pictures from Junior Nationals last night. The men's 17-18 sprints was awesome to watch, going to three rides, with photo-finishes each time. Ultimately Shane Kline (Fuji Salamander) took it over Justin Williams (Rock Racing). Some poor kid got carted off on a backboard after a brutal crash in 15-16 scratch race, but word this morning is that he's doing alright, and is out of the hospital. Seeing that brought back all the sore memories of lost skin and massive bruises from my own junior nats experience. Glad I never need to do that again...

Shane Kline (green/white) duking it out with Justin Williams (black/white).

Recognize that glowing pink bike? Shebly Eck is back racing, and going fast, taking second in the 500.

That's it for tonight. Hopefully the weather holds off tomorrow.