The very short version of the Avery Trace Road Race is this: it rained prior to the start – and continued to sprinkle as we pulled away from the start area .. at least for the first few miles.

The course included several climbs each with a nasty hard left turn at the bottom. For the first descent the entire peloton backed off and we crawled through a soggy corner. We tempo paced the first climb and then began the first steep descent. Anxious, the peloton strung itself out as all riders were cautious. My rear tire was super-twitchy and soon I was at the very back of the pack. Opps, I backed off too much and the peloton accelerated.

After time trialing for about a half-mile, I was back on – - – but we started to climb again. “In the red zone” I was cooked. This wasn’t like any race I’d ever experienced. Ever.

{The fact is, I made a tactical mistake on Wednesday of this week. I didn’t replace the rear tire on my racing wheels. The reason – I had hoped to get one more race out of them. With a tire that is ‘flat-worn’ across the top, a wet corner creates a twitchy feeling in the rear.}

After being dropped on a down hill descent (LOL), I rode the remaining 38 miles alone. My average speed was 20.2 … pretty good considering there were lots of rollers and three climbs along the way.

I could have cut the course short and gone back to the car. I could have thumbed the wheel truck and sagged back in — but neither were on my mind. It did me good to ride my own race and think about the importance of my decisions. I passed three other racers along the way — and made damn sure none of them tagged along.

There will be a next year. Yes, I will continue to ride on.