Astroturf, peanut butter and soup

Last Saturday, I rode (competed?) in the Elite race of the USGP in Madison. The ground was damp but not slippery. This made for traction like riding on astroturf, allowing me to really lean over and carve turns, as seen here:

photo: Bill Kieth

I had a good start and made it through the first-lap chaotic frenzy relatively unscathed.

Photo: Bill Kieth

I finished mid-pack, which is about all I could hope for against competition of that caliber.

Overnight it rained and rained. I elected to do the master's race Sunday, and while warming up the course was like peanut butter - thick and heavy. It's difficult to ride in peanut butter, and it packs up on the bike to the point where it's hard to keep the wheels turning. Luckily, it started pouring rain (and even hailing) before our start and the mud turned in to soup. As you can hopefully imagine, it's much easier to ride through soup than peanut butter, and soup doesn't pack on your bike like peanut butter can. Think about it - you've never had soup stuck to the roof of your mouth, have you?

photo: NikkiCyp

I had another good start, moving up at least 40 spots in the first lap. Thereafter it became much more difficult to make headway, as the more fit and technically adept riders were all that were left in front of me. I'm racing my way in to shape and having huge fun along the way.