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| Too much of this... |
My son woke up at 2:30am because he had a "bad dream". Well, I dealt with that and then I never did get back to sleep. No big deal, right? Maybe I'd be okay anyway.
I got out of bed finally after sleep never came back at 4:00am. I went about getting everything together for the trip to CIRREM.
I had put 42"s on the BMC so I could fit fenders, since Friday all I saw about CIRREM on Facebook was that the roads would become a mess. The bike got done without a hitch and I thought I was good to go. Loaded up the truck and figured that I'd get going about 5:30am for the 3 hour drive to CIRREM and something to eat.
First indication something wasn't right: I blasted through Hudson, Iowa at 60mph. Whoops! Speed limit there is 40mph! Sheesh! My mind was at about half awake status. Not good. The next issue: Ice. Lots of it off and on. The cars around me were only doing 40-45mph.
I decided to see how it would be further south, but as I got north of Toledo, it was worse yet. Okay- The Truck With No Name doesn't have the greatest tires, is a two wheel drive, and is pretty light in the back. Going fast through ice is not an option. Especially when I'm half awake. I decided it wasn't worth it. I wasn't alert, and driving on this stuff in my rig demands all of your mental sharpness.
So, it wasn't meant to be, I figured. I got home and went back to sleep for three hours and felt bad for not making the event, but at least I'm safe and sound. I definitely wouldn't have been 100% had I gotten there anyway.
Hope everyone had a good, safe ride at CIRREM!
4 comments:
Sometimes it takes more guts and fortitude to know when to back off than it does to soldier through. Sounds to me like you made the right choice.
Live to ride another day...
@Jon: Well, thank you.
By the way, reports coming in seem to indicate that the course was treacherous. One fella I know seems to think he broke a rib in a crash. All my best to whomever toed the line this year.
I don't write this to vindicate my decision, but I truly feel concerned. I thought the gravels up this way looked pretty sketchy, so I hope everyone is okay.
Ahhh - it was really good. I ceartainly understand your situation - safe is good - sorry not so good. I believe the course record was broken on the fast roads.
And Highway 20 and 35 were in very good shape.
Let us know when you want do do some longer gravel training rides.
John
The first part of the course was rough, especially for anyone with skinny tires. Anything sitting in the shade was snow or snow and ice. Saw a few people go down. Some cross bikes had issues with drifts. Where there wasn't ice, the roads were packed and fast.
As we got closer to the halfway point, the thaw started and then things were getting sloppy. Lot of front derailers and shifting cables frozen up with the mix of water and mud.
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