Has it really been three weeks?

It's been awhile since my last post on this blog. I've been really busy at work, but that is NO EXCUSE. There should be nothing more important in my life RIGHT NOW than my blog...err...my hour record attempt.

Rather than try to document what has happened in the last three weeks with regards to my training and racing, I'm just going to pick up from last nights track race. Or lack thereof.

It was extremely hot and humid out yesterday, 91F with close to 100% humid. Threats of thunderstorms in the late afternoon. I decided to err on the side of hope and bring my track bike to work. After a somewhat productive day of work, 5 o'clock was quickly approaching so I headed out. I stopped at Conrad's bike shop in Tudor city to pick up a tubular tire as I have run out of spares (I ride this bike once a week and have flatted more in two months than I have on my other two bikes in six months). Unfortunately Conrad's only had Conti sprinters in stock which are $70 - more cash than I had on me at the time. The guy at the shop recommended a can of sealant instead so I bought a can of fast air.

From Conrad's I started heading towards the Queensboro Bridge where I was to meet up with a few other races. I ran into Ken on Third Ave. and we headed uptown together. And then it started raining. We both looked at each other but kept going. By the time we got to the bridge (about 5 minutes later) it had stopped raining. We met up with Luke and Todd and started riding.

When we got to Flushing it started pouring. We stopped under and awning and waited it out. The rain tapered off pretty quickly - about ten minutes later. At that point we were all pretty sure the races were going to be cancelled and that we would be the only people at the velodrome but since we were so close we decided to soldier on anyway.

Upon arriving at the track Ken through his hands up in the air as if he had just won a race. There were people at the track! A few racers and the officials were huddled in the storage container seeking shelter from the rain that had just passed. Ultimately Alan decided to cancel the races. I took a few laps on the track anyway where I was amazed to see a pheasant walking around turn two. When I got close he/she flew away.

We were all waiting around at the track hoping it would dry up enough to do some unofficial racing, however every five to ten minutes it would rain and then stop. Eventually people started leaving so a group of us - Ken, Luke, Kym, Dan and myself - left to go home. And that's when it started to rain. And I mean rain. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked. And then Dan got a flat. Kym and I stopped to wait while he fixed it as the lightning creeped ever closer.

Kym started getting freaked out by the lightning as it was only 2-3 kilometers away (2-3 seconds inbetween lightning and thunder). At one point she suggested we hitchhike, to which Dan replied, "Come on, we're hardcore bike messengers and computer programmers!" Thanks for remembering me Dan!

I made it home soaked and feeling great.