a memorable Ken Woods memorial race
I volunteered along with many of my brave and shivering clubmates at yesterday’s Ken Woods Memorial Road Race. It’s the first road race of the season, and the weather at the end of April in Minnesota is notoriously unpredictable. Least year it was windy, but 60 and sunny and beautiful. This year, we made up for that with 32°, snow, icy roads and enough wind to knock over a horse. The race waves were combined and postponed until 11:30, when the roads were melted and dry enough to ride safely. Still, after the race people were marveling at how far they had to lean to stay upright in the crosswinds. Not a great day to run the deep section aero rims.
It was our first (and any MN cycling club’s first) race using the same sort of chip timing used in lots of running and ski races. It went well, and in that sense, the weather delay helped give everyone some extra time to work out last-minute kinks. I was inside most of the morning, but mostly outside in the afternoon helping to collect chips, and underdressed. I drove home with the heated seats on high and took a long mid-afternoon shower.
Major props to the 115 or so hardy souls who showed up to race, it was the very definition of an epic race.