The advantage of having hail for the descent of today’s hillclimb was that it wasn’t as wet as rain. The disadvantage was that it hurt our faces. The weather was the big story – sunny and nice for the climb at 5, hail and rain and dropping temps for the descent. And rainbows. All over the place on the ride/drive home. I felt bad for everyone who had long rides home in the puddles and rain and cold. I tried to find Ryan to give him a ride home to South Hadley (yes, I tried to ride over from Sunderland but immediately encountered a wicked downpour about 50 yard from my house), but, like the hillclimb, he was too danged fast for me to catch, even in my new Tesla Model Y.
Tim had a series of punctures on the descent. Luckily, Good Samaritan Joseph P. Lellman was able to help him and retrieve his car and drive back up to rescue him. Andy and JOK rode back to the Butterfield Terrace enclave and were near hypothermic and Ryan sent me a frozen emoji face. You all know that I hate to cancel, right, unless it’s a time trial, especially the long one.
Here is a link to the series so far:
And finally, today’s results:
1. Ryan Davis; Time: 20:42; 17.1 mph; 10 points
2. Ben Winter; Time: 22:36; 15.66 mph; 9 points
3. Andy MacDonald; Time: 22:43; 15.58 mph; 8 points
4. Zinj Guo; Time: 24:11; 14.64 mph; 7 points
5. Jonathan O’Keeffe; Time: 24:56; 14.2 mph; 6 points
6. David Goodwin; Time: 25:28; 13.9 mph; 5 points
7. Joe Lellman; Time: 25:31; 13.87 mph; 4 points
8. Melissa Warwick; Time: 25:32; 13.86 mph; 3 points
9. Tim Pitkin; Time: 27:52; 12.7 mph; 2 points
10. Henry Wheaton; Time: 28:01; 12.64 mph; 1 points
Next Tuesday is the short time trial, which starts in Whately and ends in Hatfield.
