The day started out with a weather forecast that called for a clear morning with some afternoon showers. As everyone got ready for a dry roll-out, the downpour started. Within 2 minutes into the ride, we were soaked -- I should have opted to buy the non-cheapo rain gear ;)
We warmed up pretty well and kept a strong clip for the first 65 (out of 95) miles or so and the rain kept up on off and on, but eventually subsided for some beautiful fall weather in Connecticut (check out this guy, he looks fast):
But then the fun began ;)
One guy felt ill, got into the support car, and we pressed on.
Then another guy 5 minutes later.
Then another guy.
And another.
Soon the field of 12 riders was down to 8, and the support cars/vans were shuttling this initial group to the hotel.
Then as the 8 of us pressed on, we did some rolling hills, some dirt roads, hit some rain, and sure enough one by one, we started getting picked off too.
As beautiful as these country roads were, something didn't feel right and this is where I called it quits after getting sick at about the 70 mile mark. Big thanks to the SRAM support crew for hauling us all back.
I got back to the hotel, showered, and slept for about 3 hours straight -- As it turns out, we think we all got food poisoning!
In the end there were only 5 riders that were able to make the entire ride.
We are all rested now, started slowly re-hydrating, and slowly eating. Once I did get my appetite back, I think I ate 5 plate-fulls of food (and I think I could eat more if they didn't run out).
Rain, mud, dirt, glorious fall scenery, winding country roads, food poisoning, being picked-off one by one, and even seeing a double rainbow, the day was definitely one that goes down in the storybooks. In his 50 years in the bike industry, Butch Balzano of SRAM Race Support said he's never seen anything like this day.
Tomorrow we will do a chill ride, maybe 30 miles just to re-group and make sure we all get back into our rhythm.