Racy

This goes in the "I am SOOOOOO glad that wasn't me" file.  

I was in Ventura last week for an Emmaus Board Meeting, followed by a Chrysalis picnic. The Board meeting finished early and I was waiting for Holly to come pick me up so that we could go to the picnic together...I was the source of both the food that we were bringing and the funds to park (someone is only 40% of the way through paying me back for the $553 they owe for that speeding ticket in the construction zone!).

Since I had some time to kill, I walked to downtown Ventura, where I chanced upon a bike race that was going on.  It was some sort of stage race, meaning they cyclists went out in groups around a track that was probably a mile through the hilly portion of Ventura, drumming up as many laps as they can in 45 minutes.

The group shown here was the 20-29 year old women, all looking ready to go.  The official stepped out in front of the cyclists, gave them the quick rules, sounded the air-horn, and they were off.  About 2-minutes later, someone comes running up behind me, yelling for us to move and here comes a cyclist in the group...she missed her start time.

For the record, 2-minutes in this kind of race might as well be an hour.  It is SO hard to catch up, especially when your adrenalin is pumping and you are struggling to get your shoes clicked into the pedals, I felt really badly for the biker and she wore her frustration all over her face.

I hung around long enough to see a few laps and the late cyclist close the gap to the last rider, but she was a good 3/4 lap behind the leader.  I heard the person who rushed her through say that she actually thought that she was going to win this and there was no good reason for her missing the start; they just lost track of time.

Not that I ever intend to win any event I do, but I usually sleep only so-so the night before because I think that I am going to oversleep and miss the whole thing. (As if I ever sleep past 5 am without waking up)

I'd better check my alarm clock for Sunday night!