The weather conspired to turn the day from challenging to epic as rain started to fall while I racked my bike and prepared transition. With temperatures hovering near 50, this made things very cold. The roads were quickly drenched in water, making for treacherous footing. As we lined up for the start, after watching the Powerman waves begin, I thanked whatever intuition I had that told me to bring my cotton gloves.
We started a few minutes earlier than planned, to keep us from having to stand around for too long. Within the first quarter mile, people sorted themselves out for the most part, with four guys running ahead of me. As we hit the foot of the climb, I turned on the gas a little more and people slowly started coming back to me, until I was running alone and solidly in second. Having scouted the course the afternoon prior to the race, I knew the climb pretty well, so I kept up the pressure until I had dropped everyone that was with me. A long uphill meant a fast descent to the transition area (dodging puddles and slippery areas on the way down).
My transition was not super-fast, but allowed me to get out on the bike without much trouble. I got into my shoes quickly and started grinding away at the ever-present hills. The back stretch of the bike course was through a stream valley and was akin to a giant wind tunnel, even early in the morning. This stretch ran for about ten miles, and it was a relief to finally turn off of that road, even though it meant hitting the major climbs on the course.
None of the steep pitches were more than about a quarter-mile long, but I found myself on the very low end of my cogset and in my small chainring - not gears that I use very often, at least not in Michigan. Again, I was glad I rode this section the day before, because I knew what gearing to use and how long the hills would last, and I used that to my advantage. After a screaming descent, we rode back to transition in another valley, but this time with a tailwind. I had been passed by one cyclist in my race at this point, and I worked hard to stay in contact with him, thinking I could probably run him down off the bike.
The second transition was a mess. Halfway through the bike, my cotton gloves had been soaked, so my hands were completely frozen for the second half of the ride. After a reasonably successful dismount - not my best, but I didn't crash - I racked my bike and then struggled to get my helmet off. I had to use my knuckles to do the job, since my fingertips were not working, but I didn't have to resort to running with my helmet. I struggled into my shoes and took off, my feet feeling like frozen slabs of meat.
I caught the second place guy at the base of the climb and dropped him as I made my way up. As I mounted the summit, I saw the leader, too far ahead to catch, so I put myself into cruise-control mode and just made sure I wouldn't get caught from behind. I had the opportunity to really enjoy the scenery on the course at this point, and worked to warm my hands up by removing my soaking-wet gloves. Shortly after finishing (naturally), the skies cleared and the sun came out, which at least made for comfortable post-race conditions.