Update: Thanks for the race advice.

A few months ago, I started a post asking racing questions from a newbie. I had done a fair amount of research, but I still felt like there were gaps, so I turned to all of you.

Since then, I’ve done a lot more training, significantly more research on fueling, and asked my partner if she wanted to join me. I also found out a friend from work was signed up for the same race (he’s in the blue jersey). We were all in it to complete the race, not compete.

I monitored the weather all week, knowing it would be slightly cold, but the rain was supposed to be done by race start. No worries, right?

Well, we showed up to a complete downpour, with temperatures around 45°F. I hadn’t packed well enough—I was wearing Gorewear bibs, a matching jersey, and a very light rain/windbreaker. My buddy was dressed similarly. My partner, however, was clearly the smartest one in the group.

We all agreed this was going to be miserable, but there was still some racing to be done. (The racing was for others; we just hoped to finish.)

We headed out into extremely wet gravel that ranged from solid to very spongy, with a dash of mud mixed in. There were tons of puddles, plenty of rain, and some decent, but manageable wind. None of us were super cold, maybe the coating of mud kept us warm.

Then we hit the hills around mile 20. About halfway up the first one, my partner’s chain completely snapped. After a splash of water to wash off the mud and grit and a quick-link repair, we were back on our way. (Note: this was the first mechanical either of us had had since we started riding, about 3,000 miles between us.) We lost a considerable amount of momentum and were passed by just about everybody.

Eventually, we got back into a rhythm and slogged through the rest of the race. Around mile 30, we hit the wind, a very strong wind, that either battered us from the side or outright assaulted us head-on. As a few others described it, the wind was pure torture. It was at this point that I realized the circulation in my hands had pretty much stopped. They were extremely cold.

But we all made it.

I wasn’t last in my age group, the men’s group, or overall. My partner finished with the same time as I did and stood on the podium in her age group—she came in second. I couldn’t be prouder. My buddy beat us by about 40 minutes and also had a great result.

This is the first of many races and rides. I just wanted to say thanks for all the help, and I’ll do my best to give back wherever I can.