Square Lake Road Race - Grav Racin' in the rain.

Square Lake Road Race was advertised at 30% gravel, 70% pavement. Anyone who raced will attest this seemed a bit of an embellishment. It was also not as hard packed as advertised. Lots of pinch flats. I will say that Birchwood did an excellent job of marshaling the corners, and controlling traffic. Just to make it interesting, an unpredicted thunderstorm rolled in for the last half of the morning wave of racing.

I raced Cat 1/2's. It was short lived. I flatted on the first lap, buried myself to chase back on, almost made it, then called it a day. When the rain started coming down, most of my guilt from quiting washed away.

After I quit, I got in my truck, grabbed some wheels, and drove support behind the Cat 3's. Only 11 starters, with 8 left when I started following. Jordan was pushing the pace on the gravel sections, and in the feedzone hill. On lap 4, an attack in the feedzone gapped Shaw and Krueger. At 2 laps to go, only 6 riders were left: Jordan, Kermisch, Byrnes, Ribbens, Olson, and Weisgram. Kermish and Jordan made a bid to get away on the paved section, but were chased down. Due to lightning, the officials notified the group they would be finishing on this lap.

Unfortunately, Byrnes got a flat on the last gravel section. I gave him a fresh wheel, allowing him to at least finish 6th. The remaining 5 came onto the pavement with about 600m up a gradual rise to the finish. Jordan jumped first, but Kermisch was ready, and was able to get around him for the win. Jordan didn't give up, and held on for second. Weisgram 3rd, Olson 4th, and Ribbens 5th.

Carla was officiating, so we also stuck around for the afternoon wave. It was pouring rain, and officials were considering cancelling the afternoon races, but it cleared up, allowing a delayed start, albeit, with many racers opting out.

As it cleared up, it up came the temps and the wind. This decimated virtually every field. Riders were coming through the finish 1 or 2 at a time all afternoon. This made updating the lap counter and scoring a difficult task. Carla did a great job given the circumstances. We capped the day off with dinner out at the Freighthouse in Stillwater.

Results Posted