I rode out with Jim Beers to Shawnee Park in Louisville for the Jude Clark Memorial Criterium. It rained on the way out, and rained on the way back. In between, however, we we fortunate enough to enjoy precipitation free racing. And although the course was pretty damn wet during my race it had dried up for for the later races. Until the heavens opened in the afternoon, forcing the cancellation of the 1/2/3's.

There were just over 30 riders in the 4/5's. I'd been sick for the past week and change and wasn't expecting much. I was really just hoping to sit in, get some racing pace into my legs, and take it easy. I managed to add some stress to my simple plans by flatting on the way to the line. Thank god Jim had brought his spare wheels when he came to watch the start. The race kicked off on a new circuit this year, basically a long straight-ish middle section, with two 180 turns at each end, one large, sweeping, and fast, the other, tighter, rougher, and lined with stone blocks on the outside. Given the wet roads and the expected unusual handling in the 4/5's, we were fortunate not to have anyone get hurt there. Not that there weren't crashes, there were at least two.

As the race progressed I was surprised at how easy I was riding. Although the one gap I closed did take longer then usual to recover from, I still thought I had enough to do something in the end. Exiting the 180 leading to the backside of the course I felt my rear wheel go squishy as I came out of the turn. A damn flat. Since my rubber was toast anyway, I rode the rest of circuit and finished, 20th of 20. There were 10 DNF's and most of those were flat tires. Better luck next year.

Kudos to Jim, Greg, and Brad Leach for decent results.