Somehow, things went really smoothly pretty much all weekend. Timing issues cropped up, but they were fixed very quickly. Things wrapped up on the late side Saturday, but that was due almost entirely due to the number of competitors. Saturday's weather was up in the 90ēs with oppressive humidity but the rain held off until about an hour after competition ended.

Woke up Sunday at 5am (and then couldn't get back to sleep) and saw that it was dry outside of my house. While waiting outside for my ride at about 6:15, it started to rain. And my hopes for the weekend down went down the drain. You may have heard elsewhere about how the DC area got pounded with rain on Sunday, and it was really, really bad. The 60 foot lights were submerged at one point and may have been floating away at another. Rain varied from heavy and intense to just a little drizzly with bright spots in the sky. Manual starts pretty much all morning, I think. The event was helped by a number of people that decided not to run Sunday morning, but any port in a storm, right? There was still some heavy rain around for parts of the ladies and bonus challenges, but it got progressively brighter during the super challenge...and by the time it was done at about 3:15, there were actually dry spots on course.

I still have a bit to digest from this weekend. Knowing that the forecast, I went out and ran as hard as I could Saturday morning thinking that I might not get another shot in the dry. My scratch times were good enough to have put me in the lead after the morning, but three of the four runs were dirty. What upset me was that I had picked up a codriver and was going to be second driver in the afternoon...so, if it stayed dry, I'd be on hot tires and face whatever extra risk of running in the wet. Well, I got super hot tires. Went out and ran slow, but clean runs on both sides. I realized that I was trying to play it safe to be clean and when pulling up for my last Saturday run on the left, I got myself ready to do everything I could...and then pulled a .499 red light. When I saw the red light go on, I backed off the gas and took my time to keep from working the tires any harder than I had to. Pulled up to the right side and told myself it was okay if I hesitated an instant (the right side before it had been a .505)...and pulled a .293 redlight.

I'm not sure that I've ever felt as dejected and disappointed during or after a single event as I did when I felt those raindrops Sunday morning. But then...My driving has been so shitty for so long...where I'd come in way behind John or someone else and not be sure of anything specific...only that I was driving like ***. Death by 1,000 cuts kind of stuff. The past few events (Peru Pro, Devens Tour, a local event and DC Pro), it feels like I might be turning the corner. I can trace almost all of my time loss on a run to a single mistake, or just going a little too far beyond control. It feels good to know that it's still in me to at least be in the hunt. I just need to get it all together sometime soon (although I'd be perfectly happy to wait until mid/late September ).

If anyone is interested (and hasn't seen links elsewhere yet), we've posted about 1,700 photos from Saturday. Link to B stock album.

 

You had the ***** to go for it, I have nothing but respect for that

 

At least you know you coulda done well without the obvious mistakes. I've done 2 pros so far and pretty much felt the same way about my performance. Lots of redlights and cones when I really didn't need them.

BTW, awesome pics from TeamWTF. What wheels are those on the clyde-mobile?

 

No doubt, those afternoon redlights are a heartbreaker. Also a learning opportunity (and to get them out of the way before September).

Great job on those fast scratch times Saturday morning. I'd give my eye teeth to be able to lay down some agressive runs first thing out.
btw, with all the continued rain there, I hope you & your family are doing ok....

 

Our motto is "what are you gonna do? " The great thing about it is that it applies to pretty much everything. :D

The wheels are Kodiaks. Lightweight wheels may not really have an impact on my times...but, boy, are wheel changes easier...

 

I took a lesson from Peru on the first redlight...49 second run on a 32.5 second course.

We're doing fine. Our power was out for a few hours on Sunday while I was at the Pro and my wife and kids were visiting friends...restored before any of us got home. A mudslide closed the main road a few blocks down from our house which made Monday's commute total hell...but I was sent home 80 minutes after gettting in since we had no a/c in the building. So, I got to spend the day playing with my kids and recovering from the weekend instead of working. I'm just hoping that we don't lose any more trees in the back yard.