The weather app predicted 60-70% chance of rain in the afternoon during Stage 9 to Murfreesboro, Tennessee. What we got was 100% of craziness. The ride was through torrential rain and fog with massive sheets of water in the air and on the road. Can’t see much of anything when its coming down that hard. Aerostich can’t keep the rain out. Clothing soaked like a sponge. Cell phone soaked and non-functional. The good news? Lydian loves cool and wet…she wants to run long and hard. That proved to be a good thing because we completed all the miles of the Stage in good time.
The bad news: no photos (phone dead) and controversy among Cannonball staff and riders. The weather was so bad that some sections of road had flooded, particularly for riders going slowly and arriving at later times. There were two check points set up to provide emergency instructions. The first indicated that a shorter, safer route should be taken (shaving 5 miles off the total). The second indicated that bikes and riders would not be penalized for ending early, getting picked up by the sweep truck or their own support vehicles. This information did not make it to all participants. At the final checkpoint (Bumpus Harley Davidson in Murfreesboro), confusion and frustration were apparent among riders. For those who completed the course despite the hardships, it did not seem fair that those who didn’t would not be penalized. At the time of this writing it appears that riders who completed at least the first 161 miles (of the 260 total) would get those points. We will see what has transpired once the point standings are posted.
Meanwhile, a good sleep, some good Asian delivery food and a hot shower puts things to right. We will use the rest day to park Lydian under the van awning and attend to maintenance tasks, Now if I can find an Apple store and take advantage of my phone warranty…