As surely as the Sun doth rise,

As surely as the salmon make the dangerous annual ascent upstream to spawn,

As surely as the rabbit runs from the dog,

So did the lycra clad warriors of Austin assemble in the holiest of Texas pavement on their carbon and alloy steeds to valliantly battle on the battlefield they call the Tuesday Nighter.

I was feeling good this pleasant Tuesaday evening, and so I embarked upon this painful journey with the A group at 6:01 pm. The pace was frantic from the very start. A 1/4 mile incline allowed a group of 15 or so to get away. A slow moving water truck and oncoming traffic delayed the chase group even more, setting up an absolutely  furious effort to catch them, which, while it was the fastest lap I have ever turned out there, failed to do so. After a while we settled into our own pace with 25 or so riders. I was warmed up by the start of lap 3 and was able to initiate some bridging efforts and attacks, the last one of which with about 1 mile to go. I couldn’t hold it and fell back in formation with enough time to recover for the sprint, in which I took 3rd. So, it appears I have my road racing legs back, and I have the nighter to thank for that.

The course was pretty much like I called it, only a bit worse. Traffic was heavier, the locals were very vocal about not wanting us there, the road had more and larger cracks than last year,  there were crashes, and there was a drunk driver who pulled out in front of the lead A group causing come broken bikes and broken bones. Luckily the a-hole didn’t get away, and I don’t think anyone was seriously hurt, but all these conditions are conjuring talk of ending the nighter or moving it elsewhere to more favorable conditions. I knew it was only a matter of time before this would happen. It will not deter me from going though, at least until such actions are enacted. Sometimes change is good, sometimes its bad. Long live the Tuesday Nighter.