Texas State Road Race Championship

Well it's finally come to pass. The Texas State Road Race Championship which was originally scheduled for June 25th took place on Sunday, October 15th. Thanks to Andy Hollinger and The Racing Post it was definitely a course worthy of weeding out the champions of Texas.

Just for your information, the winner of the Pro 1,2 race was Robbie Robinette from Team Hotel San Jose who won after breaking his rear derailluer cable and having to tie it to his head tube cable stop while rolling in the peleton. He did have to stop for a moment to tweak it so it would be stuck in the 12 tooth cog instead of the 11! Holy Shinto! What a way to win the state championship!

The temperature may have been more favorable for the attendees in October, but don't you know that after months of no rain it just had come down on race day! It wasn't a hard rain, it was the kind that drifts on the wind and gets under umbrellas, tents and probably even skirts (I wasn't looking). Temperatures in June for the original race date would have been more like 100 degrees Fahrenheit, but this day it was a cool 72 or so. This was not the best weather to promote Eload(TM) Heat Endurance Formula which was supplied for the neutral feed. However, the sudden change in temperatures did throw a lot of people's bodies off and many were becoming dehydrated. One racer in particular that I spoke with said that by the time he realized he needed fluid and fueling he started to take it all in too fast and got sick (he still managed to finish 2nd).

It's a funny thing about weather and hydration. If you've been training in the heat you become used to taking in certain amounts of fluid at a certain rate. When you get a sudden drop in temperature your mind takes over and one thinks, oh, I don't need as much fluid. Certainly you're not sweating out as much, but also in rainy or even dry cool weather it's hard to judge. In addition, your body doesn't feel the need to hydrate until it's too late.

One thing no one ever thinks about is fluid lost through aspiration (breathing). Especially when the air is dry, you lose fluid in this manner more than you think. One of the most overlooked sports as far as hydration goes is scuba diving. Breathing in that super dry air dehydrates you fast in conjunction with what you're losing through your skin. Of course, how would you know you're sweating if you're in the water?

Anyway, I met a lot of wonderful people at the feed zone (it was my first time giving hand-ups in a bicycle race). Some were volunteers from the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce and boy, these people were prepared for anything! They had the best setup of anyone else there. They even grilled up some locally made sausage and shared it with us! Yum! The only problems in the feed zone were from missed hand-ups for either of 2 reasons. One, the wet bottles (remember it was raining), or two, the cyclists coming through the feed zone WAY too fast. Again, at least it wasn't 100 degrees or we'd have been seeing some people really hurting. Of course, that was my original point to have Eload(TM) at that race. There's no better proof of a product's capability then when it's used in the harshest conditions. If it can handle being used in the medical tents of the Hotter'n Hell Hundred in August, then any other venue is a piece of cake! Cheers!