Monday Blues: Dam Delay

Delay. What do you do when your race is set to start and you find that it has been delayed? Stopped cold. Not for five or ten minutes mind you, but for up to one and one-half hours. Do you lay down in the shade for a while - take a nap, hoping that someone will wake you out of a peaceful slumber, dreams of victory? Do you find a nice flat stretch of road upon which to spin the apprehension out of your legs? Or do you do that on the trainer back at Team HQ? Maybe you just sit / stand around and talk talk with your teammates, of fellow competitors.

Needless to say, ninety minutes is a long time to wait after you have completed your pre-race warm up, stretched the muscles, loosened the joints, and prepared yourself mentally for the conflict to come.

In the wake of a few tremblers that jolted the region leading up to, and over the weekend, the discovery of a suspicious looking trickle from the dam prompted a delay before the mid-morning road races during the San Dimas Stage Race on Saturday. As a result, the Masters 35+, Cat 4, and the Women were forced to find something to occupy their time. As did I and, well I suppose nearly everyone else. I found something to do by examining some of the up-close sights of where I was ensconced. Once I exhausted that supply, I took in a short ride, adding to my miles for the day.

In the end, the up to ninety minutes turned into a single hour. Algae growing along the trickle provided evidence that, whatever leakage was taking place it had been going on for a while, and did not foretell an imminent failure. The race which crosses the dam each lap was back on.

fresh, young cactus pad

rusty old cactus pad

occupying time another way

weathered sycamore