So, first race weekend of 2018's in the bag. Round 1 was amazing, stressful, and soggy. As per usual for spring rounds in Portland, the weather was patchy and alternated repeatedly between beautiful sunshine and pouring rain. Saturday, the Ultralight SuperSport race was in beautiful sunny conditions, and the winner set a new lap record. I was down in 11th, but managed to drop about 2.5 seconds off my best time and chalk up another expert qualifying race. The Saturday GP, it got rainy at the last minute, and while I have rain tires, I don't have a spare wheelset, so I have to commit about an hour early. I guessed wrong and sat it out. Sunday, the SS race was kinda gray and a bit damp, but still doable on A13s. No records here, but the leaders were taking it easy as well, so I was able to get in another expert qualifying time.
The Sunday GP was epic! Looking at the weather, and judging by a sudden cloudburst around lunchtime, I decided to commit to rains. It then proceeded to get sunny for about 3 hours. The track was thoroughly dry. At first call, I was able to see a big, gnarly wall of clouds floating in. By last call, the mountains were grayed out by the rain under them. By the end of the warm up lap, it was starting to drizzle, and by L2, it was positively pissing rain. Between fast guys choosing the wrong tires, some of the pack riders being more tentative than they needed to be, and a couple people not being tentative enough and winding up turf-surfing, I was able to get a 4th place finish!
This airbag doubles as a flotation device.