I once skated Athens-to-Atlanta (an 87 mile race) in downpours and thunderstorms, the remnants of a tropical storm that passed through Georgia. The rain on our faces on the downhills actually stung, and there were "rivers" that I skated through where the water came up over my boot and I left a "jet" of water spouting up behind me. About 1/3 of the skaters did not even start that day because of the poor conditions.
My husband drove to Atlanta to meet us at the finish, and he was convinced that we would never make it. He saw numerous cars that had slid off the roads and visibility was terrible.
But the race was being covered by Outdoor Life Network (now Versus), and they did a little story on my twin sister and me who were skating the race together. You know, the usual mid-packer, human interest, freakish-identical-twins-who-skate kind of story. So we knew we HAD to finish this race, because we didn't want to be a post-script at the end of the show saying, "Sadly, the Travers Twins failed to complete this epic race".
We finished, but it was one of the most painful (and dangerous) experiences ever. After that day, I promised myself that I'd never race in such inclement weather again.
Looks like I'll get a chance to break my promise on Monday!
--Robin
