All the talk in August was about the total solar eclipse coming on August 21. We are located in the "path of totality." That term sounds a bit menacing, but simply means that we are in the area where we will see the full eclipse. The path crosses the entire United States, but here we will have it a bit longer than other parts of the world. And I do mean a bit. A tiny bit. The "epicenter" is located just west of Hopkinsville, KY, which is about 45 minutes from where we live. The total part of the eclipse is set to last two minutes and 40 seconds in that area, while down here we will see it for a little over two minutes and 38 seconds. Not only is NASA expected to come to Hopkinsville to view the eclipse, but so are many others from around the world. Initial expectations were that the city of 31,000 people would grow to over 100,000 for that one weekend. They have been building hotels for the last three years just for this one weekend. Nearby Clarksville, TN is also expected to see a boom of more than 30,000 visitors for the weekend. Other small towns in Tennessee are expecting 10,000 visitors.
In anticipation of this huge boom there has been mass panic around here. County offices have been calling businesses and asking them to close on August 21 to reduce commuter traffic. The home health agency I work for was one of those and we will be close for eclipse day. People bought up gas and groceries like it was the end of the world. Grocery stores were bare the week before the big day and most gas stations ran out of gas almost every day. It was one big mess.
I did my best to stay away from the cities during the middle of August and spent time working in the garden. Our little farm is growing well. Not only do I have pictures of some new flowers that have popped up around the property and rows of vegetables in the garden, but I also have some good news. We now have our own farm stand! The interest generated by the neighborhood yard sale back in July landed us a spot on the busiest road in town. A long-time friend of ours generously offered up the corner of her yard which is perfect for a stand. It's on a main road, has places to park next to it and has plenty of room to set up some tables. Our first day out there was August 17. We have been open a few times now. Business has been slow as people are just starting to learn we are out there, but we have sold stuff every day we have set up. Progress!
In anticipation of this huge boom there has been mass panic around here. County offices have been calling businesses and asking them to close on August 21 to reduce commuter traffic. The home health agency I work for was one of those and we will be close for eclipse day. People bought up gas and groceries like it was the end of the world. Grocery stores were bare the week before the big day and most gas stations ran out of gas almost every day. It was one big mess.
I did my best to stay away from the cities during the middle of August and spent time working in the garden. Our little farm is growing well. Not only do I have pictures of some new flowers that have popped up around the property and rows of vegetables in the garden, but I also have some good news. We now have our own farm stand! The interest generated by the neighborhood yard sale back in July landed us a spot on the busiest road in town. A long-time friend of ours generously offered up the corner of her yard which is perfect for a stand. It's on a main road, has places to park next to it and has plenty of room to set up some tables. Our first day out there was August 17. We have been open a few times now. Business has been slow as people are just starting to learn we are out there, but we have sold stuff every day we have set up. Progress!
Belladonna Lily popped up in the yard
Recent pepper pickings
Inside the rows of tomatoes
Upper part of our garden
Box of cayenne peppers
Colorful sweet peppers
Ghost peppers coming. They are a challenge and we are really excited to be close to finally getting a few.
This is our first year growing sunflowers
No eclipse is going to block this sun
Random mushroom in the yard
First day open at our farm stand. We are using two small tables and a 10'x10' tent for some shade.
First-day offerings
I was hoping to get things together at the Wednesday night Music City Crits Race #11 just before Southwestway. I got out there early to watch Dina race. It was her second crit and she made some good improvements from the first. She stayed with a group this time and not only learned some drafting skills and tactical lessons, but also got to participate in a sprint at the end. That was all good things for her to experience as she learns how road racing works. She finished 14th out of 20 in the combined Pro/1/2/3/4 Women's field and 2nd in Cat. 4.
Women on the start line
Photo by Eric Renshaw
Dina's group sprinting for the finish with Dina in third here.
Photo by Eric Renshaw
Ominous clouds gathered during my warm-up and it was looking like a storm was going to arrive right after the start of our race. While the officials studied the radar before our start, I jumped on the course and hammered 15 minutes to make sure I got in some effort tonight. They cancelled the Pro/1/2/3 race, which was a good decision as the storm rolled right over the speedway with heavy lightning and rain. My 15-minute effort caused me to get a bit wet while trying to load my bike into the car, but at least I got in some laps and it wasn't a complete waste of a drive to Nashville.
We detoured around the Clarksville and Hopkinsville areas as we started our trip north to Indy for the DINO finals. Traffic was already picking up so we did our best to avoid both cities. The backroads took us by Pilot Rock, which is a rock outcropping sticking out of a tall hill northeast of Hopkinsville. The name is said to come from Native Americans, who used the rock as a navigational landmark. Early settlers also used the rock as a meeting point for family gatherings and as a site for preaching. I have ridden my bike by there once, during the Little River Bicycle Tour several years ago when they had a century route that climbed Pilot Rock Rd. That climb is one of the longest climbs in our area. It goes up twice when coming in from the east, each section maybe a mile long with a small descent in the middle. The one time I climbed that road we did not stop to climb up to the top of the rock since we had on our bike shoes.
We had time for a stop today, so we hiked the short trail up to the top of the hill. It starts off with a mix of rock and dirt, but quickly becomes all rock as you climb up through a slot. The top is almost completely exposed rock, with just enough dirt in the cracks to harbor a few trees. The views to the south and northwest are really good for this region. We had fun scampering across the rocks looking for a better view. Part of the hilltop is completely covered in graffiti with shards of glass everywhere you look. It has definitely been a party area in the past. I walked all the way around the top and found the backside to be more remote and showing less signs of teenagers. There are some really big drops off the edge and deep cracks you have to jump over to make the full loop. You could definitely get really hurt up there. It was a cool little stop and worth checking out if you happen to be passing through this part of Kentucky. Ride there if you can.
We detoured around the Clarksville and Hopkinsville areas as we started our trip north to Indy for the DINO finals. Traffic was already picking up so we did our best to avoid both cities. The backroads took us by Pilot Rock, which is a rock outcropping sticking out of a tall hill northeast of Hopkinsville. The name is said to come from Native Americans, who used the rock as a navigational landmark. Early settlers also used the rock as a meeting point for family gatherings and as a site for preaching. I have ridden my bike by there once, during the Little River Bicycle Tour several years ago when they had a century route that climbed Pilot Rock Rd. That climb is one of the longest climbs in our area. It goes up twice when coming in from the east, each section maybe a mile long with a small descent in the middle. The one time I climbed that road we did not stop to climb up to the top of the rock since we had on our bike shoes.
Looking up on this small portion of Pilot Rock
Graffiti all around the bottom of the rock
We had time for a stop today, so we hiked the short trail up to the top of the hill. It starts off with a mix of rock and dirt, but quickly becomes all rock as you climb up through a slot. The top is almost completely exposed rock, with just enough dirt in the cracks to harbor a few trees. The views to the south and northwest are really good for this region. We had fun scampering across the rocks looking for a better view. Part of the hilltop is completely covered in graffiti with shards of glass everywhere you look. It has definitely been a party area in the past. I walked all the way around the top and found the backside to be more remote and showing less signs of teenagers. There are some really big drops off the edge and deep cracks you have to jump over to make the full loop. You could definitely get really hurt up there. It was a cool little stop and worth checking out if you happen to be passing through this part of Kentucky. Ride there if you can.
Dina and Shannon coming up the trail
View to the south from the top of Pilot Rock
View to the northwest
Big cracks like this were everywhere on the north and east sides of the rock.
We got to Indy in the afternoon for a dusty pre-ride. The course was very dry. I did two laps and played on the dirt jumps for a while. As we were loading up the car, Dina's seatpost broke. It cracked on the rear side just above the frame. It didn't snap all the way off, but the crack was about 50% through the post and gapped. We didn't have a spare post that would fit it, so we had to try to find someone with a spare before her race the next day.
Thankfully, we did have a working hitch rack for this trip. No, I didn't get a replacement wheel tray for my rack yet. We were able to borrow a rack from my parents which saved us because we would not have been able to fit everyone's bike inside the car with three people on this trip. Thule finally got back to me after five weeks from when I made my initial order. Turns out they are out of wheel trays and have no idea when they will make or get more. I do not know why they couldn't have just told me that when I ordered. They told me if I didn't want to wait for the indefinite shipping date I could just cancel my order....but that they couldn't cancel it. I would have to call a third-party ordering service that Thule uses. So we did that and that company said they couldn't cancel it without Thule's permission. We went back and forth with phone calls for a while before it finally got cancelled. Then we began looking for a tray from any place that did have them in stock. We finally found one, but it hadn't arrived yet by the time we started the trek to Indy. So now this is our third trip without our rack since the incident happened at Helen. What a pain in the rump!
We spent the night sleeping on cousin Sarah's floor. We had a whole family get-together as Sarah's parents were in town and Shannon's parents came down to spend the day in Indy. We had a big dinner and everybody sat around chatting until time for bed.
We were unable to find anyone with a seatpost before the race, so we had to make Dina's post work. We offered her Shannon's bike, but she really wanted to ride her own bike if possible. The only option we had was to lower the post and put the crack into the seat tube. It worked, but she had to deal with making tiny circles all day with a low seat height. It wasn't the most powerful position, but it would give her an option to earn points and win the series, which she was leading coming into this final race. We had to insert the post about three inches to get past the crack and make the post stiff enough to survive the race. You definitely don't want a post to fail as that carbon can do some damage to the inside of your thigh.
Other than the stress of trying to get Dina ready, it was an easy morning for me. I already had the series locked up so no pressure for the title. I was very motivated though. I got hammered here last year by over five minutes and finished seventh. I wanted to do better today. I wanted to end this series better than I did the SERC Series the month before.
Course layout was the same as last year. We were set for four laps on a loop of six miles in lengthg. It started with a downhill dash in the grass ending with a right turn that started a long climb. The first part of the climb continued in grass with a few sharp turns before entering the woods for a gradual climb to the south side of Mann Hill, the tallest hill in Indianapolis. We then turned left and started a good climb up to the top of Mann Hill, before descending the north side on a fun flow trail with some jumps and berms. The flow trail dumped us out by the parking area where spectators could see us as we shot across the grass and back into the woods to start rolling singletrack along the east side of the hill. The end of this trail descends to the White River bottom with a tricky descent with some exposure in places. The trail along the bottom is super fast. Next up is a climb out of the bottom up a gravel road back to the start/finish area for a feed opportunity and another area for the spectators to see the action. You can literally walk 50 feet here and see three different parts of the loop. After this feet zone comes a bit of tight singletrack, then a descent back to the river bottom for some flat dirt doubletrack. You fly across the top of an old levee before going back to singletrack for the final climb. The final mile or so of the loop is on tight singletrack where passing is nearly impossible. The trail rolls along in this area, but there are no real climbs here. Your brain works harder than your legs here trying to keep up with the next turn or negotiating the next root or rock. The singletrack ends about 250 meters from the finish line with a flat grass sprint. The main Feed Zone was out in the grass, either just before the finish line or just after. I kept with the feeding strategy that I have used all year on these shorter courses. I went with two big bottles so only one bottle feed was needed. I did bottles on a feed pole located right at the end of the singletrack so I could get my bottle and have time to make a pass or drink before we got over to the climb. Shannon offered me my gel flask at every feed opportunity so I could take it whenever I wanted and not have to carry it on the bike, which let me race in a skinsuit, which I love.
The grass was wet from the morning dew when we started so the first two turns were a bit slick. I got a decent start in our group of eight starters in Elite Men. I was fourth out of the first turn. It was hard just to stay with the front three up the grass hill. Last year's winner, Andrew Dillman, got the hole shot. He slipped on the wet grass in the third turn and went down, taking down the rider in second, Caleb Swartz. It also held up third and I was able to go to the inside of the fallen riders and come out of the mess with the lead. I ended up being first into the woods.
I didn't have good legs so I slowed down the pace a bit to try to let my legs come around. Chris Bowman was having none of it and came right by me. I jumped on his wheel, but couldn't hold him as we started up Mann Hill. Dillman and Swartz passed the entire group up this climb and were back to the front as we started down the flow trail. I fell back to sixth by the top as my legs just wouldn't go. I dropped to eighth in the next section, but had enough flow to keep the group in sight. I caught and passed one rider along the levee. Up ahead, I could see riders crashing. Two guys went down from the main group on this wider portion of course. Dillman was off the front, but the others had been really packed up tightly in a group. Too tightly.
Going into the final section of lap 1, I was one minute behind Dillman and 30 seconds behind the group of three chasers. I started to feel better and cut the gap to 20 seconds to third and fourth. Bowman had now set out alone after Dillman. I pushed really hard up Mann Hill and was able to hold the gap to Swartz and Craig Baker in front of me. I used the flow of the back hillside loop and river bottom trail to close the gap to them. We were together by the top of the Feed Zone climb. I followed them the rest of the lap, then went to the front to start lap 3. Bowman was now 55 seconds ahead and Dillman was still further out in front of him. I didn't know the gap to Dillman and didn't care at this point. I just wanted to get clear of the two riders with me and try to catch Bowman.
I hit Mann Hill hard again and was able to stay ahead of Swartz and Baker. I then pushed the back loop hard again and was able to get away from Baker. Swartz wasn't going away though. I was starting to feel some fatigue so I backed it down a bit in the final section of lap 3. Swartz and I were chatting and then all of a sudden no answer. He had fallen and I didn't even hear it. Once I realized he was gone, I upped my pace again and tried to put some time into him before he recovered. I had about 10 seconds on him starting the final lap, but couldn't hold the gap up Mann Hill. He got to my wheel at the top and we were locked together for most of the final lap. I was starting to cramp so I knew following an attack from him would be difficult. I needed to lead into the last section and take my chances with a sprint finish. I didn't want to drag him across the levee and then have him attack me before the singletrack, which I knew my legs couldn't handle. So I played the only card I had left to play. I picked up the pace gradually across the levee, building to full speed for the last 100 yards where I knew he would want to pass. I wanted to pull into it so fast that he wouldn't even want to try to pass. My legs handled that gradual increase in pace and I was cranking it on the last part of the levee, holding him back to the singletrack. The only option he had now was to try to pass me at the top of the last climb where it was just wide enough to try for a pass. At least that's where I would try to pass someone.
My legs were blown and I had to slow on the climb. Swartz went for the pass at the top right where I would have tried. He accelerated hard and I had nothing in the tank to defend with. He went right by me and then it was a drag race for the final mile. He had a few bike lengths on me and I felt I was closing, but then we got into heavy traffic. He got through it a little faster than I did and opened up 10 seconds on me. I didn't have the legs left to close down 10 seconds on him as he is very strong and a good technical rider as well. I don't think I could have closed hat gap even with fresh legs as there was so much traffic in this section that we couldn't really get up to full speed. He held that 10 seconds on me all the way to the line to finish third. Dillman took the win 1:05 ahead of Bowman. I was 2:30 behind Dillman in fourth. I didn't have my best race today, but I rode much better than last year, cutting my deficit to the same winner in half. I'm glad that I locked up the series at Potato Creek because Bowman beat me by two positions today and that could have cost me the title if things had been close. He was definitely better than me today. It's pretty awesome to take a strong fourth in a tough field and have that be my worst finish of the series this year. I thank Chris Bowman for pushing me hard and making me earn this series title. Guys like Chris and Dustin White are great dudes to race against. I learned so much from battling with those two over the course of this season. They have brought me to another level just trying to prepare to do battle against them.
Thankfully, we did have a working hitch rack for this trip. No, I didn't get a replacement wheel tray for my rack yet. We were able to borrow a rack from my parents which saved us because we would not have been able to fit everyone's bike inside the car with three people on this trip. Thule finally got back to me after five weeks from when I made my initial order. Turns out they are out of wheel trays and have no idea when they will make or get more. I do not know why they couldn't have just told me that when I ordered. They told me if I didn't want to wait for the indefinite shipping date I could just cancel my order....but that they couldn't cancel it. I would have to call a third-party ordering service that Thule uses. So we did that and that company said they couldn't cancel it without Thule's permission. We went back and forth with phone calls for a while before it finally got cancelled. Then we began looking for a tray from any place that did have them in stock. We finally found one, but it hadn't arrived yet by the time we started the trek to Indy. So now this is our third trip without our rack since the incident happened at Helen. What a pain in the rump!
Dina's broken seatpost
We spent the night sleeping on cousin Sarah's floor. We had a whole family get-together as Sarah's parents were in town and Shannon's parents came down to spend the day in Indy. We had a big dinner and everybody sat around chatting until time for bed.
We were unable to find anyone with a seatpost before the race, so we had to make Dina's post work. We offered her Shannon's bike, but she really wanted to ride her own bike if possible. The only option we had was to lower the post and put the crack into the seat tube. It worked, but she had to deal with making tiny circles all day with a low seat height. It wasn't the most powerful position, but it would give her an option to earn points and win the series, which she was leading coming into this final race. We had to insert the post about three inches to get past the crack and make the post stiff enough to survive the race. You definitely don't want a post to fail as that carbon can do some damage to the inside of your thigh.
Other than the stress of trying to get Dina ready, it was an easy morning for me. I already had the series locked up so no pressure for the title. I was very motivated though. I got hammered here last year by over five minutes and finished seventh. I wanted to do better today. I wanted to end this series better than I did the SERC Series the month before.
Course layout was the same as last year. We were set for four laps on a loop of six miles in lengthg. It started with a downhill dash in the grass ending with a right turn that started a long climb. The first part of the climb continued in grass with a few sharp turns before entering the woods for a gradual climb to the south side of Mann Hill, the tallest hill in Indianapolis. We then turned left and started a good climb up to the top of Mann Hill, before descending the north side on a fun flow trail with some jumps and berms. The flow trail dumped us out by the parking area where spectators could see us as we shot across the grass and back into the woods to start rolling singletrack along the east side of the hill. The end of this trail descends to the White River bottom with a tricky descent with some exposure in places. The trail along the bottom is super fast. Next up is a climb out of the bottom up a gravel road back to the start/finish area for a feed opportunity and another area for the spectators to see the action. You can literally walk 50 feet here and see three different parts of the loop. After this feet zone comes a bit of tight singletrack, then a descent back to the river bottom for some flat dirt doubletrack. You fly across the top of an old levee before going back to singletrack for the final climb. The final mile or so of the loop is on tight singletrack where passing is nearly impossible. The trail rolls along in this area, but there are no real climbs here. Your brain works harder than your legs here trying to keep up with the next turn or negotiating the next root or rock. The singletrack ends about 250 meters from the finish line with a flat grass sprint. The main Feed Zone was out in the grass, either just before the finish line or just after. I kept with the feeding strategy that I have used all year on these shorter courses. I went with two big bottles so only one bottle feed was needed. I did bottles on a feed pole located right at the end of the singletrack so I could get my bottle and have time to make a pass or drink before we got over to the climb. Shannon offered me my gel flask at every feed opportunity so I could take it whenever I wanted and not have to carry it on the bike, which let me race in a skinsuit, which I love.
Riders lining up for the start at Southwestway Park
The grass was wet from the morning dew when we started so the first two turns were a bit slick. I got a decent start in our group of eight starters in Elite Men. I was fourth out of the first turn. It was hard just to stay with the front three up the grass hill. Last year's winner, Andrew Dillman, got the hole shot. He slipped on the wet grass in the third turn and went down, taking down the rider in second, Caleb Swartz. It also held up third and I was able to go to the inside of the fallen riders and come out of the mess with the lead. I ended up being first into the woods.
I didn't have good legs so I slowed down the pace a bit to try to let my legs come around. Chris Bowman was having none of it and came right by me. I jumped on his wheel, but couldn't hold him as we started up Mann Hill. Dillman and Swartz passed the entire group up this climb and were back to the front as we started down the flow trail. I fell back to sixth by the top as my legs just wouldn't go. I dropped to eighth in the next section, but had enough flow to keep the group in sight. I caught and passed one rider along the levee. Up ahead, I could see riders crashing. Two guys went down from the main group on this wider portion of course. Dillman was off the front, but the others had been really packed up tightly in a group. Too tightly.
Me coming down Mann Hill on lap 1.
Photo by James Truax
Dina on lap 1
Photo by James Truax
Dillman leading on lap 2
Bowman chasing in second
Me in fifth.
I hit Mann Hill hard again and was able to stay ahead of Swartz and Baker. I then pushed the back loop hard again and was able to get away from Baker. Swartz wasn't going away though. I was starting to feel some fatigue so I backed it down a bit in the final section of lap 3. Swartz and I were chatting and then all of a sudden no answer. He had fallen and I didn't even hear it. Once I realized he was gone, I upped my pace again and tried to put some time into him before he recovered. I had about 10 seconds on him starting the final lap, but couldn't hold the gap up Mann Hill. He got to my wheel at the top and we were locked together for most of the final lap. I was starting to cramp so I knew following an attack from him would be difficult. I needed to lead into the last section and take my chances with a sprint finish. I didn't want to drag him across the levee and then have him attack me before the singletrack, which I knew my legs couldn't handle. So I played the only card I had left to play. I picked up the pace gradually across the levee, building to full speed for the last 100 yards where I knew he would want to pass. I wanted to pull into it so fast that he wouldn't even want to try to pass. My legs handled that gradual increase in pace and I was cranking it on the last part of the levee, holding him back to the singletrack. The only option he had now was to try to pass me at the top of the last climb where it was just wide enough to try for a pass. At least that's where I would try to pass someone.
Craig Baker with me close behind on lap 2.
Photo by James Truax
Photo by James Truax
Rider starting his last lap
Dillman leads into lap 4.
Bowman still solid in second.
One to go for Dina
My legs were blown and I had to slow on the climb. Swartz went for the pass at the top right where I would have tried. He accelerated hard and I had nothing in the tank to defend with. He went right by me and then it was a drag race for the final mile. He had a few bike lengths on me and I felt I was closing, but then we got into heavy traffic. He got through it a little faster than I did and opened up 10 seconds on me. I didn't have the legs left to close down 10 seconds on him as he is very strong and a good technical rider as well. I don't think I could have closed hat gap even with fresh legs as there was so much traffic in this section that we couldn't really get up to full speed. He held that 10 seconds on me all the way to the line to finish third. Dillman took the win 1:05 ahead of Bowman. I was 2:30 behind Dillman in fourth. I didn't have my best race today, but I rode much better than last year, cutting my deficit to the same winner in half. I'm glad that I locked up the series at Potato Creek because Bowman beat me by two positions today and that could have cost me the title if things had been close. He was definitely better than me today. It's pretty awesome to take a strong fourth in a tough field and have that be my worst finish of the series this year. I thank Chris Bowman for pushing me hard and making me earn this series title. Guys like Chris and Dustin White are great dudes to race against. I learned so much from battling with those two over the course of this season. They have brought me to another level just trying to prepare to do battle against them.
Bowman takes second today and second in the overall series points.
Me coming in to finish 4th
Dina made the most out of her situation and rode a solid race to win the series title in Sport Women. She took second in overall Sport Women today and first in her 19-39 age group. She was consistent all year and it paid off with a series overall win. She has really done well this year, winning the GSC, SERC and DINO titles all in one year! She won a Thomson gift certificate for the GSC series title, so I guess now we know how she's going to spend that. I was very happy to see that seatpost hold up for her today. A lot of winning championships is about training hard and being fast, but there is also a part that requires you to respond to adversity. Over the course of a racing season things are going to go wrong in some way, you just have to be ready to deal with them and make the best out of whatever situation you are given. I have had my fair share of those situations over the course of my riding life and I feel like learning to deal with them is what has helped me win so many championships. I hope I am rubbing off some on Dina too. I think she responded well for her first real bout of race adversity.
Dina and I went back in for another lap after our race. We caught up to the back of the Beginner and Base classes on the narrow section of trail along the back loop descending down toward the river. I stopped to help some riders who had crashed on an off-camber section. I then came upon a little girl who was in her first ever race and fearing for her life on the exposed portion of the trail. I helped her walk down the hill and get back on her bike. Guys were wrecking everywhere which wasn't helping with her confidence. She was mentally over this bike racing thing and didn't even want to ride the easy sections by the river. I told Dina to go ahead and finish her lap while I stayed with the girl and helped her to get around the course. I think her name was Allison. She cried a few times, but we made it to the Feed Zone together and she decided to call it a day which was probably a good idea. Her Dad was waiting further down the course and didn't see us cut out to the parking lot. I had to hunt for him for a while, but I finally found him and directed him back to Allison, who was hanging out at our car with Shannon. It was a rough day for Allison, but I hope she will stick with the sport and give it another shot one day.
A few race podium pictures are posted below, along with a little video of the action. The video includes the crash on the start, so be sure you see that. Wet grass will get you! They did not do series podiums or awards. I think they are going to mail us our series champion jersey. I'll post a picture when I get it.
Elite Men podium
Dina on the top step. Sorry about the poor focus in this pic.
Video: DINO action from Indy
We took the back way home again to avoid Hopkinsville. We had heard on Facebook that there was traffic from all the eclipse-goers so we stayed off the main roads south of Evansville. Traffic to that point was more than normal, but nothing major to worry about. Most of the cars were from Michigan and Canada. It looked like a good time to go to Michigan for a vacation because all the people from that state were in Kentucky!
More about the eclipse and a shift to crit racing to end the summer coming at you in the next post. Thanks for reading my late entries!
