Everyone watches the weather leading up to a race. Even 5.0&SF staffers check out the forecasts to see if we need to pack our windbreakers. For the '04 Columbus NMRA race, the forecast wasn't conducive to seeing any racing action at all. It called for rain Friday, most of Saturday, and clearing Sunday. Unfortunately, that was mostly accurate as it did rain Friday afternoon, some Saturday afternoon, and most of Sunday. Most racers simply set up on Friday and left for an early supper. After a couple qualifying rounds on Saturday, the skies opened up once again, flipping the racing switch to the off position for the rest of the day. It's a good thing we did pack our windbreakers because Sunday morning we woke up to more rain, combined with increased wind and much cooler temperatures. Sunday's weather led the NMRA to postpone eliminations one day to Monday.
Everyone remembers the NMRA World Finals a few years ago when eliminations went all the way to Tuesday. But-thankfully-at Columbus, Monday's sunny skies and cool temps allowed the race to be run in one day. Furthermore, everyone knows what sunny skies and cool temperatures do for racing, and that's fast times. Check out the captions to find out how fast.