My August Century is done.
Found out the hard way about some poorly designed roads on a course I've ridden many times. Yes, the other day was the first time I've ridden it after a light rain. Actually my buddy was right behind me and we both went down at the same instant on little turns on these lousy roads in a park. Just random since we were 20 meters away from each other and there was no contact. But these roads, made of small rocks, which were always pretty decent on a dry day, really get slick when it's wet and it was a little bit like ice there. We managed to avoid breaking our hips, though I understand this is how it happens (and we have a friend who broke it this way). Just have wheels go out and next thing you know, you're on your hip. Fortunately for me, I fell to the left, my bike was fine, I couldn't even find a scratch yet. My hip had just a little road rash, shorts were intact, but my left arm just below the elbow took the biggest bruising.
That's the only silver lining about a slippery road - less road rash.
That happened very close to the halfway point, my buddy was a little more injured in the hip (bigger bruise), and his bike fell to the right and bent his derailer hanger. We had a bike shop a few miles away so the guy there helped make it more rideable, but my friend bailed there and took a shorter way home.
I finished the latter half of the century solo. With a bloody arm.
I will be much more careful to inspect different roads in the future under different conditions. And also I will try to stay with the tried-and-true of auto road surfaces, asphalt or whatever it's called, which does a lot better even when wet.
Another small observation: Props to the Continental Grand Prix 4000S tire, which had a little more traction in these conditions than the tires my friend had. I made it through the first turn somehow, which is where he went down. I was on the second turn when the 4000s lost grip.