Hernando's blog says something about being out of Albany because of all the track racing. Maybe I should have taken that advice, cause I was TIRED out there. Plus I did two races... maybe not smart.
Anyway, both the 1/2/3 and the p1/2 had breaks, and neither me nor any of my teammates were part of them. Very irritating. John and I in the p1/2 race at least put a lot of work in, so that only Reaney managed to lap us! If it hadn't been for Max from Metromint and a couple of other guys we would have been lapped twice, I swear. Cal Giant and BPG had three guys each trying to shut us down everytime we tried to work or get away.
I was lazy and tired, should have gotten into the break...
Monday, July 23, 2007
Sunday, July 22, 2007
other items from the track...
For those of you have 'bumped into' Jeff Solt out on the Spectrum or Valley ride: The Malaysian national champ came withing .02 seconds of beating his flying 200 meter record 'from the last century' as Tom Simpson announced it. And that was just in qualifying. I'm hoping he beat it in the finals last night so I can bring it up on the next Valley ride. Solt is a cranky guy in a Maxim kit that people won't miss out there. I know that James likes him for one.
They had primes in the Cat 3 Points race! One that I won was a box full of chammy creme and 'Leg Salsa'. That latter for preparation for going clubbing perhaps?
They had primes in the Cat 3 Points race! One that I won was a box full of chammy creme and 'Leg Salsa'. That latter for preparation for going clubbing perhaps?
More fun at Hellyer
Saturday was good fun again at the track, though a lot of the Cat 3's from the night before didn't show up, so the competition wasn't as good and the fields were small. That didn't make the prizes any smaller! Me and an AMD junior got away in the Tempo race and traded points for a number of laps before sprinting for the last lap. He won that, but I got second overall. The Tempo race was a new one on me, its 2-1 pts every lap and 4-3-2-1 for the final lap. Makes a two man work perfectly, though I think this race is rare. In the points race, I got away from the small field and managed to perform my first lap of the field, which was good fun.
Master's Miss and Out you ask? out on the first lap. Larry came down track just before turn 3 took position from me and I was boxed again. His rear wheel was clanking against my front which made me slow up, I don't have those kind of balls. I still have much to learn in these tactical races.
The organizers did a great job with this event. Tom Simpson announcing, great prizes, free food and beer, really good. They made a novice feel welcome. Robin was very gracious. Then some trackie was giving me a hard time about the auto upgrade for 1's and 2's on the road. It's true that it's a shortcut and that we don't know much about the track, but do they really want us beating up on 4's and 5's on the track, against trackies that aren't all that experienced anyway.
I include Hernandez in the group of roadies that are still learning on the track. Of course, in the Scratch and Points he kills them, but I was watching him do the Keirin and the Madison, and that's a different story. Puts him at a disadvantage against the experienced trackie. Again though, does the angry trackie really want Hernandez killing some poor Cat 4? Wouldn't make sense. Dan Martin would have crashed with the auto upgrade or not anyway.
Master's Miss and Out you ask? out on the first lap. Larry came down track just before turn 3 took position from me and I was boxed again. His rear wheel was clanking against my front which made me slow up, I don't have those kind of balls. I still have much to learn in these tactical races.
The organizers did a great job with this event. Tom Simpson announcing, great prizes, free food and beer, really good. They made a novice feel welcome. Robin was very gracious. Then some trackie was giving me a hard time about the auto upgrade for 1's and 2's on the road. It's true that it's a shortcut and that we don't know much about the track, but do they really want us beating up on 4's and 5's on the track, against trackies that aren't all that experienced anyway.
I include Hernandez in the group of roadies that are still learning on the track. Of course, in the Scratch and Points he kills them, but I was watching him do the Keirin and the Madison, and that's a different story. Puts him at a disadvantage against the experienced trackie. Again though, does the angry trackie really want Hernandez killing some poor Cat 4? Wouldn't make sense. Dan Martin would have crashed with the auto upgrade or not anyway.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Thunderdome...
...or Velodrome, whatever. Last night was great, it's the first time I've been to a real Event with the capital E at the Velodrome. Tons of spectators, Tom Simpson at the mike, like five USCF officials (they still had problems). Very niiice.
I was nervous going in, not knowing what to expect. Originally I didn't think it would be particularly hard, but then I noticed all the Road Cat 2 guys doing the same as me: racing the 3's to get an upgrade. And there were some hardass Cat 2's too. I knew that at least one was a really good sprinter so I was determined to make it a hard race in the first: a 10K scratch race. The first five laps were fast enough, with some half hearted attacks. I went with Paulsen but he didn't seem game to go yet. Then things slowed up, and with six (or seven?) to go I pulled through hard, created a gap and went 80% to see the reaction. Well, they let me go for a while, and seemed uncertain, so I ramped it up all the way. After a lap or two it seemed I had half a lap gap, with only three to go. I thought I had it in the bag, showing my track naivete. Actually would have won it if the sprinter didn't ditch the field with 150 yrds to go and pasted me with 50 to go, luckily he had created his own gap and I got 2nd.
It was fun watching all the events I had never seen: the sprints, keirin, best of all: the Madison. What mayhem. Mary Maroon was in there mixing it up. The p1/2 Miss and Out was good. There was some official confusion and Larry Nolan dropped out in 3rd place, seemed pissed off. The other rider (Eng?) beat out BJM at the finish.
Shelly Olds schooled the women in the Points race.
I eeked out 4th in the Master's Scratch race, showing some dumb moves there (get to the front when a bunch of lapped riders get into your nice 5 man break, Hernandez and Peterson attacked while I was sleeping). I also screwed up the Cat 3 Miss and Out by staying down low and getting seriously boxed in.
More fun today! I'm very excited. Shot out to the teammates: Andrew was volunteering and I met Jen, who wears the TO colors down there.
I was nervous going in, not knowing what to expect. Originally I didn't think it would be particularly hard, but then I noticed all the Road Cat 2 guys doing the same as me: racing the 3's to get an upgrade. And there were some hardass Cat 2's too. I knew that at least one was a really good sprinter so I was determined to make it a hard race in the first: a 10K scratch race. The first five laps were fast enough, with some half hearted attacks. I went with Paulsen but he didn't seem game to go yet. Then things slowed up, and with six (or seven?) to go I pulled through hard, created a gap and went 80% to see the reaction. Well, they let me go for a while, and seemed uncertain, so I ramped it up all the way. After a lap or two it seemed I had half a lap gap, with only three to go. I thought I had it in the bag, showing my track naivete. Actually would have won it if the sprinter didn't ditch the field with 150 yrds to go and pasted me with 50 to go, luckily he had created his own gap and I got 2nd.
It was fun watching all the events I had never seen: the sprints, keirin, best of all: the Madison. What mayhem. Mary Maroon was in there mixing it up. The p1/2 Miss and Out was good. There was some official confusion and Larry Nolan dropped out in 3rd place, seemed pissed off. The other rider (Eng?) beat out BJM at the finish.
Shelly Olds schooled the women in the Points race.
I eeked out 4th in the Master's Scratch race, showing some dumb moves there (get to the front when a bunch of lapped riders get into your nice 5 man break, Hernandez and Peterson attacked while I was sleeping). I also screwed up the Cat 3 Miss and Out by staying down low and getting seriously boxed in.
More fun today! I'm very excited. Shot out to the teammates: Andrew was volunteering and I met Jen, who wears the TO colors down there.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Lafayette
Tried to get out to the races yesterday. Felt terrible waking up though, but wanted to go out and give it a go. Plus it was to be John Wilk's inagural p1/2 start, with Haydn as well. Well I wasn't much of a teammate though John was great, finishing top fifteen in the race, and with plenty of confidence too. Haydn finished with him.
Haydn's real heroics were in the Master's race. He was in an early break which didn't stick, CVC was chasing hard behind. Then there was later 3 man attack that Haydn bridged up to with a lot of effort. Another rider made it up after and the five of them stuck. There was a big chase group of 10 that got as close as 10 seconds but couldn't work enough together to help. The peloton was another 10 to 15 seconds behind them. Haydn was pretty worked over by the time the sprint came, plus I think that the experienced riders used him up a bit in the last couple of laps.
I felt terrible to begin with in the p1/2. Tried to shake it off with some attacks up the rise but realized that in fact, I really was feeling terrible. So after that I was hanging on the back of the peloton, watching the blown tires and crashes go off. Had to bow out of the Master's race.
Anyway, will regroup for the AVC this weekend.
Haydn's real heroics were in the Master's race. He was in an early break which didn't stick, CVC was chasing hard behind. Then there was later 3 man attack that Haydn bridged up to with a lot of effort. Another rider made it up after and the five of them stuck. There was a big chase group of 10 that got as close as 10 seconds but couldn't work enough together to help. The peloton was another 10 to 15 seconds behind them. Haydn was pretty worked over by the time the sprint came, plus I think that the experienced riders used him up a bit in the last couple of laps.
I felt terrible to begin with in the p1/2. Tried to shake it off with some attacks up the rise but realized that in fact, I really was feeling terrible. So after that I was hanging on the back of the peloton, watching the blown tires and crashes go off. Had to bow out of the Master's race.
Anyway, will regroup for the AVC this weekend.
Monday, July 9, 2007
RR extrordinaire. OK, I'm not talking road racing here, I'm talking road RASH. Got it good. Tried to shake it off last Tuesday and Wednesday, but it hit me hard on Thursday, needing a visit to the doctor for antibiotics. Lesson learned: don't fall on the same spot three times in a row, lets the bugs in.
Feeling a lot better now. Hoping to be back racing and getting back into form this weekend. Was really painful to WATCH the Carrera de San Rafael as it looked like a great race and teammate Haydn was looking monstrous.
Every time I start to feel sorry for myself sidelined I remind myself of Chris C going over top of me at Vacaville who won't be able to race at all this year. Hope you're doing better Chris....
Monday, July 2, 2007
Coble
Talking to Chris this morning. He will need three pins and a cast from a broken wrist. Done for the season unfortunately. I love riding with Chris so this really sucks. Chris led me out, albeit not on purpose, for my first ever win two years ago. It was the 4's at the Memorial Day Crit. There have been other great moments since then too. Will miss him out there.
He had a great story of how they tried to knock him out last night to reset the break. They gave him four times the normal dose and they still couldn't get him to go down. Enough meds for a horse and the guy was still kicking.
He had a great story of how they tried to knock him out last night to reset the break. They gave him four times the normal dose and they still couldn't get him to go down. Enough meds for a horse and the guy was still kicking.
Cowtown Crit
This promised to be a good race. I love the course from doing it in the 3's last year. I went in a little cocky, remembering the hill to be pretty easy. Forgot to calculate in: hotter weather, twice as many laps (30), and it's the p1/2's now, dumb*$$.
The pace was pretty fast, Justin was working the front well, a little too well it turns out. He made it possible to sit back a bit.It took me 10 laps to settle in, at which point I attacked the hill two times in a row hoping to break off a piece of the pack, but things weren't sticking. Lots of strong cats, the hill not quite long enough. Next time around Jackson Stewart attacked the hill in front of me, I just about killed myself to stay on his wheel up the hill, down the descent, to the start/finish but we still couldn't lose the pack.
Wohlberg attacked the hill so hard he left everyone, and stayed off for five laps or more, gaining upwards of 45 seconds by himself. Did I hear that right? Ouch...
With 5 laps to go, these are long laps mind you so no need to get excited yet, seemed like nothing was going to stick. Stewart was off the front with another rider (Metromint?) but looked like CalGiant would catch. Tried to just recuperate a bit for the finish. Man it was hot, I was dying midrace but was starting to feel better.
The pace was pretty fast, Justin was working the front well, a little too well it turns out. He made it possible to sit back a bit.It took me 10 laps to settle in, at which point I attacked the hill two times in a row hoping to break off a piece of the pack, but things weren't sticking. Lots of strong cats, the hill not quite long enough. Next time around Jackson Stewart attacked the hill in front of me, I just about killed myself to stay on his wheel up the hill, down the descent, to the start/finish but we still couldn't lose the pack.
Wohlberg attacked the hill so hard he left everyone, and stayed off for five laps or more, gaining upwards of 45 seconds by himself. Did I hear that right? Ouch...
With 5 laps to go, these are long laps mind you so no need to get excited yet, seemed like nothing was going to stick. Stewart was off the front with another rider (Metromint?) but looked like CalGiant would catch. Tried to just recuperate a bit for the finish. Man it was hot, I was dying midrace but was starting to feel better.
With two to go I was having a hard making up position anywhere but on the hill. Just get out of the saddle and sprint! That was the name of the game now. Haydn came by with a lap to go and said my name, that's all I needed. We made up five spots before the bottom of the hill and Haydn unleashed up and to the right of another ten riders with me and Coble in tow. Down the descent and right turn we were all top ten with Haydn on Chad's (Lombardi and POO ride) wheel. We had 800 yrds, one turn, and a lot of strength left.
Chad's wheel wasn't interested in all that. Blew out right after the turn, sending Chad and Hadyn up onto the curb, me sliding out, and worst of all, Chris flying over me and breaking his wrist. Hadyn still finished 15th after getting off the curb....
Bosch won it! Damn that guy... he had done the Master's race before. Strong like bull, guess coming from the Valley might help with the heat.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
team mates!
Before I post anything about the actual outcome of the Vacaville GP, let me say how great it was to be inspired by team mates. I told Justin before the start that we needed to cover Wahlberg, well for the first twenty minutes Justin was GLUED to Wahlberg's wheel. It wasn't the best way for him to personally roll his first p/1/2 race but from a team point of view it was great. Haydn and I were able to rest assured that we were covered.
Haydn? Was rigtht there at the end, shaking me out of my sleep and dragging me to the top of the climb in a great position.
This is a team that came together over time. Coaslesed together through affinity, not from self interest. Love it.
Haydn? Was rigtht there at the end, shaking me out of my sleep and dragging me to the top of the climb in a great position.
This is a team that came together over time. Coaslesed together through affinity, not from self interest. Love it.
Fremont
What can I say here? We had a good eight man break from early in the race. It started no more than 20 minutes in. It was started by Penn, Coble, Parks. I began to bridge up though I was worried that Penn was not the picked rider for the BPGers. IE, they could call on him to sit on later and what kind of fun is that?
While I'm bridging Briggs and Nietsche come up so I jump on their wheels to complete it. I don't remember when Metromint got on. Was probably already there. Neuman made a really late bridge up after the gap was pretty sizable.
Off we go, early on the commitment was questionable. I didn't think Briggs was working all that hard and many times guys in the back opened a gap for me to get back in, do more work than I needed to. Couple of times I just kept going back, trying to force them to close the gap. Sure enough BPG management was calling for Penn to sit on, which he didn't exactly do, but he was pulling 100% either.
I didn't think it would stick, but I showed my commitment as did Bob, Neitche, eventually Briggs as well. So stick it did, we ended up with a really big gap. From what I could tell Mike Sayers and some others were driving the chase early, but then a five rider group formed with Haydn(cool), Sayers, Chad, Uthman. After that the field had no will and was ultimatley lapped. Seeing Haydn in the chase really relaxed things for me since I could see he wasn't working. I figured if they caught us then Haydn would be fresh, if they didn't then wouldn't have to duke with Sayers. Win/win.
With 8 or 7 laps to go there was a $100 prime. The guys were dithering on turn five, so I attacked with Metromint in tow. He took me at the line, but we had a gap. We went hard and the gap seemed maintained.
With four laps to go I did something in the180 and slipped out. Not sure if I clipped a pedal or just cut it too low. I got up (with some crowd help) and chased the 6 man break with Briggs et al, and was just about to close when pow! My rear exploded, the sidewall damaged from the fall I guess. I'm hugely dissappointed, more so after seeing Metromint hold on solo for the win.
While I'm bridging Briggs and Nietsche come up so I jump on their wheels to complete it. I don't remember when Metromint got on. Was probably already there. Neuman made a really late bridge up after the gap was pretty sizable.
Off we go, early on the commitment was questionable. I didn't think Briggs was working all that hard and many times guys in the back opened a gap for me to get back in, do more work than I needed to. Couple of times I just kept going back, trying to force them to close the gap. Sure enough BPG management was calling for Penn to sit on, which he didn't exactly do, but he was pulling 100% either.
I didn't think it would stick, but I showed my commitment as did Bob, Neitche, eventually Briggs as well. So stick it did, we ended up with a really big gap. From what I could tell Mike Sayers and some others were driving the chase early, but then a five rider group formed with Haydn(cool), Sayers, Chad, Uthman. After that the field had no will and was ultimatley lapped. Seeing Haydn in the chase really relaxed things for me since I could see he wasn't working. I figured if they caught us then Haydn would be fresh, if they didn't then wouldn't have to duke with Sayers. Win/win.
With 8 or 7 laps to go there was a $100 prime. The guys were dithering on turn five, so I attacked with Metromint in tow. He took me at the line, but we had a gap. We went hard and the gap seemed maintained.
With four laps to go I did something in the180 and slipped out. Not sure if I clipped a pedal or just cut it too low. I got up (with some crowd help) and chased the 6 man break with Briggs et al, and was just about to close when pow! My rear exploded, the sidewall damaged from the fall I guess. I'm hugely dissappointed, more so after seeing Metromint hold on solo for the win.
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