Thursday, June 2, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
John's take on the Silverton State Champs road race (and beautiful women)
There are two things that scare the hell outta me: beautiful women and road racing. One of them breaks your heart, while the other breaks you physically. Having either of those things happen to you is not fun, for sure. I'd probably rather have my heart broken then have road rash from a crash. Anyways, up until today, I've been a weenie and not given group road racing a shot. I wasn't too sure what compelled to me choose the Silverton Road Race, but I'm sure a lot of people could say the same thing about their boyfriends/girlfriends/wives/husbands.
Pre-race: I had to pee twice. I chalk that up to nerves. I was torn between just sitting in my car until race time or warming up by riding a few of the hills close to the start. I did a combo of the two, but totally regretted not warming up some more. I felt ever more nerves when I was lined up at the start and saw all the blingy $5,000 carbon bikes.
Race: The start was a downhill and then basically uphill for a handful of miles. I felt comfortable going down the first hill on the first lap and started to gain some confidence. I was in the front 1/3 of the pack and had a good feeling. Towards the end of the first downhill, a hear "Pssshhhh". Someone around me got a flat, but I had trouble gauging whether the culprit was behind or ahead of me. I got my answer in about 3 seconds, as the pack started to flow around a Team Oregon guy with a mushed-to-the-ground front tire. I braked and made the split second decision to weave to the right of the Team Oregon guy and the right edge of the road. The pack wasn't far ahead; so, I just sprinted to the last few guys in the pack.
This threw me off my game a little bit, but I tried to regain some composure. The uphill now began, and the pace was pretty friggin' fast. The pack seemed to slow then speed up on the uphills. This annoyed the heck outta me and eventually the gap between me and the guys in the front pack became too insurmountable. There were about 10 or 15 guys behind me; so, I figured I could join a handful of guys behind me and work to get back to the pack. Not a good fall back plan, as it turns about.
After about 1 mile of riding alone, a charming chap dressed in the green and white of Guinness comes up along side of me with a West End rider in-tow. Yippee! Here is our chance! Actually, not really cause the West End rider dropped off .5 miles later; so, it was just me and the Guinness guy, Brian.
The follow-car for our category got within eye-sight after about 6 miles of pacelining, but our chances were more realistic than having my brother-in-law set me up on a blind date.
On the second lap, we passed about 4 riders who were on those blingy $5,000 carbon bikes. Evidently, these guys were the leaders on lap 1, but took a wrong turn and couldn't get back on. I got the feeling that these guys and their $5,000 bikes were going to wimp-out and just going to roll back to their cars; so, it was just Brian and me again. I wanted to HTFU and finish the race; so off we went!! Brian and I ended up riding together to the end.
Post race: I ate a banana. I parked next to two cows and I was amazed at how loud and human-like they can moo. I saw Kevin and suggested at he warm up to avoid the early race disaster that I had. I didn't stick around for the end of Kevin's race, but I'm sure he did good!!!
Pre-race: I had to pee twice. I chalk that up to nerves. I was torn between just sitting in my car until race time or warming up by riding a few of the hills close to the start. I did a combo of the two, but totally regretted not warming up some more. I felt ever more nerves when I was lined up at the start and saw all the blingy $5,000 carbon bikes.
Race: The start was a downhill and then basically uphill for a handful of miles. I felt comfortable going down the first hill on the first lap and started to gain some confidence. I was in the front 1/3 of the pack and had a good feeling. Towards the end of the first downhill, a hear "Pssshhhh". Someone around me got a flat, but I had trouble gauging whether the culprit was behind or ahead of me. I got my answer in about 3 seconds, as the pack started to flow around a Team Oregon guy with a mushed-to-the-ground front tire. I braked and made the split second decision to weave to the right of the Team Oregon guy and the right edge of the road. The pack wasn't far ahead; so, I just sprinted to the last few guys in the pack.
This threw me off my game a little bit, but I tried to regain some composure. The uphill now began, and the pace was pretty friggin' fast. The pack seemed to slow then speed up on the uphills. This annoyed the heck outta me and eventually the gap between me and the guys in the front pack became too insurmountable. There were about 10 or 15 guys behind me; so, I figured I could join a handful of guys behind me and work to get back to the pack. Not a good fall back plan, as it turns about.
After about 1 mile of riding alone, a charming chap dressed in the green and white of Guinness comes up along side of me with a West End rider in-tow. Yippee! Here is our chance! Actually, not really cause the West End rider dropped off .5 miles later; so, it was just me and the Guinness guy, Brian.
The follow-car for our category got within eye-sight after about 6 miles of pacelining, but our chances were more realistic than having my brother-in-law set me up on a blind date.
On the second lap, we passed about 4 riders who were on those blingy $5,000 carbon bikes. Evidently, these guys were the leaders on lap 1, but took a wrong turn and couldn't get back on. I got the feeling that these guys and their $5,000 bikes were going to wimp-out and just going to roll back to their cars; so, it was just Brian and me again. I wanted to HTFU and finish the race; so off we went!! Brian and I ended up riding together to the end.
Post race: I ate a banana. I parked next to two cows and I was amazed at how loud and human-like they can moo. I saw Kevin and suggested at he warm up to avoid the early race disaster that I had. I didn't stick around for the end of Kevin's race, but I'm sure he did good!!!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Mr Smith tames Piece of Cake
After pre-riding the course the week before the race with the Wombat and Erin (that girl needs a nickname), plans were made in the Men's Cat 4 field. Plans about when to break away, how to run the gravel, how to use the wind to our advantage, who should block, who should attack, etc, etc. These plans were discussed at length all week.
Many of these plans went right down the crapper about 1 mile into the race when Little Blond Ironclad rider decides to pick up the pace on the first hill. You know, the one you can see from the start. He makes a few of the younger guys antsy and they start head up the road a bit. At the start of the gravel, they let it rip. A kid with a white River City jersey and gigantic holes in his ear lobes, we'll call him Tiny vegan boy, takes off with some other guy on his wheel. The pace cranks up and I am seriously regretting not warming up. Ian is ahead of me and the rest of the HV boys are somewhere behind me. By the time we get to the 2nd turn in the gravel section I am fighting to stay on the wheel in front of me, having already fallen off of it 3 or 4 times and beating my cold, slow un-warmed up muscles to hang on. I remember thinking, "It's like a crit, hold on for the first few minutes and it will settle down." Two poor bastards that were in front of me have already flatted. I get a quick glance over my shoulder at the turn and realize I am dangling off the front group that is strung way out and there is no one behind me for hundres of yards. I think, if I lose this wheel, my race is over. (I am going to chalk up this big gap to some blocking on the part of my HV team mates as Ian and I were in the lead group. That was one of the plans we discussed).
Coming into the 3rd turn in the gravel (the left turn after the loosesest section) the Cyclisme guy who's wheel I am chasing takes it wide and almost ends up in the ditch. Little Blond Ironclad boy did something wrong and he is sort of standing off to the side (flat? hair out of place?). I cut inside Cyclism and try to close the gap to the next wheel but can't quite pull it off. Cyclisme gets it back together and we trade pulls for the next couple miles trying to close the 50ft gap in front of us. I know there is a huge gaping nothing behind me and I would REALLY like to be in a group before we turn into the crosswind. As we near the bridge before the small uphill, Ian starts to dangle off the group and look back at me, like "Do you need a little help back there?" I yell at him to get his ass back on the group and not to worry about me. I figure at the rate I am going, I am going be cashed and I want someone on the team at the front.
Knowing how poorly I climb (and you guys who did the race know this is about a 30ft climb...sad I know) and how I feel, I know I am not going to close the gap on the front group. So I sit up and spin as well as I can up the short incline and hope the pace lets up enough for me to get back in it before we turn across the wind. As I come into the corner, Cyclisme hasn't quite cut the gap in front yet, I'm 30ft behind him and as I start to pick my line into the turn I realize there is this other guy on my wheel that I hadn't seen and must have just caught up. Cyclisme, myself and the new guy (Capitol Velo), come around the corner into the rollers and crosswind and we're still chasing to get back on. This is where Divine Providence steps in. The follow car zooms up next to us and tells us there is a crash in the field ahead of us and we might get neutralized and have to slow up a bit. I didn't take the time to thank whatever benevolent god sent me this miracle, but I should have.
Thanks to the slow up, we can see the riders off the front and Capital, Cyclisme, myself and some 4th guy who I have forgotten about get rolling in a textbook four-man rolling echelony paceline thingy and start cruising the downhill trending rollers in the crosswind. My legs stop feeling like crap and my heart rate returns to a more reasonable rate. We start talking about keeping the rotation and picking off the guys in front of us. It was sweet!.
The guy I have forgotten drops off at some point and we catch one guy (he's at the front of the four-man paceline with the turquoise bike and the hot red knee warmers...you guys thought I looked stupid) who hangs with us until the end of the lap and then peels off. I don't even know if he was in our race.
Lap 2: Capitol, Cyclisme and I kept rolling our paceline and picked up Ian in the gravel on lap 2. Everything was great for several miles until Cyclisme is at the front of the echelon, (I am on his immediate left) and he misses the damn right turn into the wind. I am on the wrong side of him and have to jam on my brakes and cut behind him to make the turn, Ian has to avoid me and Capitol had just peeled off to the right and made the turn. Capitol and I get to the top of the rise together and soft pedal a bit waiting for Ian and Cyclisme. We have a conversation about should we wait, this is the brutal headwind section and if we don't wait, they probably aren't going to get back on. We figure four is better than two if we want to catch anyone in front of us (we can see a lone rider up ahead). We get it back together and pick up Half Fast.
Lap 3 (thank god it's almost over): In the gravel, Half fast starts to drill it with Capitol on his wheel and I just can't hang on. Ian and Cyclisme have dropped back and I figure they're gone for good. I finally get back on to Capitol's wheel and see that Cyclisme bridged up to me. I didn't think he had it in him because he was having a hard time keeping up his pulls for half of the last lap. I keep getting the twinge in my left hamstring that precedes a cramp. I am stoked I managed to hang in this long and try stretching it whenever I can. Near the end of the gravel, I have recovered from chasing and start to drill it coming off the gravel and for the next half mile. It's downwind and trends downhill. Not surprisingly, I don't actually shake anybody. We stick together until the bridge and my little hill and I trickle off the back. Half fast actually dangles a couple bike lengths and looks back as I start to catch up and shortens my chase. A short while later we make the right turn into the crosswind where it starts to go down again and we hit the corner hard and somehow lose Half Fast. (I felt a little bad about this as he helped me get back on...I got over it. I am also not sure he was in our race either).
Capitol, Cyclism and I stuck together to the end. I tried a burst of speed at 1k left as I had nothing in me for a sprint. It was anemic and that left me sitting on the front while the other two guys wouldn't let me peel off going in to the finish. Cyclisme out kicked Capitol and I rolled in 8th.
I am stoked as that is the best finish I have ever had in a road race. I have never raced that hard for that long in my entire life. I have never felt that bad, for so long, in my entire life. I suffered more than I thought but pleased that it paid off.
I neglected to mention my apparently improperly adjusted front derailleur that would not be trimmed to avoid rubbing, and dropped me into the little ring unexpectedly at least five times during the race, the torrential rain, followed by sunshine, followed by hail, then sunshine, then a wicked freezing headwind with downpour during the last mile of the race. Through it all, my sweet (used to be) white leg warmers keep me warm.
Thanks to the Cat 4 boys for plotting and scheming and pulling off one small portion of our plan. Thanks for supporting me when I wasn't sure that I was really the guy anybody should support.
If you have read this far, I hope you enjoyed it. No one was here to 'encourage' me to shut up!
Many of these plans went right down the crapper about 1 mile into the race when Little Blond Ironclad rider decides to pick up the pace on the first hill. You know, the one you can see from the start. He makes a few of the younger guys antsy and they start head up the road a bit. At the start of the gravel, they let it rip. A kid with a white River City jersey and gigantic holes in his ear lobes, we'll call him Tiny vegan boy, takes off with some other guy on his wheel. The pace cranks up and I am seriously regretting not warming up. Ian is ahead of me and the rest of the HV boys are somewhere behind me. By the time we get to the 2nd turn in the gravel section I am fighting to stay on the wheel in front of me, having already fallen off of it 3 or 4 times and beating my cold, slow un-warmed up muscles to hang on. I remember thinking, "It's like a crit, hold on for the first few minutes and it will settle down." Two poor bastards that were in front of me have already flatted. I get a quick glance over my shoulder at the turn and realize I am dangling off the front group that is strung way out and there is no one behind me for hundres of yards. I think, if I lose this wheel, my race is over. (I am going to chalk up this big gap to some blocking on the part of my HV team mates as Ian and I were in the lead group. That was one of the plans we discussed).
Coming into the 3rd turn in the gravel (the left turn after the loosesest section) the Cyclisme guy who's wheel I am chasing takes it wide and almost ends up in the ditch. Little Blond Ironclad boy did something wrong and he is sort of standing off to the side (flat? hair out of place?). I cut inside Cyclism and try to close the gap to the next wheel but can't quite pull it off. Cyclisme gets it back together and we trade pulls for the next couple miles trying to close the 50ft gap in front of us. I know there is a huge gaping nothing behind me and I would REALLY like to be in a group before we turn into the crosswind. As we near the bridge before the small uphill, Ian starts to dangle off the group and look back at me, like "Do you need a little help back there?" I yell at him to get his ass back on the group and not to worry about me. I figure at the rate I am going, I am going be cashed and I want someone on the team at the front.
Knowing how poorly I climb (and you guys who did the race know this is about a 30ft climb...sad I know) and how I feel, I know I am not going to close the gap on the front group. So I sit up and spin as well as I can up the short incline and hope the pace lets up enough for me to get back in it before we turn across the wind. As I come into the corner, Cyclisme hasn't quite cut the gap in front yet, I'm 30ft behind him and as I start to pick my line into the turn I realize there is this other guy on my wheel that I hadn't seen and must have just caught up. Cyclisme, myself and the new guy (Capitol Velo), come around the corner into the rollers and crosswind and we're still chasing to get back on. This is where Divine Providence steps in. The follow car zooms up next to us and tells us there is a crash in the field ahead of us and we might get neutralized and have to slow up a bit. I didn't take the time to thank whatever benevolent god sent me this miracle, but I should have.
Thanks to the slow up, we can see the riders off the front and Capital, Cyclisme, myself and some 4th guy who I have forgotten about get rolling in a textbook four-man rolling echelony paceline thingy and start cruising the downhill trending rollers in the crosswind. My legs stop feeling like crap and my heart rate returns to a more reasonable rate. We start talking about keeping the rotation and picking off the guys in front of us. It was sweet!.
 |
| Mr Smith and his fancy leg warmers tearing up the course (photo: Oregon Cycling Action) |
The guy I have forgotten drops off at some point and we catch one guy (he's at the front of the four-man paceline with the turquoise bike and the hot red knee warmers...you guys thought I looked stupid) who hangs with us until the end of the lap and then peels off. I don't even know if he was in our race.
Lap 2: Capitol, Cyclisme and I kept rolling our paceline and picked up Ian in the gravel on lap 2. Everything was great for several miles until Cyclisme is at the front of the echelon, (I am on his immediate left) and he misses the damn right turn into the wind. I am on the wrong side of him and have to jam on my brakes and cut behind him to make the turn, Ian has to avoid me and Capitol had just peeled off to the right and made the turn. Capitol and I get to the top of the rise together and soft pedal a bit waiting for Ian and Cyclisme. We have a conversation about should we wait, this is the brutal headwind section and if we don't wait, they probably aren't going to get back on. We figure four is better than two if we want to catch anyone in front of us (we can see a lone rider up ahead). We get it back together and pick up Half Fast.
Lap 3 (thank god it's almost over): In the gravel, Half fast starts to drill it with Capitol on his wheel and I just can't hang on. Ian and Cyclisme have dropped back and I figure they're gone for good. I finally get back on to Capitol's wheel and see that Cyclisme bridged up to me. I didn't think he had it in him because he was having a hard time keeping up his pulls for half of the last lap. I keep getting the twinge in my left hamstring that precedes a cramp. I am stoked I managed to hang in this long and try stretching it whenever I can. Near the end of the gravel, I have recovered from chasing and start to drill it coming off the gravel and for the next half mile. It's downwind and trends downhill. Not surprisingly, I don't actually shake anybody. We stick together until the bridge and my little hill and I trickle off the back. Half fast actually dangles a couple bike lengths and looks back as I start to catch up and shortens my chase. A short while later we make the right turn into the crosswind where it starts to go down again and we hit the corner hard and somehow lose Half Fast. (I felt a little bad about this as he helped me get back on...I got over it. I am also not sure he was in our race either).
Capitol, Cyclism and I stuck together to the end. I tried a burst of speed at 1k left as I had nothing in me for a sprint. It was anemic and that left me sitting on the front while the other two guys wouldn't let me peel off going in to the finish. Cyclisme out kicked Capitol and I rolled in 8th.
I am stoked as that is the best finish I have ever had in a road race. I have never raced that hard for that long in my entire life. I have never felt that bad, for so long, in my entire life. I suffered more than I thought but pleased that it paid off.
I neglected to mention my apparently improperly adjusted front derailleur that would not be trimmed to avoid rubbing, and dropped me into the little ring unexpectedly at least five times during the race, the torrential rain, followed by sunshine, followed by hail, then sunshine, then a wicked freezing headwind with downpour during the last mile of the race. Through it all, my sweet (used to be) white leg warmers keep me warm.
Thanks to the Cat 4 boys for plotting and scheming and pulling off one small portion of our plan. Thanks for supporting me when I wasn't sure that I was really the guy anybody should support.
If you have read this far, I hope you enjoyed it. No one was here to 'encourage' me to shut up!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
'....and now there are two' - BB1 Race report By Kevin O’Connell
All in all, I thought the Masters 4/5 race was tame and well behaved. The packed move along with minor slowing, many attempted breaks, a few were sustained but eventually all breaks were reeled in.
Lap 1: Jamie and I were riding mid pack in close proximity, we were successfully moving to the most efficient positions in the pack. Hugh was riding very well ahead of us, toward the front. Three quarters of the way through the lap Jamie and I found ourselves working up the messy right side, at this point I heard to unmistakable sound of a flat I looked down and noticed it was Jamie’s rear wheel. Jamie did a commendable job of controlling his bike with little to no disruption. I worked my way up to inform Hugh of Jamie’s misfortune to which he replied, “and now there are 2.” I found this a bit comical in light of the fact that a few of the larger teams had several riders in the pack.
Lap 2: I continued to sit in and observe how the pack responded break away attempts etc.
Lap 3: Started to move around the pack back to front side to side looking for efficient lines. At the very end of lap 3 we went neutral to let the juniors finish their race, they were very impressive on the hill sprint.
Lap 4: Immediate challenge was transitioning from neutral to a last lap situation, I moved to the front in the event that riders on the front attacked once the juniors cleared, fortunately we moved rapidly past the juniors in an orderly fashion. (credit to the OBRA staff as this could have been a mess).
In my mind it was now time to race. As we approached Lee road I was prepared for an attack which did not develop. I then soft pedaled until we approached the dam. A long paced line formed to the right side of the bridge, I slipped onto the left side of the pace line and moved straight to the front with minimal effort. I got my desired line through the left hand corner leading to the hill and started climbing, as I passed Hugh all I had was real estate in front of me. I then let the dogs off the porch and climbed as hard as I could. I slowed a bit and 3 riders caught me at the top. To sustain the gap we attempted to team up, but it didn’t happen. I noticed the 2 disinterested riders were on the same team, I suspected team tactics, I called them a name or two and moved on. After the race they told me they were too tired to do a pace line.
As the larger group caught us I regrouped with Hugh, recovered for a few minutes, observed a few more pointless attaches, and decided that I would throw down one more effort which I new would be pointless but I wanted to tire the group a bit more. So, from about number 5 position I laid down a sprint. Again Hugh joined me after things settled down. So, picture this, a double pace line moving at race pace with Hugh and I on the front and absolutely no one stepping up. Hugh looked at me and said something like, “I don’t think there is a worse place we could be right now, to which I responded, “you know I was thinking the same thing.” With the help of a Portland Velo buddy Hugh I got off the front and recovered for a bit.
Given that all tactical attempts had failed thus far, I stopped thinking about what could happen and started preparing for the up hill sprint which came sooner than anticipated. At the base of the hill I was boxed in, so I took the right side. As I started to wind up for my final effort, I was nearly pushed into the guard rail. This was predictable but an expectable risk as once I cleared this guy I had a clear path to the line. I sprinted the remainder of the hill and finished 5th.
Lap 1: Jamie and I were riding mid pack in close proximity, we were successfully moving to the most efficient positions in the pack. Hugh was riding very well ahead of us, toward the front. Three quarters of the way through the lap Jamie and I found ourselves working up the messy right side, at this point I heard to unmistakable sound of a flat I looked down and noticed it was Jamie’s rear wheel. Jamie did a commendable job of controlling his bike with little to no disruption. I worked my way up to inform Hugh of Jamie’s misfortune to which he replied, “and now there are 2.” I found this a bit comical in light of the fact that a few of the larger teams had several riders in the pack.
Lap 2: I continued to sit in and observe how the pack responded break away attempts etc.
Lap 3: Started to move around the pack back to front side to side looking for efficient lines. At the very end of lap 3 we went neutral to let the juniors finish their race, they were very impressive on the hill sprint.
Lap 4: Immediate challenge was transitioning from neutral to a last lap situation, I moved to the front in the event that riders on the front attacked once the juniors cleared, fortunately we moved rapidly past the juniors in an orderly fashion. (credit to the OBRA staff as this could have been a mess).
In my mind it was now time to race. As we approached Lee road I was prepared for an attack which did not develop. I then soft pedaled until we approached the dam. A long paced line formed to the right side of the bridge, I slipped onto the left side of the pace line and moved straight to the front with minimal effort. I got my desired line through the left hand corner leading to the hill and started climbing, as I passed Hugh all I had was real estate in front of me. I then let the dogs off the porch and climbed as hard as I could. I slowed a bit and 3 riders caught me at the top. To sustain the gap we attempted to team up, but it didn’t happen. I noticed the 2 disinterested riders were on the same team, I suspected team tactics, I called them a name or two and moved on. After the race they told me they were too tired to do a pace line.
As the larger group caught us I regrouped with Hugh, recovered for a few minutes, observed a few more pointless attaches, and decided that I would throw down one more effort which I new would be pointless but I wanted to tire the group a bit more. So, from about number 5 position I laid down a sprint. Again Hugh joined me after things settled down. So, picture this, a double pace line moving at race pace with Hugh and I on the front and absolutely no one stepping up. Hugh looked at me and said something like, “I don’t think there is a worse place we could be right now, to which I responded, “you know I was thinking the same thing.” With the help of a Portland Velo buddy Hugh I got off the front and recovered for a bit.
Given that all tactical attempts had failed thus far, I stopped thinking about what could happen and started preparing for the up hill sprint which came sooner than anticipated. At the base of the hill I was boxed in, so I took the right side. As I started to wind up for my final effort, I was nearly pushed into the guard rail. This was predictable but an expectable risk as once I cleared this guy I had a clear path to the line. I sprinted the remainder of the hill and finished 5th.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Two wonderful things - Angela's BB#1 race report
Two wonderful things happened in the cat 4/ master women's race today. I finished with field and in fact was frustrated with the slowing of my fellow racers as we climbed hills. That is until the last time up the big hill. Two powerful master women turned their jets on and fired up the hill after riding at the back until then. What was pretty dang cool is that I was the only one to hang with them, until I didn't; about 3/4 of the way up I ran out of power and slowed exponentially Before that I frequently the first one over the top. For those who have raced with me in the past you know how dramatically different that is. True I would frequently get pasted for a bit mid-way up but my speed did not slow until the last heroic effort. I think I finished 5th or 6th in master wm and probably in the top 10 overall. I think it may well be more mental then physical that I did not finish one place higher. The gal that took that spot certainly kept me digging deep but not for long enough. Just the same my goal was reached in that I did not get dropped from the pack even if I did not keep up with the breakaway. Who knows what next week will be like.
The other wonderful thing is that Cristina raced discreetly and with impressive patience. Sure, she could have gone much faster, but she didn't and she most likely got 2nd or 3rd. Sure she might have gotten 1st or 2nd riding her old way but what progress she made. Instead she chastised me for pulling too much! She chatted a tiny bit, but never took a pull until the rubber hit the road on the last lap. Even then she worked with the small group to keep the pace and to keep the group working together. I am proud of her and many of you would be too.
Cristina and I stayed until late in the day volunteering for the afternoon races. I did lead car for master 4/5 men once again. Hugh and Jon Gornick set the pace the first lap. Jon keep pulling and Hugh placed himself mid-field, something I've not seen before. He stayed there until the last lap when there was a lot a battling for good positions and winning sprints. The helmet that stood out during lap 3 and 4 was Kevin's. He was a little easier to spot with his blue and white helmet. His excellent riding was noteworthy as well. That group of master 4/5 are so tight, it is pretty dang cool. I think they may have dropped a few, but no one was really gonna get away. They all ride tight and strong! Despite ferocious efforts to break things up, the field held to the finish and those who could sprint that hill and find the hole or path through others made it in the top. Kevin came in around #5, Hugh around #10. Mr. Jon Gornick used his matches up a bit earlier. He did not get dropped from the field, but he came in toward the end.
I heard Mr. Jamie Fitzgerald wasn't in the mix due to a flat early in the first lap. S***! He'll undoubtably have something more interesting to say about it.
I got to wear my new kit and LOVE IT! It looks great too!
Finally, those of us who got to start our races between 9:30 -10 had the best weather. It was fantastic!
Thanks everyone
The other wonderful thing is that Cristina raced discreetly and with impressive patience. Sure, she could have gone much faster, but she didn't and she most likely got 2nd or 3rd. Sure she might have gotten 1st or 2nd riding her old way but what progress she made. Instead she chastised me for pulling too much! She chatted a tiny bit, but never took a pull until the rubber hit the road on the last lap. Even then she worked with the small group to keep the pace and to keep the group working together. I am proud of her and many of you would be too.
Cristina and I stayed until late in the day volunteering for the afternoon races. I did lead car for master 4/5 men once again. Hugh and Jon Gornick set the pace the first lap. Jon keep pulling and Hugh placed himself mid-field, something I've not seen before. He stayed there until the last lap when there was a lot a battling for good positions and winning sprints. The helmet that stood out during lap 3 and 4 was Kevin's. He was a little easier to spot with his blue and white helmet. His excellent riding was noteworthy as well. That group of master 4/5 are so tight, it is pretty dang cool. I think they may have dropped a few, but no one was really gonna get away. They all ride tight and strong! Despite ferocious efforts to break things up, the field held to the finish and those who could sprint that hill and find the hole or path through others made it in the top. Kevin came in around #5, Hugh around #10. Mr. Jon Gornick used his matches up a bit earlier. He did not get dropped from the field, but he came in toward the end.
I heard Mr. Jamie Fitzgerald wasn't in the mix due to a flat early in the first lap. S***! He'll undoubtably have something more interesting to say about it.
I got to wear my new kit and LOVE IT! It looks great too!
Finally, those of us who got to start our races between 9:30 -10 had the best weather. It was fantastic!
Thanks everyone
Emptying the match book - Matt's account of BB#1
After being pampered with a late start at Cherry Pie two weeks ago, 5am was a cruel return to the racing I knew from Washington. I nearly shelved my racing today 3 times....
1.) at 5:01am
2.) as I started to fall asleep again while driving at 5:30 (yes, I got there waaaay too early)
3.) when I saw the course covered in ice upon arrival
Well, of course when I was putting my trainer away after the warm-up at 8:55 I heard that we had a 30 min ice delay. Crap... so I rode around for the next 30 min visiting the restroom to hold off the hypothermia. It was great to see some of the Hammer women warming up, and it was good to have some company and great job Christina, 4th place!
Lap one started with lots of futile attacks, I covered a few but tried to stay out of the wind as best I could. Wow, its hard when you have no idea who to watch and I was second guessing every move and whether I should go cover the attack. After the first lap, I sat in and tried to hover around top 5, when people went off I tried to watch their body language to see if they might be a threat and act accordingly.
On lap two some guy from Bike Racing Attorney launched a huge attack. The way he moved (upper body bobbing like crazy) I thought "no way buddy" and kind of let him go. Well, he stayed away for about a lap before we caught him.
Lap 3 I got in a 10 man break after the dam, I thought we might stay away but it wasn't to be... and we got caught.
Lap 4... crazy Bike Racing Attorney dude didn't get enough pain from lap one so he went off again. This time he took two other guys with him, one from Team Oregon... and I was not paying attention, sipping a latte in the back. S***! These three quickly make a sizable gap, and I knew this was a very dangerous move. Team Oregon and BRA went straight to the front and in the most subtle way went 4 abreast put their arms out and slowed down. I immediately did my best Bryan Smith impersonation trying to rally a few troops to chase.
No dice... everyone sat around happy to be on a Sunday stroll. I was just about to take out my water bottle and bean the one TO guy in the back of the head with it when I saw a little opening and gunned it. I took 3 guys with me, heads down, and we just buried it in the red. We were not making much ground though and I saw my book of matches burning up like crazy... we had a few other chasers join us and help the effort.
Slowly we started whittling away the breaks' lead but I was so far in the red I was concerned that I would have nothing to finish with. We caught the break inside 1K and and I was sitting 3rd wheel coming up on 200M... as soon as I hit the 200M mark I gave it everything I had, figuring that I could maybe catch a few people off guard make some space and then see what happens.
What happened?
I could nearly taste victory when I heard a rider coming up on my left he had a super kick and left me and my empty match book to take 2nd place.
1.) at 5:01am
2.) as I started to fall asleep again while driving at 5:30 (yes, I got there waaaay too early)
3.) when I saw the course covered in ice upon arrival
Well, of course when I was putting my trainer away after the warm-up at 8:55 I heard that we had a 30 min ice delay. Crap... so I rode around for the next 30 min visiting the restroom to hold off the hypothermia. It was great to see some of the Hammer women warming up, and it was good to have some company and great job Christina, 4th place!
Lap one started with lots of futile attacks, I covered a few but tried to stay out of the wind as best I could. Wow, its hard when you have no idea who to watch and I was second guessing every move and whether I should go cover the attack. After the first lap, I sat in and tried to hover around top 5, when people went off I tried to watch their body language to see if they might be a threat and act accordingly.
On lap two some guy from Bike Racing Attorney launched a huge attack. The way he moved (upper body bobbing like crazy) I thought "no way buddy" and kind of let him go. Well, he stayed away for about a lap before we caught him.
Lap 3 I got in a 10 man break after the dam, I thought we might stay away but it wasn't to be... and we got caught.
Lap 4... crazy Bike Racing Attorney dude didn't get enough pain from lap one so he went off again. This time he took two other guys with him, one from Team Oregon... and I was not paying attention, sipping a latte in the back. S***! These three quickly make a sizable gap, and I knew this was a very dangerous move. Team Oregon and BRA went straight to the front and in the most subtle way went 4 abreast put their arms out and slowed down. I immediately did my best Bryan Smith impersonation trying to rally a few troops to chase.
No dice... everyone sat around happy to be on a Sunday stroll. I was just about to take out my water bottle and bean the one TO guy in the back of the head with it when I saw a little opening and gunned it. I took 3 guys with me, heads down, and we just buried it in the red. We were not making much ground though and I saw my book of matches burning up like crazy... we had a few other chasers join us and help the effort.
Slowly we started whittling away the breaks' lead but I was so far in the red I was concerned that I would have nothing to finish with. We caught the break inside 1K and and I was sitting 3rd wheel coming up on 200M... as soon as I hit the 200M mark I gave it everything I had, figuring that I could maybe catch a few people off guard make some space and then see what happens.
What happened?
I could nearly taste victory when I heard a rider coming up on my left he had a super kick and left me and my empty match book to take 2nd place.
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