The drive out was scenic and bothersome. The closer to the venue I got, the denser the clouds grew and the more abundant the rain. Oh well, I was glad I’d brought my rain slicker. It was a good thing Hugh encouraged me to bring my winter gloves too, because they were ideal. I got very muddy, wet and even hot while climbing, but never cold. Had I been out there another hour and a half that might have been different.
I took a wild guess at what gear to use for the event. Assuming the hills weren’t as steep down there as they are up by Browns Camp, I went with a 32/18. This might have been a good gear for John Lin, but not me. There was a lot of climbing. Doesn’t it always seem there is more up than down? Well most of this up was on logging roads, which are in good shape and appropriately rough without being treacherous. There was some single track and included more climbing, before descending on road and single track followed of course by more climbing. I don’t mind the climbing, but I found myself wanting two things, more single track and a different gear. I should have put a 20T on my bike, and if I am going to do all that climbing, I want to look forward to riding some flowing single track even if it is a true canal. The single track was pretty much what you would expect after of month of record rainfall, wet, slippery, and the mud expanding in width and depth with every tire penetration. Fortunately there were very few hazards that throw a rider off her bike or off course. At times it was hard to ride with speed either because of the mud, or because of the riders in front of me. I am sure this wasn’t the case for the pros and cat 1 racers. I got mixed up with some cat 3, which is fine while climbing, but not on the single track, so I busied myself passing and saying to those riding well in front of me, “Stay aggressive.” Sometimes it helps to keep the passing going. So I had planned to ride two laps with the cat 2 women, but when we started climbing the logging road for the 2nd lap, I decided there was not enough single track to make it worth it. If I put a bigger gear on my bike I certainly would have gone, but as it was I had an out, to finish with the women’s single speed category. In the end my time was 1:23, but they added a 4-minute penalty because I switched categories. Just the same I got 2nd place. Behind Lisa Belair. I would consider doing it again, but only if more of my team and friends joined in.
A few thoughts I had while racing the Mudslinger were that it would be a great race for those somewhat new to mountain biking. With much of the course on logging roads, the technical demands are nominal, apart from the mud, which is going to be a series factor for everyone when there is record rainfall. I thought of how excellent Echo to Red is and how lucky we are to be able to ride and race out there so early in the year. It is really such a great and beautiful event. Then there was what I consider the dream course of the Capital Forest 50/100, which I did last September. That course was 75% single track, at least that is how I remember it, and it’s all down hill. Okay not really but the last 6-8 miles are on single track that is sweet, sweeping and at times steep! It is a course that is totally thrilling and all the climbing is worth the amazing single track descents. As for the Mudslinger, I’ll have to give it another try under improved conditions
Monday, April 2, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Angela's BB2 race report - HV first and second in Masters women
I arrived at 8:30 to find Daphne doing the right thing, warming up under the picnic area. At the last minute I decided to bag the trainer and planned to just ride around or not before the race. For certain there was going to be no complaining. I talked over my race strategy with Daphne. I was glad she showed up because my plan included her incredibly fine descending skills. However we couldn’t really find a reason to do anything strategic since the woman we’d be trying to get away from would most certainly jump with us. She didn’t even turn out to race with us. Just the same we were determined to race well and have a good ride.
Daphne and I set out on the front side by side for most of the first lap keeping a nice steady and moderately strong pace. The field was a little more coordinated this week than last, likely because it was so much smaller. About mid-way through lap two we found ourselves in a group of 9. ½ the ladies wanting and trying to work hard and keeping the pace up, the other ½ not wanting to or not knowing how to get out of the way. At least we were working and focused on moving along at a good clip rather than just riding. I was glad when we finally started our third and final lap.
At 3K someone took off. Those up front did not go right away, then one jumped and another, I was ready to go with the second gal, but they weren’t the ones I needed to beat. It’s kind of weird when your rival is your totally valued teammate.
There you have it.
I just didn’t want to blow up and have Daphne come flying by me as we sailed down our last descent. So, I hung back, and at 1K we started to pick it up again just to have the leaders of the Cat. 3 men come along side of us for their finish. It was a bit confusing, but they were as strung out as we were.
WE were coming up to our finish so I wasn’t going to neutralize. I simply tried to stay to the right, but then their stupid support cars filled up the lane creeping up behind them like snails. I was back to the shoulder with Daphne to the right of my back wheel. Knowing she was gonna come flying by me at any moment I kept it in the big chain ring and dug deep and tried to keep my cadence rolling hard. Looking at Rich’s video clip of the finish I am pleased to see I was the 4th woman across the line. Only now that I sit down to write this does it cross my mind that Daphne and I could have crossed the line together.
Indeed it was wet and it was kind of cold, but mostly it was wet. Racing with a rain jacket, known as a cape, was totally the ticket. Shifting was a bit of a bugger especially going back into the big chain ring at the top if the climb out of the damn. Fortunately found little to no reason to use my brakes, which is scarily difficult with frozen hands. The cold did in set once I got back to my car and got changed. For about 45 minutes the shivering was so bad I feared I was going to bite off my tongue.
Things really warmed up for John Lin and me as we led the Master 4/5 men around the course through dropping temperatures, falling winter mix and even beautiful snow. It was great to see the Hammer Velo fellas riding together and riding smart. Hugh came up with a 5th place finish with his teammates all around him. Getting to the podium next week! The sky really cleared up as we departed the venue.
Daphne and I set out on the front side by side for most of the first lap keeping a nice steady and moderately strong pace. The field was a little more coordinated this week than last, likely because it was so much smaller. About mid-way through lap two we found ourselves in a group of 9. ½ the ladies wanting and trying to work hard and keeping the pace up, the other ½ not wanting to or not knowing how to get out of the way. At least we were working and focused on moving along at a good clip rather than just riding. I was glad when we finally started our third and final lap.
At 3K someone took off. Those up front did not go right away, then one jumped and another, I was ready to go with the second gal, but they weren’t the ones I needed to beat. It’s kind of weird when your rival is your totally valued teammate.
There you have it.
I just didn’t want to blow up and have Daphne come flying by me as we sailed down our last descent. So, I hung back, and at 1K we started to pick it up again just to have the leaders of the Cat. 3 men come along side of us for their finish. It was a bit confusing, but they were as strung out as we were.
WE were coming up to our finish so I wasn’t going to neutralize. I simply tried to stay to the right, but then their stupid support cars filled up the lane creeping up behind them like snails. I was back to the shoulder with Daphne to the right of my back wheel. Knowing she was gonna come flying by me at any moment I kept it in the big chain ring and dug deep and tried to keep my cadence rolling hard. Looking at Rich’s video clip of the finish I am pleased to see I was the 4th woman across the line. Only now that I sit down to write this does it cross my mind that Daphne and I could have crossed the line together.
Indeed it was wet and it was kind of cold, but mostly it was wet. Racing with a rain jacket, known as a cape, was totally the ticket. Shifting was a bit of a bugger especially going back into the big chain ring at the top if the climb out of the damn. Fortunately found little to no reason to use my brakes, which is scarily difficult with frozen hands. The cold did in set once I got back to my car and got changed. For about 45 minutes the shivering was so bad I feared I was going to bite off my tongue.
Things really warmed up for John Lin and me as we led the Master 4/5 men around the course through dropping temperatures, falling winter mix and even beautiful snow. It was great to see the Hammer Velo fellas riding together and riding smart. Hugh came up with a 5th place finish with his teammates all around him. Getting to the podium next week! The sky really cleared up as we departed the venue.
Drew's BB2 race report - A reptilian-state war of attrition
Sun Breaks, Heavy Rain, strong wind gusts, hail, and snow . . . what do they have in common? What we all experienced today at BB2. A real test. I am still, after showering, cleaning out my ears. My bike is covered in road grime (those of you cleaning, be sure to use soap and water and a soft hand).
There was zero problem finding parking this week. Rolled in, parked and dressed. We saw John Lin in his car recovering from his race. He did not look good. Angela was shivering like mad. I took no notice. Breezy, light showers . . . no worries, I thought to myself. Little did I know what was in store. The 4/5 Masters group was the biggest of the day. We rolled up and out and we maintained the "neutral" vibe for quite a while. As we all got soaked - water in the face, water up the back and water from above - it became obvious that this was a war of attrition. My right index finger froze over by the time we got to the dam. I got this . . . if it stays like this. Cool. Alas, I was only fooling myself.
About 1K into the race Richard hit the first pothole dead square. I was just back and right of him and one of his bottles flew out and damn near ended my day right there. Rich shook his head and cursed for the next 10 minutes. Bad omen. I decided to track Chris. Another finger went numb.
It wasn't long before mother nature decided to throw everything she had at us. Test our resolve. Then came the hail and the winds. As we crossed the dam I was almost blown into the guardrail. I tucked in between some big guys and cruised along. Drinking was a mixture of Endurolyte Fizz and Road Grit. Nasty. Every time we passed over the dam we got a different type of weather. "Why the eff are we doing this?" some racer yelled at me when it was snowing on one pass. "So that we can say we did it." I replied. "That's right," he replied, "Good story on a warm day in July". EXACTLY.
Things progressed well. I settled into that sort of soaked, cold, reptillian state that comes under such conditions and ground out the miles. Kevin, Hugh and Chris were always right there and we always chased down what went out. HV kept the peloton in tact and we raced along.
Slowly I began to lose feeling in virtually all of my fingers. Chris, who was suffering from the same calamity, said it best at one point, "I CAN'T FREAKING SHIFT!!" For those of you who are into the whole Shimano/Campy/SRAM discussion, let me tell you, as a current rider of SRAM Red shifters that I was desperately wishing for my 7800 DA shifters. Red takes a certain feel and finesse which is beautiful when you can actually feel your fingers. I think my pinky was working and the rest of my numb sausages kept getting stuck in the paddle. When shifting the FD, I had to keep looking down to see if the shift had happened because I couldn't feel anything. Weird. I had to club the right shifter to sort of get what I wanted in the back. The full throw of the DA would've been really nice with frozen hands.
By the time we got to the final 200 m, we were all fubar (except the Bellovaci United guy who tore away with 6 miles to go, without any sort of leggings, shoe covers, etc. and crushed us - what's he on?). I had started to cramp early in lap 4 and was super tenative on every stroke. In the end I didn't listen to what Chris Smith had discovered last week, let them break early, let them crack and then go. I was one who went early, felt my legs fill with lead and had a furious saddled spin "sprint" finish with some guy. I got across the line to Angela's and John cheering me on.
All I could think about was, Get to my car . . . don't hurl . . . get to my car. I had to have someone help me get my key out of my pocket and I have never shivered that much in my life.
Finished. Goal met. My hands are still funky as I type this. Great ass-kicking HV. Can't wait for BB3.
There was zero problem finding parking this week. Rolled in, parked and dressed. We saw John Lin in his car recovering from his race. He did not look good. Angela was shivering like mad. I took no notice. Breezy, light showers . . . no worries, I thought to myself. Little did I know what was in store. The 4/5 Masters group was the biggest of the day. We rolled up and out and we maintained the "neutral" vibe for quite a while. As we all got soaked - water in the face, water up the back and water from above - it became obvious that this was a war of attrition. My right index finger froze over by the time we got to the dam. I got this . . . if it stays like this. Cool. Alas, I was only fooling myself.
About 1K into the race Richard hit the first pothole dead square. I was just back and right of him and one of his bottles flew out and damn near ended my day right there. Rich shook his head and cursed for the next 10 minutes. Bad omen. I decided to track Chris. Another finger went numb.
It wasn't long before mother nature decided to throw everything she had at us. Test our resolve. Then came the hail and the winds. As we crossed the dam I was almost blown into the guardrail. I tucked in between some big guys and cruised along. Drinking was a mixture of Endurolyte Fizz and Road Grit. Nasty. Every time we passed over the dam we got a different type of weather. "Why the eff are we doing this?" some racer yelled at me when it was snowing on one pass. "So that we can say we did it." I replied. "That's right," he replied, "Good story on a warm day in July". EXACTLY.
Things progressed well. I settled into that sort of soaked, cold, reptillian state that comes under such conditions and ground out the miles. Kevin, Hugh and Chris were always right there and we always chased down what went out. HV kept the peloton in tact and we raced along.
Slowly I began to lose feeling in virtually all of my fingers. Chris, who was suffering from the same calamity, said it best at one point, "I CAN'T FREAKING SHIFT!!" For those of you who are into the whole Shimano/Campy/SRAM discussion, let me tell you, as a current rider of SRAM Red shifters that I was desperately wishing for my 7800 DA shifters. Red takes a certain feel and finesse which is beautiful when you can actually feel your fingers. I think my pinky was working and the rest of my numb sausages kept getting stuck in the paddle. When shifting the FD, I had to keep looking down to see if the shift had happened because I couldn't feel anything. Weird. I had to club the right shifter to sort of get what I wanted in the back. The full throw of the DA would've been really nice with frozen hands.
By the time we got to the final 200 m, we were all fubar (except the Bellovaci United guy who tore away with 6 miles to go, without any sort of leggings, shoe covers, etc. and crushed us - what's he on?). I had started to cramp early in lap 4 and was super tenative on every stroke. In the end I didn't listen to what Chris Smith had discovered last week, let them break early, let them crack and then go. I was one who went early, felt my legs fill with lead and had a furious saddled spin "sprint" finish with some guy. I got across the line to Angela's and John cheering me on.
All I could think about was, Get to my car . . . don't hurl . . . get to my car. I had to have someone help me get my key out of my pocket and I have never shivered that much in my life.
Finished. Goal met. My hands are still funky as I type this. Great ass-kicking HV. Can't wait for BB3.
Tedder's Adventure in Echo
Well Angela, Hugh, Jon and Bryan all met me at PACE at 6am and we loaded up and off we went. The trip over was good until we got popped for speeding around Biggs for going 82...oops....was not really trying to speed just got busy talking and once the big red machine gets rolling it's a nice smooth ride at 80 : )...oh well, my first ticket in atleast 15 years. So back on the road. We got to the race in plenty of time to get our packets and get dressed but I guess that I forgot or did not want to warm up, oops again.
We had a good group in the Cat 2 race at the head of the race, once they cut us loose on the gravel it was race on and my HR red lined almost immediately. I sat in and held on at the back of the lead bunch but was suffering horribly at this point. However, once we hit the trail I slowly started to recover and started passing a few people. About 10 or 15 minutes in I rolled up on the back of Ian and Jon that were leading a group of guys. This group ended up being second on the trail as a lead group had ridden off the front aways after we hit the single track. I sat in for a few minutes and really started feeling good. Then I made my move and went out around Jon and Ian and the group and attacked like hell. Maybe 5 minutes later I caught the front group and looked back, and Jon and Ian's group was nowhere in sight. It worked perfect for me because it was hard passing and I made the move at the right time.
I was feeling real good for about the next half of the race - legs and lungs were great and everyone was in close sight of me.
Time for some road kill : )
I passed about 5 or 6 guys and again attacked like hell to put a gap on them, then came to a part on the course that the trail was running along another trail up above us about 30 feel or so. I was alone at this point and I saw 2 guys on the upper trail. Then I started playing mind games - did I miss a turn??? WTF,...why are they up there, I turned around and did not see anyone on the lower trail where I was. A little uncertain, I started riding across through the bushes to the other trail, then stopped dead, thinking NO that can't be right and I stood there for maybe 15 seconds or so. THEN all the guys I just passed started coming on the lower trail where I was....oops. I was on the right path after all - the upper path was the PRO/Cat 1 loop. So by the time I got back on the trail I was back behind all those guys again, CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So passed them all back again. But 10 minutes later, at the highest point on the course, I had a flat rear tire, I am sure from riding off trail to cross over to the other trail. So needless to say I was not happy and pulled over. The wind was blowing so hard trying to fit a tube into a tire was like stuffing a wet noodle up a rats ass. It was not working so well but finally, after screaming and cussing for 6 or 7 minutes, I got about 15 pounds of air into my tire and said good enough and off I went. By then I had been passed by god-knows how many people. Off I went on an adrenalinbe-fueled chase, mushy tire and all. I passed numerous people hoping to salvage a top 10 finish.
Most of the 2nd half of the race was spent out of the saddle fearing I was going to flat again in the rear with so little air. Once I hit the trail head and the gravel road the wind coming in our face going up the gravel climb was so fierce I was doing about 3 or 4 MPH I think. Even then I was passing a few people.
Once I hit the top of the climb one of the fast PRO guys rolled by me, I jumped on his wheel and off we went. It was maybe 4 or 5 hundred meters and then we turned kinda of away from the wind for the rest of the gravel section and we were flying. I was glued to him so tight there was no way I was getting dropped off his wheel. We were passing guys like there were going backwards it seemed, he pulled me all the way to the finish line and I said THANK YOU!!!!!!
I ended up 11th. Happy with the way I felt and my fitness for sure but was bummed with that after I was 3rd at this race last year and sitting in prime position this year. After seeing the results, I was about 6 minutes back from the winner and I stood on the side of the trail at least that long fiddling around with my tube and wheel in the 40 MPH winds.
Oh well, onward and upward. It was a fun day for sure. Great job to all that raced this weekend - it was a good weekend for Hammer Velo.
We had a good group in the Cat 2 race at the head of the race, once they cut us loose on the gravel it was race on and my HR red lined almost immediately. I sat in and held on at the back of the lead bunch but was suffering horribly at this point. However, once we hit the trail I slowly started to recover and started passing a few people. About 10 or 15 minutes in I rolled up on the back of Ian and Jon that were leading a group of guys. This group ended up being second on the trail as a lead group had ridden off the front aways after we hit the single track. I sat in for a few minutes and really started feeling good. Then I made my move and went out around Jon and Ian and the group and attacked like hell. Maybe 5 minutes later I caught the front group and looked back, and Jon and Ian's group was nowhere in sight. It worked perfect for me because it was hard passing and I made the move at the right time.
I was feeling real good for about the next half of the race - legs and lungs were great and everyone was in close sight of me.
Time for some road kill : )
I passed about 5 or 6 guys and again attacked like hell to put a gap on them, then came to a part on the course that the trail was running along another trail up above us about 30 feel or so. I was alone at this point and I saw 2 guys on the upper trail. Then I started playing mind games - did I miss a turn??? WTF,...why are they up there, I turned around and did not see anyone on the lower trail where I was. A little uncertain, I started riding across through the bushes to the other trail, then stopped dead, thinking NO that can't be right and I stood there for maybe 15 seconds or so. THEN all the guys I just passed started coming on the lower trail where I was....oops. I was on the right path after all - the upper path was the PRO/Cat 1 loop. So by the time I got back on the trail I was back behind all those guys again, CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So passed them all back again. But 10 minutes later, at the highest point on the course, I had a flat rear tire, I am sure from riding off trail to cross over to the other trail. So needless to say I was not happy and pulled over. The wind was blowing so hard trying to fit a tube into a tire was like stuffing a wet noodle up a rats ass. It was not working so well but finally, after screaming and cussing for 6 or 7 minutes, I got about 15 pounds of air into my tire and said good enough and off I went. By then I had been passed by god-knows how many people. Off I went on an adrenalinbe-fueled chase, mushy tire and all. I passed numerous people hoping to salvage a top 10 finish.
Most of the 2nd half of the race was spent out of the saddle fearing I was going to flat again in the rear with so little air. Once I hit the trail head and the gravel road the wind coming in our face going up the gravel climb was so fierce I was doing about 3 or 4 MPH I think. Even then I was passing a few people.
Once I hit the top of the climb one of the fast PRO guys rolled by me, I jumped on his wheel and off we went. It was maybe 4 or 5 hundred meters and then we turned kinda of away from the wind for the rest of the gravel section and we were flying. I was glued to him so tight there was no way I was getting dropped off his wheel. We were passing guys like there were going backwards it seemed, he pulled me all the way to the finish line and I said THANK YOU!!!!!!
I ended up 11th. Happy with the way I felt and my fitness for sure but was bummed with that after I was 3rd at this race last year and sitting in prime position this year. After seeing the results, I was about 6 minutes back from the winner and I stood on the side of the trail at least that long fiddling around with my tube and wheel in the 40 MPH winds.
Oh well, onward and upward. It was a fun day for sure. Great job to all that raced this weekend - it was a good weekend for Hammer Velo.
Monday, February 27, 2012
"I am a rational human being, after all, not a neanderthal" - Jon Lin reporting from Cherry Pie
2011 was quite a generous year for me in terms of bike racing. I was in good spirits going into Cherry Pie for sure, and I wanted to spread the joy; so, I picked up our team's favorite junior rider, Ian Mastenbrook, at his house so he could watch and take photos of my splendor!!!
The skies were semi-open and it wasn't unbearably cold. It was slightly windy, which gave me an excuse to rub some MAX WARMTH embrocation on my chest. Actually, do I need any excuse to rub embrocation on my body? Matt Smith and I seem to echo this pretty loudly and give each other the knowing head nod each time the distinct waft of embro is in the air. Maybe someday everyone will understand the pleasure that is embro.
Time to line up! I didn't get a chance to warm up, but I figured the neutral roll out would pretty much be my ghetto warm up.
After the neutral car pulled off, a rider in black ATTACKED immediately. What Would John Lin Do????? Flippin' go with him!!!! We got a pretty good gap on the field and were trading pulls. After about 1 mile, I thought to myself, "What the F' am I doing???" This attack is seriously not going to stick. Another 1/2 mile goes by, and our lead car, kinda pulls to the side and the driver points their arm out the window and motions to a side road (we thought...) My break-away mate takes a sudden left turn on to this side road, and nearly takes me out in the process. Some course volunteers ended up yelling that we were going the wrong way; so, we slowed down and continued on the main road.
Mr. break-away was not done pounding his chest, Neanderthal-like; so, he hammered it back to the fast pace that we set before our directional troubles. As you can guess, the peloton gained a bunch of the separation back. I was super pissed off at this point, and figured that it would be smarter to just wait until the pack ate me up. I am a rational human being, after all, not a neanderthal.
It was pretty smooth sailing once I got back in the pack. There were these two consecutive turns close to half way into the course that I had to sprint back up to speed to catch the pack after everyone slowed for the corners. Other than that, the first lap went okay. The pain experienced for the rest of the first lap was definitely bare-able after my failed breakaway attempt. Immediately after those two right turns on the ending uphill of the lap came a very welcomed downhill. I surveyed the road ahead, and I noticed a pack of 15 or so of riders with about a 1 minute gap. Not good. Not good at all.
Since this was a downhill, I knew I had to find the biggest, tallest, rider to draft down the hill (when is Bryan when you need him?) I found about 3 suitable specimens and sucked their wheels like a good 140 lb'er. They didn't do me too much good when the road got flat; so, I dropped them quick....kinda like how all those girls who I dated last year dropped my sorry ass. Oh....let's not go there.....haha......I traded pulls with some other guys who tagged on to the bigger riders, and we were reeling in the pack of 15 or so. Honestly, this part of the race HURT more than the breakaway. I didn't know whether the race was on the line at this point; so, I buried myself. Better safe than sorry.
I eventually caught back on, and I think that about 3/4th of the riders got back eventually also. There were a couple of breakaways on the second lap, but each one was successfully reeled in. Let's fast forward to the two-right-turn-finish.
I was around mid pack or so for the first right turn onto the hill finish. The pace was fast, but not too crazy. The road kind levels out and descends slightly after this first right turn after the hill; so, I found a bigger rider again to draft off of. The moment of truth came...the final right turn onto the hill finish!! My heart was already beating 1,000,000 beats per minute cause I was so damn nervous. Did my heart have anything left? I ended up passing a decent amount of riders up the hill, as they were dropping like flies. No rider ended up passing me up the hill, but I did feel like passing out after the finish.
I don't know how well I did. I'll let OBRA be the judge of that. I had a successful race, and I hope that everyone else who was out there today had at least some fun!
The skies were semi-open and it wasn't unbearably cold. It was slightly windy, which gave me an excuse to rub some MAX WARMTH embrocation on my chest. Actually, do I need any excuse to rub embrocation on my body? Matt Smith and I seem to echo this pretty loudly and give each other the knowing head nod each time the distinct waft of embro is in the air. Maybe someday everyone will understand the pleasure that is embro.
Time to line up! I didn't get a chance to warm up, but I figured the neutral roll out would pretty much be my ghetto warm up.
After the neutral car pulled off, a rider in black ATTACKED immediately. What Would John Lin Do????? Flippin' go with him!!!! We got a pretty good gap on the field and were trading pulls. After about 1 mile, I thought to myself, "What the F' am I doing???" This attack is seriously not going to stick. Another 1/2 mile goes by, and our lead car, kinda pulls to the side and the driver points their arm out the window and motions to a side road (we thought...) My break-away mate takes a sudden left turn on to this side road, and nearly takes me out in the process. Some course volunteers ended up yelling that we were going the wrong way; so, we slowed down and continued on the main road.
Mr. break-away was not done pounding his chest, Neanderthal-like; so, he hammered it back to the fast pace that we set before our directional troubles. As you can guess, the peloton gained a bunch of the separation back. I was super pissed off at this point, and figured that it would be smarter to just wait until the pack ate me up. I am a rational human being, after all, not a neanderthal.
It was pretty smooth sailing once I got back in the pack. There were these two consecutive turns close to half way into the course that I had to sprint back up to speed to catch the pack after everyone slowed for the corners. Other than that, the first lap went okay. The pain experienced for the rest of the first lap was definitely bare-able after my failed breakaway attempt. Immediately after those two right turns on the ending uphill of the lap came a very welcomed downhill. I surveyed the road ahead, and I noticed a pack of 15 or so of riders with about a 1 minute gap. Not good. Not good at all.
Since this was a downhill, I knew I had to find the biggest, tallest, rider to draft down the hill (when is Bryan when you need him?) I found about 3 suitable specimens and sucked their wheels like a good 140 lb'er. They didn't do me too much good when the road got flat; so, I dropped them quick....kinda like how all those girls who I dated last year dropped my sorry ass. Oh....let's not go there.....haha......I traded pulls with some other guys who tagged on to the bigger riders, and we were reeling in the pack of 15 or so. Honestly, this part of the race HURT more than the breakaway. I didn't know whether the race was on the line at this point; so, I buried myself. Better safe than sorry.
I eventually caught back on, and I think that about 3/4th of the riders got back eventually also. There were a couple of breakaways on the second lap, but each one was successfully reeled in. Let's fast forward to the two-right-turn-finish.
I was around mid pack or so for the first right turn onto the hill finish. The pace was fast, but not too crazy. The road kind levels out and descends slightly after this first right turn after the hill; so, I found a bigger rider again to draft off of. The moment of truth came...the final right turn onto the hill finish!! My heart was already beating 1,000,000 beats per minute cause I was so damn nervous. Did my heart have anything left? I ended up passing a decent amount of riders up the hill, as they were dropping like flies. No rider ended up passing me up the hill, but I did feel like passing out after the finish.
I don't know how well I did. I'll let OBRA be the judge of that. I had a successful race, and I hope that everyone else who was out there today had at least some fun!
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.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Some Thoughts of 2010 Season
Well Hammer Velo had our best finish yet in overall OBRA Team Bar points, finishing in a solid 2nd place for the 2010 Season. It's been a great year for the team, I think we ended up having 8 state championships for the year, 1 being for me, the highlite of my season and my main goal for the season was to win the Masters State Crit Championships, which I did do. Thanks to Christy (BBOH) for going out every Thursday morning at 7AM, 7 or 8 weeks prior to this race and doing hard sprint workouts with me, we both had some great workouts and it was the key to winning this race....Plus Christy used these workouts and the speed she gained by finishing on the podium at the Ironclad Street Sprints, I was so happy for her....Other highlites for me this year was at the Raven TT series, I ended up 2nd overall after the 3 race series in the Masters. But the second week I really needed to have a good race, got a good start and about 1.5 miles in I was sweeping through a big right hand bend slightly downhill and down on the bars flying, and BANG!!!! I hit a nail or something that rolled up and sliced the sidewall of the tubular on my rear disc....I have no idea how I held it upright as it pitched the whole bike sideways and I was heading across the road into the other lane of traffic heading for the ditch at 30 + mph....somehow I got out of my aero bars and got to the brakes and then stayed upright....Whew...I thought wow, I guess being a good bike handler pays off sometimes even if it's just a natural action to hang on and hopefully not crash....So I popped my shoes off and started walking back to the start area...My day was over....Well I thought it was, Rich the Neighbor had gone by me in his race while I was walking, so when he finished he jumped in his car and drove back and picked me up, then I get back to the start area and ask, can I restart??? They say sure you have about 5 minutes and we will let you go last in line....So back to the truck, I had to swap cassettes from my 10 speed wheel over to my 9 speed off my disc....I made it to the start and I put a foot down and away I went....Ended up finishing 2nd that day after all that and then I had to just finish well the next week and I had 2nd place overall in the series in hand which I did....Other great memories for me were some of the long rides we did as a team this year, Bridge of the Gods 100 milers, we did this 3 times this year with good sized groups, very fun and some great times with team mates. And then the low of maybe my cycling career and for sure in 2010 was letting my team mates down at the Rapha race....It was 100 + degrees about 70 miles into the 125 mile race and I had to bail, the heat really got to me, something that had never happened to me before, but once it did I was done, as my team mates had to leave me in Scappose and I was waiting for a ride, ( Thanks MO!!!! : ) I was tired, emotional and hot and I kinda had a melt down as I watched them ride away....I felt terrible that I could not go on and I was a huge dis-appointment to myself and them...But Mo took care of me, took me back to her place, got me some food and a cool shower and then I started coming back to life....It took me weeks to get over that. But I did and moved on and I was so proud of the other 5 for going on in the conditions and making it through the 125 miles of hell...We have some great and tough cyclists on this team and that is my most important thought of 2010...Looking forward to 2011 with a few new folks on our team and another great season to come....The new design of the Hammer Velo Kit will be out after the first of the year, we are really excited about that, it is very cool....So it was great being involved in OBRA again this year and congrats to all the HV peeps for a great season. Onward and upward for the future. See ya...........Jeff
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
US Cyclocross Nationals half-lap report....
Read about Wombat's less than stellar outing at the Cyclocross Nationals here.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Hillsboro race reports - Wombat's take
His two rather silly Hillsboro race reports can be found here.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
First 'cross win - Angela
Racing has been great but what lingers more than anything is the support and company of our teammates. This past weekend Jeff had the team site all set up. The tents were up, trainers ready and Jeff’s new toolbox got more use than ever. It is so nice to have a place to go to and know I will find my teammates. Bryan Smith was supporting riders all day and then once again was all over helping to get things taken down and packed up. For this I am extremely thankful! Sallyanne and Julie made sure our podium girl theme was all that it could be. Again, I enjoyed seeing my teammates out at the fairgrounds in Astoria just as I had seen many mates at PIR. However I missed the race and the party on Saturday, but I heard about some good times.
Now about racing. I warmed up for the women’s race using my trainer and downing some Hammer gel Anna provided me. The sound of my wheels spinning was impressive but only because they are carbon. I am racing in the 45+ group which has been the epitome of good feminine competition. With my 1st place finish on Sunday, the top 5 now all have a 1st place finish and a fair share of the various top 5 finishes. A crazy thing happened in the women’s race on Sunday, we had to restart after everyone was at least ½ to a whole lap into the race. I had a great start both times and only saw other 45+ racers when I lapped them. I was riding hard, climbing strong and going through the muddy descents aggressiveley.
On my last lap my lovely green sprinters dress got caught on my saddle after I went down in some slick, swift mud just before the bleachers and the descending turns through the trees. I finally had to leap off my bike to get untangled. When the race was over I was stunned by my lead. At the time I did not feel like I had worked all that hard. However, after the trick or treaters were asleep and I had a few hours of sleepful rest in my body, I began to feel the most significant soreness of the season. Throughout the day on Monday, my body informed that I had indeed pushed it very hard on Sunday.
Hugh pulled off a 9th place finish on Saturday and a 7th on Sunday, which puts him at 15th for the series. Jamie Bradley did great too and is sitting at 3rd in the series I think. It was impressive to see Jeff cruise around on the course showing off his ripped muscles along with Cristina and her flowered SS, Kristin sporting some obnoxious outer underwear and her amber colored rims as well as German on his sweet prize from last year! Lisa looked good, really good on her SS. There’s so much more to share, but that’s enough from me. I look forward seeing many of you and racing again next Sunday so close to home at Washington CO fair grounds.
Now about racing. I warmed up for the women’s race using my trainer and downing some Hammer gel Anna provided me. The sound of my wheels spinning was impressive but only because they are carbon. I am racing in the 45+ group which has been the epitome of good feminine competition. With my 1st place finish on Sunday, the top 5 now all have a 1st place finish and a fair share of the various top 5 finishes. A crazy thing happened in the women’s race on Sunday, we had to restart after everyone was at least ½ to a whole lap into the race. I had a great start both times and only saw other 45+ racers when I lapped them. I was riding hard, climbing strong and going through the muddy descents aggressiveley.
On my last lap my lovely green sprinters dress got caught on my saddle after I went down in some slick, swift mud just before the bleachers and the descending turns through the trees. I finally had to leap off my bike to get untangled. When the race was over I was stunned by my lead. At the time I did not feel like I had worked all that hard. However, after the trick or treaters were asleep and I had a few hours of sleepful rest in my body, I began to feel the most significant soreness of the season. Throughout the day on Monday, my body informed that I had indeed pushed it very hard on Sunday.
Hugh pulled off a 9th place finish on Saturday and a 7th on Sunday, which puts him at 15th for the series. Jamie Bradley did great too and is sitting at 3rd in the series I think. It was impressive to see Jeff cruise around on the course showing off his ripped muscles along with Cristina and her flowered SS, Kristin sporting some obnoxious outer underwear and her amber colored rims as well as German on his sweet prize from last year! Lisa looked good, really good on her SS. There’s so much more to share, but that’s enough from me. I look forward seeing many of you and racing again next Sunday so close to home at Washington CO fair grounds.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Cat's NinKrossi race report
They said it was "fast and flat", perfect for beginners. Just three days before, at Blind Date (my very firstest cross race ever!) I was hooked on 'cross bad, so Ninkrossi sounded like a perfect next fix. Umm...yeah, it was a perfect fix of Pain! And Suffering! And I don't remember flats anywhere. Although there was the fast, the careening down bumpy terrain with only a micron of control over the bike. Terrifyingly transcendental.
Before the beginner women's race, Karleta, Hans, Jeffy and I watched "thumbs up" German, and "meat pants" John Lin and Rich the Neighbor and Killer Kristin tear it up in the SS race. They looked like they were hurting but they were going freakin fast. German did well, but his glory was shadowed by getting passed by a girl so he lost out on a beer from Tedder. John held second place solidly (maybe he was wearing the meat undies?), Neighbor kept motoring and stuck out his tongue a lot, in defiance, as if to say: take that, Ninkrossi! and KK rocked it, even after recently battling the Revenge of the Crepe.
Then it's our turn, Karleta and I. I almost missed the start when I take too long on the pre ride. Huh, must have been those pesky climbs! We're off and it hurts, immediately, but I remember something about it being fun, and how I PAID to do this, and cross is rad. Right.
I managed three laps (Three, really? Coulda sworn it was seventeen) and then it was over, thank all the gods and stars and heavens above, it was OVER! There were some harrowing moments, like getting passed by some chick (too close!) and eating it, and navigating the Ninkasi N, boy that was thrilling, but overall I actually stayed on the bike and didn't die. Yay!
Despite the bitching and moaning about this race, I hafta say there is something beautiful in it. Pain is purifying. Know what else is purifying? Goddess Nectar.
Before the beginner women's race, Karleta, Hans, Jeffy and I watched "thumbs up" German, and "meat pants" John Lin and Rich the Neighbor and Killer Kristin tear it up in the SS race. They looked like they were hurting but they were going freakin fast. German did well, but his glory was shadowed by getting passed by a girl so he lost out on a beer from Tedder. John held second place solidly (maybe he was wearing the meat undies?), Neighbor kept motoring and stuck out his tongue a lot, in defiance, as if to say: take that, Ninkrossi! and KK rocked it, even after recently battling the Revenge of the Crepe.
I managed three laps (Three, really? Coulda sworn it was seventeen) and then it was over, thank all the gods and stars and heavens above, it was OVER! There were some harrowing moments, like getting passed by some chick (too close!) and eating it, and navigating the Ninkasi N, boy that was thrilling, but overall I actually stayed on the bike and didn't die. Yay!
 |
| Cat enjoying kicking butt at NinKrossi (photo: R. Rosko) |
It was very extremely unspeakably wonderful to see teammates (and Hanser!) cheering us on throughout the race. Encouragement from friends and loved ones is a beacon through the haze of pain. Thanks, guys :) And being out there with Karleta was fantastic--it felt great to have a teammate out there with me, bonding through extreme physical trial.
P.S. Julie Carter, thank you a million times for letting me use your bike! She rocks! And she's very forgiving.
P.P.S. Great job everyone on this weekend-yeow!!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Alpenrose race report - Allison
Pre-Race: After fighting a cold this past week, I still wasn’t sure I wanted to race Alpenrose this morning and I knew that I wasn’t going to have my 'A' game, but I had done all the laundry and I didn’t want to go for that 10 mile training run. So I pulled out my fun socks (thanks Sallyanne) and decided to race. I am not one to arrive to races super early. I hate waiting and it often makes my nerves more jittery. I left the house at 12:50 had to promptly turn around 2 times (once for the pump and once for the advair inhaler). This is also part of my warmup since my heart rate likes to climb each time I had to turn around and worry that I was going to be late. I knew the inhaler would help because I still have more post nasal drip than normal and I knew my lungs would fill up during the race. I got to Alpenrose about 1, but I went to look for my checkbook and I had no checks, so I had to make a quick stop at Albertson’s for some cash. I got to the parking lot and found a spot quickly (whew). This was also helping increase my heart rate.
Warm Up: Then I got ready, rode to registration and got to jump ahead because I already have my number from that race I did a few weeks back that was really really hard. I then hopped on the bike and went to warm up. It was a great warm up. The local streets were empty and offered some nice ups and downs to get the heart rate up. I saw a school and knew that would be a great place to ride on some grass and practice a run up and also some mountaing/dismounting. My brakes were still a little chattery from Starcrossed, so I had the RCB guy look at them. He couldn’t help, so off to the start I went.
Race: They had pretty much already done call ups so I just hopped in. I was about 5 rows from the front, which was okay. I have no clue where I should have been. Once the whistle blew, the ladies were off and I was probably in the front 15 or so for the first lap. Then, I guess I didn’t have much else and I got really really tired (to the point of barely pedaling on the second lap). Soon after I died, I saw "the Knight" Ryan Weaver, and he had coupons for Shimano goodies in his back pockets. I didn't have any steam to catch him and I watched the girl in front of me grab an envelope. At that point I was just trying to move forward as people continually passed. It’s nice and demotivating that’s for sure. But I kept going and found a little wind with about 8 minutes to go (thanks body). That was more fun because I could actually keep pedaling and felt like I had some power.
Allison rocking it at Alpenrose (photo courtesy of John Rudoff)
Then it was over. I didn’t make the last lap and I watched everyone else finish wondering if I could have given anymore. This race I couldn’t. I realized that when I finished, I was coughing and now it’s almost 8pm and I am still hacking a bit. I think my body is telling me I went hard. My heart rate monitor thought I could do a little better with my max at 180 and my average at about 170. As for the course, I thought it was pretty awesome. No crazy hills like Pain on the Peak and the velodrome part made me feel fast. I definitely let loose on my sprint at the end. I think I even scared the beginner that was in front of me.
It was great to hear so many people cheering me on and it was great to watch all the HV gals tearing it up!
Thanks for the support from all you awesome people and here is to hoping that everyone is warding off all the cold/flu bugs that are going around.
Warm Up: Then I got ready, rode to registration and got to jump ahead because I already have my number from that race I did a few weeks back that was really really hard. I then hopped on the bike and went to warm up. It was a great warm up. The local streets were empty and offered some nice ups and downs to get the heart rate up. I saw a school and knew that would be a great place to ride on some grass and practice a run up and also some mountaing/dismounting. My brakes were still a little chattery from Starcrossed, so I had the RCB guy look at them. He couldn’t help, so off to the start I went.
Race: They had pretty much already done call ups so I just hopped in. I was about 5 rows from the front, which was okay. I have no clue where I should have been. Once the whistle blew, the ladies were off and I was probably in the front 15 or so for the first lap. Then, I guess I didn’t have much else and I got really really tired (to the point of barely pedaling on the second lap). Soon after I died, I saw "the Knight" Ryan Weaver, and he had coupons for Shimano goodies in his back pockets. I didn't have any steam to catch him and I watched the girl in front of me grab an envelope. At that point I was just trying to move forward as people continually passed. It’s nice and demotivating that’s for sure. But I kept going and found a little wind with about 8 minutes to go (thanks body). That was more fun because I could actually keep pedaling and felt like I had some power.
Allison rocking it at Alpenrose (photo courtesy of John Rudoff)Then it was over. I didn’t make the last lap and I watched everyone else finish wondering if I could have given anymore. This race I couldn’t. I realized that when I finished, I was coughing and now it’s almost 8pm and I am still hacking a bit. I think my body is telling me I went hard. My heart rate monitor thought I could do a little better with my max at 180 and my average at about 170. As for the course, I thought it was pretty awesome. No crazy hills like Pain on the Peak and the velodrome part made me feel fast. I definitely let loose on my sprint at the end. I think I even scared the beginner that was in front of me.
It was great to hear so many people cheering me on and it was great to watch all the HV gals tearing it up!
Thanks for the support from all you awesome people and here is to hoping that everyone is warding off all the cold/flu bugs that are going around.
Monday, September 20, 2010
MA's first cyclocross race
I did not flat, I did not crash, I just plain sucked.
This was my first cross race. I never practiced cross before; the bike was new to me (Jeff helped me find a SS cross bike and put it together Thursday evening); I realized right before the race that the cleats I had didn't match the pedals (Jeff saved me again). I got lined up all the way at the end which was nice because I was spared the pain of seeing 40 something girls passing me since they were already ahead of me. Not really knowing what to expect during the race I dived head in and gave it all I got for half an hour.
The race itself was a bit of a blur. First lap was a trial and error exercise, after that I got the flow. I kept on passing people on flats and hilly sections only to see them flying ahead of me as I was trying to run over the barriers in slow clumsy motion. By the third lap I was dry heaving and ready to puke with one and a half lap to go. Most of the field did 5 laps, I managed 4 and a half. Finished somewhere last ten or so. I still felt like puking two hours after the race ended.
While this was the most painful race I've done so far (more so then Rapha or ROF) it was also the most fun I've had in a race. Although my ass was handed to me I had a giant grin most of the time. Can't wait to do it all over again.
Cristina enjoying post-race refreshments with Allison
(photo courtesy of Mo)
This was my first cross race. I never practiced cross before; the bike was new to me (Jeff helped me find a SS cross bike and put it together Thursday evening); I realized right before the race that the cleats I had didn't match the pedals (Jeff saved me again). I got lined up all the way at the end which was nice because I was spared the pain of seeing 40 something girls passing me since they were already ahead of me. Not really knowing what to expect during the race I dived head in and gave it all I got for half an hour.
The race itself was a bit of a blur. First lap was a trial and error exercise, after that I got the flow. I kept on passing people on flats and hilly sections only to see them flying ahead of me as I was trying to run over the barriers in slow clumsy motion. By the third lap I was dry heaving and ready to puke with one and a half lap to go. Most of the field did 5 laps, I managed 4 and a half. Finished somewhere last ten or so. I still felt like puking two hours after the race ended.
While this was the most painful race I've done so far (more so then Rapha or ROF) it was also the most fun I've had in a race. Although my ass was handed to me I had a giant grin most of the time. Can't wait to do it all over again.
Cristina enjoying post-race refreshments with Allison(photo courtesy of Mo)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
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