Racing

I suck as a blog friend. I admit it. You all deserve better. Life is just hectic right now.

This past weekend, I raced twice. As a bonus, Sydney Brown made the trip down to Texas to escape the cold and do the races as well. We had a blast with Sydney and her boys. I hope I can talk them into coming back next year.

Walburg Road Race

The race has a reputation for being windy windy windy and it didn't disappoint. It was windy to the point of being almost ridiculous. My field was 74 riders and the distance was 48 miles. After two miles two guys went off the front. As usual, nobody wanted to cooperate and chase. After about 30 miles we caught one guy who had blown up. We never did catch the other guy, which I find totally unbelievable. If there is a coordinated chase, no cyclist in the world should be able to stay away for 46 miles in the wind. Such is amateur racing I guess. The finish was uphill. We started cranking it up from about 500 meters. At 100 meters I came out of my saddle to sprint. A second later a Colavita rider got bumped and went down in front of me and I drilled him and endoed. He was ok, but there were two more riders down as well. One looked to be in rough shape. I walked across the finish line with a tweaked bike for 18th place.

Pace Bend Road Race

The Pace Bend Road Race is a race that I really like. It is a closed circuit with full road width racing. My race was short at only 30 miles (6 laps). We had 62 racers. I had 3 teammates in the race. I thought we had a good chance to win the race. The plan was to try to get a guy or guys away. On lap 3 Jeremy attacked and I sat in on the chase. He was brought back in a few minutes and I immediately counter attacked. I was brought back in a few minutes, but we failed to produce another counter attack. On the last lap, Peter came to the front with about a mile to go as a lead out. The finish was uphill again. I popped on the hill and took 16th. Jeremy got 7th and Joe got 9th. Not the desired result, but oh well.

I am racing again this weekend at Primavera II which was my worst race last year. Hopefully this year will be different.


My helmet is trashed from the head plant I did at Walburg.


Sydney Brown in pink tearing it up at Pace Bend


Me on the front of the "chase" at Walburg

Quote of the Day

Give me a diablo sandwich, a Dr. Pepper, and make it quick, I'm in a god-damn hurry. -Buford T. Justice-

Saturday

I was in Vegas for work last week and the cold I have got worse. Sore throat, phlem, chest congestion blah blah. On Friday the doctor gave me some antibiotics to clear it up. After 2 days it is a million times better. I was able to get back on the bike today and had a good ride.

Speaking of Vegas, could there possibly be a tackier city in the world? Don't get me wrong, I have had some fun in Vegas, but that place is just over the top. It also has a lonely feel to it even if you are with other people. It is hard to describe.

I was waiting in baggage claim for my boss to arrive into Vegas so that we could head to the MGM together. I was sitting way off in a corner all by myself. I turned my head right. Nobody. I turned my head left. Nobody. Time to rip one. RIIIIPPPPP. I turn my head left and a chick is sitting down two seats away. The glances started. YES I FUCKING FARTED. WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM?? YOU HAD TO JUST APPEAR BECAUSE THERE WAS NOBODY WITHIN 25 YARDS OF ME A QUARTER SECOND AGO. Why does that always happen? Somebody please tell me.

I have a big racing weekend coming up in two weeks. I am looking forward to it.

The Time Has Arrived

First Race Report:

On Sunday I raced the Tour of New Braunfels Road Race. My high intensity is not yet there, but training has been going well enough so I figured I would have a go. The field was full at 70. The race was three 15 mile loops. The race started out at a moderate pace. There was some squirreliness from time to time, but nothing too alarming. A rider from Bicycle Heaven went to the front midway through the first lap and opened a gap of about 50 meters. It wasn't an attack, more of a moderate effort that nobody responded to. After about 5 minutes it looked to me like he was opening the gap up a bit. I decided to bridge up. I certainly didn't kill it to get to him, but nobody followed me. He said, "How do you feel?" I said, "Not too bad." Then off we went. We worked together well and managed to open up a sizable gap on the field. It became apparent to me that he was fitter than me at this point in the season. About 1/2 lap later a group of 4 bridged up to us. One guy was moving fast and my break away partner hooked on to him and off they went. I didn't think I could hang with them, so I didn't respond. The other two guys gave it a go and ended up not getting on and were up the road about 50 meters. I looked back and the pack had made up some ground. I decided to fall back and give it a go with the pack. When it became apparent that the break(s) weren't coming back, I told my teammate Jeremy (Cat 5 TX ITT Champ), that he better get to gettin'. He went up the road and I stayed on the front to control the pace. In fact, I stayed on the front for MILES and MILES and nobody even tried to go. My hopes were that Jeremy would be able to bridge up and then go with a few miles left and get the win. As it turned out, he wasn't able to catch the two leaders. He did catch the second break and then that break got caught by another small chase that took off from my group. He finished 8th and I finished in the sprint for 15th. Not bad for this time of year, but not great by any stretch. I think if we could have gotten Jeremy up with the two leaders earlier he would have had a chance at the W. Oh well.

On another note, I have had a cold for over two weeks that doesn't appear to be getting better. Sore throat, congestion, blah. If it doesn't go away soon I am heading to the doctor. Everyone I know is sick right now. Maybe it is a TX thing.

Here is "The Other Perspective."