Lunch ...

... was truly Appointed.

okay, sports fans, racing season is officially here!

 

report for week #1 (of 36...)

 

 

28 Jan 2006

 

ADT Winter Classic

track racing on the indoor wooden velodrome up in carson, ca.  this was just a local track race, but the polish national team showed up, so that made it pretty difficult.  the poles are down in san diego training in the winter sun for the world track championships in april (in bordeaux, france).  anyway, the polish allrode as a team (as opposed to competitively against each other), so the rest of us really didn't have much of a chance.  we tried, though.

 

20 - lap tempo

this race is 20 laps long, and usually 2 points is awarded the the first finisher on each lap and 1 point is given to the second finisher each lap.  the person with the most points at the end of the race wins.  well, they changed the rules without telling us and it was just 1 point for the first finisher - nothing for second.  yeah, that blew all kinds of strategy, but whatever.  i picked what i thought were a couple 2nd place points, but actually got nothing.  oh, well - no big deal.  i was also undergeared in a 50x15 gear - was just spin spin spinning along - no real margin for extra sprint speed.  oops.

 

miss-n-out

for this race, the last person across the line each lap gets pulled from the race.  once the race gets down to only 3 people, then they get a neutral lap and then sprint for the win between the 3 of them.  pretty exciting race - plenty of action with people doing dangerous things to try to keep from being the last person across the line.  now here is where the polish made it really hard.  they pacelined at the front (among 4 or 5 of them) keeping the pace just high enough that no one wanted to challenge them for the lead - and so a real scrum kind of developed behind the last polish rider.  out of 17 riders i finished in about 8th place.  not so much cause i was blown out or anything, but simply due to a mental lapse and getting boxed in at the back of the bunch.  upped the gear to a 51x15 for this one and all was good.

 

40 - lap points race

sprints every 5 laps for a total of 8 sprints, points awarded 1st - 5, 2nd - 3, 3rd - 2, 4th - 1.  the rider with the most points at the end of the race wins.  oh yeah, if you can go off the front and get all the way around the track to gain a lap on the field, then you get 20 points.  this one went pretty well.  a group got off the front to try and take a lap.  they were going good, and were about to make it when a second group went off the front to try to get a lap.  i was in that group.  we got our lap and just as i was rejoining the peloton, i tried to sail right past the group and go off the front again - i had good momentum, so i might was well use it, right?  well, about halfway through the bunch i got totally slammed from both sides and was on a direct trajectory for a guy's back wheel right in front of me.  that was so no good, and i had to really throw the brakes on - for track racing, that means putting back pressure on the pedals, since we don't have brakes.  i almost started skidding - that's how much i had to slow.  that'll pretty much kill not just your momentum but your legs, too.  i didn't have anything for the rest of the race - finished like 8th or something.  2 polish riders got off the front to take a 2nd lap.  overall a good race.  51x15 again.

 

80 - lap madison

sprints every 10 laps.  same points as the points race.  except, in the madison if you gain a lap, then that supercedes any sprint points.  a lap is worth a lap, not 20 points.  it's possible for a team to not score any points in the sprints, but take a lap, and beat a team that simply scored sprints but didn't get a lap.  for this race, i was paired with one of the polish riders.  we did okay, but the polish guy really didn't know how to do a madison very well.  oh yeah, this is the race where you have a tag-team, kind of like wrestling.  one person is "in the race" and the off rider slowly circles at the top of the track.  to make an exchange, the relief rider comes down to the sprinters lane, puts his hand out, and the in rider grabs his hand and slings him into the race.  it's really quite cool, and since each rider gets a very slight break, the pace of this race can be extremely high.  yeah, pure torture.  so i rode this one with a polish guy who was a really strong individual rider, but he had no sense of where he needed to be to make exchanges and what not.  we ride a lot of madisons down in san diego, and the polish guys are actually going to start doing some training with us to improve their skills.  very cool.  anyway, we managed to get through this one and got 4th place out of 9 teams.  not too shabby.  very painful.  51x15 again - just the right gear.

 

and that's it for the track.  no more track races are scheduled until mid-march.  it's all road racing from here, baby!

 

 

29 Jan 2006

 

"Ride It Like You Stole It" Criterium

This race was just around the block from the ADT Center, and it's a pretty easy fairly flat 4 corner course with really wide roads.  100 km (62 miles) in just over 2 hours 15 minutes.  a good race - i thought i might be a bit tired from the previous day's racing, but no, i was fine.  this crit was a cakewalk compared to racing against the polish guys on the track.  the polish guys raced here as well, but they went just for the in-race premes.  these are little prizes given for the leaders of laps throughout the race.  for example, the halfway preme is $100 - not to shabby at all.  it's possible to make more money through premes than by winning the race, if you are savvy enough.  anyway, the polish just went for premes and did interval training throughout the race.  they were nowhere to be seen for the final sprint.  speaking of the sprint, here we go.  with 12 laps to go (these are like just under 1 mile laps [for a 69 lap total]) i was on a guy's wheel that i was sure would figure into the final sprint.  the peloton was totally back together , so it was going to be a field sprint - no breakaways.  glued to the wheel from lap 12, but then johnny sits up and pulls out of line.  he doesn't feel like sprinting?  whatever.  i find a new best friend - an ex-Subway pro team rider - and am sitting pretty into the bell lap.  between turn 1 and 2 (2/3 of way through the lap) my man gets totally hacked and almost goes down.  i'm left hangin high and dry and start scrambling.  it's not so easy, as the pace is lightning with the sprint approaching.  i do what what i can, but i have no position.  End up in the top 20 - maybe between 15 and 20 or so.  100 starters or so.  didn't check the results.

 

good race - biggest factor in this one is just lining up for the sprint well.  that and combating boredom.  track races are short and wickedly fast - not usually longer than 30 minutes or so.  this crit was 2:15 and quick, but not too too hard until the final sprint.  a good day, though, and a nice weekend.  good start to the season.

okay, so i was just minding my own business at home when i heard a tormented yell and then a crash.  i go out onto the patio just to see if the whole world is burning or if the cold war has finally come to fruition.  no such luck - instead, i find the cd (pictured below).  pretty badass.  someone must have been having a nicotine withdrawal fit of rage and just couldn't take the "audio support" portion of the "stop smoking" cd anymore.  awesome.  small bits of cd were spread everywhere.

Need help quitting?

sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

 

well, the final qualifier for the national track team '05-'06 was this past weekend, and it went okay i guess.  i didn't get any slower, but i didn't really get too much faster either.  5:04 for the pursuit and 3:48 for the mass start test.  not quite the time standard, but whatever.  nothing really to dwell on for this one - track is pretty much over for me until april - road season starts in 2 weeks, and thank goodness for that.  it's time to do some racing against actual people again - just so tired of time trials.  it'll be fun.

okay, so here's a random one:

i had to go to kinko's to pick up some sweet 'happy martin luther king, jr day' cards that i had printed up. they weren't ready yet, so i went over to the grocery store to get - guess what - some groceries. yeah, always running out of groceries. anyway, strolling around with my cart picking up stuff. pop out of an aisle toward the meat department, and this girl is just totally staring at me. hmm, not sure what's up with that. peanut butter - yeah need that. huh, girl is still staring. and she's right in front of the steaks. dang. and then she says, "i see you!" and I'm like, woah, do i know this girl? no... I look around, but there's totally no one else around. but then she continues, "hey, i can SEE you!" wow, is this some kind of new pick-up line? but she's with a boyfriend. and she's hanging all over him. ok, this is just weird. i'm pretty dumbfounded and just stand there speechless. "i can see you in your bright colored jacket." uhhh...? and then she finishes off with, "you look a lot like will ferrell!", giggles and runs off with her boyfriend to finish their shopping. I'm thinking - wow, and i don't even have an elf suit on? but i manage to let out a "that's ri-DIC-ulous!" a la buddy the elf. the chick giggles from over in the produce section. and that's it. last items were camembert and rochefort.

what can i say - that was weird.

Will Ferrell?

Jeremy Mucha?