Apparently Interpol found my scooter at the Giro d'Italia with the thief at the wheel. That's okay - I won't prosecute - can I just get her number?

Raced up in San Clemente today - that's about an hour north of San Diego, just north of Camp Pendleton - the marine base.  Anyway, it was a pretty challenging course - always up and down the hills.  Wasn't too sure how I'd go at this one - sometimes I can go okay in the hills and sometimes not.  This was an okay day.  So I was covering some midrace moves, etc, but missed the move that actually stayed away for the win.  7 people up the road, but the money went 20 deep, so it was still on in the field.  I've got to say I was pretty tired through the middle of the race from doing a bit of work, but when it came down to the fininsh it was on like donkey kong.  i was right up in the front - top 5, top 10 - and it was fairly gruesome - just bumping and grinding left and right.  the pace was very uneven - we'd make quick jumps, but then nobody really wanted to lead out the sprint, so things were dicey.  i was jumping just fine, but then i just missed the final jump right before the final corner of the race.  i wasn't out of gas - i just missed the anticipation, and by not "pre" jumping i got boxed and swarmed and that was it.  a disappointing finish in that i was in a really good position and i could've got in the money today, but it's all okay.  the fact that i was there ready to go in the finish is 90% of the job.  it was a good day.  turned in 311 (omaha stylee, ya'll) miles of training for the week, so i can't complain about that.

you know, i don't think i'll ever get over the feeling of riding a bike through dense city traffic - it's just too much fun.  dangerous - yes - but fun.  i mean, messengering in philly is what got me into riding road bikes in the first place, and some things you just can't change.

 

so i had to pick up the cooper from a repair shop today - there had been a parking lot hit-n-run that dented up my hood kinda bad, so that needed to be fixed.  anyway, had to ride through downtown san diego and get there before the shop closed, etc.  just fun ripping it through the city streets dodging cars, potholes, etc.

 

so that was basically my warm-up for the tuesday night track racing, as i was late to the track due to the car pickup.  still rode decently well, though, even after a week of not even touching a bike and pretty much just drinking beer and being sedentary.  6th in the 20-lap scratch (botched my position going into the final 3 laps).  4th in the Miss-n-Out (caught a really annoying hook at the final elimination).  And nothing in the 10-mile scratch race (caught some bad luck when the peloton split and i was in the wrong half...).  So not a stellar night, but nothing to boo-hoo about either.  just getting back into training.

okay, so last week i put in ZERO hours of training on the bike.  it was a planned week of idleness, so no worries.  and seriously folks, i've got to say it felt pretty nice.  although it did get a little weird halfway through.  just like - huh - shouldn't i be out *doing* something?  but instead i stayed home, and cleaned up the mess i call home.  vacuumed the astroturf in the backyard and everything.  now it all looks pristine once again.  good, cause i won't have time for that again for another 4 months!  heading into a 300-350 mile week of training starting today...

Years overdue... And yet, oh so timeless!

Slop, Slop, Sloppy DAN!

Faces of Death : The Athens Twilight Computrainer Finals

Pulled from Pez Cycling News...
L to R: ?, Brooke, Kaylen, ?, Kele

finished racing in south carolina on thursday night and packed up the bike that night.

flew out to san diego early friday morning.

state crit championships on saturday.

optional road race on sunday.

no rest for the wicked.

 

barrio logan gp - state crit championships

was feeling ok, and was looking forward to a local race after the nrc madness.  had a decent start spot, but was very lacksadasical in the beginning.  the pace was fine, and was watching a bit, but was somewhat on auto-pilot.  i even saw kyle gritters moving up through the field, but didn't follow.  biggest mistake of the day.  within the first 20 minutes of the race, he was up the road with 5 or so others and they would eventually take a lap on the field.  well, that just plain sucked.  game over.

 

san luis rey road race

this is a hilly road race and socal guys just aren't always so much road racers.  it's mostly crits around here, so that's what you get used to.  anyway, this is a tough race, but not impossible.  i managed to take 3rd here as a cat 3, but didn't have so much luck last year as a cat 2.  this year was better - got 16th among the cat 2's.  good for about 26th overall or so in the pro/1/2.  over half the field just drops out of this race, so if you just perservere you can end up with a decent result...

ok, it's time for a run down of the rest of the trip to athens, etc

 

roswell crit

lasted about 20 minutes (of about 80 minutes)

really tired from the night before, but whatever - time to race.  was going decent at the beginning, but there was one corner on the course (downhill off-camber into a slight uphill) that just destroyed me.  i was on the brakes too much and not riding efficiently.  recipe for destruction.

 

walterboro crit

lasted about 20 minutes (of about 100 minutes)

flat course, so i thought i would be able to go well.  really nervous at the start and just went no good.  a flat course and i just wasn't able to keep it rolling and i still was riding really inefficiently.  sucked.  however, after the race a little kid (like 5 years old?) asked me for my autograph.  that was the coolest and I put a smile on for him.

 

greenwood crit

lasted about 40 minutes (of about 100 minutes)

went into this race feeling like fight club.  when you hit rock bottom, there's nowhere to go but up.  after half an hour i thought i just might be able to finish this race, but then a nerac pro dude just popped right in front of me.  that made the gap that i just couldn't cover.  and of course i was last in line so had nowhere to slip.  and that sucked.  and this was even a harder course than walterboro.  oh, well.

 

i think the real lesson learned from this racing trip is that i just need to basically take the brakes off the bike.  don't use 'em.  ride smoother and go with the flow.  the races are doable as long as you don't waste energy reaccelerating out of the corners.  it's easy to be lazy in the local crits because they're simply not as fast, but you can't fool around at the nrc level.

 

but it's not like i haven't finished an nrc crit before either - manhattan beach gp is nrc out here and i go just fine at that one.  huh.

 

overall, though, the trip was a success.  for those computrainer time trials (for athens seeding) i got a $190 payout for 8th place.  that was pretty sweet.  didn't finish a single race, but had a good time and saw my friends and family.  the computrainer result shows that the general fitness is there - just need to learn to ride the bike a little better.

so it's after athens twilight, after the piss test, and now it's time to get a bite to eat with my mom and cousins.  nothing stellar - just a midnite diner.  that's all done, say goodnite, and it's off to finish up the night in athens.  call kaylen up and see what bar they're at.  roswell crit is the very next day, but athens didn't quite go as planned, so i'm just not caring so much right now.  anyway, get to the bar, stroll in, and who do i see with the girls but gord fraser and tim johnson?  2 of the top pros in the pro peloton.  gord got 3rd that night.  i almost turned around right then and walked out - it just seemed so ridiculous.  first race against them on bikes, and then in the bar?  whatever, let's just see what happens.  get a beer and start letting it fly.  tim's married, so he's gord's wingman.  they both introduce themselves, and i'm like, "yeah, i know who you are...  i was in that race."  they ask how i did, not so well, and the subject drifts away...  dude.

 

time is getting on, and it hits 2am closing time.  we're all out - where are you staying tonight?  oh, i don't have anything up here in athens - you don't have a couch i could crash on or something, do you?  oh yeah, we've got a fold-out...

another tidbit from friday night...

 

so i was having that sandwich after the time trial talking with the podium girls and what not.  and then megan says, "you know you look a lot like will ferrell?"  i just kind of groaned - i mean, this is just out of control.  i just stopped short on mentioning the whole dressing up as an elf thing, but they thought will ferrell was pretty cool so there you go.  just so random.

got back up to athens on saturday for the twilight crit.  got my race number and was informed that i'd get a special 'pro' call-up by virtue of my being the #7 qualifier in the friday time trials.  sweet!  numbers #1 - 23 got call ups to the very front - i was #22.

 

so that's nice and now i roll over to the announcing booth where the podium girls are to see if the ones i know are working.  certainly they are, and i exchange numbers with kaylen to meet up after the big race.  double sweet.

 

change up and warmup - time to get up to the race course for the big intro's.  i make it up there, but then get stricken with the mother of all nature calls.  i've still got time, so it's just a little diversion, right?  well i come out of the bar restroom and here the star spangled banner queueing up...  oh snap, i'm about to miss the race!  i rush down the 1/2 block to the super pro entry and slot in right in the front.  don't even know who i crowded, i was so frazzled.  totally missed my pro call-up.  wow, how un-pro of me, huh?  no good.  then the girls walk by and are like, "hi, jeremy!"  the whistle blows and we're off like lightning.

 

the very first lap has a $350 prime, so you know this one is going to be single file from the get go.  i'm not climbing the 6% hill on the backside so super great, but i'm somewhat surviving.  anyway, it's lap 5 and i'm just over halfway back in the field.  round turn 4 and there are like 20 guys piled up on the far side.  oh, boy.  some brakes to avoid, but then 2 more guys get tangled and crash right in front of me.  more brakes.  time to reaccelerate and we're chasing.  totally screwed, as there's no way that we're going to catch back on to the main field.  by lap 10, 1/3 of the field (of 160) has been pulled from the race - including me.  by lap 20, over half the field is gone.  by the end, only 40 or 50 guys finish.  wicked hard, folks.

 

so i'm done, and i'm wandering back toward the start/finish to find my family in the crowd and watch the rest of the race.  pretty bummed that i'm out of the race early, but oh well.  and then a guy and his girlfriend walk up and say, "could we get a picture with you?"  wow...  sure!  so they get a picture and meanwhile college kids walk by and are like, "hey, nice run out there!"  "good work in the race!"  etc.  made me feel like a real pro - it was cool.

 

anyway, the race is over, and it's time to change and then - you guessed it - get something to eat.  well, i just get back to the car to change when my cousin, missy, calls on the cell phone and tells me i need to get back up to the start area for dope testing.  yep, USADA (US Anti Doping Association) was present and testing - they test the top 3 places and then 2 randoms.  out in 10 laps - yeah, i'm a random...

 

so i get up to the testing trailer and give a urine sample.  i had to pick a jar, disrobe and fill it up - all with an old dude watching in order to make sure i didn't sneak in a fake sample.  wierdest thing ever.  then the paperwork gets filled out and they ask about any medications or vitamins i'm on.  yeah, i take a daily multi-vitamin and i use chamois cream - anything else?  well, i guess i've been eating a fairly decent amount of black-eyed peas, mashed potatoes and chicken since i've been in athens?  ha, ha - not funny.  oh, i've had a couple of smoothies - hopefully there's nothing weird in those...  "yeah, you really need to watch out for that."  oh, boy.  anyway, i'll find out in about 4 weeks whether or not i've been doping.  boy, i sure hope the answer is no - otherwise, why didn't i get better results?

ok, so much has happened - where did i leave off...

 

right, so finished the tt on friday night.  blah.  thought about straight leaving the city for my buddy sarfy mark filer's place (where i was going to stay for the night) but then i was like - hmm, i guess i better get something to eat - i mean, that what you do after a hard effort, right?  get some fuel.  yeah, as if the pre-chicken wasn't enough...

 

anyway, i change up and stroll down to broad st. in athens.  mellow mushroom has pizza and sandwiches, so i figure a sandwich to go would be just right.  walk in there and who do we have but 4 of the podium girls from the time trials.  you're here by yourself?  would you like to sit with us?  well sure...

 

so it's brooke, megan, kaylen (my #7 number girl), kele and then me.  ridiculous.  getting late and some are going out for drinks and some aren't.  what am i doing?  well, i'm kind of tired actually, and athens twilight is kind of the entire reason for the trip, so i guess i better get a good night's sleep.  hmm, so that's that.  night-night, and an hour drive back to the ATL 'burbs to ponder why i didn't just scam it and stay in athens for the night.  sarfy was most disappointed in my choice for the evening.