yesterday was ridiculous.  i mean, woah.

 

so i did my tt heat and had a decent time.  but i was in heat 6 and there were 12 total.  still potential for me to not see the grand final.  anyway, i take it easy, get a nice pasta lunch, blog a bit, get a smoothie, then check out heat 10.  heat 10 is through, and where do i stand overall?  in 8th place.  (only 8 in the grand final)  huh.  watch heat 11 and 2 guys beat my time - this puts me in to 10th place now.  oh, well, no big deal, i guess i can just go home now - i'm not advancing, right?  but what do i do?  go eat some food, of course.  i mean, what else would i do?  so i go to this place and they have a 1/2 chicken special with mashed potatoes and rice w/ black-eyed peas mixed in.  big portions - sweet.  but then i do something i haven't done in years.  i'm 2/3 of the way through, and i decide to box it up to go.  the final tt heat was going to start, and i thought it would be nice to see how it shakes out and see where my final finish spot is.  ok, so that heat goes by and no one beats my time, so i'm 10th overall.  i get up to leave, but then the promoter pulls up an excel spreadsheet with all of the results, and sorts by time.  yep, there i am in 10th.  and then he sorts by winners of heats.  oh, now i'm in 7th...  yeah, in fact it was the top 8 *winning* times that advanced.  the 2 guys that were just a tiny bit faster than me were both 2nd in their heats, so they didn't advance...  holy shaka-laka, i guess i better start warming up...

 

so i get my warmup on, and i'm feeling ok, but not so special.  yeah, this is going to hurt.  roll down to the stage, and there's a whole big production going on.  final was touted at 8:30, but no one's ready to go.  i ask the promoter, and he's like, yeah, it's going to be a little different this time.  we're going to put your bikes up on the stage in advance, and then these number girls (with 1-8 placards) are going to escort you onto the stage.  if it gets here in time, we'll have a smoke machine too!  me - oh man, that's ridiculous...  i love it!  promoter - right on!

so it's like 20 minutes later and the smoke machine never showed up, but the girls were all ready to go, wearing mini-skirts and tanktops.  the escorts go, we mount the bikes, and we get going around 9:15 or so.  so much for the warm-up.  i proceed to suck, but not too badly.  there's like 3 of us battling to not be last spot.  i take last, but that's still worth payout, so there's nothing to worry about.  my time was 8:08 with around 378 watts or so and the winning spot was like 7:30 with 461 - pretty impressive by any standards...  so i was tired and that's that.

 

part 2 to ensue later - need to get on the road here...

 

by the way, the compu-trainer measured 401 watts for the 6km tt and the power-tap measured 403 watts.  pretty sweet consistency, if i do say so myself.  and i do.  nice.

today we have the "start grid time trials" for athens twilight.  these are 8-up heats done on computrainers.  computrainers are pretty cool, and you can enter a course in the computer to simulate - well, we get a simulation of 6 laps of the twilight course.  that makes this a 6 km prologue to determine who gets "pole posiiton" etc.  starting in the front is critical at athens, as it's a really tight course with very little room to move up, especially when everyone is railed out going super hard.  add 160 racers to the mix and you better not be at the back.  as an added bonus, the top 8 times of the day get a grand final in the evening for a $2g price list.  my heat was #6 (of 12) at 1:45 edt...

 

and i totally rocked the socks off it - winning my heat (against Brice Jones of Jelly Belly and Neil Shirley of Jittery Joes, among others) with a time of 7:55 @ 403 watts power output.  3rd best time of the day at the moment.

 

but before you win something, you've almost always got to be taken down a notch, right?  word, we had to weigh in right before the tt.  me + my bike + 1 full water bottle + my ipod = ?

 

215.5 pounds.

 

oh, snap!  i just chuckled and gave a grin.  the weigh-in guy was like, "yeah, that's the highest we've had today - but that's the good kind of weight, right?"  you better believe it.

 

grand final at 9pm tonight if my time holds.

flippin' sweet - i think it's naptime now.

blogging from the plane flight out east - awesome.

 

so anyway, aside from all the road racing i've been doing, the track has started back up in san diego as well.  tuesday nights is our race night, and it began with daylight saving time.  how has it gone?  pretty well - nothing out of this world, but definitely some positive results:

 

 

4 apr

 

it actually rained in SD.  unbelievable!  actually, this was a whole rainy week - we missed our sunny 70 degrees...

 

 

11 apr

 

20-lap scratch : 3rd

15-lap tempo : nothing

40-lap points : nothing

 

opening night (2nd try).  just tried to find my track legs, or that's what i'll say.  scratch is the most basic race of all - no internediate sprints - no funny games - just the first person across the line at the finish wins.  scratch races are just like a crit (or any road race for that matter) - just on the track - so i tend to be fairly decent at these since i get so much practice...  tempo is a race where 2 points are awarded to the top lead rider each lap and 1 point to the second rider.  highest total points wins.  point race has a sprint each 5 laps with points going 5-3-2-1 down to the 4th rider.

 

 

18 apr

 

motorpace : 4th

unknown distance : nothing

miss-n-out : 3rd

10-mile scratch : 3rd

 

a pretty decent night.  motorpace is more of a warmup than a race.  all riders line up behind the moto and the moto gradually picks up speed.  after 40 laps the guys left hanging on get 2 laps off the motor and then sprint.  unknown distance is a race where - guess what - you don't know the # of laps.  it's a total gambler's race.  miss-n-out has the last person across the finish line each lap eliminated.  this goes down to 3 people, then they get 2 laps to jockey for the win.

 

 

25 apr

 

motorpace : 2nd

miss-n-out : nothing

20-lap tempo : 4th

40-lap points : 5th

 

okay night, but had some drama in the miss-n-out.  i was in the pole lane in 2nd position just behind wallace.  whitehead is hovering just off wallace and wants my spot.  i don't want to give it to him, but i'm in a fairly weak spot - he can basically come down on me at will and push me on to the apron.  well, i'm just holding my spot trying to not be intimidated - trying to ride as straight a line as possible since whitehead is coming in close.  i'm surcicing, but then he gets out of the saddle and gives some hard pedal strokes, which swings his rear wheel right and left.  left right into my front wheel ripping out 2 spokes of a low spoke count wheel.  seriously, i'm lucky the wheel didn't just crumple from underneath me.  i gracefully pull off the track and safely come to a stop.  the race goes on of course.  anyway, there's not really too much more to say about that one - whitehead always rides extra aggressive, and that's all there is to it.  i didn't want to back down.  guess i should have eased off and then come around him to push him onto the apron.  gotta choose the right position for sure.

east coast jut '006 is on!

 

Wed, 26, apr : SAN - CAE

 

Sat,  29, apr : Athens Twilight Crit (GA)

Sun, 30, apr : Roswell Crit (GA)

 

Wed, 3, may : Walterboro, SC crit

Thur, 4, may : Greenwood, SC crit

 

Fri,   5, may : CAE - SAN

 

check out USACRITS.com for the race details...

one more thing about yesterday's race.

 

towards the end of it, my fellow trickster J-FRO was hanging out in turn #6 of the course - right in front of the local starbucks.  for the first couple laps i went by he would yell out encouraging words - "Looking good!"  "You look strong!" - stuff like that.  but then we come by and Fro-boy yells out, "I think I'm gonna get some Starbucks!"  sweet.

next laps:

"Starbucks!"

"You want anything?"

at which point i responded - "yeah, venti mocha with whippy!" (mocha with whippy is the official BB/CS beverage)

Unfortunately, I  don't think he heard me...

 

but then next lap he just yelled out:

CHEESEBURGER!

 

wow, now that was just plain random.

 

at this point the race was getting toward the end and the pace started picking up *real* quick in that turn and J-FRO only stared intently at the proceedings.  or maybe he was too busy sipping on his mocha to say anything...

you know, i was totally set to write a completely negative blog, but then i talked to my good buddy the dagz-inator.  he's been racing bikes since like the '80s, so he can kick some good knowledge on the subject.  he said to just let it go.  focus on what was done right, and prepare for the next race.  the fitness is there - don't doubt it.  with this base, and with this speed, the results will come.  the difference between 1st and pack fodder can be determined by just 1 or 2 split second decisions.  over-analyzing things will get you straight to nowhere-ville.  and being the brainiac that i am, i just need to relax sometimes.  don't get downtrodden - we're on the up and up and the future is looking pretty trick.

 

so just how did the race shake out today?

 

El Cajon GP - 100 km

Flat, but very technical 8 corner course over 0.9 miles with bots-dots almost everywhere, especially the corners.

 

A breakaway went at the end of the 1st lap.  Didn't look threatening, but I wasn't in position to get into it anyway.  And then Kyle Gritters (pro for HealthNet) blazed up to it and they were never seen again - until they lapped the field, of course.  And we were chasing hard too, but not hard enough, I guess.  At this point people were getting tired, and the field was stretched pretty thin, but another breakaway managed to sneak away.  [ FYI, those were the 2 split seconds that determined the entire race.  For both I was out of position - no time to cry about that - just need to secure a better start line spot for the first - the second was a more of a conundrum. ]  With all of the money up the road (or lapped already...), we were just riding laps.  That's okay - it was still good training and we got some good mileage in.

 

On a different note, I skidded my back wheel twice on the course today - both from coming down on my pedal in a corner.  we were really railing the corners at times, and i was pedaling through - what can i say?  skidding is not as cool as it might sound, but i stayed upright so that's cool.  it's definitely a nice skill to have in the toolbox.  the first time it happened, i was afraid i might blow my back tire off the rim (it's a glue-on tubular), but nothing happened, so all was good.  second time and i totally made the guy behind me soil himself.  he was impressed with the recovery, though.  happy, happy tire glue job!

 

onward and upward.

ok, folks, i know you thought it was over.  done.  dead.

 

but it's not.

 

in fact it's alive.  it's kicking.  it's back in black.

 

easter miracles come in many forms, to be sure.

mucha's blog has been resurrected.

 

but what has been happening for the past forever and a day?

racing and training mostly - yeah, some things just don't change.  ho-hum.

 

we'll keep it brief:

 

11 march : Murrieta Crit.  Flatted going into the very last lap in sprint position.  Can you say sucks?

12 march : Murrieta Circuit Race.  Flatted while off the front of the peloton, bridging to the breakaway.  Enough with the flats.

 

As an aside, I also got a flat tire on the Cooper that weekend.  Totally a bad voodoo flat-qore weekend, to be sure.  The Cooper had run-flats, so that's not as much of a biggie, but I went back to using Tufo's on the bike - bombproof.

 

17 march : San Simas Time Trial.  uphill time trial.  not so much my thing.  i was like 80th of 90.

18 march : San Dimas Road Race.  Not as bad, but had an annoying climb every lap (12 laps).  on the bright side, i didn't get dropped too much and moved from 80th to like 40th on GC.

19 march : San Dimas Crit.  Pure torture.  Dehydrated.  I had a contact lens flip out of my eye halfway through the race, and that only happens when i'm truly out of liquid.  bad news, but i finished it to roll it in.

 

26 march : Redlands crit.  actually went pretty decently here, but just chose all the wrong spots to be in the final 5 laps.  wasn't so bad though, as i avoided a gnarly crash that took guys away on stretchers - and they were in like the 10-15 positions - usually fairly safe.

 

1 apr : ADT track race.  was gonna do a crit this day, but bailed on it and raced against the polish national team on the track.  talk about the definition of misery.  the poles were peaking for track world championships in just a few weeks, so they were really rolling.  yikes.

 

2 apr : garrett lemire crit.  "downtown" crit (in a tiny town).  not your average course - had a hill and windy roads, etc.  was going fine, but put too much faith in some big teams to shut down a breakaway at the end of the race.  i should have just played my card and been in the break.  oops.

 

8 apr : started organizing tax inforamation.  holy cruz-nuts.

9 apr : came to the realization that my bike habit is totally out of control.

 

12 apr : finally e-filed the taxes for reals.  also, got a new road bike frame built up.  (refer to 9 apr)

 

15-16 apr : no racing - just hard training.  word.

 

and that's it, folks.  merry easter.  i didn't dress up as a bunny, although can you picture a bunny driving around on a scooter?  too bad the scooter's gone.  dang vandals.

Sunday, 5 March

 

McLane-Pacific Road Race

Cat 2 only race - 4 laps of a rolling hills circuit

96 miles total

 

cold temperatures and rain were predicted, but luckily it was only cold.  i did this race last year in the sunshine, but flatted on lap 2 and my race was over.  last year it all ended in a bunch sprint too.  this year was different in every way.  okay, so we set off at 9 am and it's frickin cold.  once we got going it was okay, but man that start line was cold.  anyway, we're off and we don't even ease into it.  crits - since they're short in duration - are always explosive from the start - everyone gets out there to test their legs, etc.  road races go on for hours though, so usually things are eased into at least for a couple miles for people to warm up a bit.  not today.  we were crushing it from the gun, and a break got away in the first 5 miles.  no big deal, i thought - we'll catch them about midway through the race or so.  yeah, that didn't happen.  those guys went out for 90 miles and fought out for the win.  wow.  but for there's still 90 miles in the peloton planning for a bunch sprint - or at most a 2nd half breakaway.  okay, so there was no rain to make us miserable, but the wind was atrocious.  headwinds are annoying, tailwinds are cool, but crosswinds...  when people play nice, they echelon out in a diagonal and rotate through a paceline to divvy up the effort of taking the wind.  when people get angry, they ride in the gutter so that *no one* gets any shielding from the wind.  this creates a long line of guys in the gutter - everyone suffering like dogs.  when the guys at the front are really drilling it, little gaps open up in the line as people start popping.  if you're behind one of these gaps, then you could be in some serious trouble and might just lose contact with the main peloton through no fault of your own.  yeah, suckage.  around lap 3 i was little farther back in the pack than i should have been - especially since people are really starting to get tired now - and a couple other sprinters and i got kind of stuck like that.  we got back on just fine to the main bunch, but there were a couple tense moments.  here's another brilliant part of the race - there's a feed zone on each lap just past the finish line.  96 mile road race - you're going to need an extra bottle of sports drink, or what not.  now, it would be kind and generous of everyone to take it easy through the feed zone so that everyone could get refueled, but don't you know whomever was at the front of the peloton would drill it each and every time through?  it was only at the beginning of lap 3 that we went slow, because we were neutralized (kind of like nascar yellow flag?) in order to let the pro field overtake us (they started a couple minutes behind us, and were taking it a bit harder than we were).  Anyway, I got my only feed on lap 3, but that was okay cause that was all i needed.  at the beginning of lap 4 we were going super quick and at least 1/3 of the peloton either got dropped in the feed zone or just decided to call it quits for the day.  anyway, the end of the race was in sight, and we were getting down to the end game.  all of the money positions were up the road, so now we were pretty much just going to sprint for fun.  i mean, hey, we rolled around around for 96 miles already, let's at least put on a cool finish, right?  well, we're maybe 10 miles out and it's just me and my teammate jordan in the peloton.  jordan starts attacking the field to make a last minute break attempt.  a couple of times he gets like 2 or 3 guys to go with him, but by now the field is restless and nothing is going to get away.  but that doesn't stop jordan, and he keeps attacking over and over until about 2 miles to go.  this is actually really cool for me, cause i can just sit back and watch the peloton chase him and what not.  no work for me - just get ready to sprint.  so it's less than 2 miles and i'm near the front, setting up good.  we get to the last kilometer, and i'm golden.  the move is made, and i'm right there with it.  it's me and 3 other guys seperating ourselves from the rest.  me even with another in 3rd - 4th wheel - just right.  last hill and we're churning up.  and then there's a dropped pro woman pedalling up in the middle of the road?  why is she in the middle of the road - aren't we sprinting here?  i don't even see her until the last second since my view was obscured.  i almost slam into her and have to brake hard.  the other guys manage to avoid and get the distance.  oh, snap - there it goes. i'm back on it, and closing on the other 3, but there's no way i can make up that much ground in the final sprint.  i come in 4th in the field, which is not too shabby - good for around 20th in the final results.  i had the speed and fitness - just had a wierd whammo of bad luck on that one.  but it wasn't for anything other than sprint pride at this point anyway, so it's no big deal.  hopefully i've used up all my bad luck, though, and it'll only be good luck for a while - that would be sweet.

McLane-Pacific Crit

Cat 2 only race - 35 laps of a 0.8 mile technical loop

 

Up in Merced, CA for a weekend of racing.  That's central CA, folks.  word.  Anyway, today was the crit.  Things were all hunkydory up until 2 laps to go.  i was just hanging out in the pack pretty much waiting for the inevitable field sprint, and that was that.  floating up and back in the pack.  we had radios this time, so that was cool.  sean was on the sideline letting us know what he saw, etc.  toward the end of the race, and i'm moving into position.  at 6 to go, it's really time to be seriously battling for the top 20.  i got there just fine - not spending too much energy to get up there - so all was peachy.  going into 3 to go and i was in the top 10 - pretty sweet.  the pace slacks for an instant and i was just a millisecond too late in keeping a couple guys coming around my left to swarm.  that was annoying, and now i was like 15th or so.  ok, just got to work here.  2 laps to go and the pack is a melee in every corner.  i'm fending ok, but still trying to find those last extra spots.  we're at 1 and 2/3 to go - right into a wicked little chicane in the course - certainly the most technical part of the course.  crash right in front of me and just slightly to the right.  i'm still up, but have to scrub just a bit of spead to get around to the left.  okay - no time to panic - it's still winnable.  sprint to get back up - but now i'm like 20th.  half a lap more, and there's another crash.  this one was right in front of me, but about 2 riders up.  more brakes and sprint like mad to stay in.  all the while, sean is calmly talking into the radio that i can still win - i've got to get into position.  of course i know this, but it's good to hear more than just 1 voice in my head sometimes...  now it's bell lap, and the chances are slipping.  i'm not done yet

 

but then there's another crash in the chicane and there's literally a bike cartwheeling right in front of me.

 

game over - i'm finished.  i had to come to almost a dead stop to avoid this one.  i try getting back connected to the front for about 5 seconds, but there's just no point.  my sprint was spent on the first 2 crashes, and the 3rd one was just the death knell.  i just roll it in to finish the race.  ticked about the finish, cause i was feeling pretty good today.  but you know what?  that's bike racing.  being on form is only one part of the equation to winning a race.  tactics is another.  luck is the final piece.  the form was good today.  the tactics were mostly solid.  i could have held top 10 better and that might have avoided some of the trouble - but seriously, those crashes were at the front of the field with people simply battling for the best line - really pretty silly crashes.  but the luck just wasn't there in the end.  3 strikes and you're out.  pretty happy to have stayed upright, though.  tomorrow will be a different kind of race entirely - 96 mile road race.  and maybe in the cold rain.  not my favorite.  that's one reason i prefer to race inside in the velodrome...  oh, well.

It's no longer scooter-ific...

for reals, i think my scooter was stolen.  can't find it anywhere.  i guess i'll report it tomorrow.  total suckage.

okay, so i never finished up the story from valley of the sun.  you're dying to hear it, right?  everything went peachy keen and minty fresh, right?  wrong.  we lost.  uneventful race until...  crash.  failure to communicate.  flat tire.  we lost.  no more GC points - no $300 payout - no nuthin.  that's bike racing.  suck it up.  end of story.

VoS Road Race - 89 miles - about 3 hours, 50 minutes or so

Phoenix, AZ

 

not very hilly - supposedly only 470 feet of climbing per lap (we did 5.5 laps - but 6 of those 470' climbs)

 

Oh word, this race was off the chain.  remember how i said yesterday that my teammate, danny boy, finished the time trial ahead of me by about a minute and in 22nd overall?  yeah, so we rode for him today.  there's just 3 of us in this race - me, dan, and jordan.  jordan is sick - sick enough that he really shouldn't be racing this weekend - but he was hoping to "clear the lungs".  anyway, he put in some wicked little attacks in the early laps of the race.  meanwhile i was chillin like a villain just floating in the back of the pack.  dan was cruising too, but by the 4th lap, there was still a breakaway up the road.  he asked me to not be shy about putting in an effort or 2 to help chase, but i said to just be a little patient still.  we absorbed the breakaway the 5th time up the hill, and it was now a race.  nothing was off the front at the time, but people were getting ancy again.  about 1/3 into the final lap and a little group of 3 guys just starts to meander off the front.  i'm sitting in about 20th spot, but my boy dan is just about riding point at the front.  i briefly consider slingshotting through the front of the group and joining the break, but i just knew that dan was feeling itchy and would gun it to get in the break.  no sooner and my boy makes a blistering effort and goes across alone.  now it's 4 people up the road, and the peloton totally throws the brakes on.  it was really quite shocking.  no one up the road was a "threat" to gc, but little do they know.  i almost went to the front of the field to help block for dan (just ride a little slow, but not so slow that people want to come around me), but there's simply no need.  the peloton has completely thrown in the towel.  really, quite shocking.  now we're going into the final hill and the finish is at the top.  i can't really believe it, but i'm sitting at the front of the field, ready to duke it out for a field sprint.  i mean, this might as well be a mountain top finish for me!  ridiculous that i'm here for this!  i weigh 190 lbs - most of the competition only weighs 150!  *ludicruous*  bottom of the hill and i'm in top ten.  run and gun, bump and grind.  i love it.  things are a bit physical, but i'm holding all good.  the only handicap trying to climb.  okay, so we're at 1 km to go, and by some miracle i'm in the top 5.  huh?  at his point, some quick accelerations are made, and i'm out of the saddle to follow, but all of a sudden my legs cramp.  total suckage - not enough electrolytes on a warm, dry day.  was getting water bottle handups, but what i really neded was cytomax.  i'm powering it in the saddle as best as i can, and i manage to come in 25th place.  a respectable result, but i really could have gone better - but this bodes so well for the races in the next coming weeks it's not even funny.  my boy dan in the breakaway?  *WINS THE FLIPPIN RACE*  and guess what?  22nd on gc up to 2nd.  back in black, baby.  he's 9 seconds down on gc, and we're going to totally get him the win tomorrow.  sweet!  we made $75 solid today, and gc #2 is worth $275.  when we win this sob tomorrow we're gonna get gc #1 worth $375.  that's split 3 ways folks - cha ching.  dan's gonna get his upgrade to cat 1 for after this race - but not before he sandbags to help with my points a little bit...

 

blast from the past - erik koep from rowing daze is in this race with me!  he got 2nd in the time trial, but then he missed out on the breakaway glory, so now he's sitting 5th or 6th on gc.  he's just so wicked strong, though - yeah, guys who row at the world championships tend to be...

Valley of the Sun Stage Race - category 2 only event

Phoenix, AZ

Feb 17-19 - Time Trial, Road Race, Crit

 

Time Trial - 33:07 - 43rd of 104

22 km time trial over a pretty much flat course.  This one went okay, but was nothing stellar to speak of.  not so much to say - time trials are kind of boring.  you just go hard and see where you stack up against everyone else.  i haven't been doing so much training for the longer time trial efforts, and it kind of showed.  maybe i could have pushed it a little harder, but then again maybe not.  the winning time in our category was just under 31:00 - pretty quick indeed.  a teammate of mine came in at 32:08 (22nd), so it looks like we'll try working for him in the race.  there's King of the Mountain time bonuses, stage win time bonuses, etc, so maybe we can make some money out of this race yet.  it'll be cool if i can lead him out for some intermediate sprints and what not - should be interesting - i've never really been in that position before.  road race tomorrow.  later.

okay, folks, i'm a little late on this one, but here's last week's race update:

 

12 feb 2006

st. valentine's day massacre

90 minute crit

 

new course from last year.  start/finish on top part of a hill, take a right into a downhill chicane, continue down a bit, then a sweeping right into an uphill and into the finish.  not a super technical course - the corners were wide - but it was a fairly hard course compared to the usual simple 4 corner crit.

 

one of the major domestic pro teams showed up for this race, and we all knew it was just going to be a painfest.  the first 45 minutes were averaged at 30 miles per hour - that's pretty quick.  anyway, we were all surviving but i'd have to say my highlight of the day came at about 8 laps or so left in the race.  i was taking the inside line into the corner into the uphill.  all of a sudden a kid from the echelon-santa barbara team sees a hint of daylight and dives the corner on my inside.  i let him by, but then he fails to hold his line and bumps his left thigh into my handlebars.  this gives me a bit of the wobbles, but it's okay.  just an idiot kid.  like 3 seconds later and we're getting up the hill.  ivan dominguez (one of the top pro sprinters) flies by me on the right, hovers right in front of the kid, looks him in the eye, and then flicks his back wheel into the kid's front wheel *really* hard saying, "don't f-in do that again!"  after that a couple guys yelled out, "hey ivan, this isn't cuba!  cut it out!"  yeah, wild - total road rage.  the kid was lucky to not totally crash.  me, i was just glad that i wasn't the one who screwed up.

 

anyway, that was the major excitement.  we went into the final 2 laps, and i was feeling okay - getting up for the sprint - when i just totally bonked.  little homer - on shift at the mucha power station - must have decided it was the appointed time for a little coffee/donut break - and that just sucked.  we were into the bell lap and i was just losing spots right and left.  finished in like 35th.  blah.  didn't eat enough breakfast - how could i do that?  more pancakes, please.

okay, so today i wake up fresh and i'm feeling just right.  morning vitals are 191.4 lbs and 45 bpm.  sweet, cause today's a hard day of training (5x10' overthreshold junkies wrapped up in an endurance ride for 4 hours total).  but before all that, there's an 8:15 systems engineering team meeting at work.  yeah, these used to be at 7:30 am and i was always 5 minutes late or so.  they got moved back to 8:15 to accomodate more people's schedules, etc.  i'm still always 5 minutes late.  yeah.  some things just never change.  but i was actually running 'on time' this morning.  was gonna make it for 8:15 for reals.  and then i'm driving past the KK.  hmmm, donuts?  yeah, donuts...  yeah, i picked up 2 dozen (not the baker's) to bring to the meeting.  now, of course, by stopping to get the donuts i'm no longer on schedule and am destined to be 5 minutes late.  but i've got donuts, and they're hot.  fresh.  now.  word.  i get to the meeting, waltz in, and pop the first box - there's still a tiny hint of steam from the hotness.  appointed.  half the room cheers, cause hey, it's the KK.  the other half groans, because guess what - they're on a diet.  the meeting proceeds, we go around the table telling what we're working on.  my turn, "yeah, i'm working on an MOA and a budget proposal for Capt. Pope and it'll prolly be routed up to Baumann in the main PEO."  everyone's ears perk up and they're staring at me intently - what is this that jeremy could be working on that's so important?  "this was ranked as one of the top enablers to fleet readiness and effectiveness."  but what could it be?  new SATCOM?  new CONOPS?  "it's concerning a strategic agreement and a perpetual supply of hot glazed donuts from krispy kreme."  awesome.  nobody even rolled their eyes - just laughter.  mission accomplished.  a couple guys said that, hey, you know the fleet would probably be really into a krispy kreme agreement!  yeah...  so then i say some random things that i'm actually "working" on, and all is good.  sweet.  the meeting continues then finishes and we're breaking up, but no one's going anywhere just yet.  it's that awkward time when if you get up too quickly and run out, then you're rude, but what are you hanging around for - the meeting's over.  i throw my hand into the middle of the table and say, "can we all get together for a huddle and team cheer?"  "no, buddy, we're not cheering - are you serious?"  "you see, that's the one downfall of all the sugar in these donuts."  "no, i think it must just be the naive misguided youthful exuberence."  "hey buddy, isn't the best way to spread cheer to sing loud for all to hear?"  that seals it for the meeting.

Red Trolley Classic Criterium

65 minutes

 

Pretty hard course - long downhill followed by a really steep little hill with bit of flat after that.  This race usually ends in a breakaway, but not today - today was a field sprint.  Beautiful weather for the race - partly cloudy and in the upper 60's or so.  The race was going fine - there were plenty of attacks, but nothing really stayed off the front for very long at all.  Not so much boredom in this race - it was difficult enough that you had to concentrate the whole time plus you had to work up the hill each lap, etc.  That and there was one move I thought might go somewhere that I followed, but it turned out to be nothing.  Oh, well.  Anyway, it was shaping up to be a field sprint.  I was getting into position with 5 laps to go, and was holding my wheel just fine, but things were pretty hairy.  The peloton would bunch here and there and things were getting pretty precarious.  I was latched on to the back of the SDBC sprint train - not a bad place to be - and people wanted my spot - I had to throw some elbows and nearly knock a guy into the curb to keep them from muscling in.  But that's just what it's all about.  Either you blink or they do.  It's your job to make them back down every time.  Chicken.  That's just the game.  So it was just getting at 2 laps to go, and a guy comes in hard from my right side to take the wheel I'm following.  I'm not budging, and even if I was, there's nowhere on my left to go.  The dude's back wheel gets right up in my front wheel, and my front skewer (holds the wheel in) rips out a bunch of his spokes (That'll show him).  Fortunately, both of us are still upright - he's out of the race since his back wheel is gone - I lose about 20 spots due to the loss of speed and momentum.  I'm still in it, though, but there's not really too much of a chance.  We're heading into the bell lap, and there's just simply no time to get back up in position.  The sprint happens and a Polish guy wins the race.  Turns out the SDBC train (they took 1st, 3rd, and 4th last Sunday) wasn't the place to be - they didn't get anything higher than 14th.

Lunch ...

... was truly Appointed.