Summary

Monday June 30th through July 6th 2008. Injury week, off the bike entirely Monday through Friday, and Sunday.

Monday-Friday

Injured.

Saturday

Sprints clinic at the track.

Sunday

Off.

Goals

Top ten, realistic podium shot, pick up any easy primes if I happen to be in position.

Race

Crappy starting position behind a Cal rider who rode like a cracked out chipmunk the whole race, but made an effort and got into the top 10 within half a lap. Bounced back and forth between the top 5 and the top 15. I kept a close eye on my potential rides to the finish line, Maurice, Milroy, and a couple of other strong riders like the more wily 3rd pillar guys who came out in force for this race.

Crash

All was good going into the bell lap, had a decent top 15 position that I improved by taking good lines in the first couple of corners. Going into the soft library turns I was 7th or 8th wheel when I saw something somewhat surreal.

To the side of me I see Milroy take the first corner but continue through the apex shouldering a rider straight through the gutter and over the curb, like a hockey player body checking an opponent. Then he jumped back in without losing a position like nothing happened. This looked deliberate to me, but was so strange that I couldn’t believe it at the moment, and in retrospect it could have been a bar tangle or something like that.

When he jumped back in, it may have been coincidence but all hell seemed to break lose as some chain reaction took out three riders to the side and front of me as riders began attacking for the sprint.

I dodged all three riders, the first on the inside, the second outside, and the third inside as they skated to the curb. I was clear and didn’t seem to have lost any ground and little speed, but dodging the last rider inside sent me straight through a grate in the gutter and I caught my pedal on the curb. From there it was a hop, skip, and a jump headfirst into a “No Parking” sign post.

My Kingdom for a Hay Bail

A $3 hay bail would have saved me a trip to the hospital and probably a $100 helmet and $300 bike computer, but no such luck. As Ben said, “We have a pretty strange hobby, don’t we?”

Going into the last corners I had a fantastic position, and was primed and fresh for the sprint, whereas some of the other riders up front had more recently attacked to get there and seemed to be flagging. Seth, who took 4th, was behind me going into that as far as I could tell at that point. I had a podium spot pegged. No dice though. Pretty bummed, but I guess I should be lucky to have come out of it in one piece. As DP said, it wasn’t by luck I was in the position I was in going into the last corners, so I’ll be there next time.

Scratch (10 laps)

Marked Milroy, followed him around for 7 laps, but lost his wheel in the attack and got caught out in the wind for the last three laps pulling the rest of the riders up to the attack. Died in the sprint, got 8th.

Tempo (10 laps)

Took the first sprint easily as one guy attacked at the 200m and I followed overtaking him with little effort at the line. Recovered in the next sprint, and looked for my opportunities. Milroy took the 3 sprint easily, then a White brother and the junior Nick took off scooping up the middle points before Milroy attacked and finally caught them. Since so few earned points my first sprint win got me 4th.

Win & Out

I followed Milroy around the entire race until 3 to go, when at 2.5 I drifted slightly up track from behind his draft to come around a couple of dieing riders and boom, off he went. I picked the worst time to stop following him. Even though he took off like a freight train I could have easily sucked wheel enough to get dragged with a gap for another lap to take 2nd. Instead Jake launched with 1.5. I used a couple chasers to bridge up for 5th, only passing on man of the initial chase group.

A/B Points (4×8)

This race was fast. Held my own but didn’t contest anything for 16 laps when I lost contact in the second sprint. Sat a lap out, sat back in, lost it again in the 3rd sprint and bailed. Fast race, not an unmanageable pace but certainly difficult to cover attacks from the As.

Summary

Monday June 23rd through June 29th, 2008.

Monday

Commute.

Tuesday

Commute, team photo.

Wednesday

No commute worked at home, track racing.

Thursday

Commute, picked up because of allergies.

Friday

Commute.

Saturday

Mill Valley to Four corners, Stinson, Mt. Tam HC. Good 35 miles of climbing, +4000’.

Sunday

Burlingame Criterium

Course

Crazy fast and technical course with reasonable to great pavement.

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Crew

Solid crit crew: Jake, Sam, Seth and myself. However given the course this would have to be everyone for themselves until the final few laps. “Teamwork starts with guarding your own position.”

Race

Got a funky start from the official – she walked back to the end of the course and then from the back of the field blew the whistle without any warning (and almost 10 minutes late).

Fortunately I was at the front and ready to go. I jumped to 5th wheel and stayed there, fighting for my position around the Crazy P every lap, for the next 10 minutes or so. Apparently I don’t have the top end power for jumping around such tight turns (160s, 180s, etc…) and I started to get fatigued and dehydrated in the heat (even at 8:30am and while drinking constantly).

Lost a position here and there and gained back less positions than I lost as I covered gaps that opened in front riders directly ahead of me. As I lost more positions I had to work harder. My race was effectively over once I hit -20 or so and hesitated to burn the matches necessary to get back into the top ten (didn’t have many matches left to burn after jumping hard out of that Crazy P ever 60 seconds for 20-25 minutes).

Reflection

Finally a super technical course with a 180-degree type turn and good conditions (no wind, no rain, but hot) to show that I’m not quite there in terms of power to put in such a huge jump every minute. The only way I could have stayed in the race was to stay top 5-10 the entire race, and even 10th wheel would have been pushing it. Kudos to Sam for getting to the front and staying there, to Seth to making it all the way to the front from the back by the end of the race, and to Jake for hanging in there until the finish.

Toughest crit yet, even harder than Brisbane in the wind.

Goals

• Place in the points race.
• Win the Scratch race.
• Do better in the Miss & Out.
• Improve in Omnium.

Perhaps a slightly softer B field than I’ve raced against yet, but still some good competition. I planned to race this week very conservatively since working too hard has worked against me in weeks past. I knew to keep my eye on the SBCU/Specialized guys (Wyatt, Rob, Sam), a fairly fast ICCC master, and Sean and Dan of Stanley Morgan.

Points (5×3)

Learning from previous weeks, I planned to pick up easy points in the first sprint, sit the second sprint out, take what I could in the 3rd sprint and win the 4th sprint. The race began at a fairly good clip with a little bit of a chase after Sean who took an immediate flyer. Dan started blocking for Sean, which helped keep him away for that sprint. I gave chase, but too late, didn’t quite catch him at the sprint but still picked up a couple of points. Sat in the second sprint. Got in position for the third sprint and covered an attack at turn 2. Spun out before I could come around, picked up 3 more points. At this point I figured anything better than 1 more point would put me in the top 3. Gave it my all in the last sprint passing one rider in the sprint, but didn’t pass Dan early enough for 4th to pick up that last point. Ended up 7th in a 3 way tie for 5th.

Scratch (12 laps)

I always work way too hard in this race, so I resolved to stay top 5 the whole race, but always pull off with the leader and sit right back in. I knew I could do well in a late attack with a handful of riders. This ended up being an unusual race, the whole pack sat up at the rail for the first few laps reluctant to make any attacks. I attacked at 9 to go and Wyatt (SBCU) countered, with the pace set I played out my plan of sitting in the first few and always pulling off with the leaders to avoid any wind. I waited for either Sean or a SBCU guy to take off in turn 2, and it came, I hopped on and pulled in for 2nd. Again, I spun out before I could jump to pass.

Miss & Out (13 riders)

Haven’t had much luck in the Bs Miss & Out so far, due to three factors: field size, pace, and strategy. So far both field size and pace have been high, and my strategy has been low. I raced this one fairly well. I mostly played the devil after it thinned down a bit, I marked my riders and edged them out either by boxing them in at the stairs or the rail and moving where they moved. I must have seemed like a huge pain in the ass. Found myself with the final five, but didn’t have the legs and ended up 5th.

Overall Lessons

• I thought I was racing smart before, but I burned my matches much more conservatively this time while still racing fairly aggressively.
• 86” isn’t cutting it anymore. Guys are getting faster and I can only add so many RPMs, time to gear up.

Accomlishments

• Place in the points race: almost, I was competitive but tying blew it, very close to a tie for 3rd though.
• Win the Scratch race: 2nd, not a very close 2nd but much better than last time.
• Do better in the Miss & Out: check.
• Improve in Omnium: check, earned 1 upgrade point, only 14 to go!

Summary

Monday June 16th through Sunday June 22nd, 2008. Got in solid training/practice racing during the week last week, but was gone during the weekend. This should be a good solid 7 days.

Monday

Commute

Tuesday

No commute, but a decent park ride. Small group, a couple guys faster than Chris showed up and destroyed the field. I lasted the first three laps before getting shelled just before the final sprint. Sat a lap out, got shelled on the next lap pretty quickly into the climb but caught back on and tempo’d with other stragglers.

Wednesday

Again no commute, but Track Racing.

Thursday

No ride, bikes still in the wrong modes, and ran around to bike shops getting stuff instead.

Friday

Commute.

Saturday

Napa Downtown Grand Prix

Sunday

Lazy Sunday, no ride, visited family.

Points 5×3

Started off great getting a relatively easy 3 points in the first sprint, then worked a little too hard for 2 points at lap 9. Ended up losing contact after failing to recover. I fought for 6 more laps to maintain my 5 points but ended up lapped in the final sprint.

Lesson: should have sat up for the 2nd sprint.

Scratch 12

Tried to take last week and make something of it. I worked and covered attacks at first. Then sat and looked for Ben. Got on his wheel with 2 to go and he took me for a flying lap and a half.

Stood to jump but had nothing left in re legs or the gears (easily spinning +150rpms) – Kovarus brothers and Jake came around us going into turn 4.

Lesson: don’t know, should have won. Maybe 88” would have helped over my 86”, but I pretty much gave up when Greg came around.

Miss and Out 15

Played it smart, marking and pushing out 4 riders at the rail. Dropped into a gap that formed, attack came and I didn’t have it to move back up around. Worst miss and out yet, but also the fastest.

Lesson: figure out a mid race spot. I did okay at the rail for a while but started to die. Can’t spend the whole race in the pole either.

B/C Points 3×10

Followed Ben’s advice and let the first sprint go even though I could have gottena relatively easy point or two.

Waited for 15 to go and followed Andrew (Specialized junior). We held a small gap that caught at the bell. Sat in waited for him to go again, followed his jump, got around easily but Jay got around me at turn 4 to take 5 points.

Same deal with 5 to go. Andrew takes off, we let him go though. Mateo yells at me to stop chasing and we line up. Hana (Proman) takes off at 3 to go, but dies quick. CC tries to fight me off Mateo but he gives it the gas at a lap and a half and I come around just in time to total 6 points and tie Andrew for points and take 2nd.

Had Jay not nipped me I would have won, but his sprint was good and he deserved it.

Since I didn’t place in anything else this got me 7th in the B omnium.

Summary

June 9th through June 15th, 2008. Poor training week last week, aside from some commuting track racing the release week left me pretty much rideless.

Monday

Recovering from two race day on Sunday, just a commute, no running yet.

Tuesday

Commute and a park ride.

Wednesday

No commute, but track racing!

Thursday

Commute and a relatively easy Presidio Circuits.

Friday

Off to Orange County!

Saturday

Outtatown! Did a little walkin’.

Sunday

Outtatown! Beach!

Summary

First Race – Elite 4/5

Lead out by Nole then Ben to take two primes but ended up being trashed and poorly positioned for the final sprint, rolled in at the end of the pack. Nole wins on his own.

Second Race – Elite 4

Switched up team tactics and gained some allies to keep the race very strung out and fast (against some wind). Solid leadout train briefly materialized then dissolved despite my best efforts to keep it together for Nole and Ben. Rolled at 21st with Seth after we both got somewhat swarmed around the last corner.

Details…

Course

Fun course: wide open decent pavement, five corners, with corners 3 and 4 forming sort of a chicane on the back stretch. Long enough sprint where you don’t necessarily want to be on the front through the last corner.

Crew

Solid crit crew: Ben, Jake, Nole, Sam, and Seth.

Goals

Top tens in each race, easy primes, and help Nole get Ben his points.

First Race – Elite 4/5

Strategy

Pairing off we’d lead each other out for various primes then form Voltron for the sprint.

Reality

Our pairing scheme immediately fell apart and I found myself following Nole for the first few laps before I passed him to take a couple pulls up front. Sat back then he came back up, hip tap, followed him in to win the one of the first few primes. Awesome lead out.

Yo-yo-ed back and forth between the front of the pack and midpack. Found myself near the front as I saw Ben come by late in the race, jumped on his wheel and he sent me through the last corner to one one of the last few primes which ended up being one of the coveted Flaming Toilet Seats (pictures soon, I promise).

The prime sort of destroyed my final sprint as I took a while to recover midpack and never got a good position. Rolled in toward the end of the main pack, ahead of any stragglers, but still didn’t get scored by the judges for some reason. Bogus, but the Flaming Toilet Seat speaks for itself. I’d put myself around 40th of 75 starters.

Reflection

Nole and Ben’s leadouts for me worked like clockwork. 2 for 2 leadout and sprint in one race left me thinking about simplifying our goals/strategy for both races. I want to try just having a dedicated sprinter (chosen before or during) sitting up front with a good position top 10 on the bell lap and having our leadout guys come from behind in the last few corners – the sprinter just latches on and follows. Our leadout trains always seem to dissolved before the are useful. A lone sprinter is always going to go for the hole shot, so have a surprise leadout is very helpful and throws the other sprinters off guard.

Second Race – Elite 4

Strategy

Realizing how much cornerswarm the relatively slow race had and how it threw off our whole strategy we resolved to keep the next race super stretched out, fast, and safe. Between races we made some alliances with the entire Metromint squad, Stage 5 and DBC riders, and Maurice from SJBC. Plan: fast constant pace, drilling it up front, no wild attacks.

Reality

Nole, the Stage 5 and DBC guys, and myself controlled the first third of the race taking big steady pulls. Second third many Metromint riders and non-allies tookover but still kept it nice and fast now that the pace had been dictated. Final third fell into somewhat disarray as the allegiances dissolved and we started to set up our leadout trains and non-allied attacks (many from Godspeed) went off.

We started to form and had to together from 6 to go until 3 to go when things went horribly wrong. Ben fell back, and then Seth and I got swarmed. I took Ben back up to Nole with 3 to go, but attacks still came from either side. With Jake off the front at the bell, Nole and Ben further back, and Seth and I a little further back at -20 or so, Sam looked like the only one in position. Unfortunately he had no snap left and went from 3rd or 4th wheel to 15th as fresher legs took over in the sprint. Seth and I rolled in soon after (20th and 21st respectively out of 48? starters).

Reflection

We successfully kept it stretched out and worked hard, but failed to deliver in the end. No one thing went wrong, it was just very difficult to work hard consistently throughout the race and have much left in the end. We all agreed we were pretty spent after the second race on a very hot day (I still feel dehydrated).

Props

Huge Shout Out™ to Lars Norlund, the rest of 2 Wheel Racing, officials and volunteers for putting on a fantastic race. Cool course (excited to try it out as a twilight with a small field), very well organized, smooth timing, cold water, good prizes (especially for an inaugural race). Awesome!