Well as my readership might have noted in my weekly synopsis, I spent the afternoon working on bikes. What I didn't mention is that I spent a good chunk of the night before drinking, and so I only woke up around noon to find that Walter wanted some help. I showered, registered for racing, packed the car and headed over to walter's house. One thing that I probably should have done, but skipped, was to eat breakfast. I think I just had two glasses of iced tea. Working out in the heat/humidity/showers drained me. I left the bike wrenching at around 3:45 and ran home to cook up some fine grub, as I was running on fumes. One apple and one can of chef boyardee raviolis later and I felt slightly less like dying, so I decided to give the ol' racin' a try.
I left at roughly 4:15-4:30ish and got to the track a touch after 5:30. I was supposed to meet a guy around 5 to give a quick spiel about track racing, so I felt bad for being late, but I found Joe Brennan talking to him and giving him the basics for me. I answered a few more questions, downed a gel and warmed up. I decided I would try to spin more at these wednesday nights, so I dropped down slightly to a 49x15. I also decided to try a breathe-right nose strip dealy this week to try to give my breathing a boost. It seemed to work really well, though sometimes I thought I could smell blood. I have no clue what that was about.
The first race was an 8 lap super tempo. I decided my training plan for today's races would be to attack early and often, so right after the whistle I attacked and got the first few laps' points. Maybe 3 laps, give or take. After this, Lucas (the only pink rhino to show) was able to bridge up, so we did some work together. I let him grab a sprint, I took one, and gave another to him (EDIT: looking at the points breakdown, Lucas got two sprints in a row). At this point a few more guys bridged up, including last week's points race complainer, who I now know as Dave Corriea. We had a few photo finish sprints, not particularly sure who got what, but in the end I came out with first place, and I believe Dave second, Lucas 3rd. Stand by for official results.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/183895708
After this was a 15 lap scratch. At this point, I was dying a pollen-filled death, so I mostly gave up on my endless attacking plan. Another rider decided to give it a go, however, and I started to chase a bit, but then just set tempo with him off the front and no other riders trying to bridge. Further details are hazy, but one way or another I think I attacked a bit to bridge up with Joe Brennan, swapping half lap pulls. Dave caught up as well with Josh, I believe, so it was 5 riders in front. And then shit hit the fan. I think it was Joe Pedata who was riding high on the banking to let the rest of us continue to hammer each other in the ground when his wheel got caught in one of the cracks up there. He went over, sliding down in front of me. I didn't have room to move up track, so I had to risk the more dangerous 'duck under and pray to not die' method. I was able to get through unscathed, but apparently the rider who had made the initial attack was not so lucky. From what I heard from those behind, he didn't see the crash and also tried to go under, but got caught and flipped in a most painful sounding way. This stopped the race temporarily as the two riders were tended to. Joe seemed to end up the better of the two, as the other rider's bike was now in two pieces separated cleanly at the head tube.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/183895695
A short break was had, and then Alan restarted the race. It was started with the 4 remaining riders up front with a small gap from the rest of the field on the rail. Alan blew the whistle and it was game on for 3 laps. Joe Brennan jumped from the gun, I wasn't quite sure what was going on, so I just melded in with the rest of the group. We caught Joe, and the final sprint saw Lucas with a solid attack, Josh behind, me next to them looking down track to stay behind Lucas, but in front of Josh and suddenly Dave coming around me at the line uptrack. Whoops. This made the final result Lucas, Dave, me. Oh well. That's what I get for not paying enough attention to the rest of the track (EDIT: Officially, I didn't get pipped at the line. shrug).
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/183895683
Next in the line-up was the first round of Chariots. Boo. I switched to a 51 up front, mostly just to get my bike ready for t-town, but also to try to suck less at chariots this year. I think I was second or third from the bottom for this heat with the bulkiest looking rider (relatively, of course) holding me up. I forgot his name, but he's on kissena. I really need to work on names. Anyhow, I got a good push and got to the front of the pack, slowly getting this gear up to speed. I was able to hold everyone else off until the line, with Josh and and Dave also qualifying.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/183895681
A break and the finals. I was again either second or third from the bottom, with the same holder. Josh got a good jump going and had a nice gap. I was behind, but suddenly a burst of speed to my right saw the team squiggle rider (Derrick, I think?) put in an impressive jump. I tried to respond, but had nothing left, so I rolled in for 3rd. I'm pretty sure Josh got the win and Derrick got second. Again, just look for the results (EDIT: Derrick 1st, Josh 2nd).
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/183895677
Your guess is as good as mine as to what this meant for the omnium. I'll probably update when I find out. Probably. I sat around for a while after racing finished to try to collect myself as the lack of nutrition was finally hitting me. Good thing an iced coffee picked me up for the long drive home in the auto.
EDIT: the results have been posted at http://www.kissenavelodrome.info/results/2012/Kissena12TwilightSeriesWeek4.pdf
Things to note: Apparently I didn't get beat to the line at the restart of the scratch, so I came in 2nd. I got first in the omnium. Also, it would appear that the supertempo played out different than I remember in regards to swapping laps and all that. I think I need to get an action camera for my bike so I don't have to delve as deep into my memory to write these things up.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment