Today was Delroy Walters' Labor Day track meet. This was the 48th annual, and it's great to see the tradition continuing. The weather was near perfect: high 70s, mostly cloudy, with a strong wind picking up from time to time. I feel like the wind died down during the racing, though, because I didn't really notice it. It was coming out of the east, which would have affected the home stretch. I had spent the weekend watching my brother's cats while he was away, so I was a little stuffed up due to allergies. Honestly, I wasn't really too sure how competitive I would even be, but I decided to give it my best shot. I didn't really sleep well the night before, so that morning I opted to sleep in more and skip breakfast, then head to the track. I took the Path to the 7 train, which actually was a bit of a nightmare with all the crowds going to the US Open in Flushing.
My parents met me at the track to drop off the car with my track bike and some pop-tarts and then they headed out. The were planning on going somewhere in queens or something. I don't know, I don't pay attention to the details. I set up the tent, got dressed, warmed up a little, changed to my race gear, heard the lap bell. Once again, no warm up in race gear. Oh well, who needs it. The day dragged on enough that I don't think any amount of warming up before or between races would have helped anyhow.
Our first race in the 1/2/3's was an 800m Scratch. I really figured that was a typo as the other fields were doing 6- and 8-lap scratches, but not so much. Just two laps for us. Hooray sprinting. Andrew LaCorte showed up to race, so I knew he would be my main rival. As for the rest of the field, 10 people signed up, 6 of which were Pink Rhinos. I talked strategy with Charlie for a little bit and then with the team. We decided with a race this short, any strategy wasn't really worth it besides just keeping the pace nice and hot. That's basically how it played out. Steve drove a hard pace going into the bell lap, I attacked around turn 1, Andrew went past me on the back stretch and that was that. There was no catching up, either me to him or anyone else to me, so I rolled across the line in second.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/218614246
The next race was a 15 lap Points race with three sprints. The team originally discussed the idea of Keith and Steve going off the front to lap the field, but I suddenly started to worry about either LaCorte beating me in the field sprints or Dan Lim bridging up and leaving me in the dust. I decided it would be in my best interest to also try to lap the field with Steve and Keith, who were planning on attacking after the first sprint. As things turned out, the first few laps saw a couple of little attacks, including one by LaCorte. Around four laps in, I decided to counter on the backstretch. I kept on the gas until after the sprint, where I surveyed the damage. I had a small gap ahead of Dan, who had a gap ahead of the rest of the field. I sat up for Dan to catch up and we traded half lap pulls. Eventually Steve bridged up. I'm not sure if he was in no man's land the whole time or if he bridged from the field. Either way, now the three of us traded pulls. Dan's pulls were getting slower, and I was starting to worry about getting reeled back in. The pack was yo-yoing back and forth between a quarter and a little under a half-lap gap. On the second sprint lap, Dan was leading in turn 1, when I really started to feel like the pack was nipping at our heels, so I came up and around him to put some more of a gap between us. I didn't intend it as an outright attack, as I wanted the group to stay coherent, but it probably didn't come off that way. I know Steve at least thought I was putting in an attack. Either way, I hammered the rest of the lap to take the first place points again, then pulled up for Steve to pull through. We maintained this rotation through to the final laps, where Dan put in an attack, which I was able to catch and pass to take the final sprint. This put me in first place for the points. I think Dan got a well-deserved second, but I'm honestly not sure (more on not knowing who scored what later).
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/218614236
The final race was a 15 lap Scratch, with three primes. LaCorte sat this one out, as he was racing the Delroy Cup race afterwards in order to help Chris B defend his title. I talked with the team for a little bit, and we decided if they wanted to, Aaron and Lucas could try breaking away to take the primes and possibly the win. I was just going to mark Dan to stay ahead of him and potentially take any field primes that might be announced. In reality (plans and reality hardly ever seem to end up the same), I found myself boxed in within a few laps, right at the announcement of the first prime. Coming up along the outside was Dan, who got past the rhinos to take it. Boo. After this, the plan more-or-less came together, though. Aaron got away, but instead of going with Lucas, he went with Keith. I'm starting to think Keith is getting type-cast as the breakaway specialist extraordinaire. Which is by no means a bad thing. That's what I like about the team, we have such a broad talent base. It's the best. Pink Rhino rocks. But anyhow, back to business. After Aaron and Keith got a gap, Dan also attacked. I saw it and caught him right away. He knew the drill, so he just kept pedalling and I just kept sitting on his wheel. After a while, when it became clear we were permanently stuck between the first break and the main field, I put some work in. Around and around. I don't remember now if Dan gave up or if I attacked him. I'd have to imagine the former as I'm not a fan of three solo laps, but either way that's how the race ended. I tried catching up to Keith and Aaron, just for kicks, but I couldn't, so I rolled in for third. I think first and second went Aaron, Keith. They also got the two other primes. One each, I believe.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/218614231
This concluded my contribution to the day, so I sat with the rest of the team to cheer Brean on for the Delroy Cup race, which was a 20 lap scratch. Brean looked like he was really hurting from time to time, but on the second to last lap he was able to come from basically the back of the pack around everyone, bridge up to a solo rider off the front, then past and take the win. It was by far the most impressive win of the day and quite an upset for the sprinters in the group.
As for gearing today, the first race I did with a 51x15, the rest were my usual 50x15. After the races we took a few team photos since we had such a good showing. We also decided to invite Charlie D to the team as he's such a good guy, with a ton of advice. Other notable people in attendance were Tad, Dave Perry, Harry Z, Jason G, and both Lance and Mike M (both of which tell me they'll race again next year).
In regard to the results, however, Alan must have had some pressing business to attend to as he left right after the racing stopped. Admittedly, the day did go longer than I expected, so I'm not upset about that. The problem was that the omnium results were written down on note cards for Delroy to hand out the prizes and trophies, but most of the fields seemed to be completely wrong. The 1/2/3's for example had Aaron in first, me second, LaCorte third, but I definitely had the most points. I hear the Masters 40+ was also mixed up. I really just felt bad for Delroy as it was getting him pretty confused which put a damper on an otherwise great day of racing. Well, that and someone seems to have taken my cleat covers. Probably an honest mistake, but still a little annoying.
All in all, though, I had a great time with some great competition. Many thanks to Delroy for keeping up the Labor Day racing tradition. Thanks to all the racers and spectators. It was a full crowd, which really is a lot of fun. I'm really happy so many of us rhinos showed up for the last NY track race of the season. I can't wait for next year. It'll be exciting to watch Brean defend the cup. On a final note, I have to say it really was a treat to race with Dan today. He's a real classy rider. It's a shame we don't see him at the track much anymore, but I can understand where he's coming from with having to choose his weekday races.
I'll post the results when they finally get sorted.
EDIT: Preliminary results are out. http://kissenavelodrome.info/results/2012/2012LaborDayResults.pdf
3.9.12
2012.41: 9/3 - 9/9
Sunday: Lehigh Laps race at t-town. See the race report.
Saturday: No riding. I was at my cousin's wedding.
Friday: I woke up too late for the Kreb ride, so I decided to head out and do my own longer ride. I figured it was about time to ride little flower again, so I headed over to whiskey rd and then up and over to wading river. I don't know why, but my legs felt bad the entire time. I probably should have just turned around before reaching port jeff. Even just riding up sheep pasture road was hard. By the time I was heading back along woodside, I was just completely in pain. My knees, hamstrings, back, hands. I think part of that is from having not done a long ride in a while, though. When I got home, I took a long shower and went for a walk, which helped immensely.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/219939358
NP/IF/TSS: 165W/0.714/194
Thursday: No riding. I did some calf raises in the evening.
Wednesday: Same as tuesday.
Tuesday: Lots of rain, no riding.
Monday: Spent the day at Kissena racing Delroy's labor day meet. See the race report.
Saturday: No riding. I was at my cousin's wedding.
Friday: I woke up too late for the Kreb ride, so I decided to head out and do my own longer ride. I figured it was about time to ride little flower again, so I headed over to whiskey rd and then up and over to wading river. I don't know why, but my legs felt bad the entire time. I probably should have just turned around before reaching port jeff. Even just riding up sheep pasture road was hard. By the time I was heading back along woodside, I was just completely in pain. My knees, hamstrings, back, hands. I think part of that is from having not done a long ride in a while, though. When I got home, I took a long shower and went for a walk, which helped immensely.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/219939358
NP/IF/TSS: 165W/0.714/194
Thursday: No riding. I did some calf raises in the evening.
Wednesday: Same as tuesday.
Tuesday: Lots of rain, no riding.
Monday: Spent the day at Kissena racing Delroy's labor day meet. See the race report.
31.8.12
Race: Kissena Twilight Series 8/29 - Cat 3/4
This is the last wednesday race of the season. After this is the labor day meet and then the long, lonely winter. I was talking to Haley before I left for the track and she told me to win the race for her. She didn't specify which race, so I figured I would try to win all of them. I dropped back down to my 90" gear for tonight, figuring that I would be tired from yesterday's racing in t-town and it would better match the rougher surface. There was another big showing of riders including USMA again. Pink Rhino was well represented with Dave, Keith, Andy, Lucas, Aaron and Steve all in attendance, as well as still-on-the-fence rhino Jen. Also at the track was Eric, who I had been following on Strava for a while, so it was nice to finally meet him and Chris showed up as well, who was the cool guy from Colorado/Connecticut that Andy and I met on his bike shakedown ride a month or so ago.
The first race was an 8 lap scratch. I sat in for most of the race as other rhinos attacked off the front. Keith put in a good attack, and then Steve countered. I then countered both of theirs on the last lap to pass both of them for the win. I had a good gap to second place, so I turned off the gas on the homestretch, which apparently Steve also did, but he got pipped at the line by USMA steve. Sorry, team steve!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216633526
Next came the initial rounds of Chariots, run with three heats. I was in the third heat and got my push from Steve. He definitely has the technique down. Nobody that he pushed tonight got less than second place in their race. I started up near the rail, maybe two riders down from the top. When the whistle blew, I got a quick gap going and just kept my nose to the bars to roll in first.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216633523
A few other fields ran their races and then we had the finals for the chariot. I had steve push me again. I started in about the same place, near the rail. I got another good start at the whistle, with Ron ahead of me going into turn 1. The backstretch was a real drag race as we both were about even going into turn 3, but by turn 4 I was able to pull ahead for the win.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216633520
The final race was a 6 lap Point-a-Lap. Dave made a great attack on the first lap only to get pipped at the line by Mattie. I was mid pack at the start, so I worked my way up to the front for two laps. Mattie got the second sprint as well, but by the third sprint I saw him fading a bit as Andreas and I think Sean started coming ahead. I threw my sprint into the mix, taking the point and creating a gap at the same time. Rather than sit up, I put my nose down again and soloed the next three laps to take all the points for my final win. The final sprint counted as 2-1, and looking at the results, Keith was able to get that second point to give him third place.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216633516
This concluded the Omnium, placing me in first overall. I told Haley, and she was happy with the results. So was I, of course. I actually felt really good tonight. I wish I had felt this good at states. Keith, Steve, Andy and Lucas all finished 6-9th. Jen won her Omnium with a third and two wins. After packing everything away, we had a short team meeting to discuss sponsors and goals for the upcoming off-season. I think that went very well. We're hoping to develop the women's team a bit, which would be great.
Alright, that's it for the wednesday race reports. bittersweet, I'd say.
The first race was an 8 lap scratch. I sat in for most of the race as other rhinos attacked off the front. Keith put in a good attack, and then Steve countered. I then countered both of theirs on the last lap to pass both of them for the win. I had a good gap to second place, so I turned off the gas on the homestretch, which apparently Steve also did, but he got pipped at the line by USMA steve. Sorry, team steve!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216633526
Next came the initial rounds of Chariots, run with three heats. I was in the third heat and got my push from Steve. He definitely has the technique down. Nobody that he pushed tonight got less than second place in their race. I started up near the rail, maybe two riders down from the top. When the whistle blew, I got a quick gap going and just kept my nose to the bars to roll in first.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216633523
A few other fields ran their races and then we had the finals for the chariot. I had steve push me again. I started in about the same place, near the rail. I got another good start at the whistle, with Ron ahead of me going into turn 1. The backstretch was a real drag race as we both were about even going into turn 3, but by turn 4 I was able to pull ahead for the win.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216633520
The final race was a 6 lap Point-a-Lap. Dave made a great attack on the first lap only to get pipped at the line by Mattie. I was mid pack at the start, so I worked my way up to the front for two laps. Mattie got the second sprint as well, but by the third sprint I saw him fading a bit as Andreas and I think Sean started coming ahead. I threw my sprint into the mix, taking the point and creating a gap at the same time. Rather than sit up, I put my nose down again and soloed the next three laps to take all the points for my final win. The final sprint counted as 2-1, and looking at the results, Keith was able to get that second point to give him third place.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216633516
This concluded the Omnium, placing me in first overall. I told Haley, and she was happy with the results. So was I, of course. I actually felt really good tonight. I wish I had felt this good at states. Keith, Steve, Andy and Lucas all finished 6-9th. Jen won her Omnium with a third and two wins. After packing everything away, we had a short team meeting to discuss sponsors and goals for the upcoming off-season. I think that went very well. We're hoping to develop the women's team a bit, which would be great.
Alright, that's it for the wednesday race reports. bittersweet, I'd say.
Race: T-Town Fuji Super Tuesdays 8/28 - Stagiares
Once again, I've waited too long to write up this report, so the details are once again lost to the mists of time:
I drove to the track this time. I was pretty proud of myself for that. I left at noon-fifteen, and got there around 4, maybe earlier. Got some foods at panera, then headed to the track to take a nap in the shade of the bleachers. I got bored of that after a half hour, so I figured I would do some laps on the track until things got going. In the parking lot I saw non-team Keith, so we talked for a bit. We got our bikes together just as team keith and team andy showed up. We all brought our stuff to the infield and about that time registration opened. Registered, stood around. Potentially-team Jen showed up. Changed, warmed up. Switched wheels, warmed up again. I decided I was going to bump up the gearing a bit today. Allllll the way up. to 91.8" (51x15). Risky business, let me tell you.
The first race was a 5 lap Scratch. I was near the back up top at the gun, so I spent the first few laps just trying to move up in the field. Basically the whole race was a slow wind up to the final sprint, but when I saw mini-nothstein and another rider go, I went. I couldn't keep up with their acceleration, but a quick look behind showed I had enough of a gap to maintain third, my best result yet this year.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216307252
Next was a 20 lap Points race. I think I got fourth in the first sprint, maybe fifth in the next. After this I just couldn't find my legs. I spent the rest of the race dogging it on the back, just trying to not get popped off and lapped. Andy was able to make some moves though, and he ended up getting third in this race.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216307247
The final race for the Stagiare omnium was an unknown distance scratch. Since this was the last race instead of the first this time, I figured I would wait in the field a bit before trying my suicide solo attack off the front. I had a feeling the race would be ten laps or so, so I figured I would try to attack around 5 laps in. In reality, the race only ended up being six laps long, so I spent the final lap passing almost the whole field in the backstretch of the bell lap and taking fourth in the sprint.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216307243
This concluded the Stagiare Omnium. I came in fourth overall for the night, which is also my best result this year. It got me a $10 check and one upgrade point. Truly I am finally making it.
The feature race for the evening was a 40 lap Madison. Keith and Andy managed to get themselves in it, which I thought was great. They originally thought it would be great, then tried to get out of it, then actually raced and had a good time. They got gapped early on, but they looked really good after they started to get comfortable with it. I, on the other hand, got a beer.
Jen got third or fourth overall, I think. Something along those lines. I'll update this when the results are posted.
I drove to the track this time. I was pretty proud of myself for that. I left at noon-fifteen, and got there around 4, maybe earlier. Got some foods at panera, then headed to the track to take a nap in the shade of the bleachers. I got bored of that after a half hour, so I figured I would do some laps on the track until things got going. In the parking lot I saw non-team Keith, so we talked for a bit. We got our bikes together just as team keith and team andy showed up. We all brought our stuff to the infield and about that time registration opened. Registered, stood around. Potentially-team Jen showed up. Changed, warmed up. Switched wheels, warmed up again. I decided I was going to bump up the gearing a bit today. Allllll the way up. to 91.8" (51x15). Risky business, let me tell you.
The first race was a 5 lap Scratch. I was near the back up top at the gun, so I spent the first few laps just trying to move up in the field. Basically the whole race was a slow wind up to the final sprint, but when I saw mini-nothstein and another rider go, I went. I couldn't keep up with their acceleration, but a quick look behind showed I had enough of a gap to maintain third, my best result yet this year.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216307252
Next was a 20 lap Points race. I think I got fourth in the first sprint, maybe fifth in the next. After this I just couldn't find my legs. I spent the rest of the race dogging it on the back, just trying to not get popped off and lapped. Andy was able to make some moves though, and he ended up getting third in this race.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216307247
The final race for the Stagiare omnium was an unknown distance scratch. Since this was the last race instead of the first this time, I figured I would wait in the field a bit before trying my suicide solo attack off the front. I had a feeling the race would be ten laps or so, so I figured I would try to attack around 5 laps in. In reality, the race only ended up being six laps long, so I spent the final lap passing almost the whole field in the backstretch of the bell lap and taking fourth in the sprint.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216307243
This concluded the Stagiare Omnium. I came in fourth overall for the night, which is also my best result this year. It got me a $10 check and one upgrade point. Truly I am finally making it.
The feature race for the evening was a 40 lap Madison. Keith and Andy managed to get themselves in it, which I thought was great. They originally thought it would be great, then tried to get out of it, then actually raced and had a good time. They got gapped early on, but they looked really good after they started to get comfortable with it. I, on the other hand, got a beer.
Jen got third or fourth overall, I think. Something along those lines. I'll update this when the results are posted.
2012.40: 8/27 - 9/2
Sunday: I decided to check out the 20th annual hudson tugboat race today. It was pretty cool. I stopped at the frying pan afterward for lunch, and then to keep with the maritime theme, I rode to the staten island ferry and then rode back up to Jersey City over the Bayonne bridge, making sure to go past Snug Harbor.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/218078803
NP/IF/TSS: N/A
Saturday: Rode over to brooklyn to help Josh move to his new place. Rode home. Did nothing.
Friday: No riding. My hamstrings hurt from not warming up before spinning my brains out last night. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Thursday: No riding during the day. I did some goldsprints at night. See that race report, too. EDIT: No data, no report. I'll just write it all here. The final public showing of triple rush episodes was today, followed by goldsprints. It was held at the Chrome store, which is a really cool place. The people that work there seem awesome based on Gil's party and this. I got there early to help set up, and the party started rolling around 6:30. Team Josh was in charge of the keg, which was being very temperamental. After the foam stopped, $1 PBRs started flowing, and things were good. This was the first episode of triple rush that I saw, and it looked pretty interesting. I had a hard time paying attention as I was helping Josh with bartending duties a little bit, so I'll have to check it out online. There were a ton of people registered for Goldsprints, so it was basically done as two-up timed seeding, and then finals for the two fastest times. The fork mounts were temperamental as well, and heather's bike popped out of the mount on one run, bending the dropout. I put my bike on as it had enough chain to run the 48x17 gear to keep everything standard between bikes. I got the fastest time, just ahead of Corey the Courier. This put us in the finals, with me narrowly beating him for the win. I won a goat fgfs frame, which was too big and not really something I would do anything with anyhow, so when Corey asked if I'd be willing to sell it, I said hell no, I'll just trade for your prizes. So now I own a medium goat sweatshirt, a youth large (it fits!) king kog t-shirt and a mess queen purple zebra stripe beer cozy. Corey said he'd also get me some messenger edition helmet, which sounds cool, so I think I came out just fine.
Wednesday: Raced at Kissena in the evening. See the race report for that. In the morning, however, I did ride over to hauppauge to pick up the key to my brother's house. My legs started out feeling pretty fatigued from racing the night before, but I felt pretty good by the time I got home. Granted, I was also going a lot slower at the end.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216633545
NP/IF/TSS: 210W/0.911/71
Tuesday: Raced at T-town. See race report.
Monday: No riding. Resting before three days in a row of racing.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/218078803
NP/IF/TSS: N/A
Saturday: Rode over to brooklyn to help Josh move to his new place. Rode home. Did nothing.
Friday: No riding. My hamstrings hurt from not warming up before spinning my brains out last night. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Thursday: No riding during the day. I did some goldsprints at night. See that race report, too. EDIT: No data, no report. I'll just write it all here. The final public showing of triple rush episodes was today, followed by goldsprints. It was held at the Chrome store, which is a really cool place. The people that work there seem awesome based on Gil's party and this. I got there early to help set up, and the party started rolling around 6:30. Team Josh was in charge of the keg, which was being very temperamental. After the foam stopped, $1 PBRs started flowing, and things were good. This was the first episode of triple rush that I saw, and it looked pretty interesting. I had a hard time paying attention as I was helping Josh with bartending duties a little bit, so I'll have to check it out online. There were a ton of people registered for Goldsprints, so it was basically done as two-up timed seeding, and then finals for the two fastest times. The fork mounts were temperamental as well, and heather's bike popped out of the mount on one run, bending the dropout. I put my bike on as it had enough chain to run the 48x17 gear to keep everything standard between bikes. I got the fastest time, just ahead of Corey the Courier. This put us in the finals, with me narrowly beating him for the win. I won a goat fgfs frame, which was too big and not really something I would do anything with anyhow, so when Corey asked if I'd be willing to sell it, I said hell no, I'll just trade for your prizes. So now I own a medium goat sweatshirt, a youth large (it fits!) king kog t-shirt and a mess queen purple zebra stripe beer cozy. Corey said he'd also get me some messenger edition helmet, which sounds cool, so I think I came out just fine.
Wednesday: Raced at Kissena in the evening. See the race report for that. In the morning, however, I did ride over to hauppauge to pick up the key to my brother's house. My legs started out feeling pretty fatigued from racing the night before, but I felt pretty good by the time I got home. Granted, I was also going a lot slower at the end.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216633545
NP/IF/TSS: 210W/0.911/71
Tuesday: Raced at T-town. See race report.
Monday: No riding. Resting before three days in a row of racing.
24.8.12
Race: Kissena Twilight Series 8/22 - Cat 3/4
Well I'm writing this report a bit late, so the details are fuzzy or more likely just non-existent. It's weird, my season is basically over now so I'm really not particularly motivated to keep up with the training blog or training in general, but the past few weeks have really gotten me motivated to race still. I think it's the team. I'll just put it out there, Pink Rhino is awesome. This group of guys and gals is the best and they're definitely motivating me in a positive way to strive for better results. Hopefully I can get to the last few T-town Tuesdays to lock up some upgrade points for next year. Alright, let's get to this:
The weather was probably nice. Warm to hot, I'd say. There might have been some wind. I seem to remember wind. I really should just make myself write these things the same day. I had an interview in the morning that I just barely woke up on time for because I was out late working on a jigsaw puzzle with friends the night before (no, really. I'm that lame) so I didn't eat breakfast. I think I had a bowl of cereal after I got back around noon and that was it for the day. About halfway to the track I realized I might not have stuffed my race number in my bag. Turns out that was the case, but I got a new one from Alan. I talked to Josh for a little, then warmed up and got ready to race. There was a really good turnout of riders this week. Probably the biggest all year. It almost rivaled the turnout on Saturday, I'd say. A lot of the USMA riders showed up again, which was cool. I was the only Pink Rhino representing, though.
The first race was a 5 lap Super Tempo. My plan was to sit on wheels and try to outsprint anybody else at the line. What actually happened was I attacked hard at the whistle, getting the first lap's points. I sat up a little bit after the sprint to get back into the group, then went hard again to take lap two. After this one I had a little gap with Josh closing in. I let him come around hoping we could get a little two person attack going, but he started to fade a bit. The group caught up and passed us, I latched on and got in a third place sprint. The details of the final two sprints I don't really remember, but apparently I won both of those, too. This gave me the win.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/214337271
Next was a Devil's Scratch. This is a combination of a devil-takes-the-hindmost (aka miss and out, or elimination) and then a scratch. Alan said he would bring the field of 17 riders down to 8, then there would be a six lap scratch. I was feeling a little exhausted from my efforts in the last race, so my plan was to sit at the back and play the role of the devil. Every lap I would drop all the way back, then ramp the speed up just before turn 3 until I knew my back wheel was ahead of at least one other rider. It's actually pretty fun to do, and if you can handle the acceleration each time around it's not super difficult either. This is basically how the whole elimination part went. There was a crash on the second to last elimination lap. I think it was a military academy rider. I don't know what happened, but hopefully he's alright. Alan neutralized us for a lap, and then he pulled the last rider. The scratch was pretty uneventful. I might have tried an attack. I don't really remember. I found myself at the front with about a lap and a half, so I figured I would just try to diesel in. It almost worked, but I got edged out at the line, which put me in second place.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/214337263
After this was a 15 lap Points race with four sprints. I couldn't figure out how the sprint were supposed to be set up because usually they're at even intervals, but Alan said it was just like a 16 lap, but he would just take out one of the laps at the beginning. Works for me. I was feeling the lack of food by now, so I was just planning on sitting in for a little bit, then dropping out. Josh was feeling the same way, so we decided we would try to alternate hammering on the front with Francisco, just because we could. I found myself stuck back a bit during the neutral lap, so I couldn't really help out, but they tried it for a couple of laps. Eventually I was able to get up front and hammer for a little. I came in second in the first sprint, fourth in the second. After this I basically sat in the back. I would try little accelerations here and there, but it was mostly from me debating deep down inside if I really wanted to keep racing or not. I finally figured I would sit through the whole race and sat up on the last lap. I was happy with my results for the night.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/214337252
This concluded the 3/4 races. It was really starting to get dark by now, so the other fields' races were abbreviated a bit. Everyone got three races in though, so I'd call that a success. I came in second overall in the omnium, behind Francisco. Next week will be the last twilight race of the year, so hopefully we can end the season with another good turrnout. My guess is there'll be some short races due to the earlier sunsets now. Results are posted here:
http://kissenavelodrome.info/results/2012/Kissena12TwilightSeriesWeek16.pdf
EDIT: all these races were done in my typical 90" (50x15) gear.
The weather was probably nice. Warm to hot, I'd say. There might have been some wind. I seem to remember wind. I really should just make myself write these things the same day. I had an interview in the morning that I just barely woke up on time for because I was out late working on a jigsaw puzzle with friends the night before (no, really. I'm that lame) so I didn't eat breakfast. I think I had a bowl of cereal after I got back around noon and that was it for the day. About halfway to the track I realized I might not have stuffed my race number in my bag. Turns out that was the case, but I got a new one from Alan. I talked to Josh for a little, then warmed up and got ready to race. There was a really good turnout of riders this week. Probably the biggest all year. It almost rivaled the turnout on Saturday, I'd say. A lot of the USMA riders showed up again, which was cool. I was the only Pink Rhino representing, though.
The first race was a 5 lap Super Tempo. My plan was to sit on wheels and try to outsprint anybody else at the line. What actually happened was I attacked hard at the whistle, getting the first lap's points. I sat up a little bit after the sprint to get back into the group, then went hard again to take lap two. After this one I had a little gap with Josh closing in. I let him come around hoping we could get a little two person attack going, but he started to fade a bit. The group caught up and passed us, I latched on and got in a third place sprint. The details of the final two sprints I don't really remember, but apparently I won both of those, too. This gave me the win.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/214337271
Next was a Devil's Scratch. This is a combination of a devil-takes-the-hindmost (aka miss and out, or elimination) and then a scratch. Alan said he would bring the field of 17 riders down to 8, then there would be a six lap scratch. I was feeling a little exhausted from my efforts in the last race, so my plan was to sit at the back and play the role of the devil. Every lap I would drop all the way back, then ramp the speed up just before turn 3 until I knew my back wheel was ahead of at least one other rider. It's actually pretty fun to do, and if you can handle the acceleration each time around it's not super difficult either. This is basically how the whole elimination part went. There was a crash on the second to last elimination lap. I think it was a military academy rider. I don't know what happened, but hopefully he's alright. Alan neutralized us for a lap, and then he pulled the last rider. The scratch was pretty uneventful. I might have tried an attack. I don't really remember. I found myself at the front with about a lap and a half, so I figured I would just try to diesel in. It almost worked, but I got edged out at the line, which put me in second place.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/214337263
After this was a 15 lap Points race with four sprints. I couldn't figure out how the sprint were supposed to be set up because usually they're at even intervals, but Alan said it was just like a 16 lap, but he would just take out one of the laps at the beginning. Works for me. I was feeling the lack of food by now, so I was just planning on sitting in for a little bit, then dropping out. Josh was feeling the same way, so we decided we would try to alternate hammering on the front with Francisco, just because we could. I found myself stuck back a bit during the neutral lap, so I couldn't really help out, but they tried it for a couple of laps. Eventually I was able to get up front and hammer for a little. I came in second in the first sprint, fourth in the second. After this I basically sat in the back. I would try little accelerations here and there, but it was mostly from me debating deep down inside if I really wanted to keep racing or not. I finally figured I would sit through the whole race and sat up on the last lap. I was happy with my results for the night.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/214337252
This concluded the 3/4 races. It was really starting to get dark by now, so the other fields' races were abbreviated a bit. Everyone got three races in though, so I'd call that a success. I came in second overall in the omnium, behind Francisco. Next week will be the last twilight race of the year, so hopefully we can end the season with another good turrnout. My guess is there'll be some short races due to the earlier sunsets now. Results are posted here:
http://kissenavelodrome.info/results/2012/Kissena12TwilightSeriesWeek16.pdf
EDIT: all these races were done in my typical 90" (50x15) gear.
2012.39: 8/20-8/26 - Post-Race
These next two weeks will most likely mark my gentle descent into the off season. We'll see if I actually keep up with the blog in the off-season this year.
Sunday: My knees were hurting a bit, so I took it easy and worked on the boat a little. It should be ready to rock after labor day.
Saturday: I felt motivated to do some hills. Originally, I was thinking about doing a long steady ride, but switched to something more punishing on the way out. I gave sheldrake a big effort, and didn't feel like I really recovered after that. There was a patch of missing road on Liberty, which slowed me down, but looking at my time for it, I actually was riding pretty close to my PR. I guess the sluggishness was more mental. It might have been a nutrition issue again, though. I really aught to read more about sports nutrition as I think that's really one of my weak points right now.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/214888920
NP/IF/TSS: 209W/0.903/160
Friday: I was originally planning on either doing the Kreb morning ride or Kreb race, but I ended up helping Dan with another project all day.
Thursday: Hung over. No riding.
Wednesday: Raced at Kissena. Check out the race report. Afterward, I went to the 'Premium Rush' afterparty thing. A bunch of team-mates were there. It was fun.
Tuesday: No riding.
Monday: My legs were feeling much better today, so I figured I would get out on the bike again. I was originally planning on heading to Port Jeff and maybe hitting a couple of the steeper climbs there, but on the way out I decided it was a beautiful day, so why not try something a little longer. I dropped on over to bellport to stop by the water and visit the Kreb. Jen was looking for a 650c fork with a 1" steerer, and I happened to remember that the Kreb used to have a little red wagon full of them. As my luck generally goes, the wagon was now full of water bottles and all the forks had been sold on ebay or something. Boo. I took a small detour on the way back past my uncle's old house, almost got smashed to bits by a moving truck in yaphank, and started to feel like bonking somewhere around church street. Got home alive though, so that's what's important.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/213051252
NP/IF/TSS: 161W/0.696/150
Sunday: My knees were hurting a bit, so I took it easy and worked on the boat a little. It should be ready to rock after labor day.
Saturday: I felt motivated to do some hills. Originally, I was thinking about doing a long steady ride, but switched to something more punishing on the way out. I gave sheldrake a big effort, and didn't feel like I really recovered after that. There was a patch of missing road on Liberty, which slowed me down, but looking at my time for it, I actually was riding pretty close to my PR. I guess the sluggishness was more mental. It might have been a nutrition issue again, though. I really aught to read more about sports nutrition as I think that's really one of my weak points right now.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/214888920
NP/IF/TSS: 209W/0.903/160
Friday: I was originally planning on either doing the Kreb morning ride or Kreb race, but I ended up helping Dan with another project all day.
Thursday: Hung over. No riding.
Wednesday: Raced at Kissena. Check out the race report. Afterward, I went to the 'Premium Rush' afterparty thing. A bunch of team-mates were there. It was fun.
Tuesday: No riding.
Monday: My legs were feeling much better today, so I figured I would get out on the bike again. I was originally planning on heading to Port Jeff and maybe hitting a couple of the steeper climbs there, but on the way out I decided it was a beautiful day, so why not try something a little longer. I dropped on over to bellport to stop by the water and visit the Kreb. Jen was looking for a 650c fork with a 1" steerer, and I happened to remember that the Kreb used to have a little red wagon full of them. As my luck generally goes, the wagon was now full of water bottles and all the forks had been sold on ebay or something. Boo. I took a small detour on the way back past my uncle's old house, almost got smashed to bits by a moving truck in yaphank, and started to feel like bonking somewhere around church street. Got home alive though, so that's what's important.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/213051252
NP/IF/TSS: 161W/0.696/150
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)