On my way to...
finishing 4th =(
i don't have much to write about lately. i ride my bike, and a couple/few times a week, i race it. but recently, i've begun to race for training.training lately has become much more intense while i try to increase my climbing speed. it seems to be working at the very least, but i'm still worried that i may not be doing enough to be competitive in some of the bigger road races in the region. and with all of the youg talent we have here, you have to work your ass off just to contend for top 10 finishes every week.in addition to the typical daily training loop i do, i've decided to participate in the weekly CBR races at el dorado park in long beach. these are basically training races, but the results count, so they do ultimately contribute to your category upgrades. so while i generally only consider these to be workouts and don't worry much about the results, i will be counting on them to help me reach my goal of becoming a CAT3 rider by mid to late june. ideally, i would like to accomplish this with points paying finishes every week, but with as stacked as the fields are here, that's never an easy thing to do.the biggest part of the season is coming up starting in a couple of weeks. wish me luck!
too many races to write about, so here are some results from the past few weeks:tour de murrieta - stage 1(criterium): 26th. lame/unacceptable. i have lots of excuses for that one, but the fact is i simply didn't adapt well to the conditions.tour de murrieta - stage 2: 16th(circuit race). little better, but not great. both days had full 100 rider fields. there's one way to put it in a positive light. i finished 18th overall in the points.del mar criterium series - race 1: 13th place. decent, but not great. still improving. this just in: racing at night is fun..jpg)
LA circuit race: i don't even know where i finished here. we'll just call it "ass." other than having my life flash before my eyes twice within 5 seconds during the final sprint(i gave up after nearly being taken out by the same guy TWICE at 40mph), i felt the race went great. too bad i have nothing to show for it. except this picture.
del mar criterium series - race 2: 9th. still improving. i learned something about the value of teammates and timing my sprint here. something clicked.ontario criterium series - race 2: that's ontario, california. raced in two different classes here. 30+ 4/5 where i got 5th, and 4/5 where i came in 4th. these were pretty snazzy results compared to how i'd been doing. and like i said, whatever it was that clicked in my head during the second del mar race made all the difference today.more details to come about each race.
last weekend was the CBR Dash 4 Cash criterium up in rancho dominguez. or, as some like to call it - COMPTON. yeuh.my day started early. like out the door by 4:45am early. it was a long drive for a stupid bike race, but since i'm completely committed to reaching a certain goal by the end of summer this year, it seems like a small price to pay once i'm in the car with the music playing.the race was only a few miles from the last CBR race, but i didn't get lost this time. see, i'm a quick study. last time i was lost for 30 minutes before finally finding the venue. once i'm there i get signed-in and numbered up, find my friends, hang out for a few minutes, then start the ol' warm-up process. i've finally got this part nailed back down again. right down to the playlist on the mp3 player. i'm like a freakin' machine, man. this race was a total throw-away event for me. i recently upgraded to the next category, but since i had registered for this a few weeks back, i'd decided to go ahead and use it as a test bed of sorts to try some things i hadn't yet tried in a race. namely fighting for a spot on the front, sprinting for primes, etc. and who knows... maybe even a late lap attempt at a breakaway. all things that go 100% against my typical strategy.the format of this race was funny. each lap was worth $10 with the exception of the first 4, which meant that the rider who won the sprint on the 5th lap was awarded $50. fun, fun, fun, but also pretty dangerous when you consider what the average poor bike racer will do for $10. after missing out on that first $50 sprint and seeing the near carnage that occurred during, i decided i wouldn't be taking anymore chances going after $10 primes. these people were just getting stupid, sprinting from the back with zero chance of getting across the line first, nearly chopping wheels of the unsuspecting, etc. it could have gotten pretty ugly very early on.i decided right then to go ahead with my plan of just hanging near the front until the end, but not to contest any of the sprints. idiots.
i had a few friends from other teams in the field with me, and we were able to work together now and then, but there was never an organized effort to try and make anything happen.they all told me that they were on my wheel at different points, but i never knew. everytime i'd get cycled off the front, i'd get outside and sprint back up there. i guess this is when they would follow. i felt strong the entire race and believed i had a good chance of winning, but when it came down to it, my stupidity far outshined my brilliance. going into the final lap, i did what i had done on several occassions during the race and sprinted up to take a position near the front. only this time, as i made my move, the entire front of the pack stopped pedalling and i blew right by. so now i'm on the front starting the final lap. in bike racing as in NASCAR, this is not the place to be if you want to have the best shot at victory. in this position, the entire field is sitting back and mooching off of your draft, saving gobs of energy while you work your ass off.in hindsight, the moment i realized i was about to shoot into the lead, i should have gone extra wide into the first corner and let some guys go by. i never realized there were two riders a good distance off the front, but when i did finally notice them up in the distance, i put my head down and dove into the corner with the intention of catching them and riding the pack off of my wheel in the process.a major mistake had already been made before i ever decided on this bonehead move, though. looking back, i should have just stayed on the gas and gotten some separation between myself and the rest of the goup before putting my head down and going for it. instead, my indecision enabled them to stay with me and draft all the way up to the two-man break.i guess i can take a little bit of pride in the fact that i gave it a shot. i've never tried to take control of a race like that before, and even though it was never going to work, at least we caught the guys who were off the front. but going into the final corner, i was just done and resigned myself to finishing outside of the top 20. i could hear one of my buddies urging me to stay in it, saying "it's still yours! go! go! go!" well how can you not try after hearing that? so i got up and sprinted as hard as one can with no gas left in the tank to salvage a top 20 finish. 16th! not great by any means, but good enough considering the mis-timed effort. i was pretty disappointed, but what can you do? as i said, the race was meaningless, so i have to do my best to wipe it from my memory banks. but from this point on, nothing less than a top 10 will do in any race. now that i've got the hero thing out of my system, i can go back to racing with the bigger picture in mind.from here on out, every race counts. every decision counts.
it's been an uneventful week of training since the last race. i sort of tapered off and shut down for a few days before the rain, but with a break between storms on saturday, i did manage to get out and participate in a club ride up the coast. that was actually a blast.i showed up and introduced myself, and someone recognized my name from the race results. he said they had been wondering who i was and were gald to finally have me show up for a ride. sweet. that feels like pressure. my favorite!it was only the second time i'd been out with the team/club. i was about 10lbs heavier the first time i'd shown up, and the season hadn't even started yet. so there were a lot of unfamiliar faces. i didn't know who were the fast guys and who was there just to have fun, but once we were all warmed up it became pretty obvious.rides like these are always fun, because the entire thing usually turns into a good-spirited pissing contest. and it did, and since i was the new guy, i took the opportunity to sit back and watch for a while.there was even one girl who hung in and took a good pull on the front, and this was about the point i decided i'd better have a go at it, lest they all think i was a wuss.my first turn up front was nothing special. i really don't know what it is about going north, but i never seem to feel strong in that direction. odd, seeing as there was a tailwind that morning.there were a couple of separations in the group, and i was able to close those gaps pretty well near the halfway point. i was hoping for a shot at the sprint to the sign on the hill at the turnaround point, but that never really materialized. everyone just sort of stopped shut down before the bottom of the hill, turned around and started the reverse route into the wind. suck.once over the first rise, i went up front and began what i hoped would be a short pull. but after a minute or so, no one seemed to want to relieve me, so i pugged away. for about 5 minutes.now, considering the typical pull on a training ride paceline is about 30 seconds, i think this qualified as going above and beyond! it felt great, though. i hadn't done much work to that point, so i figured i should get up there and test myself. plus, i ride this route all the time, and i know i can burn right through this section.once i let off the gas and moved aside, i got a few "nice work's," and pats on the back, but one guy told me i had just set a new standard =)can't believe i just boasted about a training ride. it was a confidence-inspiring ride, to say the least, and i guess that's the point.anyway, it's always nice to get a race pace group ride in whenever possible. you never come way from them without learning something new, meeting new folks, or just generally keeping the skills sharp.-----------------------------------------this weekend is the CBR Dash 4 Cash in dominguez hills, then the week after i'll be racing the Tour De Murrieta, which is a two day stage race. that should be fun. one of the stages is a road race. last time i ventured outside of my criterium comfort zone, i finished pretty poorly. this season is going to be different.
