i hadn't done a ton of training in the week leading up to the race because i had a lot of work to finish before a weekend deadline. so the price i paid for being the first class procrastinator i am was that i would not be able to get out and ride on thursday and friday.
thankfully, this didn't end-up being a problem, though. i was able to do an easy 50-60 miles with a friend on saturday that got the legs loose, so that was good. what wasn't so good was my decision to go for a short run with her immediately afterwards. i haven't run more than a couple of easy miles or so in the last few weeks, so i knew i'd end-up being sore the next day - and i was. nothing the all-important good, extended warm-up couldn't remedy the next morning, though. right?
right...
so i got lost on my way to the venue in some eerie-looking industrial area of long beach. a wrong turn here coupled with a another there and one more here, and all i could find was the wrong place. over and over. and i had directions, dammit.
i had left a little early to give myself some extra time to find the place, but by the time i did finally find the damned track, i only had a good twenty minutes to get signed-in, numbered-up, warmed-up, and lined-up. and since the warm-up is the only thing on that list not required to participate in a bike race, it went down the toilet with every wrong turn i took while getting lost. my only warm-up was the two laps i took around the course before lining up at the start. beautiful.
so not only was i sore now, but i was also lined-up cold and dry. never a good way to start! obviously i haven't quite worked out all of the bugs in my pre-race routine yet...
moving on.
we got our race instructions and 'please be safe out there' speach from the race official, and finally we were off on our official warm-up lap. this was actually a good opportunity to get the legs going a bit more as the pack took a pretty quick pace back around to take the start.
by no means did i feel i was ready to set the world on fire, but i did feel much better now. my head was on straight and i was pretty focused. i just needed to hang in until i felt ready to mix it up a little. if you remember just a few weeks ago, i hadn't yet built up the confidence needed to deal with these situations and i paid for it in the first race. now i feel ready to tackle whatever mental hurdle pops up. what a difference a few weeks makes.
once they gave us the signal to roll out, i was relieved that no one seemed to feel the need to try and get a jump on the rest of the field. this meant i had that much more time to get a feel for the course and get the blood flowing before the whips really got a'crackin'.
i spent the first few laps on the inside-middle portion of the pack. not a place i typically feel comfortable, but i felt it was a necessary risk in case the pace picked up. this way i'd have no trouble staying in the draft and i wouldn't have to work overtime when reacting to accelerations off the corners.
that eventually became too much for me to handle, though, because it seemed that no one had either the ability or desire to negotiate the corners smoothly and safely. it was stressing me out a little, so i made an effort to move to the outside, because it's really no fun being stuck with no place to go when you're watching a bunch of chuckleheads tense up and get twitchy right in front of you everytime something like the need to TURN arises. you can be the best bike handler out there, but your ability is greatly limited by the trust or lack thereof that you have in the riders a round you.
it took me a while to get there because the pack was bunched pretty tight, but i did manage to get outside and felt a lot better(read: safer). i was able to move from the back to the front with relative ease and without having to worry about what was happening in the pit. things just never seem as sketchy when you're outside. you're not fully integrated, but not completely disconnected, either. and as long as you pay attention and have some extra go sauce to keep up with the surges, you're never out of it. to me it's a very worthy comprimise.
i'll just go ahead and say i felt great after a few laps and felt as though i had a good chance of making something happen if i just played my cards right. i was really counting on my tactics to help me match or improve upon last week's 5th place, so i just concentrated on staying close to the front 1/3 of the pack and mostly outside.
there were a couple of times where i inadvertantly got close to the pointy end of the group, but i had no intention of being a hero, so i backed off it pretty quickly and slid back through the pack. in my mind, there's no glory in heading the peloton unless you're doing it across the finish line.
in spite of my comments about twitchy riders and the always present poor cornering skills of some other riders, this was a very, very cleanly run race. a couple of near misses here and there, but no mishaps at all. i was really impressed with the group as a whole for keeping everything in order the entire time. unfortunately, races like these are few and far between.
as always, once we were down to the five lap count, the pace picked up considerably and everyone who thought they had a shot began to inch towards the front. again, i felt great, but being that this is where i tend to get a little excited and overcalculate things, i just did my best to stay calm and settle down. i knew exactly what i wanted to do, and i had my comfy spot on the outside, which would allow me to move forward anytime i wanted. so i stayed there and made sure no one tried to barge me off of my line.
once we took the bell for the last lap, the speed really jumped up and everyone started to really fight for a good position on the front. well, i've never known that to be a good spot to work from, so i stayed put outside.
as soon as we exited the second-to-last corner with about 1/4 mile to go, i broke the draft and gunned it to move right up with the front guys. i could tell it was about to go off, and as soon as i saw the first guy jump entering the final righthand turn, i hit the afterburners and went after him, uncorking the shiny new sprint that i've been working on.
well, i could instantly tell he was a lot faster than me(apparently a little more work to do on that sprint), so i just did my best to hang on for 2nd place.
it's funny, because it's true when they say everything seems to happen in slow motion. with the adrenaline pumping and nothing but the wind in your ears and the whirring of everyone's wheels around you(or behind you. sweet!), you're locked in. careening down the tunnel. no more pack. no more corners.
all you want is for that finish line to come to you, but it almost seems to run away while everyone you're running from just gets closer. you notice someone to the right gaining on you, slowly but surely. then you dig deeper than you ever thought possible.
"come on, come on, come on, COME ON!!!"
and finally it stops running...
...just in time for that bastard(all due respect) to nip you for 2nd.
that effing finish line. sometimes it's like that girl you really want who chooses someone else. you don't know why, but you kinda do, and it's not for a lack of trying. it stings like hell for a little bit. but in the end there's nothing you can do about it, so you just move forward, hopefully with better luck next time.
story. of. my. life!
and like a lot of things in life, bike racing is all about the chase and knowing when and how or why to make your move. it is an intoxicating, addicting sport where even if you don't win every week - even if you don't come close, you have to take everything as a lesson learned. it's the only way to improve. the important thing is that you're honest with yourself and the effort you make. if you approach it that way and you never, ever, ever give up, then you cannot lose. you cannot fail. because eventually you're going to figure it out and get it right.
1 comment:
Sweet. There's nowhere to go but up. I'm looking for a FIRST PLACE on your next race report. =)
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