Photo belligerantly stolen without permission from Ray.
I didn't get the results I wanted, but I got one hell of a workout! The evening consisted of three races that don't suit me very well, so I had to race my ass off for the minor placings I did manage to get.
The first race was a "stinger" points race. This means that only the first rider across the line gets any points, with sprints every 4 laps awarded 12,6,6,8 points, in that order (does that description make any sense?). I was planning to just go for the first sprint. I was waiting for Currell to go, and he was waiting for me. I jumped late and was positioned poorly, and came across the line in 2nd. After that it was pretty much over for me.
Next up was the Miss & Out. I decided to try to stay on the back and sprint around on every elimination lap. I have never felt so much pain on a bicycle in my entire life. After 8 sprints in 16 laps, I couldn't move my legs anymore and had to surrender. I ended up in 4th place, which is better than I've ever done in that race before. I couldn't even cool down afterwards. I had to get off my bike and lay on the ground.
Last was a 50-lap scratch race. I had been preoccupied with the crash and didn't even notice that the race was starting. The other guys were nice enough to wait for me. Thanks homies! I'm a sprinter, so I wasn't planning on making much of an imact in this race, but it went much better than expected. I was able to hang with the pack the whole race, and even put in some strong pulls on the front to help reel in breakaways. Timmer even told me after the race that I didn't suck. Great success! I ended up in 5th place. Not too shabby for a fat sprinter!
It turns out, the top 5 in the 50-lapper were allowed to race in the 1/2 60-lap points race (much to the dismay of some of the 2's!). I have no idea why this seemed like a good idea at the time. I had less than 2 minutes to recover, but my goal is to be a 2 by the end of the season, so I wanted to get a taste for their races. I convinced Currell to do it, too. I was forced to drop out after the first sprint lap because I was pretty sure I was going to pass out. I guess I'm lucky I got out when I did, because the crash came about 10 laps later.
Ted got his Cat 3 upgrade, so I'll have a teammate in the 3's once his pesky concussion clears up.
2 comments:
You know, on reflection, T is the only reason I was in that 2's race. So--I've got a souvenir for you, remind me to bring it along. it's a piece of the track that Crosby pulled out of my jersey (not my back--those pieces are less than 1" long, as far as I know) after the race. I thought i'd have it framed, but my wife doesn't seem to think there's a place to hang it in the house . . .
It seemed like a good idea at the time :-)
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