Ate right for a day or two before the race. Packed up the gear in the (new to me) truck the night before.
Sweet Lincoln's mullet, that's a lot of gear.
Then I woke up and I shit a squirrel. Not literally, but might as well have. Didn't sleep well, had a bad gut... Oh well, you don't get a prize for not showing up. So I stuck to the usual pre-race routine. When you have a pre-race routine, including food you *always* eat, you stick to it.
Wow, this burrito is delicious, but it is filling.
Got there early, in time to see the start of the women's race. They race alone at 9:30, which is probably better than racing amid 90 C racers. I guess it's diversity or whatever. I could be wrong, but I believe, uh, diversity is an old, old wooden ship that was used during the Civil War era. Doesn't matter either way to me, I just wish more women were out there racing. Nikki did pretty well too and Unholy Rouleur reader/commenter Christina B. won the race, and her upgrade to Cat III.
Jean taking 5th. With a look like "Oh dear God!"
Times are changing. Ladies can do stuff now and you're going to learn how to deal with it.
Lindsey finishing a little ways behind Jean.
I cheered for our C guys a little bit. Dave B. kicked ass and took 10th, his first top ten. Jon Ivins fought the good fight, but came down on the bug side of the bug/windshield ratio today.
I tried to warm up all PRO, as Radio Freddy would view it. Got the trainer out and rode for 30-40 minutes. Pool of sweat on the tarmac time. I had a hell of a time getting the right clothing combo. Cross is so weird because you show up ad it's 37 degrees. So you bundle up, double the knickers, put on a long sleeve base layer and long jersey... then the sun comes up, the frost melts, and you sweat like a freaking pig with a bad gin hangover. So you gear down a bit, and do your warmup ride. But it's not enough, your jersey gets soaked, and you spend 10 minutes waiting at the start/finish freezing, waiting for the start. Well, one normally does, but I didn't, not today. I brought one of everything and about 30 minutes before the race stripped out the spare shorts, ditched the base layer and rocked a cotton T-shirt until start time, thence straight into a shortsleeve jersey.
I pre-rode the course and found it much to my liking. There was a lot of uphill, but most of it came after a lot of downhill. Here's a fat guy secret for you - we fat guys can ride the shit out of rollers. Hammer downhill, soft pedal uphill, and carry speed. It's the only kind of climbing we're good at and this course had tons of it. It also had a lot of turns at the bottoms and tops of the rollers. This could be bad if you were a smart and prudent rider. I am not, on dirt my testicular fortitude outweighs my brains, and I follow the "peg it and eyeball the corner exit" approach, which works pretty well for me. So I was jazzed about this course.
Got to the start, there were a couple callups, and we were off. Somebody kinda elbowed me a bunch of times going into the first turn. I got well ahead of him so it didn't bug me. I turned right onto the grass and heard somebody's front tire rubbing on my rear, for maybe 10 seconds. Hey, how did it feel to get steered around like that, buddy? We turned left up this longish false flat/kicker combo, and I was right on the tape. It was a bit crowded. Suddenly, the route opened up in front of me, I had a shot to pass forward 3-4 rows, it would have put me in nice position. So I rowed the STI down two or three gears, stood up to do a quick sprint, and stomped it, just like in training. And, just like in training (and some other races) I busted the drivetrain. Shades of the Baker Park Crit, the chain just came apart when I stomped.
My race was over in 25 seconds.
I didn't know the Salvation Army was having a sale...
I had to laugh. This was the single most capricious thing that racing has ever done to me. Sure, I'm sort of bummed about it, but I had to laugh. "What? You pooped in the refrigerator? And you ate the whole... wheel of cheese? How'd you do that? Heck, I'm not even mad; that's amazing." Yeah, that's about right. It was amazing. I guess I've confirmed it - breaking drivetrains is what I do. That's my strength. Too bad it's not a event.
The day wasn't a total loss. I did get to cheer for a couple teammates (who did just fine in the race I botched.
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater, Rippin' it.
Ken had a nice race, rode well, didn't break down, and finished not too far off Chris Nystrom's time. Chris won, BTW... congrats! Scott T. had a nice race, and Giacomo... well, he looked fabulous.
So that was my day. Big buildup, 25 seconds of fun. I'm sure my distaff readers have something they could compare it to, but what it is, sort of slips my mind right now.
So now it's two weeks off, and we'll see you at Reston then Rockburn. Where the hell did 'cross season go? Seems like only last week we were looking forward to Charm City. Man, time flies... but not as fast as a chain pin when it leaves it's proper position on my bike.
12 comments:
sorry about your material concerns, that's a bummer.
you know some days I look at my race bag, and I know I've brought more clothes, than when I've done 24hr races on teams. It's truly amazing.
No USGPs? 3 weeks left or so. cross goes by so fast...
respect
m
Bummer about the chain man. You need to find out what chains Magnus is running...chains that can handle some serious wattage surges!
The temps confused me a bit too. I was burning up while riding the trainer. Between the sun and the coffee I couldn't take layers off fast enough.
Excellent report anyway and funny as hell. That's impressive considering the writer's strike. Who writes your material anyway? 8-)
Jim, I stumbled across your blog while searching for yesterday's results. (I'm the guy w/ the green surly, we were comparing bikes in the parking lot before the C race.) Great commentary.
That sucks about your race.
Mike
Marc, that's just racing luck. I'm starting to be able to laugh off that kind of crap. Especially busted chains and chainrings. Hopefully I can hang on to that power as the weight keeps coming off... going to break some legs too if I can manage that. As for the USGPs - yeah, when I'm a legitimate B next year I'll gladly go up to joisey and ride the undercard. Not until then.
Chris, I cribbed most of that from the IMDB page on Anchorman, pretty obviously. For filler material, I have several roadracing climbers that I keep locked away in the cellar, pecking away at word processors. They are damnably hard to work with - finicky, arrogant, and liable to escape up the stairs and out of the house at the drop of a hat. But they do write wonderfully funny things, and they don't eat much, so it's not too expensive to keep several of them on staff. I use them for doing legal work as well. They are remarkably bright, for such tiny little creatures.
MikeS - thanks. The bum luck - no big deal. That's why they call it racing, not easy; 'cuz if it was easy, we'd all go to the easies on the weekend, instead of going racing.
Well, that sucks... Plus it makes for an unusually short post.. I count on this post to at least while away 20minutes of my workday. Next time try running a lap or two, so at least I can hear about the cankle exploding. Just kidding... Sorry for your mishap. Look forward to seeing you in Reston.
Jeebus Terry. Sorry to put you out.
How 'bout I have a terrible training crash and write about the weeping sores and bruises at great length. Would that help you get through the day? Anything for my readers.
See you at Reston.
It is tragic that so many people go through life unfulfilled, without finding their true calling. It's great that you've found yours; testing drive-train parts to destruction.
Your chain-ring looks suitably massive, like one of those Rocket Ring saw-mill blades. Trouble is, you've just moved the point of failure further along. I don't know what to suggest. The drive belt from a Harley-Davidson perhaps?
I feel your pain. Indeed it was your Squadra's marquee road race that saw me break my first chain. The walk of shame was horrible until your sweep man Reed saved the day.
Within a month I had done two more in. Now I never travel sans Topeak Alien w/on board chain tool and pin storage. Alas, my team mate exploded a Shimano 10 speed chain less than 10 miles into Sunday's 70 or so miler. To all who wonder - a 9 speed pin is officially tested to work for 65+ miles in a 10 speed chain.
Jim, next time I'll only use 4 safety pins...that 5th one must have been too much! Nice Blog!
Chuck, you were lucky to get that ride. Reid is a f***ing rock star. That crazy young bastard rode a bicycle across country this summer. His writeup was one of the funniest things I ever read - tales of woe involving riding for three straight days in Nebraska into 25 MPH headwinds, pulling 12 MPH with a bike trailer. He's a pretty strong road racer and flogs a fixed gear better than most people ride their geared bikes. He's off doing the college thing and he's well-missed during the school year.
VBT-girl... nice riding. Thanks for stopping in.
That was me writing as anon-7:12 Chuck. Wonder why my name didn't take...
Chains, I have broken my fair share of chains myself. They were all on Mountain bikes which is more understandable. I have done it in 3 24 hour relay races, there is is just another 3 minutes to your time. I should be at the Reston race.
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