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03-05-07, 01:15 AM
Over the hill and down the valley to Merced this weekend for the Merco Cycling Classic:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2007/mar07/mclane07/mclane071
Pre-note. I understand that at the road race the Mens 35 1/2/3 field roared up on the Women's 3/4 field just before the finish and carnage ensued. Here's hoping Snick and her teammates were clear of the damage, and the no one was seriously hurt.
That ain't good. Said report:
Saturday crit, Sunday road race. Chance to get to do a support race for the domestic pros and watch Health Net, BMC, and Sierra Nevada mechanics wash bikes at our hotel. Ran into several of the pro teams at the local eateries, Saturday night we had to travel 6 miles up the highway to find an Italian place that had a table. And David Clinger still has the face tats BTW. Hats off to the Carrows breakfast waitress who managed to serve 2 full teams and several other tables by herself, and the cook who did the food by himself. We left her a 60% tip. Shoot the manager.
Riding support to pay back the fabulous work my team did for me a couple of weeks prior, here's the vitals:
Saturday Crit: Masters 35+ 1/2/3. Giving away 84 dog years to some of the crowd of ex-pros and the half dozen former/current Nat'l champs of one variety or another in the field. Still some geezers older than I was out there laying it down with the 'utes.
120 starters, 73 finishers. 40 laps on a weird little crit course that replicated last year's carnage. Lots of weird violent eye popping surges and attacks, elbows, gutter shoves, and the like. Followed by a big bunch up until...you get the idea. Kinda weird. Hoping for a more full on the gas sort of race.
8 to go and we've got a guy in the break and three of us together in the top 15 and things are getting stringy when that sickening sound of carbon fiber, metal, and bodies hitting the ground comes from behind. We hear 4-6 are involved. Next time around the paramedics are attending to a guy who is down and out at start finish. We're stopped on the next lap, and cool off while they load the poor guy into the ambulance on a backboard. We notice our sprinter is gone. Strategy out the window, he got caught up in the crash, ended up with a cut face and shoulder. For the restart they give us 12 laps and the break 12 seconds. I can't get clipped in and am dead last. There's really three places to pass on the course and things are going fast enough that it's damn near a full sprint to get a position or two. More gutter racing. Our guy gets gobbled up. Bell lap I make it into the field sprint but have very little left and end up a grand 32nd, later downgraded to 33rd. Our best team spot is 23rd.
Road race (45+ Uno/Dos/Tres/Quatro). 100 or so starters. Roller sort of course, no climb over 15-20 seconds, no wind to speak of, so things stayed together in the pack for the most part. I did my job, attacked like a pit bull on PCP, got into a 4 man break that lasted around 15 miles, attacked some more, strung things out, blew 300m from the line. We ended up 7th. I didn't bother to check where I finished. Had fun just attacking a lot. Next weekend it's back into the 35+ 1/2/3 for a three days of get thee to 20% of the finishers time or go away. At least there's a hill on day one.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2007/mar07/mclane07/mclane071
Pre-note. I understand that at the road race the Mens 35 1/2/3 field roared up on the Women's 3/4 field just before the finish and carnage ensued. Here's hoping Snick and her teammates were clear of the damage, and the no one was seriously hurt.
That ain't good. Said report:
Saturday crit, Sunday road race. Chance to get to do a support race for the domestic pros and watch Health Net, BMC, and Sierra Nevada mechanics wash bikes at our hotel. Ran into several of the pro teams at the local eateries, Saturday night we had to travel 6 miles up the highway to find an Italian place that had a table. And David Clinger still has the face tats BTW. Hats off to the Carrows breakfast waitress who managed to serve 2 full teams and several other tables by herself, and the cook who did the food by himself. We left her a 60% tip. Shoot the manager.
Riding support to pay back the fabulous work my team did for me a couple of weeks prior, here's the vitals:
Saturday Crit: Masters 35+ 1/2/3. Giving away 84 dog years to some of the crowd of ex-pros and the half dozen former/current Nat'l champs of one variety or another in the field. Still some geezers older than I was out there laying it down with the 'utes.
120 starters, 73 finishers. 40 laps on a weird little crit course that replicated last year's carnage. Lots of weird violent eye popping surges and attacks, elbows, gutter shoves, and the like. Followed by a big bunch up until...you get the idea. Kinda weird. Hoping for a more full on the gas sort of race.
8 to go and we've got a guy in the break and three of us together in the top 15 and things are getting stringy when that sickening sound of carbon fiber, metal, and bodies hitting the ground comes from behind. We hear 4-6 are involved. Next time around the paramedics are attending to a guy who is down and out at start finish. We're stopped on the next lap, and cool off while they load the poor guy into the ambulance on a backboard. We notice our sprinter is gone. Strategy out the window, he got caught up in the crash, ended up with a cut face and shoulder. For the restart they give us 12 laps and the break 12 seconds. I can't get clipped in and am dead last. There's really three places to pass on the course and things are going fast enough that it's damn near a full sprint to get a position or two. More gutter racing. Our guy gets gobbled up. Bell lap I make it into the field sprint but have very little left and end up a grand 32nd, later downgraded to 33rd. Our best team spot is 23rd.
Road race (45+ Uno/Dos/Tres/Quatro). 100 or so starters. Roller sort of course, no climb over 15-20 seconds, no wind to speak of, so things stayed together in the pack for the most part. I did my job, attacked like a pit bull on PCP, got into a 4 man break that lasted around 15 miles, attacked some more, strung things out, blew 300m from the line. We ended up 7th. I didn't bother to check where I finished. Had fun just attacking a lot. Next weekend it's back into the 35+ 1/2/3 for a three days of get thee to 20% of the finishers time or go away. At least there's a hill on day one.