CrimsonKarter21
09-02-07, 05:24 PM
Since I can barely even say the name I decided to 'Merkinize it.
When: Today, 1pm Eastern
What: Giro Di Whatever Italia
Where: Park Street, Windsor, Ontario, Canada (A.K.A: Little Italy, 2 blocks from the Detroit/Windsor tunnel)
What a race! The race was 4 right turns, the main straight was right down a main street packed with screaming fans; I felt like a pro. 75% of the race was done on 4-lane roads, the other was on a 2-lane. There was no yellow line,a nd my field was PACKED! I think there were 50+ people with me. My race (despite what I said earlier) was the Juniors/Masters 30+/Cat 3.
I wish I could say that there were no accidents, but there were. The first one was early in the race on the main straight, five or six guys went down on the right and the pack abruptly moved to the left before anyone else got into their dip. A few laps later I heard the sound of faith in God being demolished; That's right; a flat.
I looked all around and felt 50 pounds lighter when I found out it wasn't me! Karma hasn't bit me in the ass!
There was also apparently a break of five riders which got up to 16 seconds on us with 11 laps left, I think we caught them, the last I heard, they were 12 seconds up with 9 laps to go, but they were working together and were all really strong riders (remember, they were 3's and Masters 30+) and were keeping their pace at 30+mph.
I fought for position a lot, and head to deal with a slipping rear tire through the turns, I was pretty low at 95-100psi and had to baby the corners especially with their fancy, slippery crosswalks. Any positions I lost in the corners I could more than make up on the straight's. The roads were flawless, did I mention that? I felt so good, too. In fact, I was working on my intimidation. I asked my coach in a regular voice @ race pace if he wanted to sing a song. I said I was in a singing mood, then I asked the kid who I didn't know next to me if he wanted to sing a song. I saw a guy with a nice watch and asked him what time it was, and that I'd be late for a date with Miss South Carolina. I saw a kid on a System Six with Record and said " Wow, what do your parents do, and how do they do it?". I'm a bad kid. The next lap was the beginning of my serious focus, where I see nothing but an animated picture of me winning like Robbie McEwen would in the 2007 Tour, me saying somthing inappropriate out loud, and getting paid.
Everything went smooth until the last lap for me. Going into the first turn I followed the wrong wheel again as the pace was drastically picking up. Whoever was ahead of me slowed down for whatever reason a lot, and I had to counter by easing the front brake (learning from last week at Valley City). He didn't pick up the pace enough so I moved a few inches to the right, but I couldn't get over enough and my front wheel rubbed his rear A LOT. I thought for sure that I was going to go down, and I was going to die. I was on the middle-inside of a 28mph turn, in the middle-front of a 50+ strong pack going at or just under 30mph, and I was about to go down.
I think I had some kind of out of body experience and I managed to keep the bike upright despite someone on my left shouldering me even more to the "falling side". The next thing I heard was, "DUUDE!" and the sound of metal and carbon despair. Then I saw a bunch of riders on the sidewalks. F***. I wish I could have gone back to help the guys out and clear my name of guilt, but I instead clicked the black paddle on my Ultegra brifters twice and kicked up my cadence.
All of my focus was lost, and I had no time to regain it, and my heart was pounding through my chest, not from overworking, but from adrennaline. I was so pissed, but the bad kind of pissed that gets to my head and poisons my brain; the race-loser.
Coming into the main straight, I got into my big-small combo and hammered past anywhere from 10 to 15 riders on the right, which was rightly free.
After the race, I checked the standings, I got 34th overall, and 3rd place in the Juniors. The sheet only went to 48th place, and my coach wasn't on it (he was one of the guys who went onto the sidewalk).
Re-Cap: Little Italy is a nice place, great fans, great atmosphere, very bike friendly, the race has been held there since 1958, and everything is top-notch. The roll-out guy wasn't even a prick. Also, I thought I was with the Masters 40+ and the Cat 4's.
Stats:
Distance: 22.42 miles (not the advertised 40k)
Time: 0:49.21
Max: 35.6 mph (with Junior gearing, 52x14)
Average Speed: 27.3 mph
When: Today, 1pm Eastern
What: Giro Di Whatever Italia
Where: Park Street, Windsor, Ontario, Canada (A.K.A: Little Italy, 2 blocks from the Detroit/Windsor tunnel)
What a race! The race was 4 right turns, the main straight was right down a main street packed with screaming fans; I felt like a pro. 75% of the race was done on 4-lane roads, the other was on a 2-lane. There was no yellow line,a nd my field was PACKED! I think there were 50+ people with me. My race (despite what I said earlier) was the Juniors/Masters 30+/Cat 3.
I wish I could say that there were no accidents, but there were. The first one was early in the race on the main straight, five or six guys went down on the right and the pack abruptly moved to the left before anyone else got into their dip. A few laps later I heard the sound of faith in God being demolished; That's right; a flat.
I looked all around and felt 50 pounds lighter when I found out it wasn't me! Karma hasn't bit me in the ass!
There was also apparently a break of five riders which got up to 16 seconds on us with 11 laps left, I think we caught them, the last I heard, they were 12 seconds up with 9 laps to go, but they were working together and were all really strong riders (remember, they were 3's and Masters 30+) and were keeping their pace at 30+mph.
I fought for position a lot, and head to deal with a slipping rear tire through the turns, I was pretty low at 95-100psi and had to baby the corners especially with their fancy, slippery crosswalks. Any positions I lost in the corners I could more than make up on the straight's. The roads were flawless, did I mention that? I felt so good, too. In fact, I was working on my intimidation. I asked my coach in a regular voice @ race pace if he wanted to sing a song. I said I was in a singing mood, then I asked the kid who I didn't know next to me if he wanted to sing a song. I saw a guy with a nice watch and asked him what time it was, and that I'd be late for a date with Miss South Carolina. I saw a kid on a System Six with Record and said " Wow, what do your parents do, and how do they do it?". I'm a bad kid. The next lap was the beginning of my serious focus, where I see nothing but an animated picture of me winning like Robbie McEwen would in the 2007 Tour, me saying somthing inappropriate out loud, and getting paid.
Everything went smooth until the last lap for me. Going into the first turn I followed the wrong wheel again as the pace was drastically picking up. Whoever was ahead of me slowed down for whatever reason a lot, and I had to counter by easing the front brake (learning from last week at Valley City). He didn't pick up the pace enough so I moved a few inches to the right, but I couldn't get over enough and my front wheel rubbed his rear A LOT. I thought for sure that I was going to go down, and I was going to die. I was on the middle-inside of a 28mph turn, in the middle-front of a 50+ strong pack going at or just under 30mph, and I was about to go down.
I think I had some kind of out of body experience and I managed to keep the bike upright despite someone on my left shouldering me even more to the "falling side". The next thing I heard was, "DUUDE!" and the sound of metal and carbon despair. Then I saw a bunch of riders on the sidewalks. F***. I wish I could have gone back to help the guys out and clear my name of guilt, but I instead clicked the black paddle on my Ultegra brifters twice and kicked up my cadence.
All of my focus was lost, and I had no time to regain it, and my heart was pounding through my chest, not from overworking, but from adrennaline. I was so pissed, but the bad kind of pissed that gets to my head and poisons my brain; the race-loser.
Coming into the main straight, I got into my big-small combo and hammered past anywhere from 10 to 15 riders on the right, which was rightly free.
After the race, I checked the standings, I got 34th overall, and 3rd place in the Juniors. The sheet only went to 48th place, and my coach wasn't on it (he was one of the guys who went onto the sidewalk).
Re-Cap: Little Italy is a nice place, great fans, great atmosphere, very bike friendly, the race has been held there since 1958, and everything is top-notch. The roll-out guy wasn't even a prick. Also, I thought I was with the Masters 40+ and the Cat 4's.
Stats:
Distance: 22.42 miles (not the advertised 40k)
Time: 0:49.21
Max: 35.6 mph (with Junior gearing, 52x14)
Average Speed: 27.3 mph