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03-20-05, 10:11 PM
More collegiate racing...finally bothered to throw my ass in gear this weekend and went down to NY/NJ for the race weekend.
Friday night: Haul my ass to my friend's apartment in Brooklyn, find out that I'm sleeping on a broken futon lofted above their toilet...suceed at passing out despite the fact their cat thinks my foot is its new toy.
Saturday: Grant's Tomb Criterium, Men's B. .7-.8 mile loop, nothing serious long small bump for a finishing straight. Good news was that my pre-season "endurance and power building" (trainer time) has paid off, I can grind for way too long. Bad news is that my pre-season lack of speed training equated to a standing sprint that might have challenged a guy in a wheelchair...maybe. Kept on going off the front but no one seemed to want to try for it and Columbia and Yale were quite determined to pull in anyone who tried. Sprint finish, nothing ugly, just sat up and avoided the carnage.
Sunday: Following a breakfast of cold oatmeal and a bananna, drove to NJ...where it was pouring and a little below 40. Got lost and missed any chance of warming up so I did the only logical thing I could think of. Attacked at the gun with a guy from MIT to the chorus of "What the ****?!?" This almost was a good idea until I discovered the head wind on the other side of the course-from 28mph to 20 in the time it too to say "****". Course turned out to be a mile and half loop with one nasty left hander with a big puddle at its base and went straight into a bump. Lot more attacking in this race, people were much more willing to give it a go, but Penn State and Cornell (I think) were pulling for a sprint finish, and those teams both had 6-8 riders...bad news specially since the Cornell kids have a fun weaving tendency...Sprint finish with a good stupid crash, Cornell kid weaves left, into a Columbia rider who goes down and takes out two other guys, one of whom I got to watch do a kind of headstand-slide on his helmet, the other went into a pole of sorts-spine board fun time. The only good news was since I couldn't feel my hands I didn't bother to brake for the crash and ended up mid-pack as oppsed to gawking at it...
Nothing like racing into shape...
Friday night: Haul my ass to my friend's apartment in Brooklyn, find out that I'm sleeping on a broken futon lofted above their toilet...suceed at passing out despite the fact their cat thinks my foot is its new toy.
Saturday: Grant's Tomb Criterium, Men's B. .7-.8 mile loop, nothing serious long small bump for a finishing straight. Good news was that my pre-season "endurance and power building" (trainer time) has paid off, I can grind for way too long. Bad news is that my pre-season lack of speed training equated to a standing sprint that might have challenged a guy in a wheelchair...maybe. Kept on going off the front but no one seemed to want to try for it and Columbia and Yale were quite determined to pull in anyone who tried. Sprint finish, nothing ugly, just sat up and avoided the carnage.
Sunday: Following a breakfast of cold oatmeal and a bananna, drove to NJ...where it was pouring and a little below 40. Got lost and missed any chance of warming up so I did the only logical thing I could think of. Attacked at the gun with a guy from MIT to the chorus of "What the ****?!?" This almost was a good idea until I discovered the head wind on the other side of the course-from 28mph to 20 in the time it too to say "****". Course turned out to be a mile and half loop with one nasty left hander with a big puddle at its base and went straight into a bump. Lot more attacking in this race, people were much more willing to give it a go, but Penn State and Cornell (I think) were pulling for a sprint finish, and those teams both had 6-8 riders...bad news specially since the Cornell kids have a fun weaving tendency...Sprint finish with a good stupid crash, Cornell kid weaves left, into a Columbia rider who goes down and takes out two other guys, one of whom I got to watch do a kind of headstand-slide on his helmet, the other went into a pole of sorts-spine board fun time. The only good news was since I couldn't feel my hands I didn't bother to brake for the crash and ended up mid-pack as oppsed to gawking at it...
Nothing like racing into shape...