Racer Ex 

It's pretty amusing. All I've been doing is base work. I was sick all December. I'm 70 -200w down on all my speed stuff and I'm not even close on my FTP. Now I read that I didn't stand a chance and that the team that won is going to dominate.

txvintage

Oh really? Now I gotta head over to the forum and see all the gibber jabber. I haven't even checked the gossip since early Saturday evening.

Doggus

Story of my life. When you figure out what stops it, let me know.

I didn't go to CC because, like you, I'm nowhere near where I was this time last year. My cramping would have started in the parking lot.

txvintage

OK, so where is the smack talk? I checked their blog (you got a shout out by name, btw) and the TX forum. I need to be up on the new forming rivalries or I'll go nuts.

On a related note, my possible new team had one finisher total for all the races. Oy Vey.

El Diablo Rojo

Where did you read that?

johnybutts

It's OK, my team had a total of 1 finisher and 1 starter in all the races that weekend - me.

txvintage

I couldn't find it. I did notice a Cat 5 with the handle RacerX on the forum though. Pretty funny.

Well, the one finisher was more than I saw in the pre-entries...

Racer Ex 

Facebook stuff. You know, "friends".

txvintage

Thank goodness. I thought I was gonna have to subscribe to their team twitter thingy.

Racer Ex 

Yeah, and some of the saws are back on the "kick the 1/2 guys out of masters and make it a 3/4/5" again.

txvintage

Ya, saw that. There are some over engineered new class suggestions flowing already. I mean serioulsy, are we really gonna miss out on that once in a life time 45+ dev team chance for a Pro Tour team just because of a few 1/2 androids?

The absolute best one is the one about why are there so many 50+ guys listed, lol. You are listed as 1st in 50+ btw.

Crash716

i raced...i really sucked. back of the mid pack finish. i can't seem to shake this cold, between the bronchitis i was getting over and the new fever/head cold i got the early season fitness is getting rocked right now.

flaco

What TX really needs is a 42+ cat 4 race, limited to guys with 2+ kids and working 40+ hours. Now that would be fun. For me.

Beaker

Did another early bird crit out here in NorCal. Learned a lot. Since this weeks training theme was attacking, I put in a ludicrously stupid:

about 2/3 the way through after deciding I needed to get further up the pack. Needless to say, no-one joined in so I got to practice being absorbed by the pack one more time shortly thereafter.

Finished mid pack this time, but huge Cat 5 noob fun nonetheless.

BTW - RX, superb race report, sorry 'bout the first loser part.

kudude

coming up to the 4s any time soon?

Beaker

I could only make a couple of the Early Birds, so need a few more points yet (I think I've got 5 so far). Can't make the final one next weekend - officially bummed.

save10

were you in the first Cat 5 group or the 2nd?

rydaddy

I not sure if the SB Hill Climb counts as a mass start. You might want to check into that. If you're free on Feb 7, Cherry Pie in Napa is a good one. Also, I highly recommend the Bariani (Zamora) RR in March.

BarryJo

Late to the party again.
RacerEx, best race report.
Ever!
Well top 3 anyway, Gsteinb's state championship report last year was kinda good too.

Beaker

I was in the first group, stretching the age limit once more.

Cheers, I'll check out the Bariani RR, Ryan. Sadly can't make the Cherry Pie Crit - family commitments prevent that, but I am signed up for the Ronde van Brisbeen on Feb 21.

I noticed from my usacycling home page that the San Bruno climb is listed as SR (stage race?) so I'm not sure if that counts. Either way, I don't have upgrade fever at this point. I'm on a steep learning curve and am happy to report that with the clinics and early bird crits, I've come to appreciate a lot of the advice that is dished out round here. I don't feel too squirrelly, and am happy to sit in and learn at this point. Nothing beats experiencing it first hand. Just happy to avoid the crashes and the dreaded DFL this year.

save10

I was in that as well. I was one of the guys that was in the break away. Somebody said there was a crash

Beaker

Congrats - that was a nice job. I was pretty happy to finish in the top half of the field this time out. I didn't see or hear of any crash though.

procrit

Mile 0: shivering, nervousness, coffee jitters
Mile 3: WR's teammate goes off the front, just like last week
Mile 4-28: Couple attempts to bridge, WR setting a false tempo (a lot), general laziness by the peloton
Mile 29: Two guys go off front, one makes it up to WR's teammate, the other winds up in no mans land.
Mile 30: I roll off the front in a hilly section
Mile 31: Notice I'm off, and hammer my brains out
Mile 33: Hammer till I catch guy in no mans land
Mile 36: Hammer till we catch WR's teammate and his compatriot
Mile 37-46: Kick it into overdrive to keep the break alive
Mile 47: Drop WR's teammate (hey, he was out for 44 miles, sheesh)
Mile 47.5: Drop guy that was in no mans land
Mile 47.55: Attack, but can't drop the guy glued to my wheel
Mile 47.57: Recover
Mile 47.59: Attack/sprint way too early, being stupid, and blow up before the finish
Mile 48: Finish 2nd

I had more legs than the guy that got 2nd, I just mentally lost it at the end and learned the hard way that I need to stay focused all the way to the finish.

3 more points till the cat 2's. Might just get them tomorrow. =)

Nate552

Nice job! Congrats on the 2nd place! Sounds like you worked your butt off for it.

procrit

Definitely my longest hard effort of my career as a bike racer, all 1 season and 2 races worth.