Originally Posted by STP

It wasn't that idiot on the yellow Pinarello, was it?

Originally Posted by gsteinb

Apparently an official got punched in New Britain after the 1,2 race in a dispute over a preme.

Originally Posted by STP

It wasn't that idiot on the yellow Pinarello, was it?

Originally Posted by topflightpro

... I was actually concerned during the RR on Sunday - so awful it isn't worth reporting on - ...

Originally Posted by Racer Ex

Out Of Age Group So Even though We Said On the Flyer You Could Race Down You're Ineligible and Besides You're From Texas So You'd Be Ineligible Anyway So There SoCal Track Championships And Did We Mention You Can't Wear That Old USA Skinsuit?:

No real heartburn over any of that BTW, but it kind of gave me a chuckle.

After pulling the plug on Master's Track Nats (erratic training thanks to moving, health, and logistics meant it was going to be a cobbled together effort) I figured I'd at least test out a couple of new cockpits and work on technique.

Alarm didn't go off. Still have time to make it so I chuck food in the dog's bowls, grab some coffee, and drive two hours to the track:

500m: Decent start, really mediocre discipline...didn't keep in good position and weaved around off line like I had too many G & T's. 2nd fastest time of the day and second to a guy with a bunch of Nats Champs in sprinting stuff. PB on my time. Still a work in progress though I feel better about the bruises on my forearms from practicing standing starts and considering it's my 2nd ever 500...

Kilo: Raced down in age group. Nice start and better position discipline, but failed the breathalyzer again. There's no pacing in this and it's the most painful of any event. Kind of lost concentration on the last lap. Fast time of the day and a PB. Still a work in progress, like the 500m, only my second actual Kilo.

Afterwards rode with Jancouver who showed me the local TT course on Fiesta Island. Some big party/concert going on there. Scenery was...interesting. Had me pondering the yin and yang of thong bikinis.

Drove 2 hours back home.

Alarm went off. Gently place food in dogs bowls, enjoy a cup of coffee, grab one for the rode and drive two hours to the track:

2km Pursuit: Fast time of the day by a bit. Made some adjustments from the day before...discipline was good, line was good, pacing had me swimming in lactic the entire time.

Ten minutes later do:

3km Pursuit: Would have won my age group had I been born a few years later. Otherwise unspectacular time. Discipline good, line was good, pacing was good which was good because my legs were a bit fried from the 2km.

Ride around Rancho Santa Fe a bit. Some nice little condos in there. Got honked at by angry guy. Really nice day on the bike though.

Drive 2 hours home.

Make dinner. Fall asleep while watching TV cars run over TDF competitors.

Wake up. Post report on BF. Going to feed the dogs, have a second cup of coffee, and clean the house/garage/laundry.

Originally Posted by Racer Ex

Good luck. I'm out. Just not riding well enough; too many gaps in the training.

BTW why did NoCal and SoCal run their MTC's on the same weekend?

Bah!

Originally Posted by bostongarden

Thank you Blackburn!! Replacement bottle cage on the way as they come with a lifetime warranty.

Originally Posted by Hida Yanra

yeah - great day to race.
my legs responded to me in kind w/ the way I'd treated them the last week... no fuel = no fire.
I was doing fine, moving up in the last 10 laps for the day's plan - actually I was right on Forza's wheel when the crash went down with 3 to go. He was riding smart and strong all day - good job of moving around in the pack!
At the crash, I had to slow way, way down - but managed to pick my way through (the channel opened up right in front of me)
Chased back on like a beast, made it in 1 lap (was down 1/4 lap post-crash)... that was most of rocket-boot fuel that I had been saving.
Got back on w/ 1.5 to go, right before T4, coming up to the bell some guys waaay overcook the corner (which is incredibly hard to do), and 4 of them ram head-on into the metal barriers on the outside along the straightaway.

Chaos again, get to chase again - rocket fuel is now being burned just for the sake of a pack finish.
Get back in the pack as we round T4, pack finish....

it's a pity, for as much fuel as I had, it burned hot & fast - and in the last couple of laps - but on the wrong end of the pack.
It was the best job I've ever done of conserving legs and nursing a small poker hand into something playable at the end of the game...

This was probably about my last crit for the year - maybe one more, a few CRs, and some week-day CRs & I'll be done.

Originally Posted by shovelhd

forza, what was that guy doing taking his hands off of the bars and raising them in the air with a rider down right in front of him? You might not want to share a ride to a race with him.

Originally Posted by carpediemracing

Apparently there's a guy David W who is the national champion at something in the US this year. He was at Tues Night Worlds. Although he must have mixed up "Worlds" with "Nats", he was very gracious and took second. He didn't even destroy the field himself. He raced very politely.

I was talking to a strong rider's dad. David W remembered the rider (the son - he was at Tues Night Worlds too) from 2002 Elite Nats, and from doing a bunch of races in the Midwest with him. I told the dad that the really strong riders are like that - they're nice, modest, and will rip your legs off if it's a race.

Originally Posted by Forza

No clue, looks likes his season is done. I heard he got pretty tore up. His S3 and 808s took some serious damage too.

Originally Posted by currand

From the looks of it his crashing at high speed into another rider (or bike?) stopped his bike dead and he went flying. Fairly certain his hands didn't come off on purpose. Looked awful...

Originally Posted by Hida Yanra

Mr. S3/808 (the guy whose hands went off the bars) is a strong, nice guy, he won a big crit in this area earlier in the year.
I was right behind them, he was on the wheel of a teammate of his, A. another strong rider - and when A. went down, S3/808didn't even have a chance to react. He hit A's rear wheel, his hands popped off the bars, and down he went.

I didn't get to talk to him after the race, but I talked to A.
A is okay, his bike & wheels are scraped, but not splintered - who knows if there are cracks in there, we didn't look that closely. ... He did tear his Speedplay 4 bolt cleats out of his Sworks shoes though. I'd never seen that happen on such a good pair of shoes, and with a 4 bolt cleat.

it was a hard, fast wreck.

Originally Posted by Hida Yanra

if they had been closer to the front I would have been angling for their wheels.

Originally Posted by Hida Yanra

@Forza - yeah, it was a wheel overlap a couple of rows in front of you, on the LH side... plumb in the middle of a long straightaway. I saw it go down as I was calculating launching up that side after the next turn.