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The Race Report Thread 2009-2012

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The Race Report Thread 2009-2012

Old 05-07-12, 07:06 AM
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Originally Posted by RoboIsGod
I landed 3rd in the Cat 4 race and my buddy won it. Nice day, nice race.
Congrats! To Janders, as well, and to the rest of you non-MA folks.

I never checked the board at the race, and the results aren't up online yet, but I figure top-20.

I rolled OTF at the start of the 3rd lap, and three others came up to join me. They were from three different well-represented teams, and we got reasonable separation, so I had some hope, but it wasn't to be. Three of us got swallowed at the bottom of the descent, and the fourth didn't hold out much longer. I wasn't spat out of the pack immediately, which means I didn't go hard enough in the break. It had felt plenty hard at the time, but my legs were OK coming up the first steps of the finishing hill, so I started to work my way to the front. And made my second mistake by not being aggressive enough in doing so. I think things would have gone OK - no podium contention, but a goodly shot at top-10 - if a guy to my inside and just ahead hadn't crashed out. I'm not sure what the cause was, but I had to grab a little shoulder to get around things. Passed a few of the guys just ahead, but couldn't close the gap with those who'd been on the smart side of the crash.

Lot of fun. I'll take a break over the pack any day.

In other news, the cat3 field caught the masters 40+ pack on the finishing climb. And the marshals didn't neutralize anyone. A break of two had won the masters, but their field was sprinting for 3rd at the same time the 3s were in a full field sprint. The cat3 winner was in a photo finish with a couple of masters. Not surprisingly, general carnage ensued. I'm not sure what the best way to handle the situation would have been, but that probably wasn't it. Too bad, considering everything else the race has going for it.
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Old 05-07-12, 07:30 AM
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Deer Trail RR - my first RR. SW4. 36 in the field. Last minute course change due to road construction yielded a 35 mile course with 2000' climbing consisting of 3 out-and-backs, on very rolling terrain. 3 out-and-backs = 4 u-turns. Left-hand u-turns are my achilles heel. (after the race I decided that future recovery rides will consist of left-hand u-turns until i can freaking do them!!!). Good weather, light wind (unusual).

Three teams had 4+ members, I had no team mates but 2 gals (C and W) from the club I was in last year were racing. After the neutral rollout and a few miles at a mellow pace, a couple of the big teams moved to the front of the pack (I have to learn how to stay up there, I got filtered back, that's another big limiter). At the first turnaround I was about 20 deep, turning at like 2 mph, with 36 people on a just-barely-2-lane road, and someone in front attacked out of the turn. I wasn't ready/able to get on (positioning, poor turning skills) , but figured this was the selection I needed to make so buried myself chasing. Almost caught them with help from other chasers esp. C. from my ex-team, but we hit the corner to the next leg (not u-turn) and an uphill and I couldn't make any more headway.

The rest of the race consisted of working with a variety of people, a lot with C & W, and pulling around a couple gals from the biggest team who refused to work b/c "they have team mates up ahead" but we couldn't drop them (they were smarter than us). At each u-turn I lost some time and had to chase back to gals I had been riding with.

On the 2nd to last turnaround I finally clued in and counted how many were in front of me as they returned - 12! So I made it my goal to be top-10. More working with people who didn't want to work, and with C, and some near-vomit-experiences later, we see the 1km to go sign in the distance and someone goes from behind me. I try and fail to latch on, but then here comes C., and I can stay on her wheel, she drags me up almost to the sprinters and fades, I see the 200m to go sign and my legs are screaming louder than they ever screamed before but I told them to STFU and drilled it, and I caught and passed the other sprinters, and got over the line by maybe a couple of bike-lengths.

7th. OMG.

kindablue - I want to hear a little more!
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Old 05-07-12, 07:31 AM
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Nice work valygrl. Practice on the cornering for sure. Internalize countersteering so you have a bit more intention on how you're cornering.

Originally Posted by shovelhd
You think Masters is going to be easier than Cat3?
Depending on the course, I think it's often easier to sit in a Masters pack, but harder to win, if that makes sense. The pack is just smoother and selectively responsive. Winning a masters race is certainly tougher than 3s.
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Old 05-07-12, 07:42 AM
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Tri_Lakes TT in Palmer Lake, CO (little town hidden in the foothills between the Springs and Denver.

first of all, totally awesome new event. beautiful town, hard course (15.2 mile loop with 3 mile 700ft climb into the headwind on the backside... brutal), great support and marshalling, indv result in my email 5 minutes after i finished, race results in about a half hour, cash payouts, baked goods and soda and recovery drinks for sale the pavillion, great parking... just a pure class act. best TT in CO, for sure.

My knee is a little tricky still. icing it every day and havent really done a ton of intensity or any distance more than 2 hours since the crash, but the short efforts i have done have been promising.

so, the race: the course was great, short little burner right after the start, then a 40mph drag strip for about 5 miles, false flat for 3, then the monster climb, then a little reprieve and then a false flat finish into the wind. felt good all day. paced well, gobbled up 4 or 5 guys in front of me.

so it turns out i won my race (SM35+ 3), with a time that woulda won SM3 and 35+ 1,2.

my big TT rival this year was there and i beat him pretty soundly.

feelin better and better about state championship TT this year.

Last edited by badhat; 05-07-12 at 07:49 AM.
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Old 05-07-12, 07:47 AM
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Good job, valygrl. You're getting it.
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Old 05-07-12, 07:47 AM
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love readin the Deer Trail reports. i love that race but skipped this year on account of the knee and the new bike not being 100% built when registration closed friday night (finished it sunday). too bad, as it think its right up my fitness alley atm.

congrats valleygirl.
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Old 05-07-12, 08:10 AM
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Mystic Velo, 45+, 12th, extremely cute baby and happy-glow parents sighting.

Consider this another glad-to-be-racing report. This was a race for me to see "where I am" as I've been working hard with pt (for my hip) and in my training to get back to having good form. Bottom line: I know, and like, where I am, and can see where I am going next.

It was a great start with the 3 Amigos lined up together at the back -- it was still close to the front! Good to see and race with shovel -- nice job in the 55+ (that CCB rider is tough as nails) -- and glad that cdr decided to do the 45+!! The pace was fast from the roll off. With Arc-en-Ceil having 4-5 riders in the race, I knew that they would launch attack after attack after attack -- that's their style, they do it well, and they get good results. I was determined to stay near the front and be part of any break that might hold.

Sure enough, there were plenty of break attempts and well timed chasing. I was there every bit of the way for the first 10 laps or so. Then, I wanted to, and felt that I could, take a welcome break, so I drifted back. The attacks still came, but, I was happier watching from farther back and -- maybe this sounds strange -- I would watch how someone off in a break was turning their legs as a signal as to whether they would stay away. If after a bit, the legs were churning well, I would move up a bit and join a concerted effort chase; if the cadence was slowing down, I'd hang back and leave the driving to others.

I felt that I was getting slotted well with respect to the wind, on the left in the back stretch sections and on the right in the home stretch -- ok, cdr and shovel, go ahead and tell me that I had that read wrong!! In any event, that is how I played it and it felt good. There was a fair bit of whippy left to right to left stuff going on down the back stretch -- is there a term for this? Shake 'n bake?

(Fast forward) Approaching 1 to go, I made sure that I was positioned reasonably well. Just after the bell, there is a little bunch up going into turn 1 (or it felt that way up front). Shovel is in front of me -- he loves eating wind and putting on the hurt -- and here comes cdr on the left, moving it out. It was a nice move. I was impressed with how he was going for it. I thought "there he goes again" per his numerous reports/videos and how he does it -- you know, way back, unseen for the entire race (pull off to blow his nose -- saw this a couple of times), and then, at the end, does what he does, shows up and puts down the end-game move to contend.

Everyone responded to cdr and the pace got a bit more animated -- not that it was ever really that slow imho. Just before coming out of turn 2 -- a hairpin -- someone was coming up strong on my left/inside and bumped my front wheel. I've had my bars and body bumped before, but, this was a first for my front wheel. The rider is the current reigning US champion in several track categories (in the female 40-44) and super strong -- is that redundant? My instinct was to back off a little, which I did. No problemo.

La dee dah, I am still upright as we exit turn 3. I stand a bit as we head down the first part of the back stretch to get back into reasonable position. We churn through the chicanish turn 4 and then into turn 5. About half-way between turn 5 and turn 6, which feeds into the home stretch, cdr puts up his hand. I think I paused for a moment as I know that I was thinking "huh, you were looking so good, so really really good; what happened? chain?" I went by, and then put down the burners as I was coming out of the final turn. I passed a person or two or three; I did see one person blow by me at the end; others might have passed me, don't know.

While I was checking out the results, the track champion came over to view them as well. I had seen that she came in 13th. I said to her, how could you let that guy in 12th finish ahead of you? We smiled and had a pleasant conversation; then, I went off to say so long to cdr, the "missus," shovel and His Royal Cuteness.
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Old 05-07-12, 08:27 AM
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Originally Posted by bostongarden
Mystic Velo, 45+, 12th, extremely cute baby and happy-glow parents sighting.

I felt that I was getting slotted well with respect to the wind, on the left in the back stretch sections and on the right in the home stretch -- ok, cdr and shovel, go ahead and tell me that I had that read wrong!! In any event, that is how I played it and it felt good. There was a fair bit of whippy left to right to left stuff going on down the back stretch -- is there a term for this? Shake 'n bake?
I was saving the wind for the clip but I found I wanted to sit on different sides virtually every straight of the race. In my recollection (the clip will remind me) I think it was:

Main - middle/left, tailwind
After Turn 1 (right turn) - left, wind from right
After Turn 2 (left turn) - right, wind from left
After Turn 3 (left turn) - left, wind from right
After Turn 4 (right turn) - right, wind from left
After Turn 5 (left turn) - mid/left, wind basically blocked by thick hedges but from right
After Turn 6 (left turn onto finish) - mid/left, back to the tailwind



Course is counterclockwise, start/finish is where that white line is on the right side of the parallel straights. Wind was coming from the south-southeast, so blowing in from the 5 o'clock direction.

And yes, on most laps I was out of the wind on every single straight. It was tricky but for me it was absolutely critical (see my post in the wheelsucking thread).
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Old 05-07-12, 08:35 AM
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Nice, badhat!!! Hope your knee continues to improve. Maybe forced rest = improved freshness = good results? Just a thought.

I wanted to do that Palmer Lake TT but my new TT bike wasn't ready (actually spent Saturday afternoon with the fitter), and it would have killed my Deer Trail effort. Next year, hopefully.
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Old 05-07-12, 08:35 AM
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Originally Posted by carpediemracing
Cat 3 - attacked a couple laps in
Okay... who hijacked CDR's account?
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Old 05-07-12, 08:39 AM
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Sounds like a good weekend of racing. Congrats to all!
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Old 05-07-12, 08:40 AM
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yah i am confortable with the idea that a little forced rest after a few super hard blocks was good for fitness. but i need to get back to it.

not really building anymore, but need to get back to doing a couple of long efforts a week asap as one of my 3 A races for the season is in 2 weeks and i dont want my knife (endurance) to dull between now and then.
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Old 05-07-12, 08:41 AM
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Originally Posted by AzTallRider
Okay... who hijacked CDR's account?
It was pretty funny. A woman ran over to the Missus (she was feeding Junior in the car) and yelled "He just attacked! He just attacked!" I thought it was a moderate jump, it was designed to entice others, but I jumped a bit too hard. Fastest lap of the race. The MC was trying to figure out a pity prize as they knew that I'd be done once I got caught, and I was.

I got a beer out of it (the "fastest lap" pity prize).



Gratuitous pic of Junior.
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Old 05-07-12, 09:18 AM
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Richmond International Raceway Crit, Cat 5, 5/6/2012.

Race on a NASCAR type track. I'd done events on an older short track, and one really old track that did NASCAR events up through the 70s, but not one at a modern track. It was pretty interesting.

Goals were pretty simple going into this one. Work on sitting 4-5 wheel as much as possible, do a little work at the front, reintegrate into the pack closer to the front when coming off the front (rather than drifting way back). I was pretty successful at all goals. I felt like I rode well, and didn't cause anyone around me any issues.

There were definitely some jackasses out there though, as to be expected in a cat 5 race. As we came around for the bell, one idiot dropped below the yellow line and almost took out the timing tent. Yes, a big, non moving tent, that had been there all day, so it's not like it crept up on him... I think he had to bunny hop over one of the legs of the lap board.

Last lap there was a crash to my inside that pushed me up the track a bit and disrupted things, so I ended up getting out of the position I wanted. Took 6th, teammate won. 35 preregistered, plus walk ups, so I'm not disappointed in the results.

That was my 11th finish in a mass start event this year, so I figure I'll be putting in for my upgrade. Only time I haven't at least had a pack finish was my first race, where I had no idea what to expect. We'll see what happens.
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Old 05-07-12, 09:25 AM
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My comments about this weekend in SoCal:

I don't understand why people complain about Barrio Logan, yet race Dana Point. Cat 3/4 race at Barrio Logan was less sketchy than the Cat 3 race at Dana Point.

They had to stop the Cat 3 race at Dana Point for 20 minutes, past halfway through, because a rider was down in turn 2 and needed an ambulance. There were three crashes in the final 5 laps at Dana Point. Everyone was clumping together on the entries to all the corners throughout the race. That race would be a lot better if field was 75 riders.

Barrio Logan had a much better flow throughout, and only two crashes that I know of.
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Old 05-07-12, 09:41 AM
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What kit/bike were you in? I was in both of those races.

I'm one of the Spy guys.
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Old 05-07-12, 09:50 AM
  #10867  
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Originally Posted by carpediemracing


Gratuitous pic of Junior.
Wow. Usually when someone says a baby is beautiful, I just nod my head and say "Of course he/she is." But hey... he really is. Congratulations again.
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Old 05-07-12, 09:50 AM
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Originally Posted by efficiency
My comments about this weekend in SoCal:
I don't understand why people complain about Barrio Logan, yet race Dana Point. Cat 3/4 race at Barrio Logan was less sketchy than the Cat 3 race at Dana Point.
You're right Barrio is safer. But I probably won't race it again until it's repaved. It's difficult for people to hold their line when they're bouncing around so much.

I think many of my teammates will take my sage advice and not race Dana Point next year. In all categories we had 7 teammates down on Sunday.
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Old 05-07-12, 10:03 AM
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Originally Posted by kleinboogie
Barrio 3/4 race will be finished uploading around 8:30pm pst.
Nicely edited, and it's great to have sound.
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Old 05-07-12, 10:04 AM
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Richmond International Raceway Criterium - Cat 3/4

With yesterday's 'opener' ride (Deep Blue TT #1) having me unable to walk without pain and today's weather being far colder than anticipated, I was questioning whether it would be a good idea to race today. But I couldn't forego a chance to race in one of the most interesting places for a bike race: a NASCAR race track, the Richmond International Raceway, a D-shaped oval with a wide, banked track and no turns.

My legs came around with a bit of trainer warm-up, although my heart rate told me that I was still a bit fatigued from yesterday. Typical lack of response to stimulus - pedal hard, but the HR barely lifts to Z2. Oh well - maybe I can just sit in and bide my time for the field sprint, right? Because there WILL be a field sprint, right?

As we started, my cardiovascular system finally woke up, and I felt like racing again. From the gun, there were attacks after attacks after attacks. Breakaway attempts that lasted for a lap or two kept popping off every other lap, and I was in the thick of it covering attacks, bridging up to breaks (really bridging, not just reeling in), and even doing some attacking myself. I'd get reeled in, slide back into the middle of the field, recover, find my way up to the left side (where making moves was easier), and then launch off again. This was fun, and I felt good!

A couple of my teammates were there when I'd get reeled back in after an attack/breakaway attempt, and a couple of my other teammates were keeping an eye on things from mid-pack. For over thirty laps, we continued like this - attack, counter, bridge, recover, repeat. There were only a few brief moments when there was no one up the road.

It was very interesting racing on this track - with no turns, hills, or other selection points, it was basically a hammer-fest. Watching the moves and the peloton's response to them was interesting, too - whenever the guy at the front of the peloton would get tired, he'd pull off up the track. Riders behind him would follow him up, and that would cause riders behind them to start following them up too, causing the group to start flowing up the track. Eventually, after the first fifteen or so riders were moving up the track, the next guy would break the pattern and surge forward. Like a crashing wave, the guys who went up would see the surge and come back down and re-integrate into the pack, all having dropped back about twenty places. Many times I was caught between the rising crest of the 'wave' and the 'undertow', having moved up to what was the left of the group to make or cover a move - when that happened, I'd find myself right back in the middle of the pack and I'd have to start working on moving to the outside left again.

Finally, with about six to go, I was where I wanted to be - outside left, about 10-12 places back - and saw there was a guy up the road (and that the pack didn't seem to be gaining on him). I launched my bridge to him and got clear of the field. Successfully reaching him, I began to rotate with him to sustain his break - he shouted that we had a good gap, and that we could make it bigger by working together. For the next five laps, we traded pulls about every 30 seconds.

Truth be told, I was trying to stay away with that guy on the final laps (my role on my team this season is support, to ride for someone else, but I wanted to be a little bit selfish just this once). I would have tried for 1st place, and I would have been satisfied with 2nd (since I've never made it onto the podium in any race, ever), but the bell lap came and he put the hammer down attempting to break away from me and solo in for the win, which totally scuttled our 10-second two-man break. I couldn't hang with him, blew up, and cannonballed backwards. I got caught by the field soon after; unfortunately for my former break-mate, he wasn't strong enough to do it alone either, and the field was in 'big crunch' mode anyways, so he got caught too. I was quickly spit out the back.

But I saw my teammate in 3rd position as I was fading away in the last 500 meters, and knew we had it. The field strung itself out in chasing us down, which opened the door for my teammate to kick it in for the victory.

It may not have been my day, but it was my team's day today, and for that I am very pleased.
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Old 05-07-12, 10:23 AM
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Originally Posted by AzTallRider
Wow. Usually when someone says a baby is beautiful, I just nod my head and say "Of course he/she is." But hey... he really is. Congratulations again.
Thanks. I'm biased of course, but I think he's great. He looked much more like a wrinkled grape as I used to say (and the Missus would say "You mean a raisin?").

Another gratuitous photo, when he came back from the hospital. The watch is 1 7/8" wide at the widest point. He weighed 5 lbs at the time, about 10 lbs now.

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Old 05-07-12, 10:33 AM
  #10872  
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Is that a young Flava Flav?
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Old 05-07-12, 10:59 AM
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Originally Posted by rkwaki
Is that a young Flava Flav?
The Missus said I made him look like a suicide bomber.
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Old 05-07-12, 12:00 PM
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Golden State Race Series. Crit on Saturday, Circuit Race on Sunday.

Raced twice on Saturday. E3 in the morning. Finished 7th. Which was an awesome result for me, as it was my first top 10 as a Cat 3. Even more awesome, it was our team race, and as I was head course marshal I spent half the race sitting at the back and just making sure that all the corner people were at their posts and doing their jobs. And I'd been up since 4:30 so I was tired going into the race. But with half a lap to go, the race strung out, then bunched up and I used my inside knowledge of the course to move up about 20 spots. It's just as well I didn't finish 6th because I'd have had to donate my winnings back to the team fund.

P123 in the afternoon, last race of the day. Didn't really want to race, but was talked into it. A break got away after about 6 laps, which was fine with me. All I wanted to do was finish with the main pack, which I did. And that actually was a more impressive finish for me anyway. I've only ever done a few P123 races and never even finished one before, so it was a significant achievement for me.

Sunday was the circuit race. I had a lot more corners and intersections to make sure were covered and I just never felt comfortable leaving it to someone else. Also, I was completely knackered after arriving at the race course at 5:30 am for the second day in a row. (And I later discovered (this morning in fact) that I forgot my shoes anyway. D'oh!)

I also want to say to CDR and everyone else who puts on a race that it's damn hard work. Damn hard work. I will never ever again pin on a number without remembering to find one of the organizers and officials and say thanks.
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Old 05-07-12, 01:03 PM
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Originally Posted by caloso
Golden State Race Series. Crit on Saturday, Circuit Race on Sunday.

Raced twice on Saturday. E3 in the morning. Finished 7th. Which was an awesome result for me, as it was my first top 10 as a Cat 3. Even more awesome, it was our team race, and as I was head course marshal I spent half the race sitting at the back and just making sure that all the corner people were at their posts and doing their jobs. And I'd been up since 4:30 so I was tired going into the race. But with half a lap to go, the race strung out, then bunched up and I used my inside knowledge of the course to move up about 20 spots. It's just as well I didn't finish 6th because I'd have had to donate my winnings back to the team fund.

P123 in the afternoon, last race of the day. Didn't really want to race, but was talked into it. A break got away after about 6 laps, which was fine with me. All I wanted to do was finish with the main pack, which I did. And that actually was a more impressive finish for me anyway. I've only ever done a few P123 races and never even finished one before, so it was a significant achievement for me.

Sunday was the circuit race. I had a lot more corners and intersections to make sure were covered and I just never felt comfortable leaving it to someone else. Also, I was completely knackered after arriving at the race course at 5:30 am for the second day in a row. (And I later discovered (this morning in fact) that I forgot my shoes anyway. D'oh!)

I also want to say to CDR and everyone else who puts on a race that it's damn hard work. Damn hard work. I will never ever again pin on a number without remembering to find one of the organizers and officials and say thanks.
I raced more than a few races with a marshal radio in my pocket. Other racers would comment to each other "Hey, that's illegal right?" "Don't worry, it's a marshal radio". Yes, there was info on the radio (you could kind of tell where a break was based on the "Break at turn one..... pack at turn one" stuff) but it was in my pocket so I could barely hear it and everyone behind me could hear it better. I used one a couple times when there was a crash, a misplaced marshal, or a car on the course.

I race better at Bethel than anywhere else. Not sure why but the whole "I'm promoting the thing" seems to be a huge driving factor.

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again - I never won a summer race, only Bethels or some smaller fall races. I've only placed once in a P123 race other than Bethel (meaning in the points, top 6, i.e. 6th). I think the promoting thing is part of it.

I'm lucky, I get to sleep until 5:15 for the Bethels.

I don't thank promoters enough. I bolded that line to remind me to do so more often.

Oh, and I keep any race winnings (or give them to the team that helped, whatever works out - they've refused every time so far). It's usually how I pay for the next 4-5 entries.

Last edited by carpediemracing; 05-07-12 at 01:07 PM.
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