Cleave

tl;dr
So, after yesterday's silver and gold, I somehow managed a gold (10K TT) and another gold (20K RR).

More details: I was 30 seconds slower than my target time. My target time was about 5 seconds slower than the fastest time of the day which my best racing buddy did to win the 60-64 age group. Amazingly, my time was still the 2nd fastest of the day. I guess I should mention that Racer Ex decided to skip the morning TT. I say amazingly because I felt like crap during the entire race even though my warm up seemed to go well. Thank you very much, Racer Ex, for the dead legs.

So while we're waiting for the TT results (a different timing snafu from the day 1 timing snafu), who do I see roll up into the parking lot but Racer Ex's bodyguard, Big M. My legs started hurting just seeing him there. Racer Ex showed up and I watched both of them doing tepid warm up "laps" in the small parking lot. I figured they'd start out slow. I figured wrong.

Quite honestly, the start of the race is a bit of a blur in my memory. I know that on the first lap, Big M said he was stretching his legs but his pace started to string out the field. I was at the back because I was hoping that Ex and M would use the first lap or two a warm up. I think (this is where's it's blurry) we completed the first lap with the field strung out. Early in the 2nd lap(?) the rubber band snapped completely. I was behind a teammate who blew up. Closed that gap but there were a couple more gaps to close after that. Another guy in my age group was trying to catch Ex, Big M, and my best racing buddy. I was on the wheel of my age group guy when he blew. I went past him with a fair amount of speed but without enough dilithium crystals in the engine room.

I saw Ex and Big M look back and they seemed to hesitate for a second but they quickly got back to riding away from us with my buddy in tow. I'm glad I didn't make it because that would have been too much suffering two days in a row.

I ended up in a group of four; the guy in my age group and two guys from the 60-64 age group. We started working together to keep whomever was behind us from reintegrating. We worked reasonably well until half a lap to go. Then it was short pulls and positioning tactics. No one wanted to lead out the sprint into the quartering headwind. I was focusing on the one guy I had to beat. He ended up at the front but he had great tactics and put the rest of us out into the wind. If anyone went he would have a great draft. Also he was on the inside of a long left-hand sweeper so he had the shortest distance to the line. I was on the outside and fully exposed to the wind. Somehow I beat him by about a wheel. The older guys had their own sprint and beat both of us. That was fine by me.

shovelhd

Goldelicious!!!!

VanceMac

So, I'm just spit-balling here... tell me if this makes sense. 55+ dude with decades of racing experience, including more track experience than almost anyone... this dude wins 3 golds and a silver out of 4 events. Within the last 15 minutes dude was heard saying "I'm in the racing is training mode." So, I may be way off base here... I'm new at this... but it seems like that dude should be racing 55+ at track state champs this weekend???

valygrl

Goldtastic!

Racer Ex 

Alarm went off at 5am and I was still tired after the TT, RR, and evening track session, so I decided to pass on the TT and sleep in. Then I realized I needed to run a bunch of errands so I decided to skip the race entirely, but when I finally looked at my phone in the morning there were 3 calls and 4 text messages from the big man that he was there and where the heck was I?

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go.

Asked Big M what he wanted to do in the race. "Let's just sit back and at two to go we'll drill it". Ok.

The rest Cleave covered, (Big M swore he was just taking a good pull BTW) other than we sat up a bit and waited for Cleave's buddy as he was making a heck of an effort to bridge. After making sure he was no threat to Cleave's chances in his age group I saw the pack was closing on what appeared to be a Cleave who was also trying to bridge. At that point the group consensus was to just go and see what happened. We kept Cleave's buddy on with the understanding that he wouldn't contest, and we wouldn't drop him. I wanted to keep my SG win streak going so I got the win, and the dynamic duo went 1-2.

Because of the SDSG cancellation I ended up with 6 medals. Ridley is having trouble keeping her head up. Great event, great company.

Racer Ex 

It would seem so.

I rolled up on my way out, said "See you at Encino" and rolled up the window before he could answer.

AzTallRider

That's for sure, but it also let's you do things like lap the field, which was a definite first for me.

The three of us had talked about trying to get away, but we didn't have a specific plan as to when, where or how. I had mentioned I wanted to go pretty early, and so, while I waited until registration had closed, I didn't wait much longer than that. I started in the front row, with Cleave and Ex. When they said go, I clipped in, accelerated decently, and when I glanced back and didn't have anyone on my wheel, I dialed it up some more. It wasn't long before I couldn't see the pack when I'd look back, and I figured Ex must be weaving back and forth, threatening to crash people out. I found out later that what he had actually done was to point out that I had done a decent TT earlier, so maybe they should pay attention. Thanks for that, Coach. Also unbeknownst to me, I built the gap up to 1:45 at one point. I was out solo for I think about 5 laps? Coming around past the start once, I heard someone say something like "They're coming". I didn't know if that meant Ex/Cleave or the pack, so I kept pushing. The wind was up, and I tried to go hard in that (front straight) section and recover a little on the downwind side. I finally got a glimpse of someone/something back there, and it wasn't the pack, so I eaed a bit, and quickly could tell it was Cleave and Ex. I slowed a lot, trying to make sure I could catch a wheel when they blew past. I did, and then swore at them for taking so long to come to my rescue.

I was pretty cooked, and more than once Cleave had to say "we're dropping Jim" as we went up the very slight rise (and into the wind) on the front straight. I was losing focus and not holding their wheels close enough to maximize what little draft they were providing. They are both very aero, and I'm well... not. Especially on the Gunnar (long story). But we stayed together until, after Ex pulled us around a whole lap at around 27mph because we thought the pack might be closing, we caught the pack instead. That mixed things up as we came to the finish, as some guys tried to catch our wheels. I faded while Ex went OTF to the overall win, and Cleave contested the pack sprint. Cleave really earned that win. He was riding much better than I was, and could have dropped me earlier if he wanted to. If I had it left, I would have duked it out (hey, this is cycling!!), but I wasn't close to being able to do that. Awesome win for Cleave.

I then went off to cool down and hack and cough in private. I love racing with these guys.

It was a total blast. And I think the best part was watching Sara handle the entire women's group, attacking, pulling some, and then showing her strength in the sprint. Second overall, against some strong and far more experienced racers. This showed what she can do when racing her peers.

Congrat's Sara. You really earned this!

AzTallRider

Cleave turn down a chance to race? He'll be there.

Racer Ex 

Trust me, there was thinking behind this. Check your email in the next day or two.

That's for sure.

So much of the fun of racing is (for me anyway) playing with tactics (like in our road race). Sara has far fewer opportunities to race with her peer group just taking age and gender into account, much less category. Her reality is pretty much everyone's hardest race all the time. It was so cool seeing her on equal footing and RACING.

Gotta dig some and work with schedules but those opportunities are out there and need to be embraced.

Red Rider

I'm so impressed with everyone's reports! You all inspire me to get out and race...or at this point, train.

Good job, all! How cool to read your successes!

chasm54

Wow. The most impressive thing isn't the medal haul - though that is fantastic, obviously - but how strongly your sheer sense of enjoyment is conveyed in these reports. Seems to me there's a new team to be created here...

beatlebee 

Fun reads, thanks!

shovelhd

+1

All that was missing was the East Coast.

Hermes

AZT, you were lucky it was Racer Ex at the front instead of Big M when you were on your solo break.

Cleave

Yep, I talked with her about that before she left yesterday. Racing and hanging on for dear life are two completely different things. I know this very well.

sarals 

PSG Experience - My Race Reports

Cleave, Ex and AzT, y'all covered it pretty well! I have to add that I do smile perpetually at bike races, because I am just having the time of my life, even when I'm getting totally thrashed! This time was different, and I smiled so much it hurt.

5K ITT

Ex told me over and over - go out easy. Let it go on the second lap when you're warmed a bit. That's what I did. My effort was 10:25 for the 5K ITT, largely because the damn bike doesn't fit and it hurt (a lot) and I couldn't get the power to ground. However, I felt pretty good about my effort. Silver medal!

40K RR

This turned out to be the first race I've actually competed in, and not hung on for dear life! It was an eye opener and a confidence builder. 16 rider field, combined, 14 laps. I lined up on the front row, and the faster gals went right to the front - me being one of them (surprise). I knew one of the riders, and knew she was strong, and I suspected two others needed to be watched, as well. I stayed near or on the the front the entire race, took pulls, tried to conserve, tried to keep my head in it, and tried to stay sheltered when I wasn't working. I felt the wind a bit more than I needed to, but it wasn't a huge issue, just a learning point. I touched wheels once when the rider in front of me suddenly slowed, and it was close, but no one went down. There was a bit of cat and mouse trying to get other riders to do some work up front, one time we were arrayed five abreast just looking at each other at 15 MPH! I decided that if this was going to go on I was going to go off the front to see who was serious, who was strong, and maybe form a break. Approached the line with eight to go, swung off to the left, caught them sleeping and drilled it. Got a good gap, but backed off a little for some unknown reason. One rider caught up to, totally gassed, and I should have hit it again but had other ideas. Stayed third wheel for the rest of the race, marking the woman who bridged up to me as well as one other woman who had been sitting in near the front the whole race. We hit the final turn for the finish and I was waiting for the rider who I thought would go to launch, and instead the gal who had bridged to my attack went. She had a pretty good gap, like four or five bike lengths with 300 yards to go, but I dug deeeeep and went after her. Almost caught her at the line, she got me by a wheel and .4 seconds! Second overall, second in my age group.

10K ITT

Ay-yi-yi!!! That one hurt, a LOT! Once again, bike fit troubles, but I managed a 21:05 and was initially awarded the gold. Then the officials figured out that they'd omitted a rider and I ended up second. Another silver! ITT's freaking hurt!

20K RR

I wanted this race badly, and was confident I could win it. I knew who the strong riders were, and I had them marked. I knew I needed to conserve, because I was tired and I didn't have the snap I had the day before (that 10k ITT....). What I didn't take into account was that I was being marked as well. (Who, me?) Lined up on the front again, stayed no further back than third wheel. The woman I was most concerned with spent a lot of time on the front, and I let her for two reasons. One, she beat me in the 40K, so I knew she could sprint, and she had a buddy who was also strong working with her. Second, I thought they might try to get away so I decided I needed to stay close. I took a hard pull for one lap and tried to stretch the field a bit. I made the mistake of not playing the wind correctly (experience, lack of), or that may have worked (thanks, Ex!). Sat in and recovered after that. I kept trying to get on the wheel of the rider I was marking, but her friend would not let me in, and I was pushed out every time. On the last lap, things started to get a little nervous at the front. One gal eased up to the front on the right (Cleave's team mate) and then went off with a good jump, but we covered it. She hammered it pretty well for about a quarter mile, but we stayed on her wheel, and then she faded. Another rider, a friend of mine, one who is a very savvy strong rider, eased up on the right and pushed her way into the line. She'd been very quiet, and I knew that and knew she'd be fairly rested, and I also knew she had a pretty good sprint. The wind had picked up significantly during our race, and on the final straight to the line it was slightly to the right and blowing at 10 to 15 MPH. There was also a kicker, one that hurt, right after the final left turn to the finish straight. I was sitting third wheel, and slightly to the inside when we hit the final turn, and I thought I was in a really good spot. The gal I was marking launched right then, as did my girlfriend. The rider second wheel also went, and so did I, but I got pushed off to the left further than I wanted, and then got gapped just a little - enough to get blasted by the wind. A gap opened of about four bike lengths, and that was that. I was fourth, but silvered in my category. That one hurt, because I really wanted it and knew I could do it. My lack of experience killed those hopes, though. Well, it was FUN. Way fun!

In all it was such a grand time! I got to go to Home Depot Center with Ex, got meet VanceMac and Marvin, got to hang with Cleave, got to ride and hang with AzT and Ex, and got see and experience some really great racing. The great racing was key - I was in and contesting great races, for really the first ever, and oh do I want more of that!

Allegheny Jet

Great report Sara! We all knew you would be a gamer with racers your age. Your hard work and determination is inspiring.

shovelhd

From the minute you first showed up here, I have been waiting for something like that.

Welcome to the big leagues.

sarals 

Hey, you two!!! If you only knew how GOOD you just made me feel!!!!!!! I'll stop crying in a minute....!

I've got to tell you all - seeing the look of pride on Ex's face when my races were over was worth more than I describe. I hope you all know what I mean.

Publicly - thank you Ex - you got me here!!!

revchuck 

Sara - IMO, you've had a steeper climb than any of us, and you attacked it with grace and panache. It's great to see what you can do with a level playing field. Way to go, lady!

caloso

Awesome.

Racer Ex 

You're welcome, but all I did was hand you a road map. You did the driving, paid for the gas, and bought the car.

chasm54

Great stuff, Sara, you've worked hard for it.

sarals 

Everyone - Thanks!!!!!

AzTallRider

I'm going to try to express something partly related to the Senior Games, and hope I do a decent job of it, because it's important.

We all read about what RacerEx does, with his racing, his coaching, and his support of others at races. But actually racing with him, as a teammate and a 'trainee', is an experience hard to put into words. It's because what's unique about Ex is that he does things 'completely'. He thinks things through completely, he does each task associated with whatever it is he is approaching completely, and he commits to something completely. It permeates whatever he is doing, whether that is developing a training pan, preparing a bicycle, attacking in a race, or fixing dinner for friends. There is no halfway; nothing whatsoever is done half-assed. So, if Ex is supporting you in a race, it doesn't matter whether you have stripes on your sleeve or are Cat4. You get the full treatment, and in reality, you get that whether you deserve it or not. Because, if he has made the commitment, he is going to fulfill it. There is no worrying about whether he will do his part. He will be there, and you also know that, whatever he does, it will be what should be done, and it will be done completely.

When you have that sort of "know it will always be there" support, it's really easy to take it for granted. I know some have (not those here!), and that frankly pisses me off. Partly because, when you play the sport at Ex's level, there just aren't that many people who can reciprocate. Very few of those that can reciprocate have Ex's ability willingness to act selflessly and help others to spots on the podium that could easily have been theirs. So it is far from being a balanced ledger for Ex. He gives far more than he will ever receive.

Oh, and he also invites you into his home, feeds you, drives you to races, and loans the things you forgot because you, unlike Ex, don't always think completely.

So here's to RacerEx. Very few people get to experience him as a coach, a teammate and a friend. I consider myself beyond lucky to be one of them.