Chad's spot for various thoughts, musings, poetry, ideas and whatnot

Tuesday, June 24, 2003

Union City

This was the third big weekend for my road race calendar. It was also the tune-up race for the Georgia State Games. I was going to ride for myself for the last time before moving to Cat IV and having to start working for th emore experienced riders on the team. I was also targeting a win or two.

The Crit This was a warm up for me. I was hoping to grab a top ten and get a few points for the Omnium but not much else. The filed was a little large at around 35 but the course was pretty non-technical with wide corners and two long straight lanes that were plenty wide. So you can imagine my surprise when all of the sudden some dork has to make a pass on the crowded inside of me next to the barrels. Oh boy. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He clipped a barrel, slammed on his brakes and we had a problem. I'm trying to avoid touching wheels with the dork when the guy behind me gets into my back wheel. It's not his fault really. He was minding his own business and didn't see the dork hit the barrel and so he doesn't understand why the guy ahead of him is slowing down. So anyway, I'm cool because all I need to do is keep my head and I'll stay upright as I've managed to aviod touching wheels with anyone. The only problem is the guy behind me is going too fast and he rides right up to my rear cogset aqnd that's where things go downhill for me. He goes down and drags me down from behind with him. I feel this coming so bailing off isn't too big a deal and I get out of the crash with just a few scrapes. The bigger problem is that there's something wrong with the bike. I don't have time to look it over so I limp the bike to the pit area and ask for my free lap. A once over and the problem is revealed, the rear rim is tacoed. Even opening the brake calipers isn't going to do it totally. Still, I get put back into the race and I pray that the wheel will hold together until I finish. There's only three laps to go. So as I go through the first set of corners it occurs to me that this is a stupid place for me to be, in the middle of the pack. If the wheel does give out and I go down again I'll take everyone with me. So on the back straightaway with one and a half to go I take a flyer. A big one. Stand up with my hands in the drops an d off I go. I click up to my highest gear and give it everything. Incredibly, they let me go. I'm off the front by 50 meters before the chase starts. The wheel is getting shaky and the rim is rubbing the brake badly but I keep going. I blow up the group and manage to hang on for fourth. Not too shabby for a guy bleeding in three places with a tire that barely tracks.

The Time Trial So, I'm in better shape Omniumwise than I thought and I still have my two strongest events to go. What I don't have is rear wheel. Thanks to Cleve who loaned me his spare rear wheel, that problem is remedied for the time trial. The details of changing a tube and a few other odds and ends still took up the better part of the afternoon. My arm was starting to hurt pretty good now as well. So when I get to the start line, there's a lot of frustration pent up. Over the next 8.5 miles, that all came out. I flew around the hilly course like I was being chased by Drew Carey in a tutu with unspeakable desires on his mind. I caught my 30 second man, my 1 minute man, my 90 second man and my 2 minute man. I sprinted up the last hill and spiked the heart rate up over 190. I left it all on the course. I was sure I had won, I felt that good about the ride. Still I would have to wait until the next morning to see the results. When I checked them I had indeed won. The next guy was over a minute and thirty seconds behind me. I would have finished in the top ten in any class but Pro/1/2. I was now only one point behind in the Omnium.

The Road Race I'd been thinking about this road race for a year. I knew I could win it. I'm a strong rider on rollers and this was a roller course. As the race started, I sat in and conserved my strength. For the first 18 miles I let everyone else do the work and just got swept along for the ride. Then the crash happened. i wasn't in it but it reminded me of the day before so I decided to move up. On the next climb I did. It was really easy. I got to the front in time for the decent and then decided to set the pace for the next big climb just to see what everyone had. I set a pace that was solid but not blistering. When I pulled off I saw that some of the guys were suffering a bit. Good, I thought, we've still got 21 miles to go and I haven't begun to really attack yet. Things were good. I sat near the front for the next 6 miles or so until I ended up on the front for the next climb. I guys the Bigfoot guys had decided to make me do all the work. I was fine with that. I train harder than we were riding over longer distances. I was just getting warmed up. So I pulled at 22 mph up a long 3-4% grade for over a mile. As we approached the top, one of the strong riders I had been watching attacked. I guess he figured I was tired. This lured a couple of other guys out and it looked like there was going to be a three man break. Well, I thought, this is more like it and off I went to catch onto the back of the train. As we crested the hill, two others guys caught on and we were six. Just like Raccoon Mountian I thought. We had a 50 meter lead and six of the ten strongest riders. I shouted for us to put the hammer down. We had a real break and now was the time. I couple of guys looked like they might do something but just sat there. I was stunned. Here we were 13 miles from the finish and we had a good break. This is how you win races and none of these guys knew what to do. So I took off. I figured that by sprinting out, no one would let me go and we'd have to try and stay away. They didn't bite, I was stunned. I was almost a hundred yards off the fron tof the now rejoined group and just sat up. No sense in burning myself up if these guys weren't going to work. Six guys can make a thirteen mile break stick. One guy can't. As I came back into the field I began to notice something odd. My back tire felt funny. Oh No! To get into the race I had borrowed my wife's wheel but it was made for a 25 mm tire. I was running a 20 mm tire and the tube had developed a leak. I was done for the day. I didn't have a spare wheel in the wheel truck and a tube takes too long to change. I legitimately had a good chance of winning the race and now I was out. I was so frustrated. Two weekends in a row my victory had been robbed by a $5 bit of latex rubber. It makes one wonder why on Earth you suffer like a dog for months only to be betrayed by your equipment. Sigh...

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