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1st Friday Night Races: May 8, 2009

Back to the Track

Anticipation

On Saturday, Dino could tell that I was excited about the first track races of the year, Hellyer's 1st " Get Ready for Summer Series". I ran around triple-checking everything before we made the drive over to San Jose. I wanted to show off my cool new t-shirt that my friend Thomas designed. Unfortunately, we miscalculated the amount of time it would take to get there and get ready. I had about a half hour to get dressed and warmed up before the first C's race. Of course, the ticket machine was malfunctioning, and a huge line of cars waited at the entrance. I grabbed my backpack and ran to the bathroom to change into my skin suit, then jumped on my bike as soon as I could. Luckily, Dino took care of setting up and registering while I did my abbreviated warm-up.

Keirin
He pinned on the number and I was ready for my first keirin. I had trouble keeping up with the moto and got gapped by two guys in front. As it turned out, I had on my warm-up gear!!! After Dino switched it, I got second in the second heat of the keirin, which qualified me for the final. The keirin is a freakin' drag race. I think it's my new favorite. It was a tough way to start the day, however. I was the only woman in the final heat, and got last place. Dang.




Scratch
As we rolled up to the rail for the scratch race, I thought "Geesh, this is a big field." It was a bit windy as we rolled out and I sat mid-pack. Then the swerving started. Nobody was stringing it out and people were way too frisky. A rider swerved randomly in front of me, which made me swerve. I felt like apologizing profusely to everyone behind me. My instinct yelled "Get out of this mess! Hold your line everyone!" I scooted up track into the wind and grabbed DBC's John Licatesi who had won the Keirin. Phew! Much Better!

Crash
Then about five laps in, I heard and felt the sickening sensation of a big pile-up behind me. Six riders went down, including a Michelle, who was just happy to be riding after breaking her back in a crit a while back. I was immediately concerned about her. My concern was misplaced, as she was mostly okay. Everyone got up with minor injuries except for Joe Fineman, a Hellyer institution. The paramedics took him away with a serious neck injury and no feeling in his arms or legs. He's now in intensive care after surgery to remove a disk that was placing pressure on his spinal cord. I've been thinking about him everyday and wish him a speedy recovery.


Scratch Continued
I don't know how you feel after a crash, but my nerves were fried and my enthusiasm dimmed. Getting right back on the horse is all you can do. They gave us about nine more laps after the track cleared.I vowed to attack hard if the same sketchy, silliness continued. Some of the guys had the same idea and they flew off the start. I ended up 4th.

Miss'n'Out
When I was riding around the warm-up ring, John Cheetham reminded my about not getting caught in the sprinter's lane for this one. So, what did I do? Move right into that spot, where I promptly got pulled on the first lap. Doh!!! I haven't done too many Miss'n'Outs in my short track career and it's been at least a year since the last one. File this one away and move on.

Points
I feel most comfortable after racing points on Tuesdays with Larry last summer, even as math-challenged as I am. I pulled off some great efforts got 3rd in our remaining tiny field of C's riders.


Musings

• This really was "getting ready for summer" for us. The logistics weren't quite dialed in. I was happy to do my first Keirin and be held on the track for the first time (thanks to uber-holder Andreas Vogel for excellent holding with added coaching).
• I have strong legs this year and feel like I can get my track upgrade. Part of me wanted to race the B's after the crash, but I want to get points and the elusive "W". I got 6th overall in the omnium, but know that I could have gotten better without blowing it in the Miss'n'Out. I missed the podium by one spot.
• Even though the crash was terrible, I still feel that track racing is no more dangerous than any other type of bike racing. It was a fairly rare thing.
  
• I still get a major kick out of the track. It's a fertile growing environment physically, mentally and socially. Also, Facebook has been a great way to network, keep in touch with old friends and meet new ones in the cycling community.I can't wait to get back!
• After six races my legs feel pretty beat up!
  

Movin' on Up

Saturday, February 28,2009
Merco Criterium: Women's 3/4

Dino and I left home around 5am for the two hour drive down 99. After checking in, I did the same hard warm-up on the trainer beforehand that I used before the Cal Aggie Crit. I used to be afraid of wasting my energy and tiring my legs out, but have learned that a good warm-up prepares the body for any hard efforts off the line. I saw bella-fella Tyler W. and he gave me a good talk through of the course.

It was my first time on the course and I was a little surprised that nobody wanted to do a free lap to inspect it. Was position that important with such wide open roads? I had no problem moving up quickly. It was easy to outmaneuver girls through the fun little schwoopy corners with barriers.



We had a good field of crafty 3/4 women and plenty of active teams. There was one obvious strength in a solo girl sponsored by Whole Foods. She was off the front and in front the whole time. I stayed right on her tail an tried to keep anything from getting away. In the first couple of laps I was stuck in no-woman's land after a prime sprint and I bridged up to the two girls in front. One of the girls wasn't going to work with her teammates back in the field and we sat up. Attacks came from several different teams including Colavita and Roaring Mouse.

When it came down to the final lap, I maintained my good position. After the final corner several things happened in retrospect: I should have shifted to one harder gear and got out of the saddle, I waited too long before sprinting all out, and I should have let the teams do more work since I was solo. We were placed separately so I think I ended up 7th in the 3s (official results aren't out yet). I got a little $ for lunch on the way home.

Despite that I am really happy with myself. I felt in control of the race and kept a really good position. I felt really strong (a good indication of things to come). The high end sprinting will come with spring/summer and track racing! It amazes me how far women's racing has come in just the last couple of years. The speed and skill level has definitely increased. This is a race I want to do again.

Cal Aggie Cry-tier-ee-um

Last Saturday was the first race of the season for me. I was much more mentally prepared than last year. Dino has been focusing my workouts on speed-work and convinced me to do a harder warm-up. It was nice to race later in the day with the 1/2/3's. We had a nice little safe field of 26ish. Teammate Soni and I spent the first lap up front at a reasonable pace. From there on, it's like a song that got faster and louder. My old friend Mary (Vanderkitten) controlled a lot of the race-- toying with us really. I watched her draw people out by hammering up front and getting a little gap, just watching who would follow. I tried to stay on her tail-- She could have led me out for a prime but she was just too fast! It was suprising that she didn't take it in the end. She ended up 2nd to Cal Aggie Amanda. Touchstone looked strong with Kelly and Carol contesting the prime sprints. I ended up 10th place. I was very happy with that. Good times!

When Dino analyzed my power files later, I had gotten all personal bests (except for 1 second watts). He raised my threshold by 20 watts. A big jump! Amazing after being off my bike for a week with a stupid chest cold. It re-inspires me to work hard and look forward to a good season.

Stats: Average Speed- 23, Normalized (average) power 244 for 50 minutes

Rubbed the Wrong Way

Yesterday was quite interesting. When the river ride rolled out, it was obvious that racing was going to start soon-- I could almost smell the testosterone in the air. It was one big swirly pack and there wasn't much wind to boot. My friends Heather and Jenn showed up-- a nice treat to have other ladies in the peloton, although I do tend to get more competative. It's good practice marking someone!

Things were great until after the first sprint. On the way back through the big bend my quads started to ache and my breathing became labored. It didn't make sense considering how good I've felt lately. Maybe I rode too hard on Thursday? Maybe my lack of sleep was catching up with me? It kept getting harder and harder until I couldn't match the efforts of the pack and drifted off the back. I turned right to catch back onto the group in the inner loop and failed to keep up with them.

I was pretty upset and confused. Yeah, I got teary eyed and had to try not to beat myself up too much. Soon, I was pushing over 200 watts just to go 15mph. There wasn't any wind. Hmmm... Strange. I heard a hissing sound. I stopped and realized that BOTH BRAKES were fully engaged. My hoods had finally slipped forward so much that they pulled the brake cables, keeping the brakes in the on position. It probably accumulated over time, hitting all of the lovely potholes on the garden highway. Boy, I felt relieved and a little frustrated.


Col du Galibier

Blown Away

Okay, so I've looked at my schmarmy "price on joy" title for too long now-- I just haven't had much to say. Last Saturday's River Ride was a Belgian's Delight-- which means hang on for dear life. The North wind's a'blowin'! I have had to learn to ride elbows out in the gutter fighting for a wheel like a lamb on it's momma's teat. The pain is enough to cry for your mommy. There are some people I've heard in the peloton that say "I love it when it's like that!" Posh-- those are the type who can crank out 400+ watts for a long time. The wind is a "selective" factor (for those of you that don't know selective= you are going to get your ass kicked if you aren't really strong or skilled. I remember racing in the Martinez Crit in the rain a few years ago, which is technical. People were getting shelled left and right and the announcer says "This is a selective course." Uh, yeah). The bright spot is that in the past getting dropped meant never seeing another soul. This time I was with 20 odd wankers who went straight. I looked around and thought, "hey, these be some strong peeps!" Maybe I'm stronger.

I hope it isn't as windy this Saturday.

You can't put a price on joy.

After a hectic couple of weeks running around Christmas shopping, I was starting to feel worn down by the holiday more than anything else. Saturday seemed far removed from that, however. On that day, a special group of people gathered at Steve Rex Cycles to have a raffle for not just one but two of Steve's custom hand-made bikes.

Steve was badly injured last month on the River Ride, suffering a horribly fractured hip and elbow, an especially terrible thing for someone who makes a living on his feet. To make maters worse, his teenage daughter tripped into a campfire, getting 2nd degree burns on her arms. Dave Burke of Rio Strada Racing got a great idea a few weeks ago to have a raffle for one of Steve's bikes. The idea was to sell tickets for $10 a pop. Anything in excess of the $2500 grand prize would go to the family. He had no idea how big it would get! The raffle raised almost $30,000!

Before we drew the names at the raffle, Steve and his wife, Peggy, said a few words. He talked about how he was overwhelmed by the response from people. Peggy talked about how it made the last 20 years of his work seemed validated. To me it seemed really simple. You can't put a price on joy. A beautiful custom built bike makes joy in a person's life. Think of all of the happiness he has created for people, not just by making nice bikes, but by being a good person--someone down-to-earth who listens and creates. It's only karma paying him back. Now if that isn't a Merry Christmas, I don't know what one is.