Sunday, April 16, 2006
Rick Newhouse Memorial - Ningret Part II
First off, what a difference a week makes. This Saturday's warm sunny weather was in stark contrast to last weeks chilling showers and made for much more hospitable racing conditions.
Second, have you ever had one of those race mornings? You know how you are really supposed to do your bike maintenance the night or even day before race day? Well, didn't happen. I got down to the basement early (for me that is) on Saturday morning planning to switch wheels, make some quick adjustments, check bolts, and lube the chain. All was well until the chain lubing; I had at least 5 stiff links thanks to last Saturday's soaking. Loosening and splicing wasn't working, so I had to run to 2 LBS's in order to find a replacement and arrived at Ningret with 15 min before the 30+ race.
I arrived and immediately threw on shorts, pulled out the bike, threw the wheels on and pulled the old chain. Thankfully, Wade spotted me and was able to run over to registration and grab my number. Meanwhile, I broke the new chain to length and threaded it through. Wade had pinned my number on my jersey and I finished suiting up just in time to make the start line!
After that excitement, the beginning of the race was almost anticlimactic. I figured I was actually going to try and follow Matt's advice this week, so I spent most of the first half of the race sitting in. There were several larger break attempts some of which Wade was covering, but none of which proved good enough to go away. Somewhere beyond mid-race, a largish break had formed along with a small split to a chase group. Wade was sitting in and I was feeling good, so, out went the conserve energy plan (yes Matt, another "told you so" moment). I worked to get into the chase group and looked for opportunities to bridge up. We did manage to catch onto the break, but it was not meant to be and the main pack came back together shortly thereafter.
Once we hit the countdown at 6 to go, I figured on keeping up in the front to maintain position for the sprint. At just under five to go, I was in good position when Tyler Munroe launched an attack. I couldn't resist and jumped on his wheel. We again did not get sufficiently clear and I had burned a bit much late in the game ("told you so moment #2"). I regrouped back in mid pack and sat in 'til 2 to go to recover. At 2 to go, I started fighting back up towards the front. By the last lap I was getting into decent position and on the 4th and 3rd to last turns I moved up to the point where I could grab a number of choices of wheels.
The pack mushroomed out in anticipation of the sprint just after the left hand turn behind the trees. Suddenly chaos erupted on the right side with all the sounds of metal on metal/pavement/etc. you don't want to hear. A major pile-up was happening and spreading from right to left. I managed to barely avoid the crash with an out on the left side, but the leaders ahead of the crash had an unsurmountable 1-2 sec gap and drove accordingly. I pushed for 1st in what there was of a chase and pulled in just out of the money at 11th.
I learned after the fact (from Wade) that he had been caught up in the crash. Though, by landing on someone else was relatively cushioned (except for a nice handlebar imprint over his kidney). Thankfully, though there was lots of road rash, no-one went to the hospital. Wade said Bill Yarbroudy was worse off with a bad shot to the knee.
The Cat 4 race got started without fanfare and this time I committed to following the conserve energy and maintain good placing in the pack strategy. I felt very comfortable in the race and was able to do some assessment of the other riders during the race. With under 5 to go I started getting set up for the sprint, keeping close to the rider I thought was strongest (3rd place finisher from last week) and a few other sprinter types. I was feeling nice an relaxed and getting psyched for the sprint.
With under two to go, plans instantly changed. The rider I felt was good for the win attacked on the back stretch, and I made the split second decision to catch his wheel. I pulled through from the trees to the start finish line, but as the other rider pulled through, he gapped me into the two really sharp left handers. I could not regain his wheel and tried to reintegrate into the pack.
At this point, my legs were burnt from the 30+ race and this late effort. I couldn't maintain placement in the sprint and filtered back to 20th. In retrospect, I should have known that I'd put in enough efforts already that I wouldn't be able to hold the wheel. The safer bet would have been to sprint for 2nd. However, I just knew that I was following the right wheel and got caught in the moment.
The best thing about Saturday's races is that I have finally lost the lurking apprehension I had through most of last season after the crash. I finally felt really comfortable in the pack and felt I was able to move about pretty much at will. Now all I need is a bit more wisdom to improve my finishes!
Second, have you ever had one of those race mornings? You know how you are really supposed to do your bike maintenance the night or even day before race day? Well, didn't happen. I got down to the basement early (for me that is) on Saturday morning planning to switch wheels, make some quick adjustments, check bolts, and lube the chain. All was well until the chain lubing; I had at least 5 stiff links thanks to last Saturday's soaking. Loosening and splicing wasn't working, so I had to run to 2 LBS's in order to find a replacement and arrived at Ningret with 15 min before the 30+ race.
I arrived and immediately threw on shorts, pulled out the bike, threw the wheels on and pulled the old chain. Thankfully, Wade spotted me and was able to run over to registration and grab my number. Meanwhile, I broke the new chain to length and threaded it through. Wade had pinned my number on my jersey and I finished suiting up just in time to make the start line!
After that excitement, the beginning of the race was almost anticlimactic. I figured I was actually going to try and follow Matt's advice this week, so I spent most of the first half of the race sitting in. There were several larger break attempts some of which Wade was covering, but none of which proved good enough to go away. Somewhere beyond mid-race, a largish break had formed along with a small split to a chase group. Wade was sitting in and I was feeling good, so, out went the conserve energy plan (yes Matt, another "told you so" moment). I worked to get into the chase group and looked for opportunities to bridge up. We did manage to catch onto the break, but it was not meant to be and the main pack came back together shortly thereafter.
Once we hit the countdown at 6 to go, I figured on keeping up in the front to maintain position for the sprint. At just under five to go, I was in good position when Tyler Munroe launched an attack. I couldn't resist and jumped on his wheel. We again did not get sufficiently clear and I had burned a bit much late in the game ("told you so moment #2"). I regrouped back in mid pack and sat in 'til 2 to go to recover. At 2 to go, I started fighting back up towards the front. By the last lap I was getting into decent position and on the 4th and 3rd to last turns I moved up to the point where I could grab a number of choices of wheels.
The pack mushroomed out in anticipation of the sprint just after the left hand turn behind the trees. Suddenly chaos erupted on the right side with all the sounds of metal on metal/pavement/etc. you don't want to hear. A major pile-up was happening and spreading from right to left. I managed to barely avoid the crash with an out on the left side, but the leaders ahead of the crash had an unsurmountable 1-2 sec gap and drove accordingly. I pushed for 1st in what there was of a chase and pulled in just out of the money at 11th.
I learned after the fact (from Wade) that he had been caught up in the crash. Though, by landing on someone else was relatively cushioned (except for a nice handlebar imprint over his kidney). Thankfully, though there was lots of road rash, no-one went to the hospital. Wade said Bill Yarbroudy was worse off with a bad shot to the knee.
The Cat 4 race got started without fanfare and this time I committed to following the conserve energy and maintain good placing in the pack strategy. I felt very comfortable in the race and was able to do some assessment of the other riders during the race. With under 5 to go I started getting set up for the sprint, keeping close to the rider I thought was strongest (3rd place finisher from last week) and a few other sprinter types. I was feeling nice an relaxed and getting psyched for the sprint.
With under two to go, plans instantly changed. The rider I felt was good for the win attacked on the back stretch, and I made the split second decision to catch his wheel. I pulled through from the trees to the start finish line, but as the other rider pulled through, he gapped me into the two really sharp left handers. I could not regain his wheel and tried to reintegrate into the pack.
At this point, my legs were burnt from the 30+ race and this late effort. I couldn't maintain placement in the sprint and filtered back to 20th. In retrospect, I should have known that I'd put in enough efforts already that I wouldn't be able to hold the wheel. The safer bet would have been to sprint for 2nd. However, I just knew that I was following the right wheel and got caught in the moment.
The best thing about Saturday's races is that I have finally lost the lurking apprehension I had through most of last season after the crash. I finally felt really comfortable in the pack and felt I was able to move about pretty much at will. Now all I need is a bit more wisdom to improve my finishes!
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