Monday, July 16, 2007
A Tale of 2 Crities
Don't know if I'll ever get this Crit thing figured out. Of course if I was just stronger, smarter, better looking and more fit than everybody it would be easy. But lo and behold, that just isn't the case on any count.
The Saturday Tour de Port Critie was just as herky jerky as I've ever seen. Brakes into the turns (sometimes even in the middle of the bumpy straight), then AXE-cellarate (said in your best Phil "the pill" Liggett voice) your butt off onto every straight. This was getting tiresome, so I said the heck with it and took off around the 5th lap. Was nice hitting the turns at speed. After 1/2 lap I flew the elbow, eased up, had 2 guys in tow with a 3-4 length gap. Said lets go, no one did. Not like I coulda lasted anyway, but woulda been fun to blow up tryin'. Back to the pack, which was getting smaller as time went on. Somewhere around 3 or 4 to go (hard to say as we actually did "2 laps to go" twice - seems they forgot to flip the lap counter) someone hit it hard going into the first straight. I got caught in a bad position, had to bridge up through 3-4 others that were dropping off, and popped. Finished the last few laps with a nice young kid from BikeWorks, who, I later found out, had won one of the junior classes. WTG. FiremanJohn (FJ) rode well to a top ten even with a broken rear der cable on the last few laps.
Was very happy there were no crashes, that's always a good thing.
Took some photos of the PRO123 race. Glad this one (--->) turned out. Realized while standing around squinting into the sun just how hot it had become.
Why are finish lines always backlit?
Waited for the guys (pic from Portsmouth) to come around the finish, didn't see Bill or Tim. Both had great position at the bell. SpeedyBill coasts across the line and says TurboTim went down in the last turn. Some dude hit the turn WAY too fast, rolled a tubular, and took out some guys. Through the bedlam it looked like skinney Steve (the Manimal) nabbed a good finish.
The Saturday Tour de Port Critie was just as herky jerky as I've ever seen. Brakes into the turns (sometimes even in the middle of the bumpy straight), then AXE-cellarate (said in your best Phil "the pill" Liggett voice) your butt off onto every straight. This was getting tiresome, so I said the heck with it and took off around the 5th lap. Was nice hitting the turns at speed. After 1/2 lap I flew the elbow, eased up, had 2 guys in tow with a 3-4 length gap. Said lets go, no one did. Not like I coulda lasted anyway, but woulda been fun to blow up tryin'. Back to the pack, which was getting smaller as time went on. Somewhere around 3 or 4 to go (hard to say as we actually did "2 laps to go" twice - seems they forgot to flip the lap counter) someone hit it hard going into the first straight. I got caught in a bad position, had to bridge up through 3-4 others that were dropping off, and popped. Finished the last few laps with a nice young kid from BikeWorks, who, I later found out, had won one of the junior classes. WTG. FiremanJohn (FJ) rode well to a top ten even with a broken rear der cable on the last few laps.Was very happy there were no crashes, that's always a good thing.Took some photos of the PRO123 race. Glad this one (--->) turned out. Realized while standing around squinting into the sun just how hot it had become.
Why are finish lines always backlit?
Chesapeake Critie Center -
Waiting for the Cat4 guys to finish so we could get a practice lap or 2 in, there was a wicked wreck on the main straight past the finish line. Looked like it took out 6-10 guys. One dude was instantly bloody and from a distance looked like he broke his leg. Nope, nobreak, "just" bloody. Shawn emerged from the melee unscathed.
Waited for the guys (pic from Portsmouth) to come around the finish, didn't see Bill or Tim. Both had great position at the bell. SpeedyBill coasts across the line and says TurboTim went down in the last turn. Some dude hit the turn WAY too fast, rolled a tubular, and took out some guys. Through the bedlam it looked like skinney Steve (the Manimal) nabbed a good finish. Heal quick Tim.
2 wrecks is not quite the kind of thing you wanna see while waiting for your race to start. In TOTAL contrast to yesterday, today's pace was wide open from the word GO. Redlined by the first turn. That strung us out and made it safe. FJ made the selection, I didn't, and sat in a poorly organized second group, which eventually splintered into pieces. Mark (first pic above on the right) worked with me a bunch (read - ground me into dust) on the last laps. 'Preciate it. At least the race was safe with no crashes. It was VERY hot out. Had to draw down multiple lines of credit for some cooling EYE-Talian Ice. Thanks to the hip-hobbled Dawg for the photos.
Funny thing about Crits - As agonizing and intense as they get, as soon as they're over, it's gone, and I want to go again. (BJ picture)
Albe rode well and has some write-ups here.
RideOn
JB
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That's because I was gasping for oxygen. That's a great pic of Bill, Tim and I on the front. I'm stealing it.
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