Coming into this race I really wanted to place in the top 10. For some reason this year it has been really elusive for me to do so. Why was it my first year racing I could place in the top ten easier than it is now. I am more knowledgeable and stronger than I have ever been but to place is hard. It is a question I am asking all the time. Why is it hard to crack the top 20 for that matter. So today I really wanted to fucking break the cycle.
I got to reston with time to get in a good half hour warm up. My legs felt great. The last few weeks they just did not seem to be firing on all cylinders. Even at TOWC they just seemed to lag. At greenbelt they just felt blah. Thursday something seemed to snap them out of it. I felt pretty good.
I got to the line kind of late. For some reason reston does not worry me where you start in the 3's race. I can get to the front in the first lap every time I do the race. I shoot down the right hand side on the down hill. Never fails. Guys always seem to be trying to catch their breath even on the first lap. So I started near the back and was like 20th from the first lap on. Great
The race went uneventful. I put in some digs and bridged up to Ryan Simpson. Ryan was just motoring and would just ride away from the pack. WTF guys were just letting him go. I did not want that to happen so I would work to catch up to him. Heres something I tried doing more than most guys in the 3/4 race. I bridged up without bringing up the whole pack. Why would I want anyone else sharing in my work. It seems thats what 1,2 riders do. Why work for the guys behind you. I just wish I could attack when we were already doing 30 mph like the 1,2,3s do.
I was comfortable with my position most of the race. I had no problems getting around. My plan was to just nail it with 1 to go. The thing I have noticed about reston is there is this surge in 3/4 racing in the last few laps when guys get antsy and blow their wad trying to get to the front with 3-4 laps to go. I noticed being in the top ten is actually hard at reston because the guys on the front like the front 5-7 are always cooked by the time the last lap comes along. I was sitting about 12th on the down hill and inbetween turns 4-5 about 5 guys come flying by me to rush the front. No problem except a couple of these knuckle heads decided to lay down their bikes in front of me. I had no where to go except into the curb. Scrubed speed and crashed. Race over. I ended up pulling the muscle in my calf. Damn it I had some matches left and was about to just book it. Because I know a lot of guys already used their matches trying to get there spot where I was going to use mine to overcome them right after the start finish line with one to go.
There was some sketchy riding for sure. I did not understand why some riders wanted to go through turn 5 3 wide. What was to gain their. You should move up on the straights. Guys were doing it worse on turn 7 and we would almost come to a stop in the top 10 wtf. A 540 rider was notoriously doing this every lap. Like wtf dude. Move up on the fucking straights like I was every lap to get around you. Oh well that is racing I suppose.
I put in some strong efforts this race. I raced positively. I wished I could have gotten a result.
-1,2,3 Race
My goal for this race was to just to try and hold on for as long as I could. It was like 7 laps in when I got pulled. I was not struggling all that much but was defeated by my mind. The rain earlier made some spots slick. I was having trouble keeping my rear wheel down in turn 6 for some reason. I think it was I kept applying a lot of pressure when I accelerated out of that turn would cause me to fish tail a little. Every lap. Making me nervous as hell. Ramon started yelling at me at what the hell was I doing. I was trying to not take such of an aggressive line so I would not have that problem. I just felt uncomfortable and went to the back.
I figured I would tail gun it and shut small gaps down. For being a big field it was so much smoother than the 3 race. I was not having any problems sitting there. I sat back there for about 3 laps then 3 haymarket guys exploded right after I passed an ncvc rider who popped. Ok I was making ground to catch back on and then a saroff rider took the corner wide bringing me way out. My race was over. Damn. I felt pretty good but could not jump hard enough to catch the back of the pack. My mind was still getting played with on turn 6. Just wish I would have taken more air out of my rear tire because it was not enough. I am just glad I did not crash again.
-------
Luckily the season is only half way over and I can make some adjustments to my racing. I have to. I am going to keep my chin up. I really want to perform to the best of my abilities when it counts. I do group rides and am one of the fastest riders most of the time. But I would love to come to a race and just put down and seal the deal like wahl or elliot has been doing. Or just to place in the top 5 again. Like I have said I have done it 3 times this year but that has not been for 2 months. I just gotta keep at it I guess. People say I ride strong. Today I do not think I rode stupid, if I did, I would not know it.
.png){kind=logo}
Posts
13 comments:
I didnt think the cat 3 race was that messy. Especially for a cat 3 and cat 4 race. I didnt find it appreciably different than the 35+ race.
maybe I'm just so messy that I dont notice it around me.
I agree. Considering it was 36 laps on an 8-corner course (288 corners!), it didn't go off that badly. And I thought the corners were the best place to make up ground, if you were confident enough to take them at speed and roll by the guys scrubbing off speed. By jumping at the top of the downhill and just staying off the brakes, I'd routinely make up 10-12 positions in corners 3, 4 and 5 alone (only to give them all back on the uphill chicane...).
I will admit it was one of the best races so far this year on bike handling. I would go on the inside on turn 3 all the time. The one thing I did not like was being passed mostly on the outside going into turn 5 when I already had 2 guys on my inside. As long as you are jumping to fill a hole, I have no problem but when your forcing yourself in is another story in my opinion. Thats what was happening on turn 7 causing guys to stop a few times.
Mike I watched you because you did went around me twice jumping infront of the guy in front of me, you were not bad at it because you kept your speed and hopped in a open spot. A few others were different. Haha, I am bitching for the sake of bitching probably.
Sorry guys.
I'll answer that first question of yours. The higher you climb the ladder, the harder success will come. That's because the other guys your racing with are more closely matched to you and/or better. Think of Cat 5 as the base of a pyramid and Pro as the tip. You had success at the lowest level because to pool was huge and in spite of your limiters you were better than most. There are still guys in that big pool at the bottom (guys like me) that either don't have what it takes, lack the drive to do any better, or just don't really want care if they get beyond cat 4. Seeing as I've been a Cat 4 for the last 12 seasons, I'm probably in the last category. However, my story is more about squandered opportunity than anything else. Now that I'm 46, it's just not that important right now. Any how, the pyramid scenario is true in just about any sports from auto racing to football. It's just a fact of life. While the potential exists in all of us to rise above our limiters and be better than what we think we can be, one a few of us really do it. And of those few even fewer still have what it takes to go all the way. Keep at it. You have youth and time on your side.
Yeah, nobody wants to see someone show up in front of them going into a corner, but if a guy is going slower and leaves a spot, and I can fill that spot without having to brake, I'm going to. It's smarter racing since I'm able to maintain my speed, and it's also safer because whoever is following me doesn't need to grab their brakes either. The best way to keep guys from coming by you in the turns is to simply go faster through them yourself - if guys can't do that, they'll give up places to the guys who can. Just as Levi. The dude corners like he's on a beach cruiser.
Thanks John. Yeah I started back up as a cat 4 racing against some of the same guys I did back then. If I stayed a 4 right now I am sure I would be racing pretty well seeing my speed has come up. I just did not like the way the races came out.
I will stick with it. Believe me I do enjoy this sport as much as I bitch about things. IT is when things go your way it is the sweetest sensation. If it came too easy I am sure I would not do it.
Haha he is horrible. I think that is one thing that is bad about guys in the mabra scene is the cornering. I am sure I do screw up myself, but one thing I know is how to corner. When in california I would descend down some pretty good hills with my wife following and I would lose her while she was driving the car. THat was one reason why I liked climbing was the descents.
As for yesterday, I would not want to go in front of anymore guys on the descents because that would mean I would be in the very front. And in the wind. For the first time this year I think I held postiion pretty well. Not like some of the other races we have done where I am in the back.
Mike did you win that personal training preme also? Because your a preme winning machine this year.
Yeah, I punked it. Or is it pimped it. Or pwned? WTF is pwned anyway? I bet Gregoire Le Faber knows.
Maybe I'll use my personal training to learn how to hang on for more than half a lap after I win a preme.
I would go for premes but this year I am afraid I wont recover enough to get back in the pack.
Kyle, for better or worse, this sport attracts the masochist in us - it's really the challenge that makes our moments of success so sweet. If it were easy, we wouldn't value those (fleeting) moments when things finally click. Keep at it ... remember where you started and how far you've come.
Kyle -
you aren't racing scrubs. look back at past years and see how much more of a complete bike racer you are. You are still in your 20's, so you've got some muscle still to gain. Lots more good still to come...
I think that there should be an open forum that all racers are required to attend. There is no racing school or required racer training and the officials' little speech at the beginning of races is not enough. Especially in the cornering arena. In just about every kind of racing (except Nascar where everything seems to go) the rule is the rider in the front of you has the right of way until you cleanly establish position in front of him. That being said, dive-bombing is not the proper way to make a pass in a turn. You should establish position ahead of the apex allowing the overtaken rider a clear visual of your front wheel before you are both fully committed. The responsiblity of the leading rider (and everyone else for that matter) is to maintain a clean consistant line.
Right and the flying carpet I am currently on hopefully wont lose fuel ,..but really human need for speed would never allow for such a rule to be heeded. Nice though ..,u must use extra sensory perception and elbows of cunning skill,..! yes there is sometimes the kamikazee out there but hopefully he will have already gotten in his final mission before this point in the season.
Post a Comment