As the crank turns… tales of life on the rims

Quick Wrap-up

Too much to cover and a lot of work to do today.

We finally got our chance for cake during the last crit of Fall Fling. In the end, when you're a cat 4, cake is all that matters.

We went into the last crit with a formidable team. The fact that it was the last crit of the season and that we had a rider going for overall (Tim) meant we could have some fun.

MJH2, RR, Myself, and Eric were to have all the fun we could. MJH and myself were to attack early and hard just for poops and giggles. If anyone burned some calories following us then so be it. If there were any primes it was MJH that was going to be the man.

Then RR, MJH and Myself were to block, cover moves, etc. as necessary in support.

Raviv and Justin were to protect Tim. Raviv marked Whiple...and marked him hard. Justin rode for TQ - always within arms length.

Simply the races had been too slow in this series so far. Leading to too many people in the final sprint who didn't belong (myself included). We wanted to ratchet it up and shed some of the less fit in hopes of delivering TQ to the final sprint with hopefully a smaller crowd.

Eric was our hidden card. The guy has a engine. Typical "Try"-athlete in that he can sit alone off the front and just power all day long. It's hard as hell to hold his wheel. We talked before the race and deided to use him twice - First time about 15 minutes in. He would hit it hard and fast with the intent of coming back to the pack to recover then to launch again in another 10 mintues.

Well early on it was nice. I was 3rd or 4th wheel for the first lap or two. We had been going kind of hard and I could see people struggling. I was second wheel when the guy pulling pulled off shattered and everyone was hurting. I decided it was time for me to give it a go....so I did. I went coming out of the crosswind section when people were still getting a feel for the tailwind and the gearing to use. I nailed it and got a substantial gap. I looked down and was going something like 33-35 up into the traffic circle on the back side.

I just don't have the engine and everyone knows that but it was fun and it did keep the higher pace on in the pack. I didn't make it a lap.....meh

Next MJH nailed it when I got back. Great move and kept the pace up as people wanted to relax. Then there were a few other attacks. There had just been a big one that was coming back and everyone was hurting and still inthe headwind. I looked for Eric to go, but he held on. It was only 10 minutes in.

At the pre-decided time Eric went. Man he went. He ended up out there and looking good. Someon joined him then myself and RR and MJH took turns going to the front and either disrupting the pace or blocking. Nothing overt, hell I even told one guy flat out when he looked for me to pull through - "I gotta guy in the break. I'm not going to work."

He stayed away for a long time. A few riders bridged up to him, but as they kind of gave up the ghost in the break and started coming back Eric hit the gas again...attacking the break. Fabulous.

Keep your eye on Eric folks. He's a tremendous talent.

Well not too long after that they announced the cake prime. That had us written all over it. As we rolled around to the line I looked up to see Eric and those away coming back into the fold. We actually had a chance to sprint for the prime. As I was thinking that a guy behind me said, "someone has to sprint for this thing."

Like a douche I went. He jumped on my wheel and came around me easily. I didn't get the cake, and MJH says I ended up boxing him in - not my intent.

BTW - ABD - cake - great touch! I propose that there always be a cake prime in Cat 4 races. Let it be known that cat 4 is the cake cat.

Everything else worked out. Raviv had marked Whiple HARD. You'd have to ask him if it made a difference but I think it did. Raviv said Whiple ended up in the wind a ton because of it.

We served Tim up to the sprint and he took it over Whiple at the line winning the series and the final race. All were in agreement it was the most fun crit we have ever raced. It was definitely the best example we had of deploying team tactics.

i was off and in the car to dekalb. I changed and refueled along the way. When we pulled in I jumped out of the car and grabbed the bike offthe back. I rolled up and into the grid just in time for a good position. Perfect timing.

The start was great. I love physical racing. I got a decent one considering. Muscled a few guys out of the way and ran over at least one guy on the ground (his bike...not him). From there my legs just kind of looked at me with a big "FU" look. I was feeling the crit.

I slowly lost every position I gained on the start. Pretty soon I was racing alone. That course was long. Too long if you ask me. I did poorly but to be honest I just don't feel like 30 minutes is a long enough race anymore. My engine just doesn't get going until about 20 minutes in. If I had another 10 minutes I might have picked up 1 or 2 riders but I would probably also had been lapped....

Totally poor performance from me, but about what was to be expected with all the racing I had done in the previous 2 days.

So....now it's cross all the time. I saw Slim_77 and Beverly Bob in the 4b's. Bob is sandbagging it for sure. He should be in the a's - suffering at the back with me. Slim_77 - if he gets addicted, should also be in the a's just simply due to his stellar fitness.

Supergirl made and appearance as well. The wrist is still not 100% and 'she' claims she can't race yet.....but I believe there was a sighting on the course during the 4b's. I could be mistaken though . Too bad part of being a superhero includes a secret identity.

I high-tailed it out of there and got back...ate some pizza and had 2 beers and passed out. Waking up in time to go to work this morning.

Tonight - wheels, running, weights. Tomorrow...cross ride.