I had fun

Way too much fun. With a tiny bit of frustration tossed in on Saturday.

To start off Kailey finished second overall in the kids race and was the first girl, she loved her new bike with all the gears. Before Saturday she was staying away from "3" on the left (big chain ring) but she spent the day riding around the track and outside the track in it. She started slow but picked kids off one by one. She was still closing the gap on 1st when they crossed the line. Pretty proud moment.

After that it was Daddy's turn to hit the oval. The 3/4 race was up first and I will admit to being slightly intimidated, there were some fast and fit looking dudes warming up. And yeah, I know looks are deceiving. Just ask anyone in the cat 4 35+ race.

45 minutes of going around a 1/2 mile track. sounds pretty boring i guess. but well, i had some bitching wicked fun doing it. Raced very conservatively. Stayed out of the wind as much as possible. Found myself pretty much always on the inside near the yellow line or in the middle. Even sitting in the draft it was a fast race. Attacks all the time. A few people got away for a lap or two but every break was brought back. I would move up and back, feeling pretty fluid and comfortable moving around in the group. One super sketchy guy that got chewed out by a Cambridge guy, that was entertaining. I thought I was going to explode and fall off the back in the first 5 laps or so but suddenly it wasn't so hard. Cambridge did a but load of work, HUPster Jeff got a good break there at the end but him and the other guy weren't able to hold off a charging Keltic rider (who towed the whole field up with him). I raced a boring lazy race (but it was anything but for me). Moving up and around but hung around in the back for the last 5-10 laps.

There was a slight slowing going into the final lap, i moved up about 1/2 way going into turn one, then coming out of turn two (really only one turn but it is a nascar track they have 4 corners even in an oval), someone fired the afterburners. Down into the hooks, holding my place but staying out of the wind as much as I could, hugging the yellow line. Heading into turn 3 they were crowding up behind a bit and then out of turn 4 some had gone up hill to try the slingshot but the front opened up and just as I had thought it would, i was left with a perfectly open shot along the yellow line to the finish. I was already spinning the 53x12 and I jumped with everyone, full gas, and holy shit I was passing people, dig deeper, this wasn't hurting at all, awesome there are only a few people in front of me and I'm going faster than anyone else...

BANG CLATTER swoosh CLATTER swoosh... can't be... yes... broken spoke - i knew that feeling all too well... keep pedaling... tire was rubbing wicked hard on the chainstay and brake pad every rev.

I managed to hang on and get a 13th place finish. No broken spoke and I think I probably could have managed a top 5 at least. Even a top ten would have been a victory. As it is - I am happy the way the race went.

And then the wait began for race #2. The 3/4 race had 35 or 36 people in it. The biggest field of the day. The Cat 4 35+ was a small one. 10-15 maybe? And it started to sprinkle at the start. And soon it turned into a Noah deluge. And we kept pouring it on. The race was pretty damn fast. MRC was attacking constantly with 4 guys there, the pair of Quad guys were taking turns attacking the pair of NEBC guys were too. I had intended to take the race a bit like the first and just hang on for the end. But I started getting in the front, taking a pull or two in the rain, tried a sprint for a Prime (was 3rd or 4th) pulled back a break, wound up in a break with 3 of the MRC guys, but I didn't know it was a break until after the race when my team mate said we had over 4 seconds before he started to work to bring the break back. That pissed me off. His logic was 1st that the would work me over, and second, well, he didn't want to miss out on the fun. I'm still a bit miffed by that. Sumbitch couldn't just block a little and let the strongest team tow the biggest guy in the field around? Oh well. At least I have the satisfaction to know that it was my pull at the front that initiated the break. There was a really short little guy there riding a 20 year old road bike with down tube shifters wearing casual clipless shoes and a cotton like jersey and an equally old almost no vent helmet. He was spinning like a washing machine. But he was smooth and steady. He went off on one attack covered by MRC, but brought back after a lap. At the finish i had worked way too much, burned too many matches over the day and I think I had too much fluid between races (stomach felt funny all race), and when I went to sprint... well the tank was empty and I just mailed it in, i mean i just coasted in across the line. Satisfied with the fun I had racing tight and hard and intensely. There was thunder and lighting all around us (lighting was far enough away). As it was the 25 lap race was shortened a bit but man alive it was fun. Anytime ya started getting cold just stick a leg in the wheel spray of the guy in front and the water from the track was super heated from the brilliant sun and 80+ temps just before the clouds rolled in.

Super fun. I like this flat boring non-technical stuff. It's good for big fat guys like me (still solidly a clydesdale).

My wife made the comment comparing me and Nate (team mate who rode the cat 4 U35 and 3/4 race) the sponsor logo is 3x bigger across my ass than on his. No wonder he kicks my ass on the hills on the Mark Nicholson Memorial Smack Down on tuesday nights.

Speaking of Mark. About 30 minutes before the start, just after the tallest freak left the track, I was talking with Darcy. The one and only Darcy. She hadn't heard about the passing of Nicholson yet. And I broke down completely telling her and filling her in. I was hazy with the dates and specifics but got it pretty close, it was very emotional. I had to stop talking many many times to try and keep my voice coherent. we were both in tears. She said she never knew that he even had brain cancer at all, never knew that 5 years ago he was told 99% of patients with his diagnosis die within a year.

Tomorrow is the Memorial Smack Down ride. With the TT not running on Thursday due to the holiday and Fitchburg competition it looks like i should be able to make it. I'm still down two busted spoked rear wheels. But I pulled the wheel off the croll. not going to do the disc on the Q-pro anymore. I did some measuring and the P-mount's bars are 3 cm lower than the Q-P and the bb is 3-4 cm lower. And for a huge giant guy, i don't need to be sticking up in the wind. Paramount is back in action as the TT bike. It will be getting a 46 tooth and I'm going to take the bar con off the Croll and move it to the end of the clip ons so i don't have to break position to shift. I still don't have the aero helmet, but maybe I'll tape up a Supermoto or something ala Solobreak style.

- Results have been posted since starting this - dead last in the 2nd race. 14th place, I guess that is what happens when you sit up and roll it in while everyone is sprinting tooth and nail for every last spot. One of the most satisfying DFL finish i've had. Still left wishing I hadn't blown the spoke.

the rest of the stuff in my head will have to wait - and i'm just going to hit publish in this momentary lull.

heddwch
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