the shift key has apple juice under it. i'm not bothering trying to capitalize the web log today.
e e cummings style bitches
today there was a bandit cross race. someone (me) fell off the wagon and landed in a mug full of equal parts coffee and powers whisky after a few celebration ales from sierra nevada, and as a result, someone was up wicked late last night, didn't sleep much and woke up with a solid hangover. worth it i suppose. got up. said fuck it and got dressed and headed out to do some laps and see if the wind did anything to the course yesterday.
got an hour of riding in. there's a lot of turning on the course. a full mile long with the basic layout and honestly some tricky bits. little elevation to speak of but lots of sand and shitty traction in most of the turns.
actually a pretty fucking fun little circuit. i wish i'd worked this hard to lay something out earlier in the season.
it would so totally work well to run a full usac race on. parking is good, land use is light esp this time of year, no neighbors to bitch and moan, idyllic setting, natural dismount features and lots of space to really work up a slick course with tape and stakes.
we'll see if it happens.
got some turning in, drank some coffee, watched Zolder (in kit from the morning - chamois time is training time right?) zolder was fucking insane. sven eating it on the pavement there at the end kind of sucked for him, usa dudes weren't really anywhere close to the top, but big boom was there and did well until he must be racing on my plan - blow up and drift way back.
after zolder i took a nap. got up ate a pumpkin brioche -was supposed to bring them to dinner yesterday, oops- made some more coffee, stuck my thermos mug, a water bottle and phone and stopwatch in my jacket pockets and headed out. rode around from 12:15 until Syl showed up at 20 of maybe. he had to be home at 1 so i took him around the course. his big fat 29er tires hooked up much nicer in the loose sand than the cx wheels but the course has plenty of power flat straight stuff where the cx bike is an advantage. we did the course a few times, then burke showed up a few minutes late, syl left and burke and i did a handful of laps some faster than others, went and rode the other course across the bike path and i headed back home.
that was it. carl who said he would absolutely be there bailed. solobreak's threat to invade the house afterwards -it was ready for the old fart invasion- was an empty one...
i knew few if anyone would show up. but to be honest i was surprised kind of how disappointing it was to not have more than chris and syl show up. more so because it just brings up the old feelings i've tried to bury. having a party and no one showing up... yeah everyone is busy, hanging with their kids, at their parents house, recovering from the day before or what not. it is what it is, i didn't really expect anyone to show up. it is in rhode island for fucks sake, no one leaves the greater boston area to come down here for a bandit race. that's silly.
the course is awesome, i'm sure rooter or myerspace would tear it up w/o any challenge, but i've been doing this cx thing for a while... and i had fun with my course, it challenged me in areas i need work on -turning- but also played into my strengths of sprint, turn sprint turn sprint turn sprint turn with a couple good high speed pavement sections.
so i may not bother trying to do this again, can't take the let down, fuck it, i'm too fragile and emotional, for this shit. but i'll be out there turning laps when i can... maybe not this year... definitely next year. maybe i'll even try and put together support and permitting to make it happen this time -on a saturday or sunday- next year. at least then if there's a bikereg thing i'll know in advance if people aren't going to be there. it is like my brithday parties that no one ever came to. probably best that i didn't actually get to plan my own birthday party... that wedding saved me from the let down and realization that all my good friends live too far away to show up for something like that
getting kind of grumpy about not going to nationals. sure i have no shot or prayer at being anywhere of any significance in any race there, but, it is nationals... worlds too.
i also realized that usac is getting money from a bunch of cx racers who would normally wait a few more months to renew their license..... moving nats to jan gets them more cash sooner.
working desperately hard to stay positive with moderate success. laying out the course, practicing the turns, tweaking it, was a hell of a lot of fun. i can selfishly revel in my creation and keep it all to myself and i will
besides if people actually show up to a bandit race... well i'd get my ass kicked. as long as no one shows up i'm king of my course, no one can beat me.
heddwch
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1 comment:
Let's just say I learned about 40 years ago how _not_ to set myself up for failure. Rule#1 - never plan your own event. How did I learn that at such a young age, you ask? My first communion was 1970. I made inviations and mailed them to my relatives. My mother was the only one that showed. Yes, a church full of large family units, pictures, gifts for the newly 'communed', and my mother hustling me home because she had left a washing machine with wet clothes.
OK, maybe it wasn't that extreme and I'm exagerrating slightly, but the lesson of dissapointment was well-learned. Granted, your cx invitational Dis wasn't nearly as traumatic as an eight-year-olds dissapointement in his family's disregard for an allegedly fomative childhood event, but just let me say, I feel your pain.
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