Deluge Crit
Posted on July 30, 2007
3 of us left SD and we had a plan to execute, or at least I was feeling pretty good about the race. The plan was to counter moves and try to get away, but not blow up completely in doing so.
Race started and Shane went with a couple of laps into the race. They came back and I went with 3 other guys. 1 lap later or maybe even half a lap, 2 more joined and now we were 6 and working together, and actually working very well. I was actually shocked that people were contributing to the rotation! What a pleseant surprise. Our gap hovered between 15 and 25 seconds and the pulls started to get just a bit erratic but still very good. I was definately maxing out and with 40 minutes to go it was probably a good idea to easy up a little, but with some of the guys not taking their pulls I started to fill holes and then I really started to hurt. Not knocking on anybody, everybody in the break worked, they just wanted to rest a bit, which was wise, I shoulod have done that.
Well, I exploded and got knocked of the group. Justin started chasing and eventually they got caught. With about 25 minutes to go I went again and we had another group, maybe a larger group, but it was not as organized as the first one. we did manage to open a pretty big gap, but that was it though. Again, I think I put too much effort into this one and after 4-5 laps I started cramping and could not hold on. Fortunately that group got caugth, but one counter went right awaay and this was with 5 laps to go.
The group again had a 20 seconds advantage and it was a large group too. I saw that the guys were working to pull the riders back, but once I recovered I went to the front and tried a last minute effort to pull them back. 2 to go I went to the front and got the group with in stricking distance but when I pulled off I pulled of in front of Shane and he got messed up by that. Too bad, because he would have had a good sprint. My fault.
Overall it was a great race. Jay crashed, which sucked, but it was worse for the guy that he hit. Apparently the guy was just getting up as Jay hit him dead on. Whoever it was, he roasted a tubular before hitting you man! Sorry anyway. There were a couple other crashes, but I did not see or hear them. I hope these guys are OK.
A lot of people did a lot of work, which was a complete surprise. Too bad it could not have been like this all year.
We might show up at CBR. Lets see…my back is killing me and it was yesterday too.
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2 Responses to “Deluge Crit”
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Great site Jan! If you stop racing your bike, I think you have a future in journalism. Anyway, I was involved in the first crash of the day. Still not sure what happened but I think I re-fractured my collar bone which I originally broke in April on the track. Needless to say, it was not fun. I was especially frustrated because I had raced a decent 35+ race earlier in the day. The 3′s race felt much slower and I was just beginning to believe I was going to be able to mix it up a bit. Needless to say the crash brought that thought to a screeching halt. My old body doesn’t bounce quite as nice as it used to. It surely doesn’t rebound as well. I got on a plane to Washington State this morning and thought I was going to die…at least I wished I would. Bummed! Anyway, it has been a great season and it has been a pleasure racing with you all. Next season I think I’m going to stick to the “old guy” races. Take care and see you on the road!
Paul
Team Dewalt
You know what Paul, I ACTUALLY have a degree in journalism and all the typos and mistakes that I make writing I blame on two things: english is my 3rd language and the tiny window of time that I have to write these entries…I don’t have time to spell check or correct anything.
Thanks for the props and hope you feel better. I have been there and it SUCKS. Get well soon….next year I plan to actually ride my bike on the off season and I will also admit openlly to entertain the doping route, at least until I upgrade to a 2. We will see…