TSB: -3
Made it to stage three of the 2007 Thanksgiving hill climb/track/cyclocross omnium, firmly in first place - the only folks on the hill climb results who also ride the track did not show up on Friday at Hellyer AFAIK( Charles PW and Peter T) so I win, I think, even though both of them spanked me at the hill climb.
Since going easy the day before a cyclocross race didn't seem to help my results ( couldn't get much worse) just went out on Saturday and had a long and not so easy road ride with some off road excursions to get some active recovery from the 93 lap points race some fifteen hours prior. Also entered a lower category C race, since my laps times in previous higher category B race would have put me firmly in the middle of the C pack.
Met some of the competitors from the hill climb series in the C race, I think Michael G and I went back and forth for the last three or four so it would probably be close in this race even though it was the first for him and Joshua from AV.
The perks of being a C with an early start time are lots of time to get a parking space, and lots of pre riding time and the high pressure (ha) racing is over with early so you can goof off for the rest of the day and hang out with the wife and kids ( or Juan's wife and kids :) )
Anyways we go off and I slot into about 30th spot and pretty much stay there the whole day, passing a few riders and getting passed by a few riders here and there. Course is fast, requiring only the big ring. The hills are not very long or steep, but I do notice the one place I am passing is on the hills or straightaways and the one place I am getting passed is on the technical turns where I brake and others slide and skid their way past me. Need to get better at that! Curt and several others cheer for me so I have to keep trying, on the penultimate lap, a rider on a full sus mtb passes me on the finish straight and Curt instructs me to get on his wheel and I dig deep and follow Curt's directions. That wasn't so bad, and I assume I will be able to outsprint him on a straightaway or the finish straight. The MTB rider is pretty smart and just goes fast enough to make it hard for me to pass him on the straights and distances me a little on the turns so when we get to the last set of barriers I assume there will still be time for some sprint action but he is actually quite good and we stay even until he starts pedaling in the corner and pulls away from me to the finish straight. I think I can get him but I managed to drop my chain to the inner during my remount and am forced to spin up to him in the 34/12. Then the front derailleur engages and I am in the 44/12 and barely moving as the line comes up. Oh well, only 30th place was a stake, a good battle for one place.
One of my favorite courses this year, vying for honors with the super fast and super long Fort Ord CCCX race.
No heart rate data because apparently I am losing weight in the upper torso and putting on weight below the waist and the transmitter keeps slipping to my stomach.
T: 37:04
S: 22.3 kph
C: 81
Pavg: 180
Pnorm: 207
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