LELAND, OR THE HARDEST RACE I HAVE EVER BEEN IN

First off, thanks for my family for letting me go. For that matter, thanks to all of our families for letting us go and putting up with our absenteeism even for training.
So, what to wear? What the hell is the temp? I ask around. 44 degrees with a windchill of 34. Nice. Knee warmers and regular socks it is with a windproofed front coat. Note to promoters: MORE PORTAPOTTIES.
The race goes off on time and fast from the get go. On the main road, not even in 3 miles there were pot holes right in the middle of the road. These took out at least one rider with a flat and a couple of water bottles. Onto the gravel going fast I see William Pankonin from xXx go down in the middle of the gravel road. What an eye opener that first gravel section was. Not only were we going fast, but there was barely any hard pack. I was expecting at least tire ruts, but for most of the sections the closer you were to the grass, the better. For me the speed we were carying would soon be unobtainable. A little space opened in between me and the rider directly in front, so I paced myself to catch up. Here is where my brain locked up. A left hand turn was coming up, gravel to pavememt I thought I had the angle on the turn to the inside, but carried too much speed coming off of the gravel which I now saw on the inside of the corner was gravel on top of pavement. I tried not to turn and go straight through until clear pavement, but went down.
What to do? I see I was about 10Th wheel and the rest of the pack blows by me. I jump back onto the bike, not wanting my day to be over so soon. Plus I rode with Mike Seguin xXx in his car and didn't have access to it. On the bike I assess the damage: handlebars off center to the right, crooked right brake, and a front wheel rub. All in all not too bad. Brakes opened all the way up and off i go to chase.
that was actually fun, to chase. I really didn't pay much attention to my physical injuries as the adrenalin was rushing. I did notice my shorts, and much latter my left sleeve was ripped, but felt fine. So I pick up 2 riders in front of me. This increased to 6. We worked well together. Finally an Iron Cycles guy had enough of us and actually did bride the gap between us and the pack in front of us which was about a block ahead. What a stud I thought. So here we go dropping some and picking up some.At one point it was only me and Pat from Tati doing the pulls. Here Pat says lets get rid of the baggage, which we did with ease. With 1 1/2 laps left, to my surprise, somebody tugs at my water bottle in my pocket. It's Mike Shea from Spider Monkey and Rich from Spin Doctors. The were the only ones to catch us as well as a MS rider.
Last lap and my legs and butt are about to give up. Plus I have to go pee. Last gravel section and Mike pushes the pace. I maintain 3rd wheel, but don't have anything for the finish.
Post race I am achy all over. Time to assess the physical damage. Left hip road rash. No problem, I'm used to that, unfortunately. I attempt to take off my jesrsey, but it is stuck on my arm. i twist it and notice that almost the entire back of my forearm has congealed blood on it. Shit, I think to myself, what the hell is under there? So I had to soak my forearm with the jesey on just to release it from my arm. On inspection of my elbow, there is a crater the area of a little less than a dime. Stitches I think to myself.
No doubt, to the hospital I go, albiet 5 hours after the injury. Sure enough 6 stitches, but they are affraid they won't hold, because it is not a clean cut, but looks like hamburger.
So the good things: I finished, and no broken bones. Not only did I finish, but to my surprise I came in 20th.

HILLSBORO

Me, Clark and Elvis went down on Friday. Joe came later and Paul on Saturday morning. It's funny, the ride down there this year seemed shorter. It was still 4 hours though.
We drove the course, remembering things from years past. We liked the new back section that they put in. We pulled the bikes out at the start finish ride and did 12easy miles. Clark looks at the last hill and states it doesn't look too bad. Oh yea? wait until after 58 miles. So we rode the hill twice and formulated a plan, knowing where the dogs, pheasants and goats were on the course.
We had a good dinner at the cafe that seemed to be filled with riders. Good night sleep and of course a walk to breakfast at Denny's.
Off to the race on Saturday morning. Wait a minute where are Clark's keys? After a little while and head skratching he finds them where else but..... Denny's. Now off to the race. We have a meeting place off the course that gives us a parking lot to ourselves with a nice bathroom at the Baptist church. Belive me a nice bathroom before a race is much appreciated.
So we are behind the start finish line and a race goes off. Paul lines up with the next raceers to go off. "Paul that's not our race!"... It was our race. Thank goodness for Paul getting us in the middle of the start and for holding onto the bikes while we check our bladders one last time.
The first lap was exactly what I thought it would be, everybody feeling eachother and the course out. Nickie, Joe's girlfriend, gives me a good bottle handoff in the feed zone and here we go up the last hill. I get caught behind some slower riders on the right side from another category, so my momentum is gone. No excuses though, I shouldn't have been in that postiion to begin with. So now I'm dangling off the back of the lead pack. Luckily I was able to calm down and finally catch on again right at the turn going out onto the road after the s/f line.
The second lap had a 4 man break go off on the little uphill right before the right hand turn off the main road. No big deal. Bad thinking. Two of those guys stayed out the rest of the race. I have to commend Tati and Psimet and Wild card for their effective blocking. We go around with no major problems. I take that back, Clark botched his bottle hand off, so now he's mooching on my last bottle. Thanks to the Psimet rider who gave up one of his three to Clark. I think I'd say 2 guy's with blown tires, 2 dropped chains and one guy in a ditch by himself. I don't know if he was in that 4 man break or in another field, but he looked ok.
The hill before the feed zone took some casualties and I was not one of them. I was just behind Clark when the last hill came. I was only 4 houses in when the legs shut down. So what do you do? I started fishing for a gear that just wasn't there. It was good to see some guy's hurting in front of me. Now for the hunt. There's a guy in front of me on the hill I was able to pick off before the left hand turn. I notice 2 guys on the hill not peddaling, so I exert a little energy and get them also. One more around the turn and on right after it. Now it's time to calm down. Got the next guy's wheel. What I didn't know, is the guy I picked off just before that grabing the wheel grabbed my wheel. Around the last turn still behind the guy. When do I jump? I'm trying to find the 200 meter post, but couldn't see it. After one fake it was time to sprint. One guy passes me from I don't know where and the guy who grabbed my wheel just gets me at the line. 2 tenths of a second to be exact.I came in 19th. Clark even did better at 13th. Elvis 56th, Joe and Paul with DNF's.

THINGS TO REMEMBER WHILE RACING

Keep mouth shut, use brain when finishing. Tony

The Gapers Block Crit Series

I decided that I would try and ride all of the Gapers Block Crits put on by Half Acre, since I only worked 2 blocks from the Park. I would be a fool not to.

Day 1, well the goal of today was to just hang in the pack and see how the legs were going to react. I should have known that there would be a massive attack as soon as the whistle blew. I was in no way ready for that. All the training I have been doing has been base for the most part. I still managed to stay with the pack and coasted in to the finish for a top 20.

Day 2, I felt better today, and I knew that the first lap attack would be covered immediately. To my surprise, they waited untill the 3rd lap. When it happened, the field split with 15-20 riders making the split. I was not one of them. I did do some work in the front for a lap or so, then just sat in the field being sheltered by the wind. In the last lap, I took an inside line and was sitting around 4th as the field started to ramp up for the finish. I was able to make my way into 2nd position at the turn where I was able to pass that rider and won the field sprint. That was for 16th place. (Note, do not sprint in the 53/11, it looked good but didn’t get any speed)

Day 3, today is a good day. I felt good. The legs are starting to come back and the accelerations were not hurting as much. I received some good advice before the race from someone I respect. Basically, sit in the top 6 to 10 positions until the end and not to do so much work. Well, I stayed in the top 10, but I did way to much work. I reeled in a few brakes and pulled on the front more than I should have. In the 2nd from last lap, we had a solo rider go off the front, but I already burned all but one match so I didn’t chase. I was hoping that the field would drag him back, but they ended up slowing down. On the last lap, I wanted to be on the inside sheltered from the wind, but that didn’t happen. I ended up on the outside and fighting the wind as we all ramped up the speed. As the field strung out, I was able to work my way in to 7th from the front. We were now single file and going into the corner. I made it around one rider, but didn’t have the legs to really open up, so I ended up in 7th place. (Note, the one who does most of the work usually doesn’t take the win.)

Day 4, it was too cold and windy for me. LOL, I sat this one out. Those guys must be crazy. ;-)

Day 5, it’s the last night and there are not as many riders. I guess they are resting for the races this weekend. I already put it in my head that I was going to sit in and do no work on the front unless it was absolutely necessary. That’s when Adam Herndon, from XXX, made a huge acceleration off the line, and I wasn’t going to let him go. As we started into the wind on the back side, I looked back and we had gotten a good gap on the field, but I was in no mood to hold off the pelaton for 30min. I knew that some teams were going to be really working hard for the win on the last night. I told Adam that I wasn’t going to go for it, so he really had no choice but to let the pack get us. As the race went on, I did exactly what I planned, sit in the top 8 riders and cover all the big moves that came. With 2 laps to go, I started to move myself into the spot I wanted on the inside in 4th or 5th. The field was kind of hesitant to do anything, since no one wanted to start the lead out. On the last lap, I was sitting in a good spot. I’m on the inside with plenty of room to make a move. That’s when the field went in to sprint mode. A rider made a move, and I was able to get on his train on the inside next to the curb. I’m now sitting 5th. I have two riders in front of me, with two more riders sitting to my right just in front of me. We had about 75 meter till the turn when Teodoro Ramos from Iron Cycles came flying in on the inside. There was really no room, but he mad a nice shoulder dip away from me but we still bumped pretty good. I saw him take a look back, and I knew this was the move that I was waiting for. He made a huge acceleration to the front and I was right on his wheel. As we entered the last corner, we were sitting 1-2 with me on his wheel. He was still building speed, so I had to launch as soon as the bike came upright out of the corner. I was able to come up to the side of him as we were flying to the finish line. At this point, it was either of us to win or lose. At the last second I threw my bike at the line and took the win by a foot or so. That is my first win in cycling, so I was very happy. I only hope that this is a sign of things to come.



Bob Murray

A WHOLE NEW SEASON

I know I haven't been on this thing for a while, but it's hard to post anything when you forget the password.
A lot has happened since last year. Some old faces, some new faces, some faces we will not see again unfortunately. Old bikes (Cannondale), new bikes (Giant). Old friends who we have bonded with and new friends who we are always open to meet and welcome with open arms.
Training in the off season for me was less intense, but with more hours in the saddle. We will see if this pays off. The problem with me in the past was more on the mental side. Seeing that I am mental to begin with, this is somewhat of a challenge for me when it comes to bike racing. I always felt like the legs were there, but applying them was a different race in itself.
The new bikes I can say are better than the old. I don't see myself as a bike snob, but the one noticeable thing I can do on these new Giants is ride without my hands. Bike or skills? I don't know. I would lean to the bike side because my skills have always sucked.
Onto the first race of the season. Gapers Block. Thanks to Half Acre for hosting, especially on the south side! Preriding the course you felt as if the wind was in your face for about 75% of the course. Monday nights wind was even worse from what I was told. The race went off with me in the second row. After a couple of laps and some hard efforts in the front, I was told after the race that the field split with About 15-20 riders in the front pack. Needless to say, I did not look behind myself during the race. The race ran as smooth as a 4-5 race should until I heard in front of me a whole lot of "woa's!" What it turned out to be was a girl all of 12 riding her bike on the course. The best was, as we are passing her telling her to get off the course, she gave us the buisness right back! She didn't even skip a beat, expecting to get hollered at in the first place. Did I mention I love the south side? With the final lap there was some good speed on the front stretch leading in to the wind. On the lake side guys were just shutting down, waiting for the lead out. I saw two guys jump and thank goodness I wasn't pinched on the inside curb like I think a lot of guys were. I didn't grab a wheel, but was able to go to the ouside of the pack by myself. And that's the way we ended with myself coming in third.
Not a bad start for the season. Tony