Monday, October 20, 2008
The gods are conspiring against me...
I got up nice and early to get to Wissaghickon on Sunday, one of my favorite races. Still wasn't too early since it's only a hr and 15 minute drive. Got ready, eat breakfast, and left. Without my helmet. I realized this (fortunately) about 5 miles from home, so I drove to the next turnpike exit, headed home, and got the friggin helmet. I get there OK and there's a line at the reg tent. Get thru that and have to hit the john. Big time. Whatever has been working on me this past week performed it's magic. Yea, I know, you didn't need to hear that. I finally get ready 1/2 hr before the race. Do a quick 15 min warmup and head for the start. It was colder so I decided on the fleece skinny. Good move. (Even tho Kerry frtom HUP claimed I need to get tough.) I got a good start pos in the 3rd row (thanks to Thor) and off we went. 80ish riders. Up the asphalt and into the turns, which, at the 1st 180, turned into a cluster-f%ck. 2nd as well. Got thru that without going down, and off I went. Passed a few, got passed, yada yada yada. I didn't feel great running the barriers but felt pretty strong on the roadie sections. I also rode the sand pretty well. The steep left hannd-downhill turn I ran 4 out of the 5 times. People were yelling "ride it, HUP", so as not to disappoint, I did it on the last lap. Absolutely not advantageous to do so. Corey Twyman from Hub racing was following me the last lap and passed me the last set of barriers. I just didn't have the gass or ambition to go after him at that point. I finished 49th out of 74 finishers with 5 or so DNF's. Not as good as I thought but still better than previous yrs. I actually lapped 1 or 2 riders. I'll use the excuse that I was hurried and not feeling 100%. At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
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3 comments:
Nice! That is a fun race, I bet it was crazy with such a big field. Way to grit it out.
yo! Kram you always carack me up on the forums. You seem real genuine! Like me I know you have 2 kids and it is tough to put it all together on race day. I have a hard time getting out of the house. having said that I want to see you meet your goals and that will be a struggle with a 15 minute warm up. Again, I know it is not always easy, but get there nearly 2 hours early, preride, register, blow out the colon, and warm up some more. then cool down after for 15 minutes and rush home like a mad man like I do! I dont wait for my prize if I podium and I don't do a lot of chatting. Also I will wear my skinsuit to the race with the top off and a reg jersey on if it is dry and have all my other kit on while I drie incl my shoes. I learned this the hard way and it has gained me 10 spots due to knowing where the inevitable cluster will be at the start.
good luck man and keep it up!
Thx for the advice. 2 hrs is just too early to get there (for me). I usually plan on 1+ hrs. Just a bad set of circumstances last week. 1/2 hr warm up is good for me. And I usually take care of "business" at home. And I hate to drive in my cycling stuff :-)
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