Quick Wrap-up

Too much to cover and a lot of work to do today.

We finally got our chance for cake during the last crit of Fall Fling. In the end, when you're a cat 4, cake is all that matters.

We went into the last crit with a formidable team. The fact that it was the last crit of the season and that we had a rider going for overall (Timmyquest) meant we could have some fun.

MJH2, RR, Myself, and Eric were to have all the fun we could. MJH and myself were to attack early and hard just for poops and giggles. If anyone burned some calories following us then so be it. If there were any primes it was MJH that was going to be the man.

Then RR, MJH and Myself were to block, cover moves, etc. as necessary in support.

Raviv and Justin were to protect Timmyquest. Raviv marked Whiple...and marked him hard. Justin rode for TQ - always within arms length.

Simply the races had been too slow in this series so far. Leading to too many people in the final sprint who didn't belong (myself included). We wanted to ratchet it up and shed some of the less fit in hopes of delivering TQ to the final sprint with hopefully a smaller crowd.

Eric was our hidden card. The guy has a engine. Typical "Try"-athlete in that he can sit alone off the front and just power all day long. It's hard as hell to hold his wheel. We talked before the race and deided to use him twice - First time about 15 minutes in. He would hit it hard and fast with the intent of coming back to the pack to recover then to launch again in another 10 mintues.

Well early on it was nice. I was 3rd or 4th wheel for the first lap or two. We had been going kind of hard and I could see people struggling. I was second wheel when the guy pulling pulled off shattered and everyone was hurting. I decided it was time for me to give it a go....so I did. I went coming out of the crosswind section when people were still getting a feel for the tailwind and the gearing to use. I nailed it and got a substantial gap. I looked down and was going something like 33-35 up into the traffic circle on the back side.

I just don't have the engine and everyone knows that but it was fun and it did keep the higher pace on in the pack. I didn't make it a lap.....meh

Next MJH nailed it when I got back. Great move and kept the pace up as people wanted to relax. Then there were a few other attacks. There had just been a big one that was coming back and everyone was hurting and still inthe headwind. I looked for Eric to go, but he held on. It was only 10 minutes in.

At the pre-decided time Eric went. Man he went. He ended up out there and looking good. Someon joined him then myself and RR and MJH took turns going to the front and either disrupting the pace or blocking. Nothing overt, hell I even told one guy flat out when he looked for me to pull through - "I gotta guy in the break. I'm not going to work."

He stayed away for a long time. A few riders bridged up to him, but as they kind of gave up the ghost in the break and started coming back Eric hit the gas again...attacking the break. Fabulous.

Keep your eye on Eric folks. He's a tremendous talent.

Well not too long after that they announced the cake prime. That had us written all over it. As we rolled around to the line I looked up to see Eric and those away coming back into the fold. We actually had a chance to sprint for the prime. As I was thinking that a guy behind me said, "someone has to sprint for this thing."

Like a douche I went. He jumped on my wheel and came around me easily. I didn't get the cake, and MJH says I ended up boxing him in - not my intent.

BTW - ABD - cake - great touch! I propose that there always be a cake prime in Cat 4 races. Let it be known that cat 4 is the cake cat.

Everything else worked out. Raviv had marked Whiple HARD. You'd have to ask him if it made a difference but I think it did. Raviv said Whiple ended up in the wind a ton because of it.

We served Tim up to the sprint and he took it over Whiple at the line winning the series and the final race. All were in agreement it was the most fun crit we have ever raced. It was definitely the best example we had of deploying team tactics.

i was off and in the car to dekalb. I changed and refueled along the way. When we pulled in I jumped out of the car and grabbed the bike offthe back. I rolled up and into the grid just in time for a good position. Perfect timing.

The start was great. I love physical racing. I got a decent one considering. Muscled a few guys out of the way and ran over at least one guy on the ground (his bike...not him). From there my legs just kind of looked at me with a big "FU" look. I was feeling the crit.

I slowly lost every position I gained on the start. Pretty soon I was racing alone. That course was long. Too long if you ask me. I did poorly but to be honest I just don't feel like 30 minutes is a long enough race anymore. My engine just doesn't get going until about 20 minutes in. If I had another 10 minutes I might have picked up 1 or 2 riders but I would probably also had been lapped....

Totally poor performance from me, but about what was to be expected with all the racing I had done in the previous 2 days.

So....now it's cross all the time. I saw Slim_77 and Beverly Bob in the 4b's. Bob is sandbagging it for sure. He should be in the a's - suffering at the back with me. Slim_77 - if he gets addicted, should also be in the a's just simply due to his stellar fitness.

Supergirl made and appearance as well. The wrist is still not 100% and 'she' claims she can't race yet.....but I believe there was a sighting on the course during the 4b's. I could be mistaken though ;). Too bad part of being a superhero includes a secret identity.

I high-tailed it out of there and got back...ate some pizza and had 2 beers and passed out. Waking up in time to go to work this morning.

Tonight - wheels, running, weights. Tomorrow...cross ride.

Sherman....I heard he destroyed a bunch of stuff?

When you wake up at 4am to make a bike race but have a hard time getting up at 6am for work...that's when you know you're a roadie. Saturday marked just such an occassion. For the first time we 'burbers had to wake at the butt crack of dawn to slog our way into the city for a race. I had heard so many people complain about the neighborhood that the Sherman Park crit was in that I anticipated the worst. I was sadly disappointed. It was fine.

That same kind of talk kept a lot of people away from the Lansing cyclocross race last fall too. That's just sad. Oh well.

Under the calming blue flash of the light on top of the security camera I parked my car and began the process of pre-race routine - pick up my number, BS with everyone I see, engage in nervous chit-chat, visit the facilities about 5 times, suit up, pre-ride, discuss tactics doomed to failure in the heat of the moment, warm up, tell everyone I suck and am not ready, and then toe the line.

The Sherman Park Crit was a race put on by xXx. That would be the black and white armada of Chicago cycling. Pretty much in every race its usually xXx and everyone else. This being their race, in the city, etc it was fair to guess the fields would be slanted their way in terms of sheer numbers. How does of 50% of the field sound. Yup. *sigh* Thank God there are some pretty cool guys on the team. :)

Our 5's toe'd the line looking like the crew out of Resevoir DOgs. http://chicagopersonalphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/8527131_zBZDY#563614020_g9Drd-XL-LB

We like to refer to ourselves as the fatest team in Chicago racing.

We watched the 5's rollout and then went to continue warming up. We got back in time to see TQ win in the sprint as I was putting my wheels in the pit. 2 wins and a 2nd in his last 3 races. Nice.

After that we rolled up. This was Joel's first USAC race as a 4. It was him, Riccio and myself. I was feeling VERY strong. Haven't been that confident in a while. As we were lined up we got a safety lecture in typical xXx fashion. ;) It was a memorial race as well so we all took a moment of silence. I remember reading about the guy it was for when he died at Matteson last year. I took that time to think about my coworker who was killed while riding a few years back. That's when the rain started falling.

Fast, flat, no-corner crit protected from most of the wind....and it's raining...you KNEW there was going to be a wreck. We started out pretty gingerly. Nothing major. The pace of the race was really fairly easy for most of it but it became a race of position. As water started to pool and rooster tails started throwing sand and mud on you each lap got a little more dicey, a little colder, and a little faster.

I found I kept getting boxed in on the inside. I was always on someone's wheel when they popped and started floating back. It sucked. I had the juice but couldn't turn it loose. A couple of times I thought of attacking just so I could ride at my pace, but I knew that was suicide on this course.

I saw Joel wanting to jump on a few moves. I told him before the race to sit in. Nothing was going to get away. He knew that already but his instinct is to pounce. I yelled his name once when I saw him move for the kill and he sat up. The move came back a few seconds later too. I don't really like giving Joel advice much anymore because only he knows what he can and can't do...and right now there isn't much he can't do. I just get frustrated when I see him waste energy he doesn't need to waste...and yet it hasn't affected his riding yet.

Due to poor positioning I was always about 5 riders behind Joel. Riccio was always behind or next to me as well. I saw Joel sit up and start coasting back. As soon as the rain started to really dump on us the flats started. Joel had one. I floated back with him to talk to him. He looked ready to throw in the towell. I told him to get to the pit, take a lap and use my wheels - I brought them for the team. I said I would pace him back up....

....yeah....fog of race there. It took me a bit to realize that with a free lap he didn't need pacing back up. Now I was OTB for no good reason. Ooops. I quickly chased back on and was fine. I yelled to our guys in the crowd that Joel had a flat in hopes they would watch over him in the pit and yell advice if he needed it.

Next thing I knew he was back in the mix. Mission accomplished.

After that I found that I was getting covered in sand. Especially in my eyes. It was horrible. I couldn't see crap. At times your were riding by feel. You could sense where the other riders were and just tried to maintain your position with respect to them. We could have ridden off the course and into the lake and no one would have stopped it. The yelling slowed as everyone got colder and more miserable.



I got sick of my position and finally got a couple of good looks outside as the pace finally picked up. I used it as an opportunity to ride to the front. I would get on Joel's wheel and then next thing you know I would be back in the middle of the pack again. Suck.

I finally heard "2 to go" as we came over the line. Up to then I couldn't see the cards - wasn't looking honestly - and couldn't see my timer. i was shocked that was all we had left. I had the gas so now I was looking for position. I didn't want to push anything in these conditions so I was kind of waiting for some opportunities.

As we came around - heading towards the line to take the bell it happened. It was a chain reaction. Two guys pinched each other out. They hit and the sound of them hitting set it off. It was like everyone was waiting for the wreck to happen so when they heard it they freaked, hit the breaks, and all hell broke loose.

I have found that when I get into these situations I have this weird sixth sense that allows me to get through. I don't think much about it my body just does stuff. I made it all the way through everything - and it was ugly. I was thinking I was going over the bars for sure. I was just about clear when a rider on the ground slid into my line. I rode up and over the bike t-boning his chainring with my front tire. *PSSSSSsssssss*!! SUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCKKK!

I was out for sure. No injuries - for that I was happy. I surveyed the mass of bodies on the deck. The yelling, swearing, walking wounded, bike throwing, etc. I almost wanted to laugh at how serious some of us cat 4's take this stuff. It's bike racing. I yelled, "everyone who can get up - do it and get off the course. they'll be coming through again. Fast." I then thought I could get back into it because I had wheels in the pit. I rode my flat clincher (don't ask) all the way back. Before hitting the pit I realized that on the bell lap that pit was going to be closed. Oh well. Turns out joel had taken my front wheel anyway.


"Is the wheel pit still open?"


"Sunnuva..." - check out the flat front...

Riccio came in after me. Covered in head to toe in mulch and mud. he looked like he had just stepped out of Paris-Roubaix. Turns out he went cyclocrossing and was clear until the last second when someone smacked him at full speed from behind. Then he hit a tree. Ouch.



We were able to watch the end from the pit. We looked up in time to see Joel outsprint Slim_77 for the win. NIIIIIIiiice. Joel won't be long for the 4's. I told him when he started he was only going to be limited by the time he was able to put into this sport. I still stand by that.

So....we won both of the first races. I was registered for the Masters but honestly I felt like I had already pressed my luck and torn up enough equipment. I was anxious to head home and kiss the family. The two winners hit the town and lit up my phone with drunk text messages all night. You lightweights.

Still....we're the working man's team. The fatest team in Chicago racing. ...can't wait until cross.

-pictures from Mark Keller

Winfield

OK so I didn't wrap everything up. I have been uber busy the last couple of weeks. Building a TON of custom wheels. I am importing some hubs from Taiwan and will be importing some carbon 50mm rims too. Both full carbon clinchers as well as tubulars. Full custom hub, spoke and lacing options for you as well. Pricing will be pretty nice as well.

ANYWAY...instead of going back to cover everything I missed let me just say Joel has done well lately. 2nd at monsters, 4th at wheels on willy, won all 3 races at Matteson, and took second at Wonder Lake. He finally was upgraded as well.

Bryan won in the 5's at the Masters Weekend races. We also took 1st in the 40+. Wonder Lake was a boatload of 'meh' for me. I did something like 16th in the cat 4 race and then I flatted in the 4/5 race. Got back in with Joel's wheel but it was a 9 speed. Shifting was OK for most of the gears except the last couple meaning I couldn't sprint. I got 26th of something like that.

I only rode on Tuesday this week. I rode pretty easy too. I have been putting weight back on - rather fat back on. I am the same weight but not working out in the gym and not running has left my form pretty weak. I decided I have been racing pretty solid though and that I should be able to do something today as long as I made myself be aggressive.

So...I got to Winfield late. Got registered and dressed and on the trainer for about 15-20 minutes of warmup. Most I think I have ever done. Wilke set me up with a video camera on my bike to record the race. I didn't pre-ride the course. Always a mistake, but I figured it wouldn't be a big deal this time.

I got to watch Tim win the 5's race. That's another podium for Bicycle Heaven. it's getting crazy. I am the weak link now for sure. We actually had 5 guys in the 4's race. It was a shock. I was finally not racing alone.

Right off the start I got a jump. Again. Never mean to but just end up in front. I held back enough to end up on RR's wheel. Next thing I know we were on a "hill". I heard there was one on the course. RR nailed it. I followed. That hill was long. A lot longer than I thought it was. I opened my bank account and drained it on that first lap without even realizing it.

The downhill was awesome fast. My kind of fast. Corners at 27-30mph. Hells yes.

RR and I were done on the second lap - on the hill. From there we were dropped and just riding around. Everyone was serious fast right off the bat. It took me about 1/2 of the race before I started to get into a groove. At that point I started picking people up.

Wanna know what it felt like? Check this out:


Picture from J-Dub at peloton-pix

That one is going on the mantle.

Sad race for me. I got lapped. That hasn't happend since last year. Don't know what the deal was. Everyone exploded though. It was like everyone went the speed of a normal Chicago style crit but they put some sort of Wisconsin hill in there and we were too stupid to slow down on it like the cheeseheads do.

They placed me 26th or something - getting me confused in the finish I think. meh. Tomorrow is more of the same. Different course. My body does better after a beating. I think I have more in me. We'll see.

After the race the family took in a Cougars game. My father-in-law's business has been doing well and he got a luxury box to share with the whole family and company. Little P enjoyed the show.

2009 Muskego Park Crit

OK....Being mothers day weekend it meant, of course, that Mrs. P had to work. That means it was me and little P for the whole weekend. Fatherhood bliss.

Then Joel pointed out that there was a crit in Wisconsin on Saturday. That started with, "no I am spending time with little P.", moved to "he and I can go up there with you guys and cheer you on", to "OK so if someone watches little P I can race the first race but that means we'll have to leave at 5:30am."

Yeah. Father of the year....right here.

Matt, Riccio and I rolled out of my house at 5:40ish with little P along for comic relief. The trip was long and we just barely made it there in time to register, gear up and put in two laps for "warmup". The course had what those cheeseheads call "hills". There was about 100 ft of climbing per lap. The grades weren't steep but they got to you after a while.

It was raining and FREEZING. I came up there with shorts and mostly summer gear. I had thin socks and no toe covers. No long finger glooves, etc. It sucked. I was freezing and soaking wett within a few minutes.

In general the race was really slow but grinding. There was only really one corner and it could have been taken at speed but there was standing water in the middle of it. Everyone took it slow and then accelerated out of the corner then into the hill. It got old quick.

I feel like I have chest congestion - let's face it Mrs. P has been exposed to all sorts of stuff including swine flu (I am sure) at work. I am feeling the effects of something. The cold and wet conditions didn't help. I ended up coming unhooked on the last lap. I struggled back up and finished on the back of the pack for 20th place out of 25. Boo, but I'll take it. I wasn't even sure I was going to be able to race until I pinned my number on.



Can't see it too well in that pic, but we and the bikes were just coated with sand and crap.

After that Matt raced the 3/4 masters. I Opted out of this one. I was beat and really not feeling it. That and I didn't want to wait around in soaking wet clothes for an hour between races.





Matt looked like he was done about half way through the race but ended up finding something inside to keep going. He said the race was much smoother and faster than the first one. He did great and tied for 17th.

After that Joel showed up. The last race of the day was the one that Riccio, Joel and Matt were doing. We went out in full spandex wonder to a local hole int he wall diner for lunch. Matt talked Joel into trying the Chedderwurst - Ugh.

Back in time for these guys to warm up and get ready to race. Joel held his own. There were a couple of early attacks and just like a dog looking to run outside through a screen door he went after them. He got into one only 16 minutes into the race. It was a 45 minute hilly crit. Too early.

They got caught a couple of laps later. I started yelling at him every lap. Nothing very helpful but stuff like, "great position", "too early", "3 laps left - follow your gut", etc...

He ended up sprinting in the end and his position wasn't great but he had an open line to the finish. He was hurting. He has a dead elvis face. Saw it this race for the first time really. I started yelling and he came up with some more kick. He ended up in 2nd place. Nice.

....time for an upgrade.

Before the race.


Joel's dead elvis.


Little P having a blast. "I wanna watch the bike race!!!"

BH Ride Report

Great ride. Lots of people showed up. We had close to 30 or so. I thought it would be bigger, but a lot of the guys who usually meet up with us out by the golf course weren't there.

As we were climbing in one section early and heard the unmistakable sound of cleats hitting the pavement. I yelled "RIDER DOWN!" The group sat up for a second....then laid into it.

It was Ara. He got boxed in or something and hit the deck. I floated back to see who it was and saw him rocketing back up to the group. many of the team members floated back to help but he didn't need it. In the end it just left a bunchof guys off the back at a bad time for them. Ara even told them "don't wait for me (save yourselves)."

Speed wise is was slow to wind up. I was planning on leading all of the 4/5's that wanted to ride slower by taking all of the short cuts. I was 1/2 way through the first turn where I was supposed to go straight for the shortcut and missed it. That's when it started to get a little faster.

I was hanging pretty good, but found myself in the wind swinging around in a weird middle section trying to hold on. I held for a while but then my mind just said, "save it" so I sat up and coasted back.

That was when the group hit McDonald Rd and they were GONE. We ended up with a group of stragglers. Alien3 from the penny rd ride was with us. He told me CyLoew had gotten a flat and was out a long ways back (oops....). He said he felt bad for not stopping, but we all know what kind of ride it was. I still felt bad I didn't stop even though I didn't even know until many miles later.

Colorchange, RR, myself, alien3, and some tri guys made up this group. I was feeling good and was looking to take some hard pulls. We started kind of rotating well. I was pulling at 400-500 watts when on the front. We were hauling butt around 30mph all the way down McDonald. We took a shortcut and ended up in front of the main group for a majority of the ride.

Some of the tri guys weren't pulling through and when they did they weren't really pouring it on. That ended up with myself and RR and Colorchange doing a ton of pulls. We ended up really tired by the time we got back into the wind. We started a constant rotating 2 line paceline. Even that died after a few miles.

The group caught us and we motored on in the big pack. Nice. Hit Townhall in the group. It was like a gun went off. Those guys attacked it like date on prom night.

The rest of the ride found alien3 and myself limping back. We made it back into the group when we got back into town. Nice ride. Fast, but it has been faster. Fun. 40+ miles. Even with the soft pedaling in town I averaged over 20mph for the whole ride. Haven't looked at the power data but I am sure it is brutal.

CyLowe and MJH2 came rolling in together. Nice move by MJH2. He's always been good like that.

Now...trail ride with little P this morning. Hit the shop in the afternoon...racing in Madison tomorrow and hopefully Sunday as well. Here's to a good and safe weekend for everyone!
....oh yeah....and check out my site. Click on some of the advertisers links if they interest you...hopefully you know why. Custom wheel build quotes, etc.

Fall Fling Stage #4 - Final Crit - Citizens Men

Rolling out of bed this morning was a bit difficult to say the least. The continuing cold weather helped make the thought of riding a desperately short crit a thought filled with thick tasty pain. Kind of like a gel for life.

Even though the family left late we still ended up there early. I had no idea where the course was. I mean I knew it was in the same industrial park as the last one, but didn't know exactly where it was or where to park.

Then like magic everyone appeared seemingly out of nowhere...a traveling band of bike weenies and their support. Soon the parking lots were filled with sounds of pumps coming off tubes, freewheels, clipping in, and nervous story telling, and standings checking. This is the cyclist's equivalent of tailgating.

Soon it was time to warm up and check out the course.

RJBTrek - getting the engine warmed up.

Yours truly thinking about the hurt to come.

Sean giving me a hard time at the start.

A combine is born. Series #1 Brian Hague is on the left. Behind him is my teammate Robert. The announcer started talking about Hague and we started busting his balls. I started with a good "Cough, cough, cough, sandbagger, cough, cough..." I heard him say, "I'm a triathlete"....


...not what you say to a bunch of road weenies you've been trouncing. All of us on the right of that shot were talking about marking him and not letting any of his moves go. Kind of like a combine but not nearly as well organized.

I knew I wasn't going to put myself in any top spots with the amount of talent out there, but with the short duration of the event combined with my decent form meant I was going to be up in the front....so I decided to just have some fun. Hang on. Chase when I could. Block when I could. Take at least one flyer. Generally have as much fun as possible in a 10 lap - 5 mile crit.

Right out of the gate Sean called it....I jumped into the front....at least until Sean hit the NO2.

L to R: Tati rider that we mistook for Brian Hague when we reeled him in during the crit last week. Not Brian BTW....myself in Bicycle Heaven glory, and Sean Pedersen on the Cervelo sporting the Neon Oakleys

I mentioned something to Sean down the first downhill - can't remember what it was exactly, but it was something like "you sure you want to be up there?" Somewhere around there I decided to jump up front and do some work. Again...I was not looking to do anything big, and I just can't seem to hold off my nerves, adrenaline so I went to the front.

I strung it out on the first lap. Loving it.

Pic Above - Just past the start line starting lap #2- Myself up front followed by Sean Pedersen, Kyle Tabor, #61 - who likes my wheel, Not sure who is next, John Kaminski after that(?), Cezary Mudrewicz (WDT), Richard Lenski (Spin Doctors)

It was after that picture above where we were doign the next downhill leg where I had an incident. I was starting to throttle it back and recover a tad - slowly slipping through the group - when #61 - still don't know the name - must have decided there was room , or I was popping , or something. He hammered it around me, swerved completely into my line, and then came into the 1/2 a bike opening between me and the wheel I was following. Needless to say he clipped my front wheel.

I bounced my wheel off of his skewer and then dragged it off of his rim and tire. I thought I would end up on the deck for sure, but I kept it upright. I was livid. The guy didn't have the line or position....or the legs to stay up there.

I'd like to think it was an honest mistake. Maybe he was on the limit so bad and dying outside the draft that he saw what he thought was a gap and went for it thinking that it was his line...who knows. Right when it happened someone to my side said, "That wasn't very nice of him." I think I responded with something to the effect of, "not only wasn't that not very nice it was a total di**head move!"

I then proceeded to yell at #61 any chance I got to make sure he was holding his line. The next time around into the big turn at the bottom of the hill I took the time to say something like, "Uh-Oh...here's a turn. Where's 61?? Watch yourselves guys. Keep an eye on 61! Maybe he can hold a line this time." I didn't see him much after that, and I have to chalk it up to the tempo, but he could have been there and I just not realized it.

61 - if you're reading this, it could have been an honest mistake and I'm fine with that, but you should have come over and talked about it after the race. I never saw you afterwards, but wanted to make sure you knew that I was just pointing out a dangerous move...and that we've all been there.

At some point on one of the next few laps Hague made his move coming up from the back of our pack. He was a marked man, but most of the guys marking him were riding up front (*slaps forehead* - come on guys). I took it upon myself to shout the warning "HERE HE GOES! ON YOUR LEFT GUYS! LEFT SIDE!LEFT SIDE!LEFT SIDE!LEFT SIDE!GOGOGOGOGOGOGO!"

They were a little slow to react, but it was enough to drive 3-4 of the really fast guys off of the front of us. Enough to let us rest a bit. Kind of like, "well now that they're gone what do you guys want to do? Catch a movie? Call in for pizza? Beer? Wait....half of you aren't old enough....why am I doing this again?"...but I digress.

Around now there was a Prime announced that I know Hague got. That may have been the lap he attacked on. Not sure. I know when we were crossing the line it looked like Pedersen had sat up a bit and was actually applauding Hague's prime victory. Class move. 26+mph 2 handed clap. Nice.

More shots from around this time....Looks like Pedersen off front, Kyle Tabor next with a stream of us behind. My teammate Robert is in the BH kit with the black arm warmers. I am tucked in directly to the left of him. Looks like #61 was still in the mix at that point.

Mudrewicz, Hague(? or Andrew Dix), John Kaminski(?) , Myself, Ryan Austin(?)and so on down the line.

Little P holding down the start finish line cone.

Pedersen, Tabor, Tati rider (Dix or Hague), Austin, Myself, and teammate Riccio

It was about now that things started to shill out a bit. Coming down the hill again gave one time to look around and check the lay of the land. I saw Pedersen near the front with hague and Dix hanging about 1 or 2 wheels back from him kind of keeping an eye on him and Tabor.

I swung up to Pedersen to tell him to just sit in and not waste any energy. He looked at me and said something to the effect of "go to the front and drive the pace Rob". I had nothing else to do so I decided...WTF.

When I came around the front I was out of the saddle nailing it. I looked over at the first guy in line and let out a primal scream. It was like my version of a death cry. Not only was I burning a match, but I was trying to set fire to the whole neighborhood. It looked a little something like this:

Funny how no one chases you when: A- they know you suck and are not going anywhere. B- they think you are insane for yelling at everyone and screaming on lap 6 or 7 for no reason at all.

...but I f'n OWNED that straightaway....

After that I floated back through the front group trying to count the laps. Lenski (Spin Doctors) and I have ridden with each other more than once and as the main group floated up the road to contest the victory he was moving backwards in my direction. A quick look over the shoulder and he seemed to recognize it was me back there.

We both just fell in and started taking turns. he said something like, "these guys are fast." I said something like, "yeah and I've been racing against them for 2 weeks now. Wish you could have shared the pain."

Final sprint. Pedersen takes the win.

About now is when I remembered what my teammate MJH2 has been saying all season about Lenski. He always said that inevitably he would end up pulling on the last lap and Lenski would nab him at the line for the position. I had that in mind as I ratcheted up the pace on the hill coming into the straight. I also got out of the saddle and started a "sprint" much sooner than I ever normally would have.

Austin coming across the line Myself and Lenski fighting for position directly behind him. Guy on left is lap down I believe. If not I don't know who he is.

I gave a lot and ended up feeling lenski on my left as I went for the line. I actually had to throw the bike at the line. I mean total throw...like over the saddle throw. It ended up being close enought that the official had to go to the camera....seriously. I got him though. MJH2 was proud...wherever he was.

Posing with #2 overall and 4th stage winner Sean Pedersen after the torture.

Teammate Riccio joining in the posing.

All in all a great series. I'd like to thank the folks at ABD for putting on so many great races throughout the year. The citizen's crits were too short, but whatever...we still made them fun.

Great effort by Bicycle Heaven's lowly Cat 4/5 crew. MJH2 would have been in the top 10 if he could have raced either the crit or the TT. Riccio put in a killer series even having missed the RR finishing at 6th overall. I dropped in at 8th overall - made my goal of top 10 for the series.

I learned more about where my strengths are, how to yell better, what it's like to string a lot of races together in short succession outside of just doing the double, that while I still do suck I just might suck a little bit less, and finally that I might actually be better suited for TTs...shock to me.

I am sad to see the season go so early...just when I was getting warmed up. Oh well....I guess there is always cross...

Fall Fling Overall Standings - Cat 5 - Citizens

Some discussion over at BF had me going back to the results to complile my own version of the overall scoring for the Cat 5/Citizens field for Fall Fling. I have run three scenarios with the following assumptions:

1 - Includes all points scored to date with no regard to whether both races were raced or not.

2 - Includes everyone who raced both races (Green) or has personally stated to me that they will race at least 3 races to qualify for the overall. This also includes Yellow - individuals who did not race the road race but did do the crit. This one eliminates those in red - individuals that did not race the crit or told me they wouldn't be doing at least 3 races. My rationale is that you must race at least 3 events and if you skipped this crit the odds of you doing both the TT and the last crit are pretty low. The yellows I left thinking maybe they just don't like Road Races.

3 - Green includes everyone that has done both races or stated intent to do at least 3 overall stages. The odds of everyone in this list getting the 3 events in for the series is very high to almost definite. All of these riders could ignore the TT and still get 3 in by doing the final crit (except Riccio who told me he was definitely doign the TT and crit).

So...still too early to play numbers games...can't realy do that until after the TT. The TT will pretty much set the final standings. At that point we will know who is in and who is out of the overall as well as what is even feasible during the final crit.

Why is this important to me? Who knows. I find it immensely interesting. The tactics involved in trying to position overall are far more interesting than just going out and hammering yourself, doing poorly then sulking for the rest of the day.

I have TT experience (well 3 TT's this season). I am by far not a very good TT'r, but I look at it this way....I have gotten faster in every TT I have done. My general form is about at a peak. I have a more dialed in TT position than I have ever had before (still lacks). I will be pre-riding the TT course on Thursday night after work IN my TT setup....a first for me. It's the SHORTEST TT I have ever done. I know better how to embrace the pain that is a TT where a lot of these guys have never done it before.....

....in other words I hope to make up in experience what I lack in talent. My hope for overall was top 10. So far it looks to be something within reach.