I was riding this morning with two members of the HDC and we rode past what appeared to be a dead snake. Not so! The snake was very much alive and he/she coiled itself and started rattling. We stayed back, far back, and watch it for about a minute. We were about 30 feet away – and it eventually stopped rattling. My buddy Pat laughed and that started up the rattling again. I guess this Mojave Rattlesnake didn’t have a sense of humor.
I made it back up to NorCal for the final days of the race action. On Saturday morning I was all set in the 19th heat for my flying 200 meter ride for seeding in the sprint finals. Not wanting to duplicate the conservative setup I used in the 200TT in San Diego for the SoCal Masters Championship in July I went with a 49×14 gear. This gear gets me up to terminal velocity and I am able to hold it pretty good. I rode a 48×14 to a 12.61 in SD. My previous best with my 36-spoke turtle speed wheels was a 12.82 at the Encino velodrome. In San Jose I channeled all of my years of racing (started back in 1982 on a bmx bike) and got off a 12.326. My goal was to get at least a 12.4 so I was very stoked to get .08 faster. It seems like such a small margin but flying 200’s can be very competitive and this one was no exception. The top eight riders made it to the final rounds. I finished in 17th place. Somewhat of a shock since last year the 8th qualifier rode a 12.4. This year the 8th qualifier rode an 11.9. Yeah, that is a fast, fast field. Even my bud Eric Manual got 14th riding a 12.19. Sick!!! I am far from discouraged, in fact I am stoked to even be able to race at this level considering I took a 5 year break from 2000 to 2004. I owe my re-found raceness to cyclocross which I started racing in 2005.
In the Team Sprint in Sunday I was asked by Mike Dancel if I would ride with him and Patrick Larabee of Colorado. I was jonesing to race the Team Sprint. I talked to many people, probably to the point of being a pest but I was hungry for the race. These two riders made the trip out west and I was glad to race with them. We finished in 1:15 for the event, 6th out of 6 teams. Considering our competition was off the hook fast and we never rode together we did as good as we could.
Next year I am setting lofty goals once again. My main goal this year was to win a series which I did as a cat5. I am back up to cat4. For 2009 I will get back to cat3, ride a 200 under 12 seconds, and ride a kilo under 1:15:00. Mark these words son, it’s on.
And lastly, I am going to retire my trusty KHS Aero Track bike and and go with something carbon to match my Cane Creek Sprint 85’s. Just kidding! I could care less if the new ride matches my wheels. I just want to go faster.
Wow – this is not the place to be when Hurricane Ike gets here.
I just got home from the US Masters Track Nationals in San Jose, CA at the Hellyer Park velodrome. In the kilo I worked up 16th out of 23 starters. While the kilo is not my strong event I competed anyway just for the competition. I knocked 2 secs off my PR and rode a 1:18:20 so I am pretty stoked with that. Next up is the sprints on Saturday morning. I am probably going to have to have the ride of my life to qualify for the main event.