Thursday, December 1, 2011

BB Racing 2011

The rumors of the end of my racing career are greatly exaggerated! My results are nothing to speak of - but I did have a fun season of racing.  These "reports" benefit greatly from the passage of time. I'm sure I remember the races being much better than they were.

And check out the baby photo!

BB

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Road Races:

Santa Rosa Crit (Cat 2 and M35+)
I went up for the opportunity to race twice without having to do P12. Nothing unusual happened except I left my wheels in the pit. The usual things happened. The really big guy in the Clover kit yelled at me for no apparent reason, we went 'round in circles, there was a crash on the last lap of the Cat 2 race.

Burlingame
It was just too fast to do anything. But for the first time in a long time I felt "in the flow" at this race.

Foothill Circuit Race
This race is awesome. I don't know how long the loop is, but longer than an average crit. There's a short hill that I figured would be the end of me by the end of the race. There was a good crowd and it's a super convenient race to ride to from the house! I made it to the base of the hill with the lead group of about 10 the last time around. I cracked so hard that a bunch of people passed me before the finish at the top. Hey I beat Dominic.

Novato Grand Prix
Long course with no real corners and no real hill. People always say that courses without corners are crash tests, but I love this course and I hate crash fests. Two laps to go and I took off. No one came with me. One lap to go two guys bridged up but passed me on the other side of the road. I'll admit that I was cracking - but if they would have come by on my side of the road I would have had a chance to hang with them. The field caught me 1/2 way through the last lap. I think Bill finished well.

Scotts Valley Grand Prix
This one is almost exactly like Novato - except Michael and Beth were there and Michael called me a "hard man" and "sexy" after making my end of race attack but being caught.

Fast and Furious Crit in Pleasanton
This is a fun "high production value" crit. Barriers and banners and a festival and all that jazz. The people of Pleasanton seemed super excited to watch racing even if they had no idea what was actually happening.

One of the other boring Pleasanton races the title of which I forget
Circles, yelling at racers for no reason… nothing out of the ordinary.

SF Grand Prix
This was a fun one. It was the first time I had raced with Rob MacNeil in a very long time. He's a great wheel to follow. So I followed it. I was feeling SO GOOD. Three laps to go and I'm following Rob at about 10th position up the outside on the backstretch through the really bad pavement. Some bozo almost knocks Rob into the curb and we both slam on the brakes and loose our great position. I try to get back near the front but it's pretty much over at that point.

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Now for something completely different - but with a bike racing analogy!
The birth of Evelyn
The next few weeks I rode a bit, but never more than 45 minutes from home. We were within the window where labor could start at any moment. The closest analogy I have from my personal experience that helps to explain what it was like to support Julia through labor was the time in high school that I was on the support team for a friend who qualified for the RAAM in a 36 hour time trial. I barely made it - I have no idea how she did it!

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CX: Because - just like triathlon - it's OK to be going a lot slower than the leaders. No one can tell in the photos that you aren't winning.

I had to sign up for the Open B category because the M123 B sold out weeks in advance for the Pilarcitos series.

Sierra Point
No warm up. Terrible starting grid position. I think I was 94th and the start and I got up to 67th.

Golden Gate Park
Julia and Evelyn came to watch - that was cool. Rand was watching and definitely was out to get me with the heckling. One time through the whooopty-doo thing that you don't quite have to run up Rand said something and I "playfully" gave him the finger. The crowd didn't quite get that this was directed at a single individual which made me feel terrible. The remaining times through this section I tried to ham it up for everyone and grab dollar bills and I took a swig from someone's beer. Rand later told me he appreciated the focus and core strength I demonstrated when I was able to ride up the hill and give him the finger at the same time. Started about 30th. Finished about 60th.

Coyote Point
Great warm up. My favorite course. Decent starting position. Finished 50th.

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That's all I got. Looking forward to next season.