Friday, April 16, 2010

life in review: volume 4--out like a lamb!

so, as suspected. i am still behind. life is rough. one day i hope to provide a blog post with recent material of the previous day's (or even weeks) activities. until then, be prepared to read about old crap.

so, moving on to the end of march. first off, let me just say that there is a real lack of cute pictures of lambs and sheep!

see what i mean?

this one would be cute if it didn't get in a street fight with a black eye and limp right leg.

and even this stuffed animal looks like its on drugs

le sigh.

not sure what ugly lambs have to do with the end of march, but i'm sure it is something. after the madera stage race i went to sactown for two races. as i discussed, i was a bit bummed by the likes of madera, so was hoping for some racing...the fields were 1/2/3 races, so they were likely to be much faster.

zamora road race

so because this was my first road race with the 1/2/3s, i figured i should know my place and start on the very back. yeah, i know better than to line up at the very back, but it just seemed like that was appropriate given that i was cat3 scum. perhaps this wouldn't have been a big deal had i actually had some skillz...but i couldn't seem to figure out how to get out of that last row for...well, pretty much the entire race.

the race was fast. this was fun; however, this also proved hard for me to move up considering we were either going super fast making it hard to move up, or we were clumped up shoulder to shoulder up to the yellow line, and i couldn't figure out how to mccook it to the front. no matter what i did, i couldn't get out of that back third of the pack.... i'd put in a huge effort to move up one row, and then somehow end up right back where i started.

when i'd come around the start/finish i'd hear michael yelling "beth, move up"... as i was in the last row. the only instructions i had for the race were: "practicing moving up"... and i was pretty much getting an "F". i wanted to put a footnote on the scantron, saying: 'honestly, i swear to god, i am trying to move up; i know it looks like i was being a lazy butt drafting at the back, but is not intentional!'

as i kept trying to move up, i kept falling back right to where i started. i was getting super frustrated with myself, as i'd see people who were next to me,suddenly be way at the front; i just couldn't figure out how to do that. i couldn't get away from the same 6 or 7 riders, no matter how much i tried... i'd always end up back where i started. it was like the first time i rode with andreas vogel on the track.... i did everything i could to move away from him, and within a second he was in front of me again. sigh.

so the last ten miles i'm getting a bit panicy, cause i really want to get out of the back but can't figure out how to move up. attacks were off the front, and at this point i just wanted to be somewhere respectable so i could field sprint. my frustration level with myself was at an 11...and i just wanted to mitigate my lack of ability at this point, by having a decent finish.

on the last hill i tried dodging around some people the best i could and put some big efforts in on the road before the final turn. i took the last turn about 20 people back. but i got kinda lucky and powered up the far far right side of the road that was pretty clear and luckily no one shut the door on me. as i was passing people, i realized i was passing a lot of people and then suddenly thought i could get a top 5, maybe. but then on the bump before the finish, i must have gotten a ton of speed, cause i got 2nd in the field sprint, for a 3rd overall.

here is a picture of me and emily kachorek in the final field sprint.

also-- check out hors categorie cycling photography sequence on stretch of road. this was pretty fun for me to look at, because it was multiple shots of the end of the race. it is always kind of a blur to me what happens in that final minute, so it was fun to see it in a more cognizant state. http://hcphoto.smugmug.com/DBC-My-Home-Team/Bariani-Road-Race/2010-Bariani-RR-11am/11571016_FZPtx/1/823247826_Xhvv2/Medium (I am way on the left side with the black jersey and yellow sleeves).

anyway, it was pretty sweet to get 3rd place and some awesome bariani olive oil (whee!), but i did feel like a douche, considering how poorly i rode the entire day.

landpark criterium
this is one of the few races i have done multiple times. for my warmup, michael kept making me do efforts on my rollers before the race and i was super tired and wanted to stop, but he kept making me do more. i was so tired. thank god the race was delayed 10 minutes so i had a minute to catch my breath.

this time, i made sure to line up at the front.

this picture is proof.

this didn't help much, cause i missed my pedal, then somehow made it back to the pack on lap one. JESUS- i was so mad at myself when i came around on lap 1 to find myself in the last spot.

but unlike the day before, i got LOTS of practice moving up. in fact, i got so much practice moving up, because i couldn't maintain my position to save my life! move up move up... go back, back. i felt like a bad paula abdul song. at one point during the race i thought: god damnit, i am riding so much more cause i am covering all this ground twice.

it was a fast race. i wanted to puke and couldn't believe how much we were strung out. i didn't even consider going for any primes. i just did my best to get to the front before the s-turns, because i was bound to lose about 5 positions each time. so with a 5 to go i was in good position; then with 3 to go, i was again at the back of the pack. then i moved up and with 1 to go was sitting about 10th wheel next to some fast people. i was actually happy with this, until there was swarm on the backside of the course, and i couldn't figure out how to not get sucked into the middle of the pack. it was all bad news, really.

not really sure how things played out to my advantage, but we came around the last turn, and i was pretty far back, but it looked like all the leadouts got messed up or something, so i just went early on the right side of the road, while everyone was clumped on the left. went i jumped early, i didn't think i could hold it, but was hoping to get a top 5... but i don't think anyone saw me for a bit, cause i was on the other side of the road, so i had a big gap to pad my sprint. the sprint felt like it was going on forever, and my sprint soon turned into a brisk pedaling, and i was hoping the line would come sooner rather than later.

upon seeing the finish line, i remembered my teammate's advice not to celebrate til after the line. except, at that point, i was so tired from such a long sprint, the only thing i could do with my hands was shift into the little ring. which is what i did promptly after crossing the finish line. luckily you can see my boyfriend in the background doing my victory salute for me. thanks honey!

and i won a cutting board at this race! i think this was a really cool and useful prize. thanks! i was excited between the olive oil and cutting board. i like kitchen supplies.

well, the rest of march......... i went bowling for my birthday........ i pre-rode the copperopolis course...... uhh, i think that was about it. in general, i think this picture sums up the end of march, going out like a lamb.


next up is: life in review: volume 5-- april showers. that is a pretty lame title, but maybe i'll think of something cooler....

bye!

1 comment:

hernando said...

roadie...