Wednesday, March 4, 2009
- General - Posted by Paul
Saturday's circuit race started out with a pretty huge pack of about 60 riders. We made sure to assert our dominance right from the start as Davis lined up at the front spreading across the entire start/finish line. It was great to see almost the entire team lined up to cheer us on, and especially Phil who kept yelling things like "sandbaggers" and "watch out...Carlson's going to attack first lap." They were also quite intimidated by Tony's monster beard, Granola's Rudy Project facemask, and Juan's, Dave's, and my terribly ugly mustaches.Not much happened for the first few laps as the pack was willing to coast along with CalPoly sitting at the front. Then things got a little interesting as Dave started setting pace at the front, and from then on we had the pack's attention. Juan later bridged up to an early solo break, but the pack wasn't willing to let anything go as CalPoly brought them back. For the next few laps the pack mostly stayed together but we now had Dave and myself near the front doing some work and protecting the rest of our guys for a possible sprint. Second to last lap after the short incline and the nasty gravel covered left turn, I was 5th wheel and noticed that CalPoly had disappeared from the front of the pack. I saw 4 guys from four different teams, and before blinking an eye jumped like crazy through a small opening in the middle of the pack. I got a good amount of separation and was off the front while the rest of the Davis guys sat up a bit. But, again, CalPoly wasn't willing to let anything get away for too long and noone wanted to bridge so I was brought back about 300m from the start/finish. As I was picked up by the pack I got back on and attached myself to Tony's wheel as we moved back up through the pack. The pace picked up and Dave was back at the front setting tempo. With 200m to go we had ourselves a massive field sprint. Dave got boxed in by two UCSC guys who almost took him down on the center line, Tony Granola took a great line on the outside to nab 3rd, Michael "I forgot to sprint" Spady took 5th, and I squeezed back through the middle for 11th.After having witnessed Jon Teeter blow the men's D field to smithereens we had our work cut out for us on the crit. As all races that day did, the pack took off at the gun. Within a few laps the pack had splintered to well under half its size. By about the 4th lap we had Dave, myself, Juan, Tony, and Spady still working hard near the front. Soon I found myself moving up to 3rd wheel, where I stayed for a few laps as the pace stayed high. Coming hot out of the last corner I heard the bell for the first prime and attacked at the start/finish line hoping to pick up some pts and again split up the field. Both happened, as I picked up third in the prime and the lead pack was now down to 11 guys. What I didn't expect was how I would blow up and lose contact with the main group after 3 more laps. The good news was that Tony and Dave had eaten their wheaties that morning and stayed with the lead pack. In fact, Tony dominated by taking 1st in two primes while Dave picked up a 2nd! In the finish the final pack of ten riders took a sprint to the line where Tony took 4th and Dave took 8th. I rolled in soon after in 11th and Spady in 12th.
Jay
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Saturday, August 8, 2009
PLEASE DON'T SPAM-
Saturday's circuit race started out with a pretty huge pack of about 60 riders. We made sure to assert our dominance right from the start as Davis lined up at the front spreading across the entire start/finish line. It was great to see almost the entire team lined up to cheer us on, and especially Phil who kept yelling things like "sandbaggers" and "watch out...Carlson's going to attack first lap." They were also quite intimidated by Tony's monster beard, Granola's Rudy Project facemask, and Juan's, Dave's, and my terribly ugly mustaches.Not much happened for the first few laps as the pack was willing to coast along with CalPoly sitting at the front. Then things got a little interesting as Dave started setting pace at the front, and from then on we had the pack's attention. Juan later bridged up to an early solo break, but the pack wasn't willing to let anything go as CalPoly brought them back. For the next few laps the pack mostly stayed together but we now had Dave and myself near the front doing some work and protecting the rest of our guys for a possible sprint. Second to last lap after the short incline and the nasty gravel covered left turn, I was 5th wheel and noticed that CalPoly had disappeared from the front of the pack. I saw 4 guys from four different teams, and before blinking an eye jumped like crazy through a small opening in the middle of the pack. I got a good amount of separation and was off the front while the rest of the Davis guys sat up a bit. But, again, CalPoly wasn't willing to let anything get away for too long and noone wanted to bridge so I was brought back about 300m from the start/finish. As I was picked up by the pack I got back on and attached myself to Tony's wheel as we moved back up through the pack. The pace picked up and Dave was back at the front setting tempo. With 200m to go we had ourselves a massive field sprint. Dave got boxed in by two UCSC guys who almost took him down on the center line, Tony Granola took a great line on the outside to nab 3rd, Michael "I forgot to sprint" Spady took 5th, and I squeezed back through the middle for 11th.
After having witnessed Jon Teeter blow the men's D field to smithereens we had our work cut out for us on the crit. As all races that day did, the pack took off at the gun. Within a few laps the pack had splintered to well under half its size. By about the 4th lap we had Dave, myself, Juan, Tony, and Spady still working hard near the front. Soon I found myself moving up to 3rd wheel, where I stayed for a few laps as the pace stayed high. Coming hot out of the last corner <a title="web tasarımı" href="http://www.piramitweb.com">web tasarımı</a> I heard the bell for the first prime and attacked at the start/finish line hoping to pick up some pts and again split up the field. Both happened, as I picked up third in the prime and the lead pack was now down to 11 guys. What I didn't expect was how I would blow up and lose contact with the main group after 3 more laps. The good news was that Tony and Dave had eaten their wheaties that morning and stayed with the lead pack. In fact, Tony dominated by taking 1st in two primes while Dave picked up a 2nd! In the finish the final pack of ten riders took a sprint to the line where Tony took 4th and Dave took 8th. I rolled in soon after in 11th and Spady in 12th.
Jay
