ok, I know there's been rumors, and I can't go on like this, living in denial, so here's the dope:





4th place at the campus crit, 40 yrs +
1st place, birchwood road race, masters cat 4-5

ok, and now with no apologies, here is the long race report:

the campus crit was fun, a bit wet at the start of the race, so folks were riding cautiously. about 5 gp riders were sitting in, and I was trying to stay near the front. One of them got to the front and then wanted me to pull through. I wiped my nose. He turned around again and said 'come on, you've got to take a turn' .. I had this dang runny nose though, and just wiped it again. Then he started weaving all over the road, and looking back trying to get me to pass him. It was sort of annoying, and I was on my way to a corner. So I took the short line into the corner, and too bad for him he was between me and the curb. sorry dude. anyhow, there was some bad language from him at that point, but that was the last I saw him, because on the next lap I jumped out and was joined by 3 guys, including two strong riders from gp, and we kept the gap for the next 8 laps or so, to the finish. one of the guys was a time trial horse, and couldn't corner, and when I pulled I'd drop them all in the corners, but basically I was barely hanging on at the end, and was glad to get the 4th place out of our group. The field was a couple of blocks back. Lots of fun.


at the birchwood race I decided on the 3 lap race, even though I was tempted to race 5 laps with the 3s. But I figured, it's hot and windy, and technically I'm a cat 4/5 masters.. so race that one, and try and get a decent result so that later, after I upgrade to 3s, and I'm getting dropped, I'll have some memories of riding at the front. So on the first lap me and that German guy Markus (silver cycling) tried to get something going and got a little gap, but no one was interested in bridging up to us, so before we started up the hill we sat up and waited for the group. I told myself not to get suckered into that again, and promised myself to keep at least 5 riders in front of me. There were lots of Loons and some cat 6ers, let them do the work. So I sat in back, and drank water. I even had two water bottle cages on the bike! .. the bwoods had neutral water hand ups, and so for the race I drank 7 bottles, including two with clayton's powder, and some hammer gel from Fleck.. thanks guys... also, I had decided to go with my low gear setup to avoid cramping, and had spent a couple of weeks trying to learn how to shift. (all that single speed riding can have its down side) .. and so as a result, I was spinning up the hill, and even went as low as 36 x 25, while all around me guys were out of the saddle and fighting cramps. As we approached Nason Hill for the third time, the cat 3 field was in sight. The race officials drove by our group slowly, and said if we got much closer , they'd pull the 3's over and let us pass. That would have been really sweet ! (they started about 10 minutes before us).. anyhow, that didn't happen, but on the last climb, one of the loons started pulling away about halfway up Nason hill. I had little trouble grabbing his wheel and followed him over the top. As we started down the slight downhill, he turned and said "hey, it's a long way to the finish".. at that, I looked back, and said "dude! we have a gap!" , "no shit" or something like that was his reply, I was amazed we had pulled away so cleanly, and said "yeah! let's do it.. " and we traded off for the next km or so, trying to build that gap. I pulled around him as we started up the next hill - the one I'd been saving myself for - and said "stick with me" .. I was still worried the pack might catch us on the slight downhill before the finish, and having two riders would make it easier. but when I looked back a minute later, he was way off my wheel, and the pack was starting the climb.. I wasn't waiting around for him, and took off, I figured I had a couple of km to go .. I did my best imitation of a time trialist, and 'hammered' away on 50x12. ok, maybe it was 50x14, but hey! don't laugh, there was a headwind ! anyhow, the sweetest sound was when I heard the official's car pull around him, and get behind me, about 300 meters from the finish. Just before the line there was a slight uphill and I was running out of gas. I turned and saw him out of the saddle, but it was too late, I beat him by 50 meters or so.