Starcrossed Reports
SS Reports:
ah starcrossed my nemesis. had a great call up, thanks to jason but thats about where the good ended. Within the first minute going around the 180 corner by the chainlink, i clipped a wheel, crossed up in some loose dirt and endo’d, no es bueno. I got up pretty quick and tried to reel as many back in as i could. I worked with a couple guys and made some ground up but some of the gaps were to big to bridge alone and the few guys i was working with were fading and i was slackin. I ended up with a 20th place. I think the good that came out of yesterday’s race was i don’t think anybody that was legally drunk, wearing a costume, riding a mt. bike or doing there second or third race of the day beat me!
-Bill Huggins
Ditto for me in the Single Speeds. Killer dust yesterday….”papa, I think I have the black lung….”
-Raymond Tse
Race #2! Right after the 40+ race was the ss race, yahoo, 2 races back to back! I had to think ahead earlier in the day while pinning #s and wasnt sure I would have the time to change at the tent so I had stashed another kit pinned w #707 (another front row start 🙂 at the start area where the whole Hodala! team and everyone else watched me change and tried to hurt my feeling by heckling me while peeling off my sweaty skinsuit and wrangling on my other kit, luckily nobody pulled down my changing towel in the process 😉 Those Hodala! guys sure do like to watch other men change in and out of clothes as they all swarmed me in my most intimate moments not so secretly hoping for a change malfunction of some sort but it was all in good fun! Anyhoo, the racing started off great again with another holeshot, thats 2 holeshots in one day, son! From there the racing went good too although my legs were a missing a little punch but still ok 🙂 I hung out in a 5th place no man’s land until about halfwaty through the race when my legs started to feel the effort and a couple of guys got by me. Never give up , never give up! I battled back and forth with more sweat in my eyes and dust in my lungs holding strong until…the bonk started with 2 to go:-( Bad thoughts ensued that were brought back by people cheering for me to go go go! I got a clutch beer handoff from Matt Soja, my savior of the day, and kept going despite losing ground. I tried to get some more beer from the beer garden but got side 5s instead=lame! I got passed by a lot of guys in those last 2 laps, Glenn and Bart were 2 of em and remember asking Joey Mullins if he had a sandwich to spare. I was constantly buoyed but you all and the crowd out there, thank you! Wound up with 23rd place in the ss race with just a little regret that I didn’t eat anything between races but there also wasnt much time either, so I am feeling good all around :-)You all kept me going and I just kept reminding myself that it would all be over soon, just keep pedalling and do not quit! This mentality was strengthened and enhanced by doing some long ass rides this Summer which are paying dividends now with extra strumpf and endurance 🙂 PCP!
-Max Kullaway
Let’s see, SS race report… Molly Cameron called it out ahead of time and followed through in thrashing our field. Craig E. tried his best but a bad starting position did him in and he got second. Me, I ended up almost exactly where I thought I would. Battling it out for third, a couple mistakes on my part including clipping my pedal on the last corner cost me third by a whisker. Never mind that, I had a great time battling it out and left nothing in the tank. Seems its time I start actually training and stop bring the lazy training arsehole that I am. Great watching everyone out there and props to Max for doing the double and doing quite well in both his races!
-Jason Williams
The highlight of my day was being at the front of the SS field at the second corner near the Hodala crew’s set up… but it was all down hill from there. I went too fast and too wide in to that corner and Max, Jason, and 3/4 of the field passed me in short order.
-David Brunelle
Race #2 was brutal and I don’t want to talk about it. Lets just say my tired legs didn’t like the gear I picked and I got pulled with 1 to go. I was fine with my pace getting slower and was just determined to finish. I was pretty bummed to get pulled.
-Zack Phillips
Cat 4/5 Report:
Report: cat 4/5: started back row (~200 places back – last row in 3rd group), worked my way up through some amount of people – maybe to mid pack, but really I have no idea because of usac incompetence. Caught my nemesis off the line, but he managed to pull away around lap 3.
-Andy Zeigler
Cat 3 30+ Report:
I started in the front row and went backwards for 50min. The end.
-Ian Mullins
Not much of a race report for me. Despite the rumor that the number pickup indicated the order in which you started it appeared to simply be about registration order. I got a nice (sarcasm) 6th row call-up in the 30+ 3s field and expected the start to be a shit-show. Luckily I was behind a bunch of guys that couldn’t find their pedals so I could weave through them and make up a lot of ground before the first corner. I didn’t feel great for the first couple of laps, probably a combo of nerves and racing so late in the day (4pm). Once I warmed up thoroughly I was able to just to make slow and steady progress up through the field. I had a decent battle with a guy for about three laps running. I’d get him in the corners and he’d always get me back on the flat stretch outside the North side of the velodrome. On the last lap when he passed me there I just sat on his wheel for the remainder of the lap and when we hit the final corner to the finishing straight I just buried my head gritted my teeth and beat him to the line. I traditionally never win any sort of finish sprint so it was nice to pull one out.
-Zack Phillips
Open 40+ Master Reprot:
Race #1 for me was the Open 40+ Master’s race. The field was pretty stacked and luckily (friends in the right places 😉 ) I got a front row start w #404 pinned all over me w about a pound of safety pins on my back and shoulders, jeez! When they said go, I did, and went and got the holeshot! Gotta love the holeshot, no matter how much it costs later in the race, imho 😉 After getting reeled in by some big strong dudes I settled in around 4th-5th postion in the field passing up a lot of 30+ riders in the process. About halfway through the race I was shoulder to shoulder w Matt Hill when I hit a big divet in the turn leading up to the beer gardern barriers and it bumped my front tire off the rim a bit causing me to have to stop and reset it quickly before getting back on and going again. The tire held until the pit where I got on my ss for a couple of laps until Matt Soja got me a front wheel from Zack for my geared bike, thanks guys! Honestly the rest is a blur of sweat in the eyes and dust in the face but I am happy with my eighth place. That rhymed rather well I think 😉
-Max Kullaway