Tuesday, May 11, 2010
`Walterboro criterium
The course for this one is narrow along the star stop but this isn't a big deal bc the last turn narrows into the last stretch so it isn't really noticed. The other sections of this race are wide and very open soo the course is maneuverable...different from much of the rest of thr series. The notable fear for this one is the dark section where the backside stretch which gets fast and precarious at some points. The turn is not hard to do but just some bunching and darkness...soo a different angle . The finish is not far from the last turn . The midway prime came and I happened to be near the front close enuff to be able to go with any jump. The jump came from R Bahati himself and I did not hesitate...and it paid off. The power of Rashaan was not to be pulled in but I did stay away for second in the midway prime race...the recovery was not too bad to obtain. The 17 th place for finish was excellent and I was stoked..
Friday, May 7, 2010
Beaufort Course of speed week series..
The Beaufort Course is tuff because the start/ stop is short enuff to have to quickly slow down after jamming it up to around 30 mph... It Has, as the first turn a really narrow funnel into a tight one lane alley like road entrance, where one better have his ducks in order to get thru here with speed. To bomb it one had better mind the reflective plastic item laid in the asphalt yellow line center or apex of the turn,... that is raised, in order to add dimension to the already hard to navigate course. I was off the front with another rider and the gap was like ten seconds to the two up the road. About seven guys bridged up and came thru fast, just before the tuff first turn was to be negotiated. I picked up the speed and grabbed the flying by express, but i did also slide out bc of said reflective pop,into that darn infamous turn which later in the race caused about 30 riders to go to the pit bc of a crash and having to stop, ( hard turn ).. ....well the rest of the race sucked bc i was all dinged up and my skewer was loose which meant another dismount .i was bout to jump back in to the race after pit stop # 2 bc of big pile up....when i realized my skewer was loose and i had to tighten it and i was chasing the race for twelve laps after the poor pit stop ,...I was a dumb ass and I should have stayed in the pit longer to get the bike right. live n learn,...Beaufort has been hard for me to get a good result at. One day I will do well there. I finished like 60 th and DFL. Again. ..last year there I was also in a crash in that turn where I hit a downed rider and I was subsequently lapped and ,....damn beaufort,...
Roswell
The day after Athens is a criterium in Roswell. It is more like a circuit with a long start/stop stretch and on the backside there is a slight rise with a bottle necking at the crest,.. soo this narrowing after the crest goes into a left turn ,,the narrowing always leads to riders bunching up big time and into the turn it is a lil hairy with over decelleratioin and squeeling carbon fiber rims. positioning here is key,..ie stay at the front ,...not easy bc the start line stretch each lap reads speeds at like 33 all day soo the sprint out of the final turn onto long strip is full on and the speed whips around into first turn wo hesitation bc turn one and two are basicly combined and fast leading into the small climb which does sap speed easily but one can move up here and i was using the hill for that ...Roswell is hard bc it is fast and bc it is after Athens. I was not feeling well and i placed like 51 st .
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Speed Week
Well Athens was wet and pouring but not cold...though afterwards i was cold . The event was hard. The first half spent trying to move up and avoiding crashes and closing small gaps. The second half was spent tring to move up mstaying upright avoiding crashes and closing gaps. SEven or eight went away. Whatever . The race ended with me getting 24 th, the last lap i avoided hitting a down rider in the last turn...but i idid hit his drops which made me receiver a nice bruise with the wrist being braced by the bars and impacting the arm ,,...blah blah i stayed up and crossed the line ...upright thankj god and truly spent....whew,...oh there was a computrainer even i got second in my heat with maybe a average watts of 400 give or take for 8 mins,.,..boring sorta but a graph was there and a wattage indicator soo that was my first time to see me on a device like that,...i will post later on the rest of the fun down there but cant type too much...i am on pain killers bc i broke my scapula at sandy springs on the lkast lap . u can see crash on cycling news.comspeedweek....fun fun
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