SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!
Last week by the numbers is back, and it's badder than ever (said in Governator voice)
Number of races.......................................................2
Number of miles raced........................................................156
The sum total of my final placings (all of which were odd).......4
Percentage of my friends who can figure out what that means..10%
Money won...............................................................$75
Take home after fees, gas, ferry, and treating team to dinner.$-13.00
Two races this past weekend, Saturday was 72 miles for the second of three in the Mason Lake Series, and Sunday was 84 miles out in Sequim which is the first "real" (not training) race of the season. In other words, that one actually counts.
Mason Lake was another lovely day for racing in the Pacific Northwest. It was cold, but sunny and dry which is A-OK by me. In other good news our team kits finally arrived (for the most part, 9 of 11 boxes showed up). This meant I finally got to wear a clean kit without any holes in it. There were more than a couple of comments made by my friends about how they couldn't recognize me in a clean outfit.
The race started with a flurry of little attacks that would either go nowhere or just dangle out in front for a while. The Garage (that's one of the local teams) was being pretty darn aggressive and doing a good job of getting in or starting all the breaks. One of their riders and Ian Tubbs (strong man on Broadmark) were off the front for a few laps. I tried bridging up to them a few times, but the pack was having none of it. I would accelerate and build up a gap and would instantly have the whole field, especially The Garage, chasing me down. I tried three times but with no success. We caught Ian and the Garage rider (I thought that it was Jason Bethel, but was later told that was wrong so I'm not certain who it was). We eventually reeled them back in and there were some other attacks that didn't stick. A couple of miles before the last lap Michael Murden from the Garage was off the front by 100 meters give or take so I started to bridge up to him and miracle of all miracles, nobody chased me. Probably because it was a stupid move to chase. There was very little chance of Michael and I getting enough of a gap to stay away with only a bit over one lap to go.
I bridged up and immediately pulled through with Michael hopping on my wheel. I wanted to expand the gap quickly because we were in the twisty part of the course where it's possible to get out of sight without too much difficulty. Just after the start finish the course turns onto a small highway and you can see for a good distance there. I wanted to be out of sight by the highway. As I was pulling Michael along one of my teammates radioed me "dude, don't kill yourself, let Michael pull through." We started trading pulls and by the time we got to the highway I couldn't see the pack anymore. On the highway section it was wide enough for the follow car to come up beside us and give gaps. At first we were sitting at 30 seconds up for quite a while, but by turn two the gap was a minute to the peloton and 30 seconds to a chase group of six. Throughout I was also getting updates from my buddy Andrew who was radioing me from the chase group telling me the same information. He and Wes were covering the chase group so there were only actually four riders chasing while Andrew and Wes sat on. I don't really know how good a sprinter Michael is so I resolved to myself to try and drop him just before the 1k to go marker. We came up on the spot that I thought was just around the corner from 1K to go and I gunned it up one of the small rollers just as he pulled off. I got a gap and managed to keep opening that gap up. Unfortunately I had misjudged our location on the course, I was closer to two miles from the finish than I was to 1000 meters...oops. It was a painful last couple miles, but I just kept pushing and finally after what seemed waaaaaay too long saw the 1000 meter mark. One nice aspect of that last couple miles was my friend Martha Walsh was driving the lead car and waving her arm out the window. Of course I couldn't tell if she was saying "come on you're almost there" or "hurry up dumb-ass, they're right behind you!" Probably both.
I kept gunning it until 200 meters to go and then just rolled in with a big stupid grin on my face. Good times, my first win as a cat 2. It was a great set of results for my team as we also took 4th and 7th place Granted it's in a training race that doesn't count for points or prizes or much of anything really...despite that, it felt really good. Really REAllY good.
That last effort on Saturday definitely took it's toll as my legs were cramping up pretty good on the ride home. I had cooled down after the race and gave them a 30 minute easy spin when I got home but still, that evening and the next morning they felt mighty gooey. Sunday was another gorgeous but chilly day which increases my nervousness about the bad weather to come. I'm telling you, it's never this nice consistently, we will get the weather smack down visited upon us soon.
Sunday was an 84 mile road race in Sequim. Last year my first race as a cat three was here and I was in a ~70 mile breakaway to win. Thus year I was in an 80 mile breakaway (for 79 of those I had to pee really badly) The break started with 6 or 7 guys in it including Wes Pierce from my team who had placed 7th on Saturday at Mason Lake. I was still in the main group as they were starting to pull away. A group of five started to bridge up to the leaders when a sixth jumped up to get in on the party. I hopped on his wheel and he pulled me up to the chase group that had kind of stalled out. My ride tucked into the chase pack as it was stalling out but I kept my momentum and jumped the extra 50 meters or so up to the leaders. This brought the total to eight two Broadmark riders (Anton Jackson, and Mike Hone), Myself and Wes, and four other guys that I don't really know. We worked for a lap pushing the pace pretty well at around 30 mph at first when we were opening up the gap, and then eventually settling down a bit once the gap had opened up. A bit into the second lap three riders including Ian Tubbs and Johnny Sundt bridged up to us. Ian won this race last year in a long breakaway with Johnny Sundt and looked to be hoping to repeat. We were all working and pulling through except for Johnny which I didn't understand in the least. The entire time he was there he didn't pull through once, and then suddenly I looked back and he wasn't there anymore. Last year he was a domestic pro with Jittery Joe's and is a strong rider. I don't know why he dropped off, but he did.
I digress. Long story short, the break eventually shrunk to just five riders by the last lap, Ian Tubs and Anton Jackson from Broadmark, Andrew from the Valley, and another guy I don't know. In the last 400 meters Anton and Ian attacked and counter attacked very well putting me on the defensive. Defense may win championships, but it doesn't win bike races. I was simply outnumbered, and Anton and Ian are talented racers that worked me over to take 1st and 2nd place leaving me in 3rd. All told though I'm happy with the weekend and it's good miles in on the legs.
A last couple of notes/amusing anecdotes.
Martha (the person that was waving me on from the lead car) has for whatever reason made it her goal to set me up with a cycling chick-a-dee, and to promote that cause after the race on Saturday she slipped me a note with the names and WSBA (Washington State Bicycle Association) racing numbers of all the women born between '78 and '82. This of course cracks me up, but I must say after she compiled the list, cross referenced it for and eliminated riders who listed the same address as male WSBA members (unavailable), and eliminated anyone in Eastern Washington (I don't wanna ride my bike over the Cascades right now) it was a really short list. I'm thinking I may need to cast my line in other waters, but many thanks to Martha for the thought and effort.
This year the WSBA (Washington State Bicycle Association) is tracking all USCF races in Washington and assigning a point system to them. So far I'm in first place for the state. Bear in mind that there is no award for this, monetary, honorary or otherwise, and it is almost certainly a temporary situation. Between that and Mason Lake I guess I could claim to be the reigning champion of things that don't matter.
Or perhaps the Undisputed Champion of Nothing...I like that.
Next week is the third and final race in the Mason Lake series (if I get a top six finish I clench the series), and a new twist on a road race from last year out in Ravensdale. Until then
-Jamie (Undisputed Champion of Nothing) Stangeland
Last week by the numbers is back, and it's badder than ever (said in Governator voice)
Number of races.......................................................2
Number of miles raced........................................................156
The sum total of my final placings (all of which were odd).......4
Percentage of my friends who can figure out what that means..10%
Money won...............................................................$75
Take home after fees, gas, ferry, and treating team to dinner.$-13.00
Two races this past weekend, Saturday was 72 miles for the second of three in the Mason Lake Series, and Sunday was 84 miles out in Sequim which is the first "real" (not training) race of the season. In other words, that one actually counts.
Mason Lake was another lovely day for racing in the Pacific Northwest. It was cold, but sunny and dry which is A-OK by me. In other good news our team kits finally arrived (for the most part, 9 of 11 boxes showed up). This meant I finally got to wear a clean kit without any holes in it. There were more than a couple of comments made by my friends about how they couldn't recognize me in a clean outfit.
The race started with a flurry of little attacks that would either go nowhere or just dangle out in front for a while. The Garage (that's one of the local teams) was being pretty darn aggressive and doing a good job of getting in or starting all the breaks. One of their riders and Ian Tubbs (strong man on Broadmark) were off the front for a few laps. I tried bridging up to them a few times, but the pack was having none of it. I would accelerate and build up a gap and would instantly have the whole field, especially The Garage, chasing me down. I tried three times but with no success. We caught Ian and the Garage rider (I thought that it was Jason Bethel, but was later told that was wrong so I'm not certain who it was). We eventually reeled them back in and there were some other attacks that didn't stick. A couple of miles before the last lap Michael Murden from the Garage was off the front by 100 meters give or take so I started to bridge up to him and miracle of all miracles, nobody chased me. Probably because it was a stupid move to chase. There was very little chance of Michael and I getting enough of a gap to stay away with only a bit over one lap to go.
I bridged up and immediately pulled through with Michael hopping on my wheel. I wanted to expand the gap quickly because we were in the twisty part of the course where it's possible to get out of sight without too much difficulty. Just after the start finish the course turns onto a small highway and you can see for a good distance there. I wanted to be out of sight by the highway. As I was pulling Michael along one of my teammates radioed me "dude, don't kill yourself, let Michael pull through." We started trading pulls and by the time we got to the highway I couldn't see the pack anymore. On the highway section it was wide enough for the follow car to come up beside us and give gaps. At first we were sitting at 30 seconds up for quite a while, but by turn two the gap was a minute to the peloton and 30 seconds to a chase group of six. Throughout I was also getting updates from my buddy Andrew who was radioing me from the chase group telling me the same information. He and Wes were covering the chase group so there were only actually four riders chasing while Andrew and Wes sat on. I don't really know how good a sprinter Michael is so I resolved to myself to try and drop him just before the 1k to go marker. We came up on the spot that I thought was just around the corner from 1K to go and I gunned it up one of the small rollers just as he pulled off. I got a gap and managed to keep opening that gap up. Unfortunately I had misjudged our location on the course, I was closer to two miles from the finish than I was to 1000 meters...oops. It was a painful last couple miles, but I just kept pushing and finally after what seemed waaaaaay too long saw the 1000 meter mark. One nice aspect of that last couple miles was my friend Martha Walsh was driving the lead car and waving her arm out the window. Of course I couldn't tell if she was saying "come on you're almost there" or "hurry up dumb-ass, they're right behind you!" Probably both.
I kept gunning it until 200 meters to go and then just rolled in with a big stupid grin on my face. Good times, my first win as a cat 2. It was a great set of results for my team as we also took 4th and 7th place Granted it's in a training race that doesn't count for points or prizes or much of anything really...despite that, it felt really good. Really REAllY good.
That last effort on Saturday definitely took it's toll as my legs were cramping up pretty good on the ride home. I had cooled down after the race and gave them a 30 minute easy spin when I got home but still, that evening and the next morning they felt mighty gooey. Sunday was another gorgeous but chilly day which increases my nervousness about the bad weather to come. I'm telling you, it's never this nice consistently, we will get the weather smack down visited upon us soon.
Sunday was an 84 mile road race in Sequim. Last year my first race as a cat three was here and I was in a ~70 mile breakaway to win. Thus year I was in an 80 mile breakaway (for 79 of those I had to pee really badly) The break started with 6 or 7 guys in it including Wes Pierce from my team who had placed 7th on Saturday at Mason Lake. I was still in the main group as they were starting to pull away. A group of five started to bridge up to the leaders when a sixth jumped up to get in on the party. I hopped on his wheel and he pulled me up to the chase group that had kind of stalled out. My ride tucked into the chase pack as it was stalling out but I kept my momentum and jumped the extra 50 meters or so up to the leaders. This brought the total to eight two Broadmark riders (Anton Jackson, and Mike Hone), Myself and Wes, and four other guys that I don't really know. We worked for a lap pushing the pace pretty well at around 30 mph at first when we were opening up the gap, and then eventually settling down a bit once the gap had opened up. A bit into the second lap three riders including Ian Tubbs and Johnny Sundt bridged up to us. Ian won this race last year in a long breakaway with Johnny Sundt and looked to be hoping to repeat. We were all working and pulling through except for Johnny which I didn't understand in the least. The entire time he was there he didn't pull through once, and then suddenly I looked back and he wasn't there anymore. Last year he was a domestic pro with Jittery Joe's and is a strong rider. I don't know why he dropped off, but he did.
I digress. Long story short, the break eventually shrunk to just five riders by the last lap, Ian Tubs and Anton Jackson from Broadmark, Andrew from the Valley, and another guy I don't know. In the last 400 meters Anton and Ian attacked and counter attacked very well putting me on the defensive. Defense may win championships, but it doesn't win bike races. I was simply outnumbered, and Anton and Ian are talented racers that worked me over to take 1st and 2nd place leaving me in 3rd. All told though I'm happy with the weekend and it's good miles in on the legs.
A last couple of notes/amusing anecdotes.
Martha (the person that was waving me on from the lead car) has for whatever reason made it her goal to set me up with a cycling chick-a-dee, and to promote that cause after the race on Saturday she slipped me a note with the names and WSBA (Washington State Bicycle Association) racing numbers of all the women born between '78 and '82. This of course cracks me up, but I must say after she compiled the list, cross referenced it for and eliminated riders who listed the same address as male WSBA members (unavailable), and eliminated anyone in Eastern Washington (I don't wanna ride my bike over the Cascades right now) it was a really short list. I'm thinking I may need to cast my line in other waters, but many thanks to Martha for the thought and effort.
This year the WSBA (Washington State Bicycle Association) is tracking all USCF races in Washington and assigning a point system to them. So far I'm in first place for the state. Bear in mind that there is no award for this, monetary, honorary or otherwise, and it is almost certainly a temporary situation. Between that and Mason Lake I guess I could claim to be the reigning champion of things that don't matter.
Or perhaps the Undisputed Champion of Nothing...I like that.
Next week is the third and final race in the Mason Lake series (if I get a top six finish I clench the series), and a new twist on a road race from last year out in Ravensdale. Until then
-Jamie (Undisputed Champion of Nothing) Stangeland
posted by Jamie Stangeland at Monday, March 13, 2006
1 Comments:
That 1K to go sign at Mason Lake is very large and very orange and you can see it for about 200m before you get there and it had been in the same spot for all 6 laps of the race. At least Jamie knew where the finish line was! And to Michael Murdin's credit, he did a lot of work in that break and the gap opened up very slowly when Jamie punched it. The difference between them (as seen from the lead car) was that Michael was working REALLY REALLY hard and Jamie was motoring away. In fact, at one stage when Michael was on the front, Jamie looked over his shoulder to see if they were being caught and almost ran into Michael because he was pedaling too hard. What I was saying in the car at the end, Jamie, was "SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!" :)
I'll try to remember the cowbell this week.
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