Short Track #5

Portland Short Track #5
Portland International Raceway
SS category
July 21, 2008

Again, I'm tardy in publishing this race report as I've had a ton going on with a really busy work schedule, and our upcoming vacation.

I had an almost perfect starting position and a good (not great) start. I made it into the first corner with the top 10 guys and mananged to stick with this group for the rest of the race, working my way up to a finishing placement of 4th (out of 54 folks). The course as usual was different than the previous weeks. The organizers added in a couple of logs and even a stretch of pavement(!). Fun times.

This is my last STXC of the year and probably my last race until 'cross starts so I'll do a quick recap:

#1: 3rd place
#3: 18th place
#4: 6th place
#5: 4th place


As compared to last year...

#1 22nd
#2 10th
#4 8th
#5 8th


Whoah - in a good way. Same as last year 3 top 10s, but in reality the competition was harder this year and I placed higher in each of the races. My best 3 races this year placed higher than my best all around last year.

I am bummed to miss the final race, but I should be having fun regardless :).

Short Track #4

Totally late post, so I am not going to create a lengthy description....

Details:
New Course
SS category
# of Riders: 43 riders
Final placement: 6th place

Cool picture:
http://photos.oregonvelo.com/p/pdxstxc071408r2/pdxstxc07140815940

The guy that took 1st in the race also races for Twin Six. His first race in the series. Nice work Jeff!

I followed up with the Twin Six guys and apparently he is also a good cyclocrosser so I am sure we will see more of him this fall.

Doper's Suck

It just never ends, does it?

The Grand Tour was rocked again today when Riccardo Ricco was busted for doping. Word on the street is that he was caught using a new generation of EPO that apparently release over a long period of time.

I think my friend Bryan summarized it the best:
"Now Riccardo Riccò is out for suspected doping. Between him, Moisés Dueñas, Manuel Beltrán, Christophe Moreau mysteriously pulling out in stage seven, and more likely to come as the list of 20 riders with “abnormal” values get subjected to more scrutiny, it’s starting to feel like déjà vu all over again.

It’s gotten to the point where I’m a little reticent to pump my fist for any rider these days…as it feels like only a matter of time before they are caught doping."

No shit, brotha. Seems like groundhogs day all over again.

Tabor #6: Final Race

July 16,2007
Mt Tabor Park

Summer must truly be midway because the annual Wednesday Night Mt Tabor race series came to an end last week.

The final race was pretty typical of all previous races that I have reported on. I had a good start, I pulled the field much of the time, I was involved in a full on uphill sprint on the last lap, I crossed the line and felt like my heart was going to explode. Good times.

I ended up taking 4th place, but due to a technicality, the winner was DQ'd because he forgot his # or to sign in... So, I actually ended up in 3rd.

So for the series, out of 6 races my results looked like this:
5th
3rd
3rd
3rd

for a points total of 236 (or 4th place overall). Not bad I guess since this was 4 out of 6 races.

On a side note: Here's a shout out to Cylepath Racing Teamie John Browning for the 1-2 punch, winning both the Senior Men and the Men's master (40+) race serie(s). For those of you following at home, that is 2 separate races each night!

Short Track #3

Short Track #3
Portland International Raceway
July 7, 2008

Wow, that was hard. Dusty, sweaty, bumpy, hot and hard. I'm not sure yet how I did, but I know it wasn't particularly well.

I broke the 1st rule of Short Track (no, it is not not talking about Short track). I had a bad start. Not just a bad start, but a horrible start. I was out pre-riding the course and doing a bit of scouting when the rest of the field was lining up. When I finally dragged my sorry butt over to the start line it was already 3 deep. Nice.

Race started and based on my excellent starting position I new I had my work cut out for me. I went as aggressive as possible and muscled my way on up. Unfortunately, as soon as I was gaining ground I lost my chain on the top of a crest and spent what seemed like an eternity getting it back on...guess I should have checked that ahead of time...

By the time I had it back on, the majority of the field had passed me, thus I spent the rest of the race trying to make up time. I'll be lucky if I placed mid pack.

On the bright side, it was still fun, but a hard fun.

Update: Looks like I placed 18th out of 54. Not great, but not as bad as I thought under the circumstances.

Also, looks like my new nemisis at Tabor this year took first. Darn 19 year olds..

West on 5th

A good friend of mine who lives in Austin created this video. His wife is the star.

Anyway, it totally captures the essence and fun of riding a bike.

Tabor #5

Surveying the course. (New Kit)


My posts are starting to bump into each other... I wait until my next race until I am forced to report on the last. Not very exciting reporting to say the least....

Tabor #5 was much like Tabor #3 (I missed #4 due to my wonderful wife's birthday). I raced fixed as usual and the field was a bit smaller, but all the leaders were there so I knew I would need to race smart again by not making a break
when the leaders were going slower than I wanted to. I stuck with
them and did my share of pulling until the final lap when the
lead guys attacked. I hung on for dear life and took home the
bronze. Hey, at least I paid for my race fees!

Best Part of the race was my cheering section:

"Go Daddy, Go!"