My Weekend of Battles

Raced Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. It was certainly a tale of two completely different races. Saturday was C-Klasse on a 10km flat circuit over 6 laps with 180 starters. Sunday was a KT/A/B/C Gonso Ba-Wu-Liga race over 25 laps on a 4km circuit with 120 starters with a sick 200m climb that probably averaged 12-15%. Fortunately the black lung that made it's presence known to me last week was feeling the wrath of vitamin C and Zinc.

Saturday, I felt really good. It had been a while so I was pretty stoked. I took a really long warmup knowing that it would be full-gas from the get go and not much time to make up as it was only 60km. After scoring probably the best start position(more on this technique later), I was able to position myself very nicely near the front and avoid the carnage that would ensue. Now the key I have found in getting a sick starting spot is to avoid at all possible the standard line up that the keepers put the riders. This is usually a roped off area. Stay near the start line, or just ahead of it on the sidewalk. Also you must pretend that you don't understand anything which they are saying. Fortunately for me, this is nearly completely true. I think my Deutsch thinking portion in my brain turns off as soon as I get near race time. It's a conservation of resources you could say. As the keepers allow the riders to go to the start, a swift and what might be referred to as a "wanker" move is par for the course. Over here, you have to look out for numero uno, ie yourself. The team was quite impressed with my navigational skills. In the first 3km, someone flatted and consequently took out about 20-30 riders immediately. Marc fell victim and suffered flesh wounds and a broken bike. It sounded like the rider was runing 150psi in his tubular. No bueno. From then it got fast and sketchy like most C-Klasse races. I was hoping the pace would stay high to keep it safer and thin out the field. 2nd lap rolls around and all is compacto. 3rd round, and another crash on the slightly uphill section before we entered Kurhart(village). This one took out another 20-30 riders I think. The next two laps were all about watching what is going on and keeping sure nothing serious went without being in it. I tried my luck following a rider in one move but it ended after a few minutes. On the last lap, a rider was about 20-25s up the road. The field was uninterested in him. To me, he looked too strong and I wasn't about to let some rider go off the front when I had some teammates who could shake it in the end. I didn't like the finishing stretch and prefered to do work for the team. So I told Florian, Marcel, and Daniel to sit in and I would bring it back. Having good sensations and a cyborg approach that I was going to pull this guy back no matter what I set out. Immediately I ramped up the pace to 45-50km/h after being at 38-40km/h. I didn't even look but apparently the field was completely strung out. 3km later, I brought the rider back. Rested briefly then brought Daniel(designated sprinter) to the front and drove the pace for as long as I could to halt any attacks before the village. It worked until I blew up just 1.5km from the finish. Daniel got into place but got pinched near the end and had to settle for 12th. I was top30 as only 60 finished I think. For me, it was one of those great moments of riding. Doing the work I did in the race was so much better than scrapping for a top-15, top-10 in the finish.

Sunday presented an improved level of suffering. In the pre-ride, I was watching the Jugen(youth) u-11 category, or u-13 category. Anyways, they were young and the field was all girls. Pretty cool stuff. What I witnessed was a true champion. Sure there was the winner, but the girl who was off the back will forever be the champion to me. She drove as hard as she could and suffered and suffered and suffered. I look over and she got into her little aero position and worked as hard as she could on the demanding course. Closer up, the girl was bleeding from the nose. No not a crash, the girl dug so deep that she was bleeding through the nose. Crazy stuff! I thought later as I was suffering quite a bit that I could never let up after watching this cyborg of a young girl. The race for me was damn hard. I managed what I could but had to settle for the 4th group. Weather was insanely warm, not Colorado July warm but nevertheless, my jersey and shorts could be sold for the delicious salt that encrusted them. On lap 18 the ref told us to sprint on the climb which was also the finish because our race was over. Again, the portion in my head that understands German was obviously completely turned off. As was the rest of my brain. All resources were dedicated to staying on wheels and drinking as much as I could. Fortunately, I spoke with another rider and go the low-down on the course we were taking. Ended up 39th. I believe there were probably 45-46 scored finishers.

One more day of Volkschule for me. Wednesday I am playing hookie and heading to Österreich with Karin and Heinz. We are staying in their camping platz in Kirchberg, right smack in the Alps. Check it out...Kirchberg We will return to Backnang on Monday. Looking forward to adding another country to my resume and doing some Austrian recreation.

Chow,
Claw