Saturday 28 February 2009

Pindung County - 28 Feb 2008

This was my first race back and my first race with my new team: CKT. I will start another thread about my new frame later.

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I've been working my arse off for the last 2 weeks and my training has suffered. I knew this going in so adjusted my goals. Results weren't important. I wanted to define roles and execute tactics. I also like to sell swampland in Florida.

The race was a breezy affair. There was a 94km (shortened?) section of gentle rollers and flat flats followed by a 16km climb with tons of pitches above 10%. The latter part was certainly not designed with me in mind. (Unless it was designed by my wife to torture me).

All of the cats started together (it was a point-to-point) so there were over 600 riders. I staged late and so had to start near the back. During the neutral I managed to work my way to the very front where I had a short time to catch up with an old team mate. Then the lead motos pulled off and we were racing.

I always need a good hard jump to open my legs and today was no exception. At 2km in I saw another former team mate jump and so I decided to bridge. This I did, then we both sat up and now we had a brief chance to catch up before we were swamped by the group.

He told me he'd gone to Singapore to have some surgery done on his knee and today was the first test. He then told me he was going to drop out before the climb so I shouldn't follow him. I then asked him what the hell made him ever think I would try to follow him on a climb. We laughed. We cried. Good times.

Because the course was so unfavourable to me and all the cats were racing together, I told my team mates that I would do what I could to keep the group together so they could sit in and fight for a podium spot on the climb. This is what I set about doing.

There was a series of attacks which produced a series of doomed breaks. The Tiachung County team was controlling the front pretty well. But then one of their guys would go in a move and they would have 4 guys at the front setting false tempo. I watched a few breaks start to roll away from us and each time I got to the front and put my head down.

I selected a 13-26 because of the climbing. I found myself spun out as we maintained 50km/h+ on the flats and I topped out at 59km/h. I know exactly when this happened because I had spun out my 13. I actually wanted my 12. Who'd a thunk it?

This went on until we hit the bottom of the climb and the road pitched up above 10%. I fought to hang on but I eventually popped. I struggled to hang on but felt like I was sliding backwards as rider after rider I hadn't seen all day rode away from me.

I finished mid-fodder. At least I never saw the back marker.

I probably could have done better on the climb if I'd sat in (maybe main fodder group) but it really wouldn't have done much for me. I had one team mate who was second in his cat, another 4th and a third was 6th. We also lost one rider to a crash.

All in all it was exactly what a first race should be. I was active at the front, got some good jersey time (although a camera truck almost took us all down when the driver decided it would make a better shot if he switched from the right side of the road to the left while he was 5 feet in front of the lead rider. Idjit.) and got a good idea of what I have in the tank. I can now adjust my training accordingly.

Time: 2:32
NP: 296
Max HR: I may have discovered a new high (208?) but I think it was interference from some Taiwan Radar jamming station pointing at a mainland Chinese fighter buzzing their airspace.
Result: I don't think they have numbers that go that high in Chinese.

Saturday 7 February 2009

The Call

Let's just start by backing the truck up a bit here.

I stopped racing in late 2007. Stopped riding soon after that. Early 2008 I was going crazy and decided I wanted to start racing again.

I started training, got injured, got sick or had real life get in the way. Rinse, repeat. 2008 was a write off. But I had base.

Enter 2009. Consistent training over a few months and starting to feel a little frisky on my last few rides and at the last training race.

A regular job, a start up, a family and a nasty cycling habit makes for a pretty tight schedule. But there are times when things are ticking along nice and steady.

Then there's the call.

It took me back to the call I received when my father was dying. It was early afternoon and I was getting ready for a ride. I was on the next plane, taking off, 6 hours later. I traveled 24 hours straight to get to my father. He died when we were in the car leaving the airport on our way to the hospital.

The last time I touched my father's hand it was already cold.

This is what I thought of when the owner of the small company for which I work told me had had received the call last night and could I cover for him if he really needed to go home.

"Of Course."

I have a new team for 2009 and although it is a rather rag-tag bunch there are a few riders I like. I also I think I may actually see two diamonds who currently ride like coal. It could be possible to cook this unruly group down to 6 core riders for 2010.

There is a race in 3 weeks that suits my skills more than my fitness. This is good. The first 100km are rolling and flat and a bit technical. Then there is a 14 climb. Ok. So I'm out. But, there is another rider on our team who is riding well and is pretty smart.

I want to work to keep the tempo up (actually get others to do it for me) and then place him in the lower section of the climb. After that he needs help from someone else on the team or he's on his own.

It's early season so the real goal is to execute tactics. ANY tactics, as a group. A good result would be a plus but cohesion is the first step.

I've worked for a lot of people and I can't say it's been very often that I've truly liked the people I was working for. I think I'm very fortunate to consider my employer to also be my friend. And this was a friend who just got the call.

My father was sick for years. The doctors had him so heavily medicated and cross medicated that he would sleep away most of the day in naps or sometimes only get up to eat and watch a little TV. There were several things wrong with him but nothing that was terminal or immanent.

Once I was older and no longer lived in the same city as my family if the phone rang late at night this was the thought that jarred me from sleep. When I finally did receive the call it was daytime and it had pretty much the opposite effect; Everything that followed, for days, felt like a dream. They kept telling me that this was normal and it happened to a lot of people.

"Ok."

And then I was back home and back on the schedule and half a world away.

I remember seeing footage of Delgado climbing off of his bike while in yellow and getting into his team car. His mother had died and he just couldn't go on.

Even for the man in yellow real life gets in the way.

I saw a bit of all that in my friends eyes reflected back at me when he asked me if I could put in some extra time so he could go home: If he really had to.

"Of course."

The race will still happen. I will still go. I may have to hide in the bunch a bit more. Especially in the second 50km. We haven't raced together as a group but we should be able to place our guy in the front group when the selection happens if I can get one or two of the other team mates to pitch in when I ask them. If we can execute it will be a good start to a new season.

I've always felt that jumping right back in is good. It gets things going again. Gets the head back in the game. How you do is not so important.

The thing I remember the clearest was the strap in my hand and that when we were told to lower the casket I couldn't. I knew I was supposed to but my hands wouldn't unclench. My uncles and the funeral director had began to let the straps slide through their hands, and my fathers' casket inched its' way away from me, but my hands wouldn't let go. No matter how hard I tried and for the briefest of moments I could not let go.

Then a shallow breath and my grip slackened.

Results don't matter for this one.