Off The Back wrote:
> OK, in the spirit of today's rbr race re****ts, I'll go next...
>
> Sunday's 80-mile pro/1/2 road race at San Luis Rey (north county San
> Diego); 50-60 starters, no sign of ST or Kurgan.
>
> We begin near the end, Memento style... On what I thought was the last
> 11-mile lap, I began sitting on the winning break of Dave Clinger (Rock
> Racing), Ben Brooks (Type 1), and Adam Livingston (5-Star). No
> complaints from them; it was clear I wouldn't be contesting the sprint.
> I'd slide off a bike length each time one of them came to the back.
> Their rotation was beautifully smooth, and I was getting mesmerized by
> it. None of them ever skipped a turn, despite obvious suffering. I
> thought about offering fluid or gels--a token contribution at least--but
> then decided against it. The gap to the chase group was a couple minutes
> and we weren't going to get caught.
>
> Unfortunately, I had to let go on the gradual stair steps in the last
> mile. Just too wasted from the earlier efforts. Up ahead, Clinger won
> the sprint, followed by Livingston and Brooks. I crossed the line next
> and I went straight to the officials and pleaded my case. "PLEASE let me
> be done!" Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the three-man break had
> lapped me. In a road race. On an 11-mile course... "Can't I finish on
> the same lap as the leaders?", I begged. They gave me a definitive
> "NO!", so I soldiered on alone for another lap, ultimately fini****ng
> 30th, one spot out of the Lantern Rouge.
>
> Now, I wouldn't have gotten lapped if not for a desperately-needed
> ****ta-potty stop about half-way through the race. Even under the best
> conditions, pee'ing off the bike is tough for somebody my age, but
> Sunday was really windy and attempting it would have either: (A) caused
> a crash, resulting in me getting beat up; (B) sprayed somebody else,
> resulting in me getting beat up; or (C) dribbled into my shoe, resulting
> in pee in my shoe. I decided it was best to stop.
>
> The pee break was so desperate because I had downed a couple liters of
> cytomax and V-8 immediately before the start. I figured I needed to
> rehydrate from the morning, when I did the 46-mile Masters Fatty event.
>
> I didn't get lapped in that race. In fact, shockingly, I won the field
> sprint for 2nd place. I say shockingly because I was probably the
> littlest guy in the field and had been suffering nasty muscle cramps the
> final lap. (Thus the later indulgence of V-8 and cytomax.)
>
> But even more shocking to me was the physical appearances of the 60-70
> guys lined up at the start. I had been assured by rbr that everyone in a
> Masters race would be grossly obese (and on beautiful $10,000 bikes).
> Apparently these guys didn't get the memo because most were lean and
> ripped (and on beautiful $10,000 bikes). I was disgusted and
disappointed.
>
> Mark
> http://marcofanelli.blogspot.com
>
I had no idea that this newsgroup was actually about bicycle racing!
Good weekend for you!
Just so I can brag, I "won" the downhill from my coach and his other
student on Glendora Mountain Road down to East Fork Road. In fact, I
was so dominant that I stopped, got out my camera (the weight of the
camera and a quarter I found before the climb no doubt helping my
descending), and snapped five pictures before they pulled up to me.
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