March 2011

on the way up to sacramento, cars were grid-locked on a couple different occasions.  as I crossed the bay bridge, a chp officer weaved across all lanes, slowing traffic to 35mph across the entire length of the bridge.  the rain and wind were heavy, to say the least.  then near emeryville, traffic just stopped.  if the traffic kept up, I’d probably miss the race…luckily, the lanes cleared up after a couple minutes and cars went on their way.  surprisingly, I made it up to the race in just under two hours.  the wind was horrible on highway 80 near sacramento, the wheel twitched in my hands just driving straight.  it wasn’t ideal.

I pulled into the second parking lot and snagged a sweet parking spot under a big tree.  it was relatively shielded from the rain and wind, which made it a good location to set up the trainer for a quick warm-up session after registering.  travis (rio strada), his girlfriend crystal, and I walked over to the registration booth to check in.  the rainy, wet conditions reminded me of the cal aggie criterium, which was also done in the rain.  it definitely wasn’t as windy, though.  today’s race would be 40 minutes in length, roughly 10 laps, including a neutral lap so that riders could get a feel for the course.

I set up the trainer behind the car, and hopped on for a short session.  after several minutes, I heard a loud POP from my rear wheel.  I looked down.  as the wheel spun around, a huge wobble became instantly noticeable…I was a bit puzzled.  I jumped off the bike, took it off of the trainer and spun the wheel.  something wasn’t right, it was very out of true.  I took my hand to all the spokes, and the tension seemed fine.  I figured that some of the spokes had settled in (heavily), and the bike would still be able to limp through the race.  it was time to go, anyhow.  I packed the trainer back into the car, and headed over to the course to get a lap in.  the wobble was a little noticeable on flats, but much worse through the wide turns.  it was a constant wiggling, as you can probably imagine.

time to line up.  steve (chica sexy), gabe (mash sf), marc (murder), tim, and some other familiar faces were all the line.  the pre-reg was 85 last night, with spots still open for same-day registration.  but there definitely didn’t seem like 80 guys out on the field today.  maybe 50-60, it was hard to tell.  anyway, we did a neutral lap, and after that, the race started.  the wobble felt worse the second time around, and I had a huge rookie mistake which dropped me off the back for a second – left cleat wouldn’t clip in, geez.  I chased hard to get a wheel back, it took me nearly 1.5 laps to snag tim’s wheel in the back.  I came around the 90* right hander and my rear wheel did a little dance for me.  then the headwind came.  I wouldn’t have a chance with the group, not today.

I dropped off the back and rode solo for a couple laps.  I was joined by two cyclists in dark green kits.  one of them dropped off, and we picked up a uc davis rider on his free lap.  we took our own pulls and stuck together, lap after lap.  we didn’t see the group anymore, they were at least half a lap around, maybe more.  uh oh, a motorcycle ref up ahead, two riders down, both wearing the same kits.  steve told me after the race that the accident might’ve been started by some elbowing.  then the rider that was going down pulled his teammate down with him (not on purpose, obviously).  either way, it happened on the back stretch, where the tailwind was the strongest.  we kept riding through the wet.  the rain started to pick up, we were all drenched.  I took turns cautiously, my rear wheel wasn’t any worse than the laps before, but I had to mind my angles much more carefully after the dance it did a couple laps prior.

finally, the bell lap.  as we came around the last 90* right, I pulled to the far left, to give everyone in the chase a spot to sprint.  the uc davis rider dropped off, it was just me and the dark green kit now.  racing for the last places on the roster, minutes down from the rest.  I sprinted hard, but was beat by half a wheel length.  good stuff, guys.  chased hard.

the drive back wasn’t as bad, but it rained on and off like a switch.  I stopped by freewheel hayes on my way back to drop off the bike (what’s up justin and maggie).  I looked at the bike…something wasn’t right.  a spoke on the non-drive side was broken off at the hub.  holy sh*t.  it definitely wasn’t broken while I was racing on it, I’m pretty sure I would’ve noticed.  either way, dustin was able to replaced the spoke today, and I’m off to pick it up.  here, I was under the impression that he might or might not finish it today.  they were stacked with tags, I was worried it wouldn’t be fixed until tuesday.  thanks for the push, dustin!

off to the bike shop!