I don't have time to write this, but I'm doing it anyway, purely out of a sense of responsibility to the blogosphere. Here's hoping all of you think the same way. How about a big week with mega-content from everyone?
Anyhow, Saturday I made it down to the nearby training race at Charge Pond for my first time ever. Having heard the horror stories about bad pavement and sand, I nonetheless needed a test before the Jeff Cup, and this was the closest race. I wasn't sure if I should do the A's or the B's, and thought I'd get there in time for the B's, but Myles Standish State Forest (that's right, named after the Pilgrim) is friggin' huge, and due to partial winter road closures I got treated to a deja vu filled trip around the old race course in order to reach the new venue. The B's were just rolling off upon my arrival. No matter, as the A's turned out to be where I belonged anyway.
So the lowdown on Charge Pond - think Wompatuck on a Saturday morning. The course is about the same length, roughly 2k. It's more rolling and a lot twistier than the 'tuck, and instead of slippery moss, the edges are sprinkled with sand. Old timers who date back before the canal was dug consider Plymouth part of the Cape, and it makes sense as it's all sand dunes with scrub pine, which do not encroach on the edges of the course nor block the wind as well as the thick forests of Wompatuck.
I suppose it didn't hurt that this was virtually the same cast of characters as a typical night at Wompatuck either. Chris C was the official, and the riders were all the usual suspects. About 45 of us lined up for the A's, which Chris announced would be a 90 minute race. After a slow start, of course Jon Bold started the hostilities. My purpose was just to see where I was fitness-wise, and get a feel for pack riding again after the winter. There would be no heroics. As it was, I think about a dozen guys including Bold, Sammy, Frankie, and some of the Hot Tubes kids broke away pretty early. The field behind started to disintegrate under the pressure, but I was pleased to be able to step it up and close all the huge gaps opening in front of me with relative ease. I wasn't up front, so I'm not sure, but I think some of the break came back to us, while the rest of them ended up lapping the field. In the meantime, the pace ebbed and flowed and I even took a few meaningless flyers off the front of the dwindling grouppetto with some of the others who were also out for a workout. Things went about as well as I could have hoped; I did not have the legs to sustain an effort, but my lungs were good and my recovery was quick.
So what about the raunch? Yeah, there were a couple of bumps, one in particular, that you really wanted to avoid on this course. The first few laps I managed to find it consistently. Then I smartened up, but one lap some dude slammed it and groaned "oh my balls!" Well, a few laps later, in a little advance off the front and riding hard on the nose of my stripped of its padding Flite saddle, I did the same thing. Taint a good feeling, pun intended...
So Sunday I fitted a new 2008 Flite to my race bike. We'll see how long it takes to look like the Turbo in my profile pic over on the left. Swapped my stem too, from an 11 to a 10, also with a 17 degree drop so it's level like stems and top tubes should be. Took it right out for 100k Sunday afternoon. The new Flite is a bit different shape than the old style, but I think I'll grow to like it. I hit Big Blue and rode a 5:18, pretty good and a best for March, would have been better but I was overgeared in my 36x16 at the top and bogged down. Since I'll be out of town for the traditional 3 days of da 'pan, I took the short loop down to the parkway, but of course this only skirts the edge and my wheels didn't actually touch Mattapan soil. I had to make the effort though. Maybe some of you can take care of this in my absence next weekend. After the ride I went right out for a 7k runoff, managing a 7:18 pace, very satisfactory after 3.5 hours on the bike. That's the deal, keep the posts coming this week. Thanks for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment