What if they held a cross race and nothing happened? OK, maybe that sounds negative, but it's not supposed to be. I'll leave that in the capable hands of others. The weekend of racing in nearby Providence was pretty great, but I have to characterize my experience there as rather uneventful. The nearby part was a huge bonus. The weather was super nice both days too. The venue is good and with the Interbike thing going on there was a little extra atmosphere, but all in all the whole thing was just like Gloucester. Same guy designed both courses both days on both weekends, and all were nearly identical to one another (ok, I wasn't there on Sunday last week, but you get the idea). Other than the weather, all the memorable elements are exactly the same, right down to the uphill finishing straights with a slight bend to the left.
This was rounds 5 and 6 of the Verge series. I'd only done one, round 3 I guess, last Saturday, where I failed to make the top 25. Thus, I had no points in the series and was relegated to a starting lineup spot by registration order, way in the back. We had 70 riders in the 45+ on Saturday. All sorts of shit happened on the first lap, but I don't remember too much of it, because I raced the next day too; Saturday's data was almost completely overwritten by Sunday's. But it was not good. Here is what I remember: I didn't crash, I didn't flat, I followed some dude who attacked the numerous running sections like Edwin Moses until he blew, near the end I was closing in on Timmy, and I finished in 28th, 4:29 down on race winner Sammy Morse. The rest of the day was pretty fun as after some longish cooldown rides around the park I watched the races with my pit mechanic Il Brucie. No hurry to leave because I was taking a sweet homestay at the Masterson residence across the bridge in EPro, and dining at the casa Gewilli to boot. We roamed around the expo a little bit and tried to avoid eye contact with the vendors who were bored out of their minds and would talk your ear off if given half a chance.
Got the tour of Riverside on the way to Willi's house that night. Timmy and Garabed were staying there too. I had one 22 of Smiths. Brucie downed a 40 of OE 800. Timmy (with help from Willi) drank like four bottles of good wine, moving me up at least one spot for Sunday... Willi's dog Lucy was there too, very cool, but the family was at Disneyworld or something. So Sunday. Takes two minutes to get there from Brucie's house. I ate two donuts, then hit the course for a preride. Pretty much another version of the same course we've been racing on the past two weekends, but this time there was nearly zero running. This left several sections for recovery, as you could crank the power and then coast through some sweeping turns. Much better for me.
Again I had to line up in the back. This time I did a much better job of executing the Colin-approved "keep pedaling when everyone else starts coasting and setting up for the turn" move. I took about two dozen spots right there. Then at the first right even more, but then boom. Traffic jam. Lost six or eight right back. But I continued to be aggressive. Blew through the guys who must have had the early reg spots (the beauty of the line up by points is it actually puts the fast guys up front where they belong). One near miss when I got the bike perpendicular to my direction of movement on the muddy hill a few turns after the barriers, but mostly I was smooth. When I got back to the start pavement I'd cleared traffic, but there was NOBODY in sight ahead of me. The real race was apparently gone.
The rest of the race was a time trial for me. With no pressure from behind (huh-huh) I could concentrate and ride smooth and fast. I passed the Cronoman running with his bike. Lynchie had an issue too. I guess so did Keith Button. Then I saw all the officials and spectators looking and pointing toward the lake. Around the fast bend down there I saw Soup's lifeless body sprawled out prone on the the shore, over the snow fence. Turned out he'd fractured his leg and had to be carted out. So that was four guys who finished ahead of me at both my races so far this year gone by the wayside. By now I was passing lapped traffic. Some of the people I caught may have been racing for position, but I'm not sure. With one to go I was riding hard and came up on Brian McGuinness who was dicking with his chain, so I got him too. Finished in 19th.
Sunday's race felt way more aggressive and good to me. I attacked the course the entire way. If I am remembering this correctly, I executed a perfect "reverse slide" and did not get passed by anybody for the entire race, except for whatever happened in the first 1/4 lap bottleneck clusterphuck. Yet I was still exactly the same time behind the winner as on Saturday. And, if you put those with mechanical issues, those who drank four bottles of wine Saturday, as well as those who beat me on Saturday but were absent Sunday back in front of me, I'd have ended up in the exact same spot.
So there you have it. Sorry but I did not get a chance to stick around much on Sunday. Gewilli and G-Ride did a good job heckling me, and I could not return the favor because I flatted on my cooldown ride way out on the other side of the park. Talked to Feltslave before his race, but did not see that one either so I wonder what happened. At least now I have a handful of Verge points so if I do any more of these races then I won't have to start in the back row. And I registered for nationals. What the hell, I've never been to Oregon before, so it's got that going for it. Thanks for reading.
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