wake up at 3
pack up wife, bikes and baby, leave at 4
caravan from coffee call to jackson, ms
today's bebe's 96th birthday, and the 11th anniversary of the big accident in Jackson, only fitting to race there right?
amy races at 8:30, i switch from zone to man-on-man on Ryan
the course is 1.4 miles long, fun, technical-ish but no corners, with a half mile climb in it, then descend descend descend to a 180, short climb then long climb, repeat ... not good for me
amy''s first post-Ryan crit is done, happy there's no rain, so we do the baby swap
my plan was to race the masters lite then the 1,2,3 after
one lap of warmup and the plan changes, maybe just survive the course
on the line, who's there but Bo, the organizer of the TLF back in 95, the guy who visited me in the hospital with Steve Hegg
suddenly i've got a Goodfella's Joe Pesci moment, and i'm thinking, you ain't making it off this course Alexander,
ain't no street signs, but maybe a stray car on the course, a rabid dog or a meteorite, foggetaboutit, race
so off we go, i feel like i'm fit, but i'm not, i try to race but i don't
i miss the break with GW the Alabama statesman who goes on to win, but three of my teammates make it into a four man chase that gets a gap
i help their gap grow and watch somebody break their collarbone and another dislocate his after the 180
i thought that didn't happen in the masters
bo and i get off with some awv and get a gap for a while, the group comes back to us and i go like a freak and make it to 18 seconds behind my teammates but can't close it, so i'm brought back. i think we dropped or lapped half the starters, who knows maybe i got 9th?
it was fun and hard, and ryan easily survived his first uscf weekend and created a legion of adoring fans
can't wait for Paris-Roubaix manana
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3 comments:
Congrats on the race. Sounds like a long day. What is "masters" age for cyclists (40 for runners)? And what does that 1,2,3 mean?
I towed Max for 25-30 yesterday while Anne, mercilessly, tapped out a pace I could not match. We're looking to complete our first century on 6/24.
thanks homes!
Kerouac raced bikes, right?
Lance, in cycling there are Masters races that are 30+, but most start at 35+. This race had both 35+ and 45+. The 1,2,3 categorization is a lumping of the 3 top categories that the USCF recognizes. Here's a brief legend
Cat 5 = Just bought a license, new to racing
Cat 4 = Done some races
Cat 3 = Scored points in some races
Cat 2 = Scored more points in races
Cat 1 = Near cycling God status
You get points for top 6 finishes. In other states, the 3's race against one another. In LA, if you make it to a 3, you spend the rest of your cycling time racing against the near-Gods, so in a strange stroke of manifest-destiny. You won't obtain the points to become a near-God until you are a near-God, or if you aren't cut out to be a near-God you remain a 3.
Sincerely,
David "10 Years as a 3" Alexander
Thanks for the primer.
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