I'm in the habit of naming posts before I write a single word. Should probably do it last... Oh well...
Gary Aspnes is on fire.. The lone Horst Benidorm rider who resides in RI.. he leaps up to 3rd from about 9th in the RI Masters Crit Rankings with his recent good results.. Nice work at New Britain, Cox, Fitchburg Crit and Hartford.. The extremely low penalty points at Fitchburg helped him immensely, but you have to be in it or else not complain. He deserves it and I always enjoy seeing him in the races. Question: Do the Horst Benidorm team realize that no one can comment at their blog except for they themselves? Probably.. Frustrating though because I sometimes want to go in there and say 'hi' or 'good job'.. and I can't. Their team deserves a salute for performing at New Britain with guns blazing. They all raced with passion and tenacity..
So few ArcenCiel riders at New Britain Sunday! Jon Lowenstein crashed hard at Ninigret two weeks ago and has a broken collarbone. Sympathy.. I could always count on Jon's silky smoothness in the crits to help me to avoid panicking. But not on Sunday. I was on my own, it seemed. Get well Jon. Another Arc, Ted Shanstrom was in action Sunday, finishing three events and looking ready for some rest.. Recent fine results have him sitting in a solid 4th in the RI Crit rankings for Masters. Ted let me borrow $5 one day.. an amusing story which involves me borrowing my wife's car with a habitually empty tank, and me forgetting my wallet..
I think I know who Christopher Dale is now.. Exceedingly friendly NBX rider who I've never been introduced to. Seems a great guy.. positive, upbeat, strong. Hope to see you racing on Wednesday Chris.
Saw my friend and former team mate Keiran Paul Lynch on Sunday, which is always a pleasure. He asked me how I did.. and per usual, showed a genuine interest in my blabbering about how I messed up the finishes blah blah blah. Self-centered dipshit that I am, I didn't ask him how he did.. Mid pack in the 4s and the 30s, which is a lot better than the REST of his team did! Bloody hell, where are they? See you Sunday at Wells.. (?)
Lastly, our infamous Nega Coach and gifted race reporter, Dave Foley aka Solobreak.. eeks out a podium finish at the Hartford Criterium on Saturday.. by one second he beats the chasing field to the line.. Gotta respect that.. Besides being the only other blogger in New England who I get to race with, he holds the added distinction of driving the same exact shitty car as my 25 year old kid brother drives. Great job in Hartford.. and a good story, well told. This event begs the question: Will FnF give a shit about his Masters Crit Standings in MA? I doubt it. (I may be the only weenie who follows it.. it motivates me! what can I say?)
Changed the Powertap hub batteries tonight. Fretted a little about not having a proper spanner to remove the dust cover. I tried some dastardly methods which might make your toes curl.. but in the end just increasing my hand's friction with a little spit did the trick.. I'm taking a rest week- no intervals, no hill repeats, just easy commuting and maybe Ninigret and Wells Ave thrown in for fun and learning.. Letting the spring unwind a little bit.. I may be in rare form for Wells Ave Sunday.. even Ninigret.
For those of you who are too cheap to pay for Versus.. or who are shunning the '07 Tour.. today's crash with 1k2go was pretty spectacular.. Bob Roll called it: Someone pulled out of their pedal, shifed hard right and took everyone out, without hitting the deck themselves. Hope they weren't Speedplays.. but I doubt it. Remember these AWFUL pedals?:
In 1988 I was perhaps the only idiot in the world using them. Back then, light meant crappy I guess. Ironically, the person who now coaches me, Todd Scheske, beat me in a field sprint for 3rd at the 1988 UB Classic [juniors] Criterium. I pulled out of my Keywins with about 20 m to go. No one crashed. The following year, Ryan Muncy beat me in the field sprint for 2nd.. I had reverted to clips and straps for that one.. (Still have them) I miss those days.
5 comments:
I don't know dude. What kind of ranking system puts Mark McCormack as 10th master in the road race? Then there is another guy who has never even had a top 10 finish and he's ranked ahead of both Skip F and Curley. Does 27th at Fitchburg really count more than Curley's 200 wins and 26 national titles? I think they need to go back to the drawing board.
We have a few NBWers still using keywin pedals. Better than the aerolites
http://www.aerolitepedals.com/products.htm
Solo.. Your criticism is understood, but the ranking system is a measure of recent (12 month) results, not lifetime results. Of course Mark would be at the top of any such "lifetime results ranking", but that's not what it's about is it? And yes you are correct.. winning races is not required to get a good position on the list. Even consistent mediocre results are sufficient (I am a good example of this). Like my field carpenters often tell me.. "It is what it is." I'm just having fun with it, and I know where I really stand compared to a lot of folks who seem to be misplaced in rank.
If you had a childhood anything like mine and have been deprived of any paternal encouragement or approval for as long as I have ::sniff:: then you might understand that a ranking system such as this is the equivalent of good drugs. Yeah the system sucks.. but it's all we got.. and it motivates me.
Hi Murat
gotta agree, its a nice motivator. I'm only 25 places behind Master McCormack in the masters crit ranking, haha.. But a few years back I went to the Chris Thater and got top tens twice in 2 days. 7th both days. Because its an NRC event it was worth more than the say a win at attleboro.
Nebra used the ranking for a prize at their banquet. - I was first in MA and 2nd cat 4 crit rider in New England. Got a nice little trophy. Was i best the rider in MA, definatley, my two top 10s and a 13th at attleboro showed it...hehehe. But seriously it was nice to get a little acknowledgement. if you already have won 5 races this year already then the extra trophy probably did't mean that much to you.
Kieran
I think NEBRAs is the best system, at least for New England. They score top 20, but I think they weight wins/podiums accordingly. Of course, their's is on the calendar year.
Yes, the USCF system is better than nothing, and now that more promoters are sending in results (which they shouldn't have to do, as USCF personnel are responsible for results in the first place) the rankings are starting to better reflect true consistency of performance. My beef with them is that hey, this is the USCF, why can't they have a comprehensive system scoring every race from the past 24 months, just like the UCI does for the pros? What else do they have to do?
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