America's #1 Balance Bike Destination

America's #1 Balance Bike Destination
America's #1 Balance Bike Destination

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Wells Ave No 1

I usually do not wait until April to do my first Wells Ave, but hey I'm glad I missed it last week! 15 people crashed and 5-6 were taken to the hospital. The A field was fit and strong today, it made for some good racing. I wasn't really put into much difficulty the whole race, except for the first 8-10 minutes. Anticipating a bell lap, I went clear on lap 3 or maybe 4. The gap was ginormous because of the tailwind on the back straight. As I am rounding the corner and expecting to claim my prime, a turbo-charged J. Spinelli went past me like a hurricane. Alone. I was in no-man's land for one full lap after that. He became a dot up the road and I spied a good sized group approaching from behind. Skip, Tobi, Thad, Ward.. Among others- they were going very hot and left me in their vapor trail. This was a mistake on my part. I should have shut it down and recovered right after JS passed me. Instead I kept grinding it out.m but the primary reason for going to Wells Ave today was to race HARD and get a solid chunk of CP60 data. That's what I was thinking about while wasting myself for a few laps there. Yesterday's poor performance from Myles Standish made me determined to go and do some work at Wells. So back to racing- the early break in pursuit of JS went through me, never to be seen again until they lapped the field (boy, when I fall apart in a race, it's effin serious- legs simply "no va"). So I ended up jumping back in the largish field. I did some work at the front and logged some beaucoup watts for a few laps. A field prime is announced and I'm up there ready to pounce, but its neutralized. Next lap- almost the same thing happened- but people were hesitating. I came up the right hand gutter from 2nd wheel to what I thought was an easy win. I did not expect to be challenged and that's why a CB guy took it from me in the last 20 meters, fair and square. I salute the guy.. But what's with the smarky attitude and looks from certain young blow-hards in the field afterwards? Indeed I was both gassed and pissed so I was heard shouting "what the FUCK are you looking at" on the back stretch. Not proud. Apologies for getting emotional about a stupid prime. This made me determined though.. 4 laps to go the bell rings one last time (surprisingly) and it's 2 places. Teammate Adam S is giving me a textbook leadout.. Until a log jam of cars going 20 mph impedes us. Neutralized. We pass the finish and the bell rings again. I'm at the very front and in control of my fatigue. I swing wide after the corner. Couple of JS's teammates light it up right after the corner, hard. I jump on to take 3rd wheel. For having a lousy day yesterday at Myles Standish and missing the break and losing two previous primes, it was nice to win that last one. Glad to have had a safe race- I shut it down on the last lap- what is the point of sprinting in a field populated by 14 guys who lapped you?
I must say- the switch to 172mm cranks was definitely correct. It "feels" like I can accelerate much more successfully, both on yesterday's climb and in today's sprints. Thanks for reading.
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