WEEKEND 2

[JACOB POST]

Ok, now that I can finally sit down at the computer and dedicate
some time to writing about what happened.

In the San Fernando race Stefan and I ventured out onto the
horribly `P' shaped course amongst a field of 40 to compete for
about 30 minutes. It was a fairly uneventful race, and the 180
degree turn at the bottom of the course made for a big slow down
and then a fast acceleration in which a lot of power was used
and people seemed to be set up to crash. Although no one did
crash, many cranks hit the ground upon first circling the poorly
chosen route. Nothing really happened other than a few standard
accelerations. There was a bit of a false flat downhill before
the 180 degree turn, and a bit of a false flat uphill for the
way back up towards the finish line. I stayed in the middle for
most of the race, relaxing and having a good time, as my main
goal was to get out of cat 5 alive, but this ended up working
out very well, as in the last few laps I moved to the front and
on the last lap positioned myself correctly, switched into the
perfect gear for the acceleration, and jumped on the lag
following the turn. If I had someone pull my up, it would have
been infinitely better, but the guy that I was drafting behind
slowed down significantly during the 700 meter jaunt towards the
line, so I had to battle the wind and try and catch up with the
3 main guys who podium-d. I almost beat the 4th guy, as he got
lazy, but it was a bit too little, too late, and I came in 5 out
of 29 that finished. It was a crappy course, but a decent race,
as everyone was just out to have fun it seemed, rather than that
usual worthless cat 5 acceleration at random times bullshit that
just mixes up the field, not really tiring anyone out, but the
solo breakaway who doesn't get more than a few yards up before
being consumed by the rampaging organism that is the group of
angsty old men who need the points to upgrade again after not
racing for years. Oh, and stefan and I were the only ones who
were under 25 in the race (I believe). Hey man, those angsty old
guys can haul sometimes.
The average speed for the race was 20mph.
5/40

Bicycle Johns was a bit of a different story, as it was a crit.
Four corners of hellacious hell-dom raining down upon my
confidence. In this one I placed 14 out of 50, but it wasn't as
much fun. I need to regain my confidence in crits following the
woodland hills crash, because while I walked away almost
completely unscathed, I realize how lucky I am, and how much I'd
rather do a road race or GP, even though crits are fun, as there
is less of a chance of me being injured, and thus no longer
being able to ride. So, the race started off fast with a
fair amount of wind, so when I got pushed out into the wind, it
caused me to work a lot harder than I should have been working.
I stayed on the outside, because I was too afraid to be on the
inside of such an agro crit. I just wanted to survive until I
got the upgrade, as I mentioned earlier. It was basically a
battle for the front the entire time with several almost crashes
occurring in the pack throughout the race. The big crash
happened when the back half of the group got stuck behind a
group of riders who went down (I don't know what happened,
because I was moving into position in the front out of the
middle and subsequently harms way when the carnage ensued). I
was up front, and slowed down to look (hey man, I'm still new
and my instincts of wanting to help injured people kicked in)
and realized that that was a stupid move, so I accelerated to
catch up with the group, but others had taken the opportunity
right at that time to break away, so it was pretty much a futile
attempt... until the last lap! So I was near the front, coming
around the last half of the lap, and I again got stuck behind a
guy who slowed up significantly, slowing me down, and making me
go around him in an attempt to catch the front by myself. I came
around the final turn, a bit separated, but was able to sprint
past a few guys to make up for my slowness. It was an ok race,
and I was just not as cold hearted and solid spine-d as I had
hoped to be. It's there, I promise.
The Average speed was 25mph
14/50

Shazaam, that was a weekend of racing as described by Jacob
Margolis.

Oh, and I upgraded to Cat 4, so wes, becher, and brian, here I
come! I look forward to being able to work with all of you guys.