Racing - 2014 Criterium de Bethel

Well the race was pretty uneventful for me. It was cold, wet, and totally dreary. The old me would have reveled in the conditions but the new old me wasn't quite so keen on doing a repeat.

Ironically my only ever race winning break happened in similar conditions - wet, cold, small field, and a winning break.

I had no idea how I'd be in the race but I prepared for a mentally challenging race.

In the morning I had my normal two egg sandwiches, bought early early in the morning, along with the requisite cup of coffee. It took me a couple hours to eat that. Later I broke into some of the cookies I brought for the bake sale, had a bit of Coke, and called it a day on food. For whatever reason I'd been eating a lot in the prior couple days so I wasn't feeling hungry.

I did my now-normal base layer + rain jacket (for wind protection, not water protection) + LS jersey thing. Because it wasn't that cold I wore knickers instead of tights, plus in the rain I prefer to wear knickers until it's unbearably cold simply because knickers get less heavy when soaking wet.

I did put my phone (Strava) into a ziplock bag, and I encased my feet in plastic bags before I slipped on the booties. With a brimmed cap (to help keep water from dripping into my eyes) and my favorite Canari gloves, I felt fine in terms of temperature and conditions.

Small field lined up.

The dominant Sixcycle team hadn't shown up so the race felt wide open. I knew that shelter would be a major factor for me since I can't make efforts over and over, at least not this year. I also knew that I could sprint at the end so I hoped that I could reach the finish in the points.

I assumed that a break would go because they always do in these kind of tough conditions. My goal was to try and do a good sprint if less than six riders got away.

Gap attack on the second lap.

When the race started the numerically superior (they had three riders) FGX team gapped a rider off the front. Someone chased and the two leaders got a small gap. This happened a second time and I was near the front when the two were within touching distance. I decided to ramp up the pace a bit and make everyone race.

The view when I started to push.

There was only one problem - no one felt like riding. When I pushed a bit no one stayed on my wheel. I think it's partially my history - "Aw, just let him blow himself up" - and partially the cold, damp conditions.

I crested the hill alone, wondering what would happen. Ideally someone strong would bridge and then we could work together for a while. I know everyone things I'd just sit and sprint but honestly, when it comes down to it, I give credit where the credit is due. I've gotten to the finish in other breaks but purposely didn't sprint until it was too late for me to win, simply because I didn't work enough to justify going for the win.

It didn't matter. The theoretical didn't happen. I blew up and returned to the fold.

In the field.

The pace, although not terrible, wasn't kind to me. My effort off the front, as tempered as I thought I'd made it, had put me at the edge of the red zone. The hill put me over every lap, I fought to recover, but the small field offered little shelter and no mercy.

Each lap it seemed someone else took a turn attacking, and the constant push up the hill wreaked havoc on my legs.

After a few more attacks I had that lumpy throat, "I'm blowing up" feeling. I thought of all the stories about the pros going so hard and throwing up and this and that and I realized, you know, it's just one of the races at Bethel and I'm okay with not finishing it.

The field leaves me behind.

I kept going a bit, just to make sure that the field didn't sit up right after I blew up. I watched them hammering along in single file, riding away from me.

No miracles today. The field wouldn't suddenly, spontaneously, decide to go 18 mph for a lap or two. Any rider could see the gaps forming, the single file hurt, and if I had the legs I'd have been pushing. Selection of the fittest in this case; no camouflage from hiding in the field.

It was an FTP kind of day and I failed the test.

I rolled back to the registration area.

Another cold wet day at Bethel.

Promoting - 2014 Criterium de Bethel

I have a sort of resigned acceptance to the whole race promotion thing. I try to do it well but it isn't intrinsically fun. It's sort of like focusing on a project at work and forgetting that maybe the work isn't that enjoyable. You get engrossed in the task at hand, at the goal, and you stop thinking of other aspects of the project, like "I really prefer not to be vacuuming" or whatever the task may be.

Normally it's okay, the behind-the-scenes work, I just slog through the stuff. It's just a chore like doing laundry or the dishes or shoveling the driveway or even mowing the lawn. They're all tasks that you wouldn't necessarily do if you had a day to do anything you want but there's a sense of accomplishment when you finish. That sense of accomplishment drives me.

So it is with promoting races.

I really don't "want" to promote races. If I could just race then I'd just race, I wouldn't do the chore stuff related to it. At the same time though I feel a sense of duty related to promoting races. If I can promote a race and it adds to the calendar and people enjoy it then I'll do it. If things get too busy or hard or the intrinsic return drops off then it'll be time to stop.

Saturday I hit one of the low spots that I sometimes hit as it relates to Bethel. Outside it rained pretty steadily, I felt this overwhelming fatigue, and I wasn't keen on getting out there, packing the Expedition, and heading to Bethel.

What I really wanted to do was to get cozy in the warm house, have a cup of coffee, and hang out with the Missus (after she got back from work) and Junior.

Instead I trudged out to the garage and started loading up the Expedition. After delaying my departure as much as possible (hanging out with the Missus and Junior) I finally headed out for Bethel. This year I normally go to the course on the way to my dad's. With the steady rain, though, I knew that I couldn't get much done at the trailer so I just headed to my dad's.

When I got there I was happily surprised to see one of the non-family band members of Linus, URT, and some of the other bands whose music I use in the clips. He, his wife, and two kids were visiting, and so we got to hang out a bit.

I thought of something a rider told me about getting to the course early to get more stuff done before the others showed up. Accordingly I set my alarm for 4:30 AM, to give me an extra half hour.

And then I fell asleep.

I did wake up at 4:30. Then again at 5:15. So much for the extra time.

I headed over to the course (Joel was waiting) and we went about setting things up. It wasn't really raining, just a bit misty, and the wind seemed to be calm. As the rest of the crew rolled in we got into our familiar rhythm and the whole machine started turning its gears.

Registration.

Tent set up for release forms.

For the first time we set up a tent at the back of the trailer. We anchored it to the trailer and it worked really well. In the future this will be a regular thing in inclement weather.

One thing we noticed was that the water ran into the trailer from the window hatches. The trailer was tilting slightly away from the windows (due to the road crown) and it was just enough to allow water to trickily into the trailer. For the future we'll drop the window hatch down just a touch so water runs off to the outside.

Other than that the trailer seemed pretty good in terms of organization, good enough that I didn't feel the need to bring it home this week. I ditched a lot of the snow related stuff the other week and that helped make room inside.

Outdoor Sports Center, CCAP, and registration.

We had three tents next to the trailer, the first being our registration shelter. We also had the CCAP tent, doing a bake sale for CCAP (and manned by the Junior team), and of course Outdoor Sports Center's tent, the main sponsor of the race series.

Finish line area - tent, officials, camera.

At the finish area the officials had their tent. We had to set up two of the four sides, to keep the spray and wind off of the officials. When we were setting up I realized that we hadn't used the sides since 2009, the last year we were outside until now. It's been a while but the old routine came back quickly and we had reasonable shelter up pretty quickly.

Mike the camera guy set up the camera with its waterproof case. That worked out well also. He put the laptop in a bin on its side, making a 5 sided case that kept the laptop dry. A propane heater kept the penetrating chill out of the tent.

The weather really annihilated the turnout. We had just over 100 racers show up instead of the regular 200-250. On a good day 300 to a record 400 or so will show. Today we had about what we had in the first year of the Series, back in the early 90s.

Wind.

Of course the wind picked up. A racer called it "the Bethel Triangle" because it's always windy at Bethel. The winds weren't so strong that any tents flew away but I did have a heart stopping moment or two when a couple of the tent legs lifted up. Overall though it wasn't that bad, as evidenced by the prevalence of aero profile wheels out there.

Mist. Break. Chase.

The field chased down the above break but I like the picture so I put it in.

Launching.

This attack, out of the remnants of the minuscule P123 field, won the race.

The move.

Eneas has been the strongest racer in the P123s this year and in the exposed race this day he demonstrated that strength.

We packed up pretty quickly, with the results process much quicker than last week. With such a small field, with an obvious winner, we were done quickly.

I set off for home to try and catch Junior before he fell asleep. Unfortunately, even with my incredible driving skills (haha), I got home after he fell asleep. This didn't help my mood as I realized I left stuff behind that I needed to bring home.

After uploading the results I decided to call it a night. I had nothing left to give, not at that time.

Monday morning Junior found my laptop as I left it the night before. He tapped away at the keyboard, moving his finger on the touch pad, and clicked a button here and there.

"Okay I finished uploading the results, now what?"

I have to go back to pick some stuff up, I need to do some GC spreadsheet updates (it got all screwy somehow), post the GC, and then it all starts again on Thursday.

It seems like just yesterday that I was stressing about the races even happening. Now we're two weeks from the end of the Series. Incredible.

I'll be there this Sunday, hope to see you there too.

Promoting - 2013 Criterium de Bethel

The fifth race of the Series. As I said before time seems to accelerate as the Series goes on. Each week the routine becomes a bit more regular. Sunday, unpack the car when I get home. Post results, do the overall. Respond to the inevitable questions, review finish line clips, stuff like that.

Monday I usually answer more questions, bring some of the stuff inside from the garage.

Tuesday I usually put together one of the bikes enough to ride it. This means dealing with the gear bag, the SRM computer, helmets, laundry, stuff like that.

Wednesday I take a break, try and think of what to post for the upcoming race, and mentally prepare myself for the weekend.

Thursday I start to prepare for the weekend, download the registration data, send out the releases to be printed, think about bringing more stuff in from the garage. I usually don't because Junior is very curious so he tries to open the boxes, chew on the bins, and generally tries to check everything out.

Friday I go pick up the print job with Junior. In the evening the Missus and I do the pre-reg work. Although I managed to pack the car once on Friday this year normally we're too exhausted so I leave that for Saturday.

Saturday the Missus works pretty much the whole day so I try and stuff in the garage. When she gets home I take out Junior's car seat and pack up the car. Inevitably I need to go to the course but whether I make it or not depends on my fatigue level. I've even missed the customary dinner with the family because I've run so late.

Sunday is the race. And then it starts all over again.

For April 7th I was in a decent rhythm. I left quite late, after 6 PM. Unusually I was really paranoid of forgetting something - some of the last minute things I remembered included my primary helmet, the 15' surge protector plug thing, one of the power cables for the laptops, a bottle... I don't remember remembering more but I'm sure I did.

I had wanted to patch some hard dips in the road (technically not potholes but they were bone jarring dips at the bottom of the hill). I had the PermaPatch in the car, I had already missed the family dinner (5:30 or 6 PM), but with it being so late I decided just to head over to my dad's anyway.

Somehow I found myself taking the Bethel exit, not the Dad exit, and once off the highway I drove to the course. I figured that, what the heck, I'll do the patching.

180 lbs of PermaPatch later, my back thankfully still intact, I left to head over to my dad's. My nephew generously gave me his precious leftovers and I passed out face down in bed, too exhausted to even remove my glasses.

Sunday I woke up worried I'd overslept. In a panic I checked my phone - 4:15 AM. Everything was okay.

I headed over to the course. My late night in-the-dark patching wasn't top notch but on the first laps of the Cat 5 clinic I found that the bone jarring dips had transformed into a bumpy rumble. Better but not great. If I had a lot of PermaPatch and a big roller I'd put more down but without a roller I think I'd just spread the bumpiness. It'll have to do for now.

Bikes in transport mode.

I finally got the now-red Tsunami together. I rode it on the trainer but hadn't really tested it completely built up. The bike felt very good over the bumps - the ENVE 2.0 fork seemed to be an improvement over the outsourced Reynolds fork I used before.

The stuff from the Jetta Sportswagen, plus Joel's bike and bags.

Each week we bring a certain amount of stuff to the registration area. This is all stuff that, in a trailer, would be already set up. It's not too much stuff though so for now it's okay.

On this day I made an interesting discovery. We're borrowing our registration location and we've agreed to allow only staff to walk behind the tables. I've turned away friends, explaining that I really don't want to lose use of this space.

What I discovered is that there's a camera back there somewhere. So when I say that you can't be back there, I really mean you can't be back there. Ultimately it's a self preservation thing - if anything is missing or broken it's all my fault. Therefore, to be safe, no one will be going back there except staff.

Joel moving tables.

Empty PermaPatch bags next to the curb.

Joel is one of the folks helping out. His wife Amanda has been at the day-of-race registration table for all but one week so far. Joel helps set up registration, then the keep-off-the-grass stakes, then gets stuff unloaded for the finish area (generators, gas cans, stuff like that). He'll even do the grate covers if he has time.

Finish line stuff in the background.

Teammate Jeff is second on the road in this picture for 3rd in the race.

Right now we have a small trailer for the finish line camera. It's not mine, it's a friend's, but it works well. There's enough room inside for a table, some chairs, and the ability to look at the finish video.

The officials' tent isn't mine either but I have two similar tents just in case we need them. The wind almost collapsed the tent - this is where the officials would have appreciated an enclosed trailer.

Overall the day, from a promoter's point of view, went pretty well. I only got reprimanded twice for riders in the parking lot. I only got reprimanded once for a race related thing. Normally it's every hour that someone complains about racers circling in the lot or the blocked entrance by the start/finish.

I mentioned to someone that it's the outliers that cause the problems. 95% of the racers are courteous and understanding. The other 5% cause me significant problems. It's frustrating but it's always been like that. The misbehavers come from all across the board, racers that have been around forever to new ones that may not even know of the problems they're causing me.

I suppose at some point the venue will become unusable. Until a couple years ago the Francis J Clarke Park was an industrial zone. Now it's zoned for retail so there will be more retail businesses located on and near the course. This means potentially more friction between the racers and the tenants.

As far as the racing itself? With massive winds the races blew apart. Although the pictures don't do the wind justice I'd consider the day one of the near-epic days of racing - everyone who did well were both fit and smart. Minor errors would cost a racer a lot and a lot of favorites found themselves caught out of position in the brutal wind.

At the end of the day we packed up, cleaned up, and headed out.

Two more weeks to go.

Promoting - Pre-Pre 2013 Criterium de Bethel

Well it's been a week off from Bethel due to the Easter Sunday break. The Missus and I took a much needed break last weekend from the hurry and scurry of all that's Bethel.

For me a big thing was I threw out my back on the Thursday before Easter Sunday. I'd loaded Junior into the car for one of his two half days of daycare. We put him there to get sick, to socialize, and to give me a break.

As I loaded the car I couldn't help noticing the 180 lbs of Permapatch in the back of the car. It's great stuff, much better than anything I could find in the Bethel area, and I bought a few bags up here for use down at Bethel. It's a plastic based pavement patch, works down below 0 degrees F, and because it sets based on pressure traffic can travel over it as soon as it's on the road. I've been meaning to put some patch down to smooth out some of the rough stuff but I kept forgetting to buy it up here. Unfortunately no one sells it in the Bethel area.

With a person's worth of weight in the trunk of the car I decided to unload the pavement patch allocated for Bethel. When lifting the third 60 lbs bag from the back of the car something popped in my back. I sagged to the garage floor, rested a bit until I could move, dragged the bag over away from the car, and managed to get into the car.

I got Junior to daycare okay but that was it for me for a number of days. On Friday I looked after Junior from the floor of the living room, although by the end of the day I could pick up his 22 lbs mass. I was forced to spectate at Plainville but luckily that allowed me to capture some good shots of friends winning races.

Luckily with no Bethel that weekend I could recover a bit.

For my own riding I did't get on the bike until the following week and even then it was an easy ride. I rode the now-red Tsunami, complete with bar tape, but without the SRM computer or the harness. (I'll do a report on the bike shortly).

Desperate for some training (missing half of my peak winter training really tells) I did another ride a couple days later, exactly a week after my back popped. That time things went better. I spent much of the afternoon working on the SRM stuff, painstakingly wrapping the whole harness with electrical tape. The two wires are separate for some reason and individually they're fragile but taped together it's more durable. I mounted the wire a bit haphazardly on the bike - it looks terrible - and checked out the newly re-batteried PCV. That was fine too.

For a few years I've chosen to get the Bethel Spring Series releases printed - it costs about $20 a week to print them but it costs me $75 in toner every two weeks if I do the printing at home. Plus I'm using up my printer life hand over fist (200-300 pages a week means 1200-1500 pages a Series, plus 1000-1200 blank release forms) and I have to do the hole punching and all that. Much easier to have Staples do the printing. 

Schedule-wise I close pre-reg Thursday so that I have time to download the completed forms and send out the job. To do that and pick them up I want a day extra "just in case". For unexpected things like, well, popping my back.

Therefore on Friday April 5th I headed out to pick up the release forms for this weekend's race, the April 7th one. On the way I saw a brand new Nissan GTR three cars in front of me. I noticed it because it pulled very slowly away from a traffic light at a curving intersection that allowed me to see the car in full. The car directly behind it followed at a respectable distance but the one behind that stayed glued to the bumper of the respectable car.

Being a very deliberate driver (the Missus's term) I followed at a respectable distance from the "glued front bumper" car.

Me, Glued Bumper, Respectable, and finally GTR.

We're going almost 50 mph here.

About 5 minutes later the glued bumper car turned off. Then the respectable distance car left.

This left the GTR in front of me.

I'd been thinking of various things while we followed this very deliberate GTR driver. I thought of when I owned my 350Z. Literally when the recommended break-in mileage rolled over on the odometer I punched the throttle to the floor. I hadn't done that until then so I wasn't ready for the quick redline. About a second after I mashed the throttle to the floor the engine bounced off its rev limiter, the Missus (at that point she was at "girlfriend" status). Not an auspicious start in my life as a 350Z owner.

So although I understand the break in period I thought to myself, "If I had that car I'd be revving it a bit more than that. The heck, it has a crazy launch system, all wheel drive, the thing has massive power and it can put it down. It's probably some old guy who can finally afford a car like that. The thing does 0-60 in 3 seconds and the guy's only going 35 mph in a 35 zone. Jeepers."

Junior was in the car too so, as the lone talking human in the car, naturally I was narrating to him. "Look, it's a GTR! It's a black car! It's a really fast car! It has big tail pipes! A Gee Tee Are! (Letters are important at his age you know.) If we had one we'd be flying in it. It even has a back seat for you!"

Oh the potential.

I opened the windows to listen to the subdued exhaust burble. We finally pulled up behind it at a light. I actually leaned forward to look closer at the tail pipes. I noticed the GTR driver was so distracted he was waving at friends across the intersection - I could see his hand waving a bit through the super dark windows.

I'm continuing my GTR monologue to Junior, describing to him all that I see. Of course he's facing backwards in the car and he can't see out the windows so all he can see is what's there above him in the big sunroof - sky, clouds, the roof rack - while Pops is blabbing away up front.

GTR.

Ring ring. 

The phone rings, forcing my dashcam app to stop. I briefly think "Oh, man, it just automatically saved the last two files, I'll have to remember to delete them. The dashcam app, DailyRoads (for Android), does a save if the phone rings. It's good I suppose if you want to save something just as the phone rings. On the other hand it's a pain to review, trying to figure out why I saved this particular file, then realize, "Oh, wait, that's when the phone rang!" A lot of my dashcam clip reviews are reminders of this call or that call.

Anyway the bluetooth kicks in, my dashcam stops, and my monologue is about to end.

"Hey, it's got to be Mah-Mah calling... waitaminute it's G-Man. What the heck is he calling for, I haven't talked to him since last fall."

G-Man is a Cat 2 on hiatus, he's in some of my clips, good guy, hasn't been racing for a couple years, been busy with life, etc. He lives in the area but we never got around to doing a training ride together, although he used to drop by where I worked now and then.

Me: "Hello?"
G-Man: "Hey is that you behind me?"

I actually looked in the mirror at the car behind me, a bit bewildered.

Then I realized, wait, he said behind him, not behind me.

"Whoa, wait, are you in the GTR?!"
"Yeah", a bit sheepishly.
"No way! I was just telling Junior about the car. OhMyGod that thing is so cool blah blah blah"
"I tried to wave but I don't think you knew I had this car."
"No, you had that STI last time I saw you."
"I got this in the winter."
"Holy smolies, that's awesome blah blah blah blah."
"You know I know you like cars so I was going to drop by one day and show you the car."
"Haha that would have been incredible!"
"We should get lunch one day. We can take my car."
"Okay"
"Okay"

And the light turned green and he went one way and I went another.

Heh. I'll have to tell him about the "old man driving" stuff later.

So yeah, I picked up the release forms, let Junior walk around a bit (he crawled a bit too), and then went to the pet store next door to do some more walking. He likes pictures of cats (go figure!), smiling and babbling when he sees one. The small patch of grass outside was good and it was short enough that I could spot any doggie mines (none visible).

Junior crawling.

At home, when the Missus got done with another long day of tax season stuff, we worked together to set up pre-reg for Sunday's Criterium de Bethel.

Then exhausted we headed to bed.

Saturday I'll load up the car, realistically after the Missus gets home from work. Hopefully I can get the Permapatch into the car without any problems. Then, after heading to the course to do some minor patching - I'll leave what I don't use at the course - I'll head over to my dad's.

Then Sunday it's race day all over again.

Hard to believe it's just three more races. It seemed just yesterday that I was looking at a daunting 7 week race schedule.

Helmet Cam - 2011 Criterium de Bethel P123s

Finally, a helmet cam.

I missed on a lot of footage at the 2011 Outdoor Sports Center Bethel Spring Series, with all sorts of non-helmet-cam related stress distracting me from the simpler parts of racing.

I also struggled to race well, and, frankly, races where either I get shelled or the clip just ends mid-race are boring to watch.

I had one race worth "clipping" though, the Criterium de Bethel. It took place a long, long time ago, April 3.

Here it is. Enjoy.

Bethel Spring Series 2009 - Criterium de Bethel Report

It's hard to enthusiastically do a post when, well, things basically sucked on race day.

First off, the weather didn't cooperate. But that's not really the point. The point is that the weather was supposed to be really bad, but instead it was just kind of miserable. Sort of like expecting a knock-you-out cold and getting just the sniffles.

Translation? I came prepared for a Nor'easter, not a piddly 45 minute sprinkle. But all we got was the piddly sprinkle, and that happened, naturally, during the Cat 5 race. "Naturally" because, as new racers, the 5s are supposed to suffer and pay their dues. Cat 5 racing is like bike racing hazing, where new racers pay some excruciating dues before moving up into the more plentiful 4s. Their racing, naturally, lacks a bit compared to the other categories. No money, smaller fields, the least desirable start times.

So it's natural that it also rains during a Cat 5 race.

As soon as they stopped, the raid did too. But, unlike, say, Southern California morning fog, the sun never burned through the heavy overcast skies, and we spent the rest of the day in cold, wet conditions.

I had a lot of fun typing stuff up in the results page, posting all but the last few races "live", but the reality was that we were slow at the tent. We had 1/3 the normal turnout, and it actually made me a bit anxious because this is the first year I have a vested interest in the race (i.e. I sank my own money into it, and I took a gamble and spent more before we even had our permits).

The underlying thoughts going through my head went something like, "Well, am I paying $2000 to watch people race today, or am I spending a little less money than that?"

Honestly, I didn't know, and I still don't know. I should know a little more when I go to the bank tomorrow. I have to actually withdraw money because we basically ran out of money at the end of Sunday. Next week is a big fiscal day for the race - we'll be giving out about $3000 in prize money. I think. Plus merchandise. Primes. And any "larger than minimum" prize list increase (we step up the money with larger than minimum fields).

Whatever. With these thoughts running through my head, and the small (under 30 rider?) Cat 3-4 field, I wasn't looking forward to the race. I know my strengths, I know my weaknesses, and riding in a small field peels away all my strengths and lays bare my weaknesses.

Nevertheless I kitted up in the Leader's Jersey. I declined this the previous week for some reason. Part of it is being shy or something, part of it is the dread that I wouldn't ride up to the Jersey's standards.

I put it on, commenting sort of to no one in particular, "If I'm going to lose it, I'm going to lose it like a man." A guy registering asked if I was serious, and I told him I was. He seemed to be a bit skeptical, like this was one of my tactics to disarm the competition.

I even did a couple laps, peeled off a heavy layer (it was wet but not necessarily really cold), and suited up with my new rain jacket (I still haven't found my old one). I did all my rain-racing tricks, plus one new one, and felt reasonably warm and comfy.

The problem wasn't in being warm. It was in being fast.

And boy, when the field set out, they set out hard. I found out later one of the guys had his highest 5 and 10 second power outputs in the first five laps of the race. Figures, because on the second lap I was already coming off the back.

Now, although I made a big deal about all the guys from the City coming up as a team, the reality is that there's this kind of "Aki Mafia" at Bethel. In field sprints there are those that have their good sprints and those that don't. Since many of those that race at Bethel really are getting in some training miles (unlike me, because I'm allegedly peaking by March), they choose not to partake in the sprints.

They get bored in the race, and, like many generous and friendly racers, try to help out those who put a bit more emphasis on the Series.

One of those guys would be me.

So, although they may race on different teams, and in the summer they may do their best to break my legs in a crit, at Bethel things are a bit kinder, a bit gentler. I see friendly wheels suddenly, guys hesitating just a bit before moving up, glances back to see if I'm there. It's a bit easier to move up when, for example, someone coaxes me onto their wheel and then rides through about 70 guys and drops me off 20 back from the front.

That's all to help me. Not them.

So, in the very sparse, maybe 20-odd rider field, I probably had 10 guys who knew me well enough, or respected what I was trying to do, or whatever, that they would expend significant amounts of energy to help me.

I mention this because it makes my pitiful race even more pitiful.

I started seeing gaps in front of me by the second lap. Some guys jumped across, others took their time, giving me some protection as they closed the gap.

But I still came off.

My teammate Mike was religiously following around the guy I perceived as the biggest threat, and also the guy that Mike could probably beat if Mike just followed him around. In turn I was just trying to stay near the front because if I drifted back any I'd be at the back.

Then I started drifting back. My legs started hating the bike. And I got dropped. Guys behind tried to help, actively and passively, and I got back into the field.

Then I got dropped again.

And again, guys behind me helped me. I got back into the field.

It was the third of thirty laps of racing.

I came off again.

But this time, I'd run out of helpers. The whole field rode in front of me, and I came off. Cooked. Toasted. Done.

I couldn't really see, my glasses were all messy from the wet, gritty roads, but I could see people's body language.

"What's he doing out of the race??"

My teammate Mike, doing his best to try and earn points (so that others couldn't earn any), marked so many moves I couldn't believe he could still pedal. He found the legs to go with what ended up being the chase of the day. He looked to be in serious trouble though, riding beyond his limits. Within a few laps he'd come off too, a colosal effort come to naught.

In the end I lost the jersey to Stephen Gray, a powerful rider with Bethel Cycle. He earned it though, for sure. It was a tough day of racing, and it let the cream rise to the top.

And in the meantime I want to actually train. I've done maybe 10 hours since Febrary 26th, and that includes the four races I've done (well, three races plus three laps). I hope to do some riding this week, to get some rhythm back in my legs.

Next week the Series ends. No more pre-reg, no more packing up the van every Saturday, no more zombie-like Mondays. And next week we'll crown a new set of champions, and we'll aware a new set of Leader's Jerseys.

We'll see what happens. I'm praying for a bigger field, some luck, and legs for a good sprint.

Bethel Spring Series 2009 - Criterium de Bethel Results

Results are here.

It would have been a perfectly fine day for racing (minus the rain in the Cat 5s) - misty, overcast, but no real rain. With tiny fields reminiscent of 1993 (although back then we would have been happy), the races ended up unpredictable. Working on getting the overall up but there were some doozies today.

Bethel Spring Series - Criterium de Bethel

The Criterium de Bethel. I had a somewhat basic plan that came down to the fact that I wasn't going to sprint - and I'd been steeling myself for this plan the whole week. During the race my number came off (Super 77 adhesive and slick wind vests don't mix) so technically I shouldn't have sprinted. Mentally I was all set not to sprint. But my plan didn't work out and I was there for the sprint...

I'll let the clip show the rest.

Incidentally, the last lap is the tightest crit riding I've caught on tape so far. The close action is what makes cycling so enthralling and I hope you get a feeling for what it's like.

Bethel Spring Series - Criterium de Bethel

You know that if I don't do a pre-race post, things are busy. And if I don't do a race post, it's even busier. I didn't even do a "day after the race" post.

Things were so busy that Sunday I decided to write off my season. Not the Series (that's already gone) but everything. The next time I line up with serious training and a competitive mindset will be in March 2008 and even that is a bit doubtful. What I do know is that 2007 will be for fun and involvement.

Yesterday I got to the race sans my other half - she's an accountant and it's tax season... 'nuff said. This meant that when I dropped the two muffins in the van I couldn't retrieve them till I got out of the van 30 minutes later. So I drank a lot of coffee instead.

Overall things went well. A blog reader who happens to race, helped sweep, helps marshal, and is generally enthusiastic about the sport asked me about trackstands and picking things up off the ground while riding. So I did a demonstration of both those techniques. I didn't video tape them so posting a clip will have to wait for a different day. Plus I wasn't in my race kit (I was in my "promoter kit", i.e. street clothes) so it's best that I tape it some other day.

The Target Training pro women's team showed up in force for marshaling duties in the morning. It's always nice to see elite level riders putting energy back into the sport, even if it's in such a relatively trivial way. No attitudes there and I think that's great for the sport. And the team owner even offered a whole lotta primes for the races - so many we couldn't organize things for that day. So there will be LOTS of cash primes on April 15th.

And it's good to see the riders who started out in the lower categories show up with their new team kits, pedaling smoother, riding in closer formation, and doing well in the harder races.

There were less pleasant aspects to the race. Over the last few weeks I heard, second hand, of some less than clean riding. After I posted a comment to this effect last week I got a couple concerned riders asking me if they were the guilty ones but no, it wasn't them. Those guys, and they know who they are, are good guys who have their competitive moments. Hey I have them too. They're good by me.

There are others who are still in a sort of an evaluation phase from where I'm standing. The only problem is that I haven't seen anything myself. And though I trust the reports I get, I won't act on them without confirming them personally.

When I do confirm something personally, I speak with the rider/s in question. Whether or not I know the rider, their actions reflect the attitudes of the race. And I don't want Bethel to be known as an overly aggressive place to race. Over the years I've had some interesting conversations with some of these racers and every single time, after all the discussions about who pushed who, who punched who, who blew their nose on who, whatever we talk about, it all boils down to one thing.

It's just a bike race.

A racer I respect pointed out that bike racing, for all intents and purposes, is like intramural softball. It's a big game. No one lives off their racing. Sure it's nice to win some gas money or a nice apres race meal. Or like the winner of one of the $50 primes last week, rent a power tool and work on your house. It's great to be enthusiastic about the sport but we all go to work on Monday.

This means we all do this for fun. At least I hope we do. No one gets anywhere with bike racing except the start line, the finish line on a normal day, and out for some training during the non-race days.

As a promoter I help the racers enjoy themselves. I'm supposed to be neutral towards everyone. I try very, very hard to be just that, even if sometimes I don't like what I have to do.

However, when the race starts, I am a racer. As such I am no longer neutral. If I'm not racing for myself, my teammates, or friends, I'll choose sides.

At the Criterium de Bethel I chose sides.

I decided I'd try and help some guys out who seem to genuinely embrace the sport. They are enthusiastic racers, they're nice when they're off the bike, they seem socially adjusted, and they even want to promote their own race!

Note: If you ever want to get on a promoter's good side, mention the race you promote. If the promoter is a good person, you're set.

So anyway I decided to try and help a couple of these racers. After all I wrote off my season. I figured I wouldn't even be around for the sprint. Ultimately they took things into their own hands so I didn't contribute to their effort at all.

That was unfortunate because I completely forgot about racing for myself. I was so intent on seeing what happened at the finish I did something very unusual.

I simply forgot to sprint.

The clip, still to be edited, makes this painfully clear. By the time my brain switched from spectator back to racer I was at the base of the hill, 150 meters to go, and people were starting to launch. I was completely unprepared for any hard effort and let the field stream around me. I tried to keep some semblance of speed so I wouldn't get rear ended but that was the extent of my sprint.

A little annoyed at myself I started the P/1/2/3 race. I felt some bursts of speed in the P/1/2/3 race, something I haven't felt in a while. Perhaps it was that I wasn't feeling sick for the first time in the Series. Whatever, promoting duties called and I didn't feel right racing around the course. So I made a few unusually hard efforts and called it a day. Before I stopped I thought, heck, I think I can do this. It's been a while since I've thought that.

Having packed up the van, I thought the tough part was done. Just the long, drawn out process of posting results and stuff. But the fates threw one more punch my way.

It came up on the drive home. In the rush to pack things, the gas cans ended up balanced on things like leafblower tires. Not a stable platform. And after two of them toppled and started leaking gas, I started getting a pretty bad headache. I didn't realize this - I figured a can was simply venting and drove with the window open. It got worse though. At the end of my drive I was almost hanging my head out the window like a dog (sans wagging tongue).

It didn't help. I was reeling when I climbed out of the van. I checked the cans and two had completely emptied - one being a somewhat full 5 gallon container, the other a half full 2.5 gallon container. I figure anywhere from two to five gallons of gas sloshed onto the floor. I opened a bunch of windows to vent the gas and hoped the drizzle would prevent an explosion when the guy who lives across the street goes out for a smoke.

All that "drive my econo car to work" and I vent 15 or 30 pounds of unburnt hydrocarbons into the air. Great.

I walked in the house feeling queasy, dizzy, and apparently reeking of gasoline. Breathing those unburnt hydrocarbons really worked me over. It took me a while to recover, but a shower, some new clothes, and some food got me going again.

Finally things went smoothly. I had the results posted by 7:15 PM. It helped that this was the fourth race of the Series - there are lots of the same guys placing again and again. As the guy typing up the results, I like the racers who place every week - less editing for me. It's best if they maintain their spot in the overall. It's great if they place in the same spot as the previous week (I use the previous week as a template).

The worst? It's when someone new places and he's on a team that hasn't placed previously. I have to type everything.

Team results are easier too, and I finally figured out (i.e. had the guts to try something) how to add the Women's team classification section.

So all in all, things are good. I am a bit disappointed to make the decision to drop my commitment to training but it's not like I'm losing much. I've been doing an hour or two a week on the trainer but Monday night I sacrificed my trainer spot so I'll rarely ride from here on in. The reason for all this non-cycling is the work being done to the house. It's very exciting and I'm looking forward to the results when it's all done.

I wish things were a bit less busy so I can ride a bit but this busy stuff is part of racing. Things come and go. Racers who were so into the sport are now gone. And the strong Cat 5's will be beating me in a a couple years. Or maybe this summer. So a little excitement at the Series is okay. Keeps me involved.

And when I lament the passing of a year of potential this or that, I think about all the other things I'm so thankful to have. And I remember.

It's just a bike race.