Reports by:

• Garry
• Richard
• Tim

Thursday August 23
Thought I would try the endurance race instead of Wednesdays "sprint" events, and generally I think I enjoyed the experience more, even if the result was poor.

We warmed up for a good 30 laps, but I did not put in any major effort while doing so. This was my undoing later when the racing began.

Our race was 70 laps, with about 15 competitors. 7 laps into the race I found myself off the front just a little way, with two others in tow, who wanted to take it to the first sprint 2 laps away, so we gassed it and I went so deep that I could not recover from the effort in time and was dropped. I spent a few laps chasing and got back on, but the pack went hard again and I was out the back again and not gaining, so I sat up and dropped a lap. Tim was bashing away and I tried to get him back up to the breakaway when I dropped back in, but it was all in vain.

So I sat up again and dropped another lap and then just chugged around with various partners, including Eugene. I finished on my own, a little bummed out but overall not feeling too displeased.

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Thursday August 2
Wow - a race report.

Well, much to my surprise, and certainly to Tim B's on Tuesday, I was at the parking lot. Only it wasn't the parking lot, it was the Alviso Loop. Regardless, the instincts were there, but the legs weren't, but the main thing was that I had fun. Which brings me to Larry's Points race series.

These started back in 2005 almost immediately after my fall at the track which meant that I missed them all when I had really good fitness.

Points races have rhythm, sometimes regular when the sprints are every 5 laps, and sometimes not so regular when the sprints are every 10. But the beauty of them from a racing perspective is that you have to be on your toes the whole time to be aware of not just your own score, but also the competitions'. Of course, you only need to worry about that when you are competitive, and being competitive in an A's points race is a wonderful thing.

A great thing about the way Larry is running these Thursday nights is that the races are run C, B, A and allows the later group riders to be on the track behind the group racing with the proviso that there is no interference with the racing. This way the riders who need it, can get in 150+ laps in an evening (or 30+ miles...).

I optimistically put myself down for the A's race and enjoyed the high-speed group riding at the stayers' line behind the C and B groups, taking the opportunity to tweak the setup of the new bike to get more comfortable for longer periods in the saddle.

The C group racing was better than the B from a spectator's perspective. The A group started with 17 riders, with a good number of the Bs joining us. This was blisteringly quick from the start. I survived until the first sprint after 10 laps then began playing the work hard/rest game by jumping back into the group for as long as I could. I worked hard for as long as I could and retired at half-distance (40 laps to go).

The only bad thing about the evening was the crash in the A's race with 12 laps to go. 3 riders came down, Gio Rey, Tim Granshaw and Pat Dunaway with increasing injuries respectively. Dunaway has a broken scapula, so that is the end of his season.

Well, the bug has bitten again - see some of you at Timpani on Sunday.

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Thursday August 18
Here's a quick race report of Thursday night racing. I don't have a Dunnigan report since I overslept. Well, I woke up at 5:15, but tried to get another couple of minutes of sleep. Next thing I knew, it was 6:30 - too late to make it to the race. Instead I did the Spectrum ride, and even won the Sandhill sprint.

I rode with the Cs. There were 11 of us in a 70 lap race with sprints every 10 laps.

On the first sprint, I took second. And then three of got away. We basically kept lapping the field for the next 30ish laps. Then I decided to see if I could ride my two compatriots off my wheel, but ended up dropping myself on the sprint.

For the next 29 laps I was riding solo trying to keep the two in front of me from lapping me. Unfortunately, with 2 to-go they caught me. For third place I won a free Peet's coffee voucher and some brownies. Sweet! What an awesome workout.

Last night Garry and I raced in the Bs for 70 laps with sprints every 10 laps. I decided to try the Bs out since the Cs group was a little on the easier side last week. We started at a nice pace slow margarita pace, but then attacks started a couple laps in.

For the first two sprints, I was in contention and placed 4 and 5th. Then, the field split up when a break of 3/4 went off the front. I was too lazy to chase so I just sat in my pack of 5-6 people.

Eventually I became too tired to remain in my group around lap 40, and went down a lap on the field. After that I just sat on the back of the field.

Anyone else going to San Ardo Tomorrow?

I took a couple of 5ths, and maybe a 4th.

I attacked once with around 36 laps left. Shelly Olds bridged up, and we stayed off the front for a couple of laps.

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