Wednesday, August 15, 2007

weird coffee house, wednesday night race, and wednesday quad update

at 2:45 today the power went out at work. some people were annoyed cause they had "really important things to do"- but for real, c'mon, i work in academia- pushing paper isn't exactly urgent. the power outage was fun - people actually talked to each other. they said the power wouldn't come back on until 4:30! i left -- it felt like a snow day! i drove to san jose early to beat traffic and found a coffee shop by driving around near hellyer park-- it was on tully & senter. it was the weirdest coffee shop ever. a description really won't do-- so i urge you if you are in the area, stop by dolce espresso 2078 tully rd. you won't regret it.

i walked in what i thought was a coffee shop, but seemed more like some electro-techno dance club. the dance mix was blaring. i ordered iced coffee, and it was a viatnamese iced coffee-- so i got really wired because i am pretty caffeine sensitive to begin with. anyway, there were about 20 or so "computers" in the place...i soon found out they were those games like you find in dive bars, some that had gambling on them. i put a dollar in and played a few rounds of some game called mega fish. anyway, i spent 2 hours in this empty place over stimulated from the electro-mix and coffee. it was weird, man. you gotta check this place out. anyway, onto the races...


Kierin- I like this race a lot. Mostly because I did well. I have a pretty long sprint and shitty ass jump, so this seems perfect for me. I was in the pole both times-- so that meant I took the motor. This is sometimes a hard spot to be when the bike pulls off...but i think much better than being at the back- at least for my strength. anyway, the first round i decided i would jump really hard after the motor pulled up, hopefully making a gap so the people behind me wouldn't suck my wheel and come around me. this worked...a little too well, as i won by several bike lengths and got myself more tired than i needed to. i didn't need to win by so much, cause it was a qualifier-- but i didn't know how close people were too me. i didn't want to look behind my shoulder while going so fast, especially if someone was right there. Anyway, this qualified me for the finals....In the finals, i again got the pole! I figured I'd try my same technique, although i knew it would be harder cause there were faster people in my heat, as it was the finals... anyway, i was pretty surprised that when i was starting the turn before the finish no one was coming around... i was just drilling as hard as I could...but woe is me, julie came around me on the last straight away to take the win. happy i held it off for so long, though. i think i need to work on that thing called "the second kick", which i don't have.



this is me behind peter. he told me i have puny arms.

Scratch- 6 laps. I was pretty tired after those kierins. i totally sucked balls on this race. i decided i was going to stay on Julie's wheel cause she knows how to move around well and I wanted to see what she was doing. This worked well for most of the race, then she attacked way up track. I should have been on it, as I was on her wheel at that point - but sucked. Anyway, I made up my goof and was in okay position, but then my last 1.5 laps stunk -- not being aggressive enough in my position and getting pushed back. I didn't place- maybe i came in 7th. I was unhappy with this race--mostly cause i was pretty weak sauce moving around in the pack and claiming position. I definitely need to work on my comfort moving around in close quarters.


Miss 'n Out- I nearly missed this race cause I was an idiot. I also nearly got out on lap 1 and 2, cause I was trying to catch up from taking the last position on the wall. Luckily, I got my shit together. Anyway, I was doing the usual, coming up from the back....which is perhaps because I didn't want to get boxed in, and perhaps because I need work on my maneuvering.... Anyway, at 5 people left, they were going to race for places-- but I was the 6th person out. No points. I was not happy with myself, because I let this happen last week, as I was the 4th person out when we raced for 3. I wasn't accelerating well in this race and didn't put it down where it mattered.


20 lap points. This was pretty quick, I scored no points, hung in the pack, but made no moves, and subsequently didn't score shit. I wasn't even in point contention. I wasn't maneuvering well and wasn't in good position. The last lap, I still had stuff in me so I bridged up, but could only get 5th...so that was no points.

The night started very well with a 2nd place, but I didn't do well enough to score points in the following races. I doubt I scored in the omnium. I think the big thing I took away from tonight is that I have pretty good speed and endurance, but my skills in the pack are lacking which is holding me back from making smart moves and claiming position in close quarters (also known as weak sauce). But that stuff comes with time I know- and at least I have youth on my side!

Anyway- thanks to all my friends for coming out and cheering! Lily, Miriam, Suzie, Tev, Mary, Michael, Alex, and Karin -- you are all the best! I am so happy y'all got to see me in action!

(The pictures are from last weeks race or the week before that...courtesy of Jason & Wendy's flickr! Thanks!)

Alicia, lookin' like a bad ass.

Angela, tearing it up her first wednesday night.

Anna and spinny Isabelle (get a bigger gear, girl!)



jenny madly sprinting it in for the chariot race win!

Me.

me again.

chariot races last week

....and some really old pictures from fremont crit.....thanks for these paul!



thank you sponsors.




As for the quad update--- I am at a plateau... 60.75-- no change to report. People who are measuring, please post your weekly measurements on Thursday in the comments! Michiko is keeping a running tally of our quads by week. (You should also include you helmet size and make, if you haven't done so already.) In many months, her and I will prepare some fancy graphs and bullshit time-series statistical analysis.

On other measuring news, Peter today told me my legs were strong, but my arms were wimpy for a sprinter. Yes, I do have wimpy arms. They are, though, stronger than they have ever been since I started this bike riding business. (That is pathetic I know). I am sad 28cm when my bicep is flexed. I am going to track this too.

Well, sorry for the disappointment of this long, dry, not-funny post. I deliberately tried to be boring so I can lose some readership....people, it isn't fun in my underwear everyday. Shit it is 1-am.... that stupid coffee with evaporated milk...

11 comments:

place_holder said...

I foresee Q&A: biceps. And your readership is going to stay+ for the orange bra.

Anonymous said...

Vietnamese coffee is the best...and it keeps you up more than 24 hours! next time you are around about that time, call me on my cell if you want to hang out with me eh? - I can show you good places to eat in Tully - really rustic Vietnamese places - it's like an adventure like Anthony Boudin's No Reservation...

I will show you some weird fruits, rice cakes (my weakness), and all sorts of vietnamese desserts!

mattio said...

i was at Kissena last night (just spectating - the A feature was a madison! so much fun to watch) and I'm really impressed at people's ability to keep racing - I imagine you were pretty pooped after those keirins (congrats by the way!), so maybe don't have to be so hard on yourself about the following races. maybe.

love the pictures of you racing. also, i met jenny when she was hanging out in nyc a few months ago.

also, totally rad to see you this past weekend!

chatterbox said...

quads - 60cm
helmet - Specialized SM
bicep - 35cm

yeah, I'm more of a body builder than a roadie. Perhaps I'll be a good sprinter one day :)

norcalcyclingnews.com said...

sorry, you ain't losin' no readership.

... weak sauce.

ha!

Lorri Lee Lown -- velogirl said...

of course your arms look puney! your quads are HUGE!

Lovin the reports.

Velo Bella said...

I can't find my tape measurering friend.

She's going to wonder why I keep asking for the measurer on Thursday mornings. I guess I might as well tell her.

Next time I am at Ikea, I am picking up a shitload of their free little measuring tape thingies

say no to string!

And if you are weak sauce than I am water sauce. Jaysus I'm a big sissy out there. But its fun having lots to learn.

I'm bummed that Wednesdays are ending...

WarrenG said...

Thursday nights are fun too.

Itinerant Rick said...

Those of us in AARP are proud of our sponsorship. I am sure "Chuck's Wheels" is likewise ;-)

Geez, 'weak sauce' still got your a 4th place in the omnium. Perhaps I should wait for you to join the 'B's before I show up.

Grey said...

yeah, peter probably meant bicep/quad ratio. or he looked at your arms while you were kneeling down tying your shoes...the perspective threw him off. i mean, next to your quads even a big bin of sports drink powder looks pretty puny!!

dblrider said...

Quads 62.5 cm
Biceps 29.25 cm
Helmet Louis Garneau Lg