Tuesday, May 06, 2008

i hate adrenaline

now it is 11pm and i can't sleep. this is what track racing does to you.

i had the pleasure of going down to the track with mike & ali in the last race they have before they get married. they have a race moratorium so not to get road rash before they tie the knot. this tuesday was fun because we were done with that scratch race crap, and onto the points races!!! woooooooooo! why do i like them better? because i have a poor tension span, and they kind of dictate to you what to do. bell=sprint. and they came every five laps, so not much time for snoring like in the scratch races. that is why track is fun, cause all the weird races keep you on your toes.

we had enough ladies so we did two thirty lap races, with sprints every five. i like points racing, cause i like math, and it is fun to do addition while exercising. it helps that the numbers are small, and it is typically easy to add 1, 2, 3 or 5 to any number. but i didn't even add in these races, cause i kept winning sprints. and i made sure to win the sprints when larry said: "this one is for a brownie." in the first race, i broke away for a little bit. that was fun. in the second half of the second race, i blocked for ali as she was trying to get points away from sabine. sorry sabine. but ali was driving me home.

then i was feeling good, so i decided i was going to get my $10 worth and jump in the B/C race with the big bad men. i wasn't really planning on racing-- just wanted to get some workout in and hang on wheels. there were lots of people here, so i just followed mark patton. he attacked a few times, and i stayed on him, and he didn't make me do any work cause i am a girl. that was kinda the mantra of this race. in the middle of the race, there was a break ahead of the pack. then i let mark patton take me up to the break. then i don't know where he went (suuucka. take that race across america....), cause suddenly it was me and 3 other guys with many laps left and the field was nowhere. i kinda realized at this point, that maybe i should have been trying for points earlier, as i don't think i had any! i just sucked wheel like it was my job and got some thirds and fourths. then we dropped one guy, and it was me and two others. this was a race of attrition, and it looked like i was going to place just cause i was in the right place at the right time. points racing can be weird sometimes! on the last lap, i decided i would finally try to sprint and not just get dragged across the line again, and i almost won that sprint, but got second. oh well. that serves me right for not doing anything the whole race. i think larry said i got fifth in that race. not bad for not actually starting to race til the end. i guess i just ended up in the right place at the right time. that, and all those nice forty year old men, don't make me do a bloody thing out there. xoxo.

for my efforts i got not one, but TWO packs of jen coler brownies! yum! ali, mike, and i ate them on the car ride back and they were gooey, yummy goodness. i love jen coler!!

well, i thought blogging would make me tired, but it hasn't. this is no good. it is an hour past my bedtime.

17 comments:

SickBoy said...

Nice job!

I call the sleep-killing adrenaline 'track hangover' and many of us up here in the great white north suffer from it. I know for sure because I'm always IM'ing with them at like 2 AM after race nights.

Kimberly (aka. DrKim) said...

I love your blog...I don't know you but I know marian who knows you...so maybe thats sort of like knowing you. I'm jealous of you getting to race track all the time...I really want to try it! But my quads aren't big enough (56) so I guess I'll have to grow before I can try it(oh, and move closer to a velodrome).
Congrats on your racing with the guys and hanging in so well...excellent!!

Anonymous said...

Does that mean you will be racing the "B" race soon? (he he he)

You kinda killed the field lady!

norcalcyclingnews.com said...

since i'm not in the coveted 40+ demographic, i guess you'll have to pull through when in breaks with me.


and there's no way you get a Coler brownie prime from me.

no way in hell.

Velo Bella said...

that was super fun

Itinerant Rick said...

You looked so good in that B race; nice and smooth, and you have the up-track swing in the corners and drop back to the rear move down. That burst you put on to catch back to the lead two guys after you got caught behind the guy who bridged was awesome.

And for Doc Kim: 1) Beth is super, and 2) you can race with smaller quads: mine were 55.5 last I measured (not too often as it is depressing).

beth bikes! said...

hernandez-
remember when you liked me?

Anonymous said...

whoooa...sounds like a future show down! yeah!

eh, this Friday?

place_holder said...

tension span?

beth bikes! said...

yes, michiko, tension span

place_holder said...

oh, i see. it gets all confusing for an esl.

Anonymous said...

Game on! Next time i'm taking you to the rail, not sharing your brownies w/me after towing you around :)
racing across america along with being old,closer to 50 than 40, makes me slow.waiting for a 24hr solo points race, or a real 6 day track race.
ps look where "sucka" finished.doh!
jesus chong(aka:sucka)

Unknown said...

Sorry to kill your physiological fantasy, but adrenaline doesn't stick around in your body very long, not very long at all (a few minutes at best). So it's not that keeping you up. Try another exercise-induced hormone... maybe cortisol.

WarrenG said...

brownies = "adrenaline" and good times.

Anonymous said...

and Jen Coler loves you!

Anonymous said...

Hey Beth,

I was just doing long efforts after a week of cheesy lung coughing and being nice helping you stay in, also
my legs felt like those parts of a steam train engine when they are just starting to move the wheels--slowly. And you know I get the brownies at home. That was a giant finish at the end, pretty impressive.

Marc

Anonymous said...

HA - he got like one brownie and maybe some crumbs! you must work for the brownies!!

But really just wanted to remind you, Beth, not to fuck with Jesus. I know this is true for bowling and I'm pretty sure it applies to the track too. Be sure to lean into him if he ever does try to take you into the boards :-)