Friday, May 16, 2008

oh, i am so behind....

okay, so i am way behind so here is the week in recap.

friday: yes, i did say i won the miss 'n out. but i didn't say how. well, you can watch marc's AWESOME video here. it is so cool! what is also cool about it, is how he edited my cheating out. well, not really cheating but this is how it went...this part is what happened between the cut of me rolling a bit ahead of the group, and then me being far ahead of the group.
  • isprints to not get 4th place. this is usually my designated spot in the miss 'n out-- and i think rick adams even made my name autotext for "Group C" "Miss n Out" "4."
  • so then it is me, shelley, and mary. yeah, i know. HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA. i was pretty content on third place. but i think i had some speed built after that last sprint, cause i had to accelerate a lot in the last few meters, so coming out of turn 2 i was in front of everyone and thought: "newell, what the hell are you doing in front?" so i did a quick shoulder check before i pulled off to let the big girls pull.
  • but to my surprise, i did not see them. so i didn't pull off.
  • shelley and mary we having tea and crumpets on the rail between turn 1 and 2, having a nice little discussion.
mary: beth's pretty rad.
shelley: yeah, she is real nice and has such a good attitude.
mary: isn't it cute how she is rolling away from us?
shelley: yeah, that is totally cute. we should cut the kid a break.
mary: definitely. i need some more peet's coffee anyway.
we have a very supportive learning environment our track. plus, it helps being from the midwest. everyone has the impression that i am very nice.

we also did a points race. that was fun, except i was a total boob in the first couple laps, stuck in no man's land actually thinking i could catch up shelley. why did i think that? i often don't think. then i got really tired and kinda missed the break. but then we caught back on. but all this is boring. but, it was definitely fun to have a race with so many fast women!! the women at hellyer are all very awesome, so it was quite an honor to be riding with all them at once!

me and jenny.
and there we are!

i drove down with karla and the nolan-ator. i can't even say enough how awesome larry is. so i will say this: larry is awesome!

even though this is what larry looks like when he races, don't be scared of him off the bike--he tells funny stories about joe fineman trying to ride his rollers backwards!

and after he kicked ass and took names all night, he didn't even want a cream puff! steven woo brought me some yummy, yummy cream puffs on friday! THANKS STEVEN! and larry didn't even eat one. but karla and i figured out his secret. all i will say is it involves 7/11. on the way home, larry told us all his bike racing secrets. so watch it. then karla and i went to the most wonderful restaurant which was like a hometown joint found in the midwest. all for ten dollars we got a bowl of soup, a huge salad, and huge entree dish, and then they brought us out a bowl of ice cream too! we talked about how much we love the midwest. then i went to sleep, as it was late, and i was racing in the morning.

saturday: i went to that EBC crit. it sucked balls. yeah, i guess i was perhaps kind of a pissy loser, which sorry justin for being so moody. but i just didn't really have any fun at all during the race and got in a worse and worse mood as it progressed. next time i am bringing ear plugs to race in. the chorus of 'on your left' 'on your right' 'inside' 'outside' 'hold your line' that continued the whole bloody forty minutes was driving me insane. i didn't particularly enjoy riding around at tempo for forty minutes with people screaming at each other. well, i don't in general like to be around people screaming at each other in large groups.......it got me in such a bad mood, i didn't even care about the race. which is never really a good place to be in.

i think this i probably the only time i was near the front this whole race... so glad it was caught on film. gotta represent the jersey, even with bad placings.

i was thinking about this race a lot this week-- and trying to figure out what happened to me for sucking so bad and why i couldn't shake it off and get in it. and i think it is the first time i have ever been in a race and didn't want to be there and half checked-out in the middle. now, i have raced a lot before bike racing. seven years of track and three years of cross country-- so probably hundreds of races. and of course i've had crappy races: not going as fast as i should have been, pacing myself poorly, being totally injured and limping across the finish line, just not doing well in general, etc. but i don't really ever remember an apathetic feeling amidst the action. i guess a big difference is that running is so individual, and at the end of the day everything is timed...and while you are competiting against others, it isn't really the same as in bike racing. so i guess it makes sense that the dyanmics of a group can really alter things dramatically.... which i guess i have felt to a small degree thus far...but not to the degree i did on saturday. anyway, the whole race wasn't very fun, and i needed a big attitude adjustment in the middle of it.

sunday. i had to race to the feed zone to give michiko a bottle. i made it there about 15 seconds before she came by well, i actually was out of the feedzone at that point, but... she didn't want a bottle that lap anyway. so i waited for the second lap. then i biked home in my civilian clothes, which is always fun to do when surrounded by spandex-clad people.

monday. nothing to report.

tuesday. went to the track with paul yazolino, now referred to as the yaz. he is the coolest dude ever. at one point we were bullshitting about sprinting and i said something along the lines of: "yeah, i mean, i think it is really building muscle in my arms, like my tricep." and as soon as i said that, i got embarassed cause paul was a professional bodybuilder and was MR. USA many years ago. he looks at me and goes: "yeah, beth. you look really cut." nothing like having 70yr old men make fun of my puny arms again.

wednesday. in the evening met carol & mel for laura's bday. his was fun. HAPPY BDAY LAURA! tespecially when the evening ended with mel showing us her new pimp wheels.

i must have been so sloshed after two drinks, i spilled something on my skirt and didn't even notice until carol sent me this picture.

"oh stop! radial lacing? bladed spokes? stop it! those bearings are so smooth?"
geez....mel is such a tease!

laura, about to steal that wheel. mel, showing us good biking position. me, still amazed at how smooth those bearings are!

thursday: well, quad measurement day. 60.0cm. i am getting bitter.

11 comments:

norcalcyclingnews.com said...

Beth Newell - you are invited as a starter to Friday the 23rd's Hellyer "Celebrity Death Match" Chariot Race (try and get Karla to come, too. i know Alicia is doing her city sprints thing that night ... but at least try and get Karla out there for the 45+ guys).

The Celebrity Death Match Chariot Race is one-lap of racing - only 7 starters on the track - only women, WITH a coinciding "Bolero Competition" amongst the thrower's of each racer.

The crowd will decide which of the thrower's gives us best Bolero, while the first woman racer across the line is honored with loudly announced "whippees" and maybe a box of clif brownies.

or just some cash.
-
Hope you'll accept invitation #2 for the Chariot start list. Jenny Oh took number 1 slot because her flickr account is way better than yours.

oh wait, you never even take pictures. you only steal ones other racers/fans take.

perfect celebrity death match rider, i reckon!

OH! and Liz Hatch will be the other celebrity there on the 23rd. She's ringing bells during the p1/2/3 MysteryPoints Race.
.
.
don't worry, i'll get you pictures of everything. or maybe michiko will.

Hope to see you there and that i can put you down on the "reservation list" for the Chariot start.

and yes, we'll do the Women's Miss-n-Out on the 23rd, too. i don't want Olds complaining to me that she didn't have a chance to kick your ass again.

maybe the miss-n-out will be a season long series, too?

hmmm... i'll get back to you.

thanks and signed,
mhernandez
promoter - Friday Night Races, hellyervelodrome
-
-
[PS - if you are an advanced track rider, you will not enjoy 'beginner' criteriums. sorry for breaking newz on that - but, there are some road events that are damn fun, just not ebc.
hey, but at least there was announcing at that race. i'm sure that boosted the fun meter for you.
hope you'll try the Memorial Day Crit ... it' pretty cool.]

Velo Bella said...

big gulp

TreBone said...

Sorry to hear about your craptacular EBC day. From the little bit I talked to you, I could tell weren't too sunshiney for you. Like Hernando said, Memorial Day will be good!!!

And please tell me about the coolest skinsuit ever: The "UNATTACHED" kit is crazy high on the style meter.

TreBone said...

OH! one more thing: you're right Larry really is AWESOME!!! One seriously cool dude.

Allison Krasnow said...

next friday=me and mike on the camera. watch out.

i love that the bling wheel was an invited guest to the birthday party

MoMoneyHoney said...

EBC was my least favorite race, too. Don't feel bad about being poopy - how could anyone be in a good mood after witnessing 2 horrible crashes and listening to dumb bitches yell "hold your line" while they were swerving all over the place?

Don't give up on crits, though. Remember, you have very good bike handling skills and a sprint that will knock a W4 socks off!

beth bikes! said...

sabine, you are a wise woman.

again.

WarrenG said...

The gulp is with lots of ice, not so much cola. Sometimes it is breakfast when the race is at 6am PDT. Breakfast of Champions.

Derek Nelson said...

So Beth Newell. This is a response to your whole blog, only a bit of which I've read, and not to this specific posting.

The response is:
What the Fuck?

shyeah, I sort of always knew you were a badass, but not how much of a badass, nor in how many ways. This cycling push you're doing is amazing! Well done! Also, we should hang out this week. Please call. You never call.

Giovanni said...

awsome. I missed all the good stuff... hoping for more this this week.

:)

Anonymous said...

So what is the story with the jersey?

I love it... can any 'unattched' person get one???