Monday, May 05, 2008

track racing and treats

first and foremost, let me thank my sponsors for this week's track race.

#1- Amanda Seigle. What a gem. Several months ago, she let me try on her sunglasses and I think I made a remark along the lines of: "whoa! i can actually see out these!" and she tried on my $5 sunglasses that are very scratched and from the gas station, and realized how I was riding my bike essentially blind. Amanda cares about public safety. She is also very thoughtful and generous. In the mail on Friday, there was a box with my name on it-- wrapped up were some of those totally official bike racing glasses-- with changeable lenses! I had to ask what the different colors were for (typical dark, for obvious... but then there were clear and yellow glasses too. wtf? apparently, you are supposed to wear glasses even when it is dark out to protect your eyes.c lear is for night- and yellow is for foggy or overcast days. who knew?!) Anyway, I wore the new glasses (dark shades, cause it was sunny) on Sunday, and they were awesome! Cause Amanda Seigle won these in some crit cause she is fast, and was kind enough to bestow her prize on me. Thanks, girl. I owe you big. I'd say I'd give you a lead out, but you are always in front of me anyway.

#2- Steven Woo. For real. Has anyone seen his flickr account? All he does is post pictures of food that make me very hungry. I won't complain about his food pictures anymore, because he brought me the yummiest treats ever at the track. Steven Woo is basically my favorite person. Do you see how yummy those things look? I was a good girl and didn't eat any until I was finished racing, even though I wanted to shove that danish in my face after the scratch race.

I was also a good girl and shared the treats with the hellyer women. We picniced on the lawn and yelled "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" during his points race. That is why the "C" group is the best. We get to eat treats while everyone else still has to ride their bikes.

Okay, I am guessing I should get to the races. Let's see. We did four races at the track. Keirin, Scratch, Miss 'n Out, Points. It was an okay day. I kept getting nipped at the line, but I will blame that on the fact that my quads are shrinking.

The keirin was a blast and I brought back my old 4x400m relay trick--running like bird flapping her wings-- so the outside runner has to go further around. Except this time we were on bikes. I really hung my elbow out so those big old men didn't get in my way. I was in good position in this race and just kinda rode the wave around. I can't say I remember much, except spinning very very fast, but apparently not fast enough. But those other dudes were very fast in front of me.

The scratch race, I also happened to be in the right place at the right time. I was having a lucky day. I was in a break with four fast guys that wasn't getting caught. fresnoakland had my back and blocked for me. I told justin, carl, and the donut king earlier that day: "team strategy is let me win." And they weren't a foolin' -- love ya guys! Props to my favorite team. Anyway, in the break, I decided I was going to ring in some affirmative action and not pull-- so I just swung up and down taking a free ride even though I probably didn't need it. Sometimes it is fun seeing how much you can get away with without getting called out. And I have learned I can get away with a lot. Finally, I decided to pull through once Jim-bo was in front of me. I know he is fast from goldsprints, so I was going to ride his wheel to the line. Which I did.

Next was the miss 'n out, and I stayed at the back and would plop around each time. Until there were only four of us, and mr. penvelo swung high in turn 3 and i was big sissy and backed off, so missed the three person show down. I think fourth place is my designated place in the miss 'n out, cause I always get it.

Last was a points race. I was pretty dumb shit in this race and should have been attacking earlier. I can't really remember it much, but i kept getting snipped at the line, losing some critical points. Regardless, I won some coffee gift cards and cliff bars, and pretty ribbon to hang on a wood paneled room. First I need to find a wood paneled room. Anyone? Anyone?

6 comments:

Brian Peterson said...

You don't need wood panels for ribbons. You just need a dog!

WarrenG said...

And Glen the bike savior!

Itinerant Rick said...

Now I know why you were asking Sabine all the questions about sunglass lenses. Doh!

Hey, getting in that break in the scratch race was key. Once you guys got away the rest of us were left to play amongst ourselves. And in the Miss-n-out you should have taken on PenVelo Ray ;-)

We'll have to do it again soon. And maybe next time I can get Ms. Chatterbox to come and play, too.

WarrenG said...

The sprinters wear clear lenses at night, because nobody wants a bug or an opponent's snort spit in their eye during a sprint. The cool sprinters wear dark lenses, even indoors, so nobody knows where they're looking-good for deceiving the opponent and scoping the hotties.

place_holder said...

still the first base with debbie b?

Anonymous said...

Wood Paneling?

Don't you have a Bulletin Board?

Magnets on the fridge work well too... :)