Saturday, February 21, 2009

no muffins for you!

during the middle of my race i determined road races are like group rides with not so much chit chat and no muffin stops.  this is unfortunate as i like muffins.  and chit chat.  i thought i'd crack a joke during the "bumpy section" on the race over the potholes...  so i said: "who's having sex tonight?" cause i thought it was funny [hi mom!] but i think only one girl laughed.  and she was kind of obligated to laugh, as she was riding right next to me.  tough crowd.  i didn't crack anymore jokes, cause i couldn't think of one funnier than that.  

so, needless to say racing is a bit more dull without bells ringing dictating fast laps.  and things happen much more slowly in a road race than a track race- more time to think and contemplate.  "oh look, a jump.  oooo look at that cow!  is she still up there?  is anyone else going to chase?  should i chase?  oh look another cow!"    

we basically rode around in a big circle.  sometimes it was fast, sometimes it was slow.  then there were only about a dozen of us for the sprint.  i jumped way too early.... note to self: sprinting uphill after 40 miles is a bit different than sprinting after a 666m windup... so jumping well before 200m is not a good idea.  i kinda hit the wall big time the last 30 or so meters, but i'd rather hit the wall than finish with a lot more sprint left...which is what happened to me at cherry pie criterium.  so all is good.  i am going to give the MVP award to lisa (from vapor) who was a total powerhouse and pulled for approximately 36 of the 38 miles. runner up goes to monica (from infovista); also, major props to the two los gatos girls who were totally drilling it on the straight away in the final lap. impressive for sure!   congrats to annie (from webcor) who won our race-- she had an awesome finish for sure!

in summary, it was a pretty day to ride bikes and it was a bunch of fun riding with a group of women at a pretty good clip for a couple hours.  everyone was very nice.

11 comments:

Garrett Lau said...

You are so modest, you didn't mention your place. Congratulations!

Kimberly (aka. DrKim) said...

So what'd you get????? Inquiring minds really want to know! And I agree with you about road racing...gets kinda boring at times...

Anyway, good job, and fun race report!!

Anonymous said...

Did you see Marc? that would have been a good question for him - I would have laughed at your joke, but I would have had to be in a road race to get it, that's not so funny.

Anonymous said...

I didn't mean to be anonymous - hard to type with 2 kids on my lap
good job today!

teamwelliver said...

uh, yeah, why does no one chit chat? There are huge chunks of those races where we go sort of slowish and everyone is silent. i made a grocery list, mentally wrote a little of my thesis, and wrote my own theme song during my last road race.

And congrats on the finish! awesome!

Anonymous said...

Beth, you looked like you were being nice, sitting up to let Annie pass you.

karla said...

yeah, nice race!!! I wish I got have seen your super-long sprint at the end. Nice work on second place!

chatterbox said...

Yeah, road races are either so slow your mind starts wandering or so very fast. The trick is to not be asleep at the wheel when the transitions happen...and to have the fitness to hold the wheel in front of you (and hope that person does not gap...)

chatterbox said...

Oh, and I meant to say wooo hooo! Congrats on your 2nd place finish.

WarrenG said...

http://ronaldmariano.smugmug.com/gallery/7420578_xQim7#478255192_B65V9-L-LB

Are you smiling? Are you smiling?!! There's no smiling in sprinting!!

Anonymous said...

Beth - Little known fact...I too, chit-chat and crack jokes in the peleton...yes, no one laughs. Clearly cretins, all of them. At Menlo the III Pillar dudes caught me on bell lap right at the start finish I looked over and said "ha-ha...made ya' chase". Needless to say they were not pleased. Learned that one from Mary Maroon ;-). Always more fun to attack a lose, than to sit in...and lose. Of course winning is better, but I only do that on dirt...every 3 yrs. whether I need to not.

BTW - awesome 2nd place!!!

-t (45+ admirer)