What it sounds like to be a parent
Tuesday, August 14th, 200714_aug_07_20-23-46.mp3
It does get better…eventually.
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Archive for August 14th, 2007
Minnehaha Creek
Tuesday, August 14th, 2007
Creek on!
Amazing what a few inches of rain will do.
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Super Secret Miss and Out Strategy
Tuesday, August 14th, 2007I have alluded to it before. Now, due to popular demand, I will reveal my Super Secret Miss and Out Strategy for all to know and learn.
Here it is: Work your ass off.
It sounds easy and obvious, but in the heat of the racing action you tend to forget what you need to do to be successful in this special event.
From Wikipedia:
The principle of the event is that every lap (every 2 laps in the case of our track due to its short length), the last rider to cross the line is eliminated from the race, until a predetermined number of riders remain to fight out a final sprint for the win.
The principle problem with the Miss and Out race is that you always need to be able to move forward in order to keep from being eliminated, but it is very easy to find yourself in a situation where you can not move forward. This is due to the fact that you have but one escape route on the velodrome, to the outside. It is both dangerous and against the rules to advance on the inside (blue apron) of the track surface.
When you find yourself on an elimination lap and you are boxed in with riders in front of you and riders to the right, or “on top of you”, you have very little recourse. You have to slow down, allow the entire field to pass over the top of you and then accelerate and attempt to prevent yourself from being the last rider across the line. On a short track like ours this can be very challenging to say the least. It can also be dangerous as you are trying to rapidly accelerate at a speed greater than that of the field. Once the front of the field crosses the finish line they begin to slow down, which slows the rest of the field down, which can create a situation where a rapidly advancing rider finds him/herself closing on the field much more quickly than they intended. Disaster is inevitable.
So, how do you avoid this problem? As I stated, work your ass off.
You must remain in a position where you can advance at will with no riders in front of you and few, if any riders, on top of you. There is only one place where you have this opportunity and that is at the front. Not at the front on the bottom of the track, but instead at the front one or two riders up from the bottom of the track. If you stick yourself on the black measurement line at the bottom you allow plenty of space above you for riders to swoop over the top of you. Some of these riders may take over the lead and you can quickly find yourself surrounded by riders on all sides and in a situation completely out of your control. Being at least one, better two, riders up takes away some of the real estate on the surface of the track and demotivates others from attempting to come around you. It’s the perfect position as you have open space in front of you for sprinting and open space to your right to advance if necessary.
However, and this is where the real work comes into play, you are not only completely exposed to the wind the entire time but, because you are up track, you are also traveling a farther distance than everyone else below you on the surface of the track. The longer the race goes on, the harder it is to maintain the front position. But, as long you occupy this position the race is your oyster. Stay up front, up high, out of trouble and you will find yourself staying late into the race.
The minute you start looking for a break you may as well punch out of the race. Riders who look for a draft, or decide to sit in a lap, or take it easy, those are the riders that are going to find themselves at the back on the elimination lap. If you find yourself in this position in the last 100 meters, and you don’t see a way to get out of it, just stay there. Don’t do anything stupid, don’t cause a crash, it’s not worth it. Just take your medicine like a grown up, think about where you screwed up and try not to repeat it next time.
One last thing. If you do happen to win a Miss and Out race make sure you turn to your runner up riders and say something like “Gotcha Bitch!” You earned it.
Now you know. I expect to never win another Miss and Out race so long as I live.
Zapped
Tuesday, August 14th, 2007I got stung in the head by a bee or a hornet least night during my ride to pick up Toddler Smithers from school and ever since it’s like my brain was struck by lightening.
Headache, lack of concentration, general malaise and lethargy.
I was happy to discover that I have not developed an anaphylactic reaction to stings in the past decade or so since my last bug encounter. I knew a guy that was once stung while riding to work and the reaction came on so fast that he could not get inside his workplace before his throat closed up on him. He was certain that he was going to die right there and then until the owner of the company happened to see him lying on the ground in front of the entry.
They gave him the afternoon off.
Maybe that’s what I need.
