After the race tonight I cornered Rick and asked him if I should upgrade since I've done five races and four beginner sessions. His answer: "Absolutely! Do not put it off." The only thing is that I really would like to experience a win or two before catting up. I'm always up there but other than the repeat heat of the Kieren at my first race, I am without the W. And once I cat up it's going to be major pack fodder time and soon enough I'll wish I'd enjoyed a win when I could've scored one.
And after tonight and a little feedback I've gotten regarding my "poor me" of the Diable Hill Climb I stepped out of myselfish tonight and appreciated that I am really fortunate to have the health, legspeed and tiny amount of talent and discipline to be in the races. Too often I concentrate on why I'm not better and the truth is that I'm as good as I am and that's all we can expect.
Cough. Same format as -cough- two weeks ago. cough.
Points race: 9 laps with sprints -cough- e'ry 3 laps. El sprinto uno. I dunno. Came up fast but maybe not fast enough to catch people fading at the line. Maybe scored points. cough. El sprinto dos: Probably did better. Lungs started to BURN. I was afraid of my low-grade head cold -cough- making me hurt tonight. cough. Sprinto final: Nowhere near sprinting for me. Watched the pack sprint and tried breathing through my on fire lungs. boo! Immediately took two puffs on the inhaler after the race. Drank alot but an evening of cronic coughing began here (and continues now).
Scratch race: Nice and fast for a C race tonight! Great, it felt much safer at the quicker pace with less balling up and bunching. I sucked wheel then sucked wheel some more then sucked more wheel until el sprinto. Long windup and couldn't come around in three and four. Managed a third somehow. Cough cough cough cough HACK cough.
Miss and Out: Have I got this down to a formula or what? The secret to success is to count heads then keep a running count of laps during the race. After four or five people get out, I go to the front and own the pole lane and simply don't let anyone come by me. Some laps it's dead simple and some laps the sprint works its way up to me. The onliest problem is that after towing the pack for eight laps or so, I don't have enough -cough- left in the legs to win. Still, I was very happy to get a second place.
Points race with the B non-pointers: I popped the 14 on the rear for this race and ran that gear for the first time. It was easy to push, surprisingly. But I had no gas for the sprints so I just sucked wheel the entire race. Well, that's not completely true. I took one mini-flyer and took a pull or two at the front but it was always between sprints. My lungs were so messed up by this time I just was happy to cruise and watch the sprints from a ways back. I went for the final sprint and was maybe in top 5.
I'm definitely learning a few things. NEVER stop sprinting until the line. Several times tonight I passed two or more people in the last five meters. My endurance is just fine. I'd like to work on acceleration. It's good for now but when I went to the ~90 in. gear, I lost alot of explosiveness. And that's what I'll need for the Cat. 4 and up racing.
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