Back in the Saddle

Yeah, no postings for days, much to report. I raced for the first time in over two years, returning to El Dorado Park after crashing there in the spring of 2005. I seem to have gotten into shape the last two years in September (or later) which kind of messes up the road racing season. At age 51 I've finally realized that maybe if I want to do something, I'd better just get to it. So after a springtime full of fairly random riding I went out to the Rosebowl ride for four weeks running and tuned up the anaerobic system, logging more time above lactate threshold than in the past eight months or so.

The Eldo is put on by CBR, AKA Chris and Vera. The level of commitment they show for bike racing is awesome and I, for one, am grateful for it. The personal touch they add to the sport is something special. After I had been out of action for two years, Vera remembered me and noted that they'd gotten my license application and just hadn't printed it up yet. How cool is that, when the organizers recognize you on sight! This is a throwback to the 70s, when it seemed like the racers, organizers and supporters all knew each other.

Oh yeah, the racing. El Dorado is near the coast on the LA/Orange County borderline. Last week's start was at 6:30pm, but it will be moving earlier at some point. Parking is four bucks, so the cheap among us park at WalMart and ride a mile down the San Gabriel River bike trail. Not me, although I'm usually a real skinflint, I'd like a car on hand in case of anything unforeseen. The race costs seven dollars for CBR licensees. Join. There are three packs, 1/2/3, 40+ (the "+" represents Juniors and women, although anyone can ride in their USCF men's category) and 4/5 spaced on a course a little more than two miles in length. There are two points primes three deep and the finish is picked to tenth. Three series of nine races each are run from March to August. There's talk of more in September.

As for me, things went way better than I expected. I entered the 40+ race and was able to get near enough to the front to see the really good sprinters ignite their jets and take off. I have training to do yet, but felt like a top ten finish wouldn't be too outrageous in the final sprint. After the second sprint with about 30 minutes to go four strong riders jumped. I had been observing the competition and felt they had a chance so I bridged the gap (barely) and thus began a five-man TT. It worked, so I eked out fifth place.

Internet "Club" Rides

In case anyone is wondering whether rides organized via the net are for real, they are. I haven't been on one, but have met up with two groups about a month apart. The more recent one is much larger, consuming most of the parking at Encanto Park in Duarte. People from a variety of clubs come together on this. I'm not sure who the individuals are, but the people I asked referred to bikeforums.net as the source.

Going Bowling

In Pasadena the Rose Bowl is an institution dating back to 1922 (the game is older, we're talking about the stadium). In the heyday of six day racing there was a wooden track which could be temporarily installed and the races drew huge crowds. Off and on over the years circuit races of various lengths have been run around and near the stadium which sits in an arroyo at the western end of the city. On Tuesdays and Thursdays during daylight savings local racers and other weirdos gather at 6pm to go ten 5km laps around the golf course.

In the 70's the ride used to be downright renegade. Two stop signs were blown per lap, and there was a nasty right turn into traffic on the south end of the course. Although the ride is still not sanctioned by anyone, it is now at least quasi-legal. If you ride around the golf course clockwise there are no stop signs and, of course, only right turns. The old right turn at the bottom is now a "Y" merge that maintains the right lane, although both rights at the south end have yield signs in the cyclist's lane. A lane for joggers is clearly marked. This doesn't keep them from running outside the rather spacious area, or running opposite the indicated (counterclockwise) direction. It seems to me that if a hundred or so guys were bearing down on me on bikes at 50kph I'd like to (a) see them and (b) stay the hell out of the way, but there's no accounting for taste.

So whatever happens is your own lookout. Potential liabilities abound. Crashes, when they occur, are of epic proportions. People still do it in large numbers. To give you an idea, one of the laps Thursday (typically easier than Tuesday) went off in 6:45, so everyone's getting a pretty fierce lactate threshold workout. At various times in the past I've sworn this off, opting for Eldo (a sanctioned weeknight event, deserving its own blog entry) but I keep coming back. My policy is to ride four laps, staying near the outer edge of the pack (yeah, it's harder that way) for safety's sake. Some things:

• If you are new to this sort of thing then hang at the back.
• Don't cross the double yellow and stay well wide of the jogger's lane.
  
• Don't get stuck at the front on the uphill unless you are a very strong rider. Gaps open spontaneously and if you can't hammer a kilo or so at 45kph up a 1% grade you're toast.
• Forget about elbowing back into the group.
• Don't go alone.
• Don't take it personally if someone yells at you. You're probably just doing something wrong or dangerous.