Fucked from birth.I stayed up late on Monday night. Some Kind of Monster came on VH1 Classic at like one o' clock in the goddamn and of course I watched all three hours. Fucking Metallica. I slept in and made my breakfast at Willburg my pre-race meal. Kinda convenient. I lagged around Kate's house till 2 watching the Harlem Crit on the Olympics Channel (Universal Sport). I recognized a handful of my racing buddies: Ken Harris, Rashad, Raj a.k.a. "Spider."
Watching the race only gave me a half an hour to get my shit together at my house. I had to see the crash at the end since I missed it when it happened. When I got home and realized that I had to shave my legs. After taking a shower I started to pack up my race gear. I couldn't find my racing license and I started to panic. It was 2:30 already. I had to be out the door. I tore apart my apartment to no avail. I started my usual excuse cycle, getting overwhelmed with the stress, just thinking about how easy it would be to just give up and not race today. I was sore from Crossfit, I didn't have my license, I stayed up to late, I didn't eat right, I was already late, no time to print a rider release. I sat down on my couch and reached down to unbuckle my shoes. As my fingers flicked at the ratchet I got a wave of confidence. I stood up and looked at the clock: 2:47. I still had enough time. I had my numbers from last week, they'd remember me. Fuck it I am racing.
I usually meet Will at the George Washington Bridge. I takes an hour from my doorstep to the bridge. Today, I headed up 1st ave to save time. I usually take a stroll through Central Park and then take St. Nicholas to the bridge. Not the fastest but nice and casual. I figured if I took 1st ave all messenger style I could save a bit of time. I got to 125th where 1st ave ends and headed west. Traffic through Harlem was slow and go. I got to Fredrick Douglas and in my rush turned up and followed it to the end. After a while I realized this was not the right way. I kept going thinking that I would find a way to get over. I had to backtrack 30 blocks to cut over to St. Nick. It was 3:30. I sent Will a text letting him know that I was still on my way. He replied that he was running late too.
We talked about Metallica and listened to Megadeth the whole way to Pennsylvania. It was nice.
The racing was good and fast at T Town! My first race was a 2k final. In this same race last week I was pushed off the track and wasn't going to let this happen again. I stayed in the back and watched for crashes and general sketchiness. No crashing but general sketchiness abounded. Lots of riders at T Town, especially in the 2/3 field have big engines but shit drivers. Totally different from the 1/2/3 field at Kissena. I have been racing with those guys for years. They all keep their lines and respect eachother's space. Not so at T Town. Way more aggressive. I feel like I am in a road bunchsprint every time I come around for the line.
Anyway the 2k Final. I sat in alternating my ride from a junior to girl then back to the junior. I made moves to the front with two to go. There was a break off the front that I chased around the corner. There was one Ausie girl, Kaalie McCulloch from the break that sprinted out. Pat Gellinea the ancient racer was a head of me chasing too. He left the back door open and I tried to come underneath him for to beat the girl for second but it didn't happen. He reminded me why we don't go underneath by coming down on me after the line. Thanks for that old dude. I don't care if you being inducted in T Town's hall of fame if you crash me out it will be your hip that breaks not mine.
There was a Miss & Out that I didn't do.
There 1k heats that were just drag races. I was drafting Tony, thinking I had a great free ride. I was a little impatient and I put myself in the wind to try and improve my position at 2 laps to go (of a 3 lap race) but I couldn't. Sprinting didn't help. It was a drag race until the very end.
In the points race that Tony was off the front in a break trying get a lap. I was in back listening to the announcer saying that there was only one point for the field, that the break was taking all the points. I was asking myself the worth of all of this effort when the pack fell apart and I was suddenly in the wind. There was a chase group ahead and this guy came over me attempting bridging up to the chase. I took his wheel out of habit and cruised up to the chase. When I got there they had only 20 meters or so until they caught Tony's group. I kept the momentum from this guy's bridging effort and sprinted up to the front to shut them down. I hung out there in the middle and coasted. I heard the announcer say that the pack was coming back together. Tony and crew were back up to a half lap. Job done. I droped out of the race. Tony won that race and ended up with a 4th place in the omnium. There was a 5k final for the feature that I can't recall.
Kissena the next day was like a blessing from god: Win & Out, 7 lap Final and a 3 lap Tempo. No Ken, no Karl, no Andrew. Just me and the ten other kinda fast dudes that I could beat. Enough for upgrade points! The Win & Out was simple, Todd went off the front and I kept my position until the first bell lap. I was right behind Tony getting another free ride along with a perfect lead out. I screamed at Todd as I passed underneath him because he kinda looked like he was gonna try and block me. Later he told me that he wasn't gonna come down on me. I was just being a little preemptive. Win #1!
The next race was the 7 lap Final. Eugene from Mengoni took off right away and got about half a lap. The field was stretched out chasing his road fitness. I worked through the pace line and when I got to the front I coasted a full lap letting Eugene's lead to get up to 3/4 lap. I was content with 2nd and I wanted to crush the field's confidence and ruin anyone's chance for the win. I took the sprint for 2nd with ease.
This left the 3 lap Tempo. I knew that I was gonna have to surprise everyone and get the first lap and try for the last. During the first (neutral) lap I drifted to the back. Eugene was back there too and I almost asked to see if he wanted to trade laps. But I didn't. They blew the whistle and I counted to ten and left and caught everyone off guard. No one could respond. I was going too fast by the time I got to the front. I got a half lap by the time I crossed the line. I knew that I could keep them off for another lap, that It would be hard but it was possible. I got the next one and enough points for win #3 and the omnium. After crossing the line I sat up and let the pack fight it out for the rest of the points. I finished dead last with a bad-ass fist pump that got a laugh out of the spectators.
Didn't do that well in the feature Devil's Scratch, but I won the omnium so I didn't care. Cat 2 here I come!
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