A Rider’s Almanac

I heard from a guy who knows a guy who has a friend, whose sister said that the Tour of California may be coming to San Diego next year. Rumor has it that The Tour Organizers are thinking about potentially holding three stages in and around San Diego.

Stage X: A road stage that incorporates the South Grade of Mt. Palomar.

Stage Y: A time trial along the coast

Stage Z: A criterium in downtown La Jolla that utilizes the old La Jolla Grand Prix course.

How totally cool would it be if this happened. Can anyone confirm or deny?

If the Alpine Challenge was run by the same organizing body as the Tour de France, they would likely ban Arlyn. The guy is an animal. Last week I rode the 103 mile ADA Tour de Cure with him and he ended up towing me home the last 20 miles. He pretends like he is suffering throughout the first 3/4 of the ride and then puts down the hammer and destroys the field.

This week’s sacrificial lamb was me at the Alpine Challenge. I’ll be the first one to admit that I’m not a climber, but I feel like I’m in pretty good shape and I have all those years of racing/training under my belt (right?). As usual, I felt really good for the first 2/3 of the ride. I was setting a comfortable pace up the long climb and it seemed to be hurting those around me (big ear-to-ear smile). I was even able to gap “el doper” a couple times. Granted they were small gaps, but heck, a bike length is a bike length.

At about mile 40, there is a 10 mile “bonus section” that is a 5 mile out-and-back leg with a nasty little hill that needs to be negotiated twice (once in each direction). I knew as soon as Arlyn spotted a rider ahead of us that I was in trouble. He’s like one of those trail horses that senses he’s close to the barn. Or perhaps a better analogy is a shark that senses blood in the water. I felt fine up and over the climb on the way out, but as soon as we hit the short flat section at the bottom of the climb before the turnaround, I knew I was in trouble. Arlyn was simply pulling away from me and quite quickly gapped me. Feeling guilty from dropping me last week - and forcing me to chase for 10 miles on my own when I had a slight mechanical problem - he sat up and waited for me. When I eventually caught him, I told him that he should ride on ahead because I was “done.” No sooner had I released him from his team obligation, he was gone, not to be seen again.

By the time I arrived at the finish, Arlyn had showered, changed, eaten lunch and received a massage. He was hanging out with a Spanish doctor friend of his looking as fresh as he did at the beginning of the ride. I thought it strange that the doctor would only refer to Arlyn by his initials, but I figured that was a Spanish thing.

It’s all good

Looking for something to do on Tuesday nights? If so, I highly recommend that you head out to the San Diego Velodrome @ Morley Field to watch some of San Diego’s fastest bicycle racers - both young and old - take to the track in a variety of different race formats. The racing gets underway at 6:30pm and lasts until approximately 9pm.

Last night was the second night of the regular season at the San Diego Velodrome and judging by the crowds in the stands and the riders in the infield, track racing is regaining in popularity among the locals. There was easily over 100 people in the stands, and I’d say 50-60 racers present spread over three categories [Category: # of riders] (A’s -really fast: 12, B’s -kinda fast: ~25, C’s -beginners: ~20.

I showed up to race with the A’s. I arrived at ~6:15 to find that the track was being closed to warm-ups - oops. After the track was cleared, the juniors hit the track for a series of races. Directly following the juniors was the first event of the evening for the other riders - a motor-pace session with all three categories on the track simultaneously culminating with a sprint. It works like this: All of the riders arrange themselves such that there are three groups on the track. The C’s are the first group and follow directly behind the motorcycle. The B’s follow behind the C Group leaving a small gap between the C Group and themselves, and the A Group follows behind the B group in a similar fashion. Within each group, each rider takes a full lap pull and then rotates to the back of his respective group to allow the next rider within his group to take his turn at the front. The C’s ride 15 laps and then sprint for the line. At this point, the B’s follow directly behind the motorcycle for an additional 15 laps and then sprint, and then the A’s take up position behind the motorcycle for an additional 15 and then sprint. After racing around the track for 45 laps reaching speeds in the mid 30s, I took 3rd - missing 1st by less than a foot and 2nd by even less than that.

Following the motor-pacing session, each category in turn hits the track for another event. Each week the events are changed up to keep it interesting for both the racers and the fans. Last night, the A races included: A 12 lap Snowball - where the winner of each lap gets n-points equaling the lap number (i.e., Lap 1=1pt, Lap 2=2pt, Lap 12=12pts). I went off the front on lap three and took laps 3, 4 & 5 and then I was quickly swallowed up by the pack. It was a good idea on my part, but it would have been wiser to go a bit later so that the point count was higher. I worked really hard to stay off the front for three laps, but ended up with the same number of points as the guy who one the single sprint on lap 12. Next was a Miss-n-Out - where the last rider across the line on each lap is pulled from the race. When there are only three riders left, they sprint for position. I spent more time watching this one then racing it, if you get my meaning. The last race of the night for the A’s was a 5 mile scratch race in which I ended up taking 5th.

There was a nasty little crash in one of the B races caused by one rider overlapping wheels with another rider. Two riders went down pretty hard and got scraped up a bit, but fortunately both riders walked away without serious injury.

It was a great night of racing for both the riders and the fans. A word to the wise; it was really, really cold at the track last night, so when you head out to the track, remember to bundle up. You might also want to bring a few bucks with you to purchase a warm beverage from the snack bar.

See you next week at the track.