Ault Park B #5: end of the series

It was a hurly-burly night in the Bs: very tactical as the riders took a look around, measured their chances, double-checked the points totals, and got ready to defend, attack, or survive. I had decided that #1 & 2 were too far off, so I should focus on keeping #3 overall. That meant watching the two guys behind me, one from 7Hills who seemed to have peaked earlier in the series, and one from UC who was coming on strong. Alex was right behind them, and he was aiming to leapfrog at least one and finish in the trophies. The two of us lined up with Matt and the elusive Bill Hoffman. Bill Lorenz called the top five to the front, teased Alex for being #6, and sent us on our way.

I promptly went out and lost the wheel of the UC kid (Nathan) on the first sprint, which he won to close the gap on me to virtually nothing. For the lap #10 sprint I was more assertive, and took third place for four points, and then did it again for two points at lap #15 (which Alex won in his effort to secure fifth place -- more on that below). So going into lap #20 I had pretty much neutralized Nathan's early gains, and just wanted to watch his wheel and pip him if it looked like he might score.

In a young-guys sticking together move, Charlie (Turner, and the series winner) led Nathan from the top of the hill on lap #20 around to the sprint. I tucked in behind Nathan, and when he stood up to go, I did too. It looked like 1st, 2nd, and 3rd for the sprint were already out of reach, but I wanted to be sure, so I stood up to follow Nathan's wheel, and felt something grab my right leg and knock into my bike. Then I heard the sound of riders and bikes going down. I got held up and missed the sprint. I think Nathan grabbed 4th for 2 points, but it wasn't enough to overtake me in the series.

So I came away with a nice functional 3rd-place trophy (this year they engraved metal insulated water bottles instead of wall plaques), a few bucks, and a tire burn on the outside of my right leg. Alex, who did enough to overcome one of the guys ahead of him (and, we thought, slot into fifth place) got blindsided by Andrew from Team Hungry, who racked up 20 points (!) in last night's race alone to emerge from nowhere (15th) to snag fifth in the series.

I'm pretty happy with the series: I was consistent, and sometimes got better results on night when I felt bleh than when I felt like the king of the world. I hated to see the last sprint of the last lap of the last race in the series end with a crash, and that kind of put a damper on things at the end for me. But if all goes as planned, this was my farewell to the B race, and I'm pleased I was able to put up some results.

Hyde Park Blast 4/5

After two hours of sweeping corners and helping set up for the races in 90-plus degree sunshine, I suited up with Kaiserhorse and a bunch (55? 60?) of other riders for the 30-minute 4/5 race. We had callups, but not like I've ever seen -- first went all the teams with 5 or more riders, then a select few presumably based on results, and then the rest of the field in alphabetical order. Somehow, despite throwing down a few decent results this year, I didn't make the cut and ended up with other "S"s near the back of the field.

No worries -- just a little assertive riding and in a few laps I was up where I needed to be: near the front, taking the inside lane through the hairpin (missed two crashes that way), risking the outside line up Shady Lane to secure the inside track on both the turn at the top and the sweeper back onto Erie.

Lather, rinse, repeat.


During the race a few riders attacked -- especially two riders from Ontario who were making a southward bike-racing weekend of it: Michigan on Friday, the Blast on Saturday, and Grandview on Sunday. They made the most of their race, attacking and counterattacking, countering their counters and keeping the field on its toes. Thanks for coming, fellas! 7Hills and Dayton did most of the chasing, which was just fine with me. I stayed out of the wind, watched which wheel I was on, and tried to gauge which moves might be dangerous.

With two to go the pace eased and everyone left up front got ready for the last corner and the final straightaway. Coming out of the square after the hairpin there was one more dodgy move and one more crash, leaving me with some space to make up. It ended up being too much, as a rider from Lexington took a nice win with a clean set of wheels ahead of Dave Steward (7Hills). I managed to make up some ground along Erie and turn what looked like 6th or 7th into 3rd by holding off Geoff Reynolds (Dayton) and Justin Ling (Jeni's Ice Cream). I'm still looking for the lung I left in front of the public library.

The podium setup was sweet, 2johns were rocking the house with good tunes and insightful analysis (exactly why did the 7Hills rider chase down a break with his teammate in it? I asked myself the same question in the middle of the race, but I wasn't going to complain), and the atmosphere was pure summer festival. I rolled home, showered, and came back for some OTR ale and to cheer on Nick, Chris, and Bret in the 3s. Big ups to Tank and Mitch for stellar work putting on a marquee event, and thanks to all my Darkhorse teammates (and friends of Darkhorse) for their hard work making it go so well.

Pictures are up at Jeffrey's site.

Ault Park #4: B race

Hot 'n' muggy last night up at Ault. We had a big field with a fair number of new riders even at this late stage of the series. I entered tied for third with Greg from 7HR, and we were both 17 and 19 points behind the top two, so not much hope of catching them. The goal: be more active than last week and get a few points ahead of Greg.

Matt and Alex lined up this week, and both were strong men tonight. I told Alex that I would fend for myself on lap #5, but that I'd love a ride toward the front on #10. Then we'd see how the rest played out.

I missed out on the lap #10 sprint, and even though I thought I got 4th on both #5 and #15, apparently I got fifth. No points. I didn't know this at the time, but even when I learned it afterward, I didn't care, because I felt so much better than last week, and I was having fun racing. Alex, on the other hand, nailed the lap #15 sprint and finished second I think.

Near the end of the race I found Matt's wheel. He took me a new way to the front, riding the curb and taking it tight. On lap #20, he ramped it up on the downhill, and as we came around the bend one guy took a flyer. It got a little crowded, but I got a great jump off Matt's leadout, and headed in pursuit of the flyer. Just then, I heard disaster strike behind me: one of the Turner rider's chain broke in full sprint. I held my sprint to the line in second, for six points on the night.

Big thanks to Matt and Alex, who both win "Most Amazing Fitness Gains in One Week" awards.

And it was great to see even more Horses line up in the A race -- 4, if I count correctly, including the enigmatic and elusive Chris Anderson. I even saw Tin finish just out of the points on a sprint -- nice!

Come on out to the race this weekend at the Hyde Park Blast: fast, fun, good crowds, plenty of stuff to do, and your registration fees go to charities (not our pockets). More information at hpblast.com.

Ault Park #3: B race

What a difference a year makes. Last year, if you'd told me that I'd contest two sprints (one of them double-points) in the Ault Park B race and take 3rd in both, I would've been pretty stoked. If you'd told me that I would do this three days after the state RR, with some sharp pain in my lower back, and after a poor night's sleep, I would've thought it was beyond what I could possibly do.

Last night, all these things were true, but I expected more. Yes, I've become greedy.

Lined up with Matt and Alex and 50 others. Unlike previous weeks, it was fast from the start -- Ben from Team Hungry even took off like a bat out of hell on the first lap. On lap four, I got on Alex's wheel, but by the time we reached the downhill on lap 5, it was clear we weren't getting to the front. So we sat out that sprint, and hung around for lap 10, when Matt took me around the outside. I got a decent sprint in, and came in third, behind Bo Sherman from Dayton (series leader) and Charlie from Turner (Cat 4 state champion, probably second-place in series by now, and quick-recovering youngster -- grrr.). I've been trying to get around Bo and Charlie since week one, and it's just not happening yet. Meh -- but four points is four points. Soon after, as I was beginning to get some position for the lap 15 sprint, I saw that Matt & Alex had done their day's work -- so I found Geoff Reynolds's wheel, kicked it, and -- we had a carbon copy of the lap 10 sprint: same players, same top three sequence.

After that I was gassed -- more tired than I realized. I sat in for three laps, tried to get to the front for the final lap but didn't have it. As I rounded the bottom of the hill and saw that I was in about thirtieth position, I eased up and soft-pedaled in. Apparently there was a sprint for thirtieth that nobody told me about, however, because someone rear-ended me tire-on-tire. I heard a "Hey!" and the sound of bike on pavement. After I crossed the finish line, I tried to figure out what happened, but no luck. My guess is someone was head-down trying to finish fast and didn't expect to come upon a slower rider, but that's just a guess.

So like I said: a couple good sprints and six points on a night when I felt like a scuffed penny. Not great, but certainly not bad. I'll take it, but I'll be back next week looking for better.

State RR cat 4

Yesterday at Caesar's Creek, I lined up with about forty other hopefuls in the cat 4 OH state championship road race: there were a lot of new faces from upstate (and beyond), and we were missing some familiar ones -- recent upgrades swelling the ranks of the cat 3 field to over 80 riders.

The course was twisty and rolling, with one extended downhill and, at about 1.5 miles before the finish line, a tough hill that started out steep, eased in the middle, and then kicked again near the top before "leveling" out into a false flat for a while. Then, a right turn, and about one k to the slightly downhill long straightaway to the finish line. When I saw this during warmup, I practically salivated: if I could make it up the hill near the front, there was enough space between the top of the hill and the finish line to regroup and position myself for what looked like a sprinter's dream.

Or so I thought.

The race was, to say the least, pretty uneventful for a while: no dominant team, so not much in the way of team tactics. With a bunch of singletons, or pairs of teammates, we rode around, reeling in the occasional frisky feller. I stayed out of the wind, drifting back through the field and then taking rides back up to the front third. The field strung out on the climb, but no one really used it to launch anything, and it always seemed to come together. For the third lap, one rider attacked just past the feed zone (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here, since the general grumbling opinion was that he attacked in the feed zone), built up a lead of about 30 seconds, but then popped when he got to the hill. After four laps, it was gruppo compatto, and I mentioned to the rider next to me that it looked like we'd roll neutral through most of the lap, and then go balls-out from the hill.

So we get to the bottom of the hill, and I'm pretty much where I want to be. I shift down, take a deep breath, and stomp -- and the guy right in front of me does the same, but stops cold when he tries to pedal, as if he'd hit a wall. In fact, the field explodes -- I think five laps was exactly necessary to make the hill matter in this race. I had to brake and turn my front wheel to avoid him, and then build momentum all over again. I'm cramping a little, but no panic, since there's all that room after the top of the hill, right?

Wrong. I reach the top further back than I wanted to be, and form into the third group on the road. Justin from Jeni's takes a huge dig to bring us most of the way to the second group. I keep taking peeks back, thinking that other groups will be coming forward and wondering if I should save something for a group sprint. But no one appears to be joining us, and finally I lower my head in the second group and get on the front, pretty sure that we can bring back the leading six, but not sure if there's enough room left to do it. Dick from Abundance is on my wheel -- he promises to come through and pull, but later tells me he couldn't. I drop my head and dig deep, and when I look up ...

Carnage. Four of the six leaders were splayed across the road, and the remaining two -- Charlie from Turner and Mike Malmer from Dayton -- were making the run for the line. I towed Dick through a clear spot in the middle of the wreckage. Now I know that not only do I have Dick on my wheel (although at this point I think he's cheering me on), but I know that others are coming up on me. I gave what I had, which meant I caught a fading Mike just before the line for second. Dick got pipped and ended up fifth. I rolled across the line, caught Bret's eye (thanks for coming out, Bret!), and nodded "yes!" You can't really holler for a second place, but I was pretty durn happy with the result, especially given the way the finale played out.

People keep telling me that the 3s are waiting, but after seeing ninety guys line up in that field, I'm not really in a hurry. The 4s are strong, and tough, and I got a little lucky (and others got a little unlucky) yesterday. If I had made the front of the race after the hill, after all, I stood a good chance of joining four other riders on the pavement. Instead, I've got this nice official USAC silver medal.

19 laps of futility, plus one

or, Ault Park B race #2.

Lined up tonight in unseasonably cool temps and foreboding skies with Mike M. and Alex. The squirrels came out to play tonight -- it certainly seemed a bit twitchier than last week. We skipped the first sprint, but after it three riders went off the front and stayed there. I chased, Alex chased, BioWheels guy chased, and Geoff from Team Dayton chased. We never caught them until after the lap-10 points had been gobbled up. Two guys crashed on the backside. For lap 15, I thought I was in perfect position: on the wheel of a strong rider. When he went, I stood up to go, and the gap closed as riders on either side of me stood up to sprint, squeezed in, and went nowhere. Nowhere. I yelled at them to stay out of the way if they weren't going to sprint, and instantly felt like a jerk.

I was frustrated. Three sprints, no Darkhorse points. I found Alex's wheel and stayed safe for laps 4, 3, and 2 to go. On the bell lap I followed him around the right side, where he picked up Geoff and the other Team Dayton strongman. We bided our time, and when Alex went, I went. Alex stayed strong and won the sprint; I couldn't come around him (believe me, I tried) and rolled in second, hollering "Yeah!"

After 19 laps of futility, we had one perfect lap. Sweet.

A Long Ault Night

Ault Park #1 started with a whopping 2 warm up laps since I got there late. We had a felon holed up in an apartment on Winton Rd. that almost called for SWAT but we were able to get him out before it went that far.
So I started the B race a bit frazzled and no where near recovered from Monday's 74 mile sufferfest. I told Shannon I would work for him and we decided to forgo the 1st sprint to let things settle down and get a warm-up in. The 2nd sprint went pretty well, I tried to catch the lone guy off the front but my engine isn't quite there, I managed to get Shannon near the front for a respectable 3rd. We weren't planning on the 3rd sprint, but I thought, "Why not?" so off we went. I was near the front around the bottom with Shannon hot on my wheel, he took off and grabbed another 3rd while I held on for 4th.
I was totally shot at this point and dangled at the back for the next 4 laps, I even got separated but managed to fight back onto a wheel. When the last bell lap started, I started to make my way up the group and told Shannon I could get him to the front but wouldn't be able to lead out a sprint. The BioWheels guy (forgot his name) got on my wheel with Shannon on his as I got us to about 4-5th wheel around the bottom. I looked back and Shannon was right on my wheel so I stood up and went and eeked out another 4th while Shannon zoomed past for another 3rd.
It ended up being a pretty good night for Darkhorse but my night was only just beginning. I was on Ridge getting onto WB 562 when I rolled up on an accident. I noticed several people trying to get someone out of a Saturn that had been hit pretty hard. I then noticed a guy running across the interstate and try and stop a car and get in. The driver sped away and that's when I jumped out, grabbed my gun and radio and went after him. He went toward the woods, but was more stumbling and staggering by the time I got to him. I got him on the ground, where he lunged for a security guard's gun and fell flat on his face. He didn't move much after that until Norwood units arrived and got him into custody. Apparently he had shot his wife in the head then fled the wrong way onto the Lateral, hitting the lady in the Saturn who had to be taken out with a Hurst tool (Jaws of Life). She was conscious when they took her away, hopefully she will be ok. A couple of news links can be found here:
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090527/NEWS0107/305270076/1055/NEWS/Woman+shot++suspect+crashes
and http://www.wcpo.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=33421@wcpo.dayport.com&navCatId=23
All in all, just another adrenaline filled day for KaiserHorse.