California Bicycle Racing (CBR)

Friday
Masters 35+ category
Roll up to Ventura (yeah, traffic sucked on Sepulveda Pass and Thousand Oaks area), check in to hotel, roll to registration and pick up race packet. Well organized-Jerry Janye was there, and he's an excellent time trialist. Stopped procrastinating and rode the TT and Crit courses. I'm in for one helluva wake up call tomorrow. In Life as in Cycling, it's not always flat. These hilly courses will challenge everything I have to give from my lungs, my heart, and my legs. It's not gonna be pretty, and those who are here...it's a virtual Who's Who in nationally-ranked masters. Ferchrist, Thurlow even changed from the Pro/1/2 to the 35+, and he's gonna make it that much harder.

Saturday
Masters 35+ category
Individual Time Trial
Rode as best I could and I think I'm 20+ seconds off the leader. By the time I left, Michael Johnson still kept his victory with a time of 3:54, he friggin' rocked that course. For those that know his coach, you are in the Inside Circle. For those that do not know his coach, you are in the Outside Circle. Sho Air is gonna be burning a lot of matches if Amgen decides to try and take the lead away from MJ. Amgen could just say 'screw it' and go passive, but if they're gonna wait for MJ to mess up & exploit a weakness, then they're gonna be waiting a long time, as MJ's been doing this dance for at least three days. IMHO, everyone else is fighting for the leftovers. Someone might squeek thru if Amgen and Sho Air only focus on each other, but I doubt it. Update: MJ got 2nd, and I was sitting at an uncomfortable 40th.
Criterium
MJ had two excellent teammates who dutifully fell on their swords, Hector Saldana & Chance Fielder. Thurlow went (as expected) to win it & is now the overall race leader. Meanwhile, in the back of the pack (the out of shape fatties), I only dropped two places to 42nd. That hill killed me, and the USCF Ref. Greg Aden pulled me after 30 minutes...kinda felt like a horse after it had broken its leg--I just had to be put down. Tomorrow will not be kind, but that's what I signed up for; this is who I am and this is what I do. Officially, I'm 42nd in GC.

Sunday
Masters 35+ category
Road Race
The 1st lap killed me, and I chased until I caught back on. Laps 2 & 3 were okay, then I was dropped again on Lap 4. After that, it became a time trial for laps 5, 6, & 7 and I finished alone at 28th. For the G.C., I moved up eight spots to 34th. Jerry Jayne prolly lost thousands of dollars promoting this event, and I hope that he finds the motivation to promote this race for 2010. As bad as this race hurt, I needed it.

Aftermath:
Jerry's a great racer, an excellent promoter, and he got this race going because he loves the sport...he makes waaaayyyy more bank at his regular job. All of us need to step up and support local races like this one. A fat guy like me is averse to hills and skinnier, fitter competition, but I had fun despite my heart rate monitor exploding. Many racers complained of not having courses like this, but then when a course like this gets permitted, it seems that those same complainers were nowhere to be found. If a fat guy like me steps up, knowing what was in store for me, then more racers fitter than me can step up.