The reason I'm combining these is because I gave up on the series 5 minutes into the Downer's Ave crit. There isn't much to report when you give up.
The reason is that I had to make up an 8 point deficit even to make 3rd place in the overall. Honestly, I could do it. When I took over 2nd place, I made up 8 points in 2 crits. I could easily make up another 8, and I was excited to do so.
Downer Ave:
Downer's started and I now have the most painful saddle sores (you're welcome..I know you wanted to know!) Probably the only thing more painful were my legs. My leg cramps from yesterday were still there. It left me with quite the paradox. Sit down to put down less force so that my legs don't hurt (ow my ass), or stand up so my ass doesn't hurt (ow my legs).
The first 3 laps averaged some 29mph. After that, it slowed down a little, but not much. It was also a sketch fest. There were a couple crashes and enough new people to make the race EXACTLY like a Superweek race. Who the hell likes to do sketchy superweek races? Not me.
On top of this, they were throwing away tons of primes -- like $350 worth, plus free messages. The course had a copious amount of pot holes, cracks, and tar. Why is Downers so popular?
So, 5 laps in, I decided that this was a retarded race. I spent the whole 50 minutes wishing I had pulled out the lap before. I didn't try for the sprint, but only to stay near the front. I think I finished 15th of like 50+ people. Mike (CA Pools) finished like 5 ahead of me, and the series was officially over.
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Carl Zach Cycling Classic:
Since I didn't care about this race, except to finish, I went for primes. I picked up $50, and that was pretty much the story of the whole race. There weren't that many people (maybe 27?), so it was a pretty easy race. 3 crashes happened and all were because of retarded reasons.
The first one, someone locked his brakes and slid out. The next one, Adam McClurg (sp?) from LAPT attacked a corner and took himself out. A 3rd one was when someone got pinched in a straight section, 20m after a turn, and went over the bars. I ran over a full water bottle in one of them, but kept myself upright.
There was a sprint, but I mostly stayed out of it. I think I was top 15, definitely not top 10. The organizers missed my name/number, but I missed the protest period. Granted, that sent me to 5th in the overall (by 3 points), but I could care less. What is the difference between 4th and 5th, when they only give prizes to top 3? So, I won't fightt it.
Anyways, that was a fun series. It was run MUCH better than StupidWeek. Every race was on time, results were always posted within 10-15min, and the courses were nice. There were also, on average, at least 3 less crashes every race. Although not completely the fault of superweek, their crappy courses encourage some crashes.
I will probably have one more post about the Tour of America's Dairyland before I take a week off. After that, it's on to superweek.
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