It’s What I’m Not Telling You That Matters….

My lips are sealed.

So the whole idea of me writing this blog is to share information with my readers. I try to give as much detail as possible so that other folks who are just starting out, like I am, can perhaps learn from my triumphs and foibles. That was all well and good until I learned that the blog is read by the competition. (Honestly, I thought I was more shocked just to hear that ANYONE was reading Tribe Tracks at all!) So I will try to give you a good blog of our latest team skills clinic while trying to keep some of our team strategies under my Livestrong helmet.  

First, I am way stoked that our kits came in. Nothing fluffs a man’s pride nearly as much as when he comes home in uniform and his wife’s eyes sparkle even as her jaw drops. If nothing else, it was worth attending the Body Concepts team skills clinic for that alone. She then insisted on taking about thirty pictures of me from every angle so here are a couple shots for your viewing edification.

As you can see, they are pretty sharp and I like the new details of this year’s design. I am especially loving the vest and arm warmers.  The only real complaint is the fit of the shorts.  They are very awkward.  So far, the padding seems comfortable enough; it is the cut that is odd. 

At this clinic, one of our sponsors, Nike Vision, was there to get some pictures and to talk to last year’s riders about how Nike Vision’s products have performed.  I have heard nothing but rave reviews and look forward to trying a pair out soon.

Once we were done clutching at our loot, squinting one eye and growling, “Arrrrrr!” it was time to get training. Here is where I want to put in all kinds of neat stuff we learned but decide to pare it down so we can (hopefully) kick ass at the next criterium.

We had a classroom discussion about race finishing and how much effort and coordination goes into getting one guy in position to win.  (Or if you don’t have team mates, how to still get yourself in a position to win.) Then we went out and practiced finishes on the Folsom Bicycles Plus criterium loop.  I am not sure how many of us there were, but we must have had 20-30 riders out there. Of course, having us all in our new matching team kits made it interesting when we broke up into three teams. When everyone is in the same clothes, how do you keep track of who’s who?

I also lost track of how many practice finishes we did…  Sometimes the races were between 1 and 3 laps with various scenarios.  Sometimes we were pitted against each other, other times the team ran the course on their own, and we had a few free-for-alls as well.  The variation didn’t stop there…  One legged race, easiest gear race, and small chain ring only. It felt like we did it all.

The most memorable race was when I was the designated sprinter.  Before the race we had talked about my lead out order and when to attack.  Things didn’t quite go as planned.  Our train got splintered and I only had two guys in front of me.  Along with that there was a breakaway from the cat 3 team and we were stuck behind the rest of cat 3 and cat 4.  I was starting to feel a real sense of urgency because we were on the last lap.  As I scanned the field of riders it looked like there would be barely enough room for us to get by the pack on the inside.  I started yelling something like “Inside, GO GO GO GO Inside GO!!!!” to the two riders in front of me.  Todd, who was in front, did exactly what he needed to do and took off like a rocket on the inside.  As we cleared the group and headed to the final turn Rob, the rider in front of me, continued the surge.  At this point we were coming to the final turn hot!  I was a bit nervous about it and probably swung a little wider then I should. (Yep, still working on de-chickening my turns.)  After the turn I just had the cat 3 guy in front of me.  He was too far away to catch but I made a go of it anyway figuring you never know what might happen. 

Even though I came in second, that was a thrilling race!  I was especially pleased that we handled the set-back of our sub-team getting separated well and still mustered a strong finish.  Now I am really anxious to get out there for the next crit, which happens to be the Bicycles Plus Early Bird Criterium in Folsom.  If you want to see what I am not telling you in this blog, come out and watch.