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Madera
Mon, 05/01/2006 - 6:03pm
Did everyone have fun? I am still radiating heat from all the sunshine I absorbed during the RR.
I am undecided if the roads were worse than Copperopolis or not. The first time we hit the rough part, the peleton created such a bizarre sound. All of that carbon resonates in the most peculiar way. It sounded like a thousand Pringles cans collapsing in a super market or something.
With the minor exception of not knowing my exact TT time due to a base 10 converson issue when calculating times, I thought it was a good race.
Have to applaud VP for running so many of its races on time this year! And despite the exponentially increased logistics of a stage race (there could have been more potties...), the races went off w/o many hitches.
Sitting around for 3hrs after the RR for results to be tabulated, then seeing how off they were, was worrying, but it was all rectified.
I have to say, the 3s raced really well this weekend. Very few dunderheaded moves, very aggressive but not stupidly so.
Did I mention that the 16-year-old who took it all did so on junior gearing?
I and my teammates on Berkeley had a marvy time at Madera. I agree that the TT timing and results problems were questionable, but our complaining about it won't get it fixed.
I must say that I love that road course. What variety of terrain. The cobbles on the backside shake my world every year.
I do have one criticism, however. I went on a solo break in the 3's race for about 1/2 a lap. As I approached the one particularly choppy right-hander off the highway onto the narrow farm road (turn 2, I guess), there was an oncoming vehicle I was not able to see before the turn. Prevented by gravel on the inside of the turn from cutting sharply, I had to swing to the curb side of the car. It was an incredibly dangerous situation. The course marshall at the corner was sitting comfortably beneath an umbrella and never even lifted a flag to alert me or the vehicle about our coincident arrival.
Which also makes me wonder about the auto/bike collision in the 3's time trial. I don't recall seeing corner marshalls there either, although I had the misfortuante timing of arriving at 2 corners with oncoming cars.
I don't really care about the promptness of results postings, but my physical safety is another issue....
In any case, thanks for a really fun weekend, VP!!
Jesster
Yes, the timing issues were unfortunate. I still don't know what my actual time was due to rounding errors.
I thought the course and the racing were great. The organization was very poor and not having the TT results before you start the crit (or the RR because they were near impossible to read) is just plain dumb. Changing the start times and distances of races is also not a good idea. I suggest being a little more prepared next time.