[Special Note: I have a "Music Player" gadget, 4th down to the right. You may run audio from it or the video as you see fit by pausing the music player or muting the embedded video. Enjoy!]
Hello race fans. The above video is of the Masters race, which very much speaks for itself. Cold 45 degrees, very windy and raining. There was a crash and happily it was limited to only 2 riders and was as minor as crashes can be. The most notable point of the crash was that it involved Tracie Smith, who claims he never gets in crashes and only suckie bike handlers crash. (yeah, right! LOL). I raced very hard on this and most Masters races. I find that, for me personally, Masters racing is every bit as hard as the Pro I-II races. This is probably because I must do more work, or tend to solo more at full effort.
I did win this race. Gary Dyer was able to draft me, and did not try to pimp me (let me do all of the work, and him take the money, via popping me for the sprint finish). I like Gary. I was his teammate years ago (St. Louis Cycling Club) when I trying to get on bigger and better teams.
That reminds me. The last race I did for St. Louis Cycling Club was at Soulard in the rain. It started out dry and then started raining. Soulard is a serious criterium with many corners and isn't hard to crash on even when it's dry. I was running Specialized tri-spokes both front and rear. This was around 1995 and these wheels were considered "the bomb". Presently these wheels are illegal for mass start events due to safety concerns. Anyway I crashed twice and got 2 free laps twice (I got caught behind a crash as well). My final crash was in turn 2 and I did not get up for a very long time. I kept saying, "This is going to stop hurting. This is going to stop hurting." I had slide into a concrete curb and chipped the bone on my hip (that's what the x-rays showed). I was bed ridden for almost a week and done with racing for the season. From this story there are three or four important points: 1. I've riddend for another team besides CBC, 2. I know and like Gary as a result, 3. I don't like racing in the rain, 4. wheels make a huge difference.
Oh yeah, I also won the Pro I-II race as well! Unfortunately the battery on my camera failed on the bell lap of the Masters race. I got a partial recharge between races with my laptop, but still I was only able to video the start of the race (I've ordered spare batteries). The last 5 laps would have been good.
I had some really good teammates in that race. Jonathan Schottler, Jason Ozenberger and Dan Miller.
The race split into a 10 man break-a-way that included me, Schottler...................wait a second......... STOP! I don't think I want to discuss a race not on video. If you want to know about the race just look up the results.
Now watch my video first and then go out into the warm sunshine and ride your bicycle.
To learn about the best video camera in the world for videoing cycling (which is the cameras that I use for my videos) click here.
