Thursday, April 23, 2009

Texas Road Rash 2009

Texas Road Rash 2009

_Plan A: 200-mile Roll
Danny Dannels asked if I wanted to skate from Dallas to the start. All I had to do was show up and skate, assuming decent weather. I had the option to jump into the SAG wagon with the first drop of rain. Sounded like fun.

_Change of Plan
Couple months later, Danny’s more concrete plan involves a rain-or-shine Guinness world record. He’d enter the event as drafting if I committed. Rough road, rain, darkness—I handle up to 2 of these 3 conditions. I backed out.
The weather didn’t cooperate. Danny had to skating between storms and was behind schedule. Everyone was relieved when he finally showed up Sunday morning.

_Saturday. Elimination
The new and smaller course this year. I enviously watched the turn-enabled competitors while I struggled to regain momentum after each corner. I was pulled off the course before the final lap. It was cool watching the heart rate spike on HRM.

For pro women, Candy took Renee at the line.


Morgan won master. Alex Fedak took third.


Rob Bell forgot the last-wheel rule and became the first pro skater pulled off the course.
It was exciting to see the winning monster hawks by the young faces.


_Prerace Jitter
Timo was concerned about keeping up with the big boys. Duane convinced him of its unlikelihood over red wine and Italian dishes. I was relaxed, fat, and happy. My only goal was to finish safely.

Met Houston Bill again. He’s taller than I remembered from 2007 Houston. I need bigger wheels.

Alex thought about hitting the weight room before next day's marathon.


_Sunday. Main Event (what happens when an advanced man tries to race with the masters)
I changed my division from open to pro master when I learned of the wave start.
I don’t belong in this even on my best day, but it’d be a new experience; I had no personal ambition and had little to lose. I asked Duane, who started 3 minutes behind pro wave, to be ready to pick me up.

I started at the back of wave, which quickly stretched into little clusters. I had to choose between the pro women and Bob Clair. No-brainer based on front surface area. The women pulled away, including Bont’s almost-matching demo boots. Bob proved his beating me at A2A was no accident. He skated off my wheels after I reached max heart rate. I hanged with next pack in red zone. I tried to fulfill the 1-pull-minimum obligation before dropping out. The guy behind me wasn’t happy with the speed. “Do you have some issue?” “Nope. Just not that strong.”

I waited for the open division. I jumped into the lead pack and recovered.
We worked well for couple laps. It was uneventful except one badly timed attack that everyone ignored.

_Man of the hour
We were briefly confused by the flashing motorcycle. Jorge Botero passed us all by himself. It’s one of those humbling moments everyone stops talking and reflects.

In the midst of excitement, I didn’t notice the feared wind.

_Missed photo op
I started to fade at end of the 4th lap and decided to take my final pull into the start area hoping for a good race photo. Pro lead pack lapped us where the cameras were. Sigh.

The 2 packs merged. I didn’t like the slinky and knew Duane and Casey weren’t that far back. I waited for my teammates. I hadn’t had a good skate with Duane in ages. 3 of us caught the group broken by the lead pro paceline. Casey looked strong. We urged him to bridge. Casey stayed in that paceline and won the sprint.

Timo had a good race and established himself as pro master speed skater.
He was behind famed Debbie Rice and narrowly avoided the crash that took her down.
Debbie won the race with a broken arm.
Alex (the abs) and Rob (carbon wedding band) continued to represent Simmons well.
Duane and Casey both won their age groups.

_Post Race
A much faster guy came and patted my back for my weak early pull. Such gracious gesture. He didn’t point out I actually slowed the group down.

It was unadapted to the 3x110 + 100. Need bigger legs, or at least better timing.

Spent a pleasant afternoon at Lake Austin: good coffee, great company. Ate a big dinner with friends before the 3-hour drive back home. Another good year at TRR.

Woke up Monday morning with elevated waking heart rate and sore body. It felt good.