Eariler in the summer I scheduled the GRE Exam for Monday, 8/28. I heard from my parents that the GRE people called on Saturday to let me know that my test has been cancelled. I'll need to call and reschedule tomorrow, when I call in and bitch at them. I'm not sure when I'll be able to take it now, seeing as I'll be gone later this week racing in Vermont, and then classes start soonafter that. They don't have any tests during the weekend, so what sort of problem do you run into on a Saturday that you didn't know about on Friday? I'm also pretty worked up about it because this same thing has happened to other people as well, so this isn't an isolated case.
I really feel like checking into what it would take to start my own test center in State College. Set it up with the standarized testing companies, get a small buisness loan to cover the rent and computer crap, and hire up a few dorky computer kids. I think I'd make a killing doing the GREs, MCATs, LSATs..etc.. all of which I believe you need to travel a good distance to take. Maybe that'd be a good part-time gig if I were to do the teaching route. Freekin-a.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Christiana
Christiana didn't start out better than anything else this summer, but it ended with a bang.
Saturday:
Road Race:
I was feeling pretty good all day in the field. Much much more comfortable than last year when I got shelled out of the 3/4 field on the first climb of the first lap. This time I used the climb to move up in position, and kept my ground for most of the course, usually loosing a little bit in the beginnings of a windy section. On the 4th time up the climb we caught the remnants of the women's race, which made things really complicated. I was chugging along on the climb, surrounded by people as usual, when I realized that me and the few guys around me had gotten dropped, and were surrounded by girls. Now usually this wouldn't bother me, but right then I wasn't in the mood for that sort of thing. Not a huge deal, did a little bit more work than I would have liked, but made the gap up relatively easily. Had to chase back on at the same spot on the final lap as well, but that was due to my loosing contact with the first 10 over the climb. So it all regroups, and a pretty large group of about 40 guys is heading into the finishing uphill section, not even a climb. Well I heard a crash behind me, and was happy to be in front of it... but the next crash that took up the entire width of the road was in front of me, and I couldn't quite get around it in time. Had to unclip, cyclocross over some poor bastard with half a face, and finished out of the points. I was feeling good and ready to put the hammer down on the last 300m too... I was only like 6 or 7 guys back. Oh well. No points.
Sunday:
Time Trial:
I thought I would be the only disc wheel fully aeroed out geek in the 4 field, but oh was I wrong. There were some funky stuff out for the 4's, and some other strong TT'ers, which I didn't expect. I finished up 3rd, about 20 seconds off the pace. I think this is a good sign still though. Even though last year I would have won the 4s by a good minute and a quarter. I'm still working on my position, I can get a little lower, and I don't feel as comfortable spinning up hills in my position now as I did last year... I'll be ready to fly by collegiate TT time. So... got some points.
My arms look really high right? Don't worry, I already bought an adjustable stem.
Crit:
I was pretty happy to be sitting top 10 after only scoring in the TT, thanks to the fact that the people who scored in the road race couldn't TT very well. With a good finish, I'd be able to get some GC money. Got a great start, and was 3rd wheel the whole time around the first lap. The first two guys kept switching, and trying to get me to come through, but I just sat on... I'm not going to pull on the first lap numbnuts. Well they both crashed out... first and second guys through the last turn on the first lap.
suckers. I stayed at the front as much as I could during the whole race. I felt pretty crappy in parts, letting some gaps go, but was lucky enough to always have someone next to me that was willing to close it down, and I was able to recover. The junior Polish kid took off with a few laps to go- I didn't even see him go. I just noticed that the kid who looked like was getting lapped had the pace car in front of him for a whole lap... hmmm. I moved up on the technical part on the backside, and was in a pretty good spot for the last turn. I took it pretty far inside, and started my sprint from a ways back. My legs felt much better than I anticipated and I took about 10 or 15 guys in that last uphill straight to get 6th.
Those placings on Sunday were good enough for 4th overall. Look out GMSR! You best be careful for the kid with the big quads going backwards fast on the hills, don't get caught behind me.
Saturday:
Road Race:
I was feeling pretty good all day in the field. Much much more comfortable than last year when I got shelled out of the 3/4 field on the first climb of the first lap. This time I used the climb to move up in position, and kept my ground for most of the course, usually loosing a little bit in the beginnings of a windy section. On the 4th time up the climb we caught the remnants of the women's race, which made things really complicated. I was chugging along on the climb, surrounded by people as usual, when I realized that me and the few guys around me had gotten dropped, and were surrounded by girls. Now usually this wouldn't bother me, but right then I wasn't in the mood for that sort of thing. Not a huge deal, did a little bit more work than I would have liked, but made the gap up relatively easily. Had to chase back on at the same spot on the final lap as well, but that was due to my loosing contact with the first 10 over the climb. So it all regroups, and a pretty large group of about 40 guys is heading into the finishing uphill section, not even a climb. Well I heard a crash behind me, and was happy to be in front of it... but the next crash that took up the entire width of the road was in front of me, and I couldn't quite get around it in time. Had to unclip, cyclocross over some poor bastard with half a face, and finished out of the points. I was feeling good and ready to put the hammer down on the last 300m too... I was only like 6 or 7 guys back. Oh well. No points.
Sunday:
Time Trial:
I thought I would be the only disc wheel fully aeroed out geek in the 4 field, but oh was I wrong. There were some funky stuff out for the 4's, and some other strong TT'ers, which I didn't expect. I finished up 3rd, about 20 seconds off the pace. I think this is a good sign still though. Even though last year I would have won the 4s by a good minute and a quarter. I'm still working on my position, I can get a little lower, and I don't feel as comfortable spinning up hills in my position now as I did last year... I'll be ready to fly by collegiate TT time. So... got some points.
My arms look really high right? Don't worry, I already bought an adjustable stem.
Crit:
I was pretty happy to be sitting top 10 after only scoring in the TT, thanks to the fact that the people who scored in the road race couldn't TT very well. With a good finish, I'd be able to get some GC money. Got a great start, and was 3rd wheel the whole time around the first lap. The first two guys kept switching, and trying to get me to come through, but I just sat on... I'm not going to pull on the first lap numbnuts. Well they both crashed out... first and second guys through the last turn on the first lap.
suckers. I stayed at the front as much as I could during the whole race. I felt pretty crappy in parts, letting some gaps go, but was lucky enough to always have someone next to me that was willing to close it down, and I was able to recover. The junior Polish kid took off with a few laps to go- I didn't even see him go. I just noticed that the kid who looked like was getting lapped had the pace car in front of him for a whole lap... hmmm. I moved up on the technical part on the backside, and was in a pretty good spot for the last turn. I took it pretty far inside, and started my sprint from a ways back. My legs felt much better than I anticipated and I took about 10 or 15 guys in that last uphill straight to get 6th.
Those placings on Sunday were good enough for 4th overall. Look out GMSR! You best be careful for the kid with the big quads going backwards fast on the hills, don't get caught behind me.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Doylestown
This Sunday was a circuit race out in Doylestown that a bunch of PSU folk made it out to. I did the 3/4, and felt pretty comfortable in the rolling course for the first two laps. At some point a break of two riders had a relatively significant lead, so I decided to jump across. I did so a lot more easily than I thought I should have been able to, and the reason for that become apparent quite quickly. The first time I went to pull through they both yelled up to me to ease up. Are you serious? Jesus, I just bridged up to you dudes and you can't sit on? So you can guess how that break ended up... As we were being caught another group of two tookoff, and I decided to give it a shot again. This time the other two guys were much stronger, and were taking some long hard pulls. I did my best to match their pace, but found it a bit much after about half a lap. Once I dropped from their wheels I glanced back quickly and saw the field, and decided to not kill myself and just wait for them. I didn't realize how far back they really were, or maybe I would have turned myself inside out to stay with the leaders. Turns out that the two stayed away for the win. Johan from Faulkner Honda jumped with 2 to go, and I went up to him and tried to work up to the leaders, but that wasn't shaking. Didn't have much in the tank after all that work, as I just finished up with the field. Legs felt pretty good so I'm looking forward to Christiana next weekend.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Altoona Recap
Well this is a bit late, but I'll recount the Toona race weekend real quick.
The first day is the "race to the corner" circuit race. I felt pretty good the whole race, but should have known better than to try and take it solo down towards the end. But I felt like I was Jens Voight, so I took a good hard flyer off with about 200 or so meters to go before THE TURN. I took the turn with a gap, and held on for the uphill section after it, and after taking the next turn found myself being swarmed by the field already. I rode it in for 65th.
Second day went a bit better. I gunned it on the opening straight to get right to the front. I hung out up there for a few miles, and was being steadily shoved a little further back than I would have liked when I got pushed clear off the road by a kid trying to avoid a dude who dropped his chain. Not much harm done, chased right back to the front, and drilled it as hard as I dared on the first 1/2 of the climb to string out the group. I was hoping to form a small group right from the get go, but thinking about it now, riding tempo, however hard, is not really the way to make a selection even on this "road race" course. I slipped towards the steep KOM and come across behind, but reintegrated with the 2nd group over the top. I did a ton of work, but it was clear we weren't bringing anything more than people who had given up back. I sat in for last kilometer or so and easily took the field sprint to save some face. 19th.
Third day was the crit. I didn't finish this last year so I was hoping to at least do that. I got a second row start spot and took advantage of that to sprint out in the top 10 through the first lap. Certainly a lot easier than being in the back. I routinely moved up on the finishing straight by going real close to the barriers and wide around the uphill turn. About halfway through I got caught behind a crash on the last corner. I had to unclip, and sort of took my time getting back on my bike and snagged a free lap. By this time the field was relatively small so I didn't have any trouble getting back up to the front. I felt pretty good and stayed up there for the rest of the race, but just didn't have the punch to fight for the top spots for the whole last lap. Have to set yourself up first, and then hope you have something left for the sprint, not the other way around. 21st.
All in all a fun weekend. We had what seemed like 10 people staying at our new place, so it was a bit hectic. Again the highlight was Lisa taking 3rd the first two days, and despite a crash in the last corner of the crit, she managed to keep her 3rd place, even though we didn't realize that for a few days after.... oops
The first day is the "race to the corner" circuit race. I felt pretty good the whole race, but should have known better than to try and take it solo down towards the end. But I felt like I was Jens Voight, so I took a good hard flyer off with about 200 or so meters to go before THE TURN. I took the turn with a gap, and held on for the uphill section after it, and after taking the next turn found myself being swarmed by the field already. I rode it in for 65th.
Second day went a bit better. I gunned it on the opening straight to get right to the front. I hung out up there for a few miles, and was being steadily shoved a little further back than I would have liked when I got pushed clear off the road by a kid trying to avoid a dude who dropped his chain. Not much harm done, chased right back to the front, and drilled it as hard as I dared on the first 1/2 of the climb to string out the group. I was hoping to form a small group right from the get go, but thinking about it now, riding tempo, however hard, is not really the way to make a selection even on this "road race" course. I slipped towards the steep KOM and come across behind, but reintegrated with the 2nd group over the top. I did a ton of work, but it was clear we weren't bringing anything more than people who had given up back. I sat in for last kilometer or so and easily took the field sprint to save some face. 19th.
Third day was the crit. I didn't finish this last year so I was hoping to at least do that. I got a second row start spot and took advantage of that to sprint out in the top 10 through the first lap. Certainly a lot easier than being in the back. I routinely moved up on the finishing straight by going real close to the barriers and wide around the uphill turn. About halfway through I got caught behind a crash on the last corner. I had to unclip, and sort of took my time getting back on my bike and snagged a free lap. By this time the field was relatively small so I didn't have any trouble getting back up to the front. I felt pretty good and stayed up there for the rest of the race, but just didn't have the punch to fight for the top spots for the whole last lap. Have to set yourself up first, and then hope you have something left for the sprint, not the other way around. 21st.
All in all a fun weekend. We had what seemed like 10 people staying at our new place, so it was a bit hectic. Again the highlight was Lisa taking 3rd the first two days, and despite a crash in the last corner of the crit, she managed to keep her 3rd place, even though we didn't realize that for a few days after.... oops
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