Track, La Mirada, and Wisconsin

We'll start in reverse. 5am tomorrow, I leave for Wisconsin. The dairyland. Why? Superweek. 17 classic races in 17 days in July. Lots of tradition, lots of spectators, and if you have good form, it's a good time. The money is terrific, too, so we'll see. The peleton composition at Superweek is as follows:

• 20%-Domestic Pros

These are the dudes that dominate the money spots, usually. They dominate, not so much because they're that much better, but because they have the support: the feeds, the hotels, the team vans, the domestiques, mechanics etc etc etc. The only thing they have to worry about is the racing.

• 30%-Local Elites

Riders from the area who just race the races 'cause they're nearby. No threat here, but they're usually the only guys with a decent number of teammates.

• 30%-Long Distance Dreamers

Guys from far away who think they can do well, and are either in for a rude awakening (likely), or a pleasant surprise (unlikely). Lack of funds and a generally "ragged" lifestyle are primary characteristics of this group. I'm a lifetime member.

• 20%-The International Contingent

Last year there were some Japanese kids, some strange European dudes, the Columbian national team, and some Mexican riders as well. This group does not speak English, but we like them.

Last year went okay for me, particularly the last day, where I finished 11th. I finished 4th in the under-23 classification, got some sprint points, and took home some cash. I'm riding better than last year, and have 1 year of Superweek under my belt, so I expect to do much better of course. Time will tell. Host housing is a go (though i'm not sure what city i'll be staying in), Cameron's comitted to the drive, the bike is working nicely, my form and motivation are good, and the weather looks fantastic (60s/70s, isolated T-storms...perfect). Only issue is, of course, the money situation. I know that as long as I can make it out to Wisconsin, things will fall into place. I've set a modest goal of winning enough to at least offset the steep $37/race entry fees. Finger's crossed.

Allright, I'll write again once I get out there. I'll be documenting the trip as much as possible, and the one thing i'm stoked on is that I get to drive through the Rockies. Haven't done that yet.


Short Weekend Reports:

Saturday-TRACK

The Bianchi Ridin' the Train...

I think i've finally grown fully accustomed to the track. I was railing the bankings all over during warm ups, and felt awesome. Comfortable, even. The rush of speed as you come down a 2 story banking in just 5 meters is ridiculous. Soo fast...though I don't yet know how to use that thing in a race, ah well. So. Yeah. Took the metro out there, of course. Total breeze. It was almost too cold inside, but perfect when you're out going fast. Three total races for me: Unknown Distance, Tempo, and Snowball. Bigger field than the previous two times, but still not a whole lot of guys. I think we had 13 or 14.

I-Unknown Distance: I sucked at this one last time, so I approached it a bit differently. From the get go, I went to the front, and set a mild tempo. Slowly turned it up, with the quads ready to fire each time I passed the start finish. Couple guys tried to go, but nothing serious. Lap 10 came, still no bell, and the anticipation was building. Lap 11, nothing. 12, nope. Coming into the start of the 13th lap, I saw the official subtley move his hand to the bell...yeah! Sprinted away and took the win.

II-10 Lap Tempo. Total embarassment. I took the first point, and from there it was all bad. The field split, I chased, split some more, guys alternated pulls out front, and I was isolated. The emcee said something like "Aram Dellalian is nowhere near the front"...riled me up pretty good, and I made a move to the front but it was too late. I finished 4th, with only 2 points.

III-10 Lap Snowball. This was a first for me. 10 laps. Just like the tempo, but the number of points goes up each lap. Lap 1-1 point, Lap 2-2 points, Lap 3-3points, etc...I let the other guys fight it out for the first couple laps. Then attacked and somehow got a nice gap, and won laps 6, 7, 8, and 9 to win.

So 1st, 4th, and 1st (first overall), in what I hope is my last cat 4/5 track race. It's always nice to put "1"s in the race resume...haha. I need to apply online to cat-up, and I think I can do allright in the 1/2/3 as well. The brevity of track races is off the hook, though. In total (all three races), I probably spent about 10 minutes racing.


La Mirada Circuit Race. Speaking of cat 4/5. La Mirada was my first ever race win (and 5th race ever) back on May 12th, 2002! So I went back on sunday, for the pro race. 12 noon start time, a bit earlier than i'm used to. Took the train, again, this time with the Greenline into Norwalk (about 5 miles from La Mirada). Jussst missed each of my trains, and got to the race at 12 exactly. The rosters were already in, but I got in. Jussst. Five minutes later, we're all on the start line, the whistle's about to blow.....and Tony Cruz (fresh of a win at Tour de Nez) strolls by. It had to have been 12:10, and of course, the world stops, and Tony's pinned up and on the start line a few mins later. He deserves that kind of treatment, however, as I'm sure any local 1/2 racer can agree with. Tony's a humble dude, all-around. Most of the Toyota-United guys are like that. Okay. So we race. No teammates, just me. Fun course, with a hill that's jussst long and steep enough enough to hurt on, and a slight uphill finish. Come to think of it? I have no idea what happened in this race. The field definitely withered. Near the end. I looked around, and saw that Tony and some other hotshots were still in my group (30 or so), so assumed I'm in the right place. There were some isolated groups up the road, but I didn't know how many. Ah well. Felt good though, throughout. Didn't go with any moves, however, gambling that it'd be a proper field sprint. The field sprint came, and I took it easily, but....there were FOURTEEN up the road, apparently, so I finished 15th.


And these are the pups. Grey=Arthur, Brown=Malcom . We've had almost 21 bike-stuff-destroying free days. Going on a new record...I'll miss these guys.