Napa Grand Prix.....Greyhound racing!

Races
35+ 3/4
45+3/4

This isn't so much a Race report as a Journal entry into the twisted workings of me and racing.
So I decided to go ahead and sign up for this race hoping to do well in front of the home crowd. See I grew up in Napa and still have family there, So I figure the only way to get them out there to see a race is if it was on their front door.
I've been going over the course in my head quite a bit and couldn't quite get my head around it. So once I arrive all I could think was AWE CRAP! This sucker was short and the P turn they were boasting about was a down right Turd in a punch bowl, A real Party spoiler. All I could think was all that extra mileage I've been doing over the past month and a half wasn't going to do squat for me here today. Should have been doing intervals and only the Greyhounds have a fighting chance today.
Heck even my brother in law who barely gets in 40 miles a month could see that you had a sprint every lap, and the lap times were 60 seconds or less. Fact is the course was so short that if the leaders were coming through turn 4 and you were crossing the S/F line they pulled you. so Imagine 4 small town blocks and your race is over! that's basically 120 yards.

So line up for the first race 35+ 3/4 it's about 94 degrees and rising, we get read the race rules whistle blows I foul my clip in and the first thing that crosses my mind is race over! I'm already 50 back in a field of 75, yep just over 10 minutes and I was pulled.
It took a heroic effort just to stay at the tail end of this beast.
Second race is at 12:15 Mom shows up yeah! Hope I don't foul this one up! there's only 25 guys signed up. Rules read, whistle blows.......Oh wait its 104 degrees.....and rising! In fact my Polar read a peak of 109. Must have been that Blast furnace heading west on 3rd st into the wind!
So Off I go, much better this time around smaller group easier through the turns but still that massing sprint coming out of the P turn. That thing was like slow to 5~10 then Hit it as hard as you can coming out of it....EVERY FREAKIN LAP! I was fine holding on to the group until I got caught behind a crash. Just made it over the guys rear wheel but the damage was done! it was solo time and every rider that was gapped by that wasn't thinking straight enough to regroup and make a concentrated effort to chase back. So Lap after Lap, gulp after gulp of Hot water from my bottle. I was really starting to feel the heat. So much so that I was getting Chills.......Not good I should really pull out. But too freaking stubborn to do that. Heck Mom's watching. I finally made a small group of three and we start sharing pulls just to survive this thing. Then heading back across the S/F line I feel like my front wheel is getting soft. Through turn one I'm now getting that sinking feeling. Then the tire just let go and I did a Zabel two toe skid into a bale of hay at turn 2. Humm how should I respond to this? Rats? Darn? Naaaaaa THANK GAWD!
You gotta love fellow Racers. I had guys in Turn 2 throwing wheels at me. I was No really No thank you. It was a mercy killing. So that ended race 2 and my first jump into the 45's, good group of guys and I'm looking forward to the next time I can get in with them. Just not on a interval course! and not in 100+ degree heat!

so for you stat junkies.

35+ 3/4
Place 44 (Field=66)
Avg speed. 20.7, Max 26.3
Avg, Bpm 181, Max 207
temp. avg 87 max 92
time in race 9;57

45+ 3/4
Place 16th (Field= 27 )
Avg speed. 19.4, Max 26.9
Avg, Bpm 178, Max 195
temp. avg 104 max 109 (felt like the surface of the sun!)
time in race 23;36

I checked my downloads from my Polar and the race was so quick that the read-out just don't show the severity of this race. This race was so tough that a day later I still have track hack.

Jim