What was your best/worst race of the season?

[Rob Havemeyer]

Wanted to liven up this thread a bit...

So What was your best and worst race from 2007 ?

Best

Was my win in Prospect Park Sept 15th (my first win)
It was a rainy foggy morning with a 6:15am start !! Ouch It was still dark out.. The race was pretty straight forward (with the exception of the drizzle) Still with the rain a few guys at the very front were still hammering a 25mph pace..Go figure..

Anyway I positioned myself well in the final lap and was watching for someone to break in the last 1/4 mi. One guy who had been pulling for a few laps decided to GO... I was first on his wheel...We broke free from the pack and I trailed him like a was hitched to a Uhaul.. Within the last 300ft
he started to sputter a bit and I made my move right around him for the win...Nice leadout What a great feeling !!

Worst

Was a mid summer race and I had been taking a new supplement Aplodan from MuscleTech (Don't ever take this stuff) It will wake up (Fast Twitch Type 2A fibers in your legs)the wrong muscle fibers for distance and endurance. And because these extra fibers are being stimulated the extra (Lactate Acid) they produce will practically paralyze you.. Don’t do it..

Anyway between the supplement and being off the bike for a few days contributed to a horrible race approx 28mi. crit. After the 5th or so lap I got dropped badly.. I remember very clearly a guy my fathers age with a big belly passing me saying common we can catch them ... Oh my God I thought I was going to die... It was embarrassing I finally gave up and abandoned the race...The worst part was my wife and kids were there to cheer me on...Uggg my wife says What Happened ?... I never want to relive that feeling again...

 

[bodaciousguy]

Anyway between the supplement and being off the bike for a few days contributed to a horrible race approx 28mi. crit. After the 5th or so lap I got dropped badly.. I remember very clearly a guy my fathers age with a big belly passing me saying common we can catch them ... Oh my God I thought I was going to die... It was embarrassing I finally gave up and abandoned the race...The worst part was my wife and kids were there to cheer me on...Uggg my wife says What Happened ?... I never want to relive that feeling again...

I know exactly what you're talking about! Where you see guys passing you who really shouldn't be passing you. Especially in a crit where people keep seeing you over and over again after you get dropped. And if you're that type of person who hates sympathy, you're gonna hate the cheers of the people on the sidelines. I feel for Rob.

 

[Sikhandar]

BEST:

I arrived 3th overall (1st of my category, in Italy we have a different categories system than in USA) on a very hard race in Lamporecchio (Florence, Italy). 102 kms with many many small climbings, 4 laps of a circuit. I attacked with other five the early escapees group (20 people) and we did it to the finish without being caught from the main group!

WORST:

I was not able to finish the very same race 2 months later (I was at 70 races done... I was a little tired, more psychollogically than physically)

 

[DJA]

Best: I had set a target of not getting droped on a coarse that I have allways struggled on. My training 3mth prior was to target hills The coarse 70km of hills nothing steep but your either going up or down on this coarse. First main climb (which is usally where I get dropped) Lead the the group 1/2 way up the pace was on KOM at the top 4 riders got away (2 groups of 2) only 100m at the top was able to get in contact again before heading into the wind rode the remining 50K together even on the last big climb was able to lead the group for the entire climb ( very unusal) Ended up getting 2nd on the day this result put me up to A grade.

Woarst: Second ride in A grade there was only two of us so we started with B grade all up about 12 rides. Got dropped after 4 or 5 attacts from the other A grade rider and 4 B grade rides where able to catch him. Very demoralizaing not to be dropped by the A grade but then not to be able to hang on to the B graders

 

[Eden]

Best - winning the state crit championship (w cat 4's) Totally my best since 1. its my worst discipline 2. it was a piece of stellar team work - one of my teammates attacked for a prime sprint (we had this planned out), I latched onto the people who followed her for the prime and when they slowed up after the sprint I did not. We even had a code for when my teammates was going to attack. When I went off the front I had no idea how much time was left in the race! Turned out to be 5 laps off the front! 3. it was also my first win. (though I got second in the state RR - and one of my opponents was overheard by the side of the road when it was all done exclaiming "but I'm a spinter"... I'm tiny, more of a climber, so I think she figured if she got to the finish with me she'd have it all easy, not to mention it was 3 of us in a break and the other two were teammates - two factors against me in a sprint already (first place was already gone of the front) its always rewarding when I can suprise someone, who looks at me and misjudges :cool )

Worst - one of the races I was really looking forward to - it has a wicked steep hill in it that I got away with several others on last year and took 3rd. This year I really wanted to win it. Only about 1/4 of the way into it there is a nasty left and the people who were at the front hadn't previewed the course and started going down. In order to avoid crashing on the road, over the top of someone else I took the route of going into the ditch. It wasn't a terrible crash, but I think I endo'd and probably broke my thumb. Now, about 6 mos later, all the soft tissue swelling is gone and I can bend it all of the way, but the joint is noticably bigger than on the other hand. It's the only race that I haven't finished, but my brakes were dragging and the thumb thing.....