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This past Friday was the second round of roller races at the Allentown BrewWorks. Pitchers of beer were six bucks, attendance was very good, and the races were hard-fought. A dude even fell off during the first round. Exciting.
Ten laps to the mile. The rollers and dial set-up are property of the Lehigh Wheelmen, and date from the 1930s.
Speaking of old bike stuff, here's my ride:
My bike isn't a great fit for me, and the front end is whippy. It's definitely not light; 20 pounds without bottles, pump, or saddlebag. I've ridden it through three years, a bunch of races, and a bunch of crashes (two of which got me a ride in an ambulance). But for all the times and ways it has come up short, there have been all that many times and more when it has impressed me with it's toughness and sheer refusal to die. Cheers, bike. To many more miles in 2009.At least until I can get one of these: http://gaulzetticicli.blogspot.com/
The thinking was the Derby today would be small, due to the training crits later that day. Less riders, safer (from a traffic perspective), easier to manage all together. It would be the first time I rode the fast-paced training ride leaving from the velodrome this year, and hopefully it would be uneventful.
Hah. Great weather and riders reveling in the balmy conditions, after a week that started by dumping 3 inches of snow on us, produced a group of at least 100 eager riders. Suffice it to say, the ride was uneven. Speeds surging on the rollout, some sudden slowdowns and then...A dude up the way slows and bears right after a turn onto a small tree-lined lane, the dude behind him isn't paying attention, overlaps his front wheel, goes down. I happen to be right behind this fella, and my fate is sealed. Scraped knee, scraped elbow, scraped left hip (read: ass cheek). No pictures of the latter; my assistant was not home. Luckily no one was right behind me; maybe my newb-chic hairy legs kept them away. The bike is fine. After a little assistance from teammates of the aforementioned dudes, we turned around, caught the group on their way back to the track, and I rode the rear of the field on the way back. Welcome to my blog.
