From bikeben@u.washington.edu Wed Apr 5 16:46:51 2000 Received: from mxu4.u.washington.edu (mxu4.u.washington.edu [140.142.33.8]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW99.09/8.9.3+UW99.09) with ESMTP id QAA20808 for ; Wed, 5 Apr 2000 16:46:50 -0700 Received: from fhcrc.org (bug2.fhcrc.org [140.107.10.111]) by mxu4.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW00.02/8.9.3+UW99.09) with ESMTP id QAA13737 for ; Wed, 5 Apr 2000 16:46:50 -0700 Received: from fred.fhcrc.org (fred [140.107.52.52]) by fhcrc.org (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id QAA03365 for ; Wed, 5 Apr 2000 16:46:49 -0700 (PDT) Received: from BenjaminLeung (dhcp020216 [140.107.20.216]) by fred.fhcrc.org (8.9.1b+Sun/8.9.1) with SMTP id QAA01407 for ; Wed, 5 Apr 2000 16:46:43 -0700 (PDT) From: "Benjamin Leung" To: Subject: The cannonball run part 12 Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2000 16:50:08 -0700 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_000A_01BF9F1E.FFDD6D40" X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_000A_01BF9F1E.FFDD6D40 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Here’s my take on the entire Spokane weekend, having witnessed it firsthand from start to finish… After a delay of a couple of hours (caused by the emergence of the entire population of Seattle from their caves to witness the novelty of sunshine), a group of 11 brave souls headed for Spokane: K.C., Beth, Tyler, Brian, Michael, Joe, Ken, James, Dan, Jeremy, and myself. The drive out was relatively uneventful, except for a few half-hearted attempts by the van drivers (Brian and Ben) to drop each other. But the successive attacks were neturalized, and we settled into a cruising speed of 80 mph, arriving at chez Richards at around 11 pm. A big thanks needs to go out to K.C.’s parents for providing a Dawghouse for the weekend—it was a key component to our performances! Saturday morning—after a fine repast of oatmeal and pancakes, we headed over to Spokane International Raceway, which ended up being a glorified go-kart track. Upon arrival, we discovered that all the race lengths had been cut in half, and to add insult to injury, the B men had been moved all the way back to a 5:30 pm start! Despite valiant efforts to stay rested and hydrated throughout the day, the warm Eastern sunshine took its toll on me, as well as others, I’m sure. I was not feeling very spunky by the time our race started, as the sun began to set. The crit was a hybrid points race, with several primes for points during the race—5,3,2,1. However, standard crit points placings were awarded to the overall winners, so I decided to save my meager sprint reserves for the final dash. The only thing notable about the course, which was a half-mile oval, was the fact that there was a huge headwind coming into the finishing straight. The fact that the course was closed made sprinting a little easier, since you could swarm all over the road. The other B’s, most notably our sprintmeister Ken, chose to dice it up during the primes. Michael Pierce gets the pat on the back for not crashing when a MSU rider spazzed out and flicked his bike 3 feet over to the right, directly into Mike’s path. An OSU rider was not so lucky, and went down hard in the final laps, in the same place K.C. crashed, if I’m not mistaken. Unfortunately for him, the killer B field is a lot less forgiving than the women’s field—he had a big welt on his head from getting run over! I saw him later that night, and he seemed to be OK, although a little worse for the wear. Anyways, with two laps to go, four OSU guys went to the front, vainly trying to set themselves up for the win. Dan made a last lap attack, holding everyone off until the last half-lap. Also arriving at the front was my arch-nemesis from MSU, Peter Ford (what is it with these guys? Is it something in the beef?). In the end, an Oregon rider won, Peter came in second, an OSU (?) guy came in 3rd, and I came in 4th. After the race, there was talk of having a collegiate van race between OSU, Oregon, and UW, but saner heads prevailed, and we settled for a quick lap around the track on our own. Half the team went back to the Richards’ to cook dinner, while a few- Ty, James, Jeremy, Beth, and I-- chose to break bread with our fellow racers in downtown Spokane. After doing several laps of downtown Spokane, we ultimately found a suitably cheap and generic Italian restaurant at which to engorge ourselves on pasta and salad. Appropriately enough, we dined amid a sea of cycling paraphernalia, with wheels and bikes adorning the walls and ceiling. The only thing missing was cycling videos on the TV! The mood at dinner was quite boisterous, with *considerable* red wine consumed by certain members of OSU. Of course, the Dawgs, knowing that the gauntlet was to be thrown down tomorrow, wisely abstained from consuming any alcohol. Who knows, that red wine could have cost OSU the conference championship… James tried to convince everyone to participate in the 1st annual Frozen Flatlands Downtown Spokane Naked Criterium, but since there was some question as to how many points would be awarded, no one took him up on it. We eventually made it back to the Richards’ house, where a little R&R was in order before we went to bed. Sunday morning. We awoke to beautiful blue skies, and relatively warm temperatures. After a quick breakfast, we loaded up and headed to Cheney for the road race. A relatively flat course, basically one big loop for the B’s and women, two for the A’s. Very, very windy. The B race was basically about fighting for shelter from the cross-winds. Those who failed to understand the concept of echelons would pay the price, as ultimately half the combined collegiate B/Cat4/5/Masters B field seemed to disappear by the end. Not surprisingly, the crosswinds discouraged any early attacks, and the race stayed together until the last few miles. Mr. Philbrick deserves a commendation for saving the peloton from certain destruction in the early miles. Somehow his front Cosmic began shredding another rider’s shoe at about 25 mph, but they both mangaged to avoid crashing and taking out the field. Unfortunately, this mishap spelled the end of Ken’s race b/c he was unable to brave through the vicious winds to get back to the field after a wheel change. Joe’s race also ended prematurely in a horrific encounter with the pavement early on. Thus, the battle was carried on by Michael, Jeremy, Dan, and myself. Fast forward to the end of the race. Several miles out, the pace began to pick up, eventually stringing the remaining field out into single file. I was expecting the finish to be mega fast, since we came out on the same road in a headwind, but evidently the wind had changed direction in the interim. So there was not going to be any 50 mph finishes. Instead, one brave 4/5 soloed in from a couple of miles out, while the rest of us just stared at his disappearing wheel. I thought about trying to bridge, but (1) didn’t think I could avoid dragging the field up since I was at the front, and (2) I didn’t care that much since I was trying to win the collegiate race first and foremost. Anyways, a little later, an OSU guy tried to roll off the front, but I chased him down. In the process of chasing him down, a small gap opened up between a few riders, and suddenly there was a small group of ~5 collegiate and 4/5’s off the front. A couple of the 4/5’s took off in the end, while the collegiate guys, one WSU, an OSU, and myself, marked each other. With 1K to go the WSU guy accelerated a little bit, dropping the OSU, while I just sat on his wheel and came around him in the last 100m. I believe Jeremy came in 5th, Mike 6th, and Dan 10th. When Jeremy has a race without a mechanical, the rest of the field better watch out (his seat came loose a few miles into the start of the race)! The trip home was straightforward, with only a slight delay involving looking for a dead battery in a certain bike racer’s van… A very enjoyable weekend was had by all, I believe. I think the Richards deserve another round of thanks for hosting the Dawgs, and I think everyone deserves kudos for rallying on Sunday to reassert our presence in the conference, especially K.C. I don’t know if that OSU guy busted his helmet, but *he* certainly didn’t race on Sunday… ‘nuff said. Cheers, BL ------------------------------------------- Benjamin Leung Priess Lab / Division of Basic Sciences Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center 1100 Fairview Avenue, MS A3-013 P.O. Box 19024 Seattle, WA 98109-1024 (206) 667-4525 phone (206) 667-3650 fax AIM:drbikeben ------------------------------------------- ------=_NextPart_000_000A_01BF9F1E.FFDD6D40 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Here’s my take on the entire Spokane weekend, having witnessed it firsthand from start to = finish…

 

After a = delay of a couple of hours (caused by the emergence of the entire population of = Seattle from their caves to witness the novelty of sunshine), a group of 11 = brave souls headed for Spokane:  K.C., = Beth, Tyler, Brian, Michael, Joe, Ken, James, Dan, Jeremy, and myself.  The drive out was relatively uneventful, except for a few half-hearted attempts by the van drivers = (Brian and Ben) to drop each other.  = But the successive attacks were neturalized, and we settled into a cruising = speed of 80 mph, arriving at chez Richards at around 11 pm.  A big thanks needs to go out to K.C.’s parents = for providing a Dawghouse for the weekend—it was a key component to our = performances!

 

Saturday = morning—after a fine repast of oatmeal and pancakes, we headed over to Spokane = International Raceway, which ended up being a glorified go-kart track.  Upon arrival, we discovered = that all the race lengths had been cut in half, and to add insult to injury, the = B men had been moved all the way back to a 5:30 pm start!  Despite valiant efforts to stay rested and hydrated throughout the day, the warm Eastern sunshine took its toll on me, as = well as others, I’m sure.  I = was not feeling very spunky by the time our race started, as the sun began to = set.

 

The crit = was a hybrid points race, with several primes for points during the = race—5,3,2,1.  However, standard crit points = placings were awarded to the overall winners, so I decided to save my meager = sprint reserves for the final dash.  = The only thing notable about the course, which was a half-mile oval, was the = fact that there was a huge headwind coming into the finishing straight.  The fact that the course was = closed made sprinting a little easier, since you could swarm all over the = road.  The other B’s, most = notably our sprintmeister Ken, chose to dice it up during the primes.  Michael Pierce gets the pat on = the back for not crashing when a MSU rider spazzed out and flicked his bike 3 = feet over to the right, directly into Mike’s path.  An OSU rider was not so lucky, and went down hard in the final = laps, in the same place K.C. crashed, if I’m not mistaken.  Unfortunately for him, the killer B field is a lot = less forgiving than the women’s field—he had a big welt on his = head from getting run over!  I saw him later = that night, and he seemed to be OK, although a little worse for the wear.  Anyways, with two laps to go, = four OSU guys went to the front, vainly trying to set themselves up for the win. = Dan made a last lap attack, holding everyone off until the last = half-lap.   Also arriving at the front was my arch-nemesis from = MSU, Peter Ford (what is it with these guys?  Is it something in the beef?).  In the end, an Oregon rider won, Peter came in second, an OSU (?) = guy came in 3rd, and I came in = 4th.

 

After = the race, there was talk of having a collegiate van race between OSU, Oregon, and = UW, but saner heads prevailed, and we settled for a quick lap around the track = on our own.  Half the team went = back to the Richards’ to cook dinner, while a few- Ty, James, Jeremy, = Beth, and I-- chose to break bread with our fellow racers in downtown Spokane.  After doing several laps of = downtown Spokane, we ultimately found a suitably cheap and generic Italian = restaurant at which to engorge ourselves on pasta and salad.  Appropriately enough, we dined amid a sea of cycling = paraphernalia, with wheels and bikes adorning the walls and ceiling.  The only thing missing was cycling videos on the = TV!  The mood at dinner was quite boisterous, with *considerable* red wine consumed by certain members of OSU.  Of course, the Dawgs, knowing that the gauntlet was = to be thrown down tomorrow, wisely abstained from consuming any alcohol.  Who knows, that red wine could = have cost OSU the conference championship… James tried to convince = everyone to participate in the 1st annual Frozen Flatlands Downtown = Spokane Naked Criterium, but since there was some question as to how many points = would be awarded, no one took him up on it.  We eventually made it back to the Richards’ house, where a = little R&R was in order before we went to = bed.

 

Sunday morning.  We awoke to = beautiful blue skies, and relatively warm temperatures.  After a quick breakfast, we loaded up and headed to = Cheney for the road race.  A = relatively flat course, basically one big loop for the B’s and women, two for = the A’s.  Very, very windy.  The B race was basically about = fighting for shelter from the cross-winds.  Those who failed to understand the concept of echelons would pay = the price, as ultimately half the combined collegiate B/Cat4/5/Masters B = field seemed to disappear by the end.  Not surprisingly, the crosswinds discouraged any early attacks, = and the race stayed together until the last few miles.  Mr. Philbrick deserves a commendation for saving the = peloton from certain destruction in the early miles.  Somehow his front Cosmic began shredding another = rider’s shoe at about 25 mph, but they both mangaged to avoid crashing and = taking out the field.  Unfortunately, = this mishap spelled the end of Ken’s race b/c he was unable to brave = through the vicious winds to get back to the field after a wheel change.  Joe’s race also ended = prematurely in a horrific encounter with the pavement early on.  Thus, the battle was carried on by Michael, Jeremy, = Dan, and myself.

 

Fast = forward to the end of the race.  Several = miles out, the pace began to pick up, eventually stringing the remaining field = out into single file.  I was = expecting the finish to be mega fast, since we came out on the same road in a = headwind, but evidently the wind had changed direction in the interim.  So there was not going to be = any 50 mph finishes.  Instead, one = brave 4/5 soloed in from a couple of miles out, while the rest of us just stared = at his disappearing wheel.  I thought about = trying to bridge, but (1) didn’t think I could avoid dragging the field up = since I was at the front, and (2) I didn’t care that much since I was trying to = win the collegiate race first and foremost.  Anyways, a little later, an OSU guy tried to roll off the front, = but I chased him down.  In the = process of chasing him down, a small gap opened up between a few riders, and = suddenly there was a small group of ~5 collegiate and 4/5’s off the = front.  A couple of the 4/5’s = took off in the end, while the collegiate guys, one WSU, an OSU, and myself, marked each other.  With 1K to go the = WSU guy accelerated a little bit, dropping the OSU, while I just sat on his = wheel and came around him in the last 100m.  I believe Jeremy came in 5th, Mike 6th, and = Dan 10th.  When Jeremy has a race without = a mechanical, the rest of the field better watch out (his seat came loose = a few miles into the start of the race)!

 

The trip = home was straightforward, with only a slight delay involving looking for a dead = battery in a certain bike racer’s van…  A very enjoyable weekend was had by all, I believe.  I think the Richards deserve another round of thanks = for hosting the Dawgs, and I think everyone deserves kudos for rallying on = Sunday to reassert our presence in the conference, especially K.C.  I don’t know if that OSU = guy busted his helmet, but *he* = certainly didn’t race on Sunday… ‘nuff = said.

 

Cheers,

 

BL<= /span>

 

 

-------------------------------------------<= /font><= /p>

Benjamin Leung

Priess Lab / Division of Basic Sciences<= /p>

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center<= /p>

1100 Fairview Avenue, MS A3-013<= /p>

P.O. Box 19024

Seattle, WA 98109-1024

(206) 667-4525 phone

(206) 667-3650 fax

AIM:drbikeben<= /p>

-------------------------------------= ------<= /p>

 <= /p>

------=_NextPart_000_000A_01BF9F1E.FFDD6D40-- .