Moved my registration to masters field. Pretty low reg count and I'm hoping I can hang.

Looks this stranger is going to join the old folks. I'll be dropped quickly ; )

Adam awesome! Let's link up in the morning and see if we can hatch a little game plan. Some big legs and lungs in the masters that I'm not sure I can match going up the climbs but I'm hoping to hang tough and see what I can do on the rollers.

Results?  Bros?

Trying to be brief:

• Registration was a mess: Alex actually emailed the night before saying there may be traffic so everyone should leave the city early. We got there just about an hour before start times at 10a and there were maybe 30 people already there. Nothing was set up. We stood around for 20 mins while they set up reg desk.
• Even after they set up the table they split up the lines for "A-K" and "L-Y" last names. The problem was they didn't tell anyone and so anyone getting to the line after the initial announcement picked the first line (A-K) and if they had an L-Y last name, they would just move them over to the front of that line. So yeah one of the lines basically moved 2x faster.
• The start time was obviously delayed and then rushed and there was no real announcement to line up, people just sort of saw a moshpit of riders and moved toward the start. Alex essentially chastised the 1/2/3 riders for not registering early and said he almost cancelled their race field.
• At some point the chief referee decided to combine the Masters fields with the 3/4 but Alex didn't announce it so the fact basically spread through the mosh pit of riders as a rumor and everyone was confused and pissed off right up until the whistle blew.
• I definitely did not have the legs or lungs (or heart rate) and got popped a few minutes into the first climb. I kept my training leading up to it pretty low key, but definitely some underlying fatigue built up.
• Max crashed at the first hair pin. Luckily it was minor and he only came away with some road rash. I didn't find out until he came up behind me and Adam. Max rode with us for a minute and finished out the lap and DNFed.
• Adam and I TTT'd for about 2 laps along with random other riders we came across. There was one notable unaffiliated rider who kept yo-yoing off the front of us only to be caught as we kept a steady pace. He eventually fell off the back of one of the groups we latched on to.
• Somewhere on lap 2 we caught onto a fast-ish 4/5 field train and when I got dropped during a climb I looked back and Adam was gone.
• During lap 3 as I was on the roundabout heading to lakeside, a car wandered onto the course and kept veering towards me and I eventually almost came to a standstill as the driver was obviously not paying attention and was about to sideswipe me. I started yelling "STOP" while 3 marshals and park police literally watched on without attempting to tell her there was a bike race happening and she was about to run someone over. I said some choice words to the marshal as I rode away from that shitshow.
• I basically soloed most of lap 3 and decided to cut my losses and rolled in for a DNF. I thought I had 2 more to go, but truthfully I was over it at that point and would not have done another lap to officially finish anyway.
• Not sure if Adam rounded all 4 laps, but kudos to him for killing it up the climbs.
• Blake finished his race! Kudos!
• Max who was hanging out at the start finish apparently saw Alex and the officials get into it with each other. Alex was demanding why the finish camera was not set up and the officials reminded him that it was not their job.

All in all a fun road trip with homies, but wish I had better fitness and the race itself was better organized and run.

Onto the next!

Not much to add.  Was trying to come around someone who looked uncomfortable and speed wobbly a bit too close to the hairpin, took the outside (probably too fast) and some sand/pebbles to boot didn't help, and I washed out.  Looking at my strava file, took me about 35 seconds to get moving again.

For a bit I thought maybe I could chase back but I was banged up, hoods all cockeyed and bleeding from my hand pretty bad (the wound itself is actually pretty minor).  Got to Dave, rolled with him for a bit before just spinning for the rest of the lap to finish line to get cleaned up. 

The ego is bruised more than my body, and the bike is alright as well.  They say the prefrontal cortex isn't fully developed until 25, but I may be evidence that at 28 its risk assessment is still not 100%. Likely never will be for me lol.  Bummer that is how I close off my season, though it was a good one on the whole.

Sorry to hear that the race was not well organized, I am not too surprised, but that truly sucks.

Delayed recap here. Echoing all of Dave's comments.. While I was a total mess it was pretty funny all things considered. I wouldn't say it was the fyre fest of races, but not far off. Evidenced by my name being 46th of at least 53 who finished on road results (but not on alex's official results..?). I petitioned, but I digress. there were 63 registered, but no idea who many actually lined up day-of. E

My race was tough. Given I am not a climber, I knew I was in for a hard race no matter what and I was racing entirely for fitness and to try a different format on the road vs park circuit (the only real races I've done besides a failed gran fondo endeavor last year). I ended up having a lot of fun and putting out a bunch of my best numbers ever.. all-time PRs for 10m, 60m, and 90m power; 60m and 90m HR. Very happy with that despite not training as regularly lately. 

Was bummed to finish and learn of Dave and Max's struggles. I had been wondering why they hadn't lapped me yet... 

To add to all thee excellent reporting: 

-- That speed wobble guy was probably me. The start was totally chaotic and was supposed to be neutral on the fast downhill but everyone just went full gas immediately. My lungs were burning and I hit the cement on a bridge and my bike went into a terrifying speed wobble which was impossible to stop. The only way you can get that to stop is to pin your knees to the top tube and slow down as quickly as possible, which wasn't really possible given I was hemmed in as we hit the hair pin. Very sketchy moment. I really hope I didn't contribute to Max's crash. 

-- I clung to Dave's wheel for dear life as he did most of the pulling (thank god!). As he noticed, I got dropped after he joined the fast guys. I thought I might see him eventually as we were both pretty gassed from the start, but I never did. 

-- Being the masochist that I am, I finished out all 4 laps but the finish line was all wrapped up by the time I got there, which was a bummer given it was a herculean effort to complete and it will be scored as a DNF. 

-- I wasn't totally surprised by my lack of fitness but I thought I might have been able to hang for at least 1 lap with the big group. But having the masters all mixed up with other groups made things less than ideal.

-- I wonder if when there is such a hard start whether it would be better to just ride my pace and not get gassed doing 700 watts right off the batt. Starting the race with that much lactate burn is not a good time. 

-- As Dave put it on Strava, this race was a shit show. I vow not to do another Alex race if this is how he organizes things. I also saw ambulance come for someone who hit the deck during the climb at one point. Bad mojo all around. 

-- Congrats to Blake for surviving in style!

@AdamYaffe it certainly wasn't you, some young kid in pink- and by no means are they to blame either way!