David Adler takes 3rd at Torrance

I pulled up to the Torrance race in my dirty truck, unshaven legs and unshaven face but had the best looking kit. Looking around I recognized nobody. Where are the Novitch brothers, Barry, Wes, Dana, Scott, Jens, Paul, John, Howard, Phil (I know where he was) and the other Cat 4 old guys? Suddenly the loneliness set in. Grabbing a Prozac I began my warm up. You may know by now that my brain goes into overdrive when I’m on the bike. As I was warming up it dawned on me that I if suck today nobody will know…in fact I could even deny I was at the race. Then I became a bit concerned about my pre race nutrition. I was overly carbo loaded with 2 days of pizza and kids birthday cakes not to mention the garbage I ate at the little league snack stand. Once again…it didn’t matter…nobody here knows me. With all the pressure gone and the Prozac taking effect it was time to race.

Torrance is a very short course….1/2 mile, flat, smooth…lap times are about a minute. Conditions were warm and windy but I’m sure not as hot as Chucks race. The race started fast and because of the wind it was more strung out than usual for a Cat 4 crit. There was an early break that jumped to a 30 second lead. I joined a group that had 2 guys from Ironfly, 1 guy from Cal Pools and the tattooed guy. We were able to cover the break and for the rest of the race we worked together and covered 2 other breaks. I need to stay in the top 10 the entire race because those were the race instructions from my Velo-Fit coach Chris Plourde and I always do what he says. I figured the tattooed guy was a strong rider because all the riders I know with tattoos are fast, Antony, Johnny, Louise, etc. There were quite a few guys from Ironfly and ShoAir controlling the race and it was frustrating for me and tattoo guy. With 3 laps to go tattoo guy took off and I went with him. Because of the great coaching I get from Velo-fit I knew I could hang on for 3 laps which was only 3 more minutes. Coming around the last corner in 4th place I took tattoo guy’s wheel and some other guy came around the outside of both of us. I crossed the line 3rd and was stoked to have my first podium.

I waited for the official results, had the podium picture taken and got a check for $50 that is on its way to the U25 team.

Maybe none of this actually happened…it could have been a dream….nobody will ever know J

Cheers,

David (the lonely guy)