CBR Season Opener Race Report- NOW men

I wanted to give you all a flavor of what happened at the CBR Season Opener
race this morning. It was a beautiful day but very cold! Although after
the rain we will take the cold any day.

CAT 4 - Scott Lipe

Scott did the CAT 4 race by himself. He said that it was a little, shall we
say, skittish. There were a number of close calls particularly at the end
of the race. Scott looked very strong, keeping away from the trouble spots
while working on his fitness. Oh yes, almost forgot, he had the best leg
warmers on. I am sure he will break them out again when more people from
the Team come out to race. They were a sight-to-behold! I think they were
pink, with cartoon figures on them (could have been Betty Boop - not sure,
did not want to look too close). Kevin, you would have been impressed, it
looked like both his legs were tattooed! Hilarious! Scott, feel free to
give more details...

30+ CAT 4/5 - John Velez, Nick Hare, Jens Wallrabe

For the 30+ 3/4 race, John, Nick, and I lined up for this 40 minute
extravaganza. All of us viewed this first race as a training "session"
versus a race where we wanted to podium. It was the largest line-up I have
ever been amongst, with over 100 racers. There were a number of teams with
many team members, for instance La Grange had 7 to 8 team members, South Bay
Wheelmen had about 6 racers, etc, etc....and then there was us. Three!

The race started and there was instantly a free-for-all as people were
battling just to be in the front third of the race. We all managed to do
that and stay there for most the race. There were probably 7-10 unsafe
riders one had to really watch out for. For instance, there was one guy
whose brakes kept on squealing really loudly, which made a few people
nervous to the point where every time he applied the brakes people would
yell at him "fucking amateur!"

I felt VERY strong even with a tendon and calf problem. But I have
progressed somewhat as a bike rider to understand that there is no reason to
attempt fate, get over excited, push really hard, and make the injuries
worse. So, I stayed true to my game plan of staying as close to the front
as possible with no heroics! Looking at John and Nick they too looked
strong...NO one was going to push the NOW boys around!

What I could not understand was that none of the teams were working
together! They were all riding as individuals. During the race I talked to
myself. I said "Self - when we get our Team line-up sorted, ride together
some more, participate in a couple of coaching sessions together, I think we
are going to make a big impression. We, the NOW-MS Society, 3/4/5 Masters
Men are going to be the team to beat!"

At "Five laps to go" the energy of the peloton was pulsating! There was
quite a bit of shoving, yelling "keep your line mutha fukka!" (Actually,
that could have been me who yelled that...). With 3 or 4 more laps to go
there was a crash just after one of the corners on the straight! What the
hell! Our own John Velez went down over the rider who caused the crash (I
think a total of 4 riders went down). Like a true NOW trooper he got up and
rejoined the race!!!

We came in with the front third of the peloton. John has a sore wrist and
hand, but no broken bones. We are all happy about that! Heal quickly john.
In the immortal words of Vanilla Ice - "Ice, ice baby!"

So, to sum up then: Personally, all I wanted to do was stay in the peloton
and work on my fitness within the context of a race. Mission accomplished!
I had a blast racing with John and Nick (and seeing Scott in his tights!).
I am so looking forward for this season. I have a feeling we are going to be
putting forward a strong team!

Jens