Friday, April 25, 2008

Robert Ramirez Gives Us His Perspective Of Sea Otter

Note From The Editor; This is not your standard G rated race report, so read at your own risk!

Cat 5 35+ Road Race: This race is really fun. There were like 40 guys all like me racing it. Brett Harrison was there to, we made quite the pair. We all had to wait 2 hours to start however, so I was able to go to the bathroom a couple more times, what a relief. My goal was to not get dropped.

On the first hill, I got dropped. Then on the 2nd hill (there are 2 hills in the race) I got dropped again. But then I was able to stick with the group for 2 straight laps and was feeling good, until my chain popped off at the bottom of the hill. I said my final good by’s to the group and rode 2 laps solo. Gabe and Mitch were passing out water bottles, but messed it up and gave my bottle of EPO to someone else and I had to drink water. On the final long climb home, as I was passing the spot where Matt Benko was rescued last year, and out of sympathy I think, I cramped. I got back to the trailer at about 8 PM and ate pasta. I had a beer (actually 2) and put on the streatchy pants.

Sport MTB Race: At 6 AM the next morning, I got up to get ready for the MTB race. It was cold. I made Kim coffee. The Race was more fun than the road race. There were about 100 guys just like me, except about 55 were faster than me. I started strong, ripping it up! I then cramped. Then I crashed. After a few minutes, I cramped again! I rode home happy but blowing sand out of my nose for quite some time. When I got back to the trailer, I ate pasta again, had a few more beers and hung out with the kids. It was way fun with all the families there and the 17 kids who were camping with us. I was able to sneak down to the podium and take a picture of Matt’s podium where he got 2nd in the circuit race, see below.



Way to Go Matt!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That picture has obviously been photo-shopped.......My arms aren't that fat......and I would never wear black gloves.......with mustard yellow shorts.....they clash.


Matt

Rob said...

Zinger.......

Greg Knowles said...

I think I've seen Billy Idol in an outfit like that. Hmmmm, makes me wonder.

Anonymous said...

Look Rob, even the pros drop their chains--does this sound familiar? (from Velonews report on the Tour of Georgia team time trial):

"Slipstream entered the climb in the small chain ring each lap, a tactic designed to avoid the type of disaster that befell Bissell’s Tom Zirbel, a top-10 finisher in the individual time trial of February’s Amgen Tour of California.

Zirbel dropped his chain on the second lap and never regained contact with his teammates. In order to make up for Zirbel’s absence and keep the pace high, Bissell’s Ben Jacques-Maynes sacrificed himself, taking a “monster pull” on the flatter backside of the course before swinging off.

In the end Bissell finished ninth, with just four riders — Richard England, Garrett Peltonen, Edward King and Jeremy Vennell.

“We saw other teams having problems with their chains on the hill, and we made the decision that everyone would come into the climb in the small ring,” Danielson said. “Our mechanics dialed in our bikes, and we didn’t have any problems.”"

Esquire