FLCC> Tuesday night commentary

[Glenn Swan]

	I too have missed write-ups about Tuesday night races. The busy bike shop 
kept me from coming out on many Tuesday nights early in the season, and 
still keeps me from hanging out much afterward, or writing race reports. We 
lose a little bit of social fabric when we don't get to "recap" and review 
our shared rides.
	When we prepared to roll out on the ride, I was a little nervous. I was 
tired from my hard ride at Natz, and the long drive home. There was Danny 
T, Matt Shechtman, Ryan Morris, a visiting Field Failing, who has been 
racing on the big scene all summer, as well as Steve Frattini, Nick 
Robertson, and Andy Melnychenko and another handful of known good riders 
plus a couple of unknowns...  We ripped across Midline at 30+mph and I 
noticed that I was working pretty hard and I wasn't even at the front, as 
small groups threatened to crack it open. As usual, Danny T was floating 
along with whoever was raging at the front, looking as though he could 
shift it up a gear at any moment and drop us all like stones. (which is 
true...) I got a few small licks in, but never with any expectation of 
escaping this group. Up Ellis Hollow South a few rolled off and I noticed 
that few people were willing to lead the chase, and in fact, the group got 
a little smaller over the top. There was some tenderizing going on at our 
speed. The effects of the tenderization process became evident as we 
climbed Hurd Rd. Things pretty well shattered, leaving the lead group that 
Ano Garcia described. I tried to keep the pace fairly high to maintain the 
separations and tenderize the others in the lead group as we rode down to 
rt79 and up Ellis Hollow South. Matt Shechtman vaporized and to my surprise 
Andy M disappeared when we turned up Ringwood. This left Danny (still 
looking like he was waiting for someone to step up and actually "race") Ano 
Garcia and me. I certainly would not have put any money on Ano and me being 
the last ones standing from the group that started the race. I kept the 
pace pretty firm into the climb on Ringwood, hoping that Ano might be 
tired, and then I squeezed harder on the final steep pitch. A gap opened. I 
was sure I had broken him. Over the top I poured it on, and then to my 
horror, Ano pulled right up alongside me !  He had dug really deep and 
mowed me right back down. Hmmmmmm. Over the hill and on to the Observatory 
I decided to be careful with him, and just save it for the final short 
(well, not so short at the end of a race) pitch to the finish. Alas, Ano 
had talked himself into his mental "1K to go" mindset and all that was left 
was for Danny to blow my doors off to the top. As Ano noted, the remaining 
riders came in in ones and twos, having been ripped apart by the climbs and 
sustained speeds.
	Danny noted that there are relatively few riders doing much attacking this 
year. I have made the same observation some weeks. In some cases I am sure 
it is a lack of perceived fitness on the part of riders who are afraid they 
will get dropped if they make hard attacks and then get caught. On the 
other hand, it is precisely that attacking (and recovery) which tends to 
make us faster and fitter through the season. It is difficult for me to 
judge whether this is a fast year for Tuesday nights, since such judgements 
are made through glasses tinted with one's own age and fitness. I tend to 
see some eras (Chris Peck/Peter Vollers etc.) as "Golden Ages" of Tuesday 
night racing, but we keep no records of speeds or times, so it will always 
remain subjective...I might make the observation that the performances of 
Ernie Bayles and myself, as two old men, still contesting these races with 
some degree of success does not make me think that some of the young guns 
have reached their highest potential....  What do you think of that ?

Glenn