HäMMER RACING TEAM |
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Tuesday October 27
It's now Tuesday afternoon and I am home sick with a nasty cold. It was made all the worse due to not sleeping the last 3 nights since my system is still on Aussie time. I expect I'll sleep well tonight and should be back to work tomorrow.
So, we left off with everyone finished with their racing except for yours truely. I had made it to the final round for the Bronze medal. Let me tell you how hard the new sprint format is. It's hard....it's simply exhausting. On Thursday we did our 200meter qualifier in the morning which of course required a good warmup and staying warmed up until time to qualify. Then it's hang out at the Track until the afternoon session and the first round of sprints. This of course requires the same warmup, stay warm, race and cooldown. Now it's hang out until the evening session with requires the same. After 15 hours at the track on Thursday, I earned the prize of coming back the next day and doing the same thing, only each session had at least 2 rounds of sprints and if you didn't win both or lose both you got 3 rides, as all rounds now were "best of 3" to win. I was actually doing pretty well. I won all my rides on Thursday. One ride was easy the other was pretty darn hard. Then on Friday I had to race the 3rd seeded rider (I qualified 6th, but 3rd through 7th were all very close on time). I won both rides in the morning and was feeling pretty good. In the afternoon session for the semi-final I was to race the 2nd seeded rider. I won the first ride and was feeling good about my chances to get into the gold medal final. Well, that's when all the rounds started to catch up with me and I just ran out of gas. In the second ride I lost by literally inches. It was a photo finish that even I wasn't sure who won. They gave it to Paul Jackson, my opponent and that meant a 3rd ride which was a "winner take all". I didn't even come close. Then in the evening was the ride for the Bronze and guess what? The top seed was knocked out in the semi-finals, so I got to race him for the Medal. The first ride was actually pretty good and I made him work for it. The second ride wasn't so good, which meant I ended up in 4th place, one off the podium.
All in all, I was glad to be back in the mix and having a chance for a medal. I came darn close, but no cigar. It gives me motivation and inspiration to come back and get that medal next year.
Next was all the packing and saying goodbye and the long flight home. Mike Paulin and I landed Saturday at ~4pm. Let me tell you, it was soooooo good to be home. That was a long trip!
So now that I am home, I've had time to look back on the last two weeks and reflect. It was a good trip overal, but like all others there were some highlights and some lowlights. The lowlight was most definitely having Mike Paulin get very sick after being there just a few days and that pretty much shot his chances for racing well. He had worked so hard all year and was poised to make a very good showing, but it wasn't to be this trip. The highlights were seeing Mike and Tony stand on the podium for the World Masters Games and recieving their Silver Medal. That was awesome. It was also great to see old friends and we made some new friends too. That's something I really value. What I brought back this year were the memories that we'll all talk about for years to come. That's the real "Gold Medal".
Thank you for sharing this years journey with us. I hope you enjoyed the reports and were able to watch some of the racing. Thanks for being a part of those wonderful memories.
Friday, October 23
(update from Mike Dancel)
Rich has been busy racing so he asked me to send a quick update.
I believe the last time Rich left you we were getting ready to do the Flying 200meter TT.
From memory...(which is not so good so don't quote me)
In the first round of sprints Rich easily made it through his rounds. Mike P still suffering from his flu had a good effort but was not able to beat his opponent. Tony got the priviledge to race Justin Grace who did the fastest qualifier out of everyone here. Tony gave him a good run but in the end fell short.
That night Mike P, Tony and I had some good dessert and drinks and toasted to the end of long successful season. Rich sat there jealous because he was the only one that had to race.
Rich fought his way through to the semifinals winning each ride pretty handily. You could really see his form coming along. In the semis Rich faced Paul Jackson form Australia. Rich won round 1. In rounds 2 and 3, Paul rode very well and was able to hold Rich off.
Rich races for the bronze later tonight and we then pack it up to get ready for the long flight home. One thing is unanimous here, we miss our family and friends and can't wait to get home. Thanks for all the support this year.
October 19-21, 2009
I left you off right before Mike Paulin's 750 and Tony's Kilometer TT on Monday evening. Mike rode a pretty good time but after spending a week in bed with the flu he wasn't as fast as last week. He rode a 53.3 for 9th place. Tony rode a darn good Kilo dropping a whopping 9 seconds off his Kilo from last year going 1:11.166 and placing 17th in a field of 52 riders. He rode it like a pro!
Yesterday was an off day for us as it was pursuit day. We went to the track so I could call splits for Vic Williams and so we could see Larry Nolan and Jim Host battle it out. Vic had a good ride and finished 6th or 7th. Larry Nolan broke Ian Hallam's 10 year old world record in the 2k pursuit by a full second going 2:17.0 ! Rich Gangl will tell you how amazing a time like that is. Tony, Erin and Mike went to the Sydney Aquarium to see the fishies. No word on whether they saw Nemo. Later we all did a short workout to prepare for the team sprint and called it an early night.
Today was team sprint. I was more nervous and amped up than usual. I guess all the preparation, plans and hopes for a team sprint medal were playing in the back of my head. Mike P and I took it real easy this morning. We picked up Mike Dancel at 11 and headed over to the track for a leisurely warm-up. Team sprints were scheduled to start at 1:30. Warm-ups went well and before we knew it, 1:30 rolled around and it was time to race. There were 11 heats with 2 teams each heat for a total of 22 teams today. That's a lot of teams for the team sprint. Tony and Mike Dancel were riding with Jim Kloss. They were the 3rd heat and had a good ride going 52.7. They ended up placing 14th. Mike Paulin, Matt Diefenbach and myself were in the 8th heat. We didn't have the ride we were hoping for coming up about a second short of what we thought we could do and rode a 50.5 for 6th place and missing out of qualifying for the medal round. We would have had to be in the top 4 to do that. We are very disappointed to say the least.
Now we are looking forward to the sprints tomorrow and Friday. If all goes well Tony, the Mike brothers and myself will be sprinting for 2 days. 200m qualifying and two rounds of sprints tomorrow. If we get through that we'll have quarterfinals on Friday morning. If we make it passed the quarterfinals then we get semifinal's on Friday afternoon and Finals on Friday evening.
October 18-19, 2009
News Flash:
Yesterday was Sunday and it was the day before the first day of the UCI Masters World Track Championships. It's been a long week and we are more than ready for racing to start. Our plan was to relax in the morning and then head to the Track at 11 oclock. Noon was the scheduled training time for Team Sprint practice. This is when they bring out the starting gates so Teams registered for the team sprint can practice starting while using the gates. We used this start practice as part of our workout to prepare for the Track Time Trial events on Monday. Our first start went very well. The second start didn't go as well. Actually, once we did the start it went fine. Before our second start they put my bike I in the start gate, and the fellow taking care of setting me in the gate leaned on the gate causing in to slide down the track and taking my bike with me on it. I ended up with a tweaked back and a nice gash on the back of my leg. Worse though was the fact that it put two large holes in my disc wheel. I was pretty upset to say the least. I sure hope it's repairable. The rest of the workout went well and we left the track feeling pretty good about our team sprint. I think we are ready to go. The team sprint is on Wednesday afternoon, which means it'll be around 8pm Tuesday night in Colorado.
After the workout, Mike Paulin and I headed to the airport to exchange our rental car as we were still driving the smaller vehicle they gave us last week. I called and was told the correct vehicle was ready for us. Well, when we arrived we were told that nobody let them know so we had to wait for them to get one ready. Over an hour later we had our replacement vehicle and were heading back to our rooms. We went to dinner at the Sizzler Steakhouse with Jim Host, Reid Schwartz and Mark Rodamaker. I think we'll be passing on the Sizzler next time. The company was good, but the food was not so good.
This morning we got up and had breakfast followed by a room change. We needed a different room because last night there was a party in our bathroom. The biggest cockroach I've ever seen was hosting a party for several of his friends. We now, hopefully,have a room that is roachless. Then it was off to the track to get ready to race. My 500meter time trial was scheduled for the afternoon session and Mike P and Tony have theirs tonight. I had a huge group with 35 competetors. My heat was near the end so after warming up it was 2 hours until I rode. I had a pretty good ride going 35.918 which was only .2 off my best sea level 500, so I was pretty happy with that. I finish in 5th place just .1 behind Larry Nolan. I feel pretty good about that too!
It's now between sessions and Mike is napping before we head back to the track for him to warmup for his 750TT. Tony will be doing a Kilometer TT tonight too.
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October 15, 1009
It's Friday afternoon at 2pm and I am sitting at the Track in the internet access area. We just finish a good Track workout so I am taking a few minutes to update y'all on the last few days. Mike Paulin was feeling better and actually took a road trip with us to Manly Beach yesterday, but today he is back in bed and not doing too well. So he is back in the room sleeping the day away.
Wednesday was our first day of no racing and prep for UCI World masters. We took the day pretty easy as we were pretty beat up from the World Masters Games. We spent the day getting a track workout in and then food shopping. Mike Dancel and I went to Olympic Park to get our World Games medals engraved and that pretty much took up the day.
Yesterday (Thursday) was another Track workout and a pretty hard one. We got in some really good efforts and then met with Jim Host and Reid Schwartz for a trip to downtown Sydney where we met Tony and Erin. After spending an hour finding parking ($45 for the evening!) we took a Ferry to the end of Sydney Harbor to Manly Beach. A short walk to the beach and dinner was next. It was a beautiful day to sit, have a nice meal and hang out for the afternoon. A stop for the best ice cream I have ever had was next before getting on the Ferry for the trip back to Sydney. Then we had a nice time getting lost on the way back to our rooms and ended up going over the Harbor Bridge twice before we were on the right road home. Driving on the left side of the road is always nerve wracking and I'll be glad to be back to normal driving in the good 'ol US of A.
We have two more days of prepartation before the UCI World Masters Track Championships start. Day one will be all the Time Trials. Tony Digiolamo has a Kilo TT, Mike Paulin has a 750 TT and I have a 500TT. I am not sure about the other categories, but I have 40 riders in mine. The turnout this year is huge. I understand 420 are competing this year! A lot of familiar faces are arriving today. On the way to the track we say Vic Williams and his Family walking down the street. We gave them a ride back to the rooms. Mark Rodamaker and Steve Sawelson showed up today. Team USA in arriving and it is feeling like 'ol times!
October 12-13 2009
It's been a busy, tiring, frustrating and exhilarating two days.Mike
Paulin has been sick with the flu and pretty miserable. He saw the
doctor today and was prescribed tamiflu which he took and is starting
to feel much better. It was frustrating for him to miss his sprints
following his quarterfinal win and to miss doing the Team Sprint today.
Still the bigger races are next week and hopefully his racing then will
make up for it.
Yesterday was sprint day. Mike Paulin went first and took 2 rides (all
were "best out of 3" to move on) to beat his opponent and move on
to the semi-finals. This is when he started feeling very poorly and
couldn't continue. He felt so bad he had to scratch from the rest of his
sprints. Erin and Tony had arrived from the US at that point, so Erin took
Mike back to the room to rest. He didn't look good and that's pretty rare
for Mike! That left only me to sprint. I won both my quarterfinal rides
and that was it for my good sprinting. I lost the semi-final round in two
straight. That put me in the ride for the Bronze against Keith Williams.
The last time I raced Keith was a final in Manchester in 2004. I won that
one, but this time he got some payback as he beat me in two straight races.
I just didn't have my "usual" stuff last night. So after 6 sprints I
finished just out of the medals in 4th place. I was pretty toasted too as
that's a long day of sprinting.
Today was a sunny, warm and windy day. Since it's an indoor track,
the wind obviously didn't play a part in the racing, but the sun and
warmth did. It was 75 degrees in the Velodrome at race time. Today was
the last day of racing for the World Masters Games and we had the Team
Sprint on the schedule. We had two teams ready to go. There were two
age categories. After adding up the ages of the riders on each team
sprint they would fall into either the under 135 or the 135 and over
category. Tony Digiorlamo and Mike Dancel hooked up with Todd Hayes
from Michigan to race in the under 135 category . I was planning to
ride with Mike Paulin and Matt Diefenbach. Matt hails from the
Trexlertown area.
With Mike P out sick we had to convince Peter
Barnard from Australia to ride with us. At the UCI World Masters Track
Championship which are next week, it is required that a team be made up
of riders from the same country. At the World Masters Games there is no
such requirement, so Peter agreed to ride with us. In the qualifying
rounds of the under 135 category, Mike D, Tony and Todd had a good ride
and qualified to ride off for the Gold with a time of 51.9--. In the
over 135 category, my team rode a 51.1-- and just missed making the
Gold medal ride, but were still in the medal hunt as we were to ride
the final for Bronze. Two hours later were the finals. Mike and Tonys
team improved their time by riding a 51.1 and came within .2 of a
second of winning the Gold. It was a very exiting final to watch. Still
a Silver medal is pretty darn good! My team went well posting a 51.2
and took the Bronze. It was a very good and exhilarating way to end the
competition. Congrats to Tony and Mike D for their first World Medal!!
Also, it was good to see Mike P feeling well enough to come watch the
finals.
We now have 5 days to prepare to the UCI World Masters Championships which start next Monday. Tony will be doing the Kilometer Time Trial, Mike P will be doing the 750TT and I'll be doing the 500TTon Monday. Until then we plan to do daily Track workouts and actually get to do some sightseeing for a change.
Saturday and Sunday Oct 10-11 2009
Since I left off yesterday:
Mike Paulin was warming up for his 750meter TT. The temps were very
cool and close to downright cold as Mike warmed up. Finally it was time
for him to go. He had a good start and a really good ride! Knocking a
full second off his time from last year and going 54.643 he finished in
4th place. It was an excellent ride by Mike. It was great time
considering how chilly it was.
After a break for dinner we returned to the track for our 200 meter sprint qualifiers. The temperatures had lowered even more and by race time they were in the 50's….indoor! Dunc Grey Velodrome is designed to be heated and cooled by the ambient temperatures. It holds the heat or cold as the temperatures go up and down throughout the day. If it's cold long enough, it can get downright chilly inside. Last night it did. Cold temps make for thick, heavy air and thus slow times. I went first and felt really good, but when I made my jump down the home straight for my 200, I felt like I was in slow motion. I couldn't get my rpm's up at all. It showed in my time with a 12.125 which is slower than I have gone in 12 years. Soon enough it became apparent that it was simply a very slow day as all riders were turning in slow times. I ended up qualifying 2nd with that time. With a lower than expected rider turnout I did not have to do a first round ride, so I was done for the night.
Next was Mike Paulin's 200 attempt and he found the same slow conditions. Mike went 11.2 at Nationals and last night he qualified 3rd with an 11.98. He too was done for the night as there was no first round either.
Mike Dancel rode a great 200 for the conditions placing 12th in a
group of 22 riders with a 12.291 and he did have a first round ride.
Drawing the first position, Mike rode well protecting the front and
making a hard jump with just over a lap to go, but was passed as he
approached the finish line. So Mike is out of the Sprints until the
Team Sprint event on Tuesday.
It was a very late night, but not too late for a visit to Adam's for
Pide. Randy we kept our word and stopped for Pide , just for you. Just
because we were hungry and the Pide is so good, that had nothing to do
with our decision to go there for after racing nourishment. Check the
hammer website for a picture from Adams, along with a couple shot of
the Mike brothers preparing to race. The Pide was excellent and we felt
like good teammates stopping in for Randy.
Sunday morning came quickly and after a quick breakfast we headed back to the track for a morning workout. Today was pursuit day, and we don't do that very well. In fact we don't do that at all. After a good workout it was time for lunch and a trip to the bike shop. We went to Burrsville (sp?) to find Cycleworld. Mike Paulin fell in love with a Koga sprint frame hanging on the wall that was just his size. Don't worry Leslie, we talked him out of buying it. Don't worry Jessica, we talked Mike D out of buying it. Don't worry Janet, they talked me out of buying it. Mike Dancel wanted to go to the opening ceremony for the World Masters Games, so we dropped him off at Olympic Park and went back to our room to rest up for tomorrow's long day of sprinting. If all goes well Mike P and I will do between 6 and 9 rounds of Match Sprints leading up to the finals late tomorrow eve. We need some rest today to be ready for it.
Tomorrow Tony and Erin Digiorlamo arrive. We are looking forward to their arrival. Tony has a scratch race and team sprint with Mike Dancel on Tuesday's schedule. Then we have a break of 5 days when the UCI Masters World Championships will start. Then we do it all over again!
Oct 7-10 2009
Update:Officially, Mike placed 4th just a couple tenths of a second out of third with a 52.643 in his 750TT. Thats a 1+ seconds faster than last year with very cool temps in the Velodrome today. [editor's note: It is currently snowing in Denver.] Nice job to Mike!
Tonight we all do a 200 qualifier and the first round of sprints. We just got back to our room and leave to go back to the track in an hour.
The travel went well, the arrival went not so well.
I am sitting here in the infield of Dunc Grey Velodrome in Sunny (today it's sunny anyways) Sydney, Australia. Mike Paulin is warming up for his first event, the 750meter Time Trial. I have some time so I'll catch you all up on how our trip has gone so far.
Our flight left Denver on Wednesday evening at 6:12pm and it was
pretty much on time. The flight to LA was smooth, easy and swift. With
a 3 hour layover it gave us time to eat and relax before the 14 hour
flight to Sydney. That flight went amazingly well. We were on a very
new plane which meant the seats were comfortable and relatively roomy.
After 4 hours it was time to try some sleep, which also went very well.
I dozed off for a full 8 hours and so did the Mike brothers ( Paulin
and Dancel). I woke up and got to enjoy one of my favorite
experiences when traveling west as the sun rises. I got to enjoy a
beautiful red and orange sunrise above the clouds for almost a full
hour as our plane raced the sun to Australia. It was stunningly
beautiful as usual.
We landed on time, our bags arrived quickly as well as all of our
bikes , wheels and gear. Things were going very well for us. Then
things changed. I guess something in my subconscious didn't want a
perfectly smooth trip and I planned ahead to mess things up weeks ago.
When we got to the rental car counter I was informed that my
reservation wasn't until tomorrow. With 30,000 masters athletes and
their families arriving for the World Masters Games there wasn't a car
to be had. This meant taking a taxi for an ungodly cost to the track
and then to registration at Olympic Park.
In particular, check out where we had to stick Mike Dancel for the ride from the
airport to the Track. Mike gets teammate of the year for this one! Then
we headed to Olympic Park where we had to wait/stand in line for 3+
hours to register for the games, a train/bus ride back to the track for
a workout and then a trip back to the airport to finally get our car.
36 hours after leaving the house, I was finally able to shower. It
wasn't pretty.
After a very deep, very good nights sleep the World feels much better. Today is already the first day of racing . It is the first of four racing days for the World Masters Games. Mike P is warming up for his 750 TT. I'll send the results in a while.
Then tonight the Mike brothers and I have our 200 TT and first round of sprints. It promises to be a very late night. I'll send a report on that tomorrow.