Observations on a Saturday

Having a junior race that starts after noon can spoil a guy. Bike racing is funny... sometimes one has to get up at 5:30 am for a race that is 30 miles from home, other times the alarm doesn't even need to be set. But, when I sleep in I don't get to see all the happenings of the morning...

I guess the 4/5 race at Martinez was a crash fest... Tapinator claims bad luck for being caught behind the crashes, but isn't luck when preparation meets opportunity? We'll keep working, Taps, and pretty soon that bad luck being behind the crash will be good luck being in front of it...

Having DBCJRT athletes in three races back to back makes a day hectic as all get out. Get Staz and El Gigante reg'd and pinned for the 3's; set AWfoSho, TK, Mechanical, PtotheArker, and Tapinator to warming up for the junior race; make sure the radios are ready to go for the guys in the p/1/2 race; watch El Gigante and Staz race, thinking the whole time that they need to be at the front; change numbers on the kidlets who just finished the 3's; bark some quick orders to the seven DBCJRT young'ns in the junior race and turn 'em loose; watch AWfoSho and TK completely control the race and set up a perfect leadout train for El Gigante after lapping the field; listen to AWfoSho chew on El Gigante after the junior race for not staying glued to his wheel thru the final corner; pick up prizes for first, second, fifth, and most aggressive rider in the junior race; change numbers on the kidlets racing in the pro/1/2 race; pass out radios and fresh bottles; bark a few orders into the radio while watching Rock and Giant trade blows over 75 minutes of crit racing that kept the field strung out along two city blocks; pick up and divide winnings for two top 25 places in the p/1/2 race; realize it has been non-stop for 4.5 hours...

Never did see the final tally in the junior race... just know that AWfoSho and TK went 1-2 in the 17/18 group, El Gigante was third in the 15/16 group. Gotta wait for the results to post to sort out what happened in the field behind the sprint...

Had a chuckle with Rock's Justin Williams after the prosey race when I told him he cost me about $200... he thought I was betting on him or something of the sort, but cracked that bright smile of his after I explained that he sat up too early in the sprint and cost my guys a few places in the money. Good kid that one... it's been fun watching him develop as a rider and a young man.

The Junior Point Series standings have been updated thru Copperopolis... After having run the thing for two years, I feel for Christine. She's got to figure out how to place all the ladies who raced today because they got pulled and not placed. Not only that... she's gotta deal with parents who are forever complaining about why their little cherubs should have a point or two more... that said, she owes Kelbster a point for Snelling and April 8 points for Copper... Maybe I'll muster up the courage to ask her to correct the spots for the kidlets. Then again, maybe not...