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Jewish Hospital was giving special weekend rates on surgical suites. So, Dad checked in for quick carotid artharectomy. Seems he thought missing a golf game was preferable to a cerebral incident. Accuracy in reporting has never been a quest of these meanderings so not seeing the races is no impediment.
The first rule of racing is to avoid falling down. Freddie long ago explained to those who would listen that Mercer Rules were always in effect. To this the author added Lobdell and Bumblebee Rules. For some reason a road or circuit race causes Bumblebees in general and Lobdell in particular to unexpectedly swerve all over the road. Add a little wind and you crashes worthy of the Societe de Tour de France. So, the first rule of wind racing at Tippy should have been stay away from the Bees.
Unfortunately, viagra driven Masters didn't have the good sense to follow this rule and thus the 35+ plus race was once again a day of pain, mangled bikes and recriminations. Damm sad it could not be witnessed. By the way Joe Ack is being sued by Parks and Recreation for destroying a tree.
On a happier note Mercer the Merciless checked out AMA from the cardiac care unit to run away from the 40 plus field. Hanson Brother's Molewyk's attempt to stay high in points race was shattered when he rode off into the woods and forget to jump a log. He has reported to Zipp that carbon fibre shatters upon moderate speed impact.
As for the youngsters the only thing worth mentioning is that Enmark rode a Wheel Geek into the ditch for questioning the positioning of his handlebars. Now, that's the type of NHL behavior that gives reality to the Hanson Bros. logo.
Yes, there were winners and losers but you can check with Dan for the boring stuff.
Then there was Peoria, heat and wind and wind and real damm big wind. Mercer loaded with nitroglycerin rode away with two other old guys and took second. The author had to listen to Boring Doering explain how he would have won except his blood sugar was too high or too low or how about he was just too slow. Your author would have won except he forgot to finish or didn't want to finish or wasn't having a good time or whatever. You can be certain that not being fast enough had nothing to do with the result. Problem with bike racing is that everyone gets to see the truth.
On to the big event. The author knew redemption and pride was only a hour away. Not to be. These guys started out too fast and then keep going too fast and wouldn't listen when they asked to slow down and then there was wind and it was hot and their skinny and you get the picture. Worse, exit had to be made in front of USCF Officials. Then after a four hour drive home my wife wouldn't let me torment the cats. When you are a sinner things just don't work out.
Oh yeah Wasko won which is good because he is truly a nice person. Hanson Bros. tradition was well served in the 3 Race. Dennis the Menace fresh from chasing social disease and running out on bar bills in Paris did everything possible to make curb decorations out of everyone who said on your left. That was but a prelude to Richie. For some reason he got upset when someone slightly changed his arc by crossing two lanes of road. So, Rich went off to ask the gentleman why. Well it was so friendly that the young fellow went off the front in seach of his mother and Rich in a show of speed you know he lacks went off in chase because he wasn't finished with his calm explanation of why the young man had not ridden in a courteous manner. Those of you who didn't grow up in Beaver Cleaver Land will remember mothers chasing their kids down the street yelling "get back her I'm not finished with you yet." You got to love the Hockey Pucks.
No rambling would be complete without a USCF critique. Rather than learning from the Danville Debacle the boneheads now are making a point to tell everyone that they will be pulled if out of contention. Now out of contention is a judgment call. Pray tell only in USCF think can giving a license to someone without a wit of good judgment turn him into Solomon. Once again USCF officials apparently think that races are run for their benefit or the benefit of only the best riders in any category. As a practical matter there was really only one person who was going to win the Pro race. So, why didn't they pull the field when Wasko went away. Under the Head Officials understanding of his job he clearly could have and should have. In fact he could probably could have determined at the start that most of the 83 people were out of contention already. So, you could have reduced the field right away and made it easier to manage. As a final note NASCAR has learned something from the USCF and in the future any car that is a lap down will be pulled. Seems they want to make it easier to score the race.
