Mobbin's 2016 Pomona Crit
It was a nice day for a race, good thing the guys who bring us Mobbin' Monday, were holding their annual Pomona Crit. Yeah, it was a good day for a race - it was hot, it was humid, it was probably smoggy although, come to think about it, I could see the water tank across the street at the Metrolink station, and even all the way to the mountains several miles away. So maybe scratch that last part about it being smoggy.
Also as usual, there was a lot of really bad music. I didn't hear a single Black Sabbath chord, no psychedelic lyric from the Airplane, no screech from Aerosmith, not even a wail from the Dropkick Murphy's. My old-timer's brain didn't know what it was hearing, but didn't really mind. The younger people were out and doing their thing. That thing, for a couple hours at least, and as you might have been led to believe these past few days, did not involve any Pokemon hunting, although I believe I heard that a wayward Squirtle was to blame for the race's one and only crash.
Lets go back to music for a minute - some time ago, and taking place gradually, I began to realize that I tend to like the earlier productions of the groups I like. For instance U2's Boy album, Alice Cooper's Lace and Whiskey, the earliest of Sabbath's albums, they all tend to have a more raw, unrefined, less-than-finished sound - try Cooper's Fields of Regret from the Pretties for You album, and you'll hear what I mean. What does that have to do the race on this day? These fixed-gear road races are kind of the same. They have a different energy, a different vibe, they are more raw, if you will, as opposed to many of the USAC races, which are much more refined, controlled. There is a laissez-faire attitude, a laid-back, come what will atmosphere. That is until the race starts and competition takes over. For instance look through the photos in the Flickr album, particularly look at the lap cards - they are awesome. Handmade, raw, and big, you can't tell me that they are not easier to spot and see than the dinky little, refined, ones at the local USAC crit. And, they are held up by who ever happens to be close by, which gets the spectators involved. Not that I have ever noticed spectator involvement to be a problem at these races - they don't run without help from the gathered, whether it be extra eyes at the finish, or having someone at the intersections for traffic control. People step up and do what needs to be done.
An early break during the feature race of the afternoon meant the destruction started almost right away. Some of the racers' legs just were not up to the game. Never-the-less there is much more equalization these days, and the main bunch remained quite large. The break appeared strong and I was not sure they could be brought back, but slowly, gradually, lap by lap the gap was closed. Contact, of course, set off a counter attack, or maybe a flurry of small moves, until the Leader guys (whose team hap pretty much been the instigators during the early laps, rode clear yet again. I don't mean to ignore the efforts of the other teams, many of whom put in much effort during the chase scenes, but Leader was clearly the strongest, and best prepared this day. I can tell you, I am looking forward to see which teams, or individual riders, step up to challenge at the big Temple Crit in August.
Alright, so what you have been waiting for is the link to the rest of the photos. There are a selection of one hundred and one shots in the Flickr album. Mostly, I consider them to be the better ones, however I took almost four hundred, so if you don't see who or what you were looking for in the album let me know and I can check the rest.
Lastly, let me acknowledge Luis and the Mobbin' bunch for hosting - it is always a good time. See you all at Temple, if not sooner. Oh, also a shout out to Demi, ever the mechanic, who got the Ibis's front brake back together, after the cable slipped out during the ride over.
Lets go back to music for a minute - some time ago, and taking place gradually, I began to realize that I tend to like the earlier productions of the groups I like. For instance U2's Boy album, Alice Cooper's Lace and Whiskey, the earliest of Sabbath's albums, they all tend to have a more raw, unrefined, less-than-finished sound - try Cooper's Fields of Regret from the Pretties for You album, and you'll hear what I mean. What does that have to do the race on this day? These fixed-gear road races are kind of the same. They have a different energy, a different vibe, they are more raw, if you will, as opposed to many of the USAC races, which are much more refined, controlled. There is a laissez-faire attitude, a laid-back, come what will atmosphere. That is until the race starts and competition takes over. For instance look through the photos in the Flickr album, particularly look at the lap cards - they are awesome. Handmade, raw, and big, you can't tell me that they are not easier to spot and see than the dinky little, refined, ones at the local USAC crit. And, they are held up by who ever happens to be close by, which gets the spectators involved. Not that I have ever noticed spectator involvement to be a problem at these races - they don't run without help from the gathered, whether it be extra eyes at the finish, or having someone at the intersections for traffic control. People step up and do what needs to be done.
An early break during the feature race of the afternoon meant the destruction started almost right away. Some of the racers' legs just were not up to the game. Never-the-less there is much more equalization these days, and the main bunch remained quite large. The break appeared strong and I was not sure they could be brought back, but slowly, gradually, lap by lap the gap was closed. Contact, of course, set off a counter attack, or maybe a flurry of small moves, until the Leader guys (whose team hap pretty much been the instigators during the early laps, rode clear yet again. I don't mean to ignore the efforts of the other teams, many of whom put in much effort during the chase scenes, but Leader was clearly the strongest, and best prepared this day. I can tell you, I am looking forward to see which teams, or individual riders, step up to challenge at the big Temple Crit in August.
Alright, so what you have been waiting for is the link to the rest of the photos. There are a selection of one hundred and one shots in the Flickr album. Mostly, I consider them to be the better ones, however I took almost four hundred, so if you don't see who or what you were looking for in the album let me know and I can check the rest.
Lastly, let me acknowledge Luis and the Mobbin' bunch for hosting - it is always a good time. See you all at Temple, if not sooner. Oh, also a shout out to Demi, ever the mechanic, who got the Ibis's front brake back together, after the cable slipped out during the ride over.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete