Talking Shit About A Pretty Sunset, Blanketing Opinions That I'll Probably Regret Soon.

Man, I had such a shit night at the track last night. To start with, I put a longer stem on my bike, which a) is more comfortable and b) is way more aero, but which also changed my balance and the way that the bike handled. It's going to take a couple of weeks to get used to, not fifteen minutes of warm up. And then, during the racing, I just couldn't get my head into it. I've been in situations before where I've talked myself out of the race and not been aggressive enough, been too wary, let myself get stuck in the bunch rather than staying at the front and controlling the race, and that's pretty much how it went last night, with the added unpleasantness of some sketchy dudes in the mix. I did a lot of yelling last night, and when I'm doing a lot of yelling, it's a sure sign that things aren't working the way that they're supposed to. So I cracked them. I packed up my gear, changed out of my kit, wheeled my bike away.

And then went and sat on the judges table for the last race. Because PB Ladner wanted to go home early, and he was the only one able to ride the motorbike, the motorpace had been held second, leaving the points race to last. And the race definitely lived up to its improved billing. It was exactly the kind of race I like to be in - when the pace is high, the riders strung out, attacks coming thick and fast, forty laps on the rivet, elastic stretching, stretching, stretching, snapping. And I sat there and watched it.

Needless to say, sitting out that last race did nothing to improve my mood.