Andrew's view from the back of the pack:
Did not plan to write up a social ride, but what the heck. It's winter, news is slow and I figure everyone is looking for a reason to kill some time at work this week.
Nine CoreTechs riders ventured forth in the middle of December to take on Steve Stewart's Solstice Century. Super Dave Puglia, Rick Adams, Christian, John Pauley, Kevin Fox, Mark Foster, Mark Dames, Steve Stewart and myself wearing the black and blue. Now the first note I need to make is that Steve needs to figure out what a "century" is. Total mileage was about 110 miles. Much dispute about this as each rider had slightly different readings on their computers, but suffice to say, it was over a century! In addition to the CoreTechs riders, SJBC had about six or seven guys and MVV had about 10+ riders. Total riding was about 35 or so.
This is an unusual event. It is not run like a normal century. It is a group ride that does the entire course together. Steve calls it a "no drop" ride and for the most part, that is what it is. There are also several sprint points during the ride and a couple of KOM's thrown in for good measure. Now, a good idea is to read Steve's instructions before doing the ride if you have any intention of doing these sprints or KOM's. Imagine, if you will, over the course of 110 miles finding the "white mailbox" and sprinting to the red mailbox 400 meters beyond. Yep, good luck with that. Of course, it did not stop the overly competitive within the group from competing.
Couple of points of interest along the way. Start was cold…34 degrees. Sun was out though and day was warming up. about an hour in I need to take a "nature break". Having not read anything about the event, I did not realize the sprint was coming up very soon. So, I jam a bit off the front so I can take my break. I look back and Steve is chasing me down. I yell at him to leave me alone, this is a one man job! Well, once done, I have to hammer to catch the group. It took me most of a mile to catch and kind of hurt. Just as I caught the group, everyone pulled over for the first rest stop of the day…sheesh. I guess I missed the first sprint entirely.
Next point of interest for me was just after midway Steve gets a flat. I think to myself, "well, glad my tires are holding up". Of course, you know what that means…I get a flat two minutes later. The good news is I have Steve to work with to get back to the group. Turns out that the group decided that was a good time to really up the pace. Now this is why if you have to get a flat, getting it with the ride organizer is the best time. He calls the follow van back to us. Tells me to grab a door handle and hang on. I have never done this before, but do as told. Let me tell you, it looks much easier than actually doing it! I was hanging on to a large van, riding inches from it, holding on to my bike with one hand and the door handle with the other. The van driver gets going past 40mph! He drifts wide to go around others. This was the scariest part of the ride! About three to five miles later we catch the group…thank God!
Lunch was a well done affair. Steve had the SAG bring out platters of ToGo's and cookies. He also had boxes of Twinkies and cokes. I had not had a Twinkie in probably ten years, so I went for two! Christian was busy sampling many of the cookies. At one point we had to distract him and move the cookie platter out of arms reach to save him from himself.
At mile 105 we have the final sprint of the day. This where the day took a bad turn. Mark Foster went for it and had the sprint in the bag when something happened. No one is sure exactly what, but he went for a power slide at 35mph. Thank goodness for his helmet. He cracked it pretty good. He also has some nice road rash on his back. To his credit, he invoked rule number five and went hard man on us. He insisted on riding back to the finish for the final three or so miles.
Day ended back at the park where we started. Steve provided his specialty; Margaritas. Along with some chili, hot dogs and more cookies. A great ride and a great way to spend a mid December day. If it is not raining next year, I will do this again. Next time though, I will also know where the white mail boxes are!
Keep the rubber side down!
Andrew
Monday, December 19, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Tom Rice's 35+ 3/4 Race Report from CCCX-Oct 1st
Where - At the CCCX Circuit Race course at Fort Ord, CA
When – Oct 1, 2011
Race – 35+ Cat 3/4 Race
Stats – 75 minutes, 7 laps, 30ish miles and still, a beautiful day for a bike ride
Finish – 10th!
CoreTechs Teammates – Andrew Adelman, Steve Stewart, Dave Puglia
Now that I'm a Cat 4, I can race with the fast guys. This pack is made up of younger, stronger and more experienced riders. None the less, I have a huge ego so I think I'm gonna do pretty well!
As the racers assemble at the line for the start, all of us CoreTechs teammates are quietly discussing our tactics and I'm given my assignment. I'm to keep an eye on two particular riders and if either one goes on a break, I am to cover it – that is I'm supposed to go on the break with them. You should also know that I'm told both of these guys are very strong and could get away. Worrying, but I intrepidly accept (again with the ego!)
We start at the whistle. Of course, unlike earlier in the morning, I'm not late, I'm well warmed up and I'm ready for a good race. It's just that, well, I'm not really ready for what actually happens. Right from the whistle, one of my "assignments" speeds away from the front of the pack and creates a break. But hey, I'm savvy and I watch the Tour de France, so of course I know there is no way this guy is going to be able to make it stick by himself. Then Andrew gently reminds me of my assignment. So I report back that "my assignment" is already looking over his shoulder and won't be able to stay away. Andrew chides me a little more and I move up towards the front of the pack to make sure I'm ready for any other moves.
Crap. Another rider has joined up with My Assignment and their gap is getting bigger. I give chase, now knowing full well that I've made a minor mistake. I put in a huge effort to catch the miscreants and am able to stay with them for most of the first lap.
Some of you know that, on the CCCX circuit, there is a 90 degree right hand turn that should be taken fast and that this turn leads into a series of hills that somewhat resemble four or five giant stairs – I call this section, "The Steps". Well my breakaway companions are very fast and I've done some good, hard work to help keep the pack only 15 seconds back. But, I am spent. The Steps finally do me in and, near the top, the pack catches me. I'm able to rejoin and it looks like we're going to reel in the breakaway. So, I settle in and try to rest. It is good to have my teammates nearby and I'm already beginning to recover.
Unfortunately, no one takes up the chase and the gap begins to grow. By the third or fourth lap, the gap between the break and the pack is well over a minute. A couple of individual riders try to bridge the gap but no one is making any real progress.
So, Steve, Andrew and I decide we'll bridge. Andrew leads us out and we accelerate past the front of the pack and pick up a rider who was off the front, trying to bridge by himself. I take the lead and put the hammer down. Up till now, no one else in the pack seems interested in doing any work, they haven't chased any of the other bridging attempts, there are four of us and I'm ready for another maximum effort. So I feel we have a pretty good chance.
But, this is a bike race. I make a strong, hard pull and move to my right so the next guy can take over, when I hear from behind me, "The entire pack is on our wheel." We're going much faster now but it is just bad tactics to do all the work while the entire pack relaxes in our draft. So, we let up and the whole pack slows down and for a couple of more laps, we all have a nice, friendly ride on a sunny afternoon.
Then, with a little more than two to go, a San Jose Bike Club rider gets out in no-man's-land between the breakaway and the pack. The breakaway is more than two minutes in front so there is nothing to be done about them but Andrew seems to be feeling strong and bridges up to the SJBC Rider. I'm near the front of the pack and I can see they are working together pretty well.
I also feel pretty good and I want to join Andrew. But I don't want to drag the entire pack up to Andrew and basically eliminate his chance for a podium finish. So, I go to the front of a very slow pack, get my cadence up around 105 rpm's so it looks like I'm working and I pull the pack around at a leisurely 19 mph for the entire last lap (normal last lap speed is more like 23 – 24 mph). The gap to Andrew gets bigger and bigger – perfect!
The two guys in the front breakaway get first and second by a margin of almost three minutes over the pack. Andrew's break has about 45 seconds on the pack by the end of the race and he out sprints SJBC guy for an awesome third place. I'm not well positioned as the pack sprint winds up for the final podium spot but I'm pretty happy with my near the front finish.
It has been another fun race on a beautiful, sunny day. I learn more than a few new lessons (like, listen to your more experienced teammates), I get to help my teammate podium and I finish very respectably in a race with younger and stronger guys. I can't wait for next season!
Tom Rice, Biycle Racer
CoreTechs Cycling Team
When – Oct 1, 2011
Race – 35+ Cat 3/4 Race
Stats – 75 minutes, 7 laps, 30ish miles and still, a beautiful day for a bike ride
Finish – 10th!
CoreTechs Teammates – Andrew Adelman, Steve Stewart, Dave Puglia
Now that I'm a Cat 4, I can race with the fast guys. This pack is made up of younger, stronger and more experienced riders. None the less, I have a huge ego so I think I'm gonna do pretty well!
As the racers assemble at the line for the start, all of us CoreTechs teammates are quietly discussing our tactics and I'm given my assignment. I'm to keep an eye on two particular riders and if either one goes on a break, I am to cover it – that is I'm supposed to go on the break with them. You should also know that I'm told both of these guys are very strong and could get away. Worrying, but I intrepidly accept (again with the ego!)
We start at the whistle. Of course, unlike earlier in the morning, I'm not late, I'm well warmed up and I'm ready for a good race. It's just that, well, I'm not really ready for what actually happens. Right from the whistle, one of my "assignments" speeds away from the front of the pack and creates a break. But hey, I'm savvy and I watch the Tour de France, so of course I know there is no way this guy is going to be able to make it stick by himself. Then Andrew gently reminds me of my assignment. So I report back that "my assignment" is already looking over his shoulder and won't be able to stay away. Andrew chides me a little more and I move up towards the front of the pack to make sure I'm ready for any other moves.
Crap. Another rider has joined up with My Assignment and their gap is getting bigger. I give chase, now knowing full well that I've made a minor mistake. I put in a huge effort to catch the miscreants and am able to stay with them for most of the first lap.
Some of you know that, on the CCCX circuit, there is a 90 degree right hand turn that should be taken fast and that this turn leads into a series of hills that somewhat resemble four or five giant stairs – I call this section, "The Steps". Well my breakaway companions are very fast and I've done some good, hard work to help keep the pack only 15 seconds back. But, I am spent. The Steps finally do me in and, near the top, the pack catches me. I'm able to rejoin and it looks like we're going to reel in the breakaway. So, I settle in and try to rest. It is good to have my teammates nearby and I'm already beginning to recover.
Unfortunately, no one takes up the chase and the gap begins to grow. By the third or fourth lap, the gap between the break and the pack is well over a minute. A couple of individual riders try to bridge the gap but no one is making any real progress.
So, Steve, Andrew and I decide we'll bridge. Andrew leads us out and we accelerate past the front of the pack and pick up a rider who was off the front, trying to bridge by himself. I take the lead and put the hammer down. Up till now, no one else in the pack seems interested in doing any work, they haven't chased any of the other bridging attempts, there are four of us and I'm ready for another maximum effort. So I feel we have a pretty good chance.
But, this is a bike race. I make a strong, hard pull and move to my right so the next guy can take over, when I hear from behind me, "The entire pack is on our wheel." We're going much faster now but it is just bad tactics to do all the work while the entire pack relaxes in our draft. So, we let up and the whole pack slows down and for a couple of more laps, we all have a nice, friendly ride on a sunny afternoon.
Then, with a little more than two to go, a San Jose Bike Club rider gets out in no-man's-land between the breakaway and the pack. The breakaway is more than two minutes in front so there is nothing to be done about them but Andrew seems to be feeling strong and bridges up to the SJBC Rider. I'm near the front of the pack and I can see they are working together pretty well.
I also feel pretty good and I want to join Andrew. But I don't want to drag the entire pack up to Andrew and basically eliminate his chance for a podium finish. So, I go to the front of a very slow pack, get my cadence up around 105 rpm's so it looks like I'm working and I pull the pack around at a leisurely 19 mph for the entire last lap (normal last lap speed is more like 23 – 24 mph). The gap to Andrew gets bigger and bigger – perfect!
The two guys in the front breakaway get first and second by a margin of almost three minutes over the pack. Andrew's break has about 45 seconds on the pack by the end of the race and he out sprints SJBC guy for an awesome third place. I'm not well positioned as the pack sprint winds up for the final podium spot but I'm pretty happy with my near the front finish.
It has been another fun race on a beautiful, sunny day. I learn more than a few new lessons (like, listen to your more experienced teammates), I get to help my teammate podium and I finish very respectably in a race with younger and stronger guys. I can't wait for next season!
Tom Rice, Biycle Racer
CoreTechs Cycling Team
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
CoreTechs Racing in Belgium-Rick Adams Report
Saturday, October 1, 2011: Nieuwerkerken-Aalst, Belgium
Course: 9 laps on a 7 km circuit that included a short hill, very narrow roads, corn fields, cows, sheep and even spectators drinking beer – of course. I rode in the Cat D (50-55 years old). Race registration was in a pub – making the local after-the-race recovery beverage easy to find.
Sixty riders start. On the line I was about 40 from the front, not thinking much of my exact starting place. That was a giant mistake. Seems that local tradition has the team from host town do a parade lap at full-speed! So with my heart rate near my max for the first lap, I thought – are these guys all really all over 50? (Actual data for 1 of 9 laps: speed 25 mph, HR average 196, normalized power 303 watts, including a 30 s section of 555 watts)
Lap 1, Turn 1 fine, ok, I thought, these guys can ride their bikes. Up the hill the first time, no one attacked – thank god! I moved up to about 20th and can now see the front of the race wind it way through these 8’ wide roads and I thinking, “even if I get dropped, this better than the best roller coaster I have ever been on.” This narrow road winds through corn, sheep, cows, neighborhoods, a brief stretch of downtown – a true kermesse style race.
Laps 2 through 7 slow slightly. My HR is down to 185 – where it stays for the next 70 minutes. But, the attacks never stop. About 20 of the 60 riders seem to pride themselves on out-crushing each other while the rest of us pay with pain just to stay in. After 7 laps, the field has been reduced to about 30 guys. I have been on the ride of my life.
With 2 laps to go, everyone left realizes that this race is going to finish in a field sprint. The relentless attacks stop for a lap and I actually see the front and hear my name (although barley recognizable pronounced with a Flemish accent) as leader of the race as we cross the start finish.
Do I set up for the sprint – no, I think better of that idea. I finish mid-pack and head straight back for a few recovery beverages before I ride the 20 miles back to the house.
Sunday, October 2, 2011: Westkerke, Belgium, between Brugge and the ocean.
No pub for race registration, so a catering company put up a temporary pub. I have now learned that pubs are part of nearly every bike race in Belgium. Here the registrars spoke Flemish, drank beer, and loved talking with all of the riders. After a bit of poking around, I was able to find a Race Official who spoke enough English and who helped me register.
This race is in west Flanders, land of the wind! The course started and finished on a wide 4-lane road in the middle of town but almost immediately turned left onto a curvy, narrow, farm roads again full of corn, cows, sheep and, yes, spectators.
Today’s circuit is not the technical challenge of yesterday. Today’s challenge is the constant series of attacks every turn of the wind. The locals use wind like the rest of the world use hills – to thin the weak from the peloton. I knew this, but I still was not prepared for that many attacks. Finding draft on this course was a bit easier until we made a turn and the cross-wind eliminated all shelter. Thank god that for 500 meters of this circuit the road narrowed to less than 8’ across. Here a few riders could control and temper the attacking because the road was full at three riders across.
Finally with 40k of a total 55k done, five guys got clear – attacking at the turn of the wind. This was one of the few multi-rider attacks that I missed, but at least I was at the front participating in the race. At the sprint finish for 6th, I got sucker into the left side with a strong wind coming of the ocean from the right. I felt great until 200 meters to go when I simply ran out road: everyone kept coming over the top on the right in the wind. Finished mid-pack but what a great ride.
Next up, riding around Lucca, Italy and Italian Gran Fondo on Saturday.
Rick Adams
Course: 9 laps on a 7 km circuit that included a short hill, very narrow roads, corn fields, cows, sheep and even spectators drinking beer – of course. I rode in the Cat D (50-55 years old). Race registration was in a pub – making the local after-the-race recovery beverage easy to find.
Sixty riders start. On the line I was about 40 from the front, not thinking much of my exact starting place. That was a giant mistake. Seems that local tradition has the team from host town do a parade lap at full-speed! So with my heart rate near my max for the first lap, I thought – are these guys all really all over 50? (Actual data for 1 of 9 laps: speed 25 mph, HR average 196, normalized power 303 watts, including a 30 s section of 555 watts)
Lap 1, Turn 1 fine, ok, I thought, these guys can ride their bikes. Up the hill the first time, no one attacked – thank god! I moved up to about 20th and can now see the front of the race wind it way through these 8’ wide roads and I thinking, “even if I get dropped, this better than the best roller coaster I have ever been on.” This narrow road winds through corn, sheep, cows, neighborhoods, a brief stretch of downtown – a true kermesse style race.
Laps 2 through 7 slow slightly. My HR is down to 185 – where it stays for the next 70 minutes. But, the attacks never stop. About 20 of the 60 riders seem to pride themselves on out-crushing each other while the rest of us pay with pain just to stay in. After 7 laps, the field has been reduced to about 30 guys. I have been on the ride of my life.
With 2 laps to go, everyone left realizes that this race is going to finish in a field sprint. The relentless attacks stop for a lap and I actually see the front and hear my name (although barley recognizable pronounced with a Flemish accent) as leader of the race as we cross the start finish.
Do I set up for the sprint – no, I think better of that idea. I finish mid-pack and head straight back for a few recovery beverages before I ride the 20 miles back to the house.
Sunday, October 2, 2011: Westkerke, Belgium, between Brugge and the ocean.
No pub for race registration, so a catering company put up a temporary pub. I have now learned that pubs are part of nearly every bike race in Belgium. Here the registrars spoke Flemish, drank beer, and loved talking with all of the riders. After a bit of poking around, I was able to find a Race Official who spoke enough English and who helped me register.
This race is in west Flanders, land of the wind! The course started and finished on a wide 4-lane road in the middle of town but almost immediately turned left onto a curvy, narrow, farm roads again full of corn, cows, sheep and, yes, spectators.
Today’s circuit is not the technical challenge of yesterday. Today’s challenge is the constant series of attacks every turn of the wind. The locals use wind like the rest of the world use hills – to thin the weak from the peloton. I knew this, but I still was not prepared for that many attacks. Finding draft on this course was a bit easier until we made a turn and the cross-wind eliminated all shelter. Thank god that for 500 meters of this circuit the road narrowed to less than 8’ across. Here a few riders could control and temper the attacking because the road was full at three riders across.
Finally with 40k of a total 55k done, five guys got clear – attacking at the turn of the wind. This was one of the few multi-rider attacks that I missed, but at least I was at the front participating in the race. At the sprint finish for 6th, I got sucker into the left side with a strong wind coming of the ocean from the right. I felt great until 200 meters to go when I simply ran out road: everyone kept coming over the top on the right in the wind. Finished mid-pack but what a great ride.
Next up, riding around Lucca, Italy and Italian Gran Fondo on Saturday.
Rick Adams
Monday, October 3, 2011
Mark Foster's 45+ 4/5 Report
CCCX Ft Ord
Written by Mark Foster
10/1/11
45+ Cat 4/5
16 riders, 1 team mate- Tom Rice
So finally we get a beautiful day for the races. Sunny, 70 degrees, absolutely perfect….except the wind. As I’m warming up on the trainer I notice Tom hasn’t shown up, and the race starts in 20 minutes. I think to myself, “Bummer, I guess Kate really tightened down the screws”. Then Tom comes flying in to registration; half dressed and completely frazzled….I think(I was on my trainer). We line up to start the race and the race director gives us another minute for Tom….nice. Tom shows up and the whistle blows. The pace starts easy enough, then one guy(Patrick Hampton) attacks on the first hill. So much for Tom’s easy warm up. Tom’s adrenalin is so high he can’t help himself and though not warmed up, begins to chase. He gets some help and just after the first lap we catch Patrick. At that point I decide to get everyone’s pulse up and pull for an entire lap. I think I dropped one or two guys, but that was it. At the top of the backside hill into the wind, I could hear my buddies cracking jokes and laughing about the effort I was putting out….to no avail. Although it was the fastest lap of the race, I looked back after my stint and said, “That’s all I’m gonna put out….I have three laps to recover.” The last lap was slow and going into the final downhill we start wishing each other luck….too funny. I lead it into the downhill, but big Jeff(MVV) can’t help but pass me on the fast descent. It was a repeat of the last race there. I follow in his draft. Two guys pass him(us) in the final corner and they start the sprint early. I take off when they do. The only difference in this race, is that I pass on the right instead of the left. I take the win by a few bike lengths and get the Series Jersey for the season. I’m going to miss that class and those guys next year. I had such a good day, that I elected to not do the next race and call it a season….and immediately belly up to Steve’s van for the post race Margs. I had a blast this year and know that Tom is going to be the guy to beat in that class next year! Thanks for reading and see you guys at the Low-Key Hill Climbs….maybe. -Mark
10/1/11
45+ Cat 4/5
16 riders, 1 team mate- Tom Rice
So finally we get a beautiful day for the races. Sunny, 70 degrees, absolutely perfect….except the wind. As I’m warming up on the trainer I notice Tom hasn’t shown up, and the race starts in 20 minutes. I think to myself, “Bummer, I guess Kate really tightened down the screws”. Then Tom comes flying in to registration; half dressed and completely frazzled….I think(I was on my trainer). We line up to start the race and the race director gives us another minute for Tom….nice. Tom shows up and the whistle blows. The pace starts easy enough, then one guy(Patrick Hampton) attacks on the first hill. So much for Tom’s easy warm up. Tom’s adrenalin is so high he can’t help himself and though not warmed up, begins to chase. He gets some help and just after the first lap we catch Patrick. At that point I decide to get everyone’s pulse up and pull for an entire lap. I think I dropped one or two guys, but that was it. At the top of the backside hill into the wind, I could hear my buddies cracking jokes and laughing about the effort I was putting out….to no avail. Although it was the fastest lap of the race, I looked back after my stint and said, “That’s all I’m gonna put out….I have three laps to recover.” The last lap was slow and going into the final downhill we start wishing each other luck….too funny. I lead it into the downhill, but big Jeff(MVV) can’t help but pass me on the fast descent. It was a repeat of the last race there. I follow in his draft. Two guys pass him(us) in the final corner and they start the sprint early. I take off when they do. The only difference in this race, is that I pass on the right instead of the left. I take the win by a few bike lengths and get the Series Jersey for the season. I’m going to miss that class and those guys next year. I had such a good day, that I elected to not do the next race and call it a season….and immediately belly up to Steve’s van for the post race Margs. I had a blast this year and know that Tom is going to be the guy to beat in that class next year! Thanks for reading and see you guys at the Low-Key Hill Climbs….maybe. -Mark
Tom Rice's CCCX Report from the 45+ 4/5 race
Where - At the CCCX Circuit Race course at Fort Ord, CA
When – Oct 1, 2011
Written by Tom Rice
Race – 45+ Cat 4/5
Stats – 1 hour, 5 laps, 22 miles and a Beautiful, sunny day for a bike ride
Finish – 4th!
CoreTechs Teammates – Mark Foster
This was my first race as a recently upgraded Category 4 racer but I've done this race a number of times as a Category 5. The goals for this race are to make sure Mark Foster stays in first place in the championship points series for this race and for both of us to finish as close to the front as possible with one of us winning.
With that in mind, I get in my pickup truck for the drive down at about 8:45 in the morning with plenty of time to get to the race, get registered and get in a good warm-up. I'm mentally working out final strategy and tactics as I pull onto highway 280 at Edgewood Road and set the cruise control.
It is a very nice day and I get completely zoned into my drive. In fact, I'm so zoned out that by the time I realize I've passed the highway 85 exit towards 101 south, I'm on highway 680 and I'm already in Fremont. Fremont for crap's sake. I've just added almost an hour to my drive. I'm so far off track that I'm not even sure the best way to get back to 101 south.
So, I pull off the highway, enter my destination into the GPS and it calculates how long it will take to get to Fort Ord. I'm going to make it but only by about a half an hour. But, here's the rub – because of my "detour", I have to stop for gas before I get to the race, so I'm going to arrive only 20 minutes before the start of the race. This is not recommended race day preparation technique.
I get there, park, get my bike out, pump up the tires, register, pin my number on my jersey, get dressed and roll up to the start finish – all in a complete panic. I get there with about 2 minutes to go and receive some good natured ribbing about being late…
At the whistle we start. I have not had time for any warm-up so I go to the front and put in a long medium effort pull to get the blood flowing properly (and to shake off the panic of almost missing the start) and it works, I actually feel pretty good.
The race pace is not super fast and no one seems willing to put in a big effort to break away. So, most of the race is fairly uneventful. That said, Mark and I both believe that a well "tenderized" pack results in a safer sprint so we work to make sure the pace stays high enough so some of the riders will be a little worn out at the finish.
On the last lap, coming down the hill leading into the left hand turn that leads onto the finish straight, I'm setting up to get into the top five or so riders when I hear some chaos from behind and to the right of me. One of our pack gets shunted off the road into the gravel which makes a lot of noise and I get a little distracted. I refocus coming through the turn onto the finish straight and look for a good wheel to lead out my sprint. I'm about seventh position at this point and I have a lot of space to make up. So, I begin my sprint earlier than I normally would but it seems like everyone is.
I'm winding up to full power and I start to get boxed out to the right – not enough road and a slower rider in front of me – I have to let up. As this rider starts to sit up (he's is wiped out and slowing), I yell out, "On your right. On your right!" He hears me, straightens up his line and I have the space I need to wind up my sprint again. (Thank you, whoever you are, you are a good and honorable rider.) I pass one, two, then three riders and I'm looking at second place. But right at the line, I see two other wheels cross at the same time as I do. Close!! I'm pretty sure I've made the podium but I not sure if I'm fourth or fifth… I check the results page - fourth! My first race as a Category 4 and I'm on the podium - a very good race for me!
I'll let Mark tell the rest of the story…
Tom Rice, Bicycle Racer
CoreTechs Cycling Team
Written by Tom Rice
Race – 45+ Cat 4/5
Stats – 1 hour, 5 laps, 22 miles and a Beautiful, sunny day for a bike ride
Finish – 4th!
CoreTechs Teammates – Mark Foster
This was my first race as a recently upgraded Category 4 racer but I've done this race a number of times as a Category 5. The goals for this race are to make sure Mark Foster stays in first place in the championship points series for this race and for both of us to finish as close to the front as possible with one of us winning.
With that in mind, I get in my pickup truck for the drive down at about 8:45 in the morning with plenty of time to get to the race, get registered and get in a good warm-up. I'm mentally working out final strategy and tactics as I pull onto highway 280 at Edgewood Road and set the cruise control.
It is a very nice day and I get completely zoned into my drive. In fact, I'm so zoned out that by the time I realize I've passed the highway 85 exit towards 101 south, I'm on highway 680 and I'm already in Fremont. Fremont for crap's sake. I've just added almost an hour to my drive. I'm so far off track that I'm not even sure the best way to get back to 101 south.
So, I pull off the highway, enter my destination into the GPS and it calculates how long it will take to get to Fort Ord. I'm going to make it but only by about a half an hour. But, here's the rub – because of my "detour", I have to stop for gas before I get to the race, so I'm going to arrive only 20 minutes before the start of the race. This is not recommended race day preparation technique.
I get there, park, get my bike out, pump up the tires, register, pin my number on my jersey, get dressed and roll up to the start finish – all in a complete panic. I get there with about 2 minutes to go and receive some good natured ribbing about being late…
At the whistle we start. I have not had time for any warm-up so I go to the front and put in a long medium effort pull to get the blood flowing properly (and to shake off the panic of almost missing the start) and it works, I actually feel pretty good.
The race pace is not super fast and no one seems willing to put in a big effort to break away. So, most of the race is fairly uneventful. That said, Mark and I both believe that a well "tenderized" pack results in a safer sprint so we work to make sure the pace stays high enough so some of the riders will be a little worn out at the finish.
On the last lap, coming down the hill leading into the left hand turn that leads onto the finish straight, I'm setting up to get into the top five or so riders when I hear some chaos from behind and to the right of me. One of our pack gets shunted off the road into the gravel which makes a lot of noise and I get a little distracted. I refocus coming through the turn onto the finish straight and look for a good wheel to lead out my sprint. I'm about seventh position at this point and I have a lot of space to make up. So, I begin my sprint earlier than I normally would but it seems like everyone is.
I'm winding up to full power and I start to get boxed out to the right – not enough road and a slower rider in front of me – I have to let up. As this rider starts to sit up (he's is wiped out and slowing), I yell out, "On your right. On your right!" He hears me, straightens up his line and I have the space I need to wind up my sprint again. (Thank you, whoever you are, you are a good and honorable rider.) I pass one, two, then three riders and I'm looking at second place. But right at the line, I see two other wheels cross at the same time as I do. Close!! I'm pretty sure I've made the podium but I not sure if I'm fourth or fifth… I check the results page - fourth! My first race as a Category 4 and I'm on the podium - a very good race for me!
I'll let Mark tell the rest of the story…
Tom Rice, Bicycle Racer
CoreTechs Cycling Team
A visit to the cave-CCCX final story of the year
Cat 45+ 1/2/3 Race Story (photo by Tim Westmore)
Teammates in the race: Steve Stewart and Dave Puglia
CCCX race site: 7 laps of 4.5 miles per lap. Rolling terrain
A bright and sunny Saturday. The final race day of 2011
written by Andrew A
Race reports are a fun way to whittle away a good 15 minutes of the work day in an act of ego inflation. So with my knife sharp and my piece of wood in front of me I will endeavor to entertain as best I can. Let the hyperbole flow!
It is dark and all other senses have been eliminated. Pain is ever present. I should have turned left or right, but instead I went straight and ended up deep in the pain cave (how is that for hyperbole?). I spend time here because it is part of our sport. This is what we sign up for when we decide to race bikes. We guarantee ourselves a visit to the cave when we pay our money to race. I paid my money and thus am doing my penance. How did I get here?
It started innocently enough. Teammate Steve Stewart casually points out the rider next to me as "one to watch". Said the guys name is Steve Heaton and he is going for the overall win in the series. The man has big legs. For some reason this caught my attention and it registered in my brain. I also noted that in a race of 17 guys, three were wearing the Safeway kit. For those reading this and smart enough to avoid the pain cave, Safeway has a strong team, and these three are strong. I also had managed to pick up a nasty bug from my kids, so mentally I was going to take this race easy and ride in the pack. No chasing breaks for me this race!
Seven lap race with each lap being 4.5 miles long and full of "rollers". Nothing too steep, but this is not a flat course. First lap is mellow, almost enjoyable. The cave is far from my mind. Onto the second lap a flash of white and yellow catches the corner of my eye. Like a dog that spots a squirrel, instinct takes over and I chase the flash. When I glance back, it is just myself and Heaton. The pack is fading behind. My mind races. I don’t want to be here. It is too early in the race and there are just two of us. This squirrel has some big legs. I look ahead and see glimpses of the cave. If I stay, I know I will visit.
From behind, another rider is coming. We slow a bit for him to join. It is a Safeway rider (Robert Pasco). Now we are back at it, but Pasco does not want to help. He also thinks it is too early for a break (We have almost 25 miles of racing ahead of us and a hungry pack behind us). After each of my turns on the front, I try to reason with Robert. My conversations go something like this, "Robert, your team will not chase, my team will not chase. I can not keep taking pulls with this beast (Heaton). You have to help." Nothing. So I try a new tactic. "Robert…please, please, please help." I think my groveling did the trick. Lap four Robert starts to pull!
It is too late though. I have gotten too close to the cave's entrance. Heaton goes to the front again and ups the pace on the next roller. I cling to his rear wheel. I can feel my vision starting to fade. My mind starts to reason with my legs. "If you stop pedaling so hard, I will stop this knife like pain I am putting into you." My lungs join the conversation and side with my mind. The crack has happened. I let a small gap form between myself and the other two. My legs argue for a brief minute and catch back on but it is futile. From deep in the cave I watch as Pasco and Heaton ride away from me. I am alone.
Now what? I have one and 3/4 laps left to do in the race. I take a step out of the cave and look around. I can not see anyone in either direction. My two tormentors are out of sight ahead and the chasing pack is nowhere to be seen behind. I contemplate just riding off the course and licking my wounds. Instead, I reason that I will go until the pack catches me. After 3/4 of a lap, still no pack in site. Well hell, I am still in third place and already visited the cave once. Another visit would not kill me. I put my head down, take a step back into the cave and go. I hold on for the full lap and cross the line. Race over, pain over, senses return. I get third place. Heaton won and Pasco took second.
I have signed up for one more race. I do end up racing, but that is another 15 minutes of whittle time, so that story will have to be told latter.
AA
Teammates in the race: Steve Stewart and Dave Puglia
CCCX race site: 7 laps of 4.5 miles per lap. Rolling terrain
A bright and sunny Saturday. The final race day of 2011
written by Andrew A
Race reports are a fun way to whittle away a good 15 minutes of the work day in an act of ego inflation. So with my knife sharp and my piece of wood in front of me I will endeavor to entertain as best I can. Let the hyperbole flow!
It is dark and all other senses have been eliminated. Pain is ever present. I should have turned left or right, but instead I went straight and ended up deep in the pain cave (how is that for hyperbole?). I spend time here because it is part of our sport. This is what we sign up for when we decide to race bikes. We guarantee ourselves a visit to the cave when we pay our money to race. I paid my money and thus am doing my penance. How did I get here?
It started innocently enough. Teammate Steve Stewart casually points out the rider next to me as "one to watch". Said the guys name is Steve Heaton and he is going for the overall win in the series. The man has big legs. For some reason this caught my attention and it registered in my brain. I also noted that in a race of 17 guys, three were wearing the Safeway kit. For those reading this and smart enough to avoid the pain cave, Safeway has a strong team, and these three are strong. I also had managed to pick up a nasty bug from my kids, so mentally I was going to take this race easy and ride in the pack. No chasing breaks for me this race!
Seven lap race with each lap being 4.5 miles long and full of "rollers". Nothing too steep, but this is not a flat course. First lap is mellow, almost enjoyable. The cave is far from my mind. Onto the second lap a flash of white and yellow catches the corner of my eye. Like a dog that spots a squirrel, instinct takes over and I chase the flash. When I glance back, it is just myself and Heaton. The pack is fading behind. My mind races. I don’t want to be here. It is too early in the race and there are just two of us. This squirrel has some big legs. I look ahead and see glimpses of the cave. If I stay, I know I will visit.
From behind, another rider is coming. We slow a bit for him to join. It is a Safeway rider (Robert Pasco). Now we are back at it, but Pasco does not want to help. He also thinks it is too early for a break (We have almost 25 miles of racing ahead of us and a hungry pack behind us). After each of my turns on the front, I try to reason with Robert. My conversations go something like this, "Robert, your team will not chase, my team will not chase. I can not keep taking pulls with this beast (Heaton). You have to help." Nothing. So I try a new tactic. "Robert…please, please, please help." I think my groveling did the trick. Lap four Robert starts to pull!
It is too late though. I have gotten too close to the cave's entrance. Heaton goes to the front again and ups the pace on the next roller. I cling to his rear wheel. I can feel my vision starting to fade. My mind starts to reason with my legs. "If you stop pedaling so hard, I will stop this knife like pain I am putting into you." My lungs join the conversation and side with my mind. The crack has happened. I let a small gap form between myself and the other two. My legs argue for a brief minute and catch back on but it is futile. From deep in the cave I watch as Pasco and Heaton ride away from me. I am alone.
Now what? I have one and 3/4 laps left to do in the race. I take a step out of the cave and look around. I can not see anyone in either direction. My two tormentors are out of sight ahead and the chasing pack is nowhere to be seen behind. I contemplate just riding off the course and licking my wounds. Instead, I reason that I will go until the pack catches me. After 3/4 of a lap, still no pack in site. Well hell, I am still in third place and already visited the cave once. Another visit would not kill me. I put my head down, take a step back into the cave and go. I hold on for the full lap and cross the line. Race over, pain over, senses return. I get third place. Heaton won and Pasco took second.
I have signed up for one more race. I do end up racing, but that is another 15 minutes of whittle time, so that story will have to be told latter.
AA
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Keith Ends the Season with a WIN at Oakland
Sunday September 25, 2011
Oakland GP M35+ 1/2/3
drizzly, rainy, wet, and very slick course
1st place
Anytime you win a race, you should write a report. Although the field was tiny (12), the guys' hearts in this race were huge. We watched the previous field slide and crash on the course in the rain. It was gutsy to start and race. Since I had previously finished 3rd and 7th in p/1/2 on this course, I thought I would be at advantage.
I treated it like a lunchtime crit and rode aggressively. I took two of the 4 primes. I led or rode 2nd wheel much of the race because I was trying to get away, break up the field, win primes, or ride my line through slick turns. My rear wheel slid many times in two particular oily turns, the first and the last. Hitting the white paint was treacherous. At times, it felt like more of a short-track skating contest. I channeled my inner Ohno. I dove the last turn a few times even though a few others overcooked it. I rode my tubulars at an aggressive 110psi. several of us kept attacking and marking each other until 3 laps to go when a crazy guy crashed just behind me. we dropped down to only 6. keith d. from cccx actually rode off the front gently and the rest of us were watching each other. when we caught him, we ramped it up and I took 2nd wheel through the last turn even though I wanted to be first. sprint was solid and I won by about 1/2 wheel length over Robert Windsor and David Avila followed with a fist pump. I got a nice podium shot and some prizes.
This was a good way to finish the year. I decided to not do p/1/2 and ruin the day even though legs were good and warmed up.
If you want to sprint well at the end of a crit, I feel you should go for a prime or two and practice. It works out the kinks.
small fields are silly crazy. you never know what to expect and you are better off attacking than being attacked.
riding rainy crits takes some skill.
podium shot with and of the son is priceless.
Oakland GP M35+ 1/2/3
drizzly, rainy, wet, and very slick course
1st place
Anytime you win a race, you should write a report. Although the field was tiny (12), the guys' hearts in this race were huge. We watched the previous field slide and crash on the course in the rain. It was gutsy to start and race. Since I had previously finished 3rd and 7th in p/1/2 on this course, I thought I would be at advantage.
I treated it like a lunchtime crit and rode aggressively. I took two of the 4 primes. I led or rode 2nd wheel much of the race because I was trying to get away, break up the field, win primes, or ride my line through slick turns. My rear wheel slid many times in two particular oily turns, the first and the last. Hitting the white paint was treacherous. At times, it felt like more of a short-track skating contest. I channeled my inner Ohno. I dove the last turn a few times even though a few others overcooked it. I rode my tubulars at an aggressive 110psi. several of us kept attacking and marking each other until 3 laps to go when a crazy guy crashed just behind me. we dropped down to only 6. keith d. from cccx actually rode off the front gently and the rest of us were watching each other. when we caught him, we ramped it up and I took 2nd wheel through the last turn even though I wanted to be first. sprint was solid and I won by about 1/2 wheel length over Robert Windsor and David Avila followed with a fist pump. I got a nice podium shot and some prizes.
This was a good way to finish the year. I decided to not do p/1/2 and ruin the day even though legs were good and warmed up.
If you want to sprint well at the end of a crit, I feel you should go for a prime or two and practice. It works out the kinks.
small fields are silly crazy. you never know what to expect and you are better off attacking than being attacked.
riding rainy crits takes some skill.
podium shot with and of the son is priceless.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Long and Pointless Henleville RR report-read only if you don't value time
Another long and pointless Race Report from Andrew: Really, not much of a report and much more of a cathartic blathering. Enjoy…or delete. Whatever, I feel better for writing it! Now on with the show:
Henleville Road Race (Sept 24th, 2011) - 72 miles
Cat 45+ 1/2/3
Teammate: John Pauley
What poses a man to leave his family on a Friday evening to drive four hours and stay in a flea bag $45 a night hotel? I believe they study such people in beginning psyc classes. Well, I am that man and I certainly need to be studied.
After my ordeal at Winters RR and then subsequently grabbing the wrong set of legs for Sacramento I needed something, anything to reassure my fragile ego that I could ride a bike at something resembling race pace. I realized that I have been living this season in a state of controlled panic. Certainly my wife would argue that the "controlled" portion of those two words was debatable. Regardless, maybe this is what a mid life crisis looks like. Not sure; but I have been waiting for the inevitable speed drop off that I know is coming with my advanced age. I have raced 25 times this year knowing the drop is coming and expecting it to walk up and tap me on the shoulder each race. So far I have felt a few light brushes on the shoulder, but not the full tap…it is out there, and it is coming. Hide your birth certificates if you can!
Ok, long prelude for a race report, but I felt an understanding of my mindset was vital, and more importantly, gave you an extra 30 seconds of wasting time reading this silly report.
So, after the drive and flea bag hotel stay, I get to the race site and meet up with John Pauley (he must have issues too, but I leave that for him to explain). We sign in for the race and are informed that it is now 54 miles (three 18 mile laps) instead of the advertised four laps (72 miles). "Oh, hell no." You read above. I was not doing all that for three laps. I wanted my extra 18 miles! So off to the ref I went. I complained the loudest and race was reset to four laps. Whew.
John and I roll out for a nice warm up. Finally we decide to turn around and head back for the start. When we get there, we are the first two to line up. John has the sense to ask which group just started that we can see a quarter mile up the road. The answer? Yep, "that is the 35+ and 45+ 1/2/3's". It takes me a minute to think about that. That category sounds familiar. Oh my goodness, after everything, we missed the start! Now John and I are doing a two man TTT. I had thoughts of Keith attacking at Dunnigan in the first two miles and was sure someone was going to try that. The "controlled" came off and we were in a panicked flight. We caught the group. Thankfully, no one attacked and in fact, the pace was fairly sedate. Interesting way to start a 72 mile road race though. Not fully recommended.
First lap is so slow my Grandma could have kept up. Heck, I could have kept up with my wife's legs. Ok, I just went too far. Anyway, you get the point. Second lap I am getting board, so I attack. Get caught. From that point on, the race was a series of big attacks and then snails pace. Lap 3 my water bottle bolt comes out and I lose my bottle. Figure I will get one at neutral next lap. Next lap comes and I roll through the neutral feed zone. First two people get their bottles. I am third in the group and the next two guys, supposed to be handing out bottles are standing around talking. I am yelling, "bottle, bottle, bottle!" to no avail. They look up at me just as I pass them. I have about 15 miles left.
With cotton in my mouth, I am barley able to speak. I am begging other riders for a sip. Of course, since I can barley speak, I am incomprehensible when I ask. I think, "can I get a sip of your water" but what I say is "Can Ah slep some waber"? I have to repeat my request a few times till they get what the hell this nut case is asking for. I pressure two reluctant riders into a sip. I become our group's version of the guy who holds the sign, "Will Work for Food", no one will make eye contact with me for fear I will ask for another hand out.
Final sprint comes: I sit 5th position. 200 meters to go and the four in front start to sprint. I stand to sprint and my quads advise me to sit the hell down before they take matters into their own hands. I watch the four ahead finish and do a seated sprint to keep my 5th place. I win a coveted Velo Promo T-Shirt (They should have a contest for which of their T-shirts is uglier than the next. Of course, I will wear it till the T-shirt begs me to stop).
Ok, I am done. My ego, while still extremely fragile, is in check. See you all you soon!
Andrew
Henleville Road Race (Sept 24th, 2011) - 72 miles
Cat 45+ 1/2/3
Teammate: John Pauley
What poses a man to leave his family on a Friday evening to drive four hours and stay in a flea bag $45 a night hotel? I believe they study such people in beginning psyc classes. Well, I am that man and I certainly need to be studied.
After my ordeal at Winters RR and then subsequently grabbing the wrong set of legs for Sacramento I needed something, anything to reassure my fragile ego that I could ride a bike at something resembling race pace. I realized that I have been living this season in a state of controlled panic. Certainly my wife would argue that the "controlled" portion of those two words was debatable. Regardless, maybe this is what a mid life crisis looks like. Not sure; but I have been waiting for the inevitable speed drop off that I know is coming with my advanced age. I have raced 25 times this year knowing the drop is coming and expecting it to walk up and tap me on the shoulder each race. So far I have felt a few light brushes on the shoulder, but not the full tap…it is out there, and it is coming. Hide your birth certificates if you can!
Ok, long prelude for a race report, but I felt an understanding of my mindset was vital, and more importantly, gave you an extra 30 seconds of wasting time reading this silly report.
So, after the drive and flea bag hotel stay, I get to the race site and meet up with John Pauley (he must have issues too, but I leave that for him to explain). We sign in for the race and are informed that it is now 54 miles (three 18 mile laps) instead of the advertised four laps (72 miles). "Oh, hell no." You read above. I was not doing all that for three laps. I wanted my extra 18 miles! So off to the ref I went. I complained the loudest and race was reset to four laps. Whew.
John and I roll out for a nice warm up. Finally we decide to turn around and head back for the start. When we get there, we are the first two to line up. John has the sense to ask which group just started that we can see a quarter mile up the road. The answer? Yep, "that is the 35+ and 45+ 1/2/3's". It takes me a minute to think about that. That category sounds familiar. Oh my goodness, after everything, we missed the start! Now John and I are doing a two man TTT. I had thoughts of Keith attacking at Dunnigan in the first two miles and was sure someone was going to try that. The "controlled" came off and we were in a panicked flight. We caught the group. Thankfully, no one attacked and in fact, the pace was fairly sedate. Interesting way to start a 72 mile road race though. Not fully recommended.
First lap is so slow my Grandma could have kept up. Heck, I could have kept up with my wife's legs. Ok, I just went too far. Anyway, you get the point. Second lap I am getting board, so I attack. Get caught. From that point on, the race was a series of big attacks and then snails pace. Lap 3 my water bottle bolt comes out and I lose my bottle. Figure I will get one at neutral next lap. Next lap comes and I roll through the neutral feed zone. First two people get their bottles. I am third in the group and the next two guys, supposed to be handing out bottles are standing around talking. I am yelling, "bottle, bottle, bottle!" to no avail. They look up at me just as I pass them. I have about 15 miles left.
With cotton in my mouth, I am barley able to speak. I am begging other riders for a sip. Of course, since I can barley speak, I am incomprehensible when I ask. I think, "can I get a sip of your water" but what I say is "Can Ah slep some waber"? I have to repeat my request a few times till they get what the hell this nut case is asking for. I pressure two reluctant riders into a sip. I become our group's version of the guy who holds the sign, "Will Work for Food", no one will make eye contact with me for fear I will ask for another hand out.
Final sprint comes: I sit 5th position. 200 meters to go and the four in front start to sprint. I stand to sprint and my quads advise me to sit the hell down before they take matters into their own hands. I watch the four ahead finish and do a seated sprint to keep my 5th place. I win a coveted Velo Promo T-Shirt (They should have a contest for which of their T-shirts is uglier than the next. Of course, I will wear it till the T-shirt begs me to stop).
Ok, I am done. My ego, while still extremely fragile, is in check. See you all you soon!
Andrew
Monday, September 19, 2011
Rick Adams Wins the Winters Crit in the 35+ 3 race (and 4th in the E3)
(Ed note: Rick is planning on racing the 55+ age group next year. Think about that as you read the report below!!)
Winters Crit Race report
M 35+ Cat 3
Great 6-corner course. 14 riders started – but what a fun race. The first half many riders attacked and kept the pace moderate. With 12 laps done, two riders got away and were up 10 seconds. I thought about giving chase, but decided to roll through on the chase. With 4 laps to go, we caught the two and the pace slowed. On bell lap, I attacked going into turn 3 and held the lead to the finish and WON! Podium photo attached.
Cat 3 open
18 riders. Everything stayed together until halfway. Then, one by one, five riders attacked and went up the road. When the 5th rider got way, I gave chase with two other riders in tow. We caught two of the 5 riders up the road – we now made a group of 5 chasers. The three other riders formed the lead break on the front of the race. Our chase group did not work well with 2 riders simply along for the ride. We were not making much progress bringing down the 12 second gap to the leaders. With 2 laps to go, we had brought the gap down to 8 seconds. At this point, I enlisted a friend to help and we attacked our group of 5 hoping to bridge across to the leaders. We did shed the two passengers but we did not bring back the three leaders. I won the sprint for 4th.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Sacramento Grand Prix Kind of Race Report-by Andrew A.
Sacramento Grand Prix Kind of Race Report
CoreTechians: John Pauley, Rick Adams, Steve Stewart, John Wilde
I had no intention of writing up this race report since there was not a whole lot to say, but with the pic on the Sac Bee Web site, figured I would send it out with a few words…enjoy, or as John Pauley (now referred to as JP since we have 43 John's on the team) says…or don’t.
If you could see into my mind, and thank goodness that is not possible, you would see a bike racer that dominates races and comes screaming across the finish line with arms raised. Funny how reality seldom enters into this process. Come to think of it, how on earth could I have thoughts like these? There may be medication out there I should be taking, I should look into that.
So it was as I headed to Sacramento in the company of JP and Rick Adams for the afternoon commute.
When we finally arrived, I realized several things. Sacramento is hot (and not necessarily hot in a good way), it is a long way away from the Bay Area, I think I forgot something but not sure exactly what. Anyway, we kitted up, and lined up to race the 35/45+ 3/4 race. Again, in my fantasyland, this was one I was sure to dominate and most likely win. I told you, thank goodness no one else can see inside my melon.
Race starts and it is a four corner crit around the State Capital. It is flat, the road is fair. I stay near the front and then realize what I forgot. My legs. Did not bring them for this race. I must have picked up my wife's legs out the door. Oh well, all I can say is we went in circles for 50 minutes, I watched John Wilde attack and Rick ride hard and Steve represent. Finish came and I watched from a few rows back how the race ended. I almost forgot I was in the race while spectating the finish. Whatever, back to my fantasies.
Five minutes later, I am standing on the start line for the 35+/45+ 1/2/3 race. I have to give the wife credit, for the amount of training she does, her legs worked ok. For the amount of training I do, well, I probably should find a new hobby.
Race starts, I sit in the pack. We go in circles for 50 minutes (heard this before?). I talk to Steve a bit in the pack. Mostly we talk about the liquid refreshments he has back at the van. I run over a pot hole somewhere in the circle I am doing. I flat. It is a slow flat, I am doing nothing in the race so no need to do anything different. I ride the flat for the last quarter of the race (I have about 60 psi so not fully flat) and there you have it, next thing I realize the race has come to end and I am being asked to leave the course. Something along the lines of, "thanks for coming, now get off the course, we have real riders about to race and you are making a mockery of this sport."
At the end of this race I realize what an important part of this race I was. Had I not been there, the pack would have been that much smaller and thus made the lead riders feel that much less excited about how well they did. I now feel I am giving back to our great sport by being at the race and allowing already inflated egos get that much more inflated. I need to go; I have Internet research to do about medication.
Stay well!
Andrew
CoreTechians: John Pauley, Rick Adams, Steve Stewart, John Wilde
I had no intention of writing up this race report since there was not a whole lot to say, but with the pic on the Sac Bee Web site, figured I would send it out with a few words…enjoy, or as John Pauley (now referred to as JP since we have 43 John's on the team) says…or don’t.
If you could see into my mind, and thank goodness that is not possible, you would see a bike racer that dominates races and comes screaming across the finish line with arms raised. Funny how reality seldom enters into this process. Come to think of it, how on earth could I have thoughts like these? There may be medication out there I should be taking, I should look into that.
So it was as I headed to Sacramento in the company of JP and Rick Adams for the afternoon commute.
When we finally arrived, I realized several things. Sacramento is hot (and not necessarily hot in a good way), it is a long way away from the Bay Area, I think I forgot something but not sure exactly what. Anyway, we kitted up, and lined up to race the 35/45+ 3/4 race. Again, in my fantasyland, this was one I was sure to dominate and most likely win. I told you, thank goodness no one else can see inside my melon.
Race starts and it is a four corner crit around the State Capital. It is flat, the road is fair. I stay near the front and then realize what I forgot. My legs. Did not bring them for this race. I must have picked up my wife's legs out the door. Oh well, all I can say is we went in circles for 50 minutes, I watched John Wilde attack and Rick ride hard and Steve represent. Finish came and I watched from a few rows back how the race ended. I almost forgot I was in the race while spectating the finish. Whatever, back to my fantasies.
Five minutes later, I am standing on the start line for the 35+/45+ 1/2/3 race. I have to give the wife credit, for the amount of training she does, her legs worked ok. For the amount of training I do, well, I probably should find a new hobby.
Race starts, I sit in the pack. We go in circles for 50 minutes (heard this before?). I talk to Steve a bit in the pack. Mostly we talk about the liquid refreshments he has back at the van. I run over a pot hole somewhere in the circle I am doing. I flat. It is a slow flat, I am doing nothing in the race so no need to do anything different. I ride the flat for the last quarter of the race (I have about 60 psi so not fully flat) and there you have it, next thing I realize the race has come to end and I am being asked to leave the course. Something along the lines of, "thanks for coming, now get off the course, we have real riders about to race and you are making a mockery of this sport."
At the end of this race I realize what an important part of this race I was. Had I not been there, the pack would have been that much smaller and thus made the lead riders feel that much less excited about how well they did. I now feel I am giving back to our great sport by being at the race and allowing already inflated egos get that much more inflated. I need to go; I have Internet research to do about medication.
Stay well!
Andrew
Fremont Peak Hill Climb Race Report-By Miles Keep
Race: Fremont Peak Hill Climb Race
Where: San Juan Bautista, CA
When: Sunday Sept 11th 2011
Stats: 10 miles, 2510 Vertical Feet in 45min +/_
CAT- Elite 5, Race 4
Teammate- Ken Spencer ( In prior race, and kicked butt! )
Field- 40ish in my race, 17 in my Cat
Place- 6th
I didn't know what to expect at this race, since I had not done it before. I had a chance to talk to Ken prior to get the rundown, since he has done it in the past.
Since the Mt Tam race got cancelled, I figured there would be a few extra that came looking to climb.
When I got there is was raining lightly, but not a deal breaker. The overcast sky kept the temps down nicely.
I was able to warm up well on some adjacent hills and was ready.
Our race had a mix of riders including the 55+ 4/5 men. Those guys can climb!
As the race started I was surprised at the pace out of the gate on the "flats". There was an immediate break a way at around mile 3 that had 4 riders.
Being a hill climb I thought that they wouldn't be able to hold the pace and just watched them ride off the front from the main group. Other than the break a way and me gaging on my GU, nothing much happened as the pain set in.
After a few miles on some rolling 3-6% hills we hit the real climbing. 10% gradients started to blow apart the group and this is were I usually make up time.
I hooked up with another rider (M55+) and hammered, passing the heavier riders that had set the initial pace.
I was surprised at how much some of them were sucking wind, being a hill climb I would've assumed they trained for this stuff.
We settled in to a uncomfortable pace and the vertical feet clicked away. The 55+ guy I was riding with was in 4th in his cat, he saw the 3rd place guy
up ahead and tried to catch him to no avail. I let him go since he was not in my cat. At the top of the climb there was a slight curvy
downhill and a bit of a false flat section for about 1 mile until the finnish. I hammered this section hard to make sure I was not caught and suddenly there was the finnish.
Remember that break a way group? Well, they pretty much held on and got the top 3 podium spots. They were all in there 20s...
To be honest, although it was very hard, I was surprised at how quick it went. On the steep stuff, I felt like I was just getting into a groove.
The race results were posted later in town at a Mexican restaurant. It was a great place to bench race, get a beer and chill. The whole race had a great casual vibe, and I'll definitely do it again next
year. This was a good learning year for me, although next year I'll do it in a different age group and CAT, I think I'll do a bit better since I now know how the course plays out.
Thanks for reading
Miles
Where: San Juan Bautista, CA
When: Sunday Sept 11th 2011
Stats: 10 miles, 2510 Vertical Feet in 45min +/_
CAT- Elite 5, Race 4
Teammate- Ken Spencer ( In prior race, and kicked butt! )
Field- 40ish in my race, 17 in my Cat
Place- 6th
I didn't know what to expect at this race, since I had not done it before. I had a chance to talk to Ken prior to get the rundown, since he has done it in the past.
Since the Mt Tam race got cancelled, I figured there would be a few extra that came looking to climb.
When I got there is was raining lightly, but not a deal breaker. The overcast sky kept the temps down nicely.
I was able to warm up well on some adjacent hills and was ready.
Our race had a mix of riders including the 55+ 4/5 men. Those guys can climb!
As the race started I was surprised at the pace out of the gate on the "flats". There was an immediate break a way at around mile 3 that had 4 riders.
Being a hill climb I thought that they wouldn't be able to hold the pace and just watched them ride off the front from the main group. Other than the break a way and me gaging on my GU, nothing much happened as the pain set in.
After a few miles on some rolling 3-6% hills we hit the real climbing. 10% gradients started to blow apart the group and this is were I usually make up time.
I hooked up with another rider (M55+) and hammered, passing the heavier riders that had set the initial pace.
I was surprised at how much some of them were sucking wind, being a hill climb I would've assumed they trained for this stuff.
We settled in to a uncomfortable pace and the vertical feet clicked away. The 55+ guy I was riding with was in 4th in his cat, he saw the 3rd place guy
up ahead and tried to catch him to no avail. I let him go since he was not in my cat. At the top of the climb there was a slight curvy
downhill and a bit of a false flat section for about 1 mile until the finnish. I hammered this section hard to make sure I was not caught and suddenly there was the finnish.
Remember that break a way group? Well, they pretty much held on and got the top 3 podium spots. They were all in there 20s...
To be honest, although it was very hard, I was surprised at how quick it went. On the steep stuff, I felt like I was just getting into a groove.
The race results were posted later in town at a Mexican restaurant. It was a great place to bench race, get a beer and chill. The whole race had a great casual vibe, and I'll definitely do it again next
year. This was a good learning year for me, although next year I'll do it in a different age group and CAT, I think I'll do a bit better since I now know how the course plays out.
Thanks for reading
Miles
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Mark Foster's CCCX (Winner!) Cat 4/5 Report 9-6-11
CCCX at Ft Ord( 1 hour circuit race)
9-3-11 Written by Mark Foster
45+ Cat 4/5
33 riders
Team mate: Tom Rice
It’s funny how we all start our Ft Ord reports by telling how cold it was. It seems any race before 2pm in the Summer is a cold one. This race started at 11:20 so it wasn’t that bad, in fact warming through out the race. There’s a huge difference racing in the 4/5 race when compared to the open State Championships(Cat1/2/3/4/5). The Cat 1’s and 2’s pushed us rookies to average 2 mph faster for more than twice as far! According to Tom the last lap(4.5miles) of this race averaged 23.5mph pushing the race distance average to 22mph.
There really isn’t much to write about. It was fairly uneventful. There was a point with two laps to go that an Iron Data rider sprinted off of the front of the pack. In prior races(at other venues) this particular guy had done that before. I had always thought, “There’s no way he’ll get away from us with all of us chasing” …..he did(because no one would help me chase). So…I wasn’t going to let that happen again. After he took off, I picked up the pace to bring him back. Just as I started to do that, Tom passes me(realizing that I’m going to burn a match or three) and say’s, “Grab my wheel!”. It was an incredibly selfless act. Tom lit off his afterburners and reeled this guy back in. Then he and I along with one or two others worked together to pick up the pace for the rest of the race. He burned a couple of matches bridging that gap. Remember, he had already raced this morning, chalking one up in the “W” column. So after that little episode, the race got strung out the rest of the way. There was no mob going over the last hill. I grabbed second wheel on the final descent. As we approached the final turn into the sprint, I made sure to stay on the outside, so to not get boxed in. The leader and I got passed on the right side going into the final right hand turn. I accelerated and passed the now fading leader on the left and grabbed the wheel of the new leader. Tom was right on my wheel. So we were second and third going around the outside of the final turn. The leader runs wide, allowing a mob of riders to pass us on the inside of the corner. That’s when I began my sprint(with 200 meters to go). I easily passed the rider in front of me along with the guys that had started to pass me on the right. I think I won by more than a few bike lengths. I turned around fully expecting to see Tom in second place; because I had heard him scream “Go” as we started the final sprint. But between his morning race, the monster bridge and the brisk final lap; he had nothing left in his legs for the final sprint. He did help me get the win though. Thanks Tom!
45+ Cat 4/5
33 riders
Team mate: Tom Rice
It’s funny how we all start our Ft Ord reports by telling how cold it was. It seems any race before 2pm in the Summer is a cold one. This race started at 11:20 so it wasn’t that bad, in fact warming through out the race. There’s a huge difference racing in the 4/5 race when compared to the open State Championships(Cat1/2/3/4/5). The Cat 1’s and 2’s pushed us rookies to average 2 mph faster for more than twice as far! According to Tom the last lap(4.5miles) of this race averaged 23.5mph pushing the race distance average to 22mph.
There really isn’t much to write about. It was fairly uneventful. There was a point with two laps to go that an Iron Data rider sprinted off of the front of the pack. In prior races(at other venues) this particular guy had done that before. I had always thought, “There’s no way he’ll get away from us with all of us chasing” …..he did(because no one would help me chase). So…I wasn’t going to let that happen again. After he took off, I picked up the pace to bring him back. Just as I started to do that, Tom passes me(realizing that I’m going to burn a match or three) and say’s, “Grab my wheel!”. It was an incredibly selfless act. Tom lit off his afterburners and reeled this guy back in. Then he and I along with one or two others worked together to pick up the pace for the rest of the race. He burned a couple of matches bridging that gap. Remember, he had already raced this morning, chalking one up in the “W” column. So after that little episode, the race got strung out the rest of the way. There was no mob going over the last hill. I grabbed second wheel on the final descent. As we approached the final turn into the sprint, I made sure to stay on the outside, so to not get boxed in. The leader and I got passed on the right side going into the final right hand turn. I accelerated and passed the now fading leader on the left and grabbed the wheel of the new leader. Tom was right on my wheel. So we were second and third going around the outside of the final turn. The leader runs wide, allowing a mob of riders to pass us on the inside of the corner. That’s when I began my sprint(with 200 meters to go). I easily passed the rider in front of me along with the guys that had started to pass me on the right. I think I won by more than a few bike lengths. I turned around fully expecting to see Tom in second place; because I had heard him scream “Go” as we started the final sprint. But between his morning race, the monster bridge and the brisk final lap; he had nothing left in his legs for the final sprint. He did help me get the win though. Thanks Tom!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Tom gets the win!
Written by Tom Rice
Central Coast Circuit Races at Fort Ord, CA
Saturday September 3, 2011, 8:35AM in the wet, misty Monterey Bay fog
Elite Cat 5, 12 riders
60 minutes, Five 4.3 mile laps on a rolling course
I was the only CoreTechs rider in this race
Win!
This is my first race in the Elite Cat 5s riding with guys of all ages. I'm 10 years older than anyone else in the race and more than 30 years older than some of them!
After some nervous chatter at the start line and adjustments to the gearing for some of the new juniors, we start at the official's whistle and I lead the pack out for about a quarter of the first lap. As we crest the first hill, one of the young riders takes over the lead. He is a strong rider and is putting out a pretty good pace, making a very long pull. On the second lap, I move to the front and again make a pull up the first hill, amp'ing up the pace quite a bit. By the time we cross the start/finish line for the second time, we've dropped all but 8 riders.
I'm staying safely near the front for the remainder of the race. I make short pulls periodically but, for most of the race, our intrepid youngster hammers away out front, doing his best Jens Voight imitation. This same guy leads the pack for at least 90% of the race with the wily, old veteran on his wheel, doing my best Mark Cavendish imitation (with, maybe, a few wrinkles thrown in).
As we cross the start/finish line on the last lap, "Jens" starts to fade somewhat and another of the young riders leads much of the last lap.
My goal here is to stay safe on the last descent, be second or third wheel at the turn onto the finish straight and to not, under any circumstances, lead out the sprint. So, we make a clean, right-hand turn onto the downhill and begin our descent. The pace quickens and there are four in front of me about half the way down the hill.
As many of you know, on this section of the course, the pavement undulates, dips and is quite rough in places. At full speed, you have to be light on your bike in order to maintain good control. Unfortunately, two of the riders in front tangle on a particularly rough spot and go down, with a third rider crashing off the road behind me. (Lots of scrapes but no one is badly hurt.) I have room to brake gently and take a line between the crashing riders but a huge gap develops between me and the remaining riders in front. I make a substantial effort to close this gap before the right-hand turn and I'm second wheel coming onto the finish straight.
Coming through the turn, the racer in front of me doesn't want to lead out the sprint and he is slowing. I know there is a third guy ready to make his sprint but I can't see him. From somewhere deep in my old, jumbled, racing memories, comes an unexpected tactical decision; I fake the start of my sprint. I make three hard, noisy peddle strokes coming up next to my competitor and he starts his sprint in earnest. I ease up and fall in behind him, keeping an eye out for the third rider coming up on the left. With about 100 meters to go, I pour on the gas, passing the rider in front of me and make my sprint for the line… I win!!
This race couldn't have gone better for me. It was fun, I get my first win, I've ridden with a fair bit of savvy and I still have a couple of matches left for the 45+ Cat 4/5 race with Mark Foster. I'm stoked!
Thanks for reading.
Tom Rice, Bike Racer
CoreTechs Cycling Team
Friday, September 2, 2011
Track Racing Tues Night- by Rick Adams
First team race report (Rick just joined the team, this is his first CoreTechs team report racing in our colors!).
Velodrome Cat 1-2-3
Tuesday 8-30
34 riders.
Objective: Simply ride hard. We did 3 races.
First, a 25 lap Scratch. With 34 rides my objective was simple: help make the race hard. With 21 laps to go, I went to the front and drilled it. 5 of us immediately had a gap and we worked well together for the next 5 laps keeping the pace just above 30 mph. When we got caught, I was hurting and went to the second group on the track for some recovery at 26+ mph. I got lapped by the leaders but goal accomplished: Dead tired.
Next: 18 lap Tempo (sprint every lap first two get points) I stayed with the leaders the entire race picked up one point early and then was second in the last sprint. (9th in this race)
Last: 60 lap Points. Objective, finish and work hard. After the second sprint, the main group split and a break of about 6 riders formed. I was in the break. After about 8 laps, I could tell I was coming undone so I went back to main group. This break stayed away with a few other riders bridging up, but not me I bridged BACK to the main group where I stayed. After I recovered a bit I was able to do the work required to keep the lead group from gaining a lap. Finished about 10th
Everyone needs to race at the velodrome! Way fast.
Rick
Velodrome Cat 1-2-3
Tuesday 8-30
34 riders.
Objective: Simply ride hard. We did 3 races.
First, a 25 lap Scratch. With 34 rides my objective was simple: help make the race hard. With 21 laps to go, I went to the front and drilled it. 5 of us immediately had a gap and we worked well together for the next 5 laps keeping the pace just above 30 mph. When we got caught, I was hurting and went to the second group on the track for some recovery at 26+ mph. I got lapped by the leaders but goal accomplished: Dead tired.
Next: 18 lap Tempo (sprint every lap first two get points) I stayed with the leaders the entire race picked up one point early and then was second in the last sprint. (9th in this race)
Last: 60 lap Points. Objective, finish and work hard. After the second sprint, the main group split and a break of about 6 riders formed. I was in the break. After about 8 laps, I could tell I was coming undone so I went back to main group. This break stayed away with a few other riders bridging up, but not me I bridged BACK to the main group where I stayed. After I recovered a bit I was able to do the work required to keep the lead group from gaining a lap. Finished about 10th
Everyone needs to race at the velodrome! Way fast.
Rick
Saturday, August 27, 2011
A fun time making a horror movie: Winters Road Race Report
Winters Road Race (8/27/11)
30+ Open field (anyone 30+ can enter)
about 70 or so miles and three laps
Christian, John W., Dave P., Devon (written by Andrew A.)
Five of us scheduled to go to Winters, four are present at our meeting time. Missing rider? Devon. He messed up his timing and now we are on our way to pick him up. 6am we start our journey. Drive time is supposed to be two hours and race start is 8:20. Ah, but it is a Velo Promo event. No stress, they start late. We arrive with time to spare. All is well. About 45 guys in our field, including about seven from Third Pillar, six from Wells Fargo and seven from Taleo. We have five (Dave Puglia, Christian, Devon, John Wilde and myself).
Neutral roll out is mellow and we talk with the riders around us. I ask the lone Morgan Stanley rider why he is doing the 30+ cat as it usually is a bunch of teams that want to race together and have riders in different age categories or different race cats. He says, 35+ 1/2/3 field is full so got pushed into ours. Three others in the same situation. Race is mellow the first lap. We hit the hill and pace picks up. Not brutal, but gets us all breathing hard.
Second lap starts and a Taleo rider attacks. Devon jumps on his wheel and I jump on Devon's. We have two that joined us from Third Pillar. Ok, this is a pretty good mix. We start working together, though the Taleo rider is not pulling hard at all and missing a few turns. Three more catch us and we have a good size gap on the field. We are working ok, but about three riders are not taking turns. 25 minutes later, we get caught. Then the hill hits. Not sure what happened, but the wheels start to fall off for me (figuratively). I am struggling to stay on. I am riding second wheel up the first half the climb and then we hit the short steep section. I am like a rock plumping backward through the group. I can barley breath and am within a hair of getting dropped. Christian and Devon go by me and offer words of encouragement. Crap, this sucks.
I barley make it over the top as the last guy of the people left in the group. Probably about 25 of us. Christian paces me back up to the group (thanks!). This mentally shook me. I am now dreading the third lap with another climb. I am running a low budget horror movie in my mind and it does not end well for me. I decide to sit in till the hill and do all I can to recover and then just see how it goes.
Another break goes and Devon and Christian close it down. I am useless in the pack. Finally, I start feeling normal again. Hill approaches and funny enough, I feel darn good. I am second wheel over the top and feel fine. The third climb felt easy to me. I pass the leader on the descent and am out in front. I get a gap and give a bit of a dig. I am off the front but the group is coming. We are down to 14 riders. I am feeling great now and a little giddy that I am back to normal. I sit in the top three and attack once with a Taleo rider, he does not work and we are brought back and once with a Third Pillar rider. Again we are brought back. Still feeling great and have all kinds of happy movies playing through my head. Maybe this is a movie with a good ending after all.
Christian asks me if I want to attack with him when we hit the 1k mark. He says he will burry himself as a lead-out. I figure our sprinter, Devon has the field sprint taken care of so I agree. I am pumped and getting ready. We hit 1500 meters to go and I stand to jump on a Taleo rider that attacked. Uh oh, funny feelings coming from my bike. It can't be. This is a horror movie after all! 69.8 miles of the 70 are complete and I am feeling great. This can not happen now! Well shit…I have a flat rear tire. 3.5 hours of racing, 10 minutes of suffering like a dog on the hill and now I have a flat. I stay with the group as my tire is holding about 20psi. I can feel the rim touching the ground, but the 12 or so left are not moving that fast. I ride with them till about 700 meters to go and then they take off. I ride the last 700 meters alone. What a lonely, crappy 700 meters that was.
On a bright note, turns out Devon claimed third place (that Morgan Stanley rider got the win) and Christian claimed a top ten with a seventh place. Both those guys are riding amazing! John dropped his chain and then jammed it in between his frame and could not get it out. His race ended just after the first lap. Dave did great but the hill got him. He rode with a group of riders in. The race was a lot of fun and riding with the boys was a great time, so in all, there was a happy ending. Of course, I still have a pit about the missed opportunity…arrggg!
Good riding boys!
Andrew
30+ Open field (anyone 30+ can enter)
about 70 or so miles and three laps
Christian, John W., Dave P., Devon (written by Andrew A.)
Five of us scheduled to go to Winters, four are present at our meeting time. Missing rider? Devon. He messed up his timing and now we are on our way to pick him up. 6am we start our journey. Drive time is supposed to be two hours and race start is 8:20. Ah, but it is a Velo Promo event. No stress, they start late. We arrive with time to spare. All is well. About 45 guys in our field, including about seven from Third Pillar, six from Wells Fargo and seven from Taleo. We have five (Dave Puglia, Christian, Devon, John Wilde and myself).
Neutral roll out is mellow and we talk with the riders around us. I ask the lone Morgan Stanley rider why he is doing the 30+ cat as it usually is a bunch of teams that want to race together and have riders in different age categories or different race cats. He says, 35+ 1/2/3 field is full so got pushed into ours. Three others in the same situation. Race is mellow the first lap. We hit the hill and pace picks up. Not brutal, but gets us all breathing hard.
Second lap starts and a Taleo rider attacks. Devon jumps on his wheel and I jump on Devon's. We have two that joined us from Third Pillar. Ok, this is a pretty good mix. We start working together, though the Taleo rider is not pulling hard at all and missing a few turns. Three more catch us and we have a good size gap on the field. We are working ok, but about three riders are not taking turns. 25 minutes later, we get caught. Then the hill hits. Not sure what happened, but the wheels start to fall off for me (figuratively). I am struggling to stay on. I am riding second wheel up the first half the climb and then we hit the short steep section. I am like a rock plumping backward through the group. I can barley breath and am within a hair of getting dropped. Christian and Devon go by me and offer words of encouragement. Crap, this sucks.
I barley make it over the top as the last guy of the people left in the group. Probably about 25 of us. Christian paces me back up to the group (thanks!). This mentally shook me. I am now dreading the third lap with another climb. I am running a low budget horror movie in my mind and it does not end well for me. I decide to sit in till the hill and do all I can to recover and then just see how it goes.
Another break goes and Devon and Christian close it down. I am useless in the pack. Finally, I start feeling normal again. Hill approaches and funny enough, I feel darn good. I am second wheel over the top and feel fine. The third climb felt easy to me. I pass the leader on the descent and am out in front. I get a gap and give a bit of a dig. I am off the front but the group is coming. We are down to 14 riders. I am feeling great now and a little giddy that I am back to normal. I sit in the top three and attack once with a Taleo rider, he does not work and we are brought back and once with a Third Pillar rider. Again we are brought back. Still feeling great and have all kinds of happy movies playing through my head. Maybe this is a movie with a good ending after all.
Christian asks me if I want to attack with him when we hit the 1k mark. He says he will burry himself as a lead-out. I figure our sprinter, Devon has the field sprint taken care of so I agree. I am pumped and getting ready. We hit 1500 meters to go and I stand to jump on a Taleo rider that attacked. Uh oh, funny feelings coming from my bike. It can't be. This is a horror movie after all! 69.8 miles of the 70 are complete and I am feeling great. This can not happen now! Well shit…I have a flat rear tire. 3.5 hours of racing, 10 minutes of suffering like a dog on the hill and now I have a flat. I stay with the group as my tire is holding about 20psi. I can feel the rim touching the ground, but the 12 or so left are not moving that fast. I ride with them till about 700 meters to go and then they take off. I ride the last 700 meters alone. What a lonely, crappy 700 meters that was.
On a bright note, turns out Devon claimed third place (that Morgan Stanley rider got the win) and Christian claimed a top ten with a seventh place. Both those guys are riding amazing! John dropped his chain and then jammed it in between his frame and could not get it out. His race ended just after the first lap. Dave did great but the hill got him. He rode with a group of riders in. The race was a lot of fun and riding with the boys was a great time, so in all, there was a happy ending. Of course, I still have a pit about the missed opportunity…arrggg!
Good riding boys!
Andrew
Monday, August 22, 2011
Ken Spencer's University Road Race Report
University Road Race (UC Santa Cruz campus)
Cat 4/5 combined
Field of 75; 6th place
Course: 15 laps of 3 miles each on campus (repeats of 1 mile uphill, 2 miles downhill)
Summary:
- I think I was the lone CoreTechs guy in Santa Cruz. Surprising since the race is much closer than all those races near Sac-town AND it's really more of a 'power guy' circuit than a climbers circuit. I think our team would do well on this course.
- Weather was the typical cloudy, cool, damp pavement
- First 4 laps were fast and we shed 20-30% of the pack
- Laps 5-8 laps slowed down a bit but we continued to drop people
- Laps 9-12 were tough. It was more mental fatigue than anything. Every few minutes I would see my family, see the ocean, think about having lunch and a beer. And since the pace wasn't very fast we remained a large peloton, about 30 strong. No attacks.
- On lap 13 I moved from back to front.
- At beginning of lap 14 I accelerated - partly out of boredom, partly out of the need to stand up and work out my cramps. Created a gap and the cheers from the crowd kept me going. I was solo about 50-60 meters in front for the whole lap. Slowed up and let them catch.
- Lap 15 - bell lap - at the start/finish line the climb is at it's steepest point. I learned from prior lap that I could stay out if I attacked. So I did again. Went hard on the bell. 2 guys bridged and we were 3. One guy didn't do any work so it was going to be a suicide mission if we pressed on. Descent had most huge headwind so the ~15 strong peleton was gaining major ground. Final turn into the ~0.5 mile finish. It was going to be a field sprint into the wind. I don't enjoy sprinting or wind. So I happily took 6th and a t-shirt.
- By end of the race, sunny & 70 (not a single cloud in the sky!), and we refueled with burgers & beer.
Cat 4/5 combined
Field of 75; 6th place
Course: 15 laps of 3 miles each on campus (repeats of 1 mile uphill, 2 miles downhill)
Summary:
- I think I was the lone CoreTechs guy in Santa Cruz. Surprising since the race is much closer than all those races near Sac-town AND it's really more of a 'power guy' circuit than a climbers circuit. I think our team would do well on this course.
- Weather was the typical cloudy, cool, damp pavement
- First 4 laps were fast and we shed 20-30% of the pack
- Laps 5-8 laps slowed down a bit but we continued to drop people
- Laps 9-12 were tough. It was more mental fatigue than anything. Every few minutes I would see my family, see the ocean, think about having lunch and a beer. And since the pace wasn't very fast we remained a large peloton, about 30 strong. No attacks.
- On lap 13 I moved from back to front.
- At beginning of lap 14 I accelerated - partly out of boredom, partly out of the need to stand up and work out my cramps. Created a gap and the cheers from the crowd kept me going. I was solo about 50-60 meters in front for the whole lap. Slowed up and let them catch.
- Lap 15 - bell lap - at the start/finish line the climb is at it's steepest point. I learned from prior lap that I could stay out if I attacked. So I did again. Went hard on the bell. 2 guys bridged and we were 3. One guy didn't do any work so it was going to be a suicide mission if we pressed on. Descent had most huge headwind so the ~15 strong peleton was gaining major ground. Final turn into the ~0.5 mile finish. It was going to be a field sprint into the wind. I don't enjoy sprinting or wind. So I happily took 6th and a t-shirt.
- By end of the race, sunny & 70 (not a single cloud in the sky!), and we refueled with burgers & beer.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
John Pauley's Dunnigan and San Ardo Race Report
Written by John Pauley and pic by Tim Westmore:
Race: Dunnigan Hills 35+ 1/2/3
Date: 8-13-11
Course: 45 Miles rolling terrain, (only about 800 feet of vertical over the first 25 miles and then downhill and flat for the next 20)
Distance: 1.9 laps, 86 miles
Teammates: Keith, Andrew, Christian, John Wilde, and Scott Fairman
Number of riders: about 40
Place: DNF
Well, to reiterate Andrew’s comment, “A total Blast! That was the most fun DNF I’ve ever had racing bikes.” The other guys in the race have detailed most of the race, so I will keep this one short.
I would like to make one comment ahead of time; they should change the name of this race from Done-again to “Surge-again”. I little more about that later.
I’ve never raced over 80 miles, so going into this I was a bit nervous about the race. As Andrew mentioned, we all talked about strategy before the race, and when I saw Keith go in the break a couple of miles into the race I knew the strategy was going just as planned. Within a couple of miles we had all moved to the front to disrupt the speed of the race and to chase down any attempts to breakaway. Each of us got into a break or two and chased down five or six break attempts. It was a ton of fun to ride as a team! Not exactly Tour quality riding, but maybe the closest I will ever get.
One quick note, Andrew mentioned that he thought Scott got away in one of the breaks, but that was me. I only lasted a few minutes though because the break with 4 other guys came a few minutes after the crash. I had just finished chasing with Christian for two to three minutes to get back on and instead of riding in the pack to recover, I went straight to the front of the pack so I could, hopefully, recover and slow down the pace. Unfortunately, within about 30 seconds of getting to the front, two guys broke away and I “accidentally” followed them. Before I knew it, 4 of us were 100 yards of the front. Within a minute, my legs were screaming again and I dropped back to the pack.
The thing about this race that surprised me the most was the amount of surging that took place. Much of it due to the break up the road, but also because of the makeup of the course and the strength of the riders in the peloton. For the entire first 50+ miles, we continually sped up and slowed down ranging from 17 mph to 33 back down to 20 and then up again over 30. It was like this the entire race. It was fun, but difficult. Not that it was a particularly fast race, but the surging really took a toll on my legs. Hence the name “Surge-again”.
Anyway, due to the all of the surging, chasing, and other work we did, my legs gave out at around the 55 mile mark. I was yo-yoing off the back for about 5 miles and each consecutive chase made my legs scream just that much more. At 55 miles, I decided it was best to turn around and head back to the finish line to watch the finish of a few races. (At this point, it was only about 10 miles back to the finish as opposed to riding as much as 25 or so miles by self if I continued)
Keith was impressive breaking away with over 80 miles to go and it was a pleasure to be able to work for a teammate.
Race: San Ardo 45+ 1/2/3
Date: 8-20-11
Course: 22.8 Miles rolling terrain, (only about 700 feet of vertical per lap but nothing of consequence)
Distance: 3 laps + 1.5 miles to finish, 69.6 miles (The flyer says the race is 63 miles, but it is just plain wrong. I have written to them three or four times, but they never change it. Their math doesn’t even make sense; they say each lap is 22 miles. Well that would make three laps at least 66 miles. Were the heck do they get 63?!?)
Teammates: None
Number of riders: about 30
Place: around 19th
I have been looking forward to this race for a while because I missed it 2008 and 2009 because of injury and then I rode Winters last year instead. (That was a fun race to do, once.) Anyway, I was looking forward to this race because it is an ideal race for me; no real hills, fairly long, and a good sprint finish. I had only done the 35+ Cat 4 race in the past, so I was excited to race 3 laps with the 1/2/3 group.
Before the race, I ran into Keith (riding in the Pro/1/2 race) and Scott Freiermuth (racing in the 35+ cat 4 race) and wished them each good luck. Keith’s race started at 8:00, Scott’s at 8:35 and mine started at 8:50.
Our race started off very slowly, cruising along for the first 2 miles at under 20 mph. As a matter of fact, the entire first lap consisted of attempted breaks and then slowdowns as we caught each break. About 20 miles into the race, I got into a break with 2 other guys and as we got about 150 yards off the front, I realized that no one else was going to join us so I sat up and waited for the pack. I did not want to attempt to do the next 50 miles with only three of us (not that I could have anyway). I figured it would take a break of at least 5 or 6 to stay away. The average speed for the first lap turned out to be only 22.2 mph.
The second lap was more of the same until we hit the 37 mile mark when 8 guys got about 20 seconds on the peloton. Each of the main teams (Safeway, Morgan Stanley, Taleo, San Jose and two teams I didn’t recognize) had a guy in the break. I realized that this was probably “the break of the day” and if I didn’t do something, the next 32 miles would just be a workout and a sprint for 10th place. I saw a Webcor guy and another rider without a team go, so I took off after them. I put my head down and chased for a good two or three minutes and caught the group. Now there were 11 of us and I hoped we would stay away for a while. Surprisingly, even though all of the teams had guys in the break, we only lasted another couple of minutes and the peloton chased us down! Unbelievable. What were they thinking?! I dropped back to the middle of the pack to recover and within 30 seconds, another break countered and instantly had a couple hundred yards on the group. I couldn’t chase yet and had to hope that we caught them. The problem was that Morgan Stanley, Safeway, San Jose and Team Bicycle Trip all had a guy in the break. They were going to have to do 30 miles and my only hope was either a mistake by the break, or a couple of non-team riders doing a bunch of work to catch. The average speed for the second lap was up a bit at 22.7 mph, but all in all it wasn’t too fast or difficult.
The third lap was a bit odd. The Teams were doing their job blocking and even with all the work they were doing, the pace was faster. At mile 50, we caught and passed the two women’s groups that were ahead of us and then a mile later we caught and passed Scott’s group (35+ 4’s). They started 15 minutes ahead of us, how did this happen?! (I found out later that the 35+ 4’s stopped twice for “nature breaks”. How very cordial of them!) The last 18 miles of the race, the Safeway team kept sending guys off the front one at a time and then slowing down and 30 seconds later, another guy would go. I had never seen “blocking” like this, but according to the follow motorcycle guy, the break had increased their advantage from 1 minute up to 1:20, so I guess it was working. (Safeway had five guys in the peloton and each of them was working in this way.) Well, as it turns out, the Safeway guy that was in the break got dropped and was in our group again. I didn’t find this out until after the race. Their tactics were baffling to say the least. They had five strong guys on their team, why wouldn’t they just put all five on the front and hammer? There were 5 or 6 of us with no team members that would have helped them chase and that would have negated any blocking attempts by the other teams.
The final lap we averaged just over 24mph. Still not super fast, but considerably faster than the first two laps and a lot more surging, so it felt a little faster.
The final 1.5 miles consists of a 7/10ths of a mile flat section across a bridge, a small 4/10ths of a mile climb and then a left turn to a 200+ yard slightly uphill (1% grade) section to the finish. We know we are sprinting for either 5th, 6th or 7th, so we are all motivated for that t-shirt! ;-) (Oh yeah, and the points.) I stay seated across the bridge and up the hill to save my strength for the sprint. We get to the top of the hill and are 50 yards from the left turn and I am still sitting in the top 10 and getting a little jittery before the sprint. As we make the turn we all stand to start the sprint and instantly, both my quads seize! Damn it, I sit back down and try to keep my speed up, but to no avail. The group pulls away from me like I am stopped and I roll across the finish 100 yards back and in about 19th or 20th place.
Overall, it was a fun race and I now I know that I can do a fairly long road race with the 45+ 1/2/3’s. I had a tough time the week before in the 35+ race and the extra 10 years in this group seems to make a difference for me. I will probably stick with the 45+ races for rides over 50 miles in the future.
Anyway, thanks for reading. I think I am going to take a few days off the bike to rest and recover from a long season and then I will probably race in Sacramento in the middle of September (the Sacto circuit race looks fun) and then I will finish up my year at Henleyville (anyone want to join me? Again, it is 70 miles of fun through rolling hills near Chico).
Cheers,
Race: Dunnigan Hills 35+ 1/2/3
Date: 8-13-11
Course: 45 Miles rolling terrain, (only about 800 feet of vertical over the first 25 miles and then downhill and flat for the next 20)
Distance: 1.9 laps, 86 miles
Teammates: Keith, Andrew, Christian, John Wilde, and Scott Fairman
Number of riders: about 40
Place: DNF
Well, to reiterate Andrew’s comment, “A total Blast! That was the most fun DNF I’ve ever had racing bikes.” The other guys in the race have detailed most of the race, so I will keep this one short.
I would like to make one comment ahead of time; they should change the name of this race from Done-again to “Surge-again”. I little more about that later.
I’ve never raced over 80 miles, so going into this I was a bit nervous about the race. As Andrew mentioned, we all talked about strategy before the race, and when I saw Keith go in the break a couple of miles into the race I knew the strategy was going just as planned. Within a couple of miles we had all moved to the front to disrupt the speed of the race and to chase down any attempts to breakaway. Each of us got into a break or two and chased down five or six break attempts. It was a ton of fun to ride as a team! Not exactly Tour quality riding, but maybe the closest I will ever get.
One quick note, Andrew mentioned that he thought Scott got away in one of the breaks, but that was me. I only lasted a few minutes though because the break with 4 other guys came a few minutes after the crash. I had just finished chasing with Christian for two to three minutes to get back on and instead of riding in the pack to recover, I went straight to the front of the pack so I could, hopefully, recover and slow down the pace. Unfortunately, within about 30 seconds of getting to the front, two guys broke away and I “accidentally” followed them. Before I knew it, 4 of us were 100 yards of the front. Within a minute, my legs were screaming again and I dropped back to the pack.
The thing about this race that surprised me the most was the amount of surging that took place. Much of it due to the break up the road, but also because of the makeup of the course and the strength of the riders in the peloton. For the entire first 50+ miles, we continually sped up and slowed down ranging from 17 mph to 33 back down to 20 and then up again over 30. It was like this the entire race. It was fun, but difficult. Not that it was a particularly fast race, but the surging really took a toll on my legs. Hence the name “Surge-again”.
Anyway, due to the all of the surging, chasing, and other work we did, my legs gave out at around the 55 mile mark. I was yo-yoing off the back for about 5 miles and each consecutive chase made my legs scream just that much more. At 55 miles, I decided it was best to turn around and head back to the finish line to watch the finish of a few races. (At this point, it was only about 10 miles back to the finish as opposed to riding as much as 25 or so miles by self if I continued)
Keith was impressive breaking away with over 80 miles to go and it was a pleasure to be able to work for a teammate.
Race: San Ardo 45+ 1/2/3
Date: 8-20-11
Course: 22.8 Miles rolling terrain, (only about 700 feet of vertical per lap but nothing of consequence)
Distance: 3 laps + 1.5 miles to finish, 69.6 miles (The flyer says the race is 63 miles, but it is just plain wrong. I have written to them three or four times, but they never change it. Their math doesn’t even make sense; they say each lap is 22 miles. Well that would make three laps at least 66 miles. Were the heck do they get 63?!?)
Teammates: None
Number of riders: about 30
Place: around 19th
I have been looking forward to this race for a while because I missed it 2008 and 2009 because of injury and then I rode Winters last year instead. (That was a fun race to do, once.) Anyway, I was looking forward to this race because it is an ideal race for me; no real hills, fairly long, and a good sprint finish. I had only done the 35+ Cat 4 race in the past, so I was excited to race 3 laps with the 1/2/3 group.
Before the race, I ran into Keith (riding in the Pro/1/2 race) and Scott Freiermuth (racing in the 35+ cat 4 race) and wished them each good luck. Keith’s race started at 8:00, Scott’s at 8:35 and mine started at 8:50.
Our race started off very slowly, cruising along for the first 2 miles at under 20 mph. As a matter of fact, the entire first lap consisted of attempted breaks and then slowdowns as we caught each break. About 20 miles into the race, I got into a break with 2 other guys and as we got about 150 yards off the front, I realized that no one else was going to join us so I sat up and waited for the pack. I did not want to attempt to do the next 50 miles with only three of us (not that I could have anyway). I figured it would take a break of at least 5 or 6 to stay away. The average speed for the first lap turned out to be only 22.2 mph.
The second lap was more of the same until we hit the 37 mile mark when 8 guys got about 20 seconds on the peloton. Each of the main teams (Safeway, Morgan Stanley, Taleo, San Jose and two teams I didn’t recognize) had a guy in the break. I realized that this was probably “the break of the day” and if I didn’t do something, the next 32 miles would just be a workout and a sprint for 10th place. I saw a Webcor guy and another rider without a team go, so I took off after them. I put my head down and chased for a good two or three minutes and caught the group. Now there were 11 of us and I hoped we would stay away for a while. Surprisingly, even though all of the teams had guys in the break, we only lasted another couple of minutes and the peloton chased us down! Unbelievable. What were they thinking?! I dropped back to the middle of the pack to recover and within 30 seconds, another break countered and instantly had a couple hundred yards on the group. I couldn’t chase yet and had to hope that we caught them. The problem was that Morgan Stanley, Safeway, San Jose and Team Bicycle Trip all had a guy in the break. They were going to have to do 30 miles and my only hope was either a mistake by the break, or a couple of non-team riders doing a bunch of work to catch. The average speed for the second lap was up a bit at 22.7 mph, but all in all it wasn’t too fast or difficult.
The third lap was a bit odd. The Teams were doing their job blocking and even with all the work they were doing, the pace was faster. At mile 50, we caught and passed the two women’s groups that were ahead of us and then a mile later we caught and passed Scott’s group (35+ 4’s). They started 15 minutes ahead of us, how did this happen?! (I found out later that the 35+ 4’s stopped twice for “nature breaks”. How very cordial of them!) The last 18 miles of the race, the Safeway team kept sending guys off the front one at a time and then slowing down and 30 seconds later, another guy would go. I had never seen “blocking” like this, but according to the follow motorcycle guy, the break had increased their advantage from 1 minute up to 1:20, so I guess it was working. (Safeway had five guys in the peloton and each of them was working in this way.) Well, as it turns out, the Safeway guy that was in the break got dropped and was in our group again. I didn’t find this out until after the race. Their tactics were baffling to say the least. They had five strong guys on their team, why wouldn’t they just put all five on the front and hammer? There were 5 or 6 of us with no team members that would have helped them chase and that would have negated any blocking attempts by the other teams.
The final lap we averaged just over 24mph. Still not super fast, but considerably faster than the first two laps and a lot more surging, so it felt a little faster.
The final 1.5 miles consists of a 7/10ths of a mile flat section across a bridge, a small 4/10ths of a mile climb and then a left turn to a 200+ yard slightly uphill (1% grade) section to the finish. We know we are sprinting for either 5th, 6th or 7th, so we are all motivated for that t-shirt! ;-) (Oh yeah, and the points.) I stay seated across the bridge and up the hill to save my strength for the sprint. We get to the top of the hill and are 50 yards from the left turn and I am still sitting in the top 10 and getting a little jittery before the sprint. As we make the turn we all stand to start the sprint and instantly, both my quads seize! Damn it, I sit back down and try to keep my speed up, but to no avail. The group pulls away from me like I am stopped and I roll across the finish 100 yards back and in about 19th or 20th place.
Overall, it was a fun race and I now I know that I can do a fairly long road race with the 45+ 1/2/3’s. I had a tough time the week before in the 35+ race and the extra 10 years in this group seems to make a difference for me. I will probably stick with the 45+ races for rides over 50 miles in the future.
Anyway, thanks for reading. I think I am going to take a few days off the bike to rest and recover from a long season and then I will probably race in Sacramento in the middle of September (the Sacto circuit race looks fun) and then I will finish up my year at Henleyville (anyone want to join me? Again, it is 70 miles of fun through rolling hills near Chico).
Cheers,
Keith's P/1/2 San Ardo Road Race Report
The official Race Report from San Ardo by Keith Szolusha. (pic by Tim Westmore)
San Ardo p/1/2 RR (should we call it San fArdo?)
Sat. August 20, 2011
4th place out of 90?
87 miles?
overcast - 60-70 degrees, light wind
I had a team meeting (ed note: he raced as the lone CoreTechs rep) before the race and decided that I was the designated sprinter. nobody argued.
4 laps of relatively flat-to-rolly terrain with a long straight at the end - 8 miles long.
Pace was faster than M35+ from previous week because of the size of the field. 7 or more berry guys and 7 McGuires, 7 Fremont Bank (don't know these gusy), some guys from Socal, other local sprinter and calcup guys and a bunch of fodder. It didn't seem that a long break would stick unless one from every team was in it, and once that mixture was formed and brought back multiple times, I knew it would be a field sprint. I sat in and enjoyed the walk in the park.
The most selective thing about this course was the goat-heads that found their way into some of the riders' wheels. Its really unfortunate to see somebody get a flat in the middle of no where after a long drive, but it happens. Riding in the gutter in this race is a risk and some riders don't seem to care to avoid it. I stayed out of trouble today. I drank as much water as I could - took a Velo Promo feed. Sometimes, I was even a bit bored, but it was an exercise in patience today since I know the finish pretty well. I chose my guys to mark for the finish and plotted the entire race.
At one point, the entire pack almost rear ended a motorist that stopped in our lane - I think the official had something to do with it. However, nobody even rubbed wheels. amazingly impressive.
Final stretch... I moved slowly from middle back to middle front over 8 miles. I stayed away from yellow lines and bots dots. Local SJBC guy went 15-30 sec off the front in a suicide attack with 8 miles to go. Everybody slowly got organized and he was reeled in. Berries went to the front to form an easy train. It was easy enough that a Kyoto University guy (yes from Japan) attacked and one berry followed him. The rest of the pack played a game with who would chase with McGuire guys and Fremont guys trying to get each other to pull. A few solo attacks and soon we were in town just behind the pair. The kamikaze rider came back, but going up the hill, everybody seemed to lose their juice. I cruised from the middle-ish section of the pack to the front as if I was in a vaccuum. It was strange because I think I should have just jumped with everything I had early. I watched a few guys scramble to figure out who was leading into the chase and finally a McGuire guy did what I should have done 20 seconds later on the right side. I hesitated and then busted out of the pack in pursuit and only one or two came with me in tow around the corner. I was pissed because I had more than the McGuire guy and berry guy, but they had gone much earlier than me. The one guy on my wheel came around me as I was looking back over my shoulder to see if the field was in tow or if I was free. After him, I was free, but he took 3rd from me. We were catching the other two and if I would have gone earlier, things might have been different. I was happy with 4th after having a few years of difficult luck in the finishes there in the past. One year, I was in a similar spot and the official park his motobike on the inside corner in front of me just as I was roaring into the turn. That set me back 10 spots. Thanks. Well, I'm not bitter anymore after this email about that.
Data from my Garmin for this race and both races last weekend is on strava.com under my Strava name Rob VanWinkle. I also have some data under Fabio Cancerella for anybody that wants to follow - if you are into that sort of thing. I have the top San Ardo finish time now on Strava - not listed as KOM though. The guy that is tied with me is listed instead. argh
something to learn from the race: don't be the (insert expletive here) that has to throw your water bottle into a field of cows or crops in the middle of nowhere. First, be professional and hold your bottles until you are in town or in the feedzone and toss them there. Second, there are no hills at San fArdo and saving precious grams up a climb there by throwing your empty plastic into our food supply is not going to help you win the race.
San Ardo p/1/2 RR (should we call it San fArdo?)
Sat. August 20, 2011
4th place out of 90?
87 miles?
overcast - 60-70 degrees, light wind
I had a team meeting (ed note: he raced as the lone CoreTechs rep) before the race and decided that I was the designated sprinter. nobody argued.
4 laps of relatively flat-to-rolly terrain with a long straight at the end - 8 miles long.
Pace was faster than M35+ from previous week because of the size of the field. 7 or more berry guys and 7 McGuires, 7 Fremont Bank (don't know these gusy), some guys from Socal, other local sprinter and calcup guys and a bunch of fodder. It didn't seem that a long break would stick unless one from every team was in it, and once that mixture was formed and brought back multiple times, I knew it would be a field sprint. I sat in and enjoyed the walk in the park.
The most selective thing about this course was the goat-heads that found their way into some of the riders' wheels. Its really unfortunate to see somebody get a flat in the middle of no where after a long drive, but it happens. Riding in the gutter in this race is a risk and some riders don't seem to care to avoid it. I stayed out of trouble today. I drank as much water as I could - took a Velo Promo feed. Sometimes, I was even a bit bored, but it was an exercise in patience today since I know the finish pretty well. I chose my guys to mark for the finish and plotted the entire race.
At one point, the entire pack almost rear ended a motorist that stopped in our lane - I think the official had something to do with it. However, nobody even rubbed wheels. amazingly impressive.
Final stretch... I moved slowly from middle back to middle front over 8 miles. I stayed away from yellow lines and bots dots. Local SJBC guy went 15-30 sec off the front in a suicide attack with 8 miles to go. Everybody slowly got organized and he was reeled in. Berries went to the front to form an easy train. It was easy enough that a Kyoto University guy (yes from Japan) attacked and one berry followed him. The rest of the pack played a game with who would chase with McGuire guys and Fremont guys trying to get each other to pull. A few solo attacks and soon we were in town just behind the pair. The kamikaze rider came back, but going up the hill, everybody seemed to lose their juice. I cruised from the middle-ish section of the pack to the front as if I was in a vaccuum. It was strange because I think I should have just jumped with everything I had early. I watched a few guys scramble to figure out who was leading into the chase and finally a McGuire guy did what I should have done 20 seconds later on the right side. I hesitated and then busted out of the pack in pursuit and only one or two came with me in tow around the corner. I was pissed because I had more than the McGuire guy and berry guy, but they had gone much earlier than me. The one guy on my wheel came around me as I was looking back over my shoulder to see if the field was in tow or if I was free. After him, I was free, but he took 3rd from me. We were catching the other two and if I would have gone earlier, things might have been different. I was happy with 4th after having a few years of difficult luck in the finishes there in the past. One year, I was in a similar spot and the official park his motobike on the inside corner in front of me just as I was roaring into the turn. That set me back 10 spots. Thanks. Well, I'm not bitter anymore after this email about that.
Data from my Garmin for this race and both races last weekend is on strava.com under my Strava name Rob VanWinkle. I also have some data under Fabio Cancerella for anybody that wants to follow - if you are into that sort of thing. I have the top San Ardo finish time now on Strava - not listed as KOM though. The guy that is tied with me is listed instead. argh
something to learn from the race: don't be the (insert expletive here) that has to throw your water bottle into a field of cows or crops in the middle of nowhere. First, be professional and hold your bottles until you are in town or in the feedzone and toss them there. Second, there are no hills at San fArdo and saving precious grams up a climb there by throwing your empty plastic into our food supply is not going to help you win the race.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Mark Foster's Master's State Championship race 45 to 49 report
Race Date: 8-14-11
Class: 45-49 Open
Ditance: 54 miles(12 laps)
Riders: 50+
Location: Ft. Ord, Monterey, CA
So I had one other team mate in this race, Devon Joos. We meet near De Anza College and get to Ft. Ord with plenty of time to warm up before our 2:05 start. After we register I get a call from Liz and she says, “Try not to be mad. You left your gear bag by the front door” Oh crap! What a moron I am! Well at least I had my helmet and shoes so I could still ride. Devon had a spare kit and Tom had some extra gloves…I was fine. So now I’m humming my new theme song, you know, that one from the wizard of OZ?…”If I only had a brain!”
Devon and I line up mid-pack when the whistle blows. Immediately there is an attack off the front of six to eight guys. Oops, missed that one. We hammer after them right away. So the pace is brisk. By lap 3 we’re down one minute ten seconds. By lap four were down One minute thirty seconds. I go to the front of our pack and pull for over a mile and start flicking my elbow…to no avail. I look back at the Morgan Stanley guy on my wheel and say, “You’re not going to help are you?” “Nope”. He had a guy in the break. I look over my shoulder and scream, “someone friggn’ help me!” Then a guy came to my rescue along with several others. We were moving again. Next lap we had cut twenty seconds off of the breakaway…down to one minute ten. Nice, we were reeling them in. Then, one by one, guys from the break blew up and came back to the peloton. Now they were only thirty seconds ahead and there were only two out front: Dirk Hemley and another guy. Then there were only five or so laps to go and we had reeled in the final two. I had lost one of my water bottles through the bumps, and had finished the other one so my mind started to focus on getting water from the neutral zone. I drifted back to mid pack and grabbed a bottle as the pace picked up and it got strung out into a single file hammer. The pack was shattered! I couldn’t see the front very well until we rounded the back corner and it looked like we were reeling in backmarkers from the other race and Devon was leading….and gapping the field. I thought, what the heck is he doing? Then I realized: there was another attack that broke away and Devon was trying to bridge the gap by himself….crap! I was in the wrong place at the wrong time to help. He had close to one hundred yards on us and was about fifty yards back from the break…he didn’t make it. I felt stupid, had I been there, I could have maybe helped bridge the gap. It took me another lap to work my way back to the front of the peloton and now there were two laps to go. I stayed at the front with Devon and he said to me with half a lap to go, “we might as well just hammer.” So we did. I was leading the peloton over the last hump before the descent to the finish. I fully expected an attack at this point and was ready to grab the rear wheel of the two Morgan Stanley guys who passed me on my left. I powered as hard as I could when my left cleat ripped out of the pedal and I went careening out of control to the right. It was good thing those guys got me on the left. However I almost took out Devon. As I regained control of my bike, Devon blows by me on the right and says, “nice save!”. Then as I’m floundering to get my cleat back in the pedal, everyone is blowing by me like I’m chained to a post. I hear a crash behind me. Remember the “Don’t be that guy” commercials? Well, I was that guy. I guess as the pack all passed me. I finally get my foot back in the pedal and I’m in dead friggin last place, and out of touch with the pack. I ride as hard as I can and catch and pass a few stragglers in the final few hundred yards. I’m totally pissed and completely embarrassed. I thought I was going to pull off a top ten and beat some fast guys, but instead I almost take out the entire field and finish nearly last! I’ve never had my shoe pull out on a training ride or in a race…ever! I didn’t check the results, but I finished in the way back. Devon didn’t check his result either, but said he didn’t win the peloton sprint(I’m not sure he even tried. He must have been fried after that noble attempt to bridge a gap up to a bunch of former national champs). Oh well, there’s always next year! –Mark F.
Ken Spencer's 30-34 Master's Road Race Championship Report
Ken Spencer
30-34, 4th place
With a small field of 9 I knew what to expect. Attacks. After lap 1 we had 2-3 attacks each lap thereafter. I got stuck at the back of the group when an attack of 5 pulled away. They got about 150m ahead when I realized that there were only 2 of us who could bridge. I went alone on the hilly section and by the very end of it (before the fast descent) caught them. Then our lead group of 6 wanted to 'work together' but I was toast. We shook 2 guys and then there were 4 of us. Felt strong in the hills but when the pace increased on the front side flats I struggled. But I expected this since I don't ever train above 30-40 miles. On lap 8 I cracked on one of the attacks so had to ride solo for the last 4 laps to a 4th place finish.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Dunnigan Hills RR 35+ 1/2/3-Written by Andrew A.
Dunnigan Hills RR 35+ Cat 1/2/3
Teammates: Christian, John Pauley, John Wilde, Keith, Scott Fairman
88 miles or so with 42 in the group
This was a super fun race, maybe the most fun race I have done. It was one of the first races that we really used tactics. Maybe some good, some not so good, but we raced as a team and that made it exciting and entertaining. After riding through 'middle of nowhere' farm land for 88 miles, we needed the entertainment. Here is how it enfolded:
We are the second biggest team in the race with six riders. Folsom/Mercedes had seven. Race starts and one mile into the race, Keith rolls up next to me and says, "I am going to go for it." "Uh, Ok" was about all I could say. I was thinking, "Are you fricken crazy? We have 87 miles to go." But, Keith has been around the block in bike races and is a Cat 1 for a reason, so who am I to argue. I follow him up to the front of our 42 strong group and off he goes. One other rider decides to go with him. Well, now CoreTechs has a rider in the break and I figure our job is to give Keith as much space as possible. It was also our job to "let" a few other riders try to bridge so he had some people to work with for the next 80+ miles.
Christian, myself, John Pauley and John Wilde, and Scott go to the front to "control" the race. This was a load of fun. We road at an easy pace. When someone would attack we would let them go. When more than two went, we would send one of us to chase and just sit on that small groups wheel. I must have jumped on six or seven break attempts. You could really tell we were frustrating the hell out of the pack. I had one rider turn and yell at me "why are you chasing me and not him?" as he pointed to another rider. I had to explain he had two guys with him and the other guy was solo. We wanted solo riders to bridge… up to a point. This lasted for a good 40 miles. The pack was getting more and more frustrated since we really were not allowing anything that we did not want to go, go. I had thought Scott was in front of me and a group of 7 or so took off. I yelled at "Scott" (it turns out it was not Scott, but I thought it was!) to latch on and he did. As I watched him latch on, I eased off the pace and gave that group room to escape. That group got away, but we were good as we had Keith up the road and who I thought was Scott in the second break.
On a long straight away, a Thirsty Bear rider turned to yell at a Taleo rider for not pulling through. As he turned to yell, he drifted left and touched wheels with the rider next to him. We were going about 24mph or so and he just face planted. Not pretty. Turns out Scott was right behind him and went over him and his own bars too. He was fine, but the Thirsty Bear rider was on the ground moaning in pain. With no support vehicles, Scott did the right thing and stayed with that down rider and was able to get a call into 911. Since the crash happened just next to me, I was in front of it quickly with a group of 10 or so. We slowed up but kept riding.
About a half mile later, another break tries to go. Five guys go and I latch on to make sure we have a rider represented. A Lombardi rider starts yelling at me to pull through, but I explain the situation. I told him if we get clear of the pack, I will work with the break to stay away, however if the front group comes in sight, I will back off and not help. He agrees and we have peace and harmony in my break. We rotate pretty well for the next 30 miles and are clear of the main group but no front pack in sight. With about 10 miles to go we spot Keith's group. I sit on the back of the chase don’t help any longer.
The finish approaches and we are about 500 meters back from the front group. We can see them on the finish stretch before the final left turn. I can't help them catch since I think we have two riders up there, so I just sit on and watch. The other guys are fairly fried at this point and don’t do much. We make the left and there is 400 meters to the finish. A Taleo rider who did not pull in the break (he said he had a rider ahead too) jumped the group and got away. The rest of us sprinted to the line. I ended up 11th overall and felt great. Turns out Keith got 4th place and if there was a 'most aggressive' award would have won that as well. Was a whole lot of fun playing games and using some team tactics.
The whole team helped in this and that is what made it so fun. Best 11th place I ever got!
Teammates: Christian, John Pauley, John Wilde, Keith, Scott Fairman
88 miles or so with 42 in the group
This was a super fun race, maybe the most fun race I have done. It was one of the first races that we really used tactics. Maybe some good, some not so good, but we raced as a team and that made it exciting and entertaining. After riding through 'middle of nowhere' farm land for 88 miles, we needed the entertainment. Here is how it enfolded:
We are the second biggest team in the race with six riders. Folsom/Mercedes had seven. Race starts and one mile into the race, Keith rolls up next to me and says, "I am going to go for it." "Uh, Ok" was about all I could say. I was thinking, "Are you fricken crazy? We have 87 miles to go." But, Keith has been around the block in bike races and is a Cat 1 for a reason, so who am I to argue. I follow him up to the front of our 42 strong group and off he goes. One other rider decides to go with him. Well, now CoreTechs has a rider in the break and I figure our job is to give Keith as much space as possible. It was also our job to "let" a few other riders try to bridge so he had some people to work with for the next 80+ miles.
Christian, myself, John Pauley and John Wilde, and Scott go to the front to "control" the race. This was a load of fun. We road at an easy pace. When someone would attack we would let them go. When more than two went, we would send one of us to chase and just sit on that small groups wheel. I must have jumped on six or seven break attempts. You could really tell we were frustrating the hell out of the pack. I had one rider turn and yell at me "why are you chasing me and not him?" as he pointed to another rider. I had to explain he had two guys with him and the other guy was solo. We wanted solo riders to bridge… up to a point. This lasted for a good 40 miles. The pack was getting more and more frustrated since we really were not allowing anything that we did not want to go, go. I had thought Scott was in front of me and a group of 7 or so took off. I yelled at "Scott" (it turns out it was not Scott, but I thought it was!) to latch on and he did. As I watched him latch on, I eased off the pace and gave that group room to escape. That group got away, but we were good as we had Keith up the road and who I thought was Scott in the second break.
On a long straight away, a Thirsty Bear rider turned to yell at a Taleo rider for not pulling through. As he turned to yell, he drifted left and touched wheels with the rider next to him. We were going about 24mph or so and he just face planted. Not pretty. Turns out Scott was right behind him and went over him and his own bars too. He was fine, but the Thirsty Bear rider was on the ground moaning in pain. With no support vehicles, Scott did the right thing and stayed with that down rider and was able to get a call into 911. Since the crash happened just next to me, I was in front of it quickly with a group of 10 or so. We slowed up but kept riding.
About a half mile later, another break tries to go. Five guys go and I latch on to make sure we have a rider represented. A Lombardi rider starts yelling at me to pull through, but I explain the situation. I told him if we get clear of the pack, I will work with the break to stay away, however if the front group comes in sight, I will back off and not help. He agrees and we have peace and harmony in my break. We rotate pretty well for the next 30 miles and are clear of the main group but no front pack in sight. With about 10 miles to go we spot Keith's group. I sit on the back of the chase don’t help any longer.
The finish approaches and we are about 500 meters back from the front group. We can see them on the finish stretch before the final left turn. I can't help them catch since I think we have two riders up there, so I just sit on and watch. The other guys are fairly fried at this point and don’t do much. We make the left and there is 400 meters to the finish. A Taleo rider who did not pull in the break (he said he had a rider ahead too) jumped the group and got away. The rest of us sprinted to the line. I ended up 11th overall and felt great. Turns out Keith got 4th place and if there was a 'most aggressive' award would have won that as well. Was a whole lot of fun playing games and using some team tactics.
The whole team helped in this and that is what made it so fun. Best 11th place I ever got!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Patterson Pass RR by Mark Foster-8/7/11-Living in the pain cave
Written by Mark Foster
Race Date:8-7-11
Race Location: Patterson Pass, Tracy, Ca
Class 45+ Cat 4
Racers: 40 +
So those of you who read my report last year on Patterson know that I don’t like this race. I don’t do it because it’s fun; I do it because it’s hard. I managed to talk Tom Rice into doing this, but unfortunately we were in different categories. We met at the Edgewood/280 park and ride at sunrise and made it to registration in an hour. I had plenty of time to warm up. Although we could see the wind howling on top of the pass, it was warm and calm at the start finish. Since cramping can be such a problem at this race, I stocked up with plenty of food, water and enduralites. I was ready to punish myself for a couple of hours. Tom and I slathered on the sunscreen, and we commented on those poor bastards who train out there year round and are missing the trees we’re so blessed with here. Yep, if you’re not careful out there, you could end up frying any exposed skin and look like you’re wearing the team specialized bright red arm and leg warmers.
There are at least forty old guys lined up to take the 9am start. The whistle blows and we meander off at a casual pace. It picks up a little bit on the climb, but it really was tame compared to how it can get in that race. Nice! Maybe it won’t be a sufferfest! Two guys go off the front, but not by much. Having done this race, I know that it would be next to impossible for two guys to get away from a large bunch on the flat rolling stuff. Two years ago, in my first ever bicycle race, I made that mistake and got caught twenty minutes later by a group of dudes I had just smoked up the hill. At any rate, they were only 200 yards out by the top of the hill so it wasn’t a big deal….so I thought at the time.
After the two leaders crest the hill our group of 15 or so are approaching the summit when the motorcycle dude pulls next to us and says, “The pro/1/2 guys are going to catch you, pull over and stop!” I yell at him,”What the f%&k are you talking about? There are two guys off the front. The pros will blow by us on the next climb” He reiterates, “Pull over and stop or you’re disqualified.” Crap! Unfrigging believable! So I stop along with the rest of our field and wait for one minute ten seconds. We let our stragglers catch up, and let the P/1/2 guys by for the descent(which has no turns). The stupid part about it, is that we are way bigger than those guys(they are skinny little bike racers and we’re big paper pushers) so we reel them in on the downhill and they hold us up…more time lost. We come to the second hill and they leave us…of course. So now the dynamics of the race have changed dramatically. We can’t see the guys off the front any more and they have team mates in our pack that won’t do any work to catch them; and in fact screw up any attempt we make at a pace line. So, not wanting to give up, this guy named Patrick and I, along with one of the three Toleo riders took turns pulling the twenty or so racers still left in our draft. We get to the big climb for the second time and the pace is still not bad. A couple other guys help break the howling wind up the climb and I think I see the break away riders, but there are so many broken stragglers from other classes it’s hard to tell. We once again crest the hill and bomb down the backside and one guy gaps us on the descent(my bike is slower this time…weird. Later when I got home I found a slow leak in my front tire and had 50lbs in it. So maybe down to 70lbs during this second lap) Not a big deal, we’ll get him on the climb. He hammered the second climb along with another dude. I should have buried myself and gone with those guys, but there were eight of us so I made the wimpy decision to puss out and work with some others to real them back on the flat. Once again after the top of the hill, Patrick and I took turns pulling, along with one of the Toleo guys….with five or six others in tow. If we could have had just two more guys helping we could have done it. Unfortunately the (now) four guys ahead worked together to hold us off. We reeled them in and were 10 seconds back by the final mile. One of the front four (an MVV guy) blew up in the last mile so we blew by him. Now it was just me and Patrick doing the work. I started cramping(as did he) in that last mile so was praying I could get through this and somehow how off the poachers who had so ruthlessly sat on our wheel the entire race. Patrick faded with 800 yards to go, so I lead into the final turn and out of it on to the final 200 yard finish. I knew this was not the place to be, but if I backed off to let someone by, my legs might not restart. I sprinted with all I had(which wasn’t much) and could feel my legs starting lock up, but could still muster a mediocre sprint. One of the MVV poacher guys(Calvin, I never saw him once the entire race) passed me at the line for fourth. I finished fifth. I got a t-shirt….yipee! After all of the work he did, Patrick got beat in the final sprint by the poachers and ended up tenth or so. Bike racing is hard…mentally and physically. I made some mistakes, but was glad I once again endured this race. Thanks for reading! –Mark F
Race Date:8-7-11
Race Location: Patterson Pass, Tracy, Ca
Class 45+ Cat 4
Racers: 40 +
So those of you who read my report last year on Patterson know that I don’t like this race. I don’t do it because it’s fun; I do it because it’s hard. I managed to talk Tom Rice into doing this, but unfortunately we were in different categories. We met at the Edgewood/280 park and ride at sunrise and made it to registration in an hour. I had plenty of time to warm up. Although we could see the wind howling on top of the pass, it was warm and calm at the start finish. Since cramping can be such a problem at this race, I stocked up with plenty of food, water and enduralites. I was ready to punish myself for a couple of hours. Tom and I slathered on the sunscreen, and we commented on those poor bastards who train out there year round and are missing the trees we’re so blessed with here. Yep, if you’re not careful out there, you could end up frying any exposed skin and look like you’re wearing the team specialized bright red arm and leg warmers.
There are at least forty old guys lined up to take the 9am start. The whistle blows and we meander off at a casual pace. It picks up a little bit on the climb, but it really was tame compared to how it can get in that race. Nice! Maybe it won’t be a sufferfest! Two guys go off the front, but not by much. Having done this race, I know that it would be next to impossible for two guys to get away from a large bunch on the flat rolling stuff. Two years ago, in my first ever bicycle race, I made that mistake and got caught twenty minutes later by a group of dudes I had just smoked up the hill. At any rate, they were only 200 yards out by the top of the hill so it wasn’t a big deal….so I thought at the time.
After the two leaders crest the hill our group of 15 or so are approaching the summit when the motorcycle dude pulls next to us and says, “The pro/1/2 guys are going to catch you, pull over and stop!” I yell at him,”What the f%&k are you talking about? There are two guys off the front. The pros will blow by us on the next climb” He reiterates, “Pull over and stop or you’re disqualified.” Crap! Unfrigging believable! So I stop along with the rest of our field and wait for one minute ten seconds. We let our stragglers catch up, and let the P/1/2 guys by for the descent(which has no turns). The stupid part about it, is that we are way bigger than those guys(they are skinny little bike racers and we’re big paper pushers) so we reel them in on the downhill and they hold us up…more time lost. We come to the second hill and they leave us…of course. So now the dynamics of the race have changed dramatically. We can’t see the guys off the front any more and they have team mates in our pack that won’t do any work to catch them; and in fact screw up any attempt we make at a pace line. So, not wanting to give up, this guy named Patrick and I, along with one of the three Toleo riders took turns pulling the twenty or so racers still left in our draft. We get to the big climb for the second time and the pace is still not bad. A couple other guys help break the howling wind up the climb and I think I see the break away riders, but there are so many broken stragglers from other classes it’s hard to tell. We once again crest the hill and bomb down the backside and one guy gaps us on the descent(my bike is slower this time…weird. Later when I got home I found a slow leak in my front tire and had 50lbs in it. So maybe down to 70lbs during this second lap) Not a big deal, we’ll get him on the climb. He hammered the second climb along with another dude. I should have buried myself and gone with those guys, but there were eight of us so I made the wimpy decision to puss out and work with some others to real them back on the flat. Once again after the top of the hill, Patrick and I took turns pulling, along with one of the Toleo guys….with five or six others in tow. If we could have had just two more guys helping we could have done it. Unfortunately the (now) four guys ahead worked together to hold us off. We reeled them in and were 10 seconds back by the final mile. One of the front four (an MVV guy) blew up in the last mile so we blew by him. Now it was just me and Patrick doing the work. I started cramping(as did he) in that last mile so was praying I could get through this and somehow how off the poachers who had so ruthlessly sat on our wheel the entire race. Patrick faded with 800 yards to go, so I lead into the final turn and out of it on to the final 200 yard finish. I knew this was not the place to be, but if I backed off to let someone by, my legs might not restart. I sprinted with all I had(which wasn’t much) and could feel my legs starting lock up, but could still muster a mediocre sprint. One of the MVV poacher guys(Calvin, I never saw him once the entire race) passed me at the line for fourth. I finished fifth. I got a t-shirt….yipee! After all of the work he did, Patrick got beat in the final sprint by the poachers and ended up tenth or so. Bike racing is hard…mentally and physically. I made some mistakes, but was glad I once again endured this race. Thanks for reading! –Mark F
Andrew's FF Crit in Pleasanton Report 8/7/11
Pleasanton Fast and Furious Crit
8/7/11
Teammates: Steve Stewart, Dave Puglia
Place 20th out of 50+
Fast and Furious…living up to its name.
I went into this crit with no expectations and this is exactly what I achieved…not much. The set up for this race is very cool. Right down the heart of downtown Pleasanton. Some fan support, loud music, start time at 5pm, all combined to make this feel like a big time race (well, big time compared to the office park crits out there in the middle of nowhere.).
Course is a .5 mile slight downhill and then a .5 mile slight up hill on the other side. That combined with a nice headwind on the slight uphill lent itself to a fast course. Race had attack after atack and field was strung out from the start of the race till the end. Most the big dogs were present, including the Specialized, San Jose and Safeway teams having multiple guys.
Quick recap: Hung near the front most the race and tried to jump on whatever break went. This meant a whole lot of jumping with not much to show. Five laps to go and three guys get away. Of the three there was a Specialized and Safeway guy. If you have read my past reports, you would understand my belief that this was the winning break. I decided I would get to that break. I jumped and went for it. Turns out my jump needs some work. Seems the rest of my 47 buddies in the race wanted to come along for the ride. Since I was already in front and in the wind I channeled by best TT thoughts and went hard. I actually closed my eyes for most of the straightaway. I was digging to places I did not want to get too. Well, I got there and at the same time I reached the breakaway. As I got to the back wheel of the break, another attack jumped. I was blown. I thought I would just drop from the race at that point. I could barley see straight. Turns out, the pack was so strung out, that by the time most of the pack went by, I had caught some of my breath back, so I jumped back in and sat on for the next lap. One lap to go and I did my best to move up (I was pretty far back at this point). I got up to 20th and was able to watch the finish. A whole lot of effort for a 20th place, but it was fun none the less.
Afterwards I sat around with Steve, Christian, John W., Dave (new team member) and drank margaritas and told war stories. The stories were as much fun as the race. All good stuff.
Keith's Fast and Furious Pleasanton Crit Report
Keith Szolusha's Pleasanton Fast and Furious Crit report:
8/7/11
35+ 1/2/3
Finish: 7th place out of 50 or so.
I got 7th in m35+ 1/2/3 fast and furious race today in Pleasanton. Scott F. was suited up, but I'm not sure how he fared in the finish.
Race seemed very easy and short. I started near the back and just made my way up to the front as I warmed up. I watched Safeway, Specialized, and Yahoo guys to make sure nothing serious went without me. 5 laps to go and something looked good with 5 guys and 5-10 sec. gap on the field. I bridged to Mr. Larry Nolan who was close to bridging himself and then he blew up big time and I was left alone to do solo 1/2 mile barely gaining time on the break 4 sec. ahead of me. I gave up since field was chasing hard, reassimilated, stayed near the front, and got ready for finish. Went into last corner top 10, but wasn't overly aggressive with elbows and let up 5 spots because of that. I had the legs to blast off today, but held out for last corner to make it clean and have good position. Mr. Brigg was taking off with LaBurger and WiseBurger following and I just followed wheels getting up to 7th at the finish. Should have been more aggressive to try to win.
Leadout would be awesome with legs that I had today.
p/1/2 was too late in the evening on a sunday (8pm), so made the call at the 11th hour to do m35+ and tuneup for Dunnigan Hills and 35-39 districts rr.
Tom Rice's Patterson Pass Road Race Report-8-7-11
Tom Rice's Report
Patterson Pass Road Race
Saturday August 7, 2011
Men's 35+ Cat 5, 16 riders plus or minus
Two 24 mile laps on a climber's course with three climbs, 1st difficult, 2nd medium, 3rd hard enough to hurt you before the finish line
I was the only CoreTechs rider in this race
2nd Place in a breakaway of 5 riders
The very long version:
Mark Foster talked me into riding this race although his approach was to tell me how much suffering I would experience… But somehow, he convinced me and I'm glad I did it!
Driving out to the race on 580 was enlightening. Looking out over the pass at the wind farm, fans whirling and thinking, "There's gonna be a lot of wind." I was right. Another significant consideration is the instruction we got before the race started. From the race director, "Do not work with the other race groups or you will be disqualified."
The race starts out with a very short flat then directly into the first climb. We're not going too fast and I'm riding at the front until we get to the climb. The winds crossing from left to right hit hard blowing the pack around and making it very difficult to keep a good line. The front runners, including me were assimilated back into the field. I made my way back up to the front at mid climb and that was good because after the descent and on the second climb, a few riders began to gap the field. At the summit of the second climb, I bridged to the break and we put the hammer down. This section is rolling and mostly we had a strong tail wind. Did I say we put the hammer down? Because we did. I put in a long, mostly descending tailwind pull in my 53-12 spinning as fast as I could.
At about the ¾ point of the first lap, our break of 5 riders passed the Cat 4 35+ pack that started 5 minutes in front of us. After the start finish line, beginning our second lap a few minutes later (still in the flats) we passed the Women's 1,2,3 pack that started 10 minutes before us. We were flying! Also, on the third climb on the course, a couple of riders from our pack had bridged up to our breakaway.
This is all significant because as we started climbing and heading back into the very strong head/cross winds, both of the packs we had passed caught back up to us. I don't think they realized how hard we were working to maintain pace in the wind because as they swarmed past us, both of these packs slowed down dramatically. The head winds were very strong. But, our breakaway did not want to get caught by our Cat 5 race pack so we moved back up to the front and crested the summit clear of both packs and also dropped the riders from our pack who had bridged on the previous climb.
I made an aggressive descent out front but not really putting out any watts, resting for the next climb. At the bottom of the descent, the Cat 4 pack caught us again, pulled in front of us and then slowed down. Again. Our breakaway of 5 riders was tangled up with this pack for the entire second climb. This caused confusion because it was hard to distinguish between riders from our race and riders from the Cat 4 pack. So, one of my breakaway companions got clear. I gave chase. It took me a while but I caught the miscreant after another aggressive descent and hammering through the initial rolling flats. Unfortunately, I had the entire Cat 4 pack closing on me including the remainder of our breakaway. I had thought it would just be the two of us to the finish but our breakaway of five was still intact.
Finally, the referee following the Cat 4 pack on moto took control of the situation and we got clear of these supposedly faster guys for the remainder of the race.
Now I had done more than my share on lap 1 pulling the breakaway and I decided I'd work a little less in preparation for the sprint at the finish. I decided which riders were still strong and which were beginning to fade. But, it's a bike race so I was wrong. On the last climb (which I barely survived!) one of the guys I thought would be strong blew up and dropped off the back. We were now four and I chose to be fourth wheel through the right hand turn on the finish straight.
I'm well positioned and trying to be patient as I decide when to begin my sprint. I'm worried that I'm too late but make my jump. I easily pass two of the three in front of me and I'm gaining fast on the guy in front… I'm beginning to fade but he is fading too. I get next to him and give my bike a massive throw at the line. Neither one of us knew who won. I didn't know for sure and the other guy thought I had won. But, the results come out and I'm second. Maybe if I had started my sprint a few meters earlier… but who knows, I was fading at the line.
I'm very pleased with my performance in this race. I rode well, made good decisions and was confident through-out. This was a hard race but it was fun!
Thanks for reading!
Patterson Pass Road Race
Saturday August 7, 2011
Men's 35+ Cat 5, 16 riders plus or minus
Two 24 mile laps on a climber's course with three climbs, 1st difficult, 2nd medium, 3rd hard enough to hurt you before the finish line
I was the only CoreTechs rider in this race
2nd Place in a breakaway of 5 riders
The very long version:
Mark Foster talked me into riding this race although his approach was to tell me how much suffering I would experience… But somehow, he convinced me and I'm glad I did it!
Driving out to the race on 580 was enlightening. Looking out over the pass at the wind farm, fans whirling and thinking, "There's gonna be a lot of wind." I was right. Another significant consideration is the instruction we got before the race started. From the race director, "Do not work with the other race groups or you will be disqualified."
The race starts out with a very short flat then directly into the first climb. We're not going too fast and I'm riding at the front until we get to the climb. The winds crossing from left to right hit hard blowing the pack around and making it very difficult to keep a good line. The front runners, including me were assimilated back into the field. I made my way back up to the front at mid climb and that was good because after the descent and on the second climb, a few riders began to gap the field. At the summit of the second climb, I bridged to the break and we put the hammer down. This section is rolling and mostly we had a strong tail wind. Did I say we put the hammer down? Because we did. I put in a long, mostly descending tailwind pull in my 53-12 spinning as fast as I could.
At about the ¾ point of the first lap, our break of 5 riders passed the Cat 4 35+ pack that started 5 minutes in front of us. After the start finish line, beginning our second lap a few minutes later (still in the flats) we passed the Women's 1,2,3 pack that started 10 minutes before us. We were flying! Also, on the third climb on the course, a couple of riders from our pack had bridged up to our breakaway.
This is all significant because as we started climbing and heading back into the very strong head/cross winds, both of the packs we had passed caught back up to us. I don't think they realized how hard we were working to maintain pace in the wind because as they swarmed past us, both of these packs slowed down dramatically. The head winds were very strong. But, our breakaway did not want to get caught by our Cat 5 race pack so we moved back up to the front and crested the summit clear of both packs and also dropped the riders from our pack who had bridged on the previous climb.
I made an aggressive descent out front but not really putting out any watts, resting for the next climb. At the bottom of the descent, the Cat 4 pack caught us again, pulled in front of us and then slowed down. Again. Our breakaway of 5 riders was tangled up with this pack for the entire second climb. This caused confusion because it was hard to distinguish between riders from our race and riders from the Cat 4 pack. So, one of my breakaway companions got clear. I gave chase. It took me a while but I caught the miscreant after another aggressive descent and hammering through the initial rolling flats. Unfortunately, I had the entire Cat 4 pack closing on me including the remainder of our breakaway. I had thought it would just be the two of us to the finish but our breakaway of five was still intact.
Finally, the referee following the Cat 4 pack on moto took control of the situation and we got clear of these supposedly faster guys for the remainder of the race.
Now I had done more than my share on lap 1 pulling the breakaway and I decided I'd work a little less in preparation for the sprint at the finish. I decided which riders were still strong and which were beginning to fade. But, it's a bike race so I was wrong. On the last climb (which I barely survived!) one of the guys I thought would be strong blew up and dropped off the back. We were now four and I chose to be fourth wheel through the right hand turn on the finish straight.
I'm well positioned and trying to be patient as I decide when to begin my sprint. I'm worried that I'm too late but make my jump. I easily pass two of the three in front of me and I'm gaining fast on the guy in front… I'm beginning to fade but he is fading too. I get next to him and give my bike a massive throw at the line. Neither one of us knew who won. I didn't know for sure and the other guy thought I had won. But, the results come out and I'm second. Maybe if I had started my sprint a few meters earlier… but who knows, I was fading at the line.
I'm very pleased with my performance in this race. I rode well, made good decisions and was confident through-out. This was a hard race but it was fun!
Thanks for reading!
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