Turlock Lake RR, 45+ 1/2/3 April 9th 2011

50 Riders: Cat 45+ 1/2/3 : Just me (no teammates): April 9th 2011

So, let's first get this straight; Turlock is not close to the Bay Area. This is a good 2.25 hours each way. It is a haul. Anyway, 8:40am I meet up with Daryoush and Greg Shores for the journey. We get there with an hour to spare for my 12pm race. I guess there was a crash on course that required them to shut the course down for a full hour. That means my race did not start till 1pm, so much for getting back in time for dinner.

Four pees later, we finally start. For my cat this was a two loop affair. Each loop was about 26 miles. This course is very much like a long Monterey Circuit race. The rollers are very similar. Not too steep and not too long…Goldilocks rollers, just right. I would say the route was rarely flat, but there were no climbs that were rough either. This was not a course for 145lbs climbers. Much better suited for the bigger riders. The road conditions were pretty good as well. They did have their share of cow country pot holes, but in all, I really thought this was a fun course.

I learned my lesson from Copper last week. No chasing breaks first lap. Sure enough, there were about five or six attempts, but each time the pack brought them back. I stayed tucked in and comfortable. Second lap much of the same. Finally with out 10 miles left, one of the Noon riders I know (Rick on SJBC) took a flyer. Since SJBC had about 10 riders in the field and was by far the biggest team and Rick is a strong rider, I thought I should go with him. We had one other join us. With about a 100 meter gap, I rolled next to Rick and asked, "you want to go for it?" Response was, "my team will not chase". I figured that meant "yes". Turns out it meant "no, you kill yourself and I will watch". I went to the front of our three man break and put my head down and went hard. After a few minutes (probably two, but felt like five or six) I gave the elbow to have someone else pull through. No one does. I look back and I am by myself by a good 25 meters or more. Hmm, ok, I sit up and let the pack catch me.

Final right hand turn and we have about 1 mile left. SJBC rolls all their riders to the front. They have an impressive 8 man train going. Problem is, while it looked impressive, they seemed to slow down. Now the pack was a mess. We had five guys across the road and ten rows deep. Guys are ramping up and all over the place. 1k to go and I am surrounded by potential winners all acting crazy and throwing shoulders and elbows. Lots of curse words. Had it not been for all the lycra, I would have believed I was back in Marine Corp boot camp. 500 meters to go and I am still boxed in. I am close to just giving in and having a mid pack finish. With about 150 meters to go I have a bit of an opening. My old pal Rick comes by full sprint and I jump on his wheel. 50 meters to go I get by him and have some daylight. I see four guy ahead but they have a half a bike length gap. Can't catch them. I roll across 6th. Last spot in the money. I am $10 bucks richer and add a T-Shirt to my stunning collection of 80's beaters.

This is a fun race and a great course. Had this race not been across the country to get too, I would be back next year without doubt. I still will probably be back. Nothing like a high quality T-shirt to motivate me for 5 hours of driving.

Andrew