Andrew's CCCX and Burlingame Report

CCCX Road Race 45+ 1/2/3
Teammates: John Pauley, Rich Del Valle
34 in field

I love this course. It has a few rollers that make it kind of hard but not so hard that it crushes you. Keeps the race interesting and pretty safe. About 20 minutes before race start, Rich shows up. For those that don’t know Rich, he is an old time Cat 1 racer. He is just 45, but been racing for so long he remembers racing on wooden wheels. way, Rich has called me several times to say he was going to race only to be a no show come race time. The typical response is, "dude (Rich is a very mellow guy), I meant to go, but just couldn't muster the energy." At this point, I really did not believe Rich still owned a bike. So seeing him at a race is like spotting Big Foot.

This race is thought of as one you can do well at since it usually is not that stacked of a race. I guess word got out because this time it was a bit different. Had a few guys there that are very strong, so I knew the race would be pretty fast. Race starts and attacks go from the gun. First lesson learned, warm up better! That first lap was the hardest of the race. It stayed fairly fast but as the raced moved along I felt better and better since I finally warmed up. I had a blast watching Rich attack. He would go hard, get a decent gap and then try to stay away. I would sit on the front and try and slow the group down each time he went for it. Very fun to see and fun to support a teammate. You can see from the pic here the fun I was having. I had this goofy grin most of the race. Anyway, Rich attacked about four or five times. Once he has his fitness back he will be dangerous! Well, with about 2.5 laps of the 5.5 mile per laps to go a break of two took off. No one chased. They stayed away and won. Field sprint for third place. I came in fifth, so 7th overall. Not bad, but had something left, so next time!

Lessons learned in this race: Bike racing is about decisions. You either do or you don’t. You can not hesitate and do any of it half ass. When Rich attacked, he attacked hard and got a gap. That is what you have to do, either that or don’t attack.

Burlingame Crit 35+ 1/2/3
Teammates: Keith, JP, Christian
1000 in Field (felt like that, but probably 65 or so)

I thought this race may be one to hang on for deal life. At the start line I had Kevin Metcalf sitting next to me and next to him was Eric Wollberg (former pro and Canada Olympian). A few riders over from them was Pat Briggs from the Yahoo team. About six Safeway guys and pretty much everyone else who was strong was there. This would not be a slow race. First lesson learned came quick to me. Clip in quick! I missed my pedal and had about 100 guys go by me before I made one pedal stroke. Now I was at the back and fighting for position. I worked my way towards the front after the first five or so laps. This was interesting race. It actually did not feel that fast to me (though we averaged about 28 mph). What was a real struggle was holding position. I would work my way up and just as quickly I would find myself locked in the middle again. This was pretty much my race.

My one highlight was mid race. A break of about five guys went off the front and the break included Pat Briggs. I figured that one might work since he is such a beast. I took off from the front of the peloton and in front of the start/ finish line sprinted as if it was the end of the race. I caught the break and sat at the back of it to recover a bit. As Keith mentioned in his report, it turned into a "typical Master's break". Once we had that gap, no one worked and the field caught us two turns later. Well, there I was, mid pack again. Three laps to go and I fought my way to top third. I wanted to get in position but just could not move up any further. The sharp turns and high speed prevented any movement. By the time we came to the final sprint, the top 15 sprinted and the guys I was with just sat up. Suddenly I have about 7 or 8 guys around me coasting in. Kind of hard to sprint everyone sitting up, so with no choice, I do the same and coast across the line in about 25th to 30th place (I just check the finishing results and they gave both Keith and myself a DNP-that is crap. We both were top 35 for sure. Oh well, hard to fight for 35th place).

Lessons learned: clip in quick. Fun racing with teammates, even if there is not much you can do to really help.