CCCX/Davis Crit July 4th Report-written by John Wilde

Written by John Wilde
What: Central Coast Circuit Race #6
> Where: Monterey, CA
> Temperature: 60 degrees
> When: July 2, 2011
> Field: Men 1/2/3 Master 35+
> Place: Christian Parker 16/23, John Wilde DNP
>
> What: Davis 4th of July Criterium
> Where: Davis, CA
> Temperature: 90 degrees (for proof, see photo of a melted brake pad
> below)
> When: July 4, 2011
> Field: Men 3/4 Master 35+
> Place: Christian Parker 42/~100, John Wilde 35/~100
> Field: Men 3
> Place: Christian Parker 42/~70, John Wilde 39/~70
>
> It was a holiday weekend full of bike racing instead of barbecues for Christian Parker and John Wilde who represented CoreTechs in chilly Monterey on Saturday and scorching Davis on Monday.
>
> This was our first time racing with the real Masters (1/2/3) field on the rolling hills of Monterey. The race started fast, and stayed that way. We raced for 30 miles with 2000 ft of elevation in all. On the 5th (of 7) laps John lost contact with the group but Christian, who rode strong and in the wind all day, had no problems and stretched the pack out on the downhill leading into the final lap trying in vain to reel in a two-man break.
>
> After a day of rest on Sunday we loaded the Highlander and headed East to test our nerves on the tight 6-corner criterium hosted by the bike-friendly city of Davis. If you haven't done this race yet, we highly recommend it. The town comes out to watch a full day of racing starting at 7:30 AM (when the temperature is pleasant) and ending in the evening (when it is HOT). We decided to make the 4 hours of driving worthwhile by competing twice. Our first race was marked by 4 tire-exploding-pile-ups which we managed to avoid. Regrettably, we started at the back and found it hard to move to the front and maintain position. The lessons learned here were: line up early and hold the wheel in front of you coming out of the corner. In our second race we started up front and it paid off handsomely for Christian who powered away from the field from the gun, staying clear for 3 laps and earning himself the first prime and $50 in fine dining (in Sacramento). One junior rider managed to bridge but the two leaders were eventually swallowed by the hard-chasing field. Having earned his paycheck for the day, Christian dropped back to escort John home with both of us avoiding a last-lap crash and finishing mid-pack.