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
Saturday, August 27, 2011
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!
Monday, August 1, 2011
A story about two CCCX races
Written By Andrew A. about two CCCX races (45+ and 35+ 1/2/3)
and one silly tri:
Teammates: Steve Stewart; Devon Joos; Christian Parker
More of a story than a race report, but really, what can I tell you about the CCCX course that has not already been said.
My goal this year is to see how many "just off the podium" finishes I can get. Heck, last year I finished 4th five times. I already have three 4th place finishes this year too. I am going for the unofficial record. In fact, I am petitioning USA Cycling for a 4th place jersey award to go along with a State Champion jersey they give out to the winner. So far they have not responded to my request, but I don’t give up easy.
When I left the house Saturday morning to go to CCCX race in Monterey, my wife said, "go get your fourth place." I laughed; not this time, I was going to "go for it". Whatever the hell that meant. Anyway, on with the show. I pick Devon up and we head down to foggy Monterey. Do they ever get sun there? I have been there four times this year and not once have I seen the sun. It is like living in perpetual February. I digress. Steve Stewart, Devon and I come up with a race strategy. Devon will be our field sprinter, I will cover breaks and Steve will make sure to take care of Devon and I in the sprint by leading out if the pace slows.
I was going to mark Novitsky from team VOS. Just last month he got away with two laps to go and stayed away with one other guy on the same course. I figured he would try again. Race starts and on lap two, Novitsky goes to the front and hammers. Not sure what his plan was (maybe just training race), but he lead for a full lap (4.5 miles). He did not look for help and was not trying to get away…just hammer. The pace was high and we were strung out fairly well. Well, I guess that takes care of Novitsky being a threat. Attacks came fast and furious on the fifth lap and the race got hard! There were two moments when I became seriously concerned I could get left behind. I am sure many of you heard my breathing wherever you were Saturday. Anyway, I hung on to the group and last lap was sitting fifth wheel. I heard Devon behind me and thought "I should lead him out". Unfortunately, legs answered back, "no, you will sit right here in the draft." Should have answered with Jens Voit "shut up legs" but I just don’t have the steel he has. Final sprint and Devon fly's by, Daryoush (our stealth teammate who pretends to ride for Form) is up ahead. I figure I better catch Daryoush so does not talk to much junk on the nooner and so work to get by him. I believe this race helped bolster my argument to USA Cycling for a 4th place jersey and am currently writing Guinness Book to see what the current record is. I know I am close! I finish 4th.
Devon, had first in hand but unfortunately led out one other rider who nipped him at the line. He finished second place for a fantastic race. Devon currently rides a set of wheels from the 1960's that weight about 2000grams and "cushion the rider" with springs in them. If he ever were to invest in a good set of wheels, he would be able to place consistently in the top three. Oh, check that…he does. Maybe it is good for the rest of us he sprints on a mattress. This way we can at least see him finish up ahead. Nice work!
So as not make this a book and more of a race report. I will keep the rest short.
Daryoush tries hard to talk us into doing one more race. Just the 35+ 1/2/3 race. "Come on guys. The second race is actually easier than the first." Um…no, in case you are curious, this is a patent lie. Now, Daryoush is one of the nicest guys I have met, or so I thought. I am now convinced it is all an act. I knew it would be hard when up rolls Kevin Klein from Yahoo! Now, while Kevin is a sweetheart of man and super nice to all riders of lesser quality than him, he is also a hell of a rider.
Race starts and one minute in, Christian attacks. This is the same guy who thinks neon yellow arm warmers and a bright yellow helmet are attractive compliments to the kit as well. Christian comes back to the field about half a lap later, but it was a hell of a try! Lap two and Klein and seven or eight of his new friends take off. I am sitting with Daryoush and Devon and the other 30 guys in this rolling social and we watch them all drift away. We spend the next five laps working to close the gap. Oh, it hurt. I can not go into detail about the rest of the race as my mind has blocked this all out. I do recall at one point Devon rolling up next to me to ask, "you alright?" I could not answer then, but to answer now…NO. The gap started closing, but it closed for the lead group catching us! Not sure why everyone kept going so hard and attacking each other, but attack they did. Every lap I wanted to quit. I had murderous thoughts about Daryoush in my head. I rolled across the finish with the remainder of the "peloton". You know what? It was a blast looking back. Guess this is why women have more than one kid. You forget the pain somehow.
Sunday I decided to try my hand at a triathlon. Supposed to be .5 mile swim, 16 mile bike and 3 mile run. Well, they screwed up the run course and gave us three extra miles for free. Since I had run about 6 miles total in the last two months, this was rough. I can barley walk now and I am bitter about the free miles. Actually, if you were to meet me now, you would think I was one of those 85 year old bitter dudes that tells you how it used to be in the old days. I can't walk more than a shuffle and I have a bad attitude…Really though; What a fun weekend!!
We have a great group of guys (and gals) who are fun to hang with. This team thing has been a whole lot of fun. Thanks for being members! Go team CoreTechs!
Andrew
www.coretechscycling.com
and one silly tri:
Teammates: Steve Stewart; Devon Joos; Christian Parker
More of a story than a race report, but really, what can I tell you about the CCCX course that has not already been said.
My goal this year is to see how many "just off the podium" finishes I can get. Heck, last year I finished 4th five times. I already have three 4th place finishes this year too. I am going for the unofficial record. In fact, I am petitioning USA Cycling for a 4th place jersey award to go along with a State Champion jersey they give out to the winner. So far they have not responded to my request, but I don’t give up easy.
When I left the house Saturday morning to go to CCCX race in Monterey, my wife said, "go get your fourth place." I laughed; not this time, I was going to "go for it". Whatever the hell that meant. Anyway, on with the show. I pick Devon up and we head down to foggy Monterey. Do they ever get sun there? I have been there four times this year and not once have I seen the sun. It is like living in perpetual February. I digress. Steve Stewart, Devon and I come up with a race strategy. Devon will be our field sprinter, I will cover breaks and Steve will make sure to take care of Devon and I in the sprint by leading out if the pace slows.
I was going to mark Novitsky from team VOS. Just last month he got away with two laps to go and stayed away with one other guy on the same course. I figured he would try again. Race starts and on lap two, Novitsky goes to the front and hammers. Not sure what his plan was (maybe just training race), but he lead for a full lap (4.5 miles). He did not look for help and was not trying to get away…just hammer. The pace was high and we were strung out fairly well. Well, I guess that takes care of Novitsky being a threat. Attacks came fast and furious on the fifth lap and the race got hard! There were two moments when I became seriously concerned I could get left behind. I am sure many of you heard my breathing wherever you were Saturday. Anyway, I hung on to the group and last lap was sitting fifth wheel. I heard Devon behind me and thought "I should lead him out". Unfortunately, legs answered back, "no, you will sit right here in the draft." Should have answered with Jens Voit "shut up legs" but I just don’t have the steel he has. Final sprint and Devon fly's by, Daryoush (our stealth teammate who pretends to ride for Form) is up ahead. I figure I better catch Daryoush so does not talk to much junk on the nooner and so work to get by him. I believe this race helped bolster my argument to USA Cycling for a 4th place jersey and am currently writing Guinness Book to see what the current record is. I know I am close! I finish 4th.
Devon, had first in hand but unfortunately led out one other rider who nipped him at the line. He finished second place for a fantastic race. Devon currently rides a set of wheels from the 1960's that weight about 2000grams and "cushion the rider" with springs in them. If he ever were to invest in a good set of wheels, he would be able to place consistently in the top three. Oh, check that…he does. Maybe it is good for the rest of us he sprints on a mattress. This way we can at least see him finish up ahead. Nice work!
So as not make this a book and more of a race report. I will keep the rest short.
Daryoush tries hard to talk us into doing one more race. Just the 35+ 1/2/3 race. "Come on guys. The second race is actually easier than the first." Um…no, in case you are curious, this is a patent lie. Now, Daryoush is one of the nicest guys I have met, or so I thought. I am now convinced it is all an act. I knew it would be hard when up rolls Kevin Klein from Yahoo! Now, while Kevin is a sweetheart of man and super nice to all riders of lesser quality than him, he is also a hell of a rider.
Race starts and one minute in, Christian attacks. This is the same guy who thinks neon yellow arm warmers and a bright yellow helmet are attractive compliments to the kit as well. Christian comes back to the field about half a lap later, but it was a hell of a try! Lap two and Klein and seven or eight of his new friends take off. I am sitting with Daryoush and Devon and the other 30 guys in this rolling social and we watch them all drift away. We spend the next five laps working to close the gap. Oh, it hurt. I can not go into detail about the rest of the race as my mind has blocked this all out. I do recall at one point Devon rolling up next to me to ask, "you alright?" I could not answer then, but to answer now…NO. The gap started closing, but it closed for the lead group catching us! Not sure why everyone kept going so hard and attacking each other, but attack they did. Every lap I wanted to quit. I had murderous thoughts about Daryoush in my head. I rolled across the finish with the remainder of the "peloton". You know what? It was a blast looking back. Guess this is why women have more than one kid. You forget the pain somehow.
Sunday I decided to try my hand at a triathlon. Supposed to be .5 mile swim, 16 mile bike and 3 mile run. Well, they screwed up the run course and gave us three extra miles for free. Since I had run about 6 miles total in the last two months, this was rough. I can barley walk now and I am bitter about the free miles. Actually, if you were to meet me now, you would think I was one of those 85 year old bitter dudes that tells you how it used to be in the old days. I can't walk more than a shuffle and I have a bad attitude…Really though; What a fun weekend!!
We have a great group of guys (and gals) who are fun to hang with. This team thing has been a whole lot of fun. Thanks for being members! Go team CoreTechs!
Andrew
www.coretechscycling.com
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