When – March 11, 2012
Race 1: 45+ Cat 3/4
Race 2: 35+ Open (report below)
Stats Race 1 – ~22 miles at almost 23 mph
Finish Race 1 – 18th out of 40+ racers
In Race 1 - CoreTechs teammates Mark Foster and Alan Takahashi
Race 1: I'm well warmed up and ready to race. The weather is awesome with just a little wind. Mark, Alan and I have a brief tactics discussion before the race and, somewhat tacitly, decide that a break is required to assure a good finish. To that end, I plan to cover anything dangerous that happens early and, if there is no break earlier, I'll attack on the third lap near the back side hill.
We start at the whistle. Almost right away, the pace is pretty quick and I'm settled in the pack, about 8 riders from the front. A few half-hearted attacks are made during the first two laps but every time, the pack, especially Mark, Alan and I, respond quickly. Even so, as planned, with three laps to go, I make a vicious attack before the backside hill. I get a good gap but it doesn't last long before the entire pack chases me down.
I'm surprised but I've got a couple more of these "matches" ready to light so I settle back into the pack. Alan tries an attack with another rider but it is quickly chased down. Then, with two to go, I make another aggressive attack on the rolling hills that I call The Steps... this time, Rick Morgan from SJBC comes with me. Now, I think we've got something. Rick is strong and we get a decent gap. I lead over all of the rollers on The Steps and Rick leads through the right hand turn and down the hill to the finish straight. We're going fast but, again, the entire pack has chased us down. They are not letting a break go today.
Even so, I plan to make one last attack on The Steps before the descent onto the finish straight. But the pack is antsy and my position on the right edge of the road is a bad one and I'm completely boxed in. Numerous riders are forced to push through the brush that encroaches on the road just to hold their positions. I even have to bash my way through a bush just to keep from tangling with the rider next to me.
As we descend down to the right hand turn onto the finish straight, I am not well positioned. I'm dramatically slowed by a rider in front of me as we go through the turn, I sprint as hard as I can but I can't get any momentum dodging the slower riders coming up to the line.
18th place. I should have done better and I needed to adjust my tactics to a very spirited pack. I contemplate my lessons on the cool down ride back to the pits and get ready for the next race.
Stats Race 2 – ~27 miles at 21.3 mph
Finish Race 2 – 5th out of 20 or so racers (17 are listed in the results but I'm not sure they are complete)
In Race 2 - CoreTechs teammates Andrew Adelman, Christian Parker, John Wilde, Daryoush Paknad and Mark Foster
Race 2: For me, this is a different race. I'm a Cat 4 in the waning stages of the 45+ masters class. This is a 35+ open race with some very fast guys in it and many of them are much younger than I am. I've already raced pretty hard today but that was almost two hours ago. I actually feel pretty good and I'm ready to go again. Especially since, CoreTechs has six team members in the race and we plan to dominate!
As a prelude, remember this from Andrew's Book of Tactics, Rule Number 1: A CoreTechs rider covers every attack.
We start at the whistle. Right off the line a rider from Iron Data/Thirsty Bear, Duane Coughlan, kind of just drifts off the front in a very slow breakaway attempt. All of us CoreTechs guys (and the pack) sit in and watch Duane gap the pack by about 50 meters. I'm near the front and Andrew charges by, admonishing me, "We cover every attack!" Andrew covers this one. (I need to learn to be less timid at the start of the higher classification races.)
Andrew knows he has lots of teammates in the race so he doesn't need to burn a bunch of matches to cover the break and he comes back to the pack with Duane still out front. I don't want to get in "trouble" again and I want to do my share of the work. So at the moment when the pack regains contact with Andrew, I make an aggressive attack to join Duane for the breakaway. I'm ready to burn a bunch of matches for the team and I quickly catch Duane and move in front for a hard pull with Duane on my wheel. We have a pretty good gap so I settle in to work with Duane. I'm going to try but I don't really think we have the horsepower to hold off a strong pack for six laps.
On the second lap, I take a quick look back and I can see two or three riders trying to bridge up to our breakaway with about five riders behind them in front of the remainder of the pack. It looks like we're going to get caught. Then, an incredibly strong Doug Hall (Michael David Winery Cycling Team) joins us towing Mark Foster and Christopher Brown from Team Don Chapin. This is really good news. Now we have enough riders to possibly hold off the pack - especially with our CoreTechs teammates in the pack to cover any bridging attacks.
We begin to circulate in a classic pace-line but Mark is completely worked from hanging onto Doug's wheel during the bridge, Duane is getting gapped anytime we come to a hill and can't really do his pull and Christopher is also recovering from the bridging attack. Doug seems a little frustrated and lets Mark and Christopher know, "I towed you up here now you have to pull!" Neither one of them can even respond. They are worked and some recovery is required. For the next two laps, Doug and I do most of the pulls and our gap grows to about a minute and a half. With that gap and two to go, we can relax just a little.
Doug is by far the strongest of our five man group. He tests us at the hill on the back side with two laps to go to see who is strong and who isn't. We cover his attack pretty easily but the trouble is, my quads are starting to cramp. I can still peddle hard while seated but I can't stand. I do my best to hide this (Doug tells me after the race he knew I was cooked.)
Now that he is recovered from the bridging work, now Mark and Doug are doing the lion's share of the pulls and I can try to rest and get my legs working again. I start to feel a little better. BTW, it is obvious that Duane is also feeling better.
It's the final lap and we're on the back side hill, I'm in front making a longish pull (this was a mistake) and Doug attacks from the back of our group. I have nothing left and cannot respond. Mark, Duane and Christopher chase after Doug. I have to meter my effort in hopes that they will slow at the steps and I can catch back on but to no avail. I'm dropped.
I keep my pace as high as I can so I don't get caught by the pack and I cross the finish line alone for fifth place. A great finish for me! I race way above my level with younger guys and I'm on the podium. It is a good day!
I very grateful to my CoreTechs teammates who I know were working the pack to keep any chasers at bay and to assure that our breakaway was successful. There is no way I would have been able to make this breakaway work without their help. It is amazing to see how well the team works together to get two guys in a break and do an epic job managing the pack. My job now is to build up by strength and endurance. The next time I'm lucky enough to make the winning breakaway, I'll be there at the end to sprint for first. Racing for CoreTechs Cycling Team couldn't be more fun and couldn't be more rewarding!
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