Daryoush's Wente Road Race Report-4/28/12

Wente Vineyard Road Race 45+ 123

Field size - close to 60

The weather was perfect for racing on Saturday in Livermore - atypically, there was no wind at the registration table!!

If you are familiar with the course skip to the next paragraph. The course consists of three climbs and a flat section that is usually very windy. The approach to the first hill is similar to Alpine road riding towards Portola. The steeper section starts after a sharp right hand turn - it is a bit steeper than the upper section of Alpine (past Portola) and it's length is about four times as long. 2/3 up the climb, the gradient gets shallower for 50 yards or so and it kicks up again for another upper Alpine like section. The finish line is at the end of this section. After this climb, the road levels for 0.8 miles and the second climb of the course start - average gradient for this section is 5% and the length, close to a mile. Not a bad climb if it is not windy but it is always windy up there and Saturday was not an exception (they have wind turbines around these hills). The third and last real climb of the race is close to 1.5 miles long with average gradient of 3%. The second and third climb are separated by a steep twisty downhill.

Went to this race with less race-milage on my legs than last year due to missing the Sea Otter RR and the mechanical at Copperopolis

Team Echelon Gran Fondo had a couple of real strong riders (Steve Heaton and Cale Reeder). Our friend Kevin Kline was also present. Team VOS had a couple of excellent local climbers (Jan elsbach, John Novitsky, Lesli Oglesby and Kieran Sherlock) and good presence from SAFEWAY, Sierra Nevada and Morgan Stanley/Specialized.

From the gun, Steve Heaton took off with a couple of other riders - I didn't chase. By the time we started the first climb, they were out of site and Steve's teammate Cale was blocking with some help from Sierra boys. We got to the top of the second climb and I wasn't even breathing hard!! Hey, this was moving too slow; I wanted my money's worth. I tried to move up to increase the pace but the road was narrow with too many riders bunched up covering the whole road. Went over the yellow line once - the motorcycle referee (Mark - our noon ride friend) warned me. I was telling myself "I can easily do this five more times".

We went through the twisty down hill section pretty fast. This section has a couple of very steep little hills that combined with the wind could break the pack in to pieces.

On the flat section the motorcycle referee told us that Heaton and company had 1:30 on the pack! The gap was increased to 1:45 when we got closer to the big climb - the big guys moved up front and made the approach to the climb very very hard. Made the sharp right hand turn to the steep section - now the skinny climbers head up front and put the hurt on everyone ... Kline is no where to be seen!! This climb is too short for pure climbers; 2/3 up the hill the medium built guys are setting a very hard pace. I was barley hanging on with the front 15 guys. I didn't like this race at all at this point and no longer think I can do this three more times.

The next two laps were pretty uneventful. The pace came down and the gap to the Heaton group was kept under 2 minutes.

I guessed the last lap would be filled with lots of attacks and pain. I was right. Fast pace on the approach to the first hill and there I saw Kline near the front of the pack. The fireworks were about to start. I stayed with the front 10 guys up the hill but I was at my limit when we started the second hill - wind wasn't helping at this point. Kevin was up front in full control with Cale and David Passmore (Berkeley Bicycle). Somehow I managed to get up the second hill with the front group. Now, all I had to do was conserve energy and give it my best on the finishing climb. It is always good to regain composure on the downhill. I was smiling and imagining my hands raised crossing the finish line. I looked up and, shit, there was a couple of bike lengths between me and the guy up front. I hammered to close the gap... but I didn't get any closer. The hammer was on and they were going all out on the downhill. After a few turns the gap was increased to almost half a mile. I looked back - but there was no one there and I was riding as hard as I could. About to sit up, I heard "go go" from behind. I looked back and there was 15 to 20 guys back. We got organized and brought the front group back on the flat section.

The first half of the last lap was fast enough to bring Heaton and the company back (or Heaton might have sat up). Steve Heaton and Cale (his teammate) were talking and planning their strategy for the rest of the race.

I burnt a lot of matches trying to close the gap on the downhill. After near 60 miles of racing my legs were tired

Steve was setting a fast pace again on the approach to the steep section. Everyone was fighting to get into a good position before the start of the steep section. I was in the top 15 starting the last climb. I kept my position 2/3 up the climb but when the gradient got shallower, I struggled to keep my rhythm. 300ft to the finish line another wave of riders passed me. I crossed the finish line with my hands and head down.

Cale finished first, Kline was second and David Passmore finished third. David is an excellent all arounder.

PS - don't try this race with a full bladder ;)

Daryoush