Tom Rice reports from CCCX-35+ open race (June 9th 2012)

Written by Tom Rice:

Pic by Tim Westmore

Where: Central Coast Circuit Racing, Fort Ord, CA
When: 9 July, 2012
Race: 35+ Masters Open
Course: 75 Minutes, 6 laps on a rolling 4.3 mile circuit on a beautiful sunny day on the Monterey Peninsula

Teammates: Andrew Adelman, Mark Foster, Rick Adams, Dave Puglia, Mike McLaughlin, Ricky Lucero

(Some of the other guys should pipe-up to fill in the gaps in my report!)

Mark Foster and I carpool together down to the venue. We get an early start so we have plenty of time to setup the CoreTechs pit suite near the podium in anticipation of a great day of racing. I even bring a couple of new camp chairs to make sure that, between races, the team has a good place to sit and tell the requisite tall tales of daring done! And, I have enough time to screw up the most difficult challenge of the entire day; pinning my numbers correctly. (I only had to re-pin twice to get three different numbers pinned correctly, an average success rate of 60%.)

Mark Foster, Mike McLaughlin, and I had already raced in the 45+ 3/4 race. Rick Adams, Andrew Adelman, Ricky Lucero and Dave Puglia had raced in the 45+/55+ 1/2/3/4 race earlier in the day. So, we were all well warmed up!

This race was going to be different than last week. Last week the race started with 17 riders and 10 of them were from the CoreTechs horde. This week, the race starts with 23 riders including 7 from CoreTechs with one major difference, this week, three of the strongest northern California age 35+ competitors are in our race... we have our work cut out for us!

Still, we know that Duane Coughlan from Iron Data/Thirsty Bear will attack from the start... and he does. This break is quickly subdued by the pack with substantial coverage by the CoreTechs horde. Immediately, a second attack takes off. Mark Foster covers this attack and a small gap forms. A chase group tries to bridge the gap and I cover these guys. Quickly, the pack reels us all in and the whole group is together again. This leaves me at the front of the pack when I hear the third attack coming from behind me - I accellerate. Matt Carinio and Kevin Klein are going for it! I jump on their wheels and soon the three of have a big gap. For those who don't already know, both Carinio and Klein are national class Cat 1 riders who are insanely strong. (Carinio's license number is only four digits and starts with a "6" for crap's sake!)

In this breakaway, I ride well above my "station" and I do my pulls but these guys are fast. After about one and a half laps, I can't hang... On one of the hills on the backside of the course, Carinio accelerates and I get popped.

Now, by myself, I'm thinking, "Well, I still have a good gap and I'm in third place. So, if I can keep a fast pace, maybe I can hang on." I go for it but, I'll admit it here, I was worked!

I'm paying attention behind me and I soon realize I'm going to get caught by a chase group. Apparently, Steve Heaton (a particularly strong Cat 2 rider) is not satisfied to sit in the pack to race for 4th place. So he decides, with 4 others, to bridge up to the front group - that is, me. (I'm not sure how this happened but this is my assumption.) Heaton, Derek Johnson, Benjamin Albracht, Blake Reed, Joe Amon, with Andrew in tow, bridge up to me. Andrew played this perfectly... he just sits in on the bridging attempt to get pulled up to me. I know they're coming so I rest enough that I can join this group as they catch me. This is awesome for me because now I have a teammate to help do the work of trying to reconnect - to no avail - with the front two riders. Matt and Kevin have a huge gap and we're seven guys racing for third place.

Andrew and I are kind of in the catbird's seats - these guys are all really strong and are working hard (except Reed, Carinio's teammate) to catch the front two. I'm doing my best to save some mojo for the finish. So, while Andrew and I take our pulls and do some of the work, the others are doing the lions share. Then, in one of the most bizarre moves I've seen in racing, as we're passing through the start/finish area with two laps to go and Heaton says, "Okay boys, have fun." He lets a huge gap form in front of Andrew and me and just drops out of the race.

What the heck?? Now, we have to close a gap, on three strong guys going very fast, to stay in the running for a podium position (one of the other guys in our group had been popped earlier.) So, we bury ourselves to get back in contact. We get back on but unfortunately, one of the guys accelerates on the backside hill and I can't hang... Andrew and I get gapped.

Andrew and I take a couple kilometers to rest and get ourselves together hoping the acceleration will slow. It does and we give chase - deep in the pain cave - but we cannot close the gap. Still, we need to keep our speed up so the pack does not catch us. We're racing for sixth and seventh place, a good finish given the talent in this race. As we race down the last hill coming up to the right hand turn onto the finish straight, I look back. I can't see anyone so it seems like we're in good shape to finish off the front of the pack. As we come up to the finish straight, there is a rider that I think might be from the breakaway group in front of us. I give chase hoping one of us can get on the podium. But, he's too far out and there is not enough time remaining to catch him. We cross the finish line with me in sixth place (thanks Andrew) and Andrew in seventh place.

After the race, Mark Foster tells me that the pack was gaining on us and could see us coming up to the finish. It's a good thing we kept our pace as high as we could!



This was a great race for me! It was incredibly hard, I'm completely wiped out but I had fun. Even though I didn't get on the box, I feel this is one of my best efforts to date. The competition was top notch and I get two points towards my next upgrade.

I have to thank Andrew in particular for his help in this race along with the rest of our team who helped keep the pack in control while we were off the front. What a great team! I love riding for CoreTechs!

Thanks for reading.



Tom Rice

Bicycle Racer

CoreTechs Cycling Team