Ken's Mt. Tam Race Report-Cat 3

Mt Tam (starting in Stinson Beach)


12 miles, 2000 feet

Cat 3: 1st out of 16

Course: 4 miles of flat on Hwy 1, 4 miles of up, then 4 miles of up/rollers



I pre-rode the course on Wednesday which was pivotal. The rollers at the end were brutal and that's where I knew the race would be won or lost (and it was).

I also warmed up for about 30 min and put in a long, 5 min, hard effort. I think this also helped.



Flat 4 - the group went at an honest pace so i knew our total time wouldn't be hampered (like it was last week at fremont)



Up 4 - We go over a cattle grate and everyone is going crazy to get a front position as it turns up (think small narrow roads like stage). One guy sprints and everyone stays together. Then it slows down. We're 4-wide in about 4 lines. I'm in line 2 and I say "excuse me" to the 2 guys in front of me. They converge and pinch me. Then I say it again, "excuse me" (i figure they can't ignore kindness). We're going at an medium pace as everyone is trying to figure out what's going to happen. We're only 0.5 miles in if even that. Not far. So, on the 2nd ask they let me through. I stand up and push the pace hard (but not so hard that i can't react if someone jumps me). Before I know it I have 10 meters, then 20 meters. So I push it much harder (like an OLH PR ride). 50 meters. Then a Taleo guy catches me (Hanns Detlefsen). I ask him if he wants to work together, he says yes, so we do. Another guy catches (Bill Laddish) but only for 30 seconds until we drop him again. Then we're on our own - can't see any chasers - so I know we have it in the bag.



4 miles rollers (the "Seven Sisters") - after 0.5 miles of flat/descent through redwoods, we open up to an exposed and long climb. The first 'sister'. Hanns accelerates and I can not hang. Rather than burn myself, I let him go. Through the next 4 sisters I just keep him in my sights, around 50-60 meters out. On every sister I gain some distance. On the 6 or 7th sister I give everything I have and before I know it I'm going like 2x his speed up the sister and just fly by him. I'm so surprised at this point that I don't know what to do. I just put my head down and hammer. The rest is flat/rolling and I just hammer. We only had ~1k to go. But before I know it I'm gone and beat him by 16 seconds.



one final note: Peter Stetina (garmin, did well at rode giro this year) rode with the p1/2. He won. :) (but it wasn't 'official' bc he's not 'allowed' to race since he's a UCI rider)