Cat 2/3
Spring Hill RR – 4/11/10 Elite 3 Race Report
Course: 22 mile loop w/moderate climbing, lots of rolling terrain, fair to decent pavement, uphill finish
Distance: 3 laps / 66 miles
Weather: Rain and wind, ~50F
After eating like an anorexic teenager before Copperopolis and embarrassing myself by bonking out of the winning break, I was hoping for a little redemption this weekend. I had a better week of training and was feeling a little more prepared to race, but I stayed up late dancing with the boss lady in SF (sometimes fun is the best pre-race tune-up). I ate a more reasonable breakfast and drove out to the race with Terence (who finished the Elite 4 race).
In the car he gave me a little pep talk about how I could do well on this course (thanks, Terence). The forecast was for rain, but was not raining when we left the East Bay. We even speculated that maybe the rain would hold off. It did not. It started to rain right about the time we arrived at the course. It wasn’t terribly cold, but the rain was chilly and there was considerable wind.
I put on a lot of layers under my jersey as well as my neoprene gloves and rain booties. I was not going to let cold ruin my race day. I got an abbreviated “warm-up” (10 min) on the trainer (I did get warm enough to unzip my jersey, but did not have time to really get the engines going. Oh well).
There were 45 pre-reg’d in my field, but I’m pretty sure not everyone showed up. Not sure how big the field was because I started near the front and stayed in the top 10 the whole race. Lap 1 was uneventful for the first 18 miles, and then a Godspeed Courier guy goes off the front into the headwind. I’m near the front but his attack is not covered by anyone and he doesn’t go very far. I rotate through to my turn at the front and give it just a little more gas (really, only a little) and the guy up the road is not getting smaller or bigger.
No one comes around me when I flip my elbow and pull off and when I look back I’m off the front too. Now this is MY kind of situation. I push a little harder and pull up to the Godspeed guy. We exchange pulls for the whole second lap and build a gap of over 2 minutes. The Godspeed guy seems to be fading a little toward the end, I notice I am taking faster and longer pulls than he is.
Then, early in lap 3 as we are going up the main hill, the Godspeed guy just slowly drops off my wheel and I don’t feel like waiting for him. Well, I’ve been here before (Mt. Hamilton, 2008), so I just keep up my threshold pace and spin on down the road. I try not to be over confident, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to win. Over the course of lap 3 I build my lead to 4 minutes and cruise solo across the finish.
Basically as soon as I stop the chill sets in. I zip back to the car (which Terence had thankfully warmed up to sauna-like temperatures) as I start to shiver, and hastily strip out of 10 pounds of wet cycling gear and jump into dry street clothes. After the shivers calmed a little, we went to collect my loot. The prize: $100 and a bottle of wine. Pretty good for a windy, rainy day and only 3 and a half hours of sleep.
Henleyville RR P1/2
What a pleasure to race with some very strong guys! I had plans to race conservatively and just finishing would be a positive.
Very strong break got away 5 miles in that was well represented and strong.
Props to my experienced team-mate that took the time to explain what was happening because I was clueless! On lap two i went to the front and sat 3-4th wheel to see what was going on. Work was what was going on and every time pulls were taken and the road opened up I got the feeling they were waiting on me to do my part.
Welp thats enough time up at front so i glided ever so non grace-fully back to the back where it easier to be incognito!
Until one of the guys in the break got a flat on lap3 (AV Rand Miller) and received another wheel from a team-mate in the main field. The order then went out to the 4 or so AV guys to catch the break and wheeeeeeeeee….hold on man cuz the pace took off.
Held on for dear life and made it to the end after running down the break – a counter attack went immediatly before settling down just a notch.
Nearer the end 8 of the stronger guys took off in different moves and attacks and were strewn ahead of us. I didn’t have the legs or confidence to head out solo and wasn’t fast enough to catch a ride off the front.
So I headed to the line with the group…wait for it…wait for it (could hear Neil in my head telling me to be patient ala Ardo). My left side got jammed up with riders overtaking me but could not keep going because of congestion so I immediately looked to the right.
Saw a guy getting ready to jump (kind of like a cat before a pounce) and I jumped on! Got a nice ride to the front from about 6-8th spot back and when my ride faltered a bit I remembered not to! (Winters RR).
I hammered to the line with 200 meters to go and won the field sprint for 9th by half a bike length!!! Wait what? Keith won a field sprint…will wonders never cease!
A nasty cold floored me the following day!! And that folks is the end of my ’09 Season
regards,
Keith Jordon
Vacaville Grand Prix – E3 Report
Video courtesy of Steven Woo.
I don’t have special Wattini skills to communicate how satisfying today has been, but I’ll try. I’ve been enjoying the last few hours after chalking up this year’s 4th win at the Vacaville Crit. Partly because there are no more questions about field sizes and inferior road points, partly because I can say I met my goals for the season and most importantly, because I belong to a kick ass race team.
I just read Dylan’s report and he is being modest in saying he wasn’t sure if his actions helped me. In fact, his racing strategy has done nothing but help me all season. Most notable was his blocking at Pacific Grove and his last lap attacks at the 2 wheel crit and today at Vacaville. He’s done it quietly, consistently and without a lot of fan fare or recognition. Thanks Dylan, you are a great teammate and friend.
Speaking of Vacaville…Dylan and I lined up for the 3′s race with full field of 58. It’s one of my favorite courses on the NCNCA calender and I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks. There were several racers with enough upgrade points and several on the bubble, so it promised to be fast. I got a horrible start position and within seconds was 100 yards down as the pack lined out for the first lap. Spent the next 4 laps working my way up to the top 10 or so and stayed there most of the race. Dylan was already up there keeping everything together. Later, he helped chase down a few breaks.
About halfway thru, a metromint rider attached and went solo. Metromint did some nifty blocking and no one was interested in chasing so he stayed out for a while. Finally a Davis rider took off with a squadra rider(I think) and the Davis guy was able to bridge. Those two stayed out for a few more laps then, funny thing, a Davis Junior chased them down. READ: How not to work as a team.
The race was pretty uneventful for me, I attacked twice, but carried a nice target on my back and was shut down quickly. Nothing like looking back for a gap and seeing the pack sucking the draft. Coming up to the line with 2 to go, I was sitting around 15 back when Dylan moved up on the left side. I jumped out for the tow and we made it up to the top 5. We both stayed there until coming back into town for the bell.
The group slowed, Dylan jammed off the front and put a good 8 seconds on the group almost instantaneously. Couple guys at the front were looking around to see who was going to chase. I laughed and actually said “Not me” out loud. As we turned the corner to head out of town, I thought he had a chance. He had a huge run, however the hill was tough enough without attacking for the last minute. We caught him at the top, he was gassed.
Fortunately, I had done zero work chasing him down and I was ready to go. I was 3rd or 4th wheel about 100 meters from the last turn when a train of 5 moved up on the inside. Todd from Owens was in front of me and he jumped so I was able to stay out of the wind. I hit the last corner about 7th, but was deep on the outside. Turned out to be the right spot because I kept a lot of momentum. The leaders when right, I stayed left and went for it from the corner. I started to die coming through the chicane, didn’t matter, I had a good gap on the field and cruised across the line.
Numbers:
Average -
spd: 25.22
hr: 164
power: 289
peak power -
5 sec: 1198
30 sec: 825
1 min: 529
5 min: 346
10 min: 308
Neil
Winters Road Race – E3 Report
Short story is 3rd lap going up the hill the group strung out and shattered. Got up and over with the lead that turned out to be about 15 guys. We got down to the rollers and I started attacking…attacked again. I thought we were racing for 3-10 so i was had switched from race conservative for the win to bring the pain haha.
I must have attcked the group half a dozen times and got chased down each time (small consolation was watching the guy that covered most of my attacks get dropped at 1k).
But people were popping off the back and I actually got an audible groan as I started a sneak attack down the side of the group for the umpteenth time! Tee hee gotta be the highlight of my year right there!
Hit the 1k sign and everyone was watching each other, kid took off at im guessing 400 meters and i jumped to get on his wheel. He started to pop around 150 meters and i stalled…just for a second. But there was enough for the guys on my wheel to come around me at the line.
Lot of fun in the sprint and was happy with what i thought was a 8ish or so finish…get to reg where i hear another group talking about how the break was caught on the hill. Wait what…DOH thats what I get for not paying attention.
kj
San Ardo Road Race – E3 Report
So close…yet so, so far.
Got up early this morning and drove down to San Ardo. Keith and I lined up for the Cat 3 race, we are both feeling good and still feeling confident from last weekend. Our strategy was to sit in and wait. If a threatening break went, we were going to bridge, not pull the group. We were not going to initiate any breaks, there was a full field and we expected everything to be chased down. Our finishing strategy was with about 4 k’s to go, Keith was going to launch and go for the win. I was going to block to let him go and surf wheels of the chasers. If he got the win, we were golden, if he got caught, I was going to take a crack at the sprint.
Fast forward to half way through lap 3.(We sat in the whole time and did our best to conserve energy) There was a decent 5 man break that had been out for the whole third lap. Lots of chasing, but nothing too organized. About 8 miles out, we felt it was dangerous enough to try and bridge. There was one guy in no man’s land. I was following Keith near the front and he rolled to the front and then took off. Metromint had a guy in the break, so I joined the blocking party while Keith swooped up the guy in no man’s land and bridged to the group.
Unfortunately, the break was dead. They were done working and not increasing their gap. Our block effort lasted for a few k when a group of 5 got off and started to bridge. That was enough for the rest of the pack to shut it down. Things settled down for a bit, but I found myself on the front, but rolled pretty slow. Keith came up and took over about the same time we were coming into town. He hit his spot and gassed it. I kept rolling at 20 and Keith got about 100 feet. It didn’t take long for the pack to figure out was going down and 5 or 6 guys went by me quick and worked on closing it. I surfed wheels until we caught Keith at the bridge. I was sitting 5th wheel or so over the bridge when Travis T of Metormint took off. I jumped on his wheel thinking he was going for it.
He took us off the bridge, looked up, looked back and swung right. Crap. It was too soon to go and I was too far in to reposition. I can’t really say I thought about this…it was more of a conditioned response. I’ve been trigger happy lately because I’m feeling good, I’ve had recent frustrations with crossing the line with a full tank and I’ve had way too many visions of glory.
People have been talking about entering the pain cave lately. Well…I base jumped into mine. To fill you in on the details…..here are the numbers on the last 1 minute and 24 seconds of my race. From the time I stepped on it to the time I crossed the line. My hr average was 185. My power average was 552. I averaged 25.71 mph. Problem was I did it backwards. My starting speed was 33.18 mph and I peaked at 934 watts. My guess is at it’s largest, I had about a 30 foot gap going up the hill. This huge effort got me to the corner first….but the race was not to the corner. Even with severe tunnel vision, I manged to see about 15 people ride by me in the closing meters.
I was well rested, well fed, well hydrated, feeling great and had a good strategy. Just went too early. Race and Learn. Hat’s off to Keith for being a major player in the way this race played out.
For those of you who are keeping score:
race avgs:
Dunnigan Hills – E3 Report
Arrived bright and early, got reg’d and while pinning my number my blackberry was a buzz. Neil had just shared his win via email and I knew his quest for upgrade points had ended…bastard!
Found Dylan and Moon and we headed for the line. Took some ribbing from Dylan for not knowing how many miles we were racing and realizing I did not have enough food for a 90 mile race. Quick run to the truck and I grabbed some more food and hauled back to the line…once there I noticed a small sliver of a thorn sticking out of the back of my tire.
Pulled the thorn and gave it the spit test. Failed the test with instant bubbles and I almost threw in the towel. It had been a rough morning. Hauled butt back to the truck and grabbed my spare rear wheel (i almost never bring extra wheels so this was a bit of luck)
A kind cyclist saw what i was up to and started to pop my wheel while I fished out the spare. Got the wheel on and went back to the line with Dylan.
Now i had heard that Dunnigan was a suffer fest but was unsure why. Most flat RR that I have done are usual boring as everyone sits in until the end. I was curious what exactly made this race so challenging.
And off we went, as soon as we got over the overpass the wind made itself known.I settled in and waited for my legs to warm up. Within the first 5 miles a group of 6 went down the road. I got nervous and kept asking myself if i had missed the winning move, but with 85 miles left in the race I decided that it was just too long to go for the break. Even more so with a full peloton chasing with fresh legs.
First half lap was fairly uneventful, focused on trying to get any kind of a draft in the cross wind and into the headwinds there was a bit of activity where I bridged up to a few guys dangling off the front but we were immediately chased down so I settled into 15th or so wheel.
We made another turn and found ourselves being battered by the crosswinds. I had drifted about mid pack and people were struggling, gaps were opening left and right. I swung far right into the wind and got out of my saddle to get around groups of people that were pedaling backwards to make my way back to the lead group.
Another turn and it was now a direct headwind. We slowed to the point that most were able to get back to the group but it made me realize just how dangerous the cross winds would be in this race.
The headwind went on for miles and miles so i sat in protected and waited. Soon we began to head back towards the start with a wicked tailwind. Man we were flying – I didn’t do much but hold my wheel and move up to keep good positioning.
Myself Moon and Dylan were all near the front but not on the front. I ate and drank and drank some more. Finished up lap one and headed back towards the cross wind near the feed zone.
Getting time updates on the break and I realized we were reeling them in slowly – funny thing about the ref supplied time gaps is that once people saw they were coming back the pace picked up.
We hit the cross wind section and all hell broke lose. Groups of people were falling off the pace and I had to bridge up 3-4 times before making it to the front group. Deep in the red I thought I would be next off the back but I dangled and kept telling myself 10 more sec…and then another 10. There was no draft available as people were hugging the line and I suffered (oh now I get it)
After what seemed like forever I began to regain some composure and took a look behind to find guys drafting me over the center line. Not happy about this because I too wanted some ^%$$# shelter I launched a mini attack and left a couple of guys in the wind.
I found the top 5 guys were working together while giving each other shelter in a revolving paceline so i joined the mix. Having that draft made all the difference vs. dangling off the back with no shelter.
Turned out all but 15 of us were shelled. We had reeled in and left the break in our wake.
Another right hand turn and back into the headwind. The pace slowed to a crawl and allowed 5 or so guys to catch back on. I watched and waited – no one wanted to pull into the headwind and our pace reflected that.
A solo rider went off the front and got about 6 seconds on the group. There was no response from the guys on the front so myself and a couple others tell the group to make a some room to let us reel this guy in.
Now a hole opened up and 2 guys shoot forward to picked up the pace a bit…i then chose to attack out of the saddle. Not wanting to drag these guys up. I worked to bridge up solo… Jens words of advice lingering in my head…”windy course perfect for a break”
I put in the effort and got up to the solo rider and could see the relief on his face. We started working together and the main field kept us at about 10 seconds for miles.
The headwind was unrelenting and each pull took its toll. I voiced my opinion that we were not getting away and may want to consider dropping back to the pack. My partners response was F’em at least were making them work. That gave me new resolve and we kept at it.
After a few more miles of pain the ref started to bring us good news! Our 10 seconds had gone to 18, the next time up it was 24…and so on. That fact that these guys were not working together to pull us back made us work harder. By the time we hit the tail wind section we had 1:15 and the pack was nowhere in sight
The chance of making this stick started coming to fruition.
The stretch of long straight road to the finish seemed to go on forever. We were both taking shorter pulls and it was obvious that we were both in the pain cave. I noticed my partner’s pulls were slowing noticeably but was not sure if that was tactics or fatigue.
The moto pulled up to tell us we still had 55 seconds and that we were not going to get caught.
Asked how much further and he responds with 2 or so miles to that overpass…well we get to the overpass and he flags us down saying it was the wrong overpass and we had another couple of miles. I wanted to throw a water bottle at him at that moment – left quad was on the verge of cramping but there was no where else to go but forward.
We get to the final overpass and there was no cat and mouse – neither of us had the energy for that. I hit the overpass with everything I had and felt like my right leg was going to buckle with every pedal stroke. On the short descent I held my breath and headed for the line – the line came and went and it dawned on me that I had actually won – crap throw your arms up fool! Better late then never.
KJ
Mass Ave Crit (Indianapolis) – E3 Report
Somehow, my wife had a moment of weakness and agreed to let me bring my bike on our family vacation. I borrowed David’s slick bike carrier and headed to the airport armed with tactics on how not to pay over sized bag fees. After a successful flight(not counting 1 hour of sleep) to Cincinnati, on Friday we made the short drive to Indianapolis where I had registered for the 3′s and Pro/1/2/3′s at the Mass Ave Crit on Saturday in down town.
“Poaching points” was the joke as I was leaving, the general, elitist assumption that Norcal is the fastest area in the country is pretty strong. I admit, I was hoping to show up and see a bunch of hairy legged, freds that I would run solo from and lap the pack multiple times. That sentiment was gone before I even got to the race as we passed a very large Velodrome complex just a few miles from downtown. Granted there were no hills, but those guys are fast.
The course was a triangle shaped down town course. Turns 1 and 3 were 135 degrees and turn 2 was a standard 90. It was a short course as laps were just over a minute. The start line was just like any NorCal start, guys were chatting and looking around. The refs wore blue polo’s and looked surprisingly similar to ours. Everyone had nice equipment.
The whistle blew and it was an all out sprint for the first lap. I started in the back, not thinking much about it and when I finally got around turn 1, the leaders were 400+ feet up the road. Worked my ass off the first 3 laps or so and then it settled down. The accordion was bad, so I moved up and stayed up.
These guys were attack happy. The full out, in the drops, sprint kind of attack happy. They also had some serious team work going with a couple strong teams placing guys in the front to chase things down. I tried once…gave up pretty quick. I was able to surf the front effectively without killing myself and just counted down the laps.
Got pretty fast with 3 to go, but no real drama. Guys were smooth in the corners and I didn’t hear anyone yell inside all day long. I was sitting second wheel in turn 1 on the bell lap. Had a group go by and was bout 7th in turn two. Rode a wheel up the right side and was 5th going into turn 3. (I know this sounds boring but it was surprisingly smooth).
The guy sitting 3rd wheel in the last corner was a classic sit in and slam the last lap, he over cooked the corner and curbed a very nice Durace Giant Advanced SL with deep dish carbon rims. He went flying into the grass. I passed the guy in front of me directly out of the corner and started a very nice and long 400 meter sprint. I caught and passed the last two guys with about a 100 to go and kept the hammer down to the line.
Here are the numbers for the 3′s:
average spd: 25.48
average hr: 164
average power: 278
peak wattage
5 sec: 1249
30 sec: 700
1 min: 536
5 min: 334
10 min:308
Overall peak 1434
With the course being so technical the difference between doing well and not so well was the few more watts needed to get to the front and then stay there.
I was not able to stay in the front in the Pro/1/2/3 race. It was extremely hard and lined out the whole time. A break of about 12 got away half way through, I through the dice and tried to bridge. Got caught in no man’s land, fortunately the group was coming quickly. I never really recovered from that. Although I didn’t brake very much, I did a lot of coasting into corners and then lots of sprinting out.
It was unreal hot, I was cooked and thought about giving up several times. Coming into the bell lap, right after turn three, a gap opened a couple guys in front of me and I couldn’t close it. I cruised in the last lap and was still placed. 26th out of 66. (38 guys didn’t finish) One of the teams put on an absolute clinic. They not only got a man in the 3 man break(he won), but they had 4 guys leading the pack with 3 to go. They fell off one by one and then won the field sprint.
Overall was extremely impressed. The team work and polish of the 3′s racing was far above Nor Cal, I get the feeling they stay in category for longer and develop better skills. Speed was good. We had 41 racers in the 3′s and the main difference where there were maybe 10 contenders vs the 20 that would have been in NorCal.
Neil
Dodging Cones – Timpani M35 123 & P12 Report
I am sorry to report that I got to the Timpani Criterium after Neil Bartley made an all-or-nothing solo effort at the end of his race. Sadly, he got swallowed up at the end, but hey, you’ll never know what you can do if you never give it a try, and sometimes there are fantastic surprises.
While the day’s racing seemed relatively safe, it was only later that we learned of ugly crashes. Ignorance was bliss.
M35+ 123
We got there just in time for me to do the 35+ 1/2/3 event and that was a rather routine affair with no surprises. It was pretty much like last year, but seemed easier for me.
With a little bit of focus while sitting on, I was able to keep my heart rate in the low 130s. I moved up near the end, but was intimidated in the sprint. No big deal, as I was saving myself for the Pro/1/2 event.
P12
Right from the gun, the Pro/1/2 event was a stark contrast to the earlier Masters event. It was quite a bit faster, and there was very little accordion effect in the corners.
I soon moved up, and couldn’t resist countering a couple of pretty stupid attacks. After about three of those in quick succession, I realized that I was not going to be able to do that indefinitely, so I slunk to the back, where I worked on conserving energy (note: trying to sit on at the Tuesday night “Port Of Oakland” ride really hones this ‘skill).
For the most part, I was able to keep my heart rate in the low 140s unless there was a surge. A few people got spit out, but these guys know how to ride, and they also know how to exit a pack, so there was very little challenge there.
I moved up near the end, and after a couple of laps, saw two of NorCal’s best advancing quickly, so I hopped on. One of them took a remarkable pull, then the next rider took a remarkable pull, and then it was my turn. Sadly, despite my greatest effort, my pull wasn’t as remarkable, the other two were flustered, and we were eventually swallowed up.
It was really hard getting back in as the pack roared by, and I had to burn darn near every last match (and honestly, did a little bit of bullying) to secure a spot about twenty back. Somebody hit a large orange traffic cone, and it hit me. Ouch! The rider behind me said, “Thank you for not crashing.” But onward, and the sprint began.
For no apparent reason, a Metromint rider crashed right in front of me (not the same Metromint rider who for no apparent reason crashed in front of me in Albany), and I scrubbed off half my speed, so I ended up out of the top twenty, but was pleased with my ride and know that with just a little more smarts (actually just focus), a top-twenty placing is definitely within the realm of possibility.
Going for Broke – Timpani E3
Ha,ha…Now I know how those to TDF guys feel when they go for glory only to get swallowed in the last few seconds.
Went to Timpani with no expectations, it was only 2 miles from house, so had to show. Plan was to race and then go for a training ride after. I haven’t done a sprint interval in 4 weeks and have been training for San Ardo, so wasn’t keen on the inevitable Timpani last lap mayhem. (Calling all 3′s to San Ardo!!)
We had about 60 in the field…no chance for a break. I spent the first 5 laps at or near the front and in classic CAT 3 style, no one was pulling through. Hung around top 20 for a bit, didn’t like hanging with the knuckleheads and slipped all the way to the back.
Was able to smooth out the corners and cruise at a coffee shop ride pace. Saw 4 to go and started to move up. At the line with 2 to go a whole bunch of yelling and screaming was going on.
Not sure what happened, but everyone was on edge and sure enough, right after corner one, huge crash in the middle of the pack. I was just the right and was able to swerve around. A metromint guy to my left lock em up and T-boned a poor slob sliding across the pavement. Ouch for both of them.
Coming into corner three, I shot up the right side and grabbed 4th wheel. Stayed there through corner 4, but the pace was slow. About 100 meters from the line there was a lull and I bet we were only doing 25. Fearing the swarm, I jumped way right and gunned it.
I looked back, had the gap and committed. Got up to a nice speed and cadence by corner 1 and carried that to corner 2. Came around corner 2 and knew I was in trouble. The wind on the back stretch was too much. To maintain my gap in the wind, I was above red line.
I Let them reel me in and I tried to stay on the bubble, but they were single file 20 deep chasing me down. Gave up on the approach to corner 3. I was way wide coming into the corner knowing they were coming…funny thing..the clown leading the charge yelled out, “inside!” I felt like reminding him the 5’s race had been earlier, but I was gasping at that point…no yelling for me.
I quietly slid out of the course to not be an obstacle, shifted down and coasted in. Hung out for a bit and then took off and got another 45 miles of rollers in.
Overall, great day. I’m happy with my race and training. Look out San Ardo, Vacaville and the Giro.
Benicia Town Race, Burlingame Crit, Davis Crit & Oakland Grand Prix
Last Saturday, in the heat at Benecia, I had a strong showing with 5th. I took a little too much wind prior to the last corner and was late to the party. It was a tough race and I was pleased. Burlingame lived up to it’s crap reputation. The course coupled with Cat 3 racing added to way more then I was up for. I can’t believe it still happens that guys 2-5 in the front will let the poor bastard pulling sit there and suffer. He eventually pops and some guy from 10th takes off and pulls. Guys 2-5 are still fresh so they do it all over again. And the corning…. Half way thru the race, on the final corner, some squadra joker swung way wide and put his skewer in my front wheel. By some act of God, I managed to regain control(after I had clipped out to prepare for the crash). Resulted in two trashed spokes and a wobbly wheel. I stayed in it, but wasn’t happy. Dylan tried to get me in a good spot, but the traffic was bad and I sat up and cruised in 14th. Pitiful racing considering Third Pillar, PennVelo, Squadra and Fusion all had 5 plus guys.
Davis wasn’t much better. I got a horrible start and endured a wicked accordion for the first 5 laps or so. Figured out the lines, found a good spot and worked my way up to the front. Tried for a break at one point, but it wasn’t going anywhere. Coming to the line with 2 to go, I was on the outside when a huge group shot up the left. I was sitting 12th wheel or so and fell to about 20th in corner one. All those clowns that ripped up the inside decided to shove the whole group to the outside after corner one. I was forced with a decision, hold my ground and risk a collision with a hay bale or brake. I braked. (Still had to pick hay seeds out of my shoe) I was now sitting 30th or so with one and a half to go. I didn’t have much of a shot and concentrated on staying up. Somewhere on the bell lap, I got hit with shrapnel from another incident. 29th….
If you’ve taken the time to read my ramblings in the last few weeks, you know I’m having a go of it. Burlingame and Davis were not the results I wanted. I was a little pissed off. I was angry in fact. You guys know what it’s like to be angry and ride your bike, right? (especially in July when you are watching the tour every day)
It was a little cold and the course was rough, so people were cautions on the first lap. I slipped to the back to watch and see who was feeling it. After 2, Nole Studly, the Roaring Mouse sprinter and Brian Johnston of Team Oakland and WAY off peak took off. Brian, being a smart racer sat up. I think Nole was just out for the fitness, because he kept at it solo. I rode the chase, which was nice because it kept the whole thing single file.
When we caught Nole the pack splintered with Ethan Atkins of Metromint and Murat Ozgar of Squadra off the front, a group of 11 or so and then the main pack.(Which I was at the back) Ethan is fast and he had teammates so I took off on the hill on the next lap, bridged to the chase group. I tried to get Mark Davis of Third Piller to jump on as I went by, but he was gassed. Third Pillar had the whole crew, so it would have been nice to have them block. I bridged up and we had a three man break. We got maybe 8 seconds and where held to that for a couple of laps. Then some Taleo rider (I think his name is Peter), a junior and Wayne Hanson of Third Pillar bridged. Which was awesome because Wayne is strong and the rest of the team could block. We poured it on and put time on every lap and stayed away. (We could see the pack when we finished)
Half way thru 2 to go, the junior attacked. I was sitting 2nd wheel behind Wayne when it happened and I let it go. Wayne chased for a quarter lap and kept the kid to about 40 feet. Coming up to the hill and bell, I went around Wayne quick enough to keep guys off my wheel but slow enough for him to jump on. I powered up the hill and at corner one, caught the junior as if he was standing still with a struggling Wayne on my wheel. The whole angry thing culminated and I freakin dropped the hammer. Wayne was toast, the other 3 guys hesitated and it was all over. I was 200 feet up the road and half a lap in by the time they got organized and started to reel me in. Not enough time for them. Made it even sweeter to have so many BBC’rs wahtching and cheering. Thanks guys.
Dash for Cash 6/6/09 & Two Wheel Sports Criterium 6/7/09 – E3
There are some inherent problems with being a self proclaimed sprinter. Just to name a few, motivation for intervals is very hard to come by, climbing is still a necessity but never gets easy and most importantly, the expectations are pretty high if you don’t want to be a fool. Then there are the teachings of BBC’s resident linguist who quickly points out the lack of passion or panache or how ugly crit mongers really are. (Poseur is the actual word he used) But in anything in life, there is always an answer, an I told you so, a redemption if you will.
I drove out to the dash for cash on Saturday for a good old fashioned 4 corner corp crit. Dylan and I were fresh off the money at Pacific Grove and really had no expectations. It was going to be a crap shoot regardless. I felt a little off as we got started, legs were stiff, but I quickly loosed up. I was all over the place, spending time in the very back and up front. Seems the brake thing in corners pisses me off a lot more then it used to.
A three man break got away and stayed out for a while. I was up in the front with 5 to go, but refused to chase it down. Fortunately a junior and that clown from last week were up there pulling everything back. I jumped on Dylan’s wheel with 3 to go. He made nice positions on straight number 3 on the last three laps. In the last lap, he slowed when we hit the lull before the sprint. Turns out I dropped the ball in not letting him know I was there…I shot around, put the elbows out and cut through traffic. When I popped through, the leading group had already ramped up for the final corner. I sprinted to the outside and went through the corner around 18-20th. For the first time this season, the path opened up and I had a wide open 400 meter sprint to the line. I accelerated the whole way and finished 9th, maybe a second off the pace. I was happy enough to skip the pro/1/2/3 and rest for the 2 wheel crit.
On Sunday, I drove the 2 hours up there to find a really great course. Again, Dylan and I were representing the BBC 3′s contingent. We were ready to have some fun on a beautiful racing day. It was hard from the whistle. The course was fast and people were willing to push it.
The first move of the day pushed three guys out including a fusion rider. The pack was having none of it and swallowed them quickly. The second move came on the prime number 1. A squadra rider and teleo rider broke away for the prime. Heading up the false flat, Dylan charged after them and I went with him. Amazingly the pack let us get away. We picked up tweedle dum and tweedle dee only to have them fall of the back instantly. Dylan wanted to go without them, but it was early, I was gassed and I thought we needed them to stay away. They finally caught up and we went for it. On the next prime, Dylan was yelling to forget it and stay smooth. The squadra guy ignored us and went for it. We dropped the taleo guy at that point and we were three. Two guys bridged, I was gassed and annoyed with the squadra guy who wasn’t smooth. I shot off the back to take on a more subtle roll of blocking.
Unfortunately, Dylan and I have developed somewhat of a reputation and I was not able to block very effectively. The pack quickly identified my tactics and went right around. However the break stayed a way for a while and only lost ground with 3 laps to go. NorCal and Fusion chased it down. Coming up to the bell lap, Dylan, although delirious, told me to grab his wheel and took me to the front. I backed off when we got there and he attacked like a mad man. It was great, I soft peddled and watched Dylan put about 100 meters on us. Finally somebody yelled out the fact that I wasn’t going to pull and finally came around.
I surfed wheels the whole rest of the race. I was moving up on the right with about 800 meters to go when Ben Dodge, my partner in crime from last week jumped out and unknowingly gave me the best lead out ever. I passed him on the hill and held off the hard chargers for the win. I had a ton of fun, validating at least part of my season. More to come, I promise…
Pacific Grove AT&T Butterfly Criterium, E3 – 5/31/09
Any of you ESPN watching, sports junkies know these terms. Disappointing par. 2nd is the first loser. Lots of coulda, shoulda, woulda going on in my head, but in the end, I’m just a regular guy with a job and kids and I got my best finish in a 3′s race on Sunday.
I had a good race weekend last week, so I lined up feeling good about the race. We had a small field and BBC was well represented with Dylan, Moon and me. The first lap of the historical butterfly crit in Pacific grove was a caution lap and I took my usual spot in the back to see how things were going to play out. We came through the start line, the whistle blew and we were off. Dylan and Moon were in the front and our strategy was to keep it together and give the sprint a go.
I was already annoyed with the group after the first lap. Small field and they were burning up their brakes going into the corners. On the back stretch of the second lap, Moon and Dylan backed off for somebody else to pull and of course no one came through and the whole pack slowed. I was coming on the tail end of the accordion effect and rather then slow down, I went around the pack and went right to the front. I burned through the right hander to head up the hill and powered up. I looked back and I had about 30 ft, which I wasn’t even trying for, I had just rolled off the front.
Knowing Dylan saw it, I dropped the hammer. I had about 8-10 seconds on the pack pretty quickly. Keep in mind that this was only on the second lap….it was going through my head that I’m a sprinter and the odds were pretty low I could solo the whole thing even with Dylan and Moon blocking. About that time, 2 guys broke free and attempted to bridge. I welcomed their company and we started to “work” together. Ben Dodge from Los Gatos and some other clown from Don Chapmin(or whatever they are). The clown was barking commands, not being smooth and doing all the other rookie crap that was going to make our break fail. Even so, with Dylan blocking, we got the lead up to 20 seconds or so.
Then the primes started and they were giving them all to us. When the clown went for the first one, I didn’t care. When he went for the second one, I didn’t care. When he skipped his pull to go for the 3rd one, I was annoyed and Ben was really pissed off. We let the clown pull for most of the next lap and then dropped his butt.
And so it went. Ben and I worked great together, got the gap to 30 seconds and stayed away the whole rest of the race. In the end, I chose to wait to the last corner and come around him, but wasn’t able to come through. I’m disappointed, but 2nd place is 2nd place. Thanks to Dylan and Moon for their masterful blocking, we made a great team. Dylan came through with a 5th place finish and we had lots of loot between primes and prize money. Fun Fun.
Neil
Panoche RR in 100+ degree heat, E3 – 5/17/09
Plan was to sit in and conserve knowing the heat would do the work for me. Well sitting in was tough because the field nailed it in the hills…had to bridge little mini gaps as people fell off the back. Coming up to the first water feed and guess what. ATTTAAAACK (bastards) so after getting my water I get to chase back on for 5 min.
We hit the flats with a nice cross wind that made everyone work. Guys were drilling it at the front and people were dropping like flies. Coming up to another neutral water and you think i would have learned my lesson. This one was right after a 360 MAJOR gap as I grabbed my water bottles. I chased back on uphill and then people started blowing up left and right so i had to jump around 4-6 guys that were pedaling backwards…working really hard but finally caught back up to the leaders…was not recovering well in the 103 degree heat.
Heading downhill my wheel decided he was going to go offroad and damn near crash out. I had to grab fistfuls of brakes to avoid going with him. He was able to save going down but now we had another BIG gap :twitchy::twitchy::twitchy: Started to work to get back on but was hurting. Metromint guy that almost crashed out was on my wheel so i pulled over to let him help. He did some work and i was able to come around and finish the job. Back on but had spent mucho matches :not amused:
Of course heading back towards the climbs (out and back course) that attacks start. I had nothing and focused on not letting go of the wheel in front of me. 4 guys got away off the front and we followed the best we could. By the time we got to the climbs the leaders had a nice gap. I was finally starting to recover and hit the hills…turns out i was not the only one suffering.
Our group shattered as I pedaled my way off the front chasing a Roaring Mouse rider. Took a while but I reeled him in and offered to work together to the finish. I ended up gapping him a bit and sat up to let him catch me. We started working together and caught one other guy that was in front of us.
Now we had three and started working together. At one point we got the leaders in sight but we were all suffering pretty bad. I was out of freaking water and knew my days were numbered as the temps were well over 100 degrees. After a while the RM rider just couldnt keep the pace and dropped off. So now it was down to 2. A moto kept coming up and giving us our time to the leaders but honestly i didnt care…without water i was in survival mode.
As we suffered together we thought we only had a few miles left when we hit the 10k sign :groan: i was hurting. My partner asked if i was willing to not contest the finish for his prize as he was only a few points from upgrading…i declined at first but then upped the ante. I asked for his water 
He gave me what he had left and I finished it off. Now both of us were devoid of fluids and we marched on.
The finish finally came and true to my word I rolled across the finish for 6th place. I had the chills and knew i was on the verge of heat exhaustion and was muttering something about a deal with the devil WHAT? DEAL WITH THE DEVIL??…no silly, deal with Daryl the San Jose guy that gave me his water HAHA
Luckily my team-mates in the 4′s saw me and how i looked and ushered me to the shade where they dumped water over my head and down my throat. Took me about an hour before I felt right in the head. GEEEZ what a devastating race. the end
p.s. as i was loading my bike in Pauls auto I noticed I had been racing on a flat rear tire, big +1 to me being able to finish the race because they were tubulars…i would have been crushed if I had to pull out after all that suffering.
kj
Copperopolis, E3 – 4/11/09
I picked up a cold on Thurs but it stayed above the neck so as miserable as I was the legs were there and ready to go.
First lap I hung at the back and BS’d with Mr. Stern of Roaring Mouse. As we neared the climb Ben advanced his position up near the front half of the pack so I followed. Up and up we went. I didn’t have much issue with the pace and slowly drifted up to the front of the pack over the course of the climb.
At the top it was a beautiful sight, blue skies and a shimmering lake greeting the group at the top of the climb. The locals were out with their kids waving and enjoying the show. Grabbed a draft and paid attention to the direction of the wind to maximize wheel suckage. Up and over the second climb and down we went, now this is where I got gapped – sheesh this is a fast bumpy descent that had me gritting my teeth as riders shot corners to advance position. I drifted back until I had plenty of elbow room and followed the group down.
Second lap climb was the same – was working but no where near red so that was good. Enjoying the scenery and smiling at the general bickering that happens while racing: “hold” “inside” “mf’er!!” Ha-ha love this stuff. This time I made sure I was near the front for the descent and held my position to the bottom.
Third lap coming up to the climb I’m starting to realize the group has leaned out a bit. Hit the climb and I tempo up again and finish near the front. There’s a flat portion after the climb that has a tail wind. Guys started to attack here so I followed the attacks and counter-attacks. Never pulling but staying top ten. Yes burn those matches =o)
We hit the 2nd climb before the descent and a former team-mate (rides for Wells Fargo now) is setting the pace up and over. Solid pace that has us lined out single file and I’m sitting 3rd wheel. I can imagine what is going on at the back of the pack (evil grin) down down we go and the vibrations have both of my forearms on fire. Try to keep it smooth and pick the best line through that crap.
Fourth lap – starting the last lap the group is now about 25 riders, I’m sitting comfortably in the top ten just following wheels. Short but fast attacks keep taking place as people tried to get away but are immediatly pulled back in as we all surged to bridge the small gaps.
Its just starting to get good, I’m stuffing my face and holding my wheel when we come up to a small bridge that narrows – as I steered left to cross over the bridge I feel the unmistakable thunk of a rock pushing my rear tire to the rim. OH NOES!! I know that feeling well and held my breath for the inevitable…as usual I got another 50 meters before I was riding on rim! Freaking Farkin Fooking crapppp I hollered as the reduced group that was pushing the pace marched on.
Caught a sag ride to the start from a very nice lady that was heading my way in a pickup truck. Packed it in – chortled a bit at my luck and headed to the family to enjoy the rest of the Easter weekend.
Copperopolis 2 Keith 0
Ronde van Brisbeen Omnium, M35 123 and E3
Lining up in the 35+1/2/3, Jens and I decided to try and get Jens into the winning break. He did massive, massive amounts of work. Every time one the riders on our list of contenders (Phipps, Robertson, Reaney) went away, there went Jens, chasing after them. He clobbered himself.
After a few laps of that, I got shot near the back. A break without Reaney in it got away for a long time. Reaney pulled it in at a pace that shelled people off the back. I wanted to move up to avoid having to bridge gaps, but I was close to being shelled myself. With 10 minutes left, he had pulled the break in and broken away with just Phipps.
The pace settled a little and I realized there were fewer than 20 people left. All of a sudden, I had a new goal: break into the top 10 in a 35+1/2/3 race. So, I stayed really conservative. The pack was small enough that the accordion effect wasn’t that bad anymore, and I was getting a bit of a rest.
In the final lap, I saw a spot to move up between turns 3 and 4. I moved into maybe 8th spot. I held that place through the 180. I wanted to be higher up, but wasn’t going to complain…just hoping to grab a fast wheel in the final sprint…move up a couple places.
The hardest turn on that course is the off-camber left after the 180. As I came through, somebody missed it badly, and, as always happens to me in crits that I’m in a position to sprint for, they crashed right in front of me. I came to a near stop, and soft-pedaled my way to 15th.
After that, my weekend was all about survival. I didn’t get dropped in the 3s crit, despite a couple of break attempts. I barely managed to survive the 35+ 1/2/3 circuit (25th). But with 4 to-go in the 3s circuit, my legs sent me a text message. It said, and I quote, “U R DUN”
Madera (M35 123) – My Three-Burrito Stage Race
I look forward to this race all year long. It’s a rare opportunity for NorCal stage racing, and preparation and flexibility can overcome raw skills. Also, I missed my TT start time in 2008, so I went this year with something to prove! (Namely that I could show up for my TT start time on time.)
Dylan and I carpooled down together. We left the Bay Area on Friday evening, stopping at Gourmet Burrito in Lafayette. Spicy Cajun Chicken with chips. Mmmm, yum.
Dylan and I signed up for the Masters 35+ 1/2/3. Really cruddy schedule. Crit at 2 pm, TT at 5 pm, and then the RR in the first flight on Sunday, so less than 14 hours b/w the TT and the RR. Oh well.
We talked plenty of strategy on the way down, knowing that with only two guys, there wasn’t a lot we could do other than react to the plans of the big teams (mostly Specialized and Morgan Stanley). Plan was to basically play it conservative, hope that those two teams did all the chasing whenever there was an attack, and be there at the end for the sprints. Oh, that and spank the TT.
Crit played out essentially as expected. It was pretty windy, so I tried to maintain near-the-front position from turns 2-3, move / hold from 3-4, then follow Specialized into the sprint and do my best in the last 100m or so. Most of the pack that wasn’t going to get a time bonus gave up, so I was scooting up nicely in the last 100m, and just managed to get to the final ‘winning’ group at the line. Still not good enough for a time bonus.
We drove straight to the TT, set up bikes, started warming up, showed up at my start on time. Course was wicked windy, blowing NNW. So first leg got a little help, second leg was a lot of help, third and fourth legs were studies in pain management. I was pushing from the start using the ‘next guy’ as rabbits to keep my mind off the pain. I passed my 30 second guy in the first leg, then my 90 second guy in the second leg, then my 60 second guy in the third leg. With Gregg’s warning, I slowed a bit extra for the last turn (still hit the shoulder stripe on the far side), and buried myself trying to keep it going all the way to the end. God that hurt. Tried to stand and push harder, but the wind was brutal enough and legs tired enough that I went faster holding my position.
Crossed the line with 22:36 on my clock, official results later gave me 22:20. (In 2007, I got 23:53, in 2008, on my clock I got 23:15, so this was a nice improvement, though the winning times just seem to be improving every year.) Second place in the TT was something like 22:05, so the placings were really tight. Chris Lyman crushed it with something like a 19:50, so there was a pretty big gap from 1st to 2nd.
Saturday dinner: Azteca D’Oro on Yosemite, 3 blocks east of 99, on the south side of the street. Chicken Supper Burrito. Cerveza. Chips. Mmmmm …
After 110 mg of caffeine at 5 pm right before my TT, I didn’t sleep really well on Saturday night, and wasn’t feeling real well rested on Sunday morning when we left the hotel at 6:15. Sure enough, we missed a few turns, but finally saw the long stream of red lights heading off into the eastern hills. Followed the caravan and got there in time … to wait in line for the traditionally inadequate number of VP porta-potties. Yuck.
RR was lively, with multiple attacks and breaks. The most successful started at the very start of lap 3 (of 4), where Hernandez and others took advantage of the pack being distracted with eating & drinking to set off in a group of 8 or 9. They built a decent lead. Looked to me like MS was doing a GREAT job blocking, so I assumed MS was in the break. Word got back through the group that there were no MS or Specialized riders in the group, and that MS was just trying to roll them in slowly so they’d use up maximum energy. Nice.
In the last lap, nothing got away, and I sat in the middle, moving forward a bit in the cobble section, moving up more as the “roller coaster” started. Specialized was setting up their train as we hit the 1k sign. I moved up a bit more. Held my position, then hit the gas maybe half way up the finishing climb. I was moving up & gaining fast on the lead. Passed a bunch of guys. Second, third and fourth (me) crossed the line with wheels overlapping. Second may have been overlapping with first, can’t remember, but needless to say, in the end I felt like I’d finished with enough juice that if I’d started the sprint a few yards earlier (not much), things might have been different. I think there were at least two Specialized guys ahead of me. That is one cohesive team for sure.
Dylan and I packed up and headed for home, licking our wounds. Stopped at the Roach Coaches in Turlock (central Turlock exit, head east, two trucks in front of the Save Mart). Chicken Super Burrito. One of the best burritos I’ve ever had. Mmmmm… Now that I think about it, I think three burritos in 36 hours or so is a new record for me. Nice.
Madera Stage Race E3 – 3/15/09
With Motel 6′s tip top accommodations and the constant stench of manure, Madera should be everyone’s weekend destination. The TT was my very own version of hell. Went out WAY too hard and averaged an impressive 28mph for the first two miles. Unfortunately there was another 8 miles to go. I think I crossed the line doing about 22. Managed an incredible 53rd place.
Sans team in the crit, I pulled my usual strategy of major draft suckage. Despite the constant side line coaching to “slow” down, it was a great course to do that on. 5 to go I started moving up in the pack and on corner 4 of the bell lap I was sitting 5th. I held that until the last 100 or so, started pedaling backwards and got passed a bunch, finished 9th. Considering the time of year and only about half a dozen sprint workouts under my belt, I’m really happy with my finish.
The RR was stupid. A good 5 miles of the loop was 10 times worse then the rough section at Snelling, would have been smoother riding out with the cows. The first time through, my super stiff, smooth pavement loving, critsexual bike vehemently objected by transferring every last bit of the roughness into my rear. Even the comfy new shorts were no match. The second time through the rough stuff, my bike immediately decided I was just a dumbass and flatted me out. However, the finish was very interesting; I would have liked a shot.
Not sure all the fuss of a stage race was worth having fun for roughly 60 minutes at the crit.
Merco Credit Union – Foothills Road Race 3/1/09
Race description: 24 miles rolling hills loop for 3 laps 72 miles, no team-mates.
Since I had no team-mates my plan was to sit on and catch a ride until the last lap. A break got away with 10 strong and I told Mo (San Jose) that I didn’t think they would stay away for too long…had a good 65 miles to go. Well with plenty of solid blocking the break was able to stay away until the final lap.
Last Lap: Getting nervous about the break I started talking to the larger teams to see who was represented and who was not. Told my buddy Mo that we should go up front and work to try and bring back the break. I started moving towards the front…when out of now where on a flat portion of the road (guessing someone crossed wheels) it was asses over elbows! Nasty crash 5 feet in front of me but luckily I was close to the outside of the pack and successfully veered completely off the road and hammered through a sandy section to get back on the road. YIKES!
I caught a small group and we started rotating through a pace line to catch the front group. In the moments after the crash it seems we shut down the break without even trying. We swallowed them up and kept going.
Half a lap to go and the cat and mouse games started. 20 mph pace and I started to fidget…I was sitting top 5 and getting frustrated. So I attacked and shot off the front to see if anyone would chase. Stayed away for about a mile and had 4 guys join me off the front. We started working together but after a few rotations 3 of the guys started sitting in. We got caught shortly thereafter.
Got back in top 5 and started to recover – after a couple of minutes I shot off the front again. This time I was chased down immediately so I moved over and found a spot top ten.
When the pace slowed down another rider went hard off the front. Nobody chased and he got smaller and smaller as he sped off into the distance. Fully recovered again I was again starting to fidget – so I attacked again. I’m guessing there were 5 miles left in the race. After getting a nice gap I settled in to a sustainable pace and started to reel in the guy off the front. I passed him and offered him my wheel with hopes that he could work with me to the finish. The smell of sulfur was strong and matches were being spent back to back. Checking back to see if my new buddy was on my wheel I realized he had dropped back and was just about to be swallowed by the pack. Crap!
Approaching the power-climbs coming up to the finish and I could tell that I was not going up as fast as I needed to stay away. The motorcycle ref was yelling words of encouragement and I was digging deep but the legs were burning and the watts were dropping…wasn’t meant to be.
About a mile from the finish I sat up and was swallowed by a very fast moving pack. I bullied my way back in the pack and tried to recover as best I could…I was able to stay with the leading group in about 30th spot. I then passed 10 or so people before hitting a wall of cyclists at the line. I soft-pedaled over the finish in what I’m guessing to be 20th or so position.
Summary
Pros: Had a great race fun fun fun- took a gamble that didn’t pay off but it was a first for me to try and ride off the front and it was great fun while still being able to “jump” back in with the finishing group for a quasi-respectable finish. Finished the race with an empty matchbook
Cons: No team-mates. Will be asking myself what if i had not gone off the front and how would i have finished…will never know. Big crash - I hope everyone was ok.
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