NCNCA Masters State (District) Criterium Championships, 8/31/2014

By Dennis Pedersen

Though I had not even finished the championship road race at San Ardo, two weeks earlier, I had done quite well in the first lap. So I was confident I'd be able to do well in the championship criterium, in the 50-54 age group.

The crit was just 50 minutes long, on the usual flat, four-corner course in a business area of Pleasanton, so about the same as one lap at San Ardo, minus the  hills. Plus, I had an extra two weeks of training to target it (still not nearly enough). My coach, Jeff Solt, did his best to accommodate my crazy plan to line up against 35 guys who train for this stuff.

Margaret went with me to the race; what a cool woman! She cheered from the side on every lap, whether I was off the front or drafting at the back. And I did a lot of both. I was alone in the race so it was really up to me to make sure no breaks got away. We did chase down all the early breaks, but it was draining. I was happy with how I felt, though I had to be careful not to work too hard, as I'd need some reserves for the finish. 

With a few laps to go two guys broke away, but I kept an eye on them and later saw that one of the guys drifted back into the pack; I think it was Dan Smith or Don Langley (Morgan Stanley). I couldn't tell if anyone else was still ahead, but when our pace slowed I thought we'd caught them. 

It turned out Daniel Shore was still off the front, and he won, solo. In the meantime, on the last lap, I was stuck behind some wildly gyrating riders on the back straight who almost took out several guys. As a result I could only safely move forward on the straight before the last turn. I did that, but as I tried to sprint to the finish line I was forced up against the curb by a rider from SJBC. I had to slow, and had to settle for 12th place. 

My biggest mistake was to not be further forward before the back straight, though, again, I had to be careful to keep some reserves and doing that might have drained them. It's hard to judge how hard to work while still being fresh enough for a final sprint. You have to trade off some energy for a good position.

Drafting a bit, in my blue aero helmet (photo by Mike).

Oh well, I really wanted to win a State Championship jersey. Though I got one already it's a very humble one in track team sprints... nowhere near as prestigious. At least I rode pretty well, and had a really nice lunch afterward, with our friend, Carole, joining us! 

Next year I will still be focused on track sprints. Ciao! 

NCNCA Masters State (District) Road Race Championships, 8/16/2014

By Dennis Pedersen

DNF. Oh well, no big surprise though. I'd done well at San Ardo in the past, but my entire season has revolved around training for track sprints; races usually under one minute. So this 63-mile road race (three laps) would be tough for me, despite lacking any major climbs. I'd hoped to race for teammates in the 50-54 age group, but in the end it was just me and Detlef against 29 others.

Exactly at the end of the neutral rollout, literally right by the sign, Hunter Zeising and Dirk Himley (Hammer Nutrition) attacked. I knew to expect that and was right behind them, so I followed and caught on (nobody can accuse me of not being able to predict some things in races anymore!), then everyone else caught on too.

The next 10 miles they took turns attacking until Dirk broke away by himself. I took a few pulls to close the gap, but the others decided to let him remain 20 seconds ahead, thinking he wouldn't last. Last year's road champion was one of those saying that. I was having a hard time just holding their wheels at times, so I was not sure what to think of that plan. And I know well that Dirk is a beast.

On the second lap, on the longest climb, we were flying uphill in single file, then I blew up just a few feet before the top of the hill and a gap opened that I couldn't close. I finished the second lap, but my hips, feet and triceps were hurting, so I stopped. Turns out Detlef got dropped later that same lap, so I guess it must have been fast.

Dirk won, solo; I guess they underestimated him. I had hoped the pace would be slow, since the lack of big teams usually has that effect. But Hunter and Dirk worked together really well. Dirk going solo for 2.5 hours is amazing. So I rode hard for 2:07 (I think our first lap was about 0:58, and my second lap about 1:09), and I think it was nice prep for State crits two weeks later.

CCCX Final XC, #9, Fort Ord, 8/23/2014

By Mark Giblin

I had a great weekend in my small world of racing, I won my final series race at the CCCX- XC (cat 3) age group Saturday. I also won the series which was 9 races total, starting in February. The breakdown was 3 first place finishes, 4 - second places, 1 third place and 1 sixth place, ( I know, I was tired, over trained, did not have a good day on the 6th place finish).

To say the least I was a little stressed going into the last race series because it was double points and you have to finish, I only needed 5th place or better but I was more worried about a breakdown or crash. That being said, I was on my last lap leading and about 1 mile from the line (on the same down hill section where my closest competitor broke his collar bone and two ribs on race number 5) and a 15 year old Junior (racing for 8th place +/-) rider past me by where there was nothing but 6" of beach sand and bump my handle bars pushing me further into a bad line. I used my Jim Langley voice (without swearing) and explained to him that I did not appreciate that and that he should wait 20 yards for the opening next time.....he apologized.

The end result is that I won by 2 seconds.

I would like to thank Mark E. for continuously putting the work outs together and the motivation/encouragement throughout the year. I would also like to thank Scott, Jim, George & Matt for keeping me honest on the workouts and pushing me hard.

 
Thanks for a great season,
 
Mark

ADA Tour de Cure, 6/8/2014

By Dennis Pedersen

Me and "Fast" Freddie on the "Champions" ride.

This was my 8th year of riding in this fund-raiser for the American Diabetes Association. Wow, time flies! Cycling tends to be a very ego-centric activity, so for me this is a great way to use my love of cycling to give back. I am lucky I don't have a personal connection to diabetes, but every year I'm glad I registered for this ride.

This year I encouraged Bill Kacmarsky to formally be my co-Captain on the HP Tour de Cure team, and gladly he accepted. He's always been our top fund-raiser, and this year was no different; Bill raised an amazing $3,087.00, I think a record for him! I was very fortunate too, as I have so many generous friends, family and co-workers; I raised an impressive $1,140.00, thanks! As a team, HP raised $9,795.72 toward our $10,000.00 goal, still short of the last three years for some reason (I will have to work on big changes for next year!).

If you haven't yet, you can still donate:  Click here!

One nice perk this year were the amazing HP Cycling clothing options we have, thanks to Phil Wandrey (based in Nebraska), who is strongly active in HP Cycling. These clothes are available on a year-round basis, so feel free to visit the HP Cycling online store.

Because we both raised over $1,000, Bill and I also qualified to attend the ADA's "Champions Celebration" on 5/29, before the big ride. Bill also works extra duty to help ADA organize this event. It was at beautiful Silver Creek Country Club in San Jose, and I joined the optional group ride with Pro racer "Fast" Freddie Rodriguez, up San Felipe Road, east of San Jose. Not sure if it's my shifted training focus (toward track sprints), or if they intentionally went harder than last year, but it was hard trying to keep up with them on the hard climb on the way back, and I see from my Strava records that we were 1 minute faster there! The dinner, with drinks, was very welcome, and inspiring!

The day of the ride it was gray in Santa Cruz when I woke up at 4:00 am, and I loaded my bike and stuff onto my car. But it cleared up as I neared Palo Alto and the forecast was hot. After a couple cups of coffee I was good to go and met some of my HP teammates for the 6:15 am start. A new addition to our team this year is "Frerk" Malte Feller, who heads up the HP online store site; welcome! Like last year, Fast Freddie talked a bit before the start, as did Richard Allejandro and Allyson Schloming of ADA.

Pescadero countryside.

This year the route was changed along the first section, so we rode north on Alameda de las Pulgas, then west on Alpine Road, and then onto Portola Road. This is much safer, as we have far less traffic here in the morning, rather than riding that section later in the ride as in previous years.

Because of my new training I was very focused on not riding too hard, and, judging from how many people passed me on the hills, I succeeded! Kings Mountain Road was our first big climb and I just tried to enjoy the view; it was nice and clear to the east, looking over the valley far below with the sunrise shining over a slight haze. Malte turned out to be a strong rider and had no trouble scooting up the hill ahead of me! The rest station at the top, on Skyline Boulevard, was my first food of the day, as I'm trying not to overeat. Malte took off ahead of me and I ended up riding alone along Skyline at a comfortable pace.

Me, Scott and Malte, at Pescadero.

I had brought my vest, as I know from the past that the rip-roaring descent down Highway 84, from Summit Boulevard, can be very chilly. Even though it was sunny past the summit there were still some pockets of intense cold, so I was glad I had it on. When I turned onto Pescadero Road it warmed up a bit, and while the weather in Pescadero was quite nice, it was still a bit chilly as I stopped there for another rest station break, and a photo op with the HP'ers there.

I really like Stage Road, north from Pescadero, and the historic San Gregorio Market where it intersects Highway 84. After a short ride on Highway 1, above the Pacific Ocean's cliffs, I turned onto Tunitas Creek Road, where there was another rest station, at the Bike Hut. Very cute place. Tunitas Creek is really steep and long, though, and I had no intention of trying to set any records. Instead I enjoyed the gorgeous redwood forest.

Historic San Gregorio.

Me, on Tunitas Creek's steep climb.

After a brief stop at the top of Tunitas, at Skyline, I was ready for a super-fast descent down Kings Mountain Road, into the heat of the valley. It turned out to be over 90 degrees, and it sure was a change form the chilly morning along the coast. And it was nice to return along Portola Road, instead of on Alameda de las Pulgas as in previous years. This new route is safer, and cooler in the afternoon. I was happy to cross the finish line, to the cheers of volunteers, back at HP in Palo Alto.

Fast Freddie and me... and lunch!

A few of us met at the usual HP awning on the HP campus' lawn, and enjoyed the music (some quite good!) and yummy food. This year, for the first time, I also got a massage! In the past I have always skipped that because there was always a long waiting line for them. But this year they had more volunteer masseuses, plus a special short waiting line for Champions; another great reason to raise more money for the cause!

It was 98 to 101 degrees as I drove off, but all I could think of was that I am very lucky to have such generous supporters... but also that I need to help the HP team do better next year. I have asked Malte if he can help, and I'm happy to say he accepted! So I'm optimistic about our team's outlook for 2015!

Thanks again!

CCCX #3, 45+ 3/4, 4/5/2014

By Dennis Pedersen

As many of you know it is not often that we get to race together as a teammates. But this last Saturday, at Fort Ord, there were four of us from Spokesman Bicycles racing together... and I do mean together. This race was the first time in my recent memory that we had enough teammates to have tactical options, agreed upon a plan for the race, executed that plan, and not only succeeded but almost swept the podium. It was awesome!

We had Dan Perry and Matt Wocasek as climbers and for breakaways, and "Captain" John Pollard and I for blocking plus for the finish if it came down to a sprint.

On the very first lap Matt attacked hard up Eucalyptus Road's stair-step climbs, from the very front of the pack just as I had hoped he would. I was right behind him so I was able to let a gap open up that others would have to close, after having to pass me first, before they could even try to catch him. One rider from San Jose Bicycle Club went with him and soon they were trading pulls off the front. Over the next two laps they slowly increased their lead and I was really optimistic that they would be able to take the win.

A few times there were guys who tried to bridge up to our duo but none of them succeeded. John and I were very careful to keep an eye out for such attempts and would quickly grab on to their rear wheel as they leapt ahead. This had the effect of discouraging them from continuing on up to the break. After all that would have merely pulled us along and either given us a numeric advantage in the break or brought everybody else along too.

As we raced along I made sure that we didn't chase down Matt and his partner and their lead increased quite nicely. The trick is to ride hard enough that it tempts other riders to merely follow us, but not hard enough to reduce the gap to our teammate ahead. I was optimistic at Matt's chances to finish strong.

Just after two laps to go, on Parker Flats Road's gradual climb, Dan flew by me from several bike lengths back and went roaring up the hill. It was impressive. It didn't look like anybody had the legs to follow him, and he looked over his shoulder several times to check (I had been pulling everybody along the flat section before that expressly to tire their legs out... I like to think it helped Dan get away alone).

While the general rule is never to chase down your teammates, Dan's move made sense as it turned out nobody could (or would) follow him. They may have been too tired, or hoped somebody else would follow him first and let them draft behind. So this meant we'd have two guys up ahead with just one other rider to contend with. Though Scott Calley, a nice guy on Don Chapin, decided not to wait for a sprint and started to chase on the last lap. But I was pretty sure it was too late for him to catch any of the others unless they completely blew up. So I stayed behind and kept watching the main pack.

Sure enough Dan met up with the break and worked with them for a bit but then went off the front by himself and soloed for the win! Matt took 3rd from the surviving break, Scott 4th (I was happy to see that!), while I took the last podium spot (treating it like a sprint for the win, as practice) with John directly behind me in the field sprint.

Dan had been worrying that the pack would catch him and swarm him before the finish line but I had to remind him that the times that has happened in his past races he had no teammates to block for him. Just another reason why having teammates is so awesome.

It was a blast!

Dan 1st, Matt 3rd, me 5th!

CCCX #2, 45+ 3/4, 3/16/2014

By Dennis Pedersen

I really like these road races; partly because Fort Ord is just a 45-minute drive from Santa Cruz, and partly because the race categories are so friendly to a Category 3 Master like me with several options of when to race.

I picked up Nils so he could race the Elite 2/3 race at 12:30. I warmed up by sitting in my car and reading a book during Nils' race (which he won!) while I waited for my 2:00 race start. I then donned my brand-new Spokesman Bicycles kit, Giro Air Attack helmet (with scary-looking visor!), ate a gel, filled up my water bottle and lined up at the start.

My training this year is focused exclusively on track sprinting with my longest priority race being somewhere around 50 seconds, so I have low expectations for other races I enter. But this 4.3-mile course on rolling hills has no long climbs and is just 60 minutes for my field (5 laps) so I felt it might still work OK for me.

There were only about 15 racers in my field, which is fun because you can really keep an eye on the other riders and force them to work rather than let them sit in a huge draft. The race started out rather slow, much to my delight, and was mostly slow the whole time. The pace was painful on the short, steep sections, but never for very long so I had no trouble at all.

On the second lap one guy went off the front for a while, but gave up fighting the wind. On the third lap Scott Calley (Don Chapin) went on the attack on Parker Flat Road's climb, while I grabbed his wheel for the wild ride. Everybody else stuck with us though, so we both sat up and the pace dropped down again. After working too hard in some of the previous races here I stuck to my plan and just waited. Well, except when one guy went hard up Eucalyptus and I followed. We rotated briefly ahead of the others, but they charged after us so I gave up.

A guy from Steven's Bicycles (a team from the Fresno area) attacked, I think with two laps to go, but we caught him at the top of Eucalyptus. Then his teammate went slowly off the front as we started the last lap... so I'm told; I'm embarrased to say I didn't notice. Anyway, he ended up somehow crashing into a bush at the side of Eucalyptus Road while riding by himself. Poor guy broke his collarbone I learned later.

I was still feeling comfortable, and on the last step up Eucalyptus I took the lead for the long descent down toward the finish line. More for safety than anything else. But I have learned that an early sprint is rarely a good idea on this course, due to the prevailing winds and the high speeds coming down the last hill, so I allowed the pack to catch me at the bottom. I then moved into their draft, but still near the front, maybe fifth or so, and watched for early sprints.

Bob White (Bicycle Blue Book) obliged with an early sprint on the right of the long straight, and Erik Salander (Peninsula Velo) followed him. Both are fast, but I resisted the urge to follow them. Instead I drafted a bit longer, but made sure I had an opening to the front. I then rolled after them into the last two turns, and attacked all-out as we exited the last turn. This slingshot effect allowed me to pass the two guys still ahead of me at a fast pace and amass a big enough lead that gave me the win. 1st place went to this track sprinter! Which makes me wonder about the value of some of my past training, but that's another story.