Masters National Road Race 60-64

By Bob Montague 

Arrived in Winston. Picked the bikes up at Ken's Bike Shop.

Everything made it, but one ding on the TT bike. Julie and I are staying at Downton Abby, I mean Graylyn Hotel and Conference Center. 55 acres of beautifully maintained grounds and a transformed former mansion.

Our first 2 1/2 days we filled with registration, checking out Winston, pre riding the road course and eating! We also hiked Pilot Mtn.

I lost a lot of weight in getting ready for this event, and my fitness has improved. That said, neither is where it should be for an event of this stature. My recovery from last year's crashes has, in reality, taken much longer than I anticipated. But, North Carolina is my home state. My father was born and raised in Winston. I am 60 this year. I had been targeting this year's nationals for probably 5 years. I didn't want to miss this.

Road race day was not too hot, but spring time in North Carolina is far warmer and more humid than Northern California. We were scheduled to go 55 miles over 3 18.3 mile laps on a rolling course. Attacks began, pretty much immediately, and continued throughout this race. The course pretty much alternated between rolling up and rolling down. Every time it rolled up there was a surge. Almost immediately, northern California rider, Rob Anderson, got a gap on the field. Though the pace of the pack continued to surge, it was inconsistent and he was able to extend his advantage. By the end of our first lap, he was mostly out of sight. The pack continued the chase at a harder pace. About halfway into the second lap, Anderson was brought back by the pack. Attacks continued, but no other breaks would be established. For my part, I began to have cramps in the second lap. Still, I managed to stay with the group into the third lap. The attacks continued and my legs had a definite jello feel to them. I finished the last of my water and energy gel and found myself gapped off the back from having done so. I had to chase hard for about 5 minutes to get back on, and from there, I couldn't recover. One of the harder sections actually ran through the feed zone, and our last time through it, I got dropped. I didn't have anything left to chase back on. I kept going as hard as I was able for the 5 - 6 miles that remained, and I ended up pulling 3 others to the finish. All 3 were able to sprint around me to the line. I finished 46th out of, I think, 54. Given my fitness going in, I wasn't unhappy at all with my result.

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 #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.