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!

TopSport Stage Race by Matthew

Saturday, April 5th, Road Race: Newton's 3rd Law

It must begin by saying our new team mate Rich Gellert had a flyer and won the combined 45+/35+ (scored separately) race. He can entertain you with the details.

"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." I have always held this law to be true not only on a physical level but on all levels of life. What actions must I take to get the Cycling Fates back on my side?! Last week I crashed out, this week, my Topsport hopes disintegrated due to a sliver of glass. It was less than 1/4" long and about a 1/16" wide at its thickest point. However, it may as well have been a sledge hammer for the the havoc it wreaked. 

We started the race at a moderate pace into a terrible head wind. Before reaching the end of the first lap. About two miles from the finish line. I felt my rim hit the tarmac on a corner. On the bumps I could feel the hardness of the road too keenly. I had a flat. I couldn't believe it. Without  the aid of support vehicles, I was forced to change my inner tube. I checked the inside of my tire and rim and found nothing. I got a floor pump from an official and pumped up the tire, but I was out of the race. Being a few minutes back, it would be virtually impossible to catch the group into the strong head wind. Even though I didn't need to - I would get the last person's time plus a penalty - I decided to finish the race. After 3 1/2 laps, I got another flat! Without another tube I was forced out. It was only on very close inspection in the comfort of my Angels Camp motel room that I found a tiny sliver of glass embedded in my tire. Beaten by glass!

I relaxed that night. I ate well - lots of carbs and recovery food. I stretched out and generally worked on brightening my mood. I wanted to hit the next day hard and "full of beans!", as they sometimes say in Britain.

Sunday, April 6th, Circuit Race: 8:03 a.m. 45+/35+ cat 4s combined

Got up nice and early! Prepared myself, mentally, physically, psychologically, and emotionally for the new day! I ate a small breakfast and drove 20 minutes to Copperopolis (a purposely built town square for the tourist industry: http://www.copperopolistownsquare.com/index.html) 

I felt good. Bob Montague wished me luck and gave me some good advice: "Don't crash! Don't go down on the corners." I assured him that I would stay up for the whole race (I did!) and I wished him luck on his race. I warmed up a little with Rich Gellert. He was overall leader. He said he would do all he could to lead me out for a good sprint. Due to some unusual circumstances, we couldn't put our plan into action but we both finished well.

The circuit course was great. Good, fast tarmac with rolling hills. The start is in Copper Town Square. The course loops around the square,  onto Little John Road, where you go out 2 miles, do a u-turn, and come back to town. The finish is 3KM from the u-turn, about a mile before the town square. 

We started the race fast. "Energizer Bunny," as Rich called him, went out fast. He continued to make attacks during the race but they were unhelpful and erratic. At one point, I was feeling boxed in and wanted to stretch my legs. I accelerated away to see what would happen. A couple came after me but so did the rest of the group. I sat up, talked to Rich, and let someone else pull. There was one attack that Rich bridged up to. I hit it hard and bridged up too. As three riders we exchanged pulls for about a mile but the group didn't want us to get away. With Rich as overall 35+ leader there were a few riders who didn't want to see him get even more time on them. 

I settled in, working to stay in the top ten. Rich spoke with the 45+ rider, James Chao, who he broke away with in the road race. He asked if he would breakaway with me to get first in our respective categories. James and I planned to hit it hard on the final u-turn and pull away from the others. I am not entirely convinced he really wanted to do this because when the time came he didn't seem to fully commit (but I could be wrong, I know I didn't want to burn matches unnecessarily). 

When the time did come, it was a surprise to all of us. We had just gone past the finish line with the lap counter showing: 2 laps. We went through the town square and back up the road on the other side of the finish line. As we came past, on what we thought was our 2nd to last lap, they started ringing the bell and crying out, "LAST LAP! LAST LAP!" They had made a timing mistake. Well, that got everyone going! I knew I wanted to be in the top two or three through the hairpin. I kept that position with Chao in front of me. I pulled past him hard and he got on my wheel. I signaled and he came past me but not in full flight. The bunch was just behind us. I could see it was going to come down to a mass sprint. 

There were about five of us abreast with 2 KM to go. It felt a bit hairy but I knew I didn't want to go early, as I had in Chico, and lose it. With my senses on full alert, I rode hard but not flat out. At 1KM to go, a Pen Velo rider hit hard. I got straight on his wheel. He broke things up a bit, but I could feel other riders readying their sprint. As we came neared 200M to go, I went into a hard gear and started cranking it out, it was kind of a power sprint. I pulled ahead and really let rip. Unfortunately, "Mr. Energizer" (I am sorry to say, I don't know the rider's name) got me by about half a bike length, I came second, James Chao third. However, I was first 35+ to finish. This gave me valuable points towards my upgrade and consolation for having the mechanical in the road race. 

Sunday, April 6th, 12:14PM: Time Trial

After the circuit race, I had a little lunch with Rich and his friend, spoke with Bob about our experience thus far, and prepared for the TT.

Officially, they say it's a ten mile out and back course. My Garmin and others had it closer to 11 miles. It's not a very fast course, it's a tough one! Very lumpy, bumpy pavement with some decent little climbs thrown in for good measure.

I don't know my official time, but I think it was close to 28 minutes. I felt this was good for competing on my Venge with tt bars. I went out pretty hard, trying to keep Jason Chao in my sights. The 35+ started straight after the 45+. Being last in the GC, I went first. Jason was on a TT bike and eventually pulled away but there was plenty to keep me motivated. I could see slower riders in front of me and on the turnaround I could see my fellow 35+ racers chasing me down. I actually enjoyed the torture. My loaned, tt bars loosened because of the bumps, which was a little annoying but manageable. If I continue to do stage races and TTs, I will have to invest in the technology. It's not fun racing when one knows one is at a disadvantage.

This was a good event. I hope next year the officiating is a little more organized and that they have support vehicles. I also have to add, I wore a Specialized Evade helmet for the whole event and loved the aero feel of it. There is so much ventilation it almost feels like you're not wearing a helmet, nice one Specialized!

Austin Rattler 100, March 29

22 / 148 Solo 100k MA 40-49

The Austin Rattler is the first in a series of national races that are Leadville 100 qualifiers and usually attracts a pretty fast crowd.  I had two goals for the weekend: move up in my 2014 Leadville start position and qualify for 2015.  And while I was fortunate to have my good friend Dan in Austin picking me up and putting me up at their house, flying to a race presents other challenges... what to bring | will my bike survive | will it make it?  Just in case, I carried 1 kit, shoes, helmet, glasses, pedals & my garmin all in my carry-on.

I flew out on Wed in time to get to Austin, assemble the bike and get a spin in to loosen the legs - which felt great after sitting on the plane all morning.  Thursday we headed out to the venue and got to ride the course (in the rain!) and get my first look at it: it was looking like it was going to be a fast, roller course with no long extended climbs like we experience here in Cali.  Fast, stay on top of a big gear, very little places for recovery kind of a course - tailor made for me to have a good day.  After riding the course, I set a stretch goal for me of 4:15 and told Dan he could break 5:59... while he was hesitant, I got the two thumbs up on that one.  Game on!

Friday we had an opportunity to get a coffee ride in, pick up our race packets, clean & tune the bikes, get the cooler & gear sorted and pack the car for a 5:15 departure on race day (yikes!) to be ready for 8am start.

Race day came early and was pretty chilly, although much better than the alternative, especially in TX!  We arrived in complete darkness (man its early!), got our pit set up, got ready and headed out for a good warm-up.  I rode the first sections of the course and scoped the lines I wanted during warmup as starting up front is exactly like a crit and you need to be ready!  They neutralized the first 1/4 mile or so of the start which almost makes it harder as the surge comes from the back during the rollout.  With 500 or so racers on the start line (endurance races start all cats, teams & solos together), starting in the fourth row was going to be a position fight, but well worth it.

Coach Thomas & I planned for me to start up front and drill it on the first lap, ease up on the middle two and then drill it again on the final lap.  It was definitely argy-bargy up there at the start - I protected the left side of the trail and held my position well: one guy tried to squeeze through, bounced off me and hit the deck only 10 min into the day!  I quickly settled into the second group and we were flying...  I was close to pinning it on every uphill section and we were rolling 20-22mph on the flats!  I was hoping to get through in about an hour for the first lap to put a little time in the bank and was happy to see 1:00:54 as I came through and headed out for the second lap.

As I settled into the second lap, I made a concerted effort to back off slightly.  While I didn't want to give too much away, I knew this was still a pretty long day and I didn't want to blow it.  I focused on riding smooth and riding smart: I'd pin it to bridge to a group and sit in where possible - and generally hit the front of the group heading back into the singletrack so I could control my pace.  The one time I didn't, there was a little traffic jam on a technical section and I figured the power was better spent getting the position before these spots than getting popped off the bike and all the power to get back to speed and bridge back.  I came through on the second lap in 1:04:05, pitted for fresh bottles, wiped the face & glasses, quick chain clean & lube and headed back out.

I glanced down as I headed out on the third lap and realized pitting without a crew is definitely slower - I was quick, but still burned about 2-3 mins.  Since it was my only planned pit, I figured I was still in good shape.  At this point in the race its really hard to keep track of where everyone is - passing others constantly and occasionally being passed, I'd settled into a quick but reasonable pace trading pulls with two other guys who were riding pretty strong and smooth.   It was about 1/2 way through the lap while I was leading us at about 25mph down a short fast hill that bottoms out in a stream bed and shoots back up the other side when I lost my seat pack.  The other guys yelled to me that it was my stuff that yard-saled just as I crested the other side.  It was a tough decision, but I decided I may really need it and rolled back down the course for my tube, co2 and multi tool.  Between turning back, searching, picking up my tube & levers, climbing the hill and finally getting back up to race speed again, I figure it probably burned a good 4-5 min and I would also have to pit again because I couldn't find co2 or the multitool.  I rolled through with a disastrous 1:10 - which put me @ 3:15 with one lap to go.

The fourth lap was interesting because now I was deep into lapped traffic: usually in the long races, I'm the one being passed all day long and here I was freighting by people for a change: what a blast!  And people were mostly quite cool and supportive when they heard me coming and gave me lots of room, even on the technical sections.  About 1/4 of the way into the lap, I spotted the two guys I'd been trading pulls with on Lap 3... I was gaining on them and had already pulled back most of the time I'd given up.  Just before I caught them one pulled to the side with a flat and I could see the other had been just sitting on and had slowed considerably.  He jumped on my wheel and we traded 2-3 pulls, but he just couldn't hold the pace and I set out on my own.  Even though the lapped traffic was cool, there were sections where there just wasn't room to pass - but I gave it everything I had and including the pit to pick up tools, finished the lap in 1:07:16 for a total time of 4:22:17 for 100k - 14.1mph including the downtime.  And Dan?  Well - he rode a 5:48... absolutely crushed his initial stretch goal of 6:30 and my revised prediction of 5:59.  I'd like to think I had a hand in it as he rode hard enough all day that I never got the chance to lap him! 

 

The post race BBQ at these things is always great: great music, great food, nice people and in this case, seats in the shade of the beer tent made for a very chill awards ceremony!  I wasn't too far off of my stretch goal of 4:15 and overall I am happy with my effort and output - I moved up 500 riders for Leadville this summer; snagged a 2015 entry in the rolldown (slots handed out as a % of winners); and rode my fastest 100k to date.  I went in with a good game plan and as always, had to make slight adjustments on the fly - but I didn't let anything get me down and I rode the best I could.  Guess I'll just have to go back next year... maybe target sub 4 hours?

Santa Cruz Criterium, Sunday, March 30th, 2014 By Matthew Sloan

Skin Corner/Road Rash U-turn

I was really looking forward to my hometown crit. I'd done some intervals on the course in the preceding weeks and I felt good about the hill finish. 

8:00 a.m. Open 4/5s

From about 7:30 the group began warming-up on the course. Due to the number of cars being towed from the course, we had plenty of time to ride loops. This gave me an opportunity to admire the lean, young, energetic bucks in the open 4/5 race.  "This is not going to be an easy one," I thought.

Yep, I was right. When we eventually set off, there were plenty of attacks and lots of fast paced racing at the front. The finish hill wasn't a problem and neither was the u-turn that comes a couple of hundred meters after the start. Everyone was slowing enough to make it safe. Until about 8 or 9 laps to go. I was on an inside line and a rider on my outside, blind to my position, turned sharply and took out my front wheel. Luckily it was a slow crash but I still had to curl up as a rider crashed into my back. I jumped up, full of adrenaline, got on my bike and rode the 3/4 of lap to the pitstop. There, I checked my bike, refastened my shoes - which had both come undone, and was allowed into the race at the back of the peloton. I quickly worked my way up to the top three but lost positioning on the last lap. (I should have worked faster down the back to keep in the first five for the final turn.) Unfortunately, I found myself in about tenth or twelfth on the final turn but worked myself up to sixth. Not bad with a crash!

9:45 a.m. 35+ 4s

Before sharing about this race, it has to be said I was late for my own birth. Well, I was a ten day over due, caesarean birth. The fact that I was born on April Fool's day says even more. Add to this, that in Britain you can only play April Fool's jokes until noon, and that my mum's doctor chose my birth time for 11:35a.m. - this truly makes me a British Fool! With my birthday coming up, today's race was truly a Foolish Birthday Gift. Okay, enough said, back to the race!

After the 4/5s I went home for a call of nature and to get my new number on, etc. I am about five to ten minutes from the start line. Before I left, the races were 15 minutes behind schedule. Also, I think my watch must have been slightly slow. Suffice to say, I arrived at the start line 40 seconds late. 1st lesson, don't ever go home, stay at the venue, and use the facilities there. 

I was so mad at myself for being late. I set off like the proverbial "bat out of hell." On each lap I cried out, "How far back am I?!" First lap - 40 seconds, second or third - 28 seconds. I was gaining on the group. I was on the rivet. Working as hard as I could without blowing it. I came to skin corner/road rash u-turn, I took it as sharply as I could. So very unfortunately, luck was not on my side, the god of fools was playing with my day, both wheels slipped out on the still damp inside line. There was nothing I could do. One moment I was up, the next, I was down, sliding to a stop. It was quite a dramatic looking crash. I jumped up but realized my race was over. I had lost too much precious time. Kicking myself for being late, for taking the corner too fast, I cycled slowly back to the start/finish, and pulled out. 

I stood and cheered on my teammates Bob and George. I probably would have done really well if I had been with them but we will never know. Bob offered to be my lead out for the final sprint. That is something I will have to look forward to for next time. I have a little bit of road rash to remind me, at least for a week or so, "take those corners easy, young man!"

Turlock Lake Road Race - Saturday March 29, 2014

Weather forecast was 100% chance of rain starting at noon and my race started at 12:35 so I was fully prepared to race in the wet. The course is fine for that as there are no high speed corners or descents. I sort of looked forward to the rain making conditions more difficult and creating more attrition. 

Last year I did Turlock in the E3/4 category with 51 other guys. The race was 3 laps and 68.4 miles. I got in a break of 8 at mile 6 and we were gone the rest of the 62 miles getting more than 3 minutes on the group at the end. I felt absolutely amazing for that race and at 1 km I attacked with another guy but ended up with a big cramp in my left hamstring with 300 m to go and finished 5^th. First cramp I had ever gotten while cycling. I thought I hydrated well and kept my electrolytes topped off but nonetheless the dreaded cramp occurred and dashed my dreams of a win. 

This year I was extra motivated because of last’s years race and Turlock is a perfect course for me. Lots of small to medium rollers, wind, and generally very fast racing with a long drag uphill finis. My race preparation has also been very good this Spring. This would be my 10^th race this season. Having the won the overall at Madera 3 weeks prior and getting 2^nd overall at Chico last weekend my legs were ready for some hard racing. 

Last year’s E3/4 race was at noon so it was very nice to be able to drive up the morning of. This year they moved it to 8:10 am which meant we would have to sleep nearby. I have been gone way too much lately on weekends for stage races so I decided to do the Master 35+ 4/5 race at noon. It was only 2 laps or 46.8 miles. I typically do better in longer, harder races but my goal nonetheless was to win at all costs. I knew I wanted to attack and attack often or see if I can get into a good move.

We had a full field of 75 riders and there were 5 teams with over 5 riders and 2 teams with 10 riders. This didn’t really phase me as we all know typically in 4’s races teams can’t really get organized or do a whole lot to control the race. Everybody is ready to chase anything, including teams chasing their own teammates. Ideally I could get in a break with at least one member of each big team represented but this ain’t no Tour de France and there was slim chance of that getting organized. So I knew if I wanted to get in a break I would  have to form one myself or go with one that looked really promising.

Racing started off hot and heavy. There was a prime for like a bottle beer of something  6 miles in at the crest of a series of medium rollers. One dude in all yellow shot out of the cannon from the gun and went for it. We kind of chuckled and let him go. After he got a good minute up the road and didn’t look like he was slowing down the biggest team, Sacramento Golden Wheelman, began chasing. One little climber dude took off the man in yellow with about 1.5 k from the prime sprint. He made contact and the man in yellow immediately jumped again and took his bottle of beer prime… He let up, we caught him and the race continued. I was feeling super smooth at this point. Legs were telling me they were ready for action. My plan was to sit top 5 or so wheels and not relinquish my position. I didn’t like traffic. Especially not 75 4/5’s traffic.

A few miles later the strongest rider from the biggest team, again Sac Gold WM, went on the attack. Another guy jumped after him. They were building a good gap. I jumped up and road alongside the Sac Gold WM rider and asked if his team would block. He nodded yes so I went to the front and took a hard 28 mph pull into the wind trying to get our group of 3 further up the road. I wagged my elbow for one of them to pull through….nothing. I looked back and both of them were on the rivet and breathing hard and knew I didn’t have strong enough break mates to go the 38+ miles to the finish. Back to the pack.

About 10 miles later we hit a series of the largest rollers of the course. On the descent of one and before the beginning of the biggest, hardest roller of the day I blasted off the front as hard as I could go. I crested the hill and kept the hammer down. 4 dudes joined me. We had a gap and were going for it. Our group didn’t have a lot of the big teams represented and a few miles later the other teams pulled us back. That’s ok I thought, I feel fine. No worries I’ll attack again, and again until something breaks loose. I did not want to sprint with a full field of 4/5’s. I don’t have fast twitch 150m sprint muscles.

We rolled along relatively easily. There were several very short lived attacks from various dudes but each of them was brought back quickly by very enthusiastic teams. Apparently they all wanted to set their sprinters up for the grand finale. 

With about 7 miles remaining in the race we once again entered the biggest roller section of the course. Once again on the biggest roller I hit them hard. This was it I thought. This was my big move. If I didn’t shake the pack with this attack there was slim chance for victory. Once dude bridged and we were gone. We built 30 seconds quickly. Guess there were a few tired legs in the group. My break companion did not have the best legs and began fading after a few big rollers. One other very strong guy, that I remembered from previous races, came across. As we exchanged hard pulls my original companion faded backwards. It was just my new companion and I as we took the right turn onto the flats with 3 miles to go. Well, the big teams didn’t like that we were going to spoil their fun and once again chased us down. I looked back and the pack was a long strung out single file line. At least I woke them up! We slowed up and some enthusiastic racers shot by. I got on the 5^th wheel that flew by me and started yelling encouragement at them. “Come on, make it hard, keep going, we got this”. I wanted to recover and get a nice tow closer to the finish. Now the big teams wanted in on the action and started moving up to set up their sprinters. I didn’t panic. I was recovering well and my legs felt ready to go again. I held my position in the top 10 or so. I got bumped and elbowed a few times but held my spot. With 700m to go the seas parted and it was all clear in front and to the left of me. There were about 10 dudes to my right setting up for the sprint. We were hauling ass at this point. A voice inside my head said “GO! GO NOW! GO HARD!” Wellll….. I didn’t go. I hesitated and wanted to wait a little longer for the sprint…which was stupid and I knew it. I had about a 3 second window to jump. Then the real sprint opened up and I got stuck in traffic and ended up top 20. I doubted myself because I had just been on the attack for about 4 miles and did a lot of very hard work. I didn’t know if I had 700m legs to hold off a very quickly charging peloton. Now I guess I will never know. I was very disappointed that I didn’t listen to that voice in my head. Perhaps if I had not gone on the attack and waited patiently and followed moves and then gone with 500 or 700m I could have had the confidence and power to pull off a cheeky move like that. But you won’t know if you don’t try.

So lesson to everyone. This is one way to read a race. Listen to the voice that tells you this is the perfect opportunity to go. Don’t doubt it. Don’t hesitate. Just go. Best you can do is win. Worse you can do is give it your all and end up somewhere in the group. Unfortunately, I’ve become so competitive lately that if I don’t win I don’t really care where I place so today was a bit of a letdown but also great fuel for the fire.  When in doubt, go for it!

Chico Stage Race 55+

I have thought about doing the Chico Stage Race for a couple of years, but the way it falls on the race calendar and one aspect of the road race course have always given me pause. This year, it fell in a good spot on the calendar for me, and I’m getting more into stage racing, having gotten a time trial bike this year. I had signed up a few weeks prior and made a reservation in Chico for a room on Saturday night. The week of the race, I was checking out my start time and then checking out the distance to the race, and I realized that I would need to head up there on Friday. The drive was close to 5 hours, and my road race started at 10:30 in the morning. With my waking routine, packing the car, driving and getting to the race enough before race time, I would have to get up around 2 - 2:30 in the morning on Saturday to get there in time from Watsonville. Plus, I figured I would be beat from all of the travel, effort and missed sleep. I added another night to my hotel and invited my stage race support crew to go with me. Wife, Julie, and dog, Tag, rearranged their schedules and joined me on my journey.

We chose to take the less direct route, taking San Juan Rd to Hwy 101 to Hwy 152 to I-5. Google maps called for us to go up through the bay area, but leaving at 3:20 pm on Friday, coupled with past experiences on Friday afternoon bay area freeways, led us to the I-5 route. It was longer in distance, but traffic flowed freely the whole way. The radio informed us repeatedly of tie ups and delays on the bay area roads. We got into Chico right around 8 and got checked into the Quality Inn downtown. On the advice of the hotel desk, we walked to dinner at a very good Italian restaurant (the Sicilian Inn). Tag stayed to settle in at the room and keep an eye on my race gear. On returning to the room, I checked on the next day’s race. The course was a further hour and 10 minutes away from Chico, a bit of a surprise. We made our plans and turned in.

We left with plenty of time on Saturday and were among the early arrivals at the race site. I set up my trainer to warm up, but I had sort of decided to do most of my warm up on the course. I maybe did 15 minutes of light spinning, got signed in for the race and spoke to a number of guys in my field. There were 4 teams with at least 3 riders in my field and I was on my own. I knew I would need to stay alert, because if I got caught off guard, I wouldn’t have any teammates to help me get back into the race. One of the represented teams is a new one, “3Ft - It’s the Law”. I think they only have 5 members total, but they are all cat 3 or better racers in the 55+ age group. I know there are other strong 55+ masters race teams from past Northern California race seasons, but this year, these guys are the class of our field. They can all sprint, they can all time trial, they are smart crit and road racers, and they make and execute a strategy going into each race. Plus, they race every week as a team. At Chico, they lined up with Kevin Willits (I think he may be a former pro and their chief strategist), Dave Montgomery (last year’s silver medalist in the 55 - 59 national TT, and an overall smart racer), Jonathon Laine (this was my first time racing with this very strong racer), and Doug Gonda (a very good sprinter and strong racer). My plan going into the road race as a sole independent racer, was to try and mark Willits and Montgomery. I figured that those two would be where the action was, and if I stuck with them, I would be there too.

The road race had one other component that had me feeling unsure. It was about a 45 mile race, but there is a 4.5 mile section that is gravel. That section comes about 7 miles before the finish, and I suspected that it might cause me some difficulty. I don’t have a mountain bike background, and the only time I remember going through any gravel, I got dropped by the Saturday ride guys I was with. Still, I figured I would just do my best and see how things worked out. Besides, I knew I wasn’t the only one who had some concern about the gravel section.

We lined up for our race and I was planning on warming up and using the first part to get settled. Even though guys have tried early breakaways in my prior races this year, none of those breaks were able to stick because everyone was too fresh. I expected more of the same here, but it turns out I was wrong. About 8 minutes into our race, 3 of the 4 -3Ft guys went to the front and began to echelon into the crosswind. There are probably a total of 8 guys working to establish the gap that is opening between them and the rest of our field. At the moment I see the gap, it is already 20 - 25 yards and opening. The guy I’m sitting on doesn’t seem to have any interest in closing. Although my first mistake was to not get properly warmed up for this race, here is where I made my second and most costly mistake. Rather than wait for a wheel to grab and pull me part of the way to the lead group, I took off on my own and chased. Diesel that I am, I succeeded in pulling most of the group with me about halfway across the gap before I realized that my lack of preparation along with the intensity of the effort were gassing me. That’s when the last 3Ft guy along with one or two others launched bridging efforts that got them onto the lead group. I knew my race was going up the road, but I did not have the energy to make the bridge. I had to recover a bit and eventually found myself with 10 - 12 guys who, like me, had missed the break. As I recovered, I committed myself to chasing. The difficulty was that the group I was with did not have the necessary skill sets to put on an effective chase. I appeared to be the strongest, but beyond that, at least one racer did not understand that we had to use the wind to our best advantage. Our race continued to move up the road. From time to time, we came up on others who had been dropped by the leaders, and we dropped guys from our group who were unable to maintain our chase pace. For a number of miles, Dirk Himley rode along with our group, as he was doing a warmup lap for his later race. He didn’t assist our chase, but he made some suggestions for how to think about a chase such as ours. For my part, I appreciated hearing how he thinks about such situations, but I was becoming increasingly blown from the efforts I was making in the chase. We managed to keep our lead group in sight until we got to the gravel section, but that’s where my next difficulty in this race appeared.

By the time we got to the gravel section, I was riding with Boyd Tarin and Erik Salander, both good racers. For several miles, I had quit taking pulls because my energy was too low. When we came to the gravel, I recommitted myself to pedaling consistently. The section starts with a short hill and rolls on from there. By the time I crested that first rise, I was gapped significantly by the other two. Any time I tried to come up out of the saddle, I found myself fishtailing in the gravel. I had to stay seated, but I couldn’t close any gaps from there. Even though I kept working as hard as I could, the gap grew and I was dropped. I was breathing in a substantial amount of gravel dust and that only increased when a couple of pickups hauling trailers came flying by. I kept working and finally got through the gravel section. Not long after, the finish approached. The two guys I had entered the gravel with were gone, but none of the others from my group had caught me. When I crossed the line in this first part of a three part timed race, I was over six minutes behind the leader (Jonathon Laine of 3Ft), and I had lost 3 minutes to the two guys I had entered the gravel with. On top of this, I had chased as hard as I can recall for virtually the entire race. Of 23 in my race, I was 14th. I was not too pleased with myself.

It turned out that guys who had done this race before knew that the crosswinds in the outbound leg were often the critical point. I think all of the morning races were much the same as ours. Course knowledge can be key. I packed up and Julie, Tag and I headed back to Chico, committed to race smarter and better the next day. We enjoyed dinner Saturday night with Matthew Sloan, who had placed 5th in the 35+ cat 4 race.

Sunday morning I was determined to be warm and ready for both of my races. Our crit was scheduled to go off at 8:35, and at only 30 minutes, I expected the pace to remain high. True that. I think our field split in the first lap, and those dropped never got back on. I was able to stay with the front group, but my legs had no snap. I was feeling the effects of the work I had done the day before. At no point in the race did I feel the need to go to the front for an attack. That’s really not like me. Then, on the next to last lap, the group was chasing after a Penn Velo rider who was off the front. As he entered the first corner after the start / finish line, he caught his pedal on the asphalt and went down on the pavement. The whole field was disrupted as we all endeavored to avoid the crash. As I got through, I observed another rider going directly over the downed rider and his frame. Amazingly, he made it over upright and was able to continue on. At least one or two other guys were not so lucky and went down. I think everyone who remained upright stayed with the group even though it took an effort. The crash seemed to take a lot of the steam out of the usual final moment energy of our race. There was a sprint for the line, but not the usual attacks that lead up to it. For my part, I was happy to have finished upright and in the front group.

Julie, Tag & I got checked out of our hotel and located the time trial site. Then we found a dog friendly restaurant for breakfast. I set up my trainer and warmed up for the TT while Julie ordered on the patio. After eating half of my breakfast burrito, I headed out to the TT site, while Julie and Tag headed back into downtown to watch more crit action. The TT was advertised as a flat and fast 10 miler. I was hoping to improve on my performance at Madera, where I finished 11th. I’m still learning about my new bike and had made a couple of adjustments to my position. It felt better, but I continue to feel that I am still not in a position that allows me to consistently produce the power of which I am capable. My 30 second man (that’s the guy who starts 30 seconds ahead of me in this individual timed event) was on a road bike. His 30 second man had crashed out of the race in the crit. I think the guy behind me had crashed out as well and I did not see any of the favorites starting close enough behind me that I was likely to be caught from behind. I just committed to not going out too hard and to doing my best. I knew I would be going out into a headwind, but I was hoping to get a good pace going nonetheless. The course was such that even with the headwind, I found myself going in excess of 26 mph. My HR was up around 135 bpm almost immediately and I began to settle in to my work. I built my pace and found that I could get my speed up to the 28 mph range, but when I did so, my HR was going over 148 and I was in danger of blowing up. My thought was that this was the speed that Dave Montgomery would be going the entire race, but I knew I couldn’t maintain it. I backed off to the 145 bpm range and tried to stay as low as possible on my bike. As I made the first of two right hand turns, the headwind seemed to increase and I found my speed dropping to the 25 mph range. Finally I got to the second right hander and picked up a tailwind. That’s where the road tilted uphill a bit. Oh well, I just kept trying to increase my effort to the line. I crossed the line at 23”43’, and I felt I had given my best effort, particularly considering how much the prior two events had taken out of me. I was 6th in the TT, and although Montgomery had me beat by 1”37’, I was only 30’ behind the 2nd place rider. Given the way this stage race had started, I was very pleased with the way it ended. 13th overall.

Julie, Tag & I checked into the results and congratulated my competitors. Then we watched a bit of the Pro 1/2 crit before hitting the road for the long drive home. That drive became a bit longer when we opted to try the bay area route home. We had to sit on I-80 for an extra hour in traffic, and that was no fun when we all were ready to be home. Still, overall, the weekend was a fun time, and I was really happy to have Julie and Tag there with me!

Chico Stage Race, March 21st - 23rd

This event was beyond my expectations - great courses, great organization, and great competition. As a 35+ cat. 4 I had three races over two days. Pro 1/2s and 35+ cat. 1/2/3s had an extra race on the Friday, The Thunderhill circuit race, evidently a fast, furious, and fun event.

Saturday, March 22nd, Paskenta Hills Road Race

This was a perfect course for me. Flat to begin with, some nice rolling hills 2/3s of the way through, 4 miles of gravel road (to sort the wheat from the chaff), and a slightly uphill power sprint to the finish.
The race started off at very reasonable pace. Team Velo Promo had a number of riders. I was expecting them to put out some effort to keep up the pace but they only made a couple of uncoordinated attacks. A Team Audi rider, David Page, pulled consistently at over 20 mph for a major part of the race. There were a couple of attacks on the rolling hills but nothing got away. We remained as a group until we hit the infamous gravel. Now, I was expecting something like the Strade Bianchi in Italy. Gravel roads worn down by lots of vehicle use. Basically, four hardened tracks with gravel in between, not the Paskenta gravel, oh no! There was loose gravel all over the road. There were some hardened areas but it was never easy going.

There was a short, sharp hill as soon as we hit the gravel. A Cushman Wakefield rider made an attack. The peloton was shocked into action. I went around the outside of everyone and found myself on the loosest gravel. It was like snowboarding. My bike was snaking from side to side and I had to use all my bike handling skills to keep myself upright. The Cushman Wakefield rider died and David Page hit the front with me on his wheel. I found a good rhythm - I held my weight back and turned a lower gear keeping a high cadence. Trying to power through it only made my rear wheel spin. Knowing how many of the riders were spooked by the gravel, I attacked. I looked back and found David Page on my wheel. I let up and he passed me. We dropped most of the peloton. We were now a group of six. David and I alternated pulls for a couple of minutes until I realized we weren't dropping anyone. So, I sat on his wheel until we got back onto the road. I tried another attack but the group stuck. I sat back and - most deviously - breathed hard, as though I were spent. David went past hard and I stuck to his wheel. Everyone else jumped on mine. I had hoped we would have dropped the others but they were quite classy riders for cat. 4.

With 3 km to go I made another attack. It didn't stick as riders bridged up. David Page, once again, took to the front. I sat on his wheel. We went past the 1 km mark. I could feel the pressure of the other riders as they pressed up around me. I could feel them waiting to pounce. I saw a white marker and thought it was 250m to go. I was wrong, it was 500m to go, but I attacked anyway. I launched off the  front and left everyone. I got to 250 and realized I had gone way too early but I kept grinding it out and made another effort. Unfortunately, I was caught about 20-30m from the line. If I had even waited until 300m I probably would have nailed it. I was feeling so strong that day. It felt good to have been in command of the final few miles. However, I learned how my impatience isn't the best of friends with my winning. It was a great race, really enjoyable. As much as it hurt, I loved how the gravel weeded out the weaker riders.

That evening I met up with Bob Montague and his wife Julie for dinner. We shared war stories, ate good food, and lifted our spirits for the next day.

Sunday, March 23rd, 9:10 a.m. Downtown Criterium

I woke up feeling good - ready to ride, ready for action. I'd had a bit of a restless night but frantic racing dreams are nothing new to me. As a young track runner, I remember nightmares of coming up to my adversary's shoulder with 150m to go. I would be about to go past him and then my legs would turn to jellied lead. I wouldn't be able to do anything. Well, sometimes dreams just don't come true!

This is the best race I have ridden to date. I don't think I could have performed better tactically. It was a very fast, fun L-shaped course around the city center. I started out in the middle of the pack. There were plenty of prime laps to keep the pace fast. I drafted for most of the race, saving my energy for the end. I wasn't interested in primes, I really wanted to win. There were a couple of attacks from the front, but with a large team from Pen Velo, nothing stuck. With four of five laps to go I started to work up to the top five. Going into a small head wind on the back straight of the second to last lap the pace slowed. I launched an attack from about five places back on the other side of the street. There were yells of, "He's going, he's going!" and some furious action as riders tried to catch me. I got 50m or so past the finish line and a Pen Velo rider caught me. I eased up, let him past, and jumped straight on his wheel. He pulled hard down the back stretch. On the 3rd to last corner his pace slowed and another Pen Velo rider leapt past. I jumped on his back wheel and he brought me into the final turn. Pen Velo were keeping the pace fast to lead out their sprinter. I came into the final 150m and gave it everything. I could see the Pen Velo sprinter, Donald Lee, gaining on me. He just edged past in the last 10m. It was very close, but I was very satisfied with my 2nd place performance.

Sunday, March 23rd, 13:17 Ten Mile Time Trial

After the criterium I put my borrowed TT bars (thanks Bob Montague!) on my bike, adjusted my saddle, stretched out, ate some food, and relaxed.

An hour before my start time I donned my borrowed skin suit, TT helmet, and shoe covers (again, thanks Bob Montague!) and warmed up for my start time. I was a little envious to see my closest rivals on smooth looking tt bikes with disc wheels, but in for a penny in for a pound!

Time trials are hard. It seems to be a case of mind over matter. Going as hard as you can without blowing it all too early. All in all I did well. I came 7th in the Time Trial. I do think a better TT set up would have helped but it is nice to know I have something left in reserve.

Overall, I came 4th in the GC, a good result. I was only 12 seconds behind 3rd place. Mmm... oh for a tt bike, but we know how much one of those costs! After my first stage race experience I am really looking forward to the Topsport Stage race, April 5th - 6th.

Hands Up! We got you