Date: 5.28.07
Team: James Badia, Jono Coulter, Rob MacNeill
This was my second year competing in this race. Our pre-race plan was to have all 3 of us covering breakaways and have Rob give me a leadout if it came down to a final sprint. Being a 3 person team up against the larger teams (Lombardi, Cal Giant, and Los Gatos) we decided this was the best plan.
The race stayed fast most of the time with a few occasional surges when breakaways would get away. Jono did an Awesome job covering attacks, it was the most aggressive I have seen him ride all year. I stayed near the front for the majority of the race and covered a few attacks, one of which delivered me to the line for a prime that I didn't have to work very hard for. Rob also did a large share of covering the attacks. At one point Rob was in a breakaway group that had about 4 guys in it when I covered a 3 person bridge attempt. When my group of 4 guys caught Rob's we were 8 men strong and stayed away for a few laps. Since there were 2 of us and 2 Strawberries, I think the other 4 guys decided not to work and we were caught. That is when the winning break of 6-8 riders got away. None of us were in it so Jono tried to bridge with 3 other guys.
The lap cards were winding down and the breakaway was still away with Jono's group dangling off the front. Rob and I decided to practice our leadout in the final sprint. In the final laps it was difficult to stay together with Rob so we disconnected and reconnected several times, which took some extra effort. Maintaining good position was difficult as well with surges from all sides. The pace got faster and faster and on the bell lap Rob put in a huge effort down the backside of the course and into a headwind with me right on his wheel to come around the outside toward the head of the pack. During this effort Jono's group was caught but the winning breakaway, now down to 4, was just up the road and wasn't going to be caught. Rob delivered me a little early at 100 meters before the last turn at which time I started my sprint. I was somewhere about 5th wheel in the field sprint with a decent gap ahead of me. I started to close when Andy J/Mayne crashed hard on the outside coming out of the final turn. I hit the brakes and went around AJM and started my sprint again, holding my position for 4th in the field sprint which was good for 8th overall.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Memorial Day Criterium Report
Race: SJBC Memorial Day Criterium, Pro 1/2
Place: 8th of 60ish
The main lesson learned from this race was our positioning. Rob and I could have done a better job with our positioning and staying connected in the last few laps. It's a never ending battle that takes a lot of focus and some extra effort.
I was very pleased with how Jono, Rob, and I rode the race. I would guess that from the perspective of others in the race they would assume Webcor/AV had more than 3 riders in the race. We all rode very strong and smart and communicated well before, during and post race.
This was a very will organized day of racing and I will definitely be back next year.
Thanks to Rob and Jono for riding a solid sacrificial race.
Crit season is here and I look forward to racing the the guys from the P1/2 team. I sense a win in the near future.
Thanks for reading.
James
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Drake Does Davis Double
38th Annual Davis Double Century
Davis, CA
May 19, 2007
Weather: 52F am to 85F pm
Field: ~900
Course: 200 miles, 8000+ ft elevation gain
There are certain distance thresholds in conventional ground-based travel which, when reached, one looks for a faster or more efficient alternative. This holds true for all forms of transportation, albeit with a great deal of overlap based on myriad factors. As for my personal threshold with my favorite mode, it's generally been around the hundred mile mark, give or take 25 miles for either racing or training. Above that threshold I tend to get that not-so-fresh feeling and am ready to stow the bike for another day and sit on the couch, eat, and stare at some inanely soothing television programming. But with my race season getting off to a late start followed immediately by a slow decline in performance, I decided I needed to shake up some of my conventional thresholds.
I can tell you with a wide margin of error that before Saturday I'd never reeeally considered riding a bike for 150 miles let alone 200. A couple times I hit the 120ish mile mark. Once after riding back home from the Mt Hamilton Road Race in preparation for the SF Grand Prix and one other time some years back, when former Webcor Pro Marc Hagenlocher and his pal Levi Leipheimer took Ted Huang and me out on some ridiculously long, hard 130-some-mile ride from Santa Rosa to Skaggs Springs and back. I have few memories other than being towed by Marc and Levi for miles on end at uncomfortable speeds and cracking profoundly around mile 100 and then watching in a mix of utter befuddlement and awe as Levi rendezvoused with his wife Odessa and left for what must have been his real workout for the day: motorpacing at 30+ back to his house - the long way.
And sure, I've heard of RAAM and thought to myself that I might have a physiological bent that suited me in some way for it but I also just watched a show where some guy layed on a board that was tethered to the world's largest slingshot and was launched 300 feet into the air whereupon he let out his base-jump chute and glided to the ground. I mean, seriously, I think I might be able to do that - but I most probably won't. Let's just say that I have really never understood why someone would ride a bike for longer than a hundred-or-so miles, out of necessity or want.
So you can safely assume that times were desperate and my measures drastic when I registered for the 38th Annual Davis Double Century last week. If I was thinking at all I was thinking that at the bare minimum I'd get a really good workout on some roads other than those on the Peninsula and have rest stops every 20 miles and SAG support for when I cried "no mas."
It came to this point because this year's overly intense training and aggressive weight loss regimes in rush preparation for the mid-season NRC stage races had left me an empty shell about the time the Wente Road Race rolled around. Or maybe it was just a simple case of bad flaxeed oil. Regardless, after struggling to come around I finally backed off and returned to base mode. I ate and rested and put on six much needed pounds. I also rode lots and lots of miles. But as you may have guessed, nothing more than a hundred-or-so at any given time. I figured I was at the point where the Davis Double would surely kick me in the rump and maybe get things back on track. The worst case would be a kick in the head but that actually may not have been such a bad thing really. You get the picture.
For all the times I grumbled about the standard Velo Promo 8:00 am start times, I sorely lamented them as I read that the Davis Double start was at 5:15 am. Not being one for a short night on a lumpy bed in a less-than-exotic locale after a long day of work I hit the sack at the homestead and woke up at 2:30 am, loaded the car and hit the road. After one of my quickest trips to Davis in history, I rolled into the parking lot under the cover of darkness to a sea of
flashing red and tiny beams of white and bluish bikelights reflecting off ankle straps, armstraps and helmets. Wow. This wasn't the typical start I'm accustomed to. Nor was it the typical race, I mean ride, I'm accustomed to. I was starting to wonder if I was underprepared - in every aspect of unpreparedness. Not only had I never ridden these kind of distances I hadn't brought any lights or reflective gear. As looked around and I watched these grizzled long distance road warriors gird for battle I realized that I hadn't even brought a saddle bag.
I was greeted in the registration room by a small contingent of very awake and very enthusiastic individuals who informed me that I had to wait for the darkness to recede before I could start the ride. Having spent four years living in Davis I can attest to the keen eye the police have with regards to traffic laws, both for cars and bikes as the local paper reported on more than one occasion that someone was arrested for "BUI."
The Davis Double Century is considered an entry level ride into the long distance world and it is not timed like some of the more competitive events. The start time is actually a window between 5:15 and 5:45, with many slower pedaling participants actually starting earlier to capitalize on the empty roads. As I changed my clothes and pinned on my number, I watched 700-800 cyclists quietly filter out of the parking lot and disappear down the street with nary a
hint of pomp or circumstance.
But I had to focus my attention to more pressing matters as I tried to muster some early morning arithmetic skills to figure out how many calories to stuff into my pockets. "Two hundred miles divided by Xmph multiplied by Ycalories/hr..." It was slow going but the product of my calculation was irrelevant as it would have had me towing a bob trailer with a stocked Coleman cooler and a hibachi grill. With my caloric needs vastly exceeding the space available in my size-small Voler race-cut jersey, I decided to throw the math out the window and literally stuff the pockets with gels and bars until the threads started to crackle in protest. This of course was after loading them with two spare tubes, a patch kit, a McGyver-like multi-tool, and some allen wrenches. And a pump.
Bursting at the seams with my rations in tow and a couple pounds heavier for the effort, I rolled out of the parking lot to start my odyssey. My plan was really quite simple. Start pedaling until it hurts just a little bit and then keep doing it for 200 more miles. No heart rate monitors, no wattometers, just me, my bike and my full pockets, sans saddle bag.
As mentioned the course is relatively forgiving for a double century, with only 8000+ total feet of climbing. It was to head northwest out of town towards Winters then up and over the hills to Middletown, then climb up to the small hamlet of Cobb Mountain, east through the rest of Lake County, southeast to Colusa County then back to Davis through a smattering of quaint small towns I'd never heard of.
The lucky part about starting near last is that I didn't have to look at the map. At all. In fact, I stuck it in my jersey but didn't even glance at it before leaving. There was a steady stream of cyclists as far as the eye could see, largely single file with the straggler either coming or going. I quickly learned that if I couldn't see any cyclists up the road then there must be a turn coming up very soon. The first twenty miles were flat country roads and I just locked into my big ring and spun at a pretty high cadence to warm up the legs and the rest of the body as the first casualty of my limited space was the shell vest and arm warmers. I knew they'd come off in a few hours but I'd have nowhere to put them for the next seven. They stayed in the car. Now I was pretty cold.
At a steady 24-25mph out of town I felt pretty comfortable if not a tad bit uncomfortable but I figured as long as I didn't go into the red I would be fine as long as I kept drinking and eating. I was picking off long stretching pace lines as I cranked up the road, with many opportunists hopping on and off my wheel for some free miles.
I expressly ruled at the start of the ride that I would never ever ask someone to pull through. I'd live by the sword and die by the sword. This was a learning experience to test my limits and "to crack or not to crack"; for that was the question that I'd surely get an answer to by day's end.
The first rest stop at mile 25 was not needed so I blew through with what had become a couple regulars on my wheel. Several riders over the early miles tried to pitch in and pull through but ended up dropping my pace by 2-3 mph so I gave them 30 seconds or so before coming back through and resuming the effort. On the way to the second rest stop I came upon a couple fellow Webcor riders, including Jim Kern on his recumbent. One note I had about recumbents - they don't give much draft it seems. After spending about a minute behind one I noticed that it almost felt like there was more turbulence than when I passed him and rode into the wind by
myself!
At the second rest stop there was a huge line for the bathroom and bikes everywhere so I blew that one off as well figuring I'd fill up both my bottles at the mile 65 rest stop near where the real climbing starts. The long straight barren flat county roads had given way to still largely flat but gently rolling winding roads full of trees. I continued to pass big groups of bikes of every
kind: road bikes, touring bikes, tandems, hybrids, faired recumbents, standard recumbents. I didn't see any BMX bikes but did see a Bike Friday! 200 miles on that? Ouch.
As the course hit Cache Creek the road began to tilt upward and the light crosswinds became a slight headwind. I was left with only one companion from the earlier miles, KP from Delta Velo who was content to stay on my wheel, as I really didn't give him any chance to pull through. Really nice guy who happened to be a former teammate of our own 1/2 rider Matt Morenzoni. I picked up another passenger somewhere around mile 50 and kept the big ring spinning up the shallow gradient. The road then pitched up even more and I was alone after being thanked by one of the guys for the "hour-long pull." The weather was warming up and I was finally starting to warm up on the bike and breaking a bit of a sweat.
Just before reaching the third rest stop I made sure to drain the last of my bottle to maximize my hydration and get two full refills. At the side of the road the oasis came into view and I was all smiles as I rolled up to what appeared to be a fully stocked buffet largely devoid of any cyclists. It seems I'd passed most of the field at this point. The first thing I saw was a gal making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on sourdough. Damn that looked good. I hadn't had one in a couple years so I indulged after stuffing a couple fig newtons in my mouth.
After making quick work of the sandwich I made my way down the line to the large yellow water coolers with "Cytomax" written on them. As I went to fill up my bottles, a volunteer somewhat sheepishly told me they didn't have any water. Looking at the five different kinds of fruit, assortment of cookies, sandwiches, energy bars, baked breads and bagels I asked if I heard him correctly. He replied that in fact the course had been diverted back at mile 20 because of a fire near Middletown. His rest stop was supposed to be on the road near there but was closed by CDF right as the ride started earlier in the morning. Apparently this information was being delivered to all the riders at the first rest stop - which I blew through at 25 mph. This poor group of volunteers ended up having to drive an hour or so this rest stop as a contingency plan. The only problem was that there was no water hookup at this rest stop like at the other one they were scheduled to be at. The big glitch was that there was nothing in the way of services within 25 miles each direction
At this point, while I was trying to comprehend what they were telling me, the Fig Newtons and PB&J notified me that they were not sure they would be able to complete to whole trip to my stomach unless they received some reinforcements in the way of something resembling a liquid. Quickly.
All the rest stop staffers could offer me was some of their supply of lukewarm V8 drinks. Now I don't know if you've had a V8 but let me tell you something: They are really not a "drink" in the classical sense of refreshment where hydration is the primary goal. While yes they are a liquid and yes they are packaged utilizing in a small aluminum beverage container they are not the go-to choice of parched endurance athletes just completing the first third of a 200 mile bicycle ride.
Regardless of these well established, self-evident truths I nonetheless cracked three of those things open and filled up my bottle. Desperation? Yeah. Drastic measure? No. Drastic would have been to drain someones hot radiator into my bottles - which briefly crossed my mind.
Now, I can only say that V8 is a fine "supplemental" beverage. The salt content in each gulp alone would satisfy the daily requirement of most sedentary hominids. And yes it sure tastes like vegetables once you habituate to the overwhelming salinity. Had I a second bottle full of H2O I can assure you I would have had very little to complain about. Just a splash to wash down the red sludge would have sufficed. But alas I hadn't even a splash left.
So the next two climbs, I think they were named resurrection, or heartbreak or something like that, were an uncomfortable affair with half liter of V8 sloshing in my gut. Fortunately I was feeling good otherwise and made short shrift of them and rolled into the lunch stop at an elementary school at mile 85, immediately bypassing all food related items, heading straight to the big yellow coolers and slugging all the Cytomax I could stomach. I was tempted to ask the
motherly looking volunteer to pick up the whole jug and pour it on my head NFL-coach-playoff-style but I don't think she could have lifted it so I was content to politely drink and refill, rinse, repeat all on my own.
I mowed a ham sandwich, grabbed a granola bar and stared glassy-eyed at the large map propped on an easel in the middle of the grassy area, trying to reverse engineer the course instructions as this was now an out-and-back ride with Cobb Mountain being both the highest point of the ride at 3000+ ft elevation and the turn around point at mile 100. As I pedaled my first stroke out of the parking lot I immediately forgot which direction I was supposed to head and ended up riding around in a couple circles for a mile or so in this nice little town before figuring things out.
The rest of the ride to Cobb Mountain was largely uneventful aside from picking off a rider here and there and almost running over a fox who dashed across the road directly in front of me.
By the time I was a mile or two from the turn-around, I could see the riders ahead of me coming back through on the opposite side of the road. At this point there were less than 15 of the 900 or so starters ahead so I had something to motivate me beside my quest for limit-testing.
After a short climb out of the rest stop at the turn-around point, the course was more downhill than up and in theory should have had more tailwind than head. The first 100 miles took me just over 5 hours including stops. The long road back was at least a known quantity, having just ridden the route but that was both a blessing and a curse, knowing that I had to traverse two climate zones, four counties and 100 miles after already having heavy legs from 100 miles.
The hard part of the first 100 miles is to avoid going into the red, knowing you could go faster on the climbs and the flats, especially for a cyclist with a race background. Conversely, the easy part of the last 100 miles is not going into the red as it's just not really an option as the miles tick away. I found that the more the miles went on the more it became a mental challenge to keep focused on staying on top of the gear, keeping the speed up. In the morning I was trying to keep an average on the flats between 23-25 where in the afternoon on the flats I was about a mph slower. I began mentally deteriorate to the point where I was simply counting down the miles to the rest stops so I could refill my rapidly emptying bottles.
The other real challenge in the afternoon which didn't pose a problem in the morning was the fast moving traffic on Highways 16 and 20, both two lane highways with cars and trucks blazing past with little or no shoulder, a couple of times within inches of my bars. I still continued to pick off riders but at this point many of them were bailouts who decided to turn around at lunch instead of making the way to Cobb Mountain, shaving off 30+ of the hardest miles.
Once I got into my unknown zone at mile 130+ I was pretty much in a single minded state with one intention of turning over the pedals and trying to stay relaxed in the meantime so my contact points with the bike wouldn't hurt as much. It's really amazing how you really feel every aspect of the human to machine interface in the later miles. For example, I could feel exactly where on my feet the most power was being transferred to the pedal. They hurt! Especially 30, 40, 50+ miles past the not-so-fresh feeling mark.
It was more of the same for the next 50 miles as I slowly began the descent into raw fatigue that nutrition and hydration could barely stave off. At the second to last rest stop at a farm at mile 180ish the support crew told me there were only a couple guys who did the whole 200 left in front of me. After filling up and vaguely noticing a group of women in full bridal attire(?) I made off in search of what may or may not have been the last two guys ahead of me.
I noticed the first guy within a couple miles and reeled him in. Like me he was in a pain cave but just pedaling slower. I managed a slight wave of the hand as I passed. It took another 10 miles before I saw a solitary figure in the hazy distance of the Yolo farming country. The course was horizontally stairstepping it's way southeast towards Davis. I was still managing to crank the big ring over at 22-23 mph but with everything hurting I was much less efficient than earlier in the day and many, many times less comfortable. Every couple minutes I had to get out of the saddle to pick up my speed and relieve pressure on my sit bones.
With less than 10 miles remaining, on the long flat final run into Davis on Road 31, I reeled in the last rider. Shortly afterward I rolled into the start/finish. The last 100 miles were quicker than the first with a time under 5 hours. All in all I probably rode 80 of the first 85 miles in the wind and 115 of the last 115 miles in the wind and completely alone.
All in all the Davis Double was an interesting experience and full of serendipity. I didn't crack so I definitely caught it on a good day where I was feeling fresh and strong. I didn't train for it so I don't know that I'd really recommend it to just anyone because it is a huge undertaking and needs to be taken more seriously. I think I had a fair amount of luck on my side. And only you can make the call if you're ready to handle the commitment to that many miles. But I can say that it wasn't as hard or as bad as I thought it might be.
Interestingly, what I don't know is whether it was a kick in the rump or a kick in the head as I'm actually still recovering but feeling pretty good. Only time will tell.
Also interesting is that I think I may have actually validated my theory that there is no reason to ride more than 100 or so miles, but with an addendum: There is no reason to ride more than 100 or so miles other than the fact that it can be done, which may just be the only reason necessary.
Thanks for reading,
-Greg Drake
Davis, CA
May 19, 2007
Weather: 52F am to 85F pm
Field: ~900
Course: 200 miles, 8000+ ft elevation gain
There are certain distance thresholds in conventional ground-based travel which, when reached, one looks for a faster or more efficient alternative. This holds true for all forms of transportation, albeit with a great deal of overlap based on myriad factors. As for my personal threshold with my favorite mode, it's generally been around the hundred mile mark, give or take 25 miles for either racing or training. Above that threshold I tend to get that not-so-fresh feeling and am ready to stow the bike for another day and sit on the couch, eat, and stare at some inanely soothing television programming. But with my race season getting off to a late start followed immediately by a slow decline in performance, I decided I needed to shake up some of my conventional thresholds.
I can tell you with a wide margin of error that before Saturday I'd never reeeally considered riding a bike for 150 miles let alone 200. A couple times I hit the 120ish mile mark. Once after riding back home from the Mt Hamilton Road Race in preparation for the SF Grand Prix and one other time some years back, when former Webcor Pro Marc Hagenlocher and his pal Levi Leipheimer took Ted Huang and me out on some ridiculously long, hard 130-some-mile ride from Santa Rosa to Skaggs Springs and back. I have few memories other than being towed by Marc and Levi for miles on end at uncomfortable speeds and cracking profoundly around mile 100 and then watching in a mix of utter befuddlement and awe as Levi rendezvoused with his wife Odessa and left for what must have been his real workout for the day: motorpacing at 30+ back to his house - the long way.
And sure, I've heard of RAAM and thought to myself that I might have a physiological bent that suited me in some way for it but I also just watched a show where some guy layed on a board that was tethered to the world's largest slingshot and was launched 300 feet into the air whereupon he let out his base-jump chute and glided to the ground. I mean, seriously, I think I might be able to do that - but I most probably won't. Let's just say that I have really never understood why someone would ride a bike for longer than a hundred-or-so miles, out of necessity or want.
So you can safely assume that times were desperate and my measures drastic when I registered for the 38th Annual Davis Double Century last week. If I was thinking at all I was thinking that at the bare minimum I'd get a really good workout on some roads other than those on the Peninsula and have rest stops every 20 miles and SAG support for when I cried "no mas."
It came to this point because this year's overly intense training and aggressive weight loss regimes in rush preparation for the mid-season NRC stage races had left me an empty shell about the time the Wente Road Race rolled around. Or maybe it was just a simple case of bad flaxeed oil. Regardless, after struggling to come around I finally backed off and returned to base mode. I ate and rested and put on six much needed pounds. I also rode lots and lots of miles. But as you may have guessed, nothing more than a hundred-or-so at any given time. I figured I was at the point where the Davis Double would surely kick me in the rump and maybe get things back on track. The worst case would be a kick in the head but that actually may not have been such a bad thing really. You get the picture.
For all the times I grumbled about the standard Velo Promo 8:00 am start times, I sorely lamented them as I read that the Davis Double start was at 5:15 am. Not being one for a short night on a lumpy bed in a less-than-exotic locale after a long day of work I hit the sack at the homestead and woke up at 2:30 am, loaded the car and hit the road. After one of my quickest trips to Davis in history, I rolled into the parking lot under the cover of darkness to a sea of
flashing red and tiny beams of white and bluish bikelights reflecting off ankle straps, armstraps and helmets. Wow. This wasn't the typical start I'm accustomed to. Nor was it the typical race, I mean ride, I'm accustomed to. I was starting to wonder if I was underprepared - in every aspect of unpreparedness. Not only had I never ridden these kind of distances I hadn't brought any lights or reflective gear. As looked around and I watched these grizzled long distance road warriors gird for battle I realized that I hadn't even brought a saddle bag.
I was greeted in the registration room by a small contingent of very awake and very enthusiastic individuals who informed me that I had to wait for the darkness to recede before I could start the ride. Having spent four years living in Davis I can attest to the keen eye the police have with regards to traffic laws, both for cars and bikes as the local paper reported on more than one occasion that someone was arrested for "BUI."
The Davis Double Century is considered an entry level ride into the long distance world and it is not timed like some of the more competitive events. The start time is actually a window between 5:15 and 5:45, with many slower pedaling participants actually starting earlier to capitalize on the empty roads. As I changed my clothes and pinned on my number, I watched 700-800 cyclists quietly filter out of the parking lot and disappear down the street with nary a
hint of pomp or circumstance.
But I had to focus my attention to more pressing matters as I tried to muster some early morning arithmetic skills to figure out how many calories to stuff into my pockets. "Two hundred miles divided by Xmph multiplied by Ycalories/hr..." It was slow going but the product of my calculation was irrelevant as it would have had me towing a bob trailer with a stocked Coleman cooler and a hibachi grill. With my caloric needs vastly exceeding the space available in my size-small Voler race-cut jersey, I decided to throw the math out the window and literally stuff the pockets with gels and bars until the threads started to crackle in protest. This of course was after loading them with two spare tubes, a patch kit, a McGyver-like multi-tool, and some allen wrenches. And a pump.
Bursting at the seams with my rations in tow and a couple pounds heavier for the effort, I rolled out of the parking lot to start my odyssey. My plan was really quite simple. Start pedaling until it hurts just a little bit and then keep doing it for 200 more miles. No heart rate monitors, no wattometers, just me, my bike and my full pockets, sans saddle bag.
As mentioned the course is relatively forgiving for a double century, with only 8000+ total feet of climbing. It was to head northwest out of town towards Winters then up and over the hills to Middletown, then climb up to the small hamlet of Cobb Mountain, east through the rest of Lake County, southeast to Colusa County then back to Davis through a smattering of quaint small towns I'd never heard of.
The lucky part about starting near last is that I didn't have to look at the map. At all. In fact, I stuck it in my jersey but didn't even glance at it before leaving. There was a steady stream of cyclists as far as the eye could see, largely single file with the straggler either coming or going. I quickly learned that if I couldn't see any cyclists up the road then there must be a turn coming up very soon. The first twenty miles were flat country roads and I just locked into my big ring and spun at a pretty high cadence to warm up the legs and the rest of the body as the first casualty of my limited space was the shell vest and arm warmers. I knew they'd come off in a few hours but I'd have nowhere to put them for the next seven. They stayed in the car. Now I was pretty cold.
At a steady 24-25mph out of town I felt pretty comfortable if not a tad bit uncomfortable but I figured as long as I didn't go into the red I would be fine as long as I kept drinking and eating. I was picking off long stretching pace lines as I cranked up the road, with many opportunists hopping on and off my wheel for some free miles.
I expressly ruled at the start of the ride that I would never ever ask someone to pull through. I'd live by the sword and die by the sword. This was a learning experience to test my limits and "to crack or not to crack"; for that was the question that I'd surely get an answer to by day's end.
The first rest stop at mile 25 was not needed so I blew through with what had become a couple regulars on my wheel. Several riders over the early miles tried to pitch in and pull through but ended up dropping my pace by 2-3 mph so I gave them 30 seconds or so before coming back through and resuming the effort. On the way to the second rest stop I came upon a couple fellow Webcor riders, including Jim Kern on his recumbent. One note I had about recumbents - they don't give much draft it seems. After spending about a minute behind one I noticed that it almost felt like there was more turbulence than when I passed him and rode into the wind by
myself!
At the second rest stop there was a huge line for the bathroom and bikes everywhere so I blew that one off as well figuring I'd fill up both my bottles at the mile 65 rest stop near where the real climbing starts. The long straight barren flat county roads had given way to still largely flat but gently rolling winding roads full of trees. I continued to pass big groups of bikes of every
kind: road bikes, touring bikes, tandems, hybrids, faired recumbents, standard recumbents. I didn't see any BMX bikes but did see a Bike Friday! 200 miles on that? Ouch.
As the course hit Cache Creek the road began to tilt upward and the light crosswinds became a slight headwind. I was left with only one companion from the earlier miles, KP from Delta Velo who was content to stay on my wheel, as I really didn't give him any chance to pull through. Really nice guy who happened to be a former teammate of our own 1/2 rider Matt Morenzoni. I picked up another passenger somewhere around mile 50 and kept the big ring spinning up the shallow gradient. The road then pitched up even more and I was alone after being thanked by one of the guys for the "hour-long pull." The weather was warming up and I was finally starting to warm up on the bike and breaking a bit of a sweat.
Just before reaching the third rest stop I made sure to drain the last of my bottle to maximize my hydration and get two full refills. At the side of the road the oasis came into view and I was all smiles as I rolled up to what appeared to be a fully stocked buffet largely devoid of any cyclists. It seems I'd passed most of the field at this point. The first thing I saw was a gal making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on sourdough. Damn that looked good. I hadn't had one in a couple years so I indulged after stuffing a couple fig newtons in my mouth.
After making quick work of the sandwich I made my way down the line to the large yellow water coolers with "Cytomax" written on them. As I went to fill up my bottles, a volunteer somewhat sheepishly told me they didn't have any water. Looking at the five different kinds of fruit, assortment of cookies, sandwiches, energy bars, baked breads and bagels I asked if I heard him correctly. He replied that in fact the course had been diverted back at mile 20 because of a fire near Middletown. His rest stop was supposed to be on the road near there but was closed by CDF right as the ride started earlier in the morning. Apparently this information was being delivered to all the riders at the first rest stop - which I blew through at 25 mph. This poor group of volunteers ended up having to drive an hour or so this rest stop as a contingency plan. The only problem was that there was no water hookup at this rest stop like at the other one they were scheduled to be at. The big glitch was that there was nothing in the way of services within 25 miles each direction
At this point, while I was trying to comprehend what they were telling me, the Fig Newtons and PB&J notified me that they were not sure they would be able to complete to whole trip to my stomach unless they received some reinforcements in the way of something resembling a liquid. Quickly.
All the rest stop staffers could offer me was some of their supply of lukewarm V8 drinks. Now I don't know if you've had a V8 but let me tell you something: They are really not a "drink" in the classical sense of refreshment where hydration is the primary goal. While yes they are a liquid and yes they are packaged utilizing in a small aluminum beverage container they are not the go-to choice of parched endurance athletes just completing the first third of a 200 mile bicycle ride.
Regardless of these well established, self-evident truths I nonetheless cracked three of those things open and filled up my bottle. Desperation? Yeah. Drastic measure? No. Drastic would have been to drain someones hot radiator into my bottles - which briefly crossed my mind.
Now, I can only say that V8 is a fine "supplemental" beverage. The salt content in each gulp alone would satisfy the daily requirement of most sedentary hominids. And yes it sure tastes like vegetables once you habituate to the overwhelming salinity. Had I a second bottle full of H2O I can assure you I would have had very little to complain about. Just a splash to wash down the red sludge would have sufficed. But alas I hadn't even a splash left.
So the next two climbs, I think they were named resurrection, or heartbreak or something like that, were an uncomfortable affair with half liter of V8 sloshing in my gut. Fortunately I was feeling good otherwise and made short shrift of them and rolled into the lunch stop at an elementary school at mile 85, immediately bypassing all food related items, heading straight to the big yellow coolers and slugging all the Cytomax I could stomach. I was tempted to ask the
motherly looking volunteer to pick up the whole jug and pour it on my head NFL-coach-playoff-style but I don't think she could have lifted it so I was content to politely drink and refill, rinse, repeat all on my own.
I mowed a ham sandwich, grabbed a granola bar and stared glassy-eyed at the large map propped on an easel in the middle of the grassy area, trying to reverse engineer the course instructions as this was now an out-and-back ride with Cobb Mountain being both the highest point of the ride at 3000+ ft elevation and the turn around point at mile 100. As I pedaled my first stroke out of the parking lot I immediately forgot which direction I was supposed to head and ended up riding around in a couple circles for a mile or so in this nice little town before figuring things out.
The rest of the ride to Cobb Mountain was largely uneventful aside from picking off a rider here and there and almost running over a fox who dashed across the road directly in front of me.
By the time I was a mile or two from the turn-around, I could see the riders ahead of me coming back through on the opposite side of the road. At this point there were less than 15 of the 900 or so starters ahead so I had something to motivate me beside my quest for limit-testing.
After a short climb out of the rest stop at the turn-around point, the course was more downhill than up and in theory should have had more tailwind than head. The first 100 miles took me just over 5 hours including stops. The long road back was at least a known quantity, having just ridden the route but that was both a blessing and a curse, knowing that I had to traverse two climate zones, four counties and 100 miles after already having heavy legs from 100 miles.
The hard part of the first 100 miles is to avoid going into the red, knowing you could go faster on the climbs and the flats, especially for a cyclist with a race background. Conversely, the easy part of the last 100 miles is not going into the red as it's just not really an option as the miles tick away. I found that the more the miles went on the more it became a mental challenge to keep focused on staying on top of the gear, keeping the speed up. In the morning I was trying to keep an average on the flats between 23-25 where in the afternoon on the flats I was about a mph slower. I began mentally deteriorate to the point where I was simply counting down the miles to the rest stops so I could refill my rapidly emptying bottles.
The other real challenge in the afternoon which didn't pose a problem in the morning was the fast moving traffic on Highways 16 and 20, both two lane highways with cars and trucks blazing past with little or no shoulder, a couple of times within inches of my bars. I still continued to pick off riders but at this point many of them were bailouts who decided to turn around at lunch instead of making the way to Cobb Mountain, shaving off 30+ of the hardest miles.
Once I got into my unknown zone at mile 130+ I was pretty much in a single minded state with one intention of turning over the pedals and trying to stay relaxed in the meantime so my contact points with the bike wouldn't hurt as much. It's really amazing how you really feel every aspect of the human to machine interface in the later miles. For example, I could feel exactly where on my feet the most power was being transferred to the pedal. They hurt! Especially 30, 40, 50+ miles past the not-so-fresh feeling mark.
It was more of the same for the next 50 miles as I slowly began the descent into raw fatigue that nutrition and hydration could barely stave off. At the second to last rest stop at a farm at mile 180ish the support crew told me there were only a couple guys who did the whole 200 left in front of me. After filling up and vaguely noticing a group of women in full bridal attire(?) I made off in search of what may or may not have been the last two guys ahead of me.
I noticed the first guy within a couple miles and reeled him in. Like me he was in a pain cave but just pedaling slower. I managed a slight wave of the hand as I passed. It took another 10 miles before I saw a solitary figure in the hazy distance of the Yolo farming country. The course was horizontally stairstepping it's way southeast towards Davis. I was still managing to crank the big ring over at 22-23 mph but with everything hurting I was much less efficient than earlier in the day and many, many times less comfortable. Every couple minutes I had to get out of the saddle to pick up my speed and relieve pressure on my sit bones.
With less than 10 miles remaining, on the long flat final run into Davis on Road 31, I reeled in the last rider. Shortly afterward I rolled into the start/finish. The last 100 miles were quicker than the first with a time under 5 hours. All in all I probably rode 80 of the first 85 miles in the wind and 115 of the last 115 miles in the wind and completely alone.
All in all the Davis Double was an interesting experience and full of serendipity. I didn't crack so I definitely caught it on a good day where I was feeling fresh and strong. I didn't train for it so I don't know that I'd really recommend it to just anyone because it is a huge undertaking and needs to be taken more seriously. I think I had a fair amount of luck on my side. And only you can make the call if you're ready to handle the commitment to that many miles. But I can say that it wasn't as hard or as bad as I thought it might be.
Interestingly, what I don't know is whether it was a kick in the rump or a kick in the head as I'm actually still recovering but feeling pretty good. Only time will tell.
Also interesting is that I think I may have actually validated my theory that there is no reason to ride more than 100 or so miles, but with an addendum: There is no reason to ride more than 100 or so miles other than the fact that it can be done, which may just be the only reason necessary.
Thanks for reading,
-Greg Drake
Monday, May 21, 2007
Panoche Pass Road Race Report
The Webcor/Alto Velo Men's Elite Team sent 7 guys to Panoche RR. Webcor Builders Pro, Christine Thorburn, joined us for the day as well. Panoche is a fun out and back course with challenging short hills and fierce winds. Unfortunately, Bruce Wilford crashed on a descent and 4 of his teammates stopped to assist. Ted, Matt & Christine were farther ahead on the road and missed the carnage. Bruce was able to walk away from the crash, for which we were all very relieved. Matt, Ted, and Christine forged on to get some results for the abruptly reduced team. Here's Ted's report of the action.
==========================================
Panoche Pass RR, Pro/1/2
Team: James Badia, BB (Mat Beebe), Dominic, Matt Morenzoni, Rob MacNeill, Jono, Bruce Wilford
Special Guest: Christine Thorburn
Field size: about 38
For our category, the 2nd ever Panoche Pass RR started off without a hitch. Last year, first time promoter, Greg Bloom had to deal with mother nature and a torrential downpour which caused a debris strewn course, rock slides, and more. This year mother nature offered us beautiful conditions + wind (lots of it). A pleasant surprise was the high quality local field that turned up with the likes of ageless Eric Wohlberg(Symmetrics), John Hunt(Cal Giant), Dan Martin(Safeway), Michael Hutchinson(Spine), Jackson Stewart(BMC), David Galvin
Our race began pleasantly, as we cruised out accompanied by a tailwind, it's intensity I underestimated until a certain left turn 3/4 of the way to the turnaround. From the gun, a three rider break formed including our California TT Champ, Matt Morenzoni. This gave the rest of us a free ride. They quickly vanished from sight as our LGBRC driven pack cruised through Panoche Valley.Thus I had a chance to catch up with old teammates, friends, interrupted only by the small hills which caused a bit of discomfort to my sore "East Zayante" legs.
Descending from the main climb of the day, I began to appreciate how strong our tailwind had become as I flew along spinning my 53/11 at over 100rpm. 'Wow' I thought, 'I'm getting dropped. Maybe it's time to move up.' The crucial turn of the day approached where I realized all hell would break loose. I should have anticipated what was going to happen next because Monsieur Wohlberg showed up on the line with a quad spoke front wheel. Bam! Eric drilled it out of the corner leaving all but an alert John Hunt, two BMC riders, and a couple of others instantly off the front. Can you say, "Insta-grovel?" The rest of us found ourselves in the right gutter. Having decided that I am too old for this 'grovel in the gutter' stuff, I instantly moved out to the left and shouted for rider to "Move left!" But unfortunately, old habits die hard when you're cross eyed and I was given nary a glance as I shot backwards, flailing out in the wind. Finally, I succumbed and drifted over into the gutter, having lost about 15 positions. A few wiser folks including Michael Hutchinson went with my line of thinking, and soon, we became the 2nd group on the road. Basically since the right side of the road was only so big, our group quickly whittled down to only those that could fit across it and still receive draft (maybe 5). Working well together, we bridged to the front group just before the base of the last little climb. On the way, we passed by Matt Morenzoni, who rode incredibly well today, and was the lone survivor of that initial break. I shouted for him to jump on, realizing that it would next to impossible.
Up and over, we made it to the turnaround and could then see how shattered the field had become. I drifted to the back of our 10 person group thinking I'd be sitting on waiting for reinforcements. Poor judgement on my part as I was boxed in as Wohlberg attacked hard on the climb out of the feedzone bringing a vigilant Dan Martin and John Hunt with him. It took me precious seconds to unbox myself from the right side of the road, and I took off after them. I got partway across, looked back and saw Jackson bringing up a group, and decided to wait. Over the top, it was Michael Hutchinson, Jackson, another Cal Giant, and me hanging on for grim death. Unfortunately I nearly overcooked it on the sketchy descent and went off into the gravel/scrub brush. I emerged unscathed, but firmly planted in no-man's land. I proceeded to flog myself through the bulk of the vicious crosswind section, not making any headway on the Jackson led group. I sat up and waited for two more riders to catch from behind and restarted the chase.
After turning onto the headwind section, and few more miles of lovely headwind, we caught the Jackson, Michael, and Cal Giant (Ozzie) group. But the lead group of three was nowhere to be seen. They were two minutes up the road and it sounded like their lead was increasing. We all resigned ourselves to rotating through, except for the Cal Giant rider. Jackson decided to pull the plug (probably having just got back from Europe) at the base of the main climb, and the five of us plodded ahead. But when I heard the gap had grown to 4-5 minutes, it became a matter of "let's just get home." We tried to convince the Cal Giant guy to help out, but to no avail.
I conferred a bit with the rest of my breakmates, and I told them if we were attacked near the end by the Cal Giant rider, we'd all work together to bring him back. What happened was even better when Michael attacked with the CVC rider in our break in tow, and they immediately achieved a sizable gap because myself and the Lombardi's rider wasn't about to chase. The next 7 or so miles was great fun as the remaining three of us took turns attacking the crap out of each other, but myself and the Lombardi's rider choosing not to chase each other down. Finally, with a couple miles to go, I broke clear, and thanks to the Lombardi's rider not chasing, I was able to hold a gap and roll in for sixth place. Earlier, Eric chose to eat some serious wind by himself and attacked over the top of the main climb and solo'd in. An on-form Dan Martin outsprinted local strongman, John Hunt for third. Michael very kindly gave a young CVC rider 4th place. Matt and Christine finished in the next group fighting for 8th place.
After the race, I found out that our Bruce Wilford had overcooked one of the turns on the sketchy descent I nearly crashed on and had gone head over wheels, landing heavily. Several of our team stopped to help Bruce and Dominic kindly drove Bruce back to his house. We all wish Bruce a speedy recovery as he had to fly out to England this evening.
Lessons learned:
You need to be in nearly at the front when entering a crosswind section
It's every man for himself in a crosswind gutterfest
Be very scared when Wolhberg shows up with a quad spoke front wheel
New pavement w/ loose chunks of asphalt doesn't provide ideal traction
I encourage riders to come and attend this race, It's well organized and even though the course is out and back, it's plenty challenging.
-Ted
==========================================
Panoche Pass RR, Pro/1/2
Team: James Badia, BB (Mat Beebe), Dominic, Matt Morenzoni, Rob MacNeill, Jono, Bruce Wilford
Special Guest: Christine Thorburn
Field size: about 38
For our category, the 2nd ever Panoche Pass RR started off without a hitch. Last year, first time promoter, Greg Bloom had to deal with mother nature and a torrential downpour which caused a debris strewn course, rock slides, and more. This year mother nature offered us beautiful conditions + wind (lots of it). A pleasant surprise was the high quality local field that turned up with the likes of ageless Eric Wohlberg(Symmetrics), John Hunt(Cal Giant), Dan Martin(Safeway), Michael Hutchinson(Spine), Jackson Stewart(BMC), David Galvin
Our race began pleasantly, as we cruised out accompanied by a tailwind, it's intensity I underestimated until a certain left turn 3/4 of the way to the turnaround. From the gun, a three rider break formed including our California TT Champ, Matt Morenzoni. This gave the rest of us a free ride. They quickly vanished from sight as our LGBRC driven pack cruised through Panoche Valley.Thus I had a chance to catch up with old teammates, friends, interrupted only by the small hills which caused a bit of discomfort to my sore "East Zayante" legs.
Descending from the main climb of the day, I began to appreciate how strong our tailwind had become as I flew along spinning my 53/11 at over 100rpm. 'Wow' I thought, 'I'm getting dropped. Maybe it's time to move up.' The crucial turn of the day approached where I realized all hell would break loose. I should have anticipated what was going to happen next because Monsieur Wohlberg showed up on the line with a quad spoke front wheel. Bam! Eric drilled it out of the corner leaving all but an alert John Hunt, two BMC riders, and a couple of others instantly off the front. Can you say, "Insta-grovel?" The rest of us found ourselves in the right gutter. Having decided that I am too old for this 'grovel in the gutter' stuff, I instantly moved out to the left and shouted for rider to "Move left!" But unfortunately, old habits die hard when you're cross eyed and I was given nary a glance as I shot backwards, flailing out in the wind. Finally, I succumbed and drifted over into the gutter, having lost about 15 positions. A few wiser folks including Michael Hutchinson went with my line of thinking, and soon, we became the 2nd group on the road. Basically since the right side of the road was only so big, our group quickly whittled down to only those that could fit across it and still receive draft (maybe 5). Working well together, we bridged to the front group just before the base of the last little climb. On the way, we passed by Matt Morenzoni, who rode incredibly well today, and was the lone survivor of that initial break. I shouted for him to jump on, realizing that it would next to impossible.
Up and over, we made it to the turnaround and could then see how shattered the field had become. I drifted to the back of our 10 person group thinking I'd be sitting on waiting for reinforcements. Poor judgement on my part as I was boxed in as Wohlberg attacked hard on the climb out of the feedzone bringing a vigilant Dan Martin and John Hunt with him. It took me precious seconds to unbox myself from the right side of the road, and I took off after them. I got partway across, looked back and saw Jackson bringing up a group, and decided to wait. Over the top, it was Michael Hutchinson, Jackson, another Cal Giant, and me hanging on for grim death. Unfortunately I nearly overcooked it on the sketchy descent and went off into the gravel/scrub brush. I emerged unscathed, but firmly planted in no-man's land. I proceeded to flog myself through the bulk of the vicious crosswind section, not making any headway on the Jackson led group. I sat up and waited for two more riders to catch from behind and restarted the chase.
After turning onto the headwind section, and few more miles of lovely headwind, we caught the Jackson, Michael, and Cal Giant (Ozzie) group. But the lead group of three was nowhere to be seen. They were two minutes up the road and it sounded like their lead was increasing. We all resigned ourselves to rotating through, except for the Cal Giant rider. Jackson decided to pull the plug (probably having just got back from Europe) at the base of the main climb, and the five of us plodded ahead. But when I heard the gap had grown to 4-5 minutes, it became a matter of "let's just get home." We tried to convince the Cal Giant guy to help out, but to no avail.
I conferred a bit with the rest of my breakmates, and I told them if we were attacked near the end by the Cal Giant rider, we'd all work together to bring him back. What happened was even better when Michael attacked with the CVC rider in our break in tow, and they immediately achieved a sizable gap because myself and the Lombardi's rider wasn't about to chase. The next 7 or so miles was great fun as the remaining three of us took turns attacking the crap out of each other, but myself and the Lombardi's rider choosing not to chase each other down. Finally, with a couple miles to go, I broke clear, and thanks to the Lombardi's rider not chasing, I was able to hold a gap and roll in for sixth place. Earlier, Eric chose to eat some serious wind by himself and attacked over the top of the main climb and solo'd in. An on-form Dan Martin outsprinted local strongman, John Hunt for third. Michael very kindly gave a young CVC rider 4th place. Matt and Christine finished in the next group fighting for 8th place.
After the race, I found out that our Bruce Wilford had overcooked one of the turns on the sketchy descent I nearly crashed on and had gone head over wheels, landing heavily. Several of our team stopped to help Bruce and Dominic kindly drove Bruce back to his house. We all wish Bruce a speedy recovery as he had to fly out to England this evening.
Lessons learned:
You need to be in nearly at the front when entering a crosswind section
It's every man for himself in a crosswind gutterfest
Be very scared when Wolhberg shows up with a quad spoke front wheel
New pavement w/ loose chunks of asphalt doesn't provide ideal traction
I encourage riders to come and attend this race, It's well organized and even though the course is out and back, it's plenty challenging.
-Ted
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Berkeley Hills Road Race Report
The Webcor/Alto Velo Men's Elite Team raced a NorCal favorite this weekend, Berkeley Hills RR, which features a succession of tough rolling hills known as "The 3 Bears." We fielded a solid crew, rode a good tactical race, and got 2 in the top ten against a very competitive field. Our own Ted Huang worked hard all day in a breakaway to finish on the podium in 3rd. Below is his report.
============================================
Berkeley Hills Road Race
12 May 2007
Team: Greg "Drakester" Drake, Dominic Giampaolo, Jono Coulter, Tore "The Toreminator" Nauta, Rob MacNeill
Results: 3rd for Ted, 7th for Tore, "Field finish" for Greg, Jono, and Dom, Rob DNF'd
This edition of Berkeley Hills sported some very good local competition in the form of a large Cal Giant Team (8+), Team Kona (one rather tall Barry Wicks), and a plethora of other good local riders including Dan Halloway and Eric Riggs (eventual winner) of VMG.
The team plan was pretty basic. Don't initiate much, but definitely follow moves with Cal Giant riders. Riders to watch: Jesse Moore, John Hunt, Chava, Chris Lieto (about 1/3 of the Cal Giant Team), Barry Wicks (hard to miss), Eric Riggs, this crazy strong Mengoni rider (Blanco?), and ourselves.
Hmm. I just realized that I'm a poor listener or just don't follow instructions well, or both. In retrospect, I didn't do either.
From the gun, Patrick Briggs attacked solo. This actually caused the peloton to ride pianissimo for the first lap until the climbs where Barry expectedly rode really hard at the front, making life miserable for the rest of us. On San Pablo Dam Rd, Jonathan of CVC attacked. Being rather nearsighted (okay, was sitting at the back), I thought we had missed a move with another Cal Giant going up the road. So UNINTENTIONALLY, I initiated an attack, and a Cal Giant club rider? went with me. Very soon, Ken Akita of Organic Athlete bridged up.
At this point, I need to point out that we rode through the aftermath of what appeared to be a very serious accident, where junior rider took a tumble at high speed. Cars were stopped and I actually saw Pat Briggs riding backwards on the course to help out. Pat is an EMT and, while off the front, selflessly stopped his race to see if he could help. Wow!
Back to this more trivial race report... Initially we shared the work, but once we took the right onto Alhambra Valley Rd, it pretty much became just me, due to the cross tailwind and false flats. Once we hit the climbs, I rode tempo up Mama Bear, before dropping them on the plateau to the next set of rollers.
I rode steady hard up Papa Bear and finally caught Jonathan at the right turn onto San Pablo Dam Road. Perfect timing, because we faced a raging headwind. Jonathan was impressive , however, we were soon caught by a group of 8 or so containing Barry Wicks, something like 5 Cal Giant riders (Chava, Chris Lieto, John Hunt, Oswaldo?, my two breakmates I had previously dropped, Eric Riggs, and Blanco (Mengoni rider). Obviously this was the race, and I braced myself for another 2.7 laps of joyous fun.
I'll skip the next details, but let's just say that for the next couple of laps, Barry did most of the driving along with several Cal Giant riders. The rest of us pulled through, but none of us overdid it, especially self proclaimed "Glass Crankset Riggs". Barry went really hard (for me) up lap 3's Mama and Papa Bear climbs, dropping Ken and the Cal Giant club guy for good. Since I suffered like a dog, as we were pulling on San Pablo Dam Road, I asked Barry if he wanted to keep it together for the finishing lap. He told me yes. So without being too blunt, Barry put 2 + 2 together that it was in his best interest not to drop the non Cal Giant riders on lap 4's climbs, and I only died like one death that lap.
Lap 5: attacks started coming on San Pablo Dam Rd, and as we turned right onto Castro Ranch Rd, Barry and Blanco simply drilled it up one of the risers, and kept going. I was 101% cross-eyed, and John Hunt (evidently also cross-eyed) closed the gap. It was do or die. Then there were just five of us including Riggs who had been on my wheel. Once the pace eased, Jonothan caught back up as well as Chris. But then another nice acceleration by the Wicks/Blanco duo left only John Hunt as the sole Cal Giant representative.
Riggs, myself, and John planted ourselves firmly on the back for the couple miles before Mama Bear. Blanco promptly attacked from the bottom. I went with him initially but quickly pulled over so Wicks could go with him. I went backwards as John, Riggs, and Jonothan went by me (in that order). I overhauled Jonothan 2/3 of the way up the hill and was able to surge onto Riggs' wheel as John faded away. We both acquired Wicks' and Blanco on the plateau between climbs. But in this tailwind section, Blanco promptly counterattacked leaving Wicks chasing solo and Riggs and I gasping to catch Wicks. We finally did and sat there as Barry finally caught Blanco at the bottom of the finishing Papa Bear climb.
On the last climb, Wicks decided to try and ride us off of his wheel. Luckily there was some wind, so I was able to hang until about 1/2 way up. Riggs somehow found it in him to attack Wicks with about 150 meters to go and coast in for the win. Meanwhile, I dug very deep to distance myself from Blanco and then decided to dig even deeper and see if I could catch Barry. Well unfortunately, I know too many people, and their cheering for me prompted Wicks to step on the pedals a bit more just as I reached his wheel. I had to settle for third.
Tore, in his 3rd 1/2 race won the sprint for 7th in the next group back. Very solid ride by Tore. Greg, Dominic, and Jono rolled in a bit later in the remains of the peloton.
Interesting Note: Every single time I crested Papa Bear, a rabid Jono fan mistook me for him and cheered his lungs out calling out, "Go Jono!!" . At one point I sat up and exclaimed, "I'm not Jono! But thanks!" It went unheeded. Us Asians all look alike.
-Ted
============================================
Berkeley Hills Road Race
12 May 2007
Team: Greg "Drakester" Drake, Dominic Giampaolo, Jono Coulter, Tore "The Toreminator" Nauta, Rob MacNeill
Results: 3rd for Ted, 7th for Tore, "Field finish" for Greg, Jono, and Dom, Rob DNF'd
This edition of Berkeley Hills sported some very good local competition in the form of a large Cal Giant Team (8+), Team Kona (one rather tall Barry Wicks), and a plethora of other good local riders including Dan Halloway and Eric Riggs (eventual winner) of VMG.
The team plan was pretty basic. Don't initiate much, but definitely follow moves with Cal Giant riders. Riders to watch: Jesse Moore, John Hunt, Chava, Chris Lieto (about 1/3 of the Cal Giant Team), Barry Wicks (hard to miss), Eric Riggs, this crazy strong Mengoni rider (Blanco?), and ourselves.
Hmm. I just realized that I'm a poor listener or just don't follow instructions well, or both. In retrospect, I didn't do either.
From the gun, Patrick Briggs attacked solo. This actually caused the peloton to ride pianissimo for the first lap until the climbs where Barry expectedly rode really hard at the front, making life miserable for the rest of us. On San Pablo Dam Rd, Jonathan of CVC attacked. Being rather nearsighted (okay, was sitting at the back), I thought we had missed a move with another Cal Giant going up the road. So UNINTENTIONALLY, I initiated an attack, and a Cal Giant club rider? went with me. Very soon, Ken Akita of Organic Athlete bridged up.
At this point, I need to point out that we rode through the aftermath of what appeared to be a very serious accident, where junior rider took a tumble at high speed. Cars were stopped and I actually saw Pat Briggs riding backwards on the course to help out. Pat is an EMT and, while off the front, selflessly stopped his race to see if he could help. Wow!
Back to this more trivial race report... Initially we shared the work, but once we took the right onto Alhambra Valley Rd, it pretty much became just me, due to the cross tailwind and false flats. Once we hit the climbs, I rode tempo up Mama Bear, before dropping them on the plateau to the next set of rollers.
I rode steady hard up Papa Bear and finally caught Jonathan at the right turn onto San Pablo Dam Road. Perfect timing, because we faced a raging headwind. Jonathan was impressive , however, we were soon caught by a group of 8 or so containing Barry Wicks, something like 5 Cal Giant riders (Chava, Chris Lieto, John Hunt, Oswaldo?, my two breakmates I had previously dropped, Eric Riggs, and Blanco (Mengoni rider). Obviously this was the race, and I braced myself for another 2.7 laps of joyous fun.
I'll skip the next details, but let's just say that for the next couple of laps, Barry did most of the driving along with several Cal Giant riders. The rest of us pulled through, but none of us overdid it, especially self proclaimed "Glass Crankset Riggs". Barry went really hard (for me) up lap 3's Mama and Papa Bear climbs, dropping Ken and the Cal Giant club guy for good. Since I suffered like a dog, as we were pulling on San Pablo Dam Road, I asked Barry if he wanted to keep it together for the finishing lap. He told me yes. So without being too blunt, Barry put 2 + 2 together that it was in his best interest not to drop the non Cal Giant riders on lap 4's climbs, and I only died like one death that lap.
Lap 5: attacks started coming on San Pablo Dam Rd, and as we turned right onto Castro Ranch Rd, Barry and Blanco simply drilled it up one of the risers, and kept going. I was 101% cross-eyed, and John Hunt (evidently also cross-eyed) closed the gap. It was do or die. Then there were just five of us including Riggs who had been on my wheel. Once the pace eased, Jonothan caught back up as well as Chris. But then another nice acceleration by the Wicks/Blanco duo left only John Hunt as the sole Cal Giant representative.
Riggs, myself, and John planted ourselves firmly on the back for the couple miles before Mama Bear. Blanco promptly attacked from the bottom. I went with him initially but quickly pulled over so Wicks could go with him. I went backwards as John, Riggs, and Jonothan went by me (in that order). I overhauled Jonothan 2/3 of the way up the hill and was able to surge onto Riggs' wheel as John faded away. We both acquired Wicks' and Blanco on the plateau between climbs. But in this tailwind section, Blanco promptly counterattacked leaving Wicks chasing solo and Riggs and I gasping to catch Wicks. We finally did and sat there as Barry finally caught Blanco at the bottom of the finishing Papa Bear climb.
On the last climb, Wicks decided to try and ride us off of his wheel. Luckily there was some wind, so I was able to hang until about 1/2 way up. Riggs somehow found it in him to attack Wicks with about 150 meters to go and coast in for the win. Meanwhile, I dug very deep to distance myself from Blanco and then decided to dig even deeper and see if I could catch Barry. Well unfortunately, I know too many people, and their cheering for me prompted Wicks to step on the pedals a bit more just as I reached his wheel. I had to settle for third.
Tore, in his 3rd 1/2 race won the sprint for 7th in the next group back. Very solid ride by Tore. Greg, Dominic, and Jono rolled in a bit later in the remains of the peloton.
Interesting Note: Every single time I crested Papa Bear, a rabid Jono fan mistook me for him and cheered his lungs out calling out, "Go Jono!!" . At one point I sat up and exclaimed, "I'm not Jono! But thanks!" It went unheeded. Us Asians all look alike.
-Ted
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Santa Rosa Cloterium Race Report
Santa Rosa Downtown Cloterium
6 May 2007
Weather: Hot (90-100), sunny, steady wind with tailwind finish
Race: 30+ 1/2/3, 60 minutes
Team: Rob MacNeill, Brian Peterson, Ted Burns, Tom Fahey
Result: 1st of ~65
(photo courtesy of Mark Estes, www.estesphoto.com)
I like this course, it's a somewhat technical clockwise L-shaped loop with awkward pavement transitions in every corner and tons of bots dots everywhere. The trick to riding fast on this course is to ignore the bad pavement and bots dots and just ride through the obstacles. I raced this course once before a few years back as a Cat 4 and scored my first win ever, so I had fond memories of it. This year, Brian Peterson and I headed up together to see if we could repeat success and get some of the big money on offer.
This was a pretty hard race, harder than the P/1/2 if average power is an indicator. There were lots of breaks, bridging, chasing, and so on. Our team took more of a keep it together for a sprint approach with some chasing when appropriate. Ted took a turn on the front but then flatted shortly after and couldn't get back in. Brian worked hard a lot on the front chasing moves and keeping breaks in check. I did a bit of that too but started pretty much sitting in for the latter third of our 60 minute race. Breaks weren't staying off or looking overly threatening and I liked my chances in the sprint. The finish is right up my alley with a bumpy corner followed by a gently sweeping finishing leg of around 200m to the line.
They started showing lap cards at 10 to go on this short course. At that point I really started focusing on maintaining a good position, ideally in the top-5. That's pretty much what I did. It's a delicate balance letting guys through that are moving up for leadout duty and those that might be the competition. I made the right choices today though. I was happy to see that Don Langley (Morgan Stanley) was assigned long leadout and that I wouldn't have to sprint against him. He did a lap on the front from about 1.5 to 0.5 a lap to go, keeping things lined out. After he pulled off, I was 2nd wheel. The guy in front of me surged and really started nailing it. I had to work really hard for about a minute to stay within reach of him. There was about 1-2 bike lengths between us through a strong head/crosswind and I was concerned I was going too far into the red before I had to sprint. Luckily I gapped off the guy behind me slightly so the pack wasn't exactly following my draft either. Into the last corner, I shifted to the sprint gear and got through the corner and upright as fast as possible before starting a full sprint to the line. After settling in and grabbing another gear, I started looking around, nobody was there. I crossed the line with room to spare and hands in the air. Sweet. Things really fell into place during this race, wish that happened more often. Brian finished farther back after putting in a lot of hard work and luckily avoided a last lap crash.
Link to some finish and podium photos and a video of the finish:
http://picasaweb.google.com/robmacneill/SantaRosaCloterium30123
I did the P/1/2 race a couple hours later but had to pull out with totally cramped up legs. Unfortunately, that was with 2.5 laps to go when I was in good position to duke it out in another pack sprint. Two hard races in the heat was too much for my body. I scored a win though so it's not all that bad.
-Rob
6 May 2007
Weather: Hot (90-100), sunny, steady wind with tailwind finish
Race: 30+ 1/2/3, 60 minutes
Team: Rob MacNeill, Brian Peterson, Ted Burns, Tom Fahey
Result: 1st of ~65
(photo courtesy of Mark Estes, www.estesphoto.com)
I like this course, it's a somewhat technical clockwise L-shaped loop with awkward pavement transitions in every corner and tons of bots dots everywhere. The trick to riding fast on this course is to ignore the bad pavement and bots dots and just ride through the obstacles. I raced this course once before a few years back as a Cat 4 and scored my first win ever, so I had fond memories of it. This year, Brian Peterson and I headed up together to see if we could repeat success and get some of the big money on offer.
This was a pretty hard race, harder than the P/1/2 if average power is an indicator. There were lots of breaks, bridging, chasing, and so on. Our team took more of a keep it together for a sprint approach with some chasing when appropriate. Ted took a turn on the front but then flatted shortly after and couldn't get back in. Brian worked hard a lot on the front chasing moves and keeping breaks in check. I did a bit of that too but started pretty much sitting in for the latter third of our 60 minute race. Breaks weren't staying off or looking overly threatening and I liked my chances in the sprint. The finish is right up my alley with a bumpy corner followed by a gently sweeping finishing leg of around 200m to the line.
They started showing lap cards at 10 to go on this short course. At that point I really started focusing on maintaining a good position, ideally in the top-5. That's pretty much what I did. It's a delicate balance letting guys through that are moving up for leadout duty and those that might be the competition. I made the right choices today though. I was happy to see that Don Langley (Morgan Stanley) was assigned long leadout and that I wouldn't have to sprint against him. He did a lap on the front from about 1.5 to 0.5 a lap to go, keeping things lined out. After he pulled off, I was 2nd wheel. The guy in front of me surged and really started nailing it. I had to work really hard for about a minute to stay within reach of him. There was about 1-2 bike lengths between us through a strong head/crosswind and I was concerned I was going too far into the red before I had to sprint. Luckily I gapped off the guy behind me slightly so the pack wasn't exactly following my draft either. Into the last corner, I shifted to the sprint gear and got through the corner and upright as fast as possible before starting a full sprint to the line. After settling in and grabbing another gear, I started looking around, nobody was there. I crossed the line with room to spare and hands in the air. Sweet. Things really fell into place during this race, wish that happened more often. Brian finished farther back after putting in a lot of hard work and luckily avoided a last lap crash.
Link to some finish and podium photos and a video of the finish:
http://picasaweb.google.com/robmacneill/SantaRosaCloterium30123
I did the P/1/2 race a couple hours later but had to pull out with totally cramped up legs. Unfortunately, that was with 2.5 laps to go when I was in good position to duke it out in another pack sprint. Two hard races in the heat was too much for my body. I scored a win though so it's not all that bad.
-Rob
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Cat's Hill Race Report
This report from Cat's Hill was was filed by our crazy Australian, Jono Coulter :)
Photo by Ken Conley:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kwc/collections/72157600182223161/
More photos of the boys on the hill at
http://picasaweb.google.com/robmacneill/CatSHillCritP12
=====================================================
Sugar CRM Cats Hill Classic
Race: PRO/1/2
Date: 5 May 2007
Los Gatos
90 minutes 40 laps
Team: Ted Huang (17th), Pete Dinolfo (24th), Dominic Giampaolo (32nd), Jono Coulter (33rd), Tracey Colwell (34th)
Saturday the Webcor/Alto Velo Elite 1/2 team raced one of the biggest local events of the north Californian calendar, the CRM Cats Hill Classic. This 90 minute crit in downtown Los Gatos, CA features a 100metre climb at 23% gradient- basically a wall that we had to do 40 times!! Webcor Ted HuANG was actually our best finisher, but he asked me to write cos he could see me bounding around with excess enthusiasm like an eager puppy after the race. The hype and the atmosphere at this race is amazing, every man, woman, child, dog and squirrel was around the circuit shoutin screamin and sinking Sierra Nevada pale ale. Doms wife Maria had laid out a picnic at the KOM line. Julie Colwell and Skyler, Liam and hadlee were shoutin their best "Go Dad"s. Webcor Greens from various categories and Webcor tifosi speckled the sidewalk all the way up the wall. The wall was electric, a tunnel of noisy encouragement from which the riders could draw energy each time they turned their bikes inside out to get up it. Full gas.
Pre start and everyone is trying to elbow each other out of the way. Ted was called to the start line as a previous Winner of Cats Hill. Legend. We also had the feisty terrier that is Pete Dinolfo, the DOMinator Giampaolo, and our very own former president and perennial hardman, Tracey Colwell- straight from being soccer dad in the morning. Webcor/ Alto Velo was primed and fierce and from the gun Dom and Pete were front runners just drilling the pointy end and latching onto anything that moved. You can see from the race fotos that Green was all over it. Dom is in nearly every foto just biting the race's head off.
The early part of proceedings was marked early by Brian Bucholz who stole a march and gathered a hefty bunch of KOM primes, before Tracy started to relive the glory days and countered solo, with a bunch of guys including Mike Sayers (BMC) goin across to him. Next up it was Ted then Dom and Mega Pete just biting at everything and every time we go around the peleton is just snaking single file down the straight and our guys are in the front. Even after repeated surges (Ted was racing like 10 men) our guys weren't even dropping a third of the way down the field before hitting again.
Ive got to say my Giant TCR Advanced from Bike Connection just sailed through the race, where comfort, precision handling and component function are paramount. Guys were dropping chains and gears and bouncin and crashing all over the place and the Go Greens just rode over the cracks in the pavement at 40miles per hour like we were sailing.
7 laps to go and Webcor Jono senses his first opportunity to make an impact in the race and throws down towing Sayers (BMC) across to a USA development kid that was away on his own. BPG and Lobor throw one each of their guys in the break and Webcor shuts the peleton down. Anyway the break fart arses around arguing who should do the work and i think "stuff this" and just drill it to the wall. Whack the BPG guy counters and we ride around the next lap balls out like its the final lap. Except its four to go. I get shelled next time up the wall letting the whole team effort down and Ted has to launch out of the peleton to get across. No deal. He gets there just as the single file peleton slithers across. Its all together heading into the final and we have spent all our bullets. And cookies too. Nothing left. Not even crumbs. Ted comes in 17th Pete 24th, Jono, Dom and Tracy roll over together for 32nd onwards.
Although I bear the responsibility of letting us down from what may have been the ultimate break, the guys should be proud for making the race. We played a card in the final that didn't work but it was a battle the whole way and but for certain race circumstances could have landed us close to the pot of gold. Or even in it, as may soon happen, like jubilant Go Green leprechauns.
Just have to thank the boys for laying it on the line, and also all the Webcor/Alto Velo supporters and cycling family (Sara for being our swanny, Erin, Phyllis, Ileana and Bob, Al W, Bo and Amy, Dave and Peggy for lending me the entry fee plus beer money) that made this race so exciting for the little boy from Oz. Can't wait for Cats Hill 2008 and all the races in between now and then.
Rah!
Jono
PS how classy was watchin Karen drill the Womens Pro race afterwards? Hoh!
Photo by Ken Conley:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kwc/collections/72157600182223161/
More photos of the boys on the hill at
http://picasaweb.google.com/robmacneill/CatSHillCritP12
=====================================================
Sugar CRM Cats Hill Classic
Race: PRO/1/2
Date: 5 May 2007
Los Gatos
90 minutes 40 laps
Team: Ted Huang (17th), Pete Dinolfo (24th), Dominic Giampaolo (32nd), Jono Coulter (33rd), Tracey Colwell (34th)
Saturday the Webcor/Alto Velo Elite 1/2 team raced one of the biggest local events of the north Californian calendar, the CRM Cats Hill Classic. This 90 minute crit in downtown Los Gatos, CA features a 100metre climb at 23% gradient- basically a wall that we had to do 40 times!! Webcor Ted HuANG was actually our best finisher, but he asked me to write cos he could see me bounding around with excess enthusiasm like an eager puppy after the race. The hype and the atmosphere at this race is amazing, every man, woman, child, dog and squirrel was around the circuit shoutin screamin and sinking Sierra Nevada pale ale. Doms wife Maria had laid out a picnic at the KOM line. Julie Colwell and Skyler, Liam and hadlee were shoutin their best "Go Dad"s. Webcor Greens from various categories and Webcor tifosi speckled the sidewalk all the way up the wall. The wall was electric, a tunnel of noisy encouragement from which the riders could draw energy each time they turned their bikes inside out to get up it. Full gas.
Pre start and everyone is trying to elbow each other out of the way. Ted was called to the start line as a previous Winner of Cats Hill. Legend. We also had the feisty terrier that is Pete Dinolfo, the DOMinator Giampaolo, and our very own former president and perennial hardman, Tracey Colwell- straight from being soccer dad in the morning. Webcor/ Alto Velo was primed and fierce and from the gun Dom and Pete were front runners just drilling the pointy end and latching onto anything that moved. You can see from the race fotos that Green was all over it. Dom is in nearly every foto just biting the race's head off.
The early part of proceedings was marked early by Brian Bucholz who stole a march and gathered a hefty bunch of KOM primes, before Tracy started to relive the glory days and countered solo, with a bunch of guys including Mike Sayers (BMC) goin across to him. Next up it was Ted then Dom and Mega Pete just biting at everything and every time we go around the peleton is just snaking single file down the straight and our guys are in the front. Even after repeated surges (Ted was racing like 10 men) our guys weren't even dropping a third of the way down the field before hitting again.
Ive got to say my Giant TCR Advanced from Bike Connection just sailed through the race, where comfort, precision handling and component function are paramount. Guys were dropping chains and gears and bouncin and crashing all over the place and the Go Greens just rode over the cracks in the pavement at 40miles per hour like we were sailing.
7 laps to go and Webcor Jono senses his first opportunity to make an impact in the race and throws down towing Sayers (BMC) across to a USA development kid that was away on his own. BPG and Lobor throw one each of their guys in the break and Webcor shuts the peleton down. Anyway the break fart arses around arguing who should do the work and i think "stuff this" and just drill it to the wall. Whack the BPG guy counters and we ride around the next lap balls out like its the final lap. Except its four to go. I get shelled next time up the wall letting the whole team effort down and Ted has to launch out of the peleton to get across. No deal. He gets there just as the single file peleton slithers across. Its all together heading into the final and we have spent all our bullets. And cookies too. Nothing left. Not even crumbs. Ted comes in 17th Pete 24th, Jono, Dom and Tracy roll over together for 32nd onwards.
Although I bear the responsibility of letting us down from what may have been the ultimate break, the guys should be proud for making the race. We played a card in the final that didn't work but it was a battle the whole way and but for certain race circumstances could have landed us close to the pot of gold. Or even in it, as may soon happen, like jubilant Go Green leprechauns.
Just have to thank the boys for laying it on the line, and also all the Webcor/Alto Velo supporters and cycling family (Sara for being our swanny, Erin, Phyllis, Ileana and Bob, Al W, Bo and Amy, Dave and Peggy for lending me the entry fee plus beer money) that made this race so exciting for the little boy from Oz. Can't wait for Cats Hill 2008 and all the races in between now and then.
Rah!
Jono
PS how classy was watchin Karen drill the Womens Pro race afterwards? Hoh!
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Madera Stage Race Report
Madera Stage Race, P/1/2
27-29 April 2007
Team: Matt Beebe (AKA BB), Jono Coulter, Peter Dinolfo, Rob MacNeill, Tore Nauta, Bruce Wilford
The Webcor/Alto Velo Elite Team hit up the Madera Stage Race this past weekend. On the whole, we got some good stage results and the team road well together. Recent upgrade from the 3's and new addition to the team, Tore Nauta, was our GC guy after the first TT two stages. He did a great job in the early stages and the team worked hard all weekend to protect his position. Being Tore's first P12 stage race and only his second P12 event, he's still getting used to the pace of racing in the field and it took it's toll by the last stage RR. Into the last stage, Tore was in 4th place on GC but couldn't hold onto the leaders through the final lap of the tough road race. Still, we're still proud of the big fella for doing such an awesome job this weekend. Once he gets a few more races in his legs, he'll be up to speed and be putting the hurt on. He's already shown that he has the TT power to hang with the best, be it uphill or flat.
Here's a stage by stage accounting from each stage's best place finisher.
Tore's reports from the Stage 1 & 2 TT's:27-29 April 2007
Team: Matt Beebe (AKA BB), Jono Coulter, Peter Dinolfo, Rob MacNeill, Tore Nauta, Bruce Wilford
The Webcor/Alto Velo Elite Team hit up the Madera Stage Race this past weekend. On the whole, we got some good stage results and the team road well together. Recent upgrade from the 3's and new addition to the team, Tore Nauta, was our GC guy after the first TT two stages. He did a great job in the early stages and the team worked hard all weekend to protect his position. Being Tore's first P12 stage race and only his second P12 event, he's still getting used to the pace of racing in the field and it took it's toll by the last stage RR. Into the last stage, Tore was in 4th place on GC but couldn't hold onto the leaders through the final lap of the tough road race. Still, we're still proud of the big fella for doing such an awesome job this weekend. Once he gets a few more races in his legs, he'll be up to speed and be putting the hurt on. He's already shown that he has the TT power to hang with the best, be it uphill or flat.
Here's a stage by stage accounting from each stage's best place finisher.
========================================
Team Placings:
Stage 1 Hill TT: Tore 5th, Peter 11th, Rob 12th, BB 18th, Bruce 20th, Jono 22nd
Stage 2 Flat TT: Tore 2nd, Rob 5th, BB 9th, Peter 12th, Bruce 13th, Jono 26th
The Madera Stage race starts for the P12 field on Friday with a hillclimb TT of slightly more than 10miles. It's not pure hillclimb in the sense that you have to climb from start to finish – the first 6 miles are rollers combined with false flat sections, followed by a gradual climb of 4 miles. Because of the mixed terrain it becomes relevant what type of bike to use. In the first section a TT-bike would be the obvious choice and in the second part you need a machine on which you can climb very well: i.e. a road-bike. The majority of
the field settled this issue by pimping up their road bikes with aerobar clip-ons and areo-wheels. I also did the same thing and lowered my stem a bit to compensate for the height of the aerobars.
Although I haven't done many time trials I noticed that a good TT feels like you are riding in a dream. After a perfect ride, you hardly remember when or what has happened. For this race that was definitely not the case - I kept thinking about the road conditions (rougher pavement than I expected), about the legs, about the trees… So I was pleasantly surprised when I heard I finished 5th at 33:00. The winning time of 32:00 was set by Andy/Jesse (BPG). Because I'm a heavy rider, this result gave good hope for the flat TT where the weight will not play a role.
Stage Results, Hill TT:
1: AJ - BPG
2: Hutch - Spine
3: Barbary - Spine
.
5. Tore - W/AV
.
5. Tore - W/AV
The second stage is a 10 mile flat TT held on Saturday morning (already hot and windy). I had a perfect bike, with perfect wheels, so no excuses. The first two legs of the loop are cross-wind and there I focused on sitting nice and aero. I noticed myself getting closer and closer to my 30-second man and I finally caught him after 7miles. My one minute man, Michael Hutchinson (Spine), was nowhere to be seen. Each pedal stroke felt great: nice high cadence, knees close to each other behind the elbows. In the last stretch you can maintain speeds above 32mph because of the tail wind. I finished 2nd in 22:44 just 3 seconds ahead of Andy/Jesse. Hutchinson was shown in the results as 22:08, though he had clocked himself a time of about 30 seconds faster.
Stage Results, Flat TT :
1: Hutch - Spine
2: Tore - W/AV
3: AJ - BPG
.
5. Rob - W/AV
.
.
9. BB - W/AV
.
5. Rob - W/AV
.
.
9. BB - W/AV
Jono's report from the Stage 3 Crit:
========================================
The Saturday afternoon stage consisted of a basic four corner criterium- 70 minutes. The Webcor lads were amped with Tore in 3rd on GC (we guessed) so the plan was to make sure he conserved that spot or even grabbed any bonuses on offer. We wanted to be in every move too, just to nullify any other GC rider gaining time or to go for the stage win. From the get go Bruce, Pete, Rob and Matt rode the front at a high tempo and covered all the intitial moves. 15 minutes of this and the attacks were being launched all over the place from Strawberry, Spin and BPG, with Rob Mac unleashing his super speedy kick to latch onto everything. Tore was surfing well and keeping near the pointy end, and everytime a move went down the road Webcor green had a rider in it.
Halfway into the downtown slugfest the single file starts getting nasty, splits occur everywhere and we have everyone in the front. A Strawberry and BPG guy launch down the road and Webcor Jono unleashes his triple kick to go after them. Salvatore (AKA Chava) from Strawberry and Kyle from Spine join half a lap later and the five of us argue a bit trying to ascertain who is high on GC and who is going to do some work. I'm trying to please everyone by doing half hearted turns to make it look like im doing something but really I'm hoping Tore stays in range.
We swap for a good half hour but with two strawberries (the other is Pat Briggs) there is only one of them working and the spine guy is doing nothing. Dave Pierce is turning himself inside out to come across alone. No deal. Then click click BOOM Salvatore smacks down the road and its full gas for the final 4 laps as he soloes 20 metres in front of us. 1 lap to go and the other strawberry guy hits and i get dropped and put the head down to keep 5th spot. A look over the shoulder on the line and Rob gets second in the kick, so fast that guy.
After a debrief, it transpires Pete did a killer turn on the last lap to help keep things fast and Rob was able to latch onto a late Andy/Jesse BPG kick of fury, which gapped Bruce off Rob's wheel when he was trying to come around for a leadout. That attack went nowhere and the field entered the final corner together. From there, Rob had to fight the wind a while before jumping into a full sprint for the line.
Super satisfaction for Webcor Jono getting a result in the USA. Everyone rode well and was part of the action during the stage. We had a guy in every break, did well in the sprint and helped our GC leader get through an attack filled race.
-Jono
Team Placings: Jono 5th, Rob 7th, Tore 12th, Bruce 19th, Peter 17th, BB 23rd
Stage Results, Crit:
1: Chava - Cal Giant
2: Uthman Ray - BPG
3: Pat Briggs - Cal Giant
.
5. Jono - W/AV
.
7. Rob - W/AV
.
5. Jono - W/AV
.
7. Rob - W/AV
Bruce's report from the Stage 4 Road Race:
========================================
Team Placings: Bruce (12th), Tore (14th), Peter D (17th), Rob (18th), Matt BB & Jono (DNF)
The Madera road race course is a 17 miles loop, starting with a long smooth section of road into a headwind, which turned slowly right to become a long smooth section of road with a crosswind. After that was a right turn onto a very rough section of road 4 or 5 miles long, horrible surface--worse than Copperopolis. Then back to smooth road surface, several rollers, from the tops of which you could see the start/finish line, and then a short climb through the feed zone and start the loop again. We did this 5 times, for a total of 85 miles.
We went into the RR with Tore in 4th in the GC, so the plan was to work for him. Spine had Hutchinson in 1st and 2 more guys in 5th and 6th. BPG had Andy in 2nd and another in 3rd. Rob, sitting 10th in GC, wanted to be in an expected early break and so we could use that to take some pressure off the team in the early parts of the race.
We rolled out and the expected early break did not go right at the start of the race as most guys settled in and got a warm-up. As the pace picked up about 1/4 of a lap in, Andy & Chava attacked and Mike Buckley (Spine) jumped on to cover. Peter and I rode on the front to keep them near enough for Rob to move up and then jump over, which he did. At that point I settled into the bunch out of the wind. As we rode through the rough section for the first time, we could see the 4 break members in the distance, but nobody was too worried. After half a lap of that, Hutchinson decided that a break with Andy was not good and that it need to be brought back. He sent one of his guys to the front, who rode hard tempo and basically brought back the break on his own.
When the break came back, more went off with some frequency, usually containing some mix of Chava, Andy, Hutch, and his teammates. Rob covered another one on the 2nd lap but couldn't hang and came back to the field. Around that time, Matt BB did a great attack, which gave us all a rest, but nobody wanted to play with him and left him in the wind alone for half a lap or so. Peter put in a few nice digs of his own as well. The guys shared the load pretty well to protect Tore's position. On lap 3 Rob took one monster pull through the cobbles and into the rollers trying to keep a break in check.
More breaks, more chasing as the laps ticked by. On lap 4, another break was off that threatened our GC position. So Rob, Bruce, and Peter went to the front and just drove the pace, catching the break near the end of the 4th lap. Meanwhile Tore got to sit in. Of course there was a counter attack and a bunch of guys jumped. The spine guy that did all the chasing and a Cal Giant guy rode away followed by a group of about 6 guys. After that hard chase, we missed the break, heartbreaking. Tore and the rest of the guys were too pooped. We hung with the race leaders, Andy and Hutchinson, but should have made a move into the break. Although Rob, Bruce and Peter regourped for a bunch more chasing, we never did see the break again. On the last lap of the race, the third group split up after a good attack from Dave Pierce. Rob got gapped on the last lap and finished solo. Peter guided a battle worn Tore into the finish as Bruce tried to chase a stage placing.
Things could've worked out better in the stage but we were pleased with our level of teamwork. We rode hard and worked well together. We just lacked the punch to follow the right attacks at crunch time. With a few more P12 races under his belt, Tore will be matching those moves, no sweat.
Stage Results, RR:
1: Barbary - Spine
2: Keith Miller - Cal Giant
3: Chava - Cal Giant
Final GC Placings within the team: Tore 12th, Bruce 13th, Peter 14th, Rob 16th
Final GC
1: Kyle Barbary - Spine
2: Uthman Ray - BPG
3: Hutchinson - Spine
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