Elite team San Francisco Training ride

I decided to rally the troops this weekend and head up to the city. Our team ride left from the Sport's Basement Sat. morning, our resident North Bay experts Rand and Justin had a great route picked out for us. It was a cold but beautiful day. There were 8 of us. Total ride distance ~82 miles, it took us 4 hours. I especially enjoyed watching Rand ride Tore's bike. Afterward's Rand described the experience as "Riding a but ramming machine". I think if Rand got crouched down small enough he could fit inside the Fr. triangle of Tore's bike.

Fabrice rides the Vuelta a Mexico

Fabrice was invited to ride on a composite team in the Vuelta a Mexico last month. The race consisted of 8 stages in 8 days and was very mountainous. Fabrice did an outstanding job of riding with the best of an international, very competitive field. Below is his report of the action.

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Vuelta of Mexico
UCI Cat 2.2
Professional
from 9/13/08 to 9/20/08
Result: 48th overall of 160

http://www.vueltamexico-telmex.com.mx/

First of all, thanks to the team and to Director Bruce Wilford to let me go to ride that race under the color of another team. I was invited to race with the composite Leopard-Dr. Pad Team. Also, thanks to Bill Salefski for lending me his bike case.

This race is a part of the UCI America Tour, it is a cat 2.2 so it is open to all teams. This year 10 amateur teams and 10 professional teams entered including Scott-American Beef (formerly Saunier Duval), Cinelli team, and Team Type 1.

Stage 1: Aguascalientes-San Luís Potosí 193.7 Km
The first stage is always peculiar, everybody is nervous and there are a lot of crashes, and that was the same thing here in Mexico. An escape of about 5 guys was off the front during the entire race and the pack arrived just 1 min after the escape. For me the end of the race was not as I expected. I had a puncture just 20 km from the end just when the Scott team worked on the front of the main field to reduce the gap. As we were not a complete team we had the last car in
the caravan and I had to wait a long time!! That resulted in a 6 min loss for me!!!!

Stage 2: San Luís Potosí-León GTO 197.2 Km
The start of the race was done just at the beginning of a 15km climb. At the king of mountain we were just 30 guys in the main field and just 30 other guys succeeded to catch us, the other pack finished the race at 30min. I tried to stay in good position for the final sprint but the finish line was after 5km of crazy descent in downtown so I preferred to stay safe by finishing that stage easily!!

Stage 3: León GTO-Guadalajara 228.6 Km
This stage was the longest stage, and it started badly for me by a crash during the start!! And that bad luck continued by a puncture at mid race. The end of the race was very crazy, a storm appeared just before 10 km to the finish, and the finish line was again after 5km of decent in downtown!!! I managed to stay with the first pack but there were again lots of crashes, so I preferred as yesterday to finish the race safely...

Stage 4: Circuito Guadalajara 79.2 Km
That stage was unique because it was a criterium. We started under the sun but after 10 laps another storm appeared and caused lots of crashes, the road was like an ice rink. So all the professional riders decided to stop the race, so all the pack was stopped and the race restarted but with just 5 laps remaining and just for the courageous or crazy riders, so without me!!! Restarting was done just to name a winner, it had no bearing on the GC.

Stage 5: Zamora-Morelia 146.3 Km
After a transfer by bus during 3 hours we arrived to the start line in the mountains because the 4th last stages contained big climbs. I felt better than the first stages, maybe the altitude, so I decided to do the race in the front. So in the first climb I tried some attacks but without success!! We arrived 50 guys for the victory, and I finished 24th in a crazy sprint again!!!

Stage 6: Morelia-Zitacuaro 150 Km
The queen stage with 3 climbs, and one over 2800 meters. Like the day before I tried to be on the front but there were a lot of guys within a few seconds on the GC, so the leader's team didn't allow for an escape. On the big climb of the day, the war was launched!!! All the Scott guys attacked one by one. But the leader (Chadwick, Team Type 1) and his team managed to respond to all these attacks!! At the summit we were just 20 guys on the front after a crazy climb!! During the rest of the stage the team leader controlled the pack and we finished the stage by a sprint of about 50 guys, I tried to participate but a crash at 500 meters from the finish line stopped me!!

Stage 7: Zitacuaro-Toluca 91.2 Km
Again a mountain stage, and one of the last occasions for the leaders to dispute the GC. We started just on the beginning of an enormous climb, 28kms!! At the start, I was not really in good position and there were lots of attacks, which put me in the second group. My group contained some leaders in the GC, so we caught the first group just 20km before the finish line. I finished in the middle of the group, I think that I began to get tired!!

Stage 8: Toluca-Zona Metropolitana 52.9 Km
Last chance for the leaders to win that race. An enormous climb, over 3000 meters, again at the middle of the stage was on our program!! I was very tired this day, my heart didn't want to climb that final mountain. I managed to stay with a second group at 1min from the leaders and I finished the stage in this position.

So after 8 stages I finished the race in 48th position just 8 minutes behind Glenn Chadwick the winner of the race. If the puncture hadn't occurred on the first stage, I should have finished the race at only 2 minutes. That would be near the top-20!!! The race was a great experience for me, in a new country with new people!!

Thanks for reading
Fabrice

Henleyville Road Race Report

Rand and Chris raced Henleyville RR up near Chico on Saturday. Rand finished 2nd, barely missing the win to cap off a great season for him. Below is Rand's report.

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Henleyville RR
Nowhere, Northern California
9/20/08
Weather: Cool, clear, windy
Teammates: Chris Crawford
Placing: 2nd of 15

This is the flattest RR I have ever done. McLane/Merco RR is a mountain stage compared to Henleyville. The course is basically an 18-mile 4-corner crit. I loved it.

We did 4 laps for roughly 72 miles, combined with the cat 3's since both fields were small.

The first lap consisted of a single Chico Corsa rider solo off the front, with our very own Chris Crawford setting the pace on the field to keep the guy in sight. It was fun to have that chico guy up there slaying himself, while Chris calmly dragged the field around at the same exact speed with no perceived exertion.

The second lap had a few flurries of attacks, some of which I instigated, but nothing was sticking. The P/1/2's were all watching each other, and the 3's were happy following their wheels. This led to boring racing.

Starting the 3rd lap, Eric Riggs (Lombardi, last year's winner) attacked. He got a reasonable gap solo, so a few of us P/1/2's waited patiently. I then attacked as hard as I could and bridged up to Eric, bringing one or two guys with me.

Long story short, after a few miles we had a break of 5, all P/1/2's, composed of myself, Eric Riggs, Mike Cordova (Chico Corsa), Kevin King (Wells Fargo), and a UC Berkeley guy who is really strong but I dont recall his name. Chris Turner (Above Category) bridged up solo a bit
later.

I really wanted the break to stick, so I drove the pace hard. A couple of the other guys worked really well with me, but Riggs more or less sat on the back and skipped pulls. He seemed to be hurting, and was actually bleeding from the face from time to time. Literally.

The 36-mile breakaway succeeded and we stayed away. Coming into the finish, I felt confident in my sprint and thought I had the win. Overconfidence sucks. I got beat at the line by Riggs. He has a good sprint and I knew it, but I thought he was hurting during the race. Apparently he was faking it.

So, I botched a really good shot at a win. That seems to be my signature move this year. Got 2nd place. Chris Turner was 3rd (this guy went on to solo to victory in the Chico crit the next day... great riding by him).

Anyway, this will be my last report of the season. Thanks to everyone in the entire Alto-Velo organization and all of our sponsors for supporting the P/1/2 team this year. Without your support, I would not have been able to race successfully this year. Congratulations to all the AV racers in every category... the club seems to have had a very prolific season overall. Finally, good luck to all of you crazy people racing 'cross, track, Mt. Tam hillclimb, etc.

Thanks again,
Rand

Race Report: SF Twilight Criterium Men's Pro 1/2

The team did another big nighttime criterium on September 13th. This was part of a national criterium series which is hotly contested by some of the best crit riders in the country. This edition of the series was in our own backyard: San Francisco and the title sponsor was our very own Webcor Builders!

James tried to end his season early but we talked him into one more race before winter hybernation. It was a good thing we did because chaos and bad luck toward the finish left James as our closer. He sprinted in for a respectable 20th place. Below is his report.

Results can be found here

Some action shots from the race:
James leading through the bottom corner
Rand at speed
Ryan attacking
Rob on the front

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Race: 1st ever SF Twilight Criterium

Category: Men's Pro 1/2

Teammates: Rob (47th), Rand (60th), Jono, Ryan, Neil

Placing: 20th of 100+

This race was AWESOME in so many ways. The promoter, Project Sport, did a stellar job hyping up this race and making it a premier event. The promoter has plans to make a Triple crown series for 2009 with San Rafael, San Francisco, and Sacramento being the venues. The course was a rectangle with the S/F line at the highest point on the course in the middle of one of the long straightaways. This race started at 8pm so it was dark and chilly at the start line. There were generator spot lights on the corners and at the finish. Transitioning from dark to bright multiple times per lap made visibility somewhat of a challenge, especially when your lenses start to fog up.

Having started my season on Feb. 2nd this year I was burned out after the Giro. Then I tried the points race at Master's track Nationals, and the 100 degree heat took even more out of me. So, 6 days before the SF twilight race I phoned Director Bruce and let him know I was not planning to race due to fatigue and burnout. Bruce told me to wait a few days and see how I felt and we would revisit it then. Well, by Wednesday I was feeling better and told Bruce I was going to race. I am glad I decided to race because the SF race was huge fun.

Now, on to the race. Thanks to Webcor and Andy Ball being the title sponsor of the event, the entire team was able to line up near the front of the pack. This proved valuable as the race exploded from the gun. With the high speed and lots of guys trying to figure out the 40mph right hander at the bottom of the course, there were lots of small gaps opening up throughout the pack and it was difficult to maintain position. Lots of attacks started to go early, with the Webcor team trying their best to practice patience. After about 10 minutes a small group got a decent gap. Bruce radioed to Rob and I that we needed to close it. I immediately went to the front and tried my best to bring it back. After spending an entire lap at the front I was done and ready to drop out of the race. I drifted back toward the back of the pack and was hurting really bad. After a few laps I started feeling better and working my way back up through the pack when I got caught behind a crash out of turn 3. I ran into the guy in front of me and came to a stop. A big group rolled around to the S/F for the free lap where they threw us back in the race.

Ryan, Rob, and Rand were all near the front for a good portion of the race. Rob put in some monster efforts chasing down attacks. Throughout the race small attacks were going off but would all eventually come back. Rand did his best to bridge up to some of these attacks, but again most of them ended up coming back. Ryan proved his worthiness throughout the entire race, he maintained position well and did some great turns on the front.

I put in a 2nd effort dangling off the front later in the race when I was trying to bridge up to a small breakaway. I wasn't able to bridge due to lack of fitness and again went straight to the back feeling like I was ready to drop out of the race. I pedaled a few laps near the back of the group and started feeling better again so I started moving up. That is when I heard a huge tire blowout and soon realized it was my rear tire. This happened on the bottom of the course so I rolled around on the tubular tire to the SRAM neutral support where I got a new wheel. I was put back in the race with about 20 min. to go. The pace was still high.

Inside 20 min. to go I don't remember much other than I was ready to be finished with this race. I do recall Rob and Ryan both putting some big efforts on the front to bring back breakaways. Inside 5 to go I was behind Rand when he got tangled up with some riders briefly where no one went down. He then had a loud noise coming from his bike. Not knowing what it was exactly he radioed to the team that something was wrong with his bike and he wouldn't be contesting the finish. At that time Bruce came on the radio telling me it was my time to go for the finish. I wasn't feeling very good at that point but I started moving up as best I could.

At the bell lap I was somewhere around 30th place and Ryan was just in front of me. We both moved up on the back side of the course and came out of the last turn in about 15th place when we started our sprint. Ryan went up the outside and was accelerating quickly when another rider ran him wide and he hit the fence launching him and his bike into the air. I hit the brakes and moved right to avoid the flying objects. Then I continued to sprint passing a few people and rolled in for 20th place. I rolled around to where Ryan had crashed and found him lying on the ground. He looked pretty bad but he was talking. His face was very bloody. The medics checked him out and the team showed up soon after to give him support. In the end Ryan walked away with only scrapes and bruises.

It turned out Rand's front wheel was hitting his fork, in addition his rear wheel came half way out of the rear dropout.

I was happy with 20th considering my current fitness level. Now, if only this race were in June, I would be writing a different report.

Thanks to the team--both those who raced and those who didn't but showed up anyway to give us 6 guys the support.

It has been a breakthrough season for the P1/2 team. I can't wait for 2009.

Some photos of the race can be found at www.webcorelitecycling.blogspot.com

Thanks for reading,

James

Chico Downtown Crit Race Report

Race: Chico Downtown Crit
Date: 21 Sep 2008
Category: Pro 1/2/3
Duration: 60 minutes
Result: 10th on 40-50 riders
Teammates: Billy Crane (Cat 2 debut!), Chris Crawford, Jan Diemont, Rand Miller, Bob Parker.

A few of us in the team headed up to Chico for some late season racing. Rand and Chris did the Henleyville RR the day prior and Billy and I headed up just for the crit. Billy recently upgraded from Cat 3 to 2 and wanted to get a race in the higher category before the off season. I was there because I like crits and I'm not burned out yet :) When we got there Jan had showed up as well and Bob Parker had entered our last race of the day after doing the 35+ 123 race a bit earlier.

This race was in downtown Chico, consisting of 6-corners (5 lefts, 1 right) in a loop that was taking us on the order of 90 seconds to lap. So, the corners came in fairly rapid succession, which made for a somewhat technical course. Pavement was the usual downtown stuff with transitions, bumps, and potholes here and there, but not too bad overall. A few of the corners had curbs that tapered down to street level, making it possible to really cut the corners if need be. I did that on several occasions!

Rand was jonzin to get his freak on so I wanted to help set him up for some strong attacks. So, I mostly covered attacks with less threatening guys and helped chase a move or two that we had missed. Chris helped keep things in check throughout the race and was riding well. Billy was a bit shocked by the speed in the first half of the race and eventually pulled out. It's hard to describe to the new guys how hard or different the races are than 3's crits. The P12 races are usually crazy-fast for 10-20 minutes before they sort of settle into a slightly more sustainable pace. Usually if one can hang on for that first fast interval, they can go the distance. Getting used to the pace is the biggest challenge for recent upgrades. Riding efficiently instead of on brute force is probably the biggest key to success that really only comes with experience. It sounded like Billy almost made it over the hump, so he shouldn't be upset; he'll get the hang of it and we expect him to be tearing up the RR's in '09. From what I recall, Jan was pack surfing and waiting for the sprint finish. Bob was staying in good position near the front and riding well throughout the race.

So, our team was active for the entire race and was represented in most of the moves but the speed of the pack wasn't letting breakaways get much distance at all. We were still trying to get some separation late into the race. Rand and I were up near the front attacking within 10 laps to go. Chris was up there helping with the pace as well. After one of my efforts, I drifted toward the back while recovering (Bob helped me eventually get back in and toward the front--thanks!) and I noticed Rand was gone. This was with about 5 laps to go. It turned out that Rand got a flat with 6 to go and free laps ended at 8, bummer! Anyhow, it was looking like it would be a pack finish so I tried to suck it up and prepare for a sprint. My efforts from earlier had taken a bit off my top end at this point but I did what I could. I think with 2 to go I was at the back then the pack slowed and I was able to move up to about 3rd wheel, which was good. As the pace increased in the final 2 laps, I was suffering pretty badly but tried to hang in there. On the last lap, a couple riders surged, including Mike Sayers of BMC (his last race as a Pro?), and I wasn't able to latch on. Somewhere in the chaos, one rider, Chris Turner, had gotten off the front late in the race and was able to stay off for the win, very impressive. So Sayers finished 2nd and JD Bergman (BPG) finished 3rd just in front of a charging pack. I actually had a good sprint after losing position and came around several guys for 10th place (in the money--woo hoo!). Jan sprinted in a few spots ahead of me, though I'm not exactly sure where.

It was a fun race, I'd definitely recommend it and I'd do it again, even with the long drive.

Even with some bad luck losing Rand in the closing laps, we put 2 guys in the top-10, not bad. Our guys rode well, some of whom finished off the season with Chico Crit (myself included). We've had a great year in the Elite Team--our best yet--and I'm already looking forward to 2009.

Thanks for reading,
Rob MacNeill

Another Win! P/1/2 Folsom ITT Race Report

Rand scored his first win of the season after being oh-so-close on many occasions. Congratulations to Rand on a great ride. Below is his report from the Folsom TT.

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Folsom South Canal ITT
Folsom, CA
9/12/2008
Weather: windy, hot
Place: 1st of ~15

In order to get my legs primed for the crazy SF Twilight crit on Saturday, I snuck out of work on Friday to go race the first stage of the Folsom Omnium, a 10-mile out and back ITT along a canal in Folsom.

This is definitely my new favorite ITT course...not hard to do, since ITT courses are pretty much always flat and straight, but still worth noting. The course was run on a bike path at the bottom of an irrigation canal, so the majority of the path is below ground level. This lends a "wind tunnel" quality to the course and led to a stiff headwind on the way out. Finally, the course is punctuated by three steep, short climbs (probably about 30 feet high, 15% grade or something), which required a quick burst of power to get up and some serious willpower to accelerate over the top. They felt like speedbumps on the way out, and like the Galibier on the way home.

My start time was around 4pm, so I knew it was going to be really hot. I wanted to make sure I stayed hydrated and cool so I brought a huge bag of ice, and stuffed it into my skinsuit as I warmed up. This enabled me to perform a very good leg warmup without overheating my body (this is a trick Garmin-Chipotle has been doing this year), and kept my core temperature way down all the way until the start.

I started the TT pretty quickly, and pushed to the limit early on. I tried to keep the cadence high over the climbs, and it allowed me to quickly ramp back up to speed over the crests. I caught my 30-second man right at the turnaround after fighting the headwind, then stuck it in an overly large gear and used the tailwind to keep the speed high. On the way back, it was all I could do to keep from stalling at the tops of the climbs. I definitely wish I had a little more in the tank for accelerating down the back of the hills on the way back, because I definitely lost some time there. Anyway, a brutal push through the flat last 1k got me to the line in 21:15, at an average speed of 28.23mph.

That was enough to give me the victory, and the next few placings were something like 10-15 seconds back.

Finally, I got the ever-elusive win, and although its not nearly as sexy as a mass-start win, I'll take what I can get!

Thanks for reading,
Rand

Race Report: Benicia Crit P1/2

A big contingent of the W/AV Elite Team was at Benicia Crit this past weekend. We rode well as a team with a lot of the guys in the mix getting in breakaways. Fabrice did his standard go off the front for the last 10 laps but got caught with the finish in sight. It was heartbreaking for him, but he still finished 5th, a nice result. Below is his report.

Full results

Normally Fabrice would post the report but he was rushing out for the Tour of Mexico so I'm filing this report on his behalf. Wish him luck down there!

-Rob

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Race: Benicia Crit
Date: 9/7/08
Category: Pro 1/2
Distance: 60 minutes
Result: 5th on 70 riders
Teammates: Jono Coulter, Chris Crawford, Jan Diemont, Bo Hebenstreit, Rob MacNeill, Rand Miller, Ryan Prsha (10th), Graham Simpson

Benicia is a 4-corner criterium, a long rectangle approximately of 1.5 miles. It's flat from the start to turn 1, slightly uphill to turn 2, two big-ring rollers on the backside to turn 3, downhill with a slight rise into turn 4, and then slightly down hill to flat through the finish. There was a headwind on the finishing straight and a tailwind on the roller section.

The start was done with an a aggressive move from the Webcor guys. Rand and Rob were on the front in an escape of 5 guys during 5 laps. Then Rand, always in the move, attacked again with Ryan, they were 10 guys with a 10 seconds gap but after some laps the pack caught them. At this moment I moved from the pack with a Rock Racing rider. After two laps at high speed, we were 6 on the front with a little gap, but some laps after a counter attack from the pack caught us. As the harmony of the group was not good I decided to attack with about 20 minutes left in the race. I managed to increase the gap and during 10 laps I kept my advantage. With 3 laps before the end I was caught by a CalGiant racer. In the 3 last laps our advantage was only between 5 and 10 seconds. During the last lap, the CalGiant sat on and left me to do the work. In the last straight, he launched the sprint and I was not able to beat him. And to top it off, I was caught by the beginning of the pack at the line and I finished 5th. Very disappointed!!!!

Still, it was a good race for the team. Ryan finished from the pack with a nice 10th place after a dodgy finish with big crash at the start of the last lap.

Thanks for reading,
Fabrice

Giro di San Francisco Race Report

Giro di San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
9/1/2008
Weather: Sunny, warm, windy
Teammates: Fabrice Dubost, James Badia, Rob MacNeill, Jono Coulter,
Neil Harrington, Brad Goodson, Jan Diemont, Graham Simpson, Aroussen
Laflamme, Ryan Prsha
Finish: 10th of ~150

Downtown criteriums are cool...but downtown big-city criteriums are even better. Especially when you live a 10-minute bike ride from the course!

Much like every other street in San Francisco, the roads used for the Giro contain numerous pavement seams, potholes, and railroad tracks, making for some technical racing. Add the brutal winds that picked up in the afternoon, the small hill on the backside, and the strong 150 man field, and you have the makings of a very hard race.

The team plan for the race: stay up front, be represented in moves, and try and get Fabrice and I into the top 10, if possible. I started on the front row, so as to avoid being caught up behind crashes and caught out of breakaways on the technical circuit.

The race started very fast (and stayed that way, naturally), and Fabrice, Rob, Jono, James and I took turns at the front getting in moves. Everyone on the squad rode strong, and I saw most of them up at the front at one time or another.

There were a few promising moves that contained both Fabrice and I, but it was too early in the race and they came back, in spite of having all major teams represented. Finally, near the last 1/4 of the race, Fabrice made it into a strong move of 6, but 3 of them were CalGiant riders who attacked and counterattacked the break and eventually ripped it apart.

Somewhere along the way, whether it was attacking out of that original break or counterattacking right as they were caught, Eric Wohlberg and Andy Jacques-Maynes escaped off the front and they were not to be caught. The rest of the break ultimately came back to the field in the closing laps. Fabrice rode super-strong and I was bummed that he couldn't stay away.

I held position as best as possible, and attempted to finish well in the bunch sprint for 3rd. Andy J-M won the race, Wohlberg finished 2nd, and Holloway won the pack sprint. I came through in 10th place...not quite the finish the team was hoping for, but not terrible. Got a T-shirt, which is worth a lot to us poor graduate students! Fabrice rolled through in 12th or 13th.

Overall, I was happy with how the whole team rode, and we came pretty close to achieving our goals.

Thanks for reading,
Rand

Dunnigan Hills RR Report

Fabrice scored another top-10 at what sounded like a really tough, windy edition of Dunnigan Hills Road Race. Below is his report.

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Dunnigan Hills Road Race
Dunningan, CA
8/31/2008
Weather: Sunny, windy
Teammates: James Badia, Jono Coulter, Jeff Williams, Dominic Giampaolo, Bo Hebenstreit, Neil Harrington,
Finish: 6th of ~70

The race encompasses two big 42 mile loops, without any climbs (there are a few small rollers), just long straight roads. The only one difficulty was the wind because there was no wind shelter.

The start was done again at 8h00am, on the part of the circuit where everyone were getting hit by the wind from the right. The best thing to do in that case is to have a good placement in the pack. But the speed was very high from the start due to an early attack from two professionals, Eric Wohlberg and D. Holloway. But we caught them a few miles later. In order to be on the front of the pack, I managed to pass some guys but briefly had to cross the middle of the road (slightly illegal since the centerline rule was in effect). An official told me to go to the back of the pack. It was a very bad moment to do so because of the speed was high. But I had no choice, so I dropped back. At that moment, Eric Wolhberg attacked with a Calgiant guy (Jesse Moore), and they increased a big gap. Then nobody wanted to take the pursuit, so the gap increased and increased again. Just before the end of the first lap, there were two big crashes due to potholes in the road... but fortunately without Webcor guys.

The second lap was same as the first one, no team wanted to catch the escape... The race was therefore won by the two guys (the Calgiant guy respected Eric's strong work and Eric Wolhberg won). In the pack, there were some attacks for the third place. I managed to be in one of them and finished in a group of three for sixth place.

Thanks for reading,
Fabrice

Challenge RR Report

Here's a quick one from Bo, demonstrating that if one hangs in there, success is possible!

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Challenge Road Race
Challenge, CA
8/30/2008
Weather: Sunny, HOT!
Teammates: None
Finish: 8th of 12

The race was shortened to 66 miles from 99 at the start line. I got shelled off at mile 15 with one other dude. The other dude quit. Two riders got DQed for taking a wrong road. One other rider quit after I was dropped.

So if the two riders did not quit and two riders did not get lost I would have been 12th of 12, not a good race for me.

After I got dropped I rode at a nice easy pace and enjoyed the scenery.

At least I got some BAT points in the end.

Thanks for reading, Bo

University Road Race Report

Fabrice raced solo at University Road Race this past Sunday. The relentless up, down, & repeat course is known to favor the strong and cripple the weak. Being a strongman, Fabrice naturally did well, netting a great 4th place. Below is his report from the day.

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Event: University (Santa Cruz) Road Race, Pro 1/2
Date: 8/24/2008
Result: 4th of 40 (To verify)
Team: Me

Course: 20 laps of the 3-mile circuit, which was a loop with basically a 1.5 mile uphill and a 1.5 mile downhill. The climb was gradual in parts, moderate in others, and steep at the end.

Weather: Cloudy, foggy and cold at the beginning then clear and warmer.

Race:
The start was at 8:00am.

CalGiant had a full team there, maybe 8-10 guys, Tony Cruz and Jackson Stewart from BMC and two guys from the Jittery Joes Pro Cycling team, including Neil Shirley.

During the first laps there were not a lot of attacks.

Then the CalGiants tried to put one guy in a break but without a good result, the gap didn't exceed 20 seconds.

During lap 11, Greg Remaly, the guy I beat last week, attacked then caught and dropped a CalGiant guy and went alone for a long ride...

In main field, my tactic was to wait as long as possible possible to do big efforts because during that week I felt a little bit tired.

During the next 5 laps there were some accelerations from Jackson and Tony Cruz, which dropped some guys from the main field. But these acceleration were not enough to catch the leader. During lap 15, one guy from Davis attacked and went alone, he got a comfortable gap from the main field and was gaining on the leader. During lap 17, Neil Shirley made a strong attack and I remained the only one to keep his wheel. In one lap we caught a CalGiant guy who was dropped by the Davis guy, and we were within 20 seconds from the leader, because the Davis guy caught the courageous Greg. In the last lap the Davis guy dropped Greg and went alone for the victory. In my group we tried to closed the gap, but without success. During the climb I was dropped from Neil Shirley's wheel and we finished the race one by one. The Davis guy won the race, Neil Shirley caught Greg just before the finish line and I finished just after Greg with a nice 4th place.

That result put me at third place in the ongoing Cal Cup classification. That's a nice place before the last weekend of the Cal Cup.

Thanks for reading,
Fabrice

Race Report: San Ardo RR

Jono and the gang went out for another Cal Cup race this past weekend. This road race was in the flat-ish farmlands of San Ardo, which is south of King City and seemingly straight outta Steinbeck's East of Eden.

Below is Jono's report from what sounded like a tougher than normal edition of San Ardo Road Race.

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23 August 2008
San Ardo RR Pacific Bank Cal Cup
86miles
Webcor AV Team: Jono Coulter, Bo Hebenstreit, Graham Simpson, Jeff Williams, Ryan Prsha, Neil Harrington, Brad Goodson
Ken Hanson (Cal Giant) 1st
Neil Shirley (Jittery Joes) 2nd
Jono Coulter (Webcor AV) 18th
Bo Hebenstreit (Webcor AV) Top 30
Graham Simpson (Webcor AV) top 30 from 75

San Ardo is a quaint farming and used car parts town only a few hours drive south of San Jose and only a few hours from the beach or creeks. A nice place for several hundred cyclists to converge for another day of Cal Cup smackdown. Compared to a lot of Nor Cal grovel fests, San Ardo only has a few shallow gradients to punctuate a flat and fast course.

The day before the race all our guys received valuable advice from James Badia, Rob Macneill and Bruce Wilford about the particulars of the course, as these guys had done well here in previous years. Also, without them and other high performers like Fabrice and Rand i told the lads that i was going to back myself for the finale if they could make sure the field was kept tight.

The race line up was pretty spectacular with strong teams from Cal Giant, McGuire, Lombardi and Z Team as well as Pros Antonio Cruz (BMC), Neil Shirley (Jittery Joes) Kevin Klein (Rock Racing) Chris Jones (Type 1) Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics) and Eric bennett (Successful Living).

True to form though our guys got straight into the mix and with several attacks going from the first lap we always had someone in there. Notably, Bo and Jeff patrolled the front end vigourously while Ryan got into a promising breakaway with one from each major team that lasted 20 miles. Strong stuff. Meanwhile Graham and Neil-HDogg were looking after me and laying down raps and Brad was mega strong and looking like a sneaky russian until he flats without a support car. Bummer!

Coming into the 3rd lap Jeff was in a move and the pros started to force the pace through the feed. Unfortunately for Jeff we catch his group at the wrong time. Not being very confident of my climbing lately i planted myself in the top 5 guys and tried to hold on as Cruz and Shirley began to light up the proceedings. 2kms later we crested the relatively minor peak and there was 15 of us. Game on. the next 15 kms was full on and small groups were tacking back on to the selection between the undulations but after the group swelled to 35 i was worried as no more go greens had made it back. I dangled at the back looking over my shoulder to see Bo and Graham fighting deperately to get back on only 300 metres behind and i really believed they would get there but alas it was not to be.

Like any race where pros get a sniff at the win the race gets faster and faster as the miles tick away and the third time up the ramp on the back stretch i had to go with the front move, seriously we were single file at 51-56kph for nearly 20 minutes just railing the gutter. Racing you know it!!

Lap 4 was more gutter action and i was torn between following EVERYTHING because no one was going to help out should the final selection occur but my gut instinct told me it there were too many interests at stake and the race would stay together. So i spent half the time jumping on stuff and half the time last wheel as the front group dwindled to 25. There was basically no difference between either role it was all 50kph shoot em up nuclear dogfight with mega rocket cannons and i had a pocketknife.

Also i realise at this time that i am a smart and happy bike racer that likes to follow promising moves not (name witheld) from Z Team who BURIES himself for miles on end foaming at the mouth to make sure the pace doesnt drop below 51kph in the cross wind. Where do these ANIMALS come from!?!??!!??!.

5km from the finish knowing that i am not the calibre of maybe half the guys in the front group i laid a conservative plan to drill it up the last climb and hit the final bend in top ten and sprint from there. Rob macneill had explained that the winner would come from the top three around that corner- i didnt really back myself against a USCF Elite winning train from last weekend Cal Giant including the stars and stripes Ken hanson, plus the 8 pros in the race and other multi rider lead outs. But i did think i would have enough powerclimb kick to move from 19th to tenth in the final 500 metres and then hold it for 150.

So 500 to go i gave it the most shove and stick i could possibly give and of course every guy in that group is mega fast and i move up two spots over 300metres with my eyeballs popping out and my legs lactating and lose one of them after the turn. Later watching other categories sprint i realise how slow the sprint looks cos youre going from just under a km, and especially for me because i have an amazing world class sprint for 15 metres.

Anyway the result is 18th which is dismal for backing yourself and I'm a bit bummed but super happy when only a few minutes later Bo comes over the line solo having ridden two laps at warp speed on his own and not long after Graham came in also with the remnants of the peleton!!

Thanks to all the Webcor AV Elite guys for being out there and rising to the occasion- most of the guys in this weekends squad were 3s at the start of this year and this was a gutter action Pro-Am race and everyone did more than an adequate job of taking the first part of the race head on. Shows the depth of our team- sorry i couldnt deliver a top ten.

Thanks also to Amy for doing the feeds, all the AVs who always cheer on all the racers and also Neil can i buy the components offa your MAN BIKE because i need to train more in gears 6 and 7.

Mille Grazie
jono

Webcor/Alto Velo Wins Winters Road Race!

The team has been SO CLOSE on so many occasions this season. Finally we scored the big W with Fabrice taking Winters Road Race in impressive fashion this past weekend. He made the break of the day and burned everyone off his wheel to get a solo victory. Awesome.

Winters is a classic CalCup race that has been off the schedule the past couple of seasons due to road construction. It's a great course--Fabrice thought so too! Below is his report.

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Event: Winters Road Race, Pro 1/2
Date: 8/16/2008
Result: 1st of 70
Team: Jono, Chris and I.

Course: 4 laps, 24 miles per lap, mostly flat, a few rollers, one short climb with a technical descent and good pavement. The climb, which comes in about half-way through the course just past the feed zone, is mostly shallow, tipping upward a little toward the end.

Weather: hot and dry

Race:
The start was at 8:00am after an early wake up (4:30am) and a long trip to Winters. The first lap was raced at a moderate speed, giving some time to analyze the circuit. After that first lap, I needed a little stop ("besoin naturel"...) and Jono waited for me to help me catch back to the main field.

During the second lap, there were several attacks and one of them with 5 guys and no Webcor succeeded to take an advantage. On the climb I tried an attack in order to know if the legs felt good. On the descent, we managed to catch the breakaway.

Before beginning the third lap, 4 guys made a counter-attack and I joined them just before crossing the finishing line. From the beginning of that move we tried to work together to increase the gap. That worked because before beginning the climb, the gap was at about 1 minute. During the climb of the third lap, 3 guys from the escape were dropped. I thought that was bad for the escape because two guys with only 1 minute advantage on the field and 32 remaining miles to cross the finish line was not enough. But I was wrong because during the fourth lap, we worked steadily and managed to increase the gap to 2:30 before entering the feed zone. So I guessed the win would be between the two of us!!! During the last climb, I maintained a good speed and dropped my breakaway partner. So I had to increase the gap on him and the other chasers until the finish line, 12 miles after that climb. During that long time I was not really confident... But 6 miles before the end my gap was still about 1 minute, so without problem, I was able to hold off the chasers.

In the end, I crossed the finish line with an advantage of 1:30 on the second place rider and about 3 minutes on the main field. The sprint for the third place was won by Eric Wolhberg. Jono was dropped from the main field just in the last lap but was assured a place in the top 20.

This is my first win in the US (and I hope not the last one!!!), and I am very happy for both the team and myself. I know that everybody was waiting for this first win and I hope it's just the beginning!

Thanks for reading,
Fabrice

Esparto TT Race Report

Rand's appetite for racing is insatiable. After doing the San Rafael race into the late evening the previous day, he was out in Esparto bright and early getting ready for his ~8AM start. A lack of sleep didn't hold him back, as he scored a great 2nd place. Local pro, hardman, and multi-time Canadian TT champ Eric Wohlberg bested Rand but only by 8 seconds. Below is Rand's report.

Official Results

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Esparto ITT
Esparto, CA
8/10/08
Weather: cool, light wind, clear
Teammates: None
Placing: 2nd of ~15

After racing the twilight Carrera de San Rafael on Saturday night, and sleeping a total of 4 hours, I left SF at 5am for some sweet central valley ITT action.

Esparto is an 18 mile ITT, with flat to rolling terrain and some bad pavement here and there. In warmup I felt pretty good, but not great.

The most significant headwind was right at the start of the race, so I had to keep myself from pushing too hard too early. I set a good pace, and felt pretty solid.

I caught my minute man a couple of miles past the turnaround, and was feeling pretty strong still. However, I hit a section of very rough pavement, like beat-up chipseal...only a mile long or so, but I could NOT keep my speed up very well. I picked the pace up again once I hit smoother pavement, but not before my minute man came back by me.

In the end, I had a decent ride of 40:37. Not great, but it was good enough for 2nd place, 8 seconds behind Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics). Chris Turner (Above Category Racing) was third about 30 seconds further back.

I have been napping at work ever since.

Thanks for reading,
Rand

San Rafael Race Report

The Webcor/Alto Velo team had a great race in San Rafael this past weekend. This was a premier event featuring a nighttime downtown course packed with fans and good prize money on offer. Most of the best local riders showed up with some notable pros as well. Fabrice and Aroussen made the big break of the evening. They both rode incredibly well and finished in the top-10 with Fabrice scoring a really impressive 3rd place, being the only non-pro in the top-5. Below is his report.

San Rafael is put on by the same promoter as the upcoming San Francisco Twilight Crit on September 13th and Webcor will be the title sponsor of the race. That should be a great event that the team is really looking forward to. It should be a great race to watch, hope to see you there!

Official Results

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San Rafael Criterium, Men Pro 1/2
8/9/08
Result: 3rd of 93
Teammates: Aroussen 9th, James 22nd, Neil, Graham, Rand, Chris, Rob, DS Bruce on the Radio

The course was a short 0.9 miles circuit in downtown San Rafael with a hill on the the start/finish straight away. The back straight descended into two fast downhill 90 degree turns. This criterium is a fast one and had a lot of spectators lining the course. Our event was scheduled for 90 minutes of racing. The start was done at the end of the day, 8:00 PM, like all the criteriums in France.

After some laps covered in high speed, Rand and I made a move with some guys. That escape obtained a little gap, but after 4 laps on the front, the pack caught up.

Then there was lot of activity and I felt that I had to stay on the front to catch the good escape. I was right because one of them including 10 guys took a little advantage. Later, another group with Aroussen joined us. We were thus approximately 20 guys on the front. After the break was established, the pace settled down slightly in the main pack, allowing the breakaway's gap to grow and grow.

At midrace, I tried to split the breakaway group, but after my attack I was alone. So after 2 laps alone I was caught up by the group.

At about 60 minutes into the race, the breakaway group was nearing the back of the main field. The officials decided to give the pack a bell lap so they could sprint for 21st place before being pulled. It was confusing in the pack, with not a lot of people realizing it was 1 to go for the pack, James included. Still, he finished it out for 2nd in the pack sprint.

After the course was clear for the breakaway group for the last 30 minutes, Zwizanski from Bissell attacked and was joined by two other professionals, Barrilleaux from Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling and former Webcor Pro rider Bernard Van Ulden from the Jelly Belly Team. Bernard
ultimately went on to win the race after pulling away solo in the last lap.

In the last 7 laps, Eric Wohlberg from Symmetrics attacked and I decided to follow him, so we began a little time trial in order to catch the escape. But despite all our effort we only caught
Barrilleaux from Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling as he fell off the hot pace of Van Ulden and Zwizanski.

Finally we came around the last corner for a 3-up sprint for 3rd place between Barrilleaux, Wohlberg and myself. I led it out from the corner and was able to hold on for third to get the last spot on the podium.

Aroussen finished his beautiful race in 9th position.

I finished the day on the podium with some flowers and some champagne...what a great night for me and the team!!

Thanks for reading,
Fabrice

Catching Up with Past Reports: Sisquoc RR, SLO Crit, and Watsonville Crit

While I was away for a week, the guys were out there racing hard. I'm just catching up with posting their reports. In all, there was a lot of good racing and results from the team with 3 top 10's in 3 races:

Sisquoc road Race: 9th place for Fabrice
San Luis Obispo Crit: 6th for James
Watsonville Crit: 2nd for Rand

Most of the guys finishing ahead of Fabrice, James and Rand were professionals, no shame in that, especially considering that they beat a bunch of pros too! Below are the reports from the respective highest placed riders.

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Race: Santa Maria Sisquoc Circuit Race, P/1/2
Date: 19 July 2008
Team: Jeff, Bo, and Fabrice,

Placings: 9th (Fabrice) of ~75

Full Results

The Sisquoc Circuit Race is a race on a 10.75 miles loop, 7 laps. The weather was sunny and not too warm. The circuit is not too difficult by itself, but exhausting over time. The finish line is on a descent after 3 successive climbs. A strong headwind made some parts of the circuit difficult.

During the race there were a lot of attacks but nobody got much of a gap. I tried some attacks but when we were in a group at the front, nobody wanted to collaborate, But I don't know why!!! In the last lap after some attacks, a professional from team Successful Living got off solo and his team controlled all the attacks behind.

During that's last lap, that guy increased his gap and won the race with a comfortable margin. For the second place there was a sprint from the pack. I finished 9th of the race, not too bad taking account of all my attacks.

Jeff finished in the pack as did Bo.

Fabrice

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San Luis Obispo Downtown Criterium
Men's Pro 1/2
Teammates: Rand (18th), Fabrice (11th), Jeff, Bo
Placing: 6th of 75ish

Full Results

The SLO Downtown Criterium is anything but Slow. The race started out fast and besides one or two occasions where the pace eased for a few seconds remained fast for the entire 75 minutes. The course is the usual downtown course with a chicane section through the mission, a fast slightly downhill long finish on new pavement this year. All of the corners if done correctly allow you to carry your speed. This was a great course for me. Last year I finished 14th and won a primme. This year no primme but I placed higher. After the Coyote Creek and Lafayette races I was starting to feel a little fatigued. I decided to take a break and only do a few easy rides during the week and focus on my rest. I wasn't sure how I would feel come race day but I ended up feeling great! We had our team meeting where Bo's wife Amy agreed to call radio updates from the sidelines, also recent National Champion John Elgart was calling radio updates for us as well. The plan was for me to relax a little during the beginning of the race and everyone cover attacks throughout the race. If it came down to to field sprint I was to be the go to guy.

Rand and Fabrice repeatedly attacked and covered attacks, but nothing was sticking. Cal Giant was also riding very aggressive and attacking repeatedly. SoCal racers like their field sprints for sure. I covered a few attacks that immediately fizzled once my breakaway mates realized they had a sprinter with them. Jeff covered a few attacks and spent some time near the front as well. About mid race I realized I wasn't sticking to the plan of me relaxing for the first part of the race. I decided to ease up a little and not waste energy fighting for position. I drifted back to about 30th wheel and hung there for a little while trying to conserve. With 5 to go I was slowly moving up. Fabrice, Rand, and Jeff were closer to the front, I got up to them at about 3 to go and started to surf the pack a little for the easy move up spots. When we heard the bell I was sitting in about 12th position, I held that through the Mission chicane than picked up a few spots, I came out of the last corner in 7th, passed one guy then the sprint started and it was a long line with no one really passing anyone. Daniel Holloway finished 1st with Cody O'Reily, Tony Cruz, and Rock Racing rider coming in before me as well.

This is one of my favorite races of the year, along with Burlingame and San Rafael. If you have never made the trip to San Luis Obispo I definitely recommend it to anyone for next year.

Thanks for reading,
James

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Watsonville Crit
Watsonville, CA
July 19, 2008
Weather: Windy, Cold, Foggy/overcast
Teammates: Matt Beebe
Place: 2nd of ~40

Full Results

Watsonville is a really fun, technical crit course, and though it is not really all that far from the Bay, it tends to be a low-key event with relatively small fields. It is probably for the better, because the course contains multiple hairpins with drainage ditches across them, making for dicey cornering. There is also a small hill that tends to make the race hurt more than one would expect.

There was still a solid group of riders this year, with notables like Jackson Stewart (BMC), Daniel Holloway (VMG-Felt) and James Mattis (CalGiant), and all sorts of powerful riders. I was feeling quite feisty and really wanted to get in a breakaway early.

Luckily, there were quite a few other guys with a similar idea, and within about 10 minutes into the race, after numerous attacks, I managed to get into a break of 6 that got significant time on the field. This break was comprised of Jackson Stewart, James Mattis, Brian Bosch (Sierra Pacific), Justin Fraga (BPG), and a McGuire rider. We worked well together, and the technical course allowed for the small group to pull away. By about halfway through the race, we had
lapped what was left of the field.

The breakaway riders continued to try and attack one another and catch each other off guard, but everyone was pretty attentive. I was the only rider without a teammate in the pack, as Beebe had done his job early and was calling stuff out to me from the sidelines, so I had to be extremely careful not to get caught behind a split.

Coming into the final 10 laps, James Mattis made a bold attack and held a decent gap until about 3 to go, but was reeled in. Several teams attempted to lead their riders out, but I marked Jackson Stewart. We entered the final corner in about 5th and 6th wheels, and sprinted hard up the finishing hill. Jackson took the win, and I came through just behind him in 2nd. Justin beat Brian Bosch for 3rd.

Great race...I really like the atmosphere around this race every year, and I love the course. Thanks to Beebe for support, and thanks for reading.

Rand

Timpani Crit Race Report

Timpani Crit in Santa Clara was this past weekend. The boys were active for the entire race. Eventually, Rand and Ryan got off with a breakaway group late in the race. Rand rode aggressively as always and went for it solo into the last lap. He came so close yet again but just missed out on the win. His all or nothing attacking style is relentless and fun to watch. He's more than due for a big W, I can feel it coming! Anyhow, below is Rand's report from the race.

Full Results

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Timpani Crit
Santa Clara, CA
8/3/2008
Weather: Cool, sunny, windy
Teammates: Fabrice, James, Rob, Jono, Ryan, Neil
Place: 6th of ~90

The Timpani crit defines the four-corner flat criterium course. Some spots of questionable pavement and some severe winds generally add a little spice to the mix.

This race was relatively fast throughout, but the large field made it difficult for any breakaways to get much time. I was on the attack as often as possible, and the other AV boys kept the race rolling as well.

The race was punctuated by a rather dramatic front-stretch crash, which produced some of the most awesome crash photos I have seen.

With about 6 laps to go, Ryan and I made it into a ~10 man breakaway. I quickly surveyed the group, saw some fellow breakaway maniacs like Vince Owens (Sierra Pacific) and Keith Miller (CalGiant), and decided it was worth a shot to stay away. The group worked pretty well, but the pack was within about 10 seconds of us, and guys started getting antsy. Ryan did a great job in the break, burning some matches to make sure it stayed away.

With 1 lap to go, I pulled through hard, simply trying to keep the pace high, but I ended up with a slight gap as the break started looking at one another.

I could see the pack closing fast behind, and the break hesitating, so I decided it was better to go for it solo than get caught by the field.

I made it all the way to the final corner before being caught by a few guys from the break, most notably Keith Miller, who put in a brutal effort to take the win. I ended up finishing 6th, as my legs were too shot from the solo effort to sprint much.

I am bummed I couldnt pull off the win...so close. Still, good riding by the whole team. Fabrice finished somewhere in the top-20, and all the guys on the team worked well all race long.

Rand

Elite RR Championships/Fort Ord Report

The district championship road race at Fort Ord was this past weekend. This is a long hard race of attrition and the W/AV team did well to have a few guys left going into the finish. Steve Reaney (Cal Giant) got off solo with a lap to go and held it to the line. Fabrice was in the second group of about ten and fought hard to get a podium spot, finishing 3rd overall. Below is Fabrice's report.

Full Results (courtesy of Steven Woo)

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Northern CA/NV Elite Road Race Championships
Fort Ord/Monterey, CA
Men's Elite 1/2/3
Teammates: Rand (18th), Aroussen (21st), Bo (30th), James, Jono
Placing: 3rd of 75ish

The Monterey Race is a race encompassing 10 laps of 10 miles each. The loop had lot of curves, little roads, and a "wall" 3km before the finish line. That climb was about only 1.5 km but very steep.

The start of the race was very early (8am), but that didn't discourage 3 guys who attacked in the first lap.

During 5 laps, nobody wanted to animate the race. But later, the speed increased and some teams began to decrease the gap between the pack and the escape. Aroussen did a fantastic job during the next 3 laps, riding with a lot of bravery.

During that time Rand and I tried to stay in good position, without using too much energy. The two last laps were covered in high speed, leading notably to Aroussen's loss. The pack caught the escape and from that moment, a lot of attacks ensued. Rand tried to get away several times but unhappily without success. Then, the future winner, Steve Reaney of Cal Giant, attacked and got a comfortable gap on the pack. In the remaining group, his team controlled the race. I attacked several times in the last lap but i was always followed by Cal Giant racers...

Despite my attacks, we were still 8 guys racing for second place...Thanks to a little slalom during the sprint, i took the 3rd place of that race. The group sprint was taken by AJM, also of Cal Giant for 2nd overall.

Rand's efforts finally caught up with him in the last few kilometers and he finished in a second group. Aroussen finished bravely just behind Rand. Bo was incredibly motivated and finished the race despite all the difficulties. James and Jono gave the maximum to help the team at the beginning of the race. Thanks to Bo's wife, Amy, who was our best supporter and for her expertise to supply the bottles!!

To conclude, that was a hard and very long race (100 miles) but with lot of suspense and a good result for the team!!

Thanks for reading.

Fabrice

Lafayette Crit Report

Here's the second installment from the past weekend of Webcor/Alto Velo Elite Team racing. Lafayette was a bit of a confusing race, as Rand describes below, due to some officiating/promoter complications. Even with all the mayhem that ensued, the race was really positive for the team, as we had 2 of our guys in the leading break of 7 that eventually lapped the field.

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Lafayette Crit
Lafayette, CA
July 13, 2008
Weather: Warm and slightly windy
Teammates: James, Rob, Aroussen and Bruce (Radioman)
Place: 2nd of ~50

A word of warning: this report is long and confusing...but the race was WAY more confusing in person. It started out quite controlled and normal, but ended up being the most absurd and bizarre race I have ever seen. Read on if you are interested.

My legs were feeling really good, and I wanted to get off the front of the race early. After cycling through a few breaks, with Aroussen and Rob and James covering some others, I bridged to three guys off the front and we rotated through quickly. We dangled a few seconds off the front of the strung-out pack, and then another three guys bridged up (including Aroussen).

That made a group of 7, and we were well-placed with two of our riders in such a small group. The break also contained Pat Briggs (CalGiant), who was definitely the most dangerous rider in the group, but Christian Kearney (Z-team) and Bob Newman (Pac. State Bank) were also looking very strong. We worked very well together as a group and about halfway through the event we were approaching the back end of the field, ready to lap.

However, the officials had forgotten to bring a finishline camera. Therefore, they did not want to deal with trying to pick placings for a breakaway intermingled with the field at the finish, so they decided to modify the race...

...what ensued was mayhem.

The officials first attempted to neutralize the field and force the break to pass straight through and continue working. However, we no longer had an impetus to work hard, as we had already lapped the field--meanwhile, the field was upset that they had no chance at the win. Some of the more discontent sprinters began protesting by laying across the start-finish line, etc. It was nuts.

Because we didnt HAVE to ride fast anymore in the break, we didnt. Even though the officials yelled at us to "keep racing" and "ride fast," we just rolled a steady pace, because the officials had just turned it into a 7 man race. Therefore, we were caught by the field again from behind. Keep in mind that we were still a lap up. I was actually really excited that we were back in the field...according to standard crit rules, when a break laps the field, teams are allowed to help their breakaway riders win the race by leading them out. These are generally pretty hectic and fast finishes, guys get confused, and I was also feeling pretty good about my sprint.

Unfortunately, the officials STILL didnt like this and forced the breakaway riders off the BACK of the field again...where we continued to roll around slowly, chatting. Eventually the breakaway decided that we would all evenly split the prize money, and drag-race to the line for placings.

In the meantime, the officials had decided to finish the field early to get them off the course, so they rang a bell for the field (I had no idea they were doing this, by the way, as the break was on the opposite side of the course at this point) so that they could finish and get places 8-10.

This plan backfired pretty badly, as the main field came flying around for the field sprint and RE-CAUGHT THE BREAKAWAY right in the final corner. Mayhem, as I said. Once all these riders had finally cleared off the course, the officials gave the breakaway a 2-laps-to-go signal and yelled at us to "race faster." Unreal. Truly bizarre.

We rolled around the course 7-abreast, chatting and talking and laughing at about 18 mph for the final lap and a half. I marked CalGiant sprinter Pat Briggs' wheel, and he jumped to sprint as we entered the last corner. I kicked to try and come around him, but couldnt quite get there, and I finished about a half-bike length or so back. Aroussen rolled in solidly in 5th. Pretty good photo of finishing sprint can be seen here

Aroussen did a great job all day of working in the break, while Rob and James helped shut the field down. Bruce did a spectacular job keeping us informed of what was going on. Thanks again to all four of these guys!

Rand

Race Report: Coyote Creek Circuit Race

This past weekend the Webcor/Alto Velo Men's Elite Team did another round of local races. First at Coyote Creek in South San Jose on Saturday, then at Lafayette crit on Sunday. It was a really good weekend for the team in general. We're clicking for sure and getting consistently good results. Below is Fabrice Dubost's race report from Coyote Creek. He's a new addition to the team, just recently arriving in NorCal from the Brittany region of France (think first week of The Tour, wind, foul weather, hardmen, Bernard Hinault!). Fabrice is an experienced road racer with an impressive palmares, and we're glad to have him on the team.

A report form Lafayette will be coming soon.

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Race: Coyote Creek Circuit Race, P/1/2
Date: 12 July 2008
Team: Fabrice Dubost, Rand Miller, Rob MacNeill, Jono Coulter, Brad Goodson, James Badia, Aroussen Laflamme, Graham Simpson, Bruce Wilford (directing from sidelines)
Placings: 4th (Fabrice) and 8th (Rand) of ~50

The Coyote Creek Circuit Race is a race on a 1.8mile loop. It's not a crit, so there are no free laps, but not a road race, since our race was only 70 minutes. The loop has two long legs and two short straights with a little climb of about 100-feet on the main leg. Lap times are on the order of 4-5 minutes. On race day there was a huge wind at our back for the climb, turning to a headwind for the flat long return straightaway. It was hot and sunny for our 2:15 start, but conditions were tolerable.

After some attacks covered by Rand, an attack from Jackson Stewart put me and 4 other guys in the front during the third climb. All riders were working well together during this escape.

At mid-race, a counter attack containing 4 Webcors amongst 12 guys approached at 40 sec but their efforts did not succeed. Behind the 2nd group, the race was breaking up into splinter groups. In the main chase, the Webcors guys weren't helping to bridge the gap to the main breakaway; they just covered counter attacks and tried to help the front group get an established lead. The gap turned on the advantage of the escape, 1 minute at 4 laps from the finish. I decided to attack on the hill into the last lap, due to the wind on the other side of the circuit. When I thought to attack the lap cards showed 2 to go instead of 1. In the confusion, the opportunity to attack was gone, so I waited for the sprint. But before the last climb one guy attacked, and the other guys looked me to close the gap, so I decided to wait a little bit but the gap increased. At 300 meter from the line I launched the sprint but it was too late to close the gap to the first guy who won the race, and just 10 meters from the line two other guys passed me for 2nd and 3rd place. I finished 4th. Rand sprinted from the 2nd group and finished 8th overall.

The plan before the race was loose and just that we needed to be present on the front of the race and cover breakaways, which we did well. The team was well represented in the main moves of the day.

The result was not what I had hoped for, maybe due to my less of experience racing here (3^rd race in USA so far) and I wish that the victory will appear as soon as possible...

Fabrice

Vacaville GP Race Report

To cap off the 3-day holiday/race weekend, the Webcor/Alto Velo team headed up to Vacaville for the NCNCA district crit championships. The team rode well and our breakaway specialist, Rand Miller, almost scored a big result but ran into some bad luck in the end. That's bike racing. Still, he managed a very respectable 10th place. Read on to hear Rand's accounting of the events.

Official Results
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Vacaville Gran Prix--District Crit Championships
July 6, 2008
Weather: ~100 degrees, smoky, and windy
Teammates: Bo, Ryan, Rob, Jono, James, Bruce (on radio)
Place: 10th out of 100+

This is a great course for the NCNCA crit championships, with a tight, narrow, technical section that leads into an open ~40 foot climb and around some fast 90 degree corners. It demands power, endurance, and good bike handling...definitely one of the more entertaining NorCal crit courses.

This year, the race was a bit more difficult than usual as the heat was ridiculous and the smoky air made it that much more difficult to breathe. In addition, it came directly after the Davis crit and the Leesville RR, so you could tell there were a lot of tired legs.

I was very worried that my legs would be shot, since I had been way off the mark at Leesville the day before. However, as soon as we started the race, I discovered that the legs were good and I spent the first half of the race covering early moves.

About halfway through the race, I ended up in a move of about 14 guys that noodled off the front over the top of the climb. All the major teams were represented, and Jackson Stewart (BMC) and Jared Barrilleaux (Jittery Joes) were in there as well, so it looked promising.

The Alto Velo boys in the pack helped keep it in check, and pretty soon we were well clear of the "field"--roughly half the riders in the race had dropped out by this point.

Local NCNCA crazyman Jesse-Andy Mendonca (Lombardi) took a flyer with about 12 laps to go as we hit the hill...WAY too early, right? Wrong. That slippery guy got 35 seconds on our group in about 2 laps. I gotta stop second-guessing that guy...

With 5 laps to go, I attacked solo and made a (more-or-less feeble) attempt to bridge to Mendonca. I got a 10-15 second gap over the remaining chasers, and at best got to within about 20 seconds of the leader, but to my dismay I found that I had a slow leak in my rear tire starting at about 4 to go.

With my legs burning, my body completely overheating, and my rear wheel bottoming out on the rim around the corners, I barely held a 10 second gap going into the final lap. I really thought I might have a shot at 2nd place, but heading into the final hill Jared Barrilleaux bridged up to me, followed by the remnants of the break.

I tried as hard as I could to maintain position through the last two corners but when everyone stood up to sprint I had nothing left and ended up finishing 10th. Good enough for a sweet T-shirt!

Thanks to my boys in the group that helped keep the race in check...I couldn't quite pull off the result in the end, but we made the right moves all day. Also, thanks to the supporters on the radio who were calling out time-gaps and encouragement throughout the race. Congrats to Ryan for a good race, as this death-march was his first real P/1/2 race.

Rand

Leesville Road Race Report

The team was at all 3 local races this past weekend: Davis, Leesville, and Vacaville. Bo was doing final tune-up for Cascade Stage Race coming up next weekend and rode strong at Leesville. Thanks to some selfless teamwork from Rand, Bo ended up with a solid 7th place finish. Below is Bo's report.

Reports from the other races will be out soon.

Official Leesville Results

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Leesville RR
P1/2
60 mile loop
3000 ft. of climbing
50 riders
July 5th, 2008
Team: Bo Hebenstreit (7th), Rand, James, Jono, Rob

As hard as it is to believe the road conditions at Leesville were worse this year than in the 2007 edition of Leesville. I am not quite sure what happens on the 364 non-bike racing days that causes such destruction. The road is rapidly approaching "non road" status as larger and larger portions degrade to dirt and gravel. As would be expected the dirt and gravel sections were rough and the potholes felt more like craters. Every year, despite thinking I remember how
bad the road is from last year, I get that "you have GOT to be joking" thought running through my head as we hit the first rough patches.

The race started out as usual with attacks and short lived breaks. After a while it was apparent that no one was going to get away before the main climb.

When we arrived at the first section of broken chunks of asphalt (aka road) anyone who had not performed pre-race tightening down procedures was left to spectate/cheer on the other categories as they passed by. Also, at this time there was massive bottle ejection and propulsion. At least those stranded on the side of the road wouldn't be thirsty.

We stayed gruppo compacto (minus "injured bike" riders) until the climb where we became rapidly un-compacto. Within a few minutes the pack was completely blown apart. I felt good when we started climbing but unfortunately this only lasted for a very very brief period. As I was sucking every last bit of oxygen I could get into my lungs (and possibly drooling all over
my bars) I remembered that the team was hoping I would do well today. This seemed highly misguided at the time but as my brain wasn't functioning well enough to reason why they had made a mistake, I dug deep for the remainder of the climb.

When I went over the top, somewhere around 25th, I was in a group of six. Rand was a few minutes back.

Now I'd made it up the climb it was one more challenge to make it down the crater descent, which, to be honest, wasn't quite as sketchy as anticipated. At the bottom I was still in the group of six and we could see riders up the road. We traded pulls and in short order we had a group of eight.

After about 10 miles someone said "hey Rand is back". This was very confusing. You have eight guys doing a TDF style TT (maybe slight exaggeration but that is how it felt) and here comes
Rand from nowhere. Very impressive.

We arrived at the next climb, which is quite short, within a few miles or so of Rand catching back on. About halfway up the climb I could feel that my front tire was going flat.

I tell Rand and he promptly offers me his front wheel. I tell him to keep going but he refuses and insists that I take his wheel. We pull over and exchange wheels. I am able to get back to our chase group before the top of the climb! By the top of the climb we are again reduced to six and the moto tells us that we are two minutes behind another chase group, and there are six riders ahead of that group.

Now we have a carrot, the slim chance of a Velo Promo T-shirt, the group is highly motivated. Who doesn't want to be sportin' the latest look from Bob?

Fortunately, we caught the group with about three miles to go.

Now we were about 12 to 14 riders looking at one another going about 16mph.

At this point, I still had no idea if 2 or 20 people had already crossed the line.

I thought to myself, I wonder if I just roll off the front what would happen? The answer: not a lot. When I looked back at the 1K sign I had a good gap but they were starting to react and close the gap. I crossed the line with about 1 second to spare.

Other than being a little disappointed that I did in fact place just outside of t-shirt reach-7th place-I was pretty happy.

Thanks to Rand for giving up his wheel. In case you think that it is because he is a nice guy I must make it clear that he only did it so he didn't have to write this race report, just kidding.

Bo

Burlingame Crit Race Report

Burlingame Crit is a district favorite because of the great downtown course and proximity to most of the racers' homes. The Webcor/Alto Velo Men's Elite Team was out in force for the latest edition this past weekend with the intention of setting up James Badia for a good finish. It was an active race and the boys in green were all over it, getting another solid result. Below is James' race report.

Official Results
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Race: Burlingame downtown criterium
Date: June 29, 2008
Field: P/1/2, 60 minutes
Teammates: Rob, Jono, Brad, Rand, Fabrice, Graham, Chris, Neil, Jeff, Matt Beebe, Bruce (directing from the sidelines)
Placing: 5th of 101

The Burlingame course is one of my favorites with its technical 90 degrees consecutive turns, unusual finishing straight (a long bent curve) and bumpy pavement, it makes for a challenging course. This race was a planned A race for me so there was some self imposed pressure to deliver a win for the Webcor/Alto Velo Elite team. Some of my family members and co workers showed up to watch the race so that was even more self imposed pressure to do well. The plan was for me to try and conserve while the rest of the guys covered attacks and initiated their own attacks if the race wasn't active enough.

Throughout the race there were a number of times where the pace would slow and I would immediately lose 15-20 spots, I had to use some energy regaining these spots to maintain good position. Rand had a solo attack early on in the race, 1 or 2 other riders bridged up to him but it eventually came back when Eric Wohlberg went to the front and started chasing. Jeff Williams was near the front at times, on one occasion I told him to mark Wohlberg's wheel in case he decided to attack. Fabrice did a great job covering multiple attacks throughout the entire race, in some cases he bridged up to small groups that had gotten away with no Webcor riders in them. Burlingame was Fabrice's first criterium in the U.S. and he looked very comfortable, I expect good things to come from our latest French addition to the team. Jono also spent some time near the front on chase duty. It was awesome to see Rob back in the mix after having some time of the bike for a while, he was riding very strong and did a great job keeping it fast in the closing laps.

In the closing laps (3 to go) I was positioned pretty far back (about 25th) I made my way up to the front and found Rand's wheel, we were sitting about 5th/6th wheel with 2 to go. I yelled out to let Rand know I was there. Coming around the last turn (just about to hear the bell) The 3 guys in front of Rand sat up, Rand did the right thing and ramped up the speed. I followed his wheel and we crossed the line hearing the bell in the 1 and 2 positions. Rand held an amazing pace for the entire lap (to be honest I was nervous he would be able to hold that kind of pace) I was having trouble holding onto his wheel at times, Rand pulled of just before the end of the last turn, a quick look over my shoulder and people were starting to jump, so I jumped up the inside. My speed quickly topped out and I entered the last straight in 2nd place but with not much acceleration happening. I held a constant speed to the line and got passed by 2 or 3 guys in the process and came across the line in 5th place just making it onto the Pilarcitos podium.

Today the team did an awesome job, we followed our plan and executed. I wouldn't say we controlled this race, but I will say we had a better handle on it than we have in previous races. At first I was disappointed in my 5th place result because I was really going for a win today, but after I have had some time to reflect I am happy with my 5th place and am even happier to see my team coming together like it did today. I truly feel a win is on the horizon for the Men's Elite team after seeing our execution in the race today. We are just entering the final 2 months of the peak of NorCal racing and I think the team is positioned well to bring home some good finishes.

Thanks for reading,
--
James

Napa Downtown Crit Report

Jeez, this race was shocking: super fast, super technical, super hot ,and just plain hard. W/AV did very well with 2 in the top 10 and 3 of about only 15 that finished. It was a crazy race. Below is Rand's report.

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2008 Napa Downtown Crit
6/21/08
Napa, CA
Weather: ~100 Degrees and really really windy
Teammates: James Badia, Aroussen Laflamme, Rob Macneill, Chris Crawford,
Jeff Williams
Finish: 3rd of ~60

First and foremost, this was the most insane (and most awesome) crit course I have ever seen. Set in downtown Napa, the course was less than a half-mile long, with lots of tight corners. From the start-finish line, the course dives onto a very small, narrow 4-corner block and then jumps back onto the split main straightaway. This long straight section of road then terminates in what can only be described as an extended hairpin turn, where the course goes around a triangular median and back onto the front straightaway--overall, we end up turning something like 270 degrees in that crazy turn. Throw some densely packed botts dots, oil-slick pavement, 20 mph wind and 100 degree heat, and you have the makings of some epic crit racing.

As The Crew and I prepped for the race, we discussed strategy...given the crazy conditions, we were thinking breakaway. The race started fast, and I spent some time getting aggro at the front, but breaks were not really sticking and I realized that the heat would make wasting energy a bad idea. The course rapidly began taking its toll on riders, since it required two full-on sprints each lap (onto the headwind section and out of the hairpin). By about halfway through the race, I would estimate that half the field had dropped out (or crashed).

Andy Mendonca from Lombardi attacked with a few other guys around halfway through, and proceeded to drop his breakaway partners by pushing a 53-11 or so the entire time. Several guys would attempt to bridge each lap, and fail. Mendonca dangled about 15 seconds up for a long time, but we played the odds and let other teams try and pull him back rather than expending our guys. Kevin Klein (Rock Racing) and a Healthnet rider stayed near the front and occasionally drove the pace, while BPG launched some fliers here and there, but Mendonca kept rolling. Aroussen put in a solid pull for a lap or two as well, but to no avail. With 3 laps to go, I felt confident in my legs and could sense that the now-15-man "field" was getting tired, so I attacked hard in the headwind section. I drove it as fast as I could for the final 3 laps with a Lombardi guy on my wheel and a BPG guy sitting on him...I just stayed on the front because the Lombardi guy definitely wasnt going to come through and the BPG guy wasnt either, and I felt pretty good about my sprint out of the hairpin. I think I waited a lap too long to attack, because I wasnt able to close the gap to Mendonca and I could see him posting up a victory salute about 5 seconds ahead as I started my sprint. The BPG guy (JD Bergman, who is riding quite strong these days)
came around and beat me by about half a bike length. I was bummed that I couldnt close to Andy, and that I got beat on the line, but I was happy with the race overall. James and Aroussen finished strong, with James coming in at 9th, in spite of being caught up in a crash with less than 15 minutes to go.

Not a particularly team-tactical event, but a really fun and technical race. I hope that they put the same course on next year, and I would encourage everyone to go try it!

Rand

Bo Tackles (and wins) The Terrible Two

Everyone knows Bo is a hardman but he felt the need to go prove it again by riding and winning the Terrible Two double century. Not that any 200 mile ride is easy but this double is one of the hardest around. Nice work Bo! Below is his report from a LONG day in the chamois.

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Race (aka ride):Terrible Two
Location: Sebastopol, CA
Host: Santa Rosa Cycling Club
Date: 20th June 2008
Category: Tourist
Distance: 200 +1 mile
Elevation Gain: 16,000 ft
Temp: 65F to 107F
Field size: 250 riders
Webcor/AV: Bo 1st

For those of you not familiar with the Terrible Two Double Century Greg Drake provides a very entertaining description in his 2007 report:
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/AltoVelo/message/14368

Although officially the TT isn't a race it certainly feels like one. I've done the 'TT' two times before in 2004 and 2006. In 2004 I got 2nd (11:07) and 2006 6th (11:55). The times are hugely heat dependent. Cool=fast, hot=slow. This year it was incredibly hot, well into the 100's. The 2008 TT was more about survival than records, and for me, it was all about the W-I-N.

For the past six years a local rider, Brian, has been putting the hurt on everyone. He was planning on doing a 'Lance' this year, by claiming his 7th edition. I was planning on putting an end to this. Only slight problem with this was that Brian is the real-deal and a force to be reckoned with.

My goals in this ride/race were:
1.Beat 'Lance' aka Brian
2.Finish fast enough that my behind wasn't too sore. Current rear end threshold is 12 hours so I had to be faster than that.
3. Not end up at Kaiser Perm where they let breast surgeons act as substitutes for jaw surgeons.


From the start I made sure no one was going to sneak away without me knowing it. This might sound a little hyper vigilant but I didn't want to suffer for 200 miles in vain. The pace was definitely more sedate than a P1/2 race but I felt quite at home when, at mile 15, there was a loud sound of bikes crashing behind.

No I did not cause it.

At about mile 25 we hit the first real climb, Trinity Grade, which climbs 1500' and dumps you out in to the Napa Valley. The descent was definitely not fun and unfortunately a few riders crashed on the way down.

After that first climb we were down to a pack of 40. We cruised up the Silverado highway to the first rest stop in Calistoga (mile 55). I filled my two bottles shoved some food in my pockets (repeat at each rest stop) and took off with three other riders. Our group of 4 was soon joined by another 13. We made it intact the next major ascent (mile 75), 3500' Geysers Road.

I knew that Geyser's Road would split up the field and sure enough by the rest stop at the top there was only me, myself and I. It is pretty nice to have your own personal rest stop. I hung out for a few minutes hoping some company would arrive. When it didn't I made the decision to bust a move and keep things rolling for the descents/flats to the lunch stop.

After lunch-on-the-run came the most brutal climb of the day: Skaggs Spring Road. I rode the climb alone but at the top was somewhat excited to see someone coming up the hill behind me. It turned out to be Brian. After he had filled his bottles we started off.

Now, although I was stoked to have some company I also wanted to demolish my competition (or at the very least win). I decided to pull out some very special tactics I've learned from racing on the road. These tactics are in fact so special that I cannot tell you about them in case my competition gets informed!

Brian was a decent climber and could keep up with me on the next climb. He also, as it turned out, was a mean descender. There were moments on the highly sketchy descent where I was having vivid flashbacks of my annual vacation to the 'Kaiser Penthouse'. I pondered if, were I to return, would I again end up with the breast enlargement surgeon working on my broken bones. Because of these uplifting thoughts I took it very conservatively and had to chase back to Brian after the descent.

I conserved energy on the next 700 foot climb (mile 142) by keeping my heart rate a little lower. Brian went over the top, in the process alerting/activating a very hot and very pissed off dog. By the time I reached snarling dog he was ready for a late lunch of Bo's ankles. Hungry dog didn't get fed and probably doesn't realize how lucky he was that I missed his hot head by about 1 inch. Meanwhile, Brian was already hauling ass down the hill towards the Highway 1 unaware of the performance a little way behind.


I counted my blessings that I wouldn't be visiting my old friends at Kaiser and headed down the descent. After a few corners there was Brian on the side of the road taking his wheel off. I asked if he needed anything. He said "no" so I kept going. I felt kind of bad but not really.

I started down highway 1 (mile 155) at a moderate pace. When I arrived at the Fort Ross rest stop (mile 162) one of the support motorcycles told me that Brian was 5 minutes back. The last major climb of the day is Fort Ross Road 1500' and it is steep (next time someone please remind me not to ride a straight block). At the top of the climb the motorcycle told me Brian was 8 minutes back. This finally gave me the confidence that it would not go down to a sprint finish which might just be the lamest thing anyone had ever seen. It was downhill with some big rollers to the next rest stop in (mile 184).

I got my water and took off for the final 17 mile trek to the finish.

I rolled into the finish to the sound of cheering and clapping. I guess there had been radio reports through out the day about the "Webcor guy" off the front. Regardless, people were still shocked to see someone other than Brian after 6 years.

Brian came in 12 minutes later. He told me after he flatted he tried to put more air in his tire at Fort Ross and tore his valve stem off. Then he said he flatted again on Fort Ross road. If he did not flat it definitely would have been more interesting. I guess we will never know what the out come may have been.

His parting words were "I will see you next year". To that I said "looking forward to it—next year I'll beat you by 30 minutes".

Just kidding.

My finishing time was 11:15:23. Not my personal best due to the heat.

To be honest, I don't know if I want to go back next year. At this point my backside is still hurting and I'm not feeling the love for the double century. Add to this a suspicion that now Brian knows he's not 'Lance' he will do a little more training for next year and that might mean hurt. Or, hurt more than this year at least.