Land Park and Visalia Crits

A bit late on getting the reports out. Better late than never though. James describes the good teamwork and racing from Visalia and Land Park crits. Things are really coming together for the team in '08!

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Race: Land Park Criterium

Location: Land Park in Sacramento

Teamates: Rand Miller, Aroussen Laflamme, Jono

Placing: 2nd of ~55

The 4 of us piled into my Honda Element for the weekend bound for Land Park and the Visalia criterium. The course at Land Park is a road though the park that winds around the park and some chicanes leading into the finish line. This was my first time doing this race and I told historically this race had a lot of crashes. Our team plan was to be active as a team, sharing the load of attacking and covering breaks. Rand, Jono, and Aroussen were all very aggressive during the race. At one point Aroussen and I were in a breakaway with just the two of us, the pack not wanting that to happen brought us back pretty quickly. Rand had the largest gap of any breakaway all day and he did it solo, eventually his attempt was pulled back as well. Coming into the finish I was feeling good, the pace stayed pretty high until the last lap when there was some surging. Aroussen and Rand both got primes during the race. Just after the last left hand turn leading into the finishing chicanes I had a little bit of deja vu from the Merco races, the pack sat up a little and I attacked from pretty far out. I held a good gap for a while, but was forced to take a longer line around the last bend to get around a rider who had been off the front. I went around him on the outside adding a few feet to my line to the finish, just at the line Randy from BPG came around me. I was happy to have another podium finish but missed the win by inches. The team rode very well together and we had lots of compliments from other riders in the race on how well we rode. It was a great race for the 4 of us who haven't raced together much this year.

Land Park full results here

We all got into the Honda to head to Visalia and it wouldn't start, thanks to the guys and Ryan from Metromint for the push we push started it with ease. (Better get the battery checked).

We arrived in Visalia about 10:45pm, some of us went for a dip in the hot tub then went to sleep. Our race in Visalia was at 11:30am. We showed up 2 hours before and were impressed with the setup at the visalia crit. We got a good warmup just outside of the downtown area showed up to the startline early for a good position. Many of the big teams and names were there including BMC, Colavita, Successful Living, Bissel, and many others. With the 4 of us not having the firepower that the bigger teams had we decided to take a little more of a defensive approach than the day before. Rand did a good job staying near the front and trying to get into attacks as they formed. Aroussen did a great job maintaining position near the front of the race. As for me my legs felt good throughout the entire race, except for a slight cramping feeling about 3/4 of the way through the race. It wasn't bad enough to take me out of the race. Going into the finish inside about 3 laps to go the race started getting really fast and the big teams started forming the trains up near the front. I positioned myself at the back of all of this mayhem and stayed there until the sprint started where I passed a few people for 21st place. This was my first Pro/1 race and it was a good learning experience for me. I definitely feel I had the legs and the fitness for a top 5 finish in this race, I didn't have the eye of the tiger on this day. Rand, rode a very active race and was at the front getting into small breakaways. I like the way Rand races and expect a win from him soon. Aroussen still being new to criterium racing in the US rode an Awesome race, maintained position well and rode very smooth, if you don't know Aroussen you will know him soon because he is on the brink of some good finishes, Jono was still finding his legs after his recent arrival from Australia, his fitness is good right now so I expect to see good things from our Aussie friend in coming weeks.

Visalia full results here

In all it was a great race weekend for the 4 of us. We all got to know each other a little better and had a safe weekend of racing. The muscle cramp I was feeling during the race turned out to be a strained/pulled muscle that took some time to heal. It feels better now, so the next race for me will be the Ronde van Brisbane races this weekend.

Thanks for reading,
James

Merco Weekend

The Elite Team was split in Cat 2 and P/1 fields. Aroussen and Rand raced the P/1 field for both the Crit and RR. There were seriously competitive fields for both races with lots of guys that had just done the Tour of California. Below are reports from both days action in the P/1 fields.

Also, James' report from the Cat 2 Crit is below. He nearly pulled off a win with an aggressive long sprint. Anyhow, he earned enough points to get his Cat 1 upgrade. Congratulations to James!

Official results here for both races:
Crit
Road Race

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Aroussen's Crit Report:
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MERCO Credit Union Cycling Dowtown Grand Prix

Rider: Aroussen Laflamme
Cat: P/1
Finishing Position: 27 Of 100+

Course: 0.8 mi per lap
Laps: 50
Total race distance: 40 miles

Weather: sunny, windy and temperature around 58
degrees
Webcor AV teamates: Rand Miller
Race start: 3:00 pm
Race statistics: 32 mpH

This week-end was a great experience for me as I've raced against a
lot of pros team like BMC, Rock Racing, Sutter Holmes, Colavita,
Kelly Benefits and so on. So a lot of really strong riders were there
to challenge my fitness and my soloist race tactics. So I didn't had
to much expectation, my goal for the GP being primarily to make it to
the end while keeping some energy for the Road Race the next day.

I had a good start position in the third row, the first ones being
reserved for the knowledgeable like Chris Horner and Scott Nydam… The
race was fast from the gun, with attacks after each corner, when it
was not for the hot laps. My goal was to remain in the mid-peloton,
which I did pretty well, being able to make my way near the front
when necessary.

During the third lap, I managed to stay on my bike while jumping the
curb over a two feet deep hole after I've tried to pass on the inside
right before a turn. Thanks to my mountain bike skills! Yeah, the
race was that fierce!!

A breakaway have flown away after the first half of the race, with 9
riders including Horner, Ben Jacques-Maynes and the winner to be,
Borrajo. They have even lap the peloton during the last lap for a
kind of bunch sprint, helped by their teams.

For us in the main group, the race was far from over, and a lot of
attacks were going on. Eight laps before the end, I've started to
make my way up to the front, while recovering for the final assault.
Then during the last lap, in the chicane who did put me in trouble
several time during the race, the guy in front of me have lost is
rear wheel, catching everyone from left to right, bringing them in
his crash. I think that Rand have been caught behind the crash, not
being able to participate in the final sprint.

I had to step on the break really hard to escape from the crash.
Unfortunately, this was not a good place, nor a good time to loose my
momentum. So I had to use all my remaining energy to chase the main
group through the 3 last corners of the race, leaving me with little
sprinting power and nobody to lead me out.

I'm happy with the final result; having been able to remain with the
main group which was my main goal for this day.

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Rand's Road Race Report:
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Race Report: Pro/1 Merco RR
By: Rand Miller
Date: 03/02/08
Distance: 120 miles
Weather: Perfect
Team: Myself, Aroussen, Ted

After racing Snelling the previous week, and having raced the windy
Merco Crit the previous day, I was prepared for the 120 mile Merco RR
to be an epic day in the gutter. However, it turned out to be quite
nice and calm, and the first two laps of the race were rather mellow.

By mellow, I mean that the pack stayed as a pack, but there were still
quite a few attacks (in which all three of us Webcor guys
participated) and the pace was rather high. Nothing stuck, and we
headed through the feed zone as a group at the start of the 3rd lap.
However, at one point or another, while everyone was eating, drinking,
and generally being merry, a group of around 20 riders managed to get
500m off the front of the main group. I have no idea when this group
rolled, but it was by no means a concerted attack.

Regardless, it turned out that a couple big teams had their men in the
break (CalGiant, Rock Racing, and Bissell were the main 3), and so
while the break dangled tauntingly close in front, these teams shut
down any attempts to bridge. At this point I think they must have
radioed to their guys to go, because the break kicked into gear and
was out of sight in a matter of minutes. While Ted, Aroussen and
myself all managed to miss this key break, so did Chris Horner and
Fred Rodriguez, among others--this was a bizarre split.

Heading into 2 laps to go, the break had a 6 minute lead and the pack
was effectively neutralized by the big teams. Lap 4 was marked by a
few attacks spurred on by boredom, but none had any real chance of
doing anything (besides making the Bissell guys grumpy, since they had
to chase them down).

With about 10 miles to go, people started attacking again, this time
pretty hard, and the group began to break up a bit. I tried my best,
as did Ted and Aroussen, to get into a move that would stick but we
had no such luck. Not wanting to risk my safety sprinting against
Rodriguez and Bahati for 25th place, I tagged along mid-pack to the
finish, as did Ted.

Overall, a good race for all three of us, as we were quite active in a
long, hard, big-time race and personally I feel that my fitness is
progressing well. However, the bottom line is that we missed the key
break. The worst part was the fact that it was so close, but we
couldnt get there. Bummer, but next time I will be more attentive.

Thanks to Aroussen's GF for excellent feeds all day long, and thanks
to Ted for showing up. Hopefully he continues to do so!

Rand

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James' Cat 2 Crit Report:
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Merco Credit Union Downtown Grand Prix
Men's Category 2
18 laps, 15 miles
Place: 3rd of 120
Teammates: Elliott Holland, Rob MacNeill, Brian Peterson

This is one of the rare weekends AV Elite team was split up due to the Pro/1 race and the Cat 2 race being run separately. The Merco Grand Prix is a fun course with some technical sections that set it apart from other criteriums. A chicane, lots of bot dots, sharp corners, windy conditions, and rough pavement in sections makes for some exciting racing. This was my first race on the new Williams System 58 carbon tubular wheels, they were rock solid on this technical course. Traditionally this race has a lot of crashes in the Cat 2 field, and this year was no different. The only thing I can come up with is being a full Cat 2 field you have 120 guys who think they can win all of a sudden. Add to this the mixing of Southern California and Northern California riders, a bunch of collegiate racers and you have an exciting race.

I arrived at the race later than I would have liked, only got about 15 minutes of warm up, talked quickly with Rob, Brian and Elliott. Rob and Brian had just finished the masters race so they weren't sure how they would fare in this race. Elliott and I talked tactics pre race. He suggested he give me a lead out, I disagreed and stated that since we haven't really ridden together much a better approach would be for him to be aggressive throughout the race and if it is coming down to a sprint finish to attack with 1 lap to go.

The race got underway and it was plenty fast. My only complaint is there was a lot of surging going on. I had to work extra hard to maintain position. I decided not go for any primes throughout the race. Elliott did a great job staying near the front of the race and chasing down attacks. I tried to get into a few breaks but the pack wasn't letting anything get away.

With three laps to go I found myself just behind Elliott, I told him to stick to the plan. He said a few words in response, not all of which I could understand, but I did hear the words lead out. I said again to stick to the plan. Anyways, in the middle of the 2nd to last lap Elliott was a few spots ahead of me and turned around to look for me, while doing so he veered into the rider next to him and they both went down. I was able to avoid the crash and settle back into position at about 10th wheel. Going into the last turn on the final lap the guys at the front sat up. I decided I didn't want to go into the last turn with a big swarm of cat 2's hungry for a win, so I attacked about 100m before the last turn. I came out of the last turn with a large gap on the field and continued to sprint into the headwind all the way to the line (a long ways). About 30m from the line I was still sprinting, I looked back between my legs and saw some shadows approaching. I tried to kick in the final boosters in the legs but nothing was left and I was caught by two guys right at the line.

I spoke with Elliott afterwards and he was pretty bummed, he said it was his first crash in 5 years. Minus a lot of road rash he was o.k. Elliott proved to be a very strong bike racer and I look forward to riding/racing with him more. I showed up for the podium presentation then made the long drive home.

The points for 3rd place gave me what I needed to upgrade to category 1. My upgrade was approved yesterday by USA Cycling, so no more Cat 2 only races for me.

A good photo of the finish taken by Jeff Williams
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ironcx/2303725052/in/datetaken/

And the podium presentation
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ironcx/2303733354/in/datetaken/

Thanks for reading,

James