Wente Road Race Report & Welcome Bo!

Jono's accounting from the recent Wente Road Race is below. It proved to be another cracking edition with the peleton shattered into the final climb before the finish.

Also, we got a new member to the Elite Team after long time Alto Velo member, Bo Hebenstreit, finally upgraded to Cat 2. He's going to be a great addition to the team and we're looking forward to racing with him this season and beyond. This was his first race with the team and he rode very well throughout.

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Wente Wineries RR
27 April 2008
PRO 1/2
81miles
Start List 105 riders
Webcor AV: Jono Coulter 23rd, Bo Hebenstreit, 30th Dominic Giampaolo, 34th Peter Cazalet 40th

Winner: Adam Switters -ROCK Racing
2nd: Roman Kilun -Healthnet
3rd: James Matthis -California Giant

Gently rotating windmill fans and airy blue skies caused Webcor Jono to be smiling for the 2008 running of this Norcal Classic, the Wente Vineyards RR.

Five laps of an undulating course with smooth roads and 6 ascents of a 1.3 km berg atop which the finish is situated makes for some fast paced, gutter to gutter action and lots of scrambling, attacking, chasing and regrouping.

Once again our resident strongman Dominic took it upon himself to monitor the front of the race, tacking onto all the moves that looked dangerous and driving the peleton up and over the many inclines that punctuated the course and the riders lungs.

On lap one and two there were pileups on the long left hander at the end of the descent, Dom even managed to use his BMX bandit skills to run over him "I clearly recall seeing my front wheel pop up and go over his seat post and his legs..." and stay upright. After a fairly mellow first ascent of the climb, lap two was ballistic, according to Dominics powertap data (which records ballistic levels often), and after a few laps of single file, attacking and regrouping a sneaky break including Pat Briggs (Cal Giant) Craig Upton (Above Cat Racing) and a couple of others jammed down the road. The chase that ensued was inevitably quite fast, and the bunch was whittled down to about 50 with three climbs to go. Crucially, Dom and Bo were still patrolling the front end, riding super solid while down in the middle of the pack Webcor Jono was surfing wheels and trying to stay out of the wind. Third to last time up the climb and its only 35 guys over the top, a little bit later we lose Dom and Bo but they fight on the descent to be among only a handful to get back on. The break reaches its maximum lead of 2:45.

Just prior to the second to last ascent, Kristian Kearney of Z Team launches, as does a Metromint. I promise myself to go with the next move. It's Adam Switters from ROCK. I don't go, thinking SURELY Cal giant will chase... They don't. Everyone gesticulates at each other to take up the slack. Second to last time up the climb Kilun (Healthnet), Jesse Anthony and James Mattis (Cal Giant) drill it, bottom to top. They separate from the chase which is now down to 16 guys. Up and over the top, down the windy undulations, through the crosswind section the chase is single file. The leaders are at 1min 45, 1min 30, 1min 15, Pat Briggs has dropped off them to help Jesse and James pull up to a winning position. It's a shootout. They are 30 seconds in front of us. Switters and Kearney are somewhere in the void.

Out on the highway the final time its all in sight, everything from 1st to 25th is up for grabs, although first is a dot in the distance 1min 15 away and I'm hedging my bets on that being closed by my chase companions and me drilling the hilltop finish. I'm spinning, feeling great, thinking it will all be back together, I don't pull through, only cover when attacks go.

Fifth wheel at the bottom of the climb, the chase has failed, Switters has his hands in the air, our group is racing for 9th. Halfway up the climb I'm useless, the other guys are just better than me. I'm 23rd. Unbelievably, Bo comes in solo about 90 seconds later, he did that half lap by himself and only lost a bit, in his first Pro 1/2 race! and within another 90 seconds, Dom. He probably put out more power than anyone in the whole peleton today. Soon after the second split comes in and Pete Cazalet is there. Its all the Webcor AV guys in the front half of the race, even if i can't deliver today we showed how solid we are in a pretty tough Pro 1/2 race. Nice work out there lads!!

Jono