Panoche Valley RR Report

Below is Bo's report from Panoche Road Race. This a great race, it's always hard and conditions are usually brutal--conditions Wholberg usually excels in. This year was no exception.

Official Results
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Panoche Pass RR
P1/2
67 miles out and back.
3500 ft. of climbing
25 riders
May 18th, 2008

Bo Hebenstreit (9th), Tore

Well, guys. Let me tell you. It was b-r-u-t-a-l! Temperature estimates for day ranged from 95 degrees to 119 degrees depending on who's computer you looked at. Our 'lite' team consisted of Tore and Bo. The masterplan was to deliver Tore to the sprint where he would surely win! One thing we overlacked in planning, however, was Tore's complete lack of endurance. His typical weekly training being 3 hours of commute riding fortified with 14 bags of peanut M&M's.

Now to the exciting details: Five guys (including Nathaniel English (Z-Team), Eric W., and a BMC rider) got away in the first 1/3 of the race only to be seen very briefly at the turnaround. I screamed at them that it was a no-drop ride but they didn't hear with all the wind out there.

There were thirteen of us at the turnaround and by the last water zone climb there were five. Tore wilted in the heat leaving me to dominate at the finish. I was putting 850W for the last 2K but it just wasn't enough (just kidding). Due to the fact that I have absolutely no sprint I figured I would give a leadout for the other teams. This will be good practice for the next race when hopefully Tore will not get dropped and I can take him to the line.

Bo.