Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Lafayette Crit Report
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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 (3rd race in USA so far) and I wish that the victory will appear as soon as possible...
Fabrice
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Vacaville GP Race Report
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
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
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Burlingame Crit 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