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