W/AV P12 Copperopolis Race Report

On the eve of Paris Roubaix, the guys tackled NorCal's version of the roughly paved classic. Our Parix-Roubaix, Copperopolis Road Race, is marked by bad pavement throughout, winds, climbs, exposed flatland, and tough racing for 105 miles. The rough course usually attracts some top local pros, as was the case this year. Levi Leipheimer showed up again, it's always cool to line up with a top ProTour rider.

Attrition is usually high due to flats, mechanicals, and exhaustion, and our team did well to have more than half our team finish. Fabrice had a phenomenal ride, with his usual calculating but agressive style, finishing 4th on the day (1st amateur). Parnes kept up his strongman reputation by placing 11th. Below is Fabrice's report from the race.

Official Results

Director Keith's summary with more photos from the follow car can be found here

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Copperopolis Road Race
Saturday April 11th, 2009
Pro 1/2
Place: 4th of 81
Teammates: BP, Parnes, Billy, Jeffro, Bo, Myself and Thomas
Support: Keith Williams and Amy (Bo's wife)

After leaving San Carlos at 5AM and 2 hours of driving nearly in the middle of the night, we arrived at Copperopolis. This race is constituted with 5 laps of a tough circuit, for over 100 total miles of racing. The road's pavement is very bad all along the circuit; it was like Paris Roubaix one day before the real race!! The weather was sunny but chilly at 8 o'clock in the morning, with some wind on the top of the climb of the day. The field was about 81 racers and strong with about 15 professionals from Astana (Leiphemer), BMC (Nydam), Colavita, Rock Racing, Team Type 1, and Bissell (both JM's).

Just after the start, an escape of 3 guys took an advantage, increasing the gap to 4min by the second lap. During the race I tried to follow Keith's advice which was to keep as much energy as we can (It is a very long and very hard race). In fact, the combination of the climb and the wind on the flat plateau didn't allow for any recovery. So my goal was to stay in good position in the field without missing any strong moves.

During the third ascension of the major climb, Levi decided to increase the speed with training buddy Nydam on his wheel. At the top of the climb we were just 20 guys on the front at only 1 min from the escape, we all worked together and we caught them in the next lap. Then BJM attacked with Nydam. I understood that this move will be very important because BJM has his twin in our group and Levi will not work behind Nydam, so I decided to attack and I tried to close the gap alone, but the wind was strong and I was only able to get 10 seconds, but no more. So I decided to wait for the group and to try another time but with somebody else. Through the feedzone at the start of the next lap I went again, this time bringing Mattis (CalGiant). I set the pace for the entire climb and we took only 40 seconds advantage by the top, but that was not enough. In the last 5 miles we were caught by AJM (Bissell) and English (Zteam). Andy attacked us just before the last bumpy descent, and I won the sprint against English for 4th place. Mattis had a flat somewhere along the way and dropped off our group. Up front, BJM took the win over Nydam. (Note: Levi was disqualified for crossing the centerline!!)

Ryan Parnes made, as usual, a strong race and a fantastic come back, he finished 11th.

Thanks to Keith for his support and advice, which was so important when you don't know anything about the circuit, and thanks to Amy for the feed zone although I don't drink a lot!!

Thanks for reading
Fabrice

Napa Crit and Santa Cruz Crit Race Reports

After the Altamont TTT earlier Saturday, a full Webcor/Alto Velo crew converged on downtown Napa for more racing. The Napa Crit is a short 1km course made difficult by technical turns and wind. Attrition in the race is usually high and this edition was no exception. Parnes' did well in the field sprint to nab 5th overall.

On Sunday, a huge contingent of the W/AV Elite Team came together again for another day of racing. This time at the 41st (!) annual Santa Cruz Classic Criterium. This is another very difficult crit punctuated by a hairpin turn and a short steep hill every lap. It's usually nuts from the gun and lasts 50 laps for about 90 minutes of high speed suffering. Only the strong finish and only the truly mighty do well on this course. The W/AV team had our strongmen Fabrice and Rand in the lead group for most of the race. Fabrice had an unfortunate mechanical and couldn't finish. Parnes made a late bridge from the main pack and finished with a group off the front containing Rand for 11th and 12th. BP took the field sprint for 16th.

Below are Parnes' reports from both races.

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Napa River Velo Gran Prix P/1/2

Teammates: Justin Fraga, Chris Crawford, BP Buchholz, Rob MacNeill, Rand Miller, James Badia, Neil Harrington, Bo Hebenstreit
Result: 5th of ~50, Rand 7th

This course is a real doozy! The fastest 4 corners in cycling and then a "crazy P" turn linked by a short straightaway. The race was fast from the gun, and when a crash eventually happened about 10 laps in, Daniel Ramsey of Mt. Khakis Pro Cycling took off and never came back. Pretty rad solo move that he stuck for 50 minutes of an hour long crit. Our boys were up front animating the race. Getting themselves in every move and making a few of their own. Alas, nothing and nobody was was going to bring Daniel back and no one was anxious to get caught out of a move that went.

I covered a move and found myself in a small break with Tim Farnham (Sp?) of Bissel and a Wells Fargo racer. We worked well with each other for a number of laps, but Daniel was still pulling away and the pack was hot on our heels. We were caught with a few laps to go, but we all tried to stay up front, as there wasn't a lot of room to move up. With one to go I was 3rd wheel behind Tim and Jared (CalGiant). I went into the P-turn 3rd, but was so toasted from the break effort that I got passed by one person in the sprint. Shame.

We had a pretty strong ride as a team, covering moves and animating the race, and I'm happy with how we rode. We all suffered a little, Rand had a strong finish, and everyone kept their skin. All in all a good day.

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41st Santa Cruz Classic
April 5, 2009

HUGE team: Justin Fraga, Graham Simpson, Peter Cazalet, Billy Crane, BP Buchholz, Fabrice Dubost, Rob MacNeill, Rand Miller, James Badia, Neil Harrington, Bo Hebenstreit, Jeff Williams, Thomas Novikoff
Result: 11th, Rand 12th, BP 16th, James 20th of 105

This is one of my favorite races of the calendar. The course is dynamic, the weather is great and the spectators' clothing is limited. A strong field of 105, including a number of pros, took the line. I nabbed myself a sweet spot at the front of the pack, anticipating a fast race from the gun. Mr. Mendonca of Lombardi backed in in front of me, but he assured me he'd be out of my way. He was more correct than he knew: photo . I just heard he separated his shoulder, which sucks. I wish him a speedy recovery.

The race was pretty rippin' from early on. I didn't have a very good sense of the race as I was just chillin' in the pack while Rand and Fabrice animated things up front for about 40 of 50 laps. I was just focusing on spinning the legs and staying fresh in case things came back together. Apparently things up front were pretty hard out, with a break of ~10 that included Andy JM, Roman Kilun, Daniel Holloway, Tyler Wren, Michael Sayers and James Mattis.

With a few laps to go Ben JM took off on the climb before the s/f and I went with him. He sat up when he saw people responding, but I decided that with just a few laps to go it was time to make a move. I kept on trucking and when I looked back Evan Pickett (Metromint rider and old friend from Stanford) and Ben were on my wheel. Evan pulled through like a champ, but Ben was just sitting on. I should have said something, but its hard to muster the courage to talk trash to Ben JM. Evan and I worked together for another lap or so, but I decided that it didn't make much sense to drag Ben up to a break with my two teammates in it. Evan was committed and did maybe a lap and a half all by himself (impressive). What I didn't know at the time was that Fabrice had dropped out due to a mechanical and Rand was alone up the road.

I finally heard Justin yelling that I had to GO, GET MY @$$ UP THERE! I started trading pulls again and we caught the break with only one lap to go. Ben immediately took off. Sayers, Holloway and Mattis were off the front, so that left Rand and I in the break sprinting for 5th. I was gassed from bridging and Rand was gassed from 40 laps in the break and it was all we could do to muster something that looked like a sprint. Impressive ride by Rand and Fabrice. I'm sure they'd have mixed it up except for that small mishap.

A lack of communication was responsible for leaving a lot of fresh legs back in the pack, but when you look at the caliber of the field it wasn't a total rout.

See you next year, SC Classic.

Altamont TTT Race Report

Below is BP's report from the inaugural Altamont 4-man team time trial. It was a furious but fun 30+ minutes of coordinated super-threshold riding on a rolling, windy course.

Pic of the team while rotating
Official Results

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Altamont 4-Man TTT
April 4, 2009
Team: BP Buchholz, Rand Miller, Rob MacNeill and Ryan Parnes
Result: 1st Team of 4 Total Teams in P/1/2 Category and Fastest Overall Time of 15.7 mi in 32:44 at 28.78 mph.

Rand got this crazy idea to do another mini stage race last weekend, given all the good racing in the Bay Area. We started off the weekend with the 1st Annual Altamont Team Time Trial (TTT). Teams of four signed up to tackle the rolling and, obviously, windy sections of Altamont Pass Rd. To those of you who have raced Patterson Pass and Wente, I'm sure you're very familiar with the wind, rollers, etc.

The course was essentially a 7.8 mi out-and-back. The course started with a 3% roller and false flat section, followed by a steeper downhill, then some nice, swoopy flat sections and one little punchy roller before the turnaround. The main obstacle on the way back was the 4-5% hill we just descended about 2 miles from the finish.

The wind was blowing from the Southeast which made for a significant crosswind the entire race. The crosswinds seemed to pick up more on the way back which, combined with the steeper hill, meant that we needed to conserve more energy for the final climb.

We started at the base of the short hill at a tempo pace and began rotating through at 15 - 20 second intervals. We gradually picked up the pace through the descent and swoopy sections and Ryan and I stayed at the front for "maximal wind blockage." Ryan and Rob did great jobs of negotiating the flat sections and cornering to ensure that we kept the pace super high.

Into the turnaround, the main goal was to exit smoothly and pick up the pace in an organized fashion. We approached the first of some medium-sized rollers and realized that the wind was playing a larger role in slowing us down than on the 'out' section. Rand set some seriously good pacing up the rollers and kept the power to the pavement in an impressive display.

At the major climb we faltered some, with our pacing not being as smooth as it could be. This was my first time doing the TTT and I must admit that the pacelining/rotating piece is super difficult especially in the aero bars, up a hill and with a crosswind.

The descent into the finish was super fast and a little sketchy since the centerline rule was in effect and we passed another Team right at the line.

Overall, a strong Team performance and a great way to kick off the weekend of racing. I think that the Redlands racing definitely helped us fine tune our legs and we are benefiting from the fitness.

I just wanted to add that this is a really well-run event and the Organizers are super cool and motivated to do more such events. It's not everyday you get to do a TTT and I would strongly encourage more Club Members to go out and give it a try. This group is also sponsoring the Calaveras ITT on May 23.

Thanks for reading!

BP

Redlands Race Report

This past weekend, the Webcor/Alto Velo Elite team sent a squad of 8 Cat 1's to Redlands to compete against a stacked 200 rider field of mostly domestic pros in one of the toughest races in the USA. The Redlands Classic is a 4-day NRC stage race with an opening hilly prologue, a windy road race, a 9-turn criterium, and a hilly circuit race. All tough courses! Against such a tough field, our goals were somewhat modest: we wanted to 1) gain some experience and reap some fitness from racing at a high level, 2) finish at least half our squad and 3) place Fabrice respectably in a stage or the overall. We accomplished our goals and had a great time in the process.

Our team was comprised of Ryan Parnes, Ted Huang, Rand Miller, Brian "BP" Buchholz, James Badia, Rob MacNeill, Fabrice Dubost and guest rider from Metromint Fred Stamm. Our onsite manager, DS, follow car driver, and soigneur was none other than team/club sponsor Keith Williams of Williams Cycling. Rand's girlfriend Alison also assisted with feeds, cooking, and general support for the race. We had great housing split between two hosts; big thanks to Tricia Fynewever and the Wilson Family for putting us up and for the great hospitality during our time in Redlands. All the support we had was awesome!

Below are stage reports from our best placed riders on the stage. Here's a summary of the placings:

Prologue: 76th of 194 for Parnes at 1:02 from stage winner Ben Day (Fly V Australia)
Full Results
Cyclingnews coverage of Rand Ripping the Prologue
Stage 1, Beaumont RR: 45th for Fabrice at 42 sec from stage winner Jeff Louder (BMC)
Full Results
Photo of Fabrice finishing with a bunch of pros (Note: Pat Benatar is playing in Beaumont!)
Stage 2, Redlands Crit: 30th for Fabrice at same time as stage winner Jackson Stewart (BMC)
Full Results
Photo of BP and Jamo in the crit
Stage 3, Sunset Loop Circ. Race: 26th for Fabrice (1st amateur) at 3:16 from stage winner Kyle Wamsley (Colavita)
Full Results
Overall Classification: 26th for Fabrice (2nd amateur) at 5:05 from overall winner Jeff Louder (BMC)
Full Results


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Redlands Prologue

5 short kilometers in the pain cave.

76th of 194

This course not only punished the body, but played with your mind. Aside from one short, punchy climb and quick descent the first 3.5 K were false flat with moderate wind. Then followed a right turn across a highway overpass and then a nasty, leg shredding climb. The first stretch was totally visible and cut across a hillside, then a left turn into a soul-crushing headwall. After that, only 500 meters of false flat separated us from the finish line.

Keith Williams of Williams Cycling was our DS supreme for the weekend, and he showed up before the sun to snag us a primo spot in the team area. He had two tents and a bunch of trainers set up, along with chairs, grub, coolers full of refreshing treats and an arsenal of gleaming, carbon wheels. Awesome. Truly Awesome. We warmed up in style that day.

I will never be mistaken for a climber, and pre-riding the course struck fear into my heart. Rand had ridden the course last year and warned me not to go out too hard, so I chose to reign it in until I hit the climb. After hacksawing a few inches off my clip on bars (Damn UCI Rules!) I warmed up and headed to the start area. I don't usually stand around for 15 minutes before a TT effort, but that was the order of the day. I also don't usually stand in a pen full of Professional cyclists. I can't lie, milling around in a stable full of shiny, pro legs and ridiculously expensive equipment psyched me out more than a little. I managed to make it to the start ramp and then...

BOOM. OK, not really. It was something of an anti-climax as I basically soft-pedaled the first 3.5 K. Then I hit the climb, somehow already exhausted, and the suffering began. I went too hard on the first stretch, and instead of powering over the headwall and finishing strong across the top I wrenched myself over the top, gasping for air and barely moving. I felt like I was stuck in slo-mo. I managed to somehow get the pedals moving and dragged myself over the last 500 meters to the finish, narrowly avoiding being overtaken by the Jelly Belly rider behind me.

Someday I'll get to ride a flat prologue, and then maybe I'll really have something to write about :)

Redlands is really an incredible race and I'm so happy I got to be a part of it.

-Parnes

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Stage 1: The City of Beaumont Road Race
155km, 4 laps of a 39km circuit
45th place for Fabrice

The start/finish line was located in Beaumont, the circuit was mostly flat for 20kms but with a strong tailwind at the beginning and in the face when we rode back. Then there was a 2-stage climb on a little road (2kms of climbing, then a short descent and 1km of rollers). But like for the women's race, the biggest obstacle was the wind, especially with a field composed of 200 guys ready to race.

Right after the start, the leading team, Fly V Australia, worked at the front of the pack and paced a high speed. With the wind at our backs, the speed was between 80km/h and 90km/h!!! In order to succeed in that sort of condition, we needed to be in good position all the time, and be focused on the race. There were not a lot of escapes, the wind was too strong, so the decisive moves would likely be done in the last climb for a pack of about 70 guys. I tried to stay in good position but the fight was aggressive and I was only able to stay in about 40th place before the climb. So there were gaps opening during the climb. I closed two of them but the third was too much and I finished the race in a group of 10 guys just behind the first group of 30 racers (20 seconds). The rest of team tried to fight during the race but for most of them, it was the first time racing at a such high level and in harsh conditions. Ryan finished in a group at 2min, then BP, James, Fred and Ted finished at 10min, but we lost Rand and Rob during that epic day...


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Stage 2: The City of Redlands Criterium
90 mins of a 1.61km per lap
30th place (pack) for Fabrice

After a short ride on the morning in order to warm up, we headed to downtown Redlands for the Crit. The principal difficulty for that stage was the number of riders with 160 starters!! The circuit was 1.6kms long with 9 turns, and a false flat on the start/finish line. The BMC team with their new leader, Jeff Louder, worked on the front of the pack from the beginning to the end of the race, and tried to kill all the escapes. After 15 minutes, which were very hard for me, I tried to stay in good position, staying clear of crashes. In the last five laps I tried to be in good position and rest for the final sprint but in the last lap a crash in a U-turn split the field and we caught the first group just for the last straightaway, that was it... Jakson Stewart won a second stage for BMC and Louder kept the yellow jersey. I finished in the middle of the field like Fred, James and BP. But we lost Ted, who was not really inspired by the 9 turns in a lap, and Ryan.


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Stage 3: Sunset Loop Circuit Race
12 laps of 10kms in the hilly Redlands neighborhoods + some start and finishing circuits on the crit course.
Team: James, BP, Fred and Fabrice
26th place for Fabrice on the stage and overall.

That last stage is the traditional queen stage of the Redlands Classic, with 12 laps of a tough circuit only strong guys can win. As the general classification was very close (50 guys in less than 1min30) the race would be very tough to control for the leader's team. The race started with hot laps of a shortened crit course with sprint bonuses. Then it was a fast, hectic procession to the circuit loops. On the first lap, the organization put timing bonus on the KOM line. That did not help matters!!

BMC as during the crit, worked from the start of race to set a very high pace, so high that during the two first laps in the hills, the field exploded and there were only 25 guys on the front. I was pulled back to a second group. Not content with my position, after two more laps I decided to try something. I accelerated on the climb, with an idea to take with me other riders, but I was the only one crazy, yes crazy, because I finished the race like that: alone, nearly 80kms alone on such a difficult circuit was crazy. But all these efforts were not without reward, I finished the stage at an honorable 26 place, first amateur, and that set me at the same place in the general classification. For BMC, the plan was perfect, they kept the yellow jersey..

James, BP and Fred finished the stage in one of the big groups formed during the day. For an amateur team like Webcor, and for a first experience of that level for most of us, finishing the race with 4 riders was a great success!!

-Fabrice