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What Brian J. saw:
Category: Masters 35+ 4/5
Result: Mid-pack
WHOO-HOO........!! What a fun kick ass race! Niki is right! This is a to do
race! Smile!
Okay, let me start in the beginning. Myself, Niki, and Brad Woon rode out
together. We meet Jeff at registration. After registration we all meet at my
vehicle for a group picture. All of us in team colors. We all went out for
alittle warm-up before the race. It was foggy and cool or cold depending on
who you talk too. Smile!
Jeff raced in the senior 4, he'll have to tell you
his story. I will say this, his strategy was out of sight out of mine.
Remember I said it was foggy.
Niki road with women. I think they actually put all the women together. If
I'm correct. Niki, got the pleasure of riding with women cat.123's. OUCH!
She had a great fun day! Myself and Brad rode in the master 35+ 4/5 race.
This was Brad's second race ever and his first road race. I've got to say
Brad has heart. I didn't know what happened to him, until the race was over,
but apparently he got a flat, just 150 yards into the race. Damn!! But he
didn't quit, he fixed his flat and did the whole race by himself. OUCH! The
Boys got heart!! Got to love it!!
For myself, I hung with the group all day.
I think I finished somewhere between 10-15th place.
The course is great! It's an out and back 48miles on rolling hills that
continue to go upward ever so slightly. Heh-heh.......!! Smile! The fog was
welcome by me! Love that cooler weather. Before the turn around there's a
nasty climb. Ouch! and of course this was the only area where the fog
lifted. DOUBLE OUCH! But after the turn around we were back into the fog.
Very fun course! We need to mark this one on our calendars for next year.
P.S. I thought the pavement was in good to excellent condition.
P.S.S. And by the way Niki does exist, just ask Jeff. Smile!
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What Jeff saw:
Category: 4
Result: Off the back
Summary: Aside from the fact that I fell off the back, it was a fun race.
23rd of 25. Take that Team Arete!
The fog at Patterson was thick like a mucus. It was constantly dripping
off my helmet and it made the controls all wet.
The 4's race started at a friendly clip. We entered the canyon under
heavy fog. You could not see more than 20 meters ahead. At about 3
miles in, I realized that the fog was heavy enough that someone off the
front could disappear for quite sometime. I wasted a ton of energy
chasing a 2 man break that ended up going nowhere. Brian said I was
trying to be "out of sight, out of mind." More like, "out of _my_ mind."
I hung around for about 10 more miles, trying to recover and eat. It was
not too bad. The pace was a comfy 17mph until we realized that there was
a Hancock rider off the front with a 200 meter gap which was growing
quickly. He had two teammates literally blocking on the front and keeping
the pace down. The pack was 3 lines wide. Hancock guys were at the head
of the two sidelines and there was no way to come around the side or up
through the middle. It was a pretty clever tactic.
To keep things short, at some point, I fell off the back when the chase
picked up. I screamed back down the mountain at 45+ mph and caught a
Cat 5. We worked together very well and caught a group of five 5's
after about 15 miles of chasing. The spontaneous camaraderie was the
highlight of the race.
I got really sick afterwards and slept from early yesterday evening until
noon today so I did not attend EB #4.
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