Reports by:

• Richard
• Brad B.
• Garry
• Chih
• Matt I.

Category: 4
Result: Flatted

Short version: I flatted.

Longer version:

I flatted on the 1st lap, not even half way round! Still, there was some good fortune for me today, as a sag vehicle showed up within 5 minutes to give me a ride back to the HQ. It had another rider in it who had also flatted.

Near the end of the lap, we came across the remains of the wreckage of a crash in the Masters 1/2/3 race. Apparently someone had done something stupid at the front and taken out 10 riders. There were 2 left at the scene, one badly scraped up, especially a hand. We picked him up and took him for treatment.

Once at the HQ, the uninjured rider and I sorted our bikes and then headed off for a ride round the course. About halfway round we caught up with Brad, and we formed a small group. We went for a second lap, and I was having a hard time riding quickly - don't know why, but I was.

Until, that is, the Pro/1/2 break came past. I looked back, and there was the Pro/1/2 bunch and I decided to sit on the back, at least back to the HQ. As they went past, the last rider tapped me on the back and invited me to sit in. Cool...

There were people trying to bridge across to the break, so heading back to the HQ was quite brisk at times. I generally sat on the back, just watching what was going on, but a couple of times I helped a rider get back on after an acceleration. I then decided that I would ride another lap with them, and tried to be invisible to the officials as we went through the start. The pace was quick until around halfway round when there appeared to be a general consensus that the break of 3 had got away and there was no chance of bringing them back. Instead, everyone took the opportunity to prepare themselves for the sprint.

On the run-in to the finish, one of the riders, Steve Wu of Pegasus, had a softening front tyre and asked if he could have mine. I said sure, but he took ages to decide that he actually wanted it, not sure of when to stop and do the switch without losing too much time. In the end I think he left it too late, but it was cool to be there to help out. I finished the lap very gingerly on his very soft front wheel.

It was a bugger that I flatted. Don't know how I would have done in the race, but the rider I was going to mark in the finish ended up 2nd, so I like to think I would have been up there. Riding with the Pro/1/2 group was also fun and helped to give me a workout, rather than grinding out some miles.

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Category: M45+
Result: Off the back

The backstory: I executed "Plan A" and stayed at the Best Western in Santa Nella Friday night. After settling in, I drove over to the start of the race course to do a little reconnaissance and was pleased to see that the motel was only 1/2 mile from the race start.

Got to the race venue at 7:10am, plenty of time for warm-up and reg (M45+). Unfortunately, maybe too much time....Velo Promo was 35 minutes late (ridiculous), so a total of 2 hours from venue arrival to departure might have proven counter-productive to me, in terms of dietary needs.

Nice to see that we had seven FFBC'ers at the race -- Garry, Frank, Chih, German, Richard, Matt, me.

For those not familiar with Santa Nella, it is one of the oddest race courses I've ever done. For part of each lap, you race along a paved (ha!) canal berm -- like what we have here in Fremont along the Alameda flood control canal, but as wide as one car-width. Rough pavement/potholes near the edges. Then, you exit to the public access roads (I'm guessing 5 miles canal berm and 12 miles public roads/per lap?). The race was indeed flat as a pancake, except for one lone highway overpass. My race was 3 laps at 17 miles each = 51 miles. I think this is what most of us did for our respective race groups (except the "bonus" lap for richard)

Our group caught the S5's on the berm, and that was trouble. In passing them, some of the 5's mixed in, a no-no. I had que'ed up near the back at the start, and thus hit the 5's in the same position at the back of the M45's, a tactical error, and in no time at all, several of us were separated, the 5's basically acting as blockers in the narrow road berm majorly helped by a farmer's on-coming pickup truck. And just like that, I was off the back before we even hit the public roads, and I couldn't latch back on.

But, I'm not sure how much that mattered. The same "OTB" result was destined to happen as I just didn't seem to have the fitness and race preparedness as my fellow competitors. Jeez, i wasn't even sure what race I was going to do (RR or Lodi TT) until Thursday.

As Richard's email states, he came up upon me, and we rode together for 1 1/2 laps before he got swept away by the Pro 1/2's. But during our laps together, we had a nice little paceline of 3-4 guys, and we were moving pretty good (for me, that is).

So, in the end, I more or less split the difference on my race weekend -- I got half of race as a RR, and the other half as a TT, neither of them particularly well.

But, it still was fun and I'm glad I was there. Matt needed to split, but the rest of us all got together afterward in town for some lunch and swapped stories for the day. The three sad stories were Richard's flat early on, Ziggy needing to work overtime ferreting out a network virus at work and thus not being able to race, and German's speeding ticket.....90mph on Hgwy 5! Ouch!!! That's gonna hurt, German, 20mph+ over the speed limit is a big, big no-no!

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Category: 3
Result: Mid-pack

I was in two minds, maybe three regarding Santa Nella. I was sort of mentally committed to doing the Lodi TT, but was concerned about not having enough TT training under my belt. Also, I had a couple of bad weeks previous, and had not made a pre-entry..........so I decided on the SN RR. However the day before I tweaked my back, and recurring problem that returns to haunt me at the most inopportune times. I do know however that I can ride, if I can manage to swing the leg over the saddle. So I struggled into the car on Saturday and headed south.

I regged for the Senior 3, it was a shame Ziggy could not make it. Ahead lay 68 miles if tortuous mountain switchbacks, technical descents and stiff rolling hills..not. Santa Nella is flat, and that's why I like it.

We rolled out late, and two flats before we even started reminded me of my two previous attempts at this race. This time however I had the agricultural 25mm Vredesteins on. I was confident I could get around without flatting, but would the legs last? Our first lap was fast, not a scorcher, but enough to gain 4 minutes on the P1/2 race. They saw us coming at the conclusion of the lap, and speeded up, never in any jeopardy of being caught. The Masters 35+ 1/2/3 where doing the same to us, so they must have had a wiggle on.

I took a bottle of my first lap from the neutral feed, and luckily my legs were beginning to loosen up, I had been feeling the affects of the Wednesday weights session 3 day's later. On lap two, the two big teams in the race sent riders up the road, chasing down two others. This 4 rode to a 1 minute gap, but on the long straights and at the turn around where visible. They were not making much distance on us and I concluded that this was not the winning move. I was proved correct, and following some strong riding by the rest of the pack not represented, they came back. This prompted some counter attacks through lap 3 but none stuck. Finally a Solano rider broke the elastic and went away quite quickly. He gained about a minute as we entered our final lap 4 and the pack was content to let him stew out there in the heat and wind (which fortunately was neither too hot or too strong). With 2/3rds of the last lap completed. the soloist was reeled in and we were a gruppo intacto as we moved towards the finish.

During lap 3 I had started to feel stronger and more lively, so much so that I had put my nose in the wind a few times. On lap 4 I was feeling better still, and so with 1/4 lap to roll, I moved up and began to concentrate on staying in the top 10. The Maguire team and the Solano Cyclery team where both well represented, and neither squad had really worked that hard in the race, so I could easily imagine a super fast finish. 1.5 km from the finish the Maguires started to mass and took us fast over the bridge, but others were able to infiltrate their line and the leadout disintegrated with 600 metres to go. From then on I was slipping wheels and staying to the fore, remembering the advice I had spieled to the Cat 5 boys, replaying "patience, patience" in my mind. With 300 to go it was full on, the sprinters going early. I moved up, and up, feeling strong and fast, but then the way forward was blocked, the right side route of my choosing being too congested. I shouted for the rider in front to move over, I had the speed and power, but he would not budge, and I finished the sprint in about 12 th place with gas to spare. Damn it.

So, at last I have finished at Santa Nella and I am pleased with my contribution to the race and that I was in contention at the finish. Rough stats' for the day are 68.88 miles in the race, at an average of 24.1 mph, and a top speed of 38 mph in the sprint. Cool.

An finally, a big shout out to the Cat 5 team of Frank, Matt, German and Chih. They all rode a strong race, tactically astute with a good game plan to get Frank into the finale strong. Frank was leading with 50m to go, but had started that sprint too early and was swamped at the line to finish hopefully top 10. Good job lads.

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Category: 5
Result: Mid-pack

There were four of us racing in the CAT 5. We went to start line early and we were able to get the front row seat. The race start out with comfortable pace until Master 45 plus catch us. So the pack get mix up and some of them follow with Master 45 plus racers. Then they realized that they were in wrong group, then they slow down little bit and the pack become one big group.

Our plan was to lead out Frank to the end ,so he can sprint at the end . So I decided to go up front and set the pace, follow by German , Matt, and Frank. There were two SJBC guys up in the front and they do not cooperate with us. Every time they were up front to pull, they were not pull, they slow down. So I have to go up and set the pace about 23~24 mph.

There were a couple of attacks from the pack and we responded every attack they made. We were front of the pack all time and controlling the race. At the last lap, some one try to break away and German bring it back. So the pack become one big group aging until the freeway overpass.

Once we get to the overpass, there were 10 to 15 guys speed up and charged to the finish line. I was pulling all the way and I couldn’t hang with this break away group. But I saw Frank and Matt were followed in this lead group. So I just ride to the finish line and can not contest a sprint. I am sure Frank and Matt will able to sprint at the end. All and all we work together as a great team in this race and we showed team effort in this race.

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Category: 5
Result: Mid-pack

I was thrilled to see that there were 3 others who would be joining me in the race. We had the exact same lineup as the Snelling road race with Chih, German, and Frank. I was hoping we would be able to put up a better result this time around.

Prior to the race, we had a good pep talk. Richard suggested that we go through the first lap and have a talk about how we felt and strategize after that.

The start of the race, as many people said before, was delayed. This actually was good for me, because I was able to settle down and get some jitters out. When the whistle blew, it was super slow right off the bat. I was just enjoying the sunshine and whatnot until I hear these shouts from behind. Being hard of hearing myself, I don’t hear what people say, especially shouting from the back of the pack!! I looked left and a huge train of riders are going by..I immediately speed up thinking it’s the pack surging ahead. A quick look at their numbers on the side made me realize that they are not cat 5’s, but the Masters’. Most of the cat 5’s let them get ahead of us, but some did chase..I’m not sure if they knew, or if they wanted to somehow try to get an advantage. Nevertheless, the 5’s were all brought back in. We caught the Masters again on the straightaway and left them for good.

I was feeling good on the second lap, and the 4 of us were really setting the pace of the race, we were taking turns pulling out front. A lot of the guys wouldn’t pull at all, and it made me mad because I think they should do their equal share!! I saw Frank and let him know I would lead him out if I could. I told him to just try to stay behind me. I was hoping it would come down to that because I knew Frank would have much better chance than I would at the finish.

On the last lap, I had this one guy clip me on my handlebars as he was trying to pass me ( on the shoulder of the road !! ) , my handlebars wobbled and I really had struggle to gain control of my bike. I was quite pissed off, and I let him have it. I shouted a few expletives, only to get a blank stare. After riding up to the side of him, I asked him, why he would do something like that especially on the last lap of the race!

The last lap, I was busy strategizing to see what I could do to help and try and get a good finish. I just wanted to stay with the main pack and if I could help out anyone on the team I would do so.

The pack picked up some pace towards the end, and on the last freeway overpass hill, it all broke apart. I knew that I would have to push it hard to stay with them. Right at that particular moment, my legs cramped up! I caught up with them on the downhill with a sprint. With the finish line in sight, I stood up and tried to get something going..I passed a couple, but that was it. I have no idea of my placement, but looked to be about 20th.

This was by far my best race. I was able to put in some pulls, block for the team, and stay with the pack to the finish.

I was very happy with my result and happy that the team did such a great job setting the pace and getting some respect (hopefully) from those wheelsuckers!

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