Reports by:

• Richard
• Ziggy

Category: 4/5
Result: 1st

I was our only rider in the 4/5 race. I tried to get the HR up towards LT in the warm up, but it was very hard to get it much above 160bpm. Once riding the course before the race, the legs didn't feel too bad though thanks to the Cytomax recovery drink after Patterson Pass and the middle-strength massage I gave them last night with "The Stick".

This is a 4 corner, 0.5 mile, left turn course round a long thin rectangle with the start/finish halfway along one of the longer sides. I can do left turns all day thanks to racing the velodrome.

We got rolling and I was mid pack. The legs were heavy, but at least they were able to turn a big gear pretty quickly as we were flying at times. Our average speed was high despite the high number of corners. There were a few breaks of note.

Early on a single rider went off the front. We were content to let him kill himself and he came back. I managed to latch on to a pair of riders as they went off the front. I had no intention of working with them, I was just marking them and anyway, the legs were struggling just to hang with them. We were reeled in pretty quickly.

Ben Dodge of LGBRC was very strong today, and made a concerted effort to get a group away. He was off the front for about 4 laps by himself. A group containing 2 AV riders and Irving Arguello of Solano got up to him. At this point this looked like a very good move and I was thinking that a concerted chase would have to ensue to get them back. Fortunately for me, others thought the same thing and chased very hard, putting me into considerable difficulty.

Everything did come back together. At 3(?) to go, I followed a rider up to the top 5 which was perfect timing as there was a crash not far behind me into turn 1. At 2 to go I was pretty well placed and was still there, but a little further back at one to go.

I came out of turn 2 in something like 12th place, and almost on autopilot my body executed the plan that I had in the works from pre-riding the course. I went to the front hard to string the pack out into turn 3 knowing that I had enough to get to the finish. At the very least I wanted to lead out the sprint, as on this course that would ensure a top 10. I must have timed my move well as I was still on the front at through and out of turn 4. At 50 metres to go, I risked looking under my arm, and I had some lengths on the chasers - I had gapped the bunch through turns 3 & 4!

I had enough to keep it rolling to take my first win on the road! Fantastic.

One more top ten and I can upgrade, and I have a win under my belt to boot.

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Category: 3
Result: Top ten

To follow up on Richard's spectacular ride, I raced the 3's at Suisun. Nothing spectacular happened at this race.

I participated in one attempt at staying away and followed the chase of many others. I had a few close calls when riders that attempted to escape got caught and were quickly going backwards without regard for the safetey of the riders that had to dodge them. I gave a 3BRT rider an earfull as he hit the air brakes and went backwards entering and exiting a turn, almost taking me out twice in the process.

On the last lap, things were looking good, I was 4th wheel and then on the backside, things eased for just a second and the pack came rushing forward going into turn three. I managed to squeeze out of the mess (rubbing wheels and bumping elbows all the while), and take 5th or 6th wheel into the turn with riders still crowding the outsides. Because we were all bunched up going into the turn, the first few guys through the turn entered it way to shallow and were forced to drift very wide to complete the turn. Well, one guy had to drift too wide and he clipped the curb and went down. This caused a huge pile up and a mix up at the front and rear of the race. I managed to avoid the crash, but had to slow a bit to do so and lost considerable momentum and a couple places in the sprint. I finished sixth and got my first t-shirt only prize. Not a bad race for my final crit of the season.

Also, I was talking to some of the riders after the race, and apparently I've become somewhat of a marked man in crits. A few of the guys have taken to following my wheel in crits because I have a tendency to be where I need to be most of the time in a crit, and I finish fast on occasion. I was very flattered to say the least.

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