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What Ziggy saw:
Category: 3
Result: 1st
No report, but Ziggy won the bunch sprint!
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What Mike N. saw:
Category: 5
Result: Back of pack
Its been four months since my mishap so feeling unexperienced I just
tried to stay in the outside back the whole time. I had a good 45
minute warm-up and felt a little nervous with thoughts of crashing
running through my mind, but after the reconnaissance lap and seeing
how wide the turns were (except turn 4), I was feeling better.
At the start it took a few seconds for me to clip into my pedals, but it
didn't matter since there were a lot of us who did the same. The pace
was comfortable to me, but during the prime laps we would jump to 30
mph along the straights. German said the average speed was 21.5, but
I remember hearing the announcer saying that the elite 5's were doing
2 minute laps, and given that the laps are .75-.85 miles, that makes
it to be 22.5-25.5 mph avg speed.
Well after the prime laps, the pace
would drop to a very slow speed, and since I felt pretty good in the
back, I jetted up to the front only to face the wind and come falling
back into the pack. Overall the race seemed a little sketchy
especially for only 38 riders. One person crashed mid-pack during
turn 4 and there were a lot of close calls. After that everyone just
took it easy until the last lap where 31 riders finished.
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What Garry saw:
Category: 3
Result: Back of pack
For those of you that do not know, I am on a strict budget and getting to race two day's in a row is a minor miracle for me. I was able to talk to the organizers a few day's before the race and offered to work the event in return for a ride in the 3's.
Following the day before's effort at the RvB, I was wondering how I would go. We had an early start for the 3's, at 09:40, but I had to be there long before, to help with the first two races of the day. So I was on the road, riding out at 07:00, to get an hour in before I had to commence my duties. Upon arrival I was pleased to find out that a) they had free coffee and b) I would be with Carl Anderson, late of FFBC and all around good guy.
I watched the 5's go by my corner, they seemed to not be going that fast and bunching up dangerously. I saw a couple of wobbles and German hold his line after making contact with a neighbour. Michael Nguyen was also in there, or should I say out there. Obviously Mike has been training, cos he spent nearly the whole race at the rear left, in the wind too much, but certainly hanging in. I think there was one crash, but not on our corner and thankfully the FFBC stayed clear of the trouble. The Cat 4 event followed, with Chris and Matt I the FFBC in the mix. Chris took a flyer at the end, I'll let Chris report on that move. Again, no crashes?
Now it was our turn, the 3's, and we set off at a reasonable pace. The race plan was for Zig to do nothing and wait to sprint. I was to make sure he won, by keeping the pack together. This was a good race, with plenty of attack's and breaks, and I was plenty busy working on the front, trying to contain the moves so that we would finish in a pack so Zig could unleash his sprint. All the moves came back reasonably quickly, but with 5 to go a really strong duo went up the road. I did a big turn and made zero impression, so I guess I should have really laid it on the line. Several others hit the front and the break was still at 10-15 seconds with 1 1/2 to go. Then a AV strong man went to the front, leading his sprinter out and went super hard and the break came back. Between the last two corners I saw Zig in 4th wheel and knew he would do well......I came in at the back of the pack, but happy with the work that I had done. No clue what the average speed was, maybe around 26 for our 50 minutes.
Back to corner work and the Masters 35/45+ 4/5 decided to fall off en mass, TWICE. Carl and I were super busy, picking up bodies, bikes and traffic controlling. Two were carted off in a meat wagon to the local infirmary, one with the obligatory collarbone, the other with delayed concussion (not has bad as Chih's). And the reason they crashed was that they went too slow, so they all bunched up and someone probably over reacted. I sure earned my ride.
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What Donn saw:
Category: M35+ 4/5
Result: Back of pack
I couldn't make it to the Elite 4 race early on Sunday so I opted to do the 35+ 4/5 race that started later in the morning. Arrived with enough time to get a decent warm up on the trainer and headed to the line to find German along with 94 other blokes in the race. The race official had us do a neutral promenade lap to give everyone a chance to get comfortable with the course. Unfortunately that did not work.
From the start, I could tell the race was sketchy with a lot of riders acting squirrely and generally having a hard time in the corners with major slowing. I moved around in the field a bit, got near the front a couple of different times but never felt strong enough to stay there, especially on the back straight which was windy by this time.
I was probably about mid pack in turn 2 when BOOM, big pile-up just ahead and slightly to my left. The guy on my left had to swerve hard to avoid the mess and gave me a decent shoulder check but we both stayed upright. I'm not sure exactly what happened to cause the crash but I was not suprised. Then a few laps later, a rider took a very tight line in the same turn which I think set off a chain reaction of adjustments that lead to another pile-up just after the turn. I managed to avoid the mayhem again.
Anyway, on the last lap I was in no position to contest for a top 10 spot so I sat up and rolled out the back to avoid getting caught in a crash. Fortunately there were no crashes in the final lap. The real workout was yet to come as Jason, Chris and I headed up Mt. Diablo after the race.
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What Chris saw:
Category: 4
Result: Mid-pack
EMC promised to be a better day. I knew what time I started and got there with plenty of time. I had a warm up with no HR problems but my darn skewer would not stay in the trainer. The race got underway and I felt better in the pack than previous races. The corners were relatively safe and luckily there were no crashes. I made my way up and down the pack trying to get a felling for the speeds. Not terribly fast I thought. Except for prime laps there were no breakaways.
Until I did. With 4 ¼ laps to go I was sitting in 3rd position. The first and second guy pulled off not wanting to do any work and I thought this was good a time as any to take off. I was out there. I had built up a good distance almost instantly and tried to maintain it. I was in the drops (not sure if this is the best position, any advice?) hammering. But I felt like the wind was picking up. The straight after turn 1 and 2 seemed long and windy. My legs were giving way so I dropped to one easier cog (maybe a bad idea?).
With 2 1/3 to go I was bridged. We needed to work together, but he was so spent catching me and I was tired too but being together might not have been beneficial. I am not sure. On the last lap, the group was charging hard and I was reeled in on turn 3 with ¼ lap to go. I was still in front and knew that if I made it to the corner in that position I could sill finish strong. But right before the corner a pack of people past me and I knew top 10 was out of the question so I just safely took the corner and finished upright.
Maybe I left a lap or two early ya think?
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