Reports by:

• Mike N.
• Donn
• Iwan

Category: 5
Result: Mid-pack

I got a 50 minute warmup- this time gradually picking up speed in the first 10 minutes. I came to the start line near the back, but we still waited for a while before we went.

At the whistle I clipped in quickly and started out in the middle of the pack. Coming up to the hill I wasn't sure which gear to pick, so I popped it into a 42x17ish. At the speed coming into the hill I managed to torque my way up the last part, but it took quite a bit of energy. It was at the start of the 2nd or 3rd lap where the pack started slowing down and the pack started to blob up. Coming into turn 1, there was a near crash, and that took me off my line slowing me down.

On entry to the hill, I took the outside line, and there was a 2-3 man crash at the apex and it skirted across the base of the hill. Everyone back had to slow down. I downshifted two cogs to 42x23 and worked my way past riders struggling at such a slow speed yet such a large gear.

From there on the race was scattered throughout. There was the pack up front of about 12 riders, and then some small groups here and there. I was probably in about 18th or 19th at the top of the hill during the crash lap. With 1 lap to go, a corner marshall said I was about 50 seconds off the back. I lost some positions and finished in 23rd. Only 32 riders placed. Amazingly, one of the riders who crashed managed to finished.

Overall the course was brutal. The last portion of the hill was killer. Except the hill and on top of the park, the road surface was extremely poor. Taking those bumps at high speed sure made my triceps tired. The race would have fared much better if it weren't for the crash. It strung out the field and instead of a usual mass-start race it was more of a time-trial. There isn't a lot of time to recover.

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Category: 4
Result: Mid-pack

Racing this year has been really fun as I've felt a huge improvement over last year. Cat's Hill was no exception. While last year I struggled off the back of the Cat 4 pack, this year I was with the pack and feeling pretty good.

At 2 laps to go while going up the climb I was in good position when someone dropped a chain in front of me. Another guy tangled with him, and I was stuck behind them both. I had to stop and unclip. I quickly got moving again but by then the whole pack had passed me. I tried to catch the pack but couldn't do it and so finished up behind the pack (36th to be exact).

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Category: 4
Result: Did not finish

Part of my training strategy this year has been to lose as much weight as possible in an effort to improve my power to weight ratio. Significant power improvements seem very difficult for me so I decided to concentrate on the weight component. The weight has come down nicely. I'm about 1 lb lighter than my previous low set 10 years ago and about 6 lbs lighter than I was a year ago. I lost the weight by supplementing my riding with running 3x a week. Running is a very time efficient and effective way to burn calories without triggering the appetite, which is probably why all distance runners look like sticks.

To test whether the weight loss approach made any difference, I had to do some hilly races. The first was Livermore RR last month where I was OTB, so strike one for weight loss. The second test was Cat's Hill.

I tried to do everything right for the race. I arrived early, warmed up for 45 minutes and got a good position near the front behind Donn. When the whistle blew, I botched my clip-in and lost several positions but quickly caught back on. Then we reached the dreaded wall.

I should have checked out the hill beforehand. For whatever reason, I couldn't find the right gear to go up -- either too big and I bogged down or too small and I was too slow. I think I was just lacking the muscle to match the pace the others were going.

After redlining it for 3 laps, I started the backwards drift. Recovering from the climb became difficult and I had trouble hanging on to the stragglers that passed me. After a while I ran out of stragglers and by lap 7, I was mercifully pulled by the official. Strike two.

The results seem unambiguous. Although I'm by no means unfit, I probably shouldn't be butting my head in races where strength and power are critical. My intention was to improve my power to weight enough to be competitive in the hills but my weight loss accounts for only a 3-4% increase in p/w. Now I'm thinking I would need at least a 10% improvement to keep up in the hills. That would mean either adding a lot more power or losing another 8 lbs! So I'm back to doing mostly flat crits where luck (aka crash avoidance), tactics and pack riding skills, not just power are the critical factors. But maybe, I should give the hills one last try?

- On a side note, since I have been doing so much running (and secretly enjoying it too), I decided to run the SF Bay-to-Breakers next Sunday. Only 12K. For a change, it should be fun being able to give it my best without worrying about getting dropped!

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