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What Tim saw:
Category: 4
Result: Mid-pack
Mike and I carpooled to the race together. We arrived at the race
with plenty of time to reg and warm-up. We rolled to the start line
and saw Jorge and German for the first time. We didn't have any team
plans. When the whistle blew, I was able to put myself into about
10th. I spent most of the race trying to keep myself between 5-20. By
staying on the outside for the left hand turns, I could usually gain
a couple spots on two of the left hand turns by going wide and not
scrubbing speed. However, I was frequently squeezed on the right-hand
turn and would have to give a solid surge to keep my place.
About two/three laps into the race two riders went off the front. The
consensus of the group was to let them suffer. On the next lap
another rider joined them. They stayed away for the whole race. We
started to reel them in on the last couple of laps but I'm not sure
if we pulled them in before the finish.
I think I was about 25th with about 5 laps to go. I started to move
up and saw Kieran (from LG , who won the last 3-4 cat 5 races) move
past me. I grabbed his wheel and he pulled me up to about 10th with
2-3 laps to go. I gave his wheel up when I decided to go wide on a
turn. In retrospect, this was probably a mistake, but I was getting
really tired and not thinking straight. Anyway, on the last corner of
the last lap, I was on the outside around 15th. After we rounded the
corner, I started to sprint, but way to early. I passed 2 riders, but
got nipped at the line by two others for 19th.
This was a fun race, much more exiting and harder than burlingame.
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What Mike N. saw:
Category: 4
Result: Mid-pack
I seemed to have gotten a good tune-up ride the day before because on
race day my legs weren't feeling dead. I arrived at the start line at
the front, but I didn't do a recon lap yet. As the announcer made the
last call for Cat 4s, I quickly did a recon of the course, but I ended
up starting in the back.
At the whistle I scramble to gain positions. With a large field size
(compared to 5s) and coupled with the high corner-density it was hard
to move up positions. Most riders were trying to move up front because
the left-right S-turn slowed up everyone in the back. At one point I
was behind German and Jorge in single file. I looked back and it was
single file, too. I soft pedaled to create a gap. This in turn caused
the riders behind me to get even more tired as they closed the gap. I
figure this would make them less aggressive later on in the race.
I tried to figure out ways to move up in the pack.
I did every corner
on the outside, center, and inside. I felt that the outside was good
for maintaining position, but it's hard to move up since it gets
harder to go faster. The inside was best to gain positions quick and
dirty. I just stayed on the inside behind a rider. As the rider in
front was about to apex, I look back to see if it's clear, then I
change my line tighter and corner through the gutter and accelerate
out to pass the rider. This technique probably worked for me because a
lot of the riders weren't pedaling as early as they could.
By the time I'm got the hang of the cornering scene it was 3 laps to
go. I was somewhere mid-pack, so I would give it extra gas after the
apex. I was on a roll but one rider popped and I had to slow down to
go around him. On the last few straights I did some mini sprints to
grab more positions and onto the sprint I was about to nip one rider
but I thought the finish line was the crosswalk so I stopped about 15
feet too early.
Overall a very fun and technical race. No crashes. Nothing really
sketchy. I should have started in the front or at least made more of
an effort to get up front. I did, however, manage to never be in the
back except at the start.
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