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What Oscar saw:
Category: 5
Result: Did not finish
This being my first official race in California with my new team
proved to be rather interesting. I started ok till we hit that first
climb... the climb introduced itself like a slap in the face. It told
me "you ain't in NYC anymore" and I could not hold on to the group.
Let's chalk it up to not training enough for this. But, I love those
decents. I basically did 2 1/2 laps till my body rejected anything
inside, causing me to leave my mark on the side of the road. Thank
goodness no one was around to witness that. 2 miles into my third lap
I felt I could not go any further, so I turned around and coasted back
to the support van humbled but, happy to have been able to ride. So,
thanks guys for the support and Mike for the lift and good
conversation. I'm glad I joined. Hopefully, I'll be singing a
different tune next time.
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What Mike N. saw:
Category: 5
Result: Off the back
I arrived incredibly early for the incredible afternoon start, so I
just hung around. I wasn't sure how long to warm up for this race
because I knew there was a climb not too far from the start, so I
needed a good warmup, but too long might take it's toll in the end. So
25 minutes to go I started warming up.
I looked at my clock and it looked like I was going to be at the start line right on time. When I
make the turn onto the start line I see the pack, then I see them
rolling. I see Oscar waiting at the line waving me to hurry up.
Luckily it was a neutral start because a field was passing by.
Come race time after the first turn onto Altamont Pass, a rider jumps
it a notch. I catch on his wheel and bring the pack along as well. The
pace slows down again and I just try to stay in front so when the real
climbing happens I'll be able to drift back if need be. Well the real
climbing wasn't so far, and it was steeper then I imagined with a
small tailwind. I really struggled and it must've been 20 or more
rider that pulled away from me. I looked back and there were lots of
other riders too.
At the 580 overcrossing a couple more riders pull
away and I latch onto a wheel. The person I was with was a bit bigger
than me, so I thought that if he can do it I can do it. That big guy
was crazy fast on the downhill, maybe not the corners, but I was
holding onto dear life to stay on his wheel. Onto the climb on
Patterson Pass, a tall rider catches up to us and we take a breather.
On the descent, those two were pacelining while I stayed in the back.
Later on the flats we would do 20 second pulls. We ended up blowing by
several Masters riders, although some of them ended up in our paceline
(I didn't know they were Master's at the time!)
Second lap we take the climb slower, but it was back to just us three.
I noticed that they were tired so I stayed in the front to give
whatever little crosswind draft there was. Yadiyada and we get passed
by the 5A field on Patterson Pass.
Third lap, the big guy wasn't looking too good (it's because he was
taking 30 second pulls instead of 20, and his upper body was stiff).
We took it very slow up the climb, but another 5 rider caught up to
us. The tall rider and I stayed behind the new rider, but after a
while we slowed down to wait for the big guy. He wasn't coming in soon
enough, so we had to leave him be. We caught the new guy at the top.
On the descent, the new rider seemed tired since he wasn't pedaling on
the downhill. I decided to drop him so I attacked on the downhill
right before the corners and he must've been 20 seconds back at the
base of Patterson Pass. When it came to the last downhill and the
pacelining flat section, he was nowhere in sight.
Come the finishing lap, we decide to sprint the finish. At the start
of the real climb, it felt as if he kicked it up a notch. My legs were
burning and I was sure his were too. I thought we were going to
spring, but with these kinds of efforts there was no way. Well with
the finish line 25 meters away I upshift and gave whatever I had. The
tall guy said that he had nothing left.
Overall a satisying race, although it felt like 5 hours of racing
instead of ~3. It seemed kind of cheap placing in front of those two
guys I worked with. They would be faster than me on the flats and
downhill, but I was only marginally faster in the uphill. I guess
that's why they call it racing.
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What Tim saw:
Category: 5
Result: Did not finish
Arrive at the race at 11AM and register. Get back to my car only to
find out I dropped my number on the ride back to the car. Doh. Ride
back to the registration table to get a new number, but they tell me
I need to come back 10 minutes prior to my start time to get an
unused number. Ride back to my car again to change. Now it was only
10 minutes to start time. Ride back again to reg table. They make me
wait till about 2 minutes before my race to give me a number. I pull
up to the line and have a spectator pin me. He finishes just as the
whistle blows. Phew!
I blew on the first lap just before the feed zone. Did a super easy
pace until I got back to the flats where a group of Masters caught
me. I latched on to them and peeled off at the start line.
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What Donn saw:
Category: 4
Result: Mid-pack
I'll be brief:
first lap, OK,
second lap, OK.
Third lap, the pack was shattered on the main climb and I couldn't keep up with the leaders. After that, everyone eventually regrouped into two packs. I was in the chasing pack. I was suprised when we caught the lead pack at the right turn onto Patterson Pass Rd. The pace picked up as we approached the final climb. My legs felt bad as I hung on towards the back of the pack. Just before the right-hand onto the final climb there was a crash ahead of me so I had to slow way down and go onto the shoulder to avoid it. That really didn't matter though as I just didn't have anything in my legs. I did manage to pass a lot of folks on the climb, but I was nowhere near the front. Not a good result, but still encouraging to see the improvement in fitness over last year.
It was great to see the big FFBC turn out and our very professional-looking feeding station on the climb.
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What German saw:
Category: 4
Result: Off the back
The weather report was wrong this time, because it was supposed to rain but it didn’t, it turn out to become a cloudy/windy day with fresh temperatures and sunny at the end of the race, what else could we ask for?? I was very pleased about it, especially for the GREAT support by Boner, his daughter and Garry. THANK YOU GUYS!!
Just for your information, last year’s race it was raining like crazy, I brought my girlfriend to give me water, but in the second lap she went away to the car because it was raining to hard, so when I was looking for her I felt like getting off the damn bike because I was hell of thirsty, I didn’t get to drink for the remaining lap and a half!! Not good, that’s why I get to appreciate the support given by the Boner and Garry, again thanks a lot guys!!
Finally my first race of the season, the weather has been hard on me this year reason why I am starting kind of late in comparison to prior years. Started the race with not warm up at all, my fault not excuses!! I Woke up late, got lost trying to find the event; etc, etc...
In summary; this situation got me there 10 minutes before the start (Not good). Got my number, and got in the field which was ready to go. The pace was comfortable the first lap, but after passing the feed zone or the steepest section, my legs were still cold and started to lose ground and got dropped!!! (Damn it!!) Continued at a steady pace until I got my legs warmed, then I was able to pass a few riders, but at the same time got caught by some others from other cat in the second lap; at this point I was able to gain some good speed while I was with this group and my legs were warmed, consequently, I was able to gain lots of good speed especially in the descends and flat sections because we were able to pace line taking turns of 10 seconds each. It was a very windy race in my concept.
In the last lap, I was able to hang with a group of 3 riders but at the feed zone again got dropped by this group, so basically I had to continue my climb on my own just until the start of the descend, where a small group caught me, but was able to work them as well, it was a great feeling!! (Finally I was able to get a good ride to the end!!! it was my thought); However, in a very windy flat section, we were caught by the the 3’s, so it was great because I was able to hide myself for just a few minutes and save some energies for the end, I saw Chris said hi to him, but decided to let go since I wasn’t supposed to be in that field due to a different category.
After I let go, it was about 5 miles to the end and got solo into the city, but a group of 3 riders from cat 3 caught up with me (These 3 guys were dropped from the 3’s) and we were able to work all the way until the final climb (The feed zone again!!! Dam it!), but again my legs were slower and got dropped in the middle of the climb, at this point I was able to see Iwan a few yards ahead of me, but I said to myself, not way!! I will continue like this to the end, passed the wonderful FFBC feed zone, shaked hands with Jorge and finish the race.
In summary, from the moment I got dropped, I said to myself, let’s finish it, let’s keep the spirit of the sport high and do our best and let’s take this race in a safe mode, but most importantly, let’s save energies for tomorrow’s race, in which I will definitely feel more competitive, but as you will see, the story was different upon my return home, (See my criterium report FYI).
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What Iwan saw:
Category: 4
Result: Off the back
Not much to report here. I did the Elite 4's with Don, Jorge and German.
Don
and Jorge looked very eager to go as we stood at the start. I was kind of
complacent about the whole thing, not knowing where my fitness stood. Well,
I found out pretty quickly. We hit that darned right turn up the hill and I
just had the sensation of the whole pack accelerating hard. I stayed with
them through the feed zone and I decided better to ease up than blow up.
Then, what looked like a 10 yr old kid who could barely reach the pedals
whipped by me and I couldn't believe my eyes.. was I that slow? (I later
passed him on the downhill).
For a while on the second part of the climb I
could see the tail end of the field but by the time I crested the top, they
were gone. I caught two other 4's and we worked together for a while but
somehwere along the way they pulled out of the race. I then latched on here
and there to various faster groups but it was just to survive to the finish.
My ship had sunk and I felt like I was drifting in a vast ocean. The final
climb to the line was incredibly slow. Legs were cramping badly and I nearly
stopped. Luckily I didn't because German was hot on my heels. I had no idea!
So I finished in 2 hrs 45 min at an average speed of a little over 18mph for
the 50 miles.
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