Team Bicycle Trip

Masters District Track Championship, Hellyer Park Velodrome, 7/11-7/12/2015

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis the Mennis) — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 15:27:00 +0000

By Dennis Pedersen

Last year was a bit of a breakout season for me, as it was the first one in which I focused completely on track sprints. This year I fully expected that my continuing specific training would result in further improvement, though not likely as dramatic as last year's improvements.

My main focus for 2015 was this race weekend in which our NCNCA district Master (State) track champions would be crowned, and I also wanted to compete at the Elite States three weeks before it. So my coach, Jeff Solt, made sure that I did a proper "peak" and "taper" for this. That is, I trained increasingly harder for a time, then backed off in the weeks before this.

Elite Districts, 6/20-6/21

The Elite races were mostly just training for me, but I truly wanted to podium, at least, as I did last year... this was not to be.

Match sprints: I was seeded (qualified) at seventh out of 11 riders with my flying-200 m time of 12.1 seconds (37.8 mph max). My first round was against Victor Tort, who I dispatched by half-wheeling him around the track. My second round was against Lee Povey... given that he teaches our sprint clinics, I knew beating him would be tough. I rode pretty well nonetheless, but made the mistake of going too slow out of turn 2 in the last of our 2 laps, and he was able to pass above me and take the lead even though I really tried to get him (we hit 38.1 mph!). Finally, I was in a four-up match (my first such) to determine 5th through 8th place. I took second to Stelios McDonald and thus ended up 6th.

Keirin: I was able to grab sixth place behind the motorcycle, did OK, but when the motor pulled off, Bill Nighan, two riders ahead of me, kept looking back and a gap formed ahead of him. That left me stranded because I wasn't able to pass, close the gap, and then still outsprint the fast guys ahead of me. I think I finished 6th out of 7, hitting 37.1 mph.

Team sprints: My team dissolved so I didn't even get a chance to try to improve on my bronze from last year.

Masters Districts, 7/11-7/12

Match sprints:

This was my only event on Saturday. I was seeded tied-for-first (out of just 3 riders) with my flying-200 m time of 12.2 seconds (37.7 mph max). I had tied with Bill Nighan, but lost the coin toss, so I had to race while he rested. Even though I was now at a disadvantage I felt pretty good and confident and had trained a lot for this. Jeff, my coach, was kind enough to attend and be my holder for the starts. Each race would be just two laps (770 m total).

I won my first round (semifinals), against Mark Gomes, starting from second position. Swooping up and down right from the start to avoid being pinned against the rail, I dropped below him and seized the lead. He had no gap to run, and when I jumped out of turn 2, he tried to pass in 3 but I held him off, hitting 36.1 mph max.

Since I was now in the finals, against Bill, it was to be best two out of three races. In my first finals round I started from second. I stayed up by the rail, while he rode slowly in the sprinter's lane below me. I rode even with him out out of turn 2. This allowed me to jump past above him and keep the lead for over a lap, even as he tried to pass, until he gave up out of turn 4 (36.7 mph max).

In my second finals round against Bill, I started second again. We went rather slow, almost stopping, then I seized the lead out of 1 by dropping below him. He tried to pass on the back straight, but I half-wheeled him into turn 3, then stayed fast throughout the last lap-and-a-quarter... I really thought I had him in this long sprint, I even had visions of my States jersey, but in the last few seconds he got next to me and won by about 8 inches (36.9 mph max).

Now we were tied (again) and had to race a tie-breaker, yet I was still confident as Jeff gave me some tips (avoid long sprints!). We were both tired, but I had one more race in my legs than Bill did. At the start Lee Povey, who was holding Bill, held him back as I rolled ahead. Very slow start! I tried to pin him against the rail but he held back. Rather than engage in track stands I simply went a bit faster into turn 3, then backed off a bit for the last lap unlike the previous round, I thought. Then, I went hard out of turn 2 into 3and 4 (36.0 mph max), but he pipped me by 2 inches... argh!

So close, but my States hopes faded away... I had started my sprint too early again, in spite of Jeff's advice, and my attempt to heed it. I was done for the day, and really bummed as I drove home. I tried hard to focus instead on my next events, on Sunday, but I was depressed.

500 m time trial (sprints):

This is a standing-start individual time-trial, for 500 m, just over 1.5 laps.There were six riders entered, so I warmed up well. Yet when I lined up for my start I felt a bit out-of-body. But I pushed hard from the start and focused ahead of me, rather than looking down (a tip from Jeff), and I think I had good power though the turns, even some oomph left for the finish. That made me worry I hadn't given it 100%; I cruised around, totally unsure, but I'd soon know. When I read the official results I was stoked: 36.2 seconds, a new personal best, by a full second! I reached 37.1 mph max, nearly as high as my flying-200 m! Yet Martin Harris was just behind, at 36.3... also a personal best for him! Just the previous weekend, he'd surpassed my best time, so I'd been skeptical I could do it. But now I was 1st out of 6, barely, but the many people congratulating me confirmed I finally got a States jersey I could be proud of!

Team sprint:

This is the three-man sprint, where only the third rider's time counts; the first and second riders are merely lead-outs. Tim Montagne was our #1, me #2, Bill Nighan #3. Tim's lap #1was 29.02 seconds, my lap #2 was 22.75 seconds (51.77 ET, at 34.0 mph max), and Bill's 22.75-seconds lap #3 stopped the timer at 1:14.47 (ignoring some minor discrepancy in the splits). We took 1st in 45-54, but unopposed, so not much glory. But Tim and I are joining Bobby Walthour, the builder of my Dixie Flyer, at Elite Nationals for team sprints, so we used this for training.

So my States this year were a mixed bag, as sports always seem to be, but I really feel my 500 m ride was a new high, for sure, maybe even competitive at Nationals. A real State Champion, at last!

On the top step of the podium! With Martin Harris and Ross Tinline.

LAVRA Sprint Open Powered by Momentum, 9/14/2014

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis the Mennis) — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 19:34:00 +0000

By Dennis Pedersen

Gorgeous bikes, down HWY 5.

This was my second visit to Carson, near Los Angeles, to race on the intimidating 250-meter wooden velodrome at the StubHub Center. I had a blast on my previous visit, but wanted to improve on my performance there.

My friend Rich Rozzi invited me to carpool with him, so that made the decision easier, and we drove down Saturday morning. That afternoon we got to ride in their open-track training session. I rode my new Dixie Flyer BTB that I had built up just after Track States (it arrived too late for that). It handled superbly, and it allowed me to focus on my form instead of worrying about the bike.

On Sunday morning we got up at 5:30 a.m. so we could have plenty of time to eat breakfast and schlep all of our gear to the velodrome for the LAVRA races. The track opened up for warmup at 9:00 and we were soon prepping our bikes and doing some efforts on the track; I started in a low gear for warmup (49x16; 82.7"), then switched to my race gears (49x14; 94.5") and Zipp wheels.

The Velo Sports Center lobby.

At 10:00 they announced our start order for the flying 200-meter time trials, used to "seed" us for the actual sprints tournament where we usually race two-man races of three laps. Only the top-18 riders (out of about 35) would get into the tournament, so I felt some pressure to go fast, and my 200-meter time of 12.312 seconds was just enough for 17th! Rich also qualified, but had some speed wobble... something I've often had too, but not this time thanks in part to my new bike.

So the standard tournament format matched me, the second-slowest seed, against second-fastest seed Ethan Boyes (who qualified with 10.99), and Rich against the first-seed rider, Nate Koch, a candidate for the Olympic 2016 games (who qualified in 10.92 seconds).

Rich tried his best against Nate, but not too surprisingly couldn't beat him; it's very hard to overcome a speed differential of 1.5 seconds!

I didn't feel too much pressure racing against Ethan; I just wanted to do my best and learn the differences of riding on such a track; the biggest one being that we can't just roll through the steeply-banked turns without slipping down! I wanted to make Ethan earn his win too, even though I drew the second spot, giving him the 'pole' (lead) from the start. But I feel I did well, as I seized the lead from him immediately, and ramped up the speed to make passing harder. But while I still had some reserve he passed out of turn 4 just before the last lap and held me off.

Rich, Ethan and Dana (on rollers).

I was still in the competition, but only in the "repechage;" it's a sort of 'second-chance' round. I was up against Aron Seiken who had lost to a faster qualifier just as I had done. But Aron qualified with 11.86 so it wouldn't be easy for me. I drew the pole and led from the start and held him off with varied pacing and swinging. I attacked in turn 4 just before the last lap and held him on my hip (just to my right, slightly behind me), but he passed at the end, beating me by about 4 inches. Oh well. I feel that the steeper banking and the extra height of the outside rider make it easier for them to pass there than at Hellyer. I'm learning.

Lunch , complements of Ethan!

Ethan ended up in the final rounds, and got to contest for the overall win ... against favorite Nate Koch. It was fun to watch, but while Ethan settled for second he still took home $500! And bought us lunch!

So in the end I had a blast, and was so happy with how my bike handled and my own riding that I drove home in a great mood. I'll definitely be going down there again!

Masters District Track Championships, Hellyer Park Velodrome, 8/9-10/2014

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis the Mennis) — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 18:23:00 +0000

By Dennis Pedersen

This season has been all about track sprinting for me. The only priority cycling races I had were the California state Masters championship track races (NCNCA District) at Hellyer Park's banked velodrome. I wanted to improve on my results from last year's state championships, hopefully with a gold, for that elusive state champion's jersey.

Dreams are nice, but to make them real requires action. I hired Jeff Solt (a nationally-known sprinter and record-holder) as my coach, and completely restructured my training to mostly include only short rides with all-out efforts, and heavier weight lifting at the gym (Capitola Fitness, owned by our teammate Mike Bodge). It also affected the races I have entered, so I skipped many races that I would have done in the past.

During the run-up to States I had the misfortune of losing my Serenity Marvel track bike from my car's roof rack; it was totally destroyed. While I was able to get AAA insurance to compensate me, the replacement bike I ordered didn't arrive in time for States. Fortunately teammate Nils loaned me his Giant Omnium to use... now that's what I call a teammate!

Lap split times from the Elite team sprints.

Since the Elite Track States were the weekend before Masters Track States, I entered the match sprints, team sprints and keirin race for practice and fun (read descriptions of the race types here). While I did fine, it's hard to compete against guys 20 years younger than me. Still, I ended up with a bronze in team sprints, racing with Tim Montagne and David Broekma. Since there were only three teams that wasn't very awesome, and I was riding as the third guy and thus had to ride the full three laps (1 km)... not my forte! But my lap-3 time was faster than fast-guy Larry Nolan's... a nice indicator of my fitness and something that makes me think I should try the individual "kilo" too, next time.

For the Masters States I entered the match sprints, 500-meter individual time-trial, and team sprints.

Match sprints:
This is the Olympic one-on-one race, for two laps. We first "seed" the riders with a flying-200 m time trial (see race descriptions above, or extremely detailed info here), and I could only manage a 12.3-second run; 0.21 slower than my best. My first match was against Bill Nighan, who tied my 200 m time, while defending champion Rich Rozzi (12.0 seconds) raced against slowest-seed Martin Harris (12.6 seconds). I had the "pole" position at the start (we drew lots) and my coach, Jeff, was my holder. I was able to keep Bill behind me while I watched carefully for any attacks. Bill tried to pass me a couple of times, but I was able to fend him off while keeping a gap behind me that was hopefully the right size. On the last of our two laps I was able to move him up-track a bit in turn 1 and then attack down into turn 2. I held him off in turns 3 and 4 and won. This moved me up to the final against Rich. I drew "2" so he started in the pole. I tried to get past Rich at the start, but he was alert and accelerated to keep me behind him. I rode up-track to gain the advantage of height, and made a few feints to keep him down-track so I'd have more room, but he did ride smart. Even so I caught him off-guard in turn 4 and was able to quickly drop down from the banking and pass him before turn 1. That was cool, but since we'd been going fairly fast I was worried I'd be too tired to hold him off at the finish, so I backed off a bit. Exiting turn 2 I knew I had to be careful, because that would be the perfect place for Rich to attack, and so he did; he blew by me and into the lead; darn, I must have slowed too much! I couldn't pass him again and he won. Usually we'd compete for the best two out of three matches, but this year it was just that one match so he got gold and I got silver.

Masters match sprints podium.

500 m individual time trial:
This is one racer at a time against the clock, from a standing start as we are held up, fully clipped into the pedals. I took a few deep breaths and focused on my form. I channeled my inner Incredible Hulk and pulled off a personal best of 37.2 seconds! Cool! And something I credit to the training Jeff has prescribed. But that only gave me silver as Rich beat me by 0.4 seconds.

Team sprints:

Masters team sprint splits.

We have the track to ourselves and only the last rider's time after three laps is counted; the other two riders merely help him get up to speed. For the Masters States my team was with Rich Rozzi as the second and Martin Harris as the third rider (funny how we're suddenly friends again!). We were the only team in the 45+ age group; even less compelling than Elites, but there was still some coolness to be had from it as we of course compared ourselves against the other age-groups' teams. I led our team for the first lap, and my lap-1 time was the second-fastest of the teams. Only the youngest team beat my #1 lap (by 0.37). So while I finally earned gold, and a California State Champion's jersey, it's not one I can brag about... except that my lap was pretty fast and one I'm proud of.

USA Cycling Masters Track National Championships are at Marymoor velodrome, just south of Seattle, starting next week. And while I did consider going I think that will have to wait until I can justify the expense. Maybe next year!

A humble Masters gold medal.

LAVRA South Bay Wheelmen TT Cup, 6/1/2014

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis the Mennis) — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 19:21:00 +0000

By Dennis Pedersen

I have long wanted to ride on a steeply-banked, wooden cycling track, as used for most Olympic and World Cup track races. I was told these tracks are an amazing adrenaline rush to ride on, especially after you've circled a relatively moderate concrete track like our local Hellyer Park velodrome a few thousand times. I finally had my wish granted this weekend when my friend and competitor Rich Rozzi invited me!

45-degree banking;
it's impossible to walk on it!

Wooden cycling tracks are usually 250m ovals with banking up to 45 degrees, vs. the 335m oval with 23-degree banking at Hellyer. The nearest one is in the Los Angeles area, on the California State University, Dominguez Hills campus in Carson, and is part of a huge sporting complex called the StubHub Center; pretty impressive and very nicely appointed with vast numbers of tennis courts, soccer fields, etc. It was built as an upscale replacement for the 333m outdoor concrete track used in the 1984 Olympic Games (that was similar to Hellyer's velodrome) that had become somewhat rundown. Rich and I drove down there on Friday as did several other "Hellyerites," which added to the fun as they are a fun-loving bunch who aren't afraid of a beer the night before a race! Oh, and Rich, like most sprinters, shares a passion of mine: eating!

The indoor velodrome is called VELO Sports Center and is run by former pro and Olympian Adam Duvendeck, a really nice guy who has made big improvements to the track. The VELO Sports Center is also an Official U.S. Olympic Training Site and is the home track to USA Cycling's national track cycling program, and we got to meet several women who are candidates for our 2016 Olympic team. The infield of the VELO Sports Center velodrome is used for basketball and volleyball, but there's enough room there for a changing room and bike racks, plus a very nice weights area that's used by Olympic team candidates. They have a full electronic timing system unlike Hellyer (where we rely on handheld stopwatches). One glaring omission is a convenient restroom, as you have to take a bit of a hike to get to the nearest one.

Following Alissa for a "ribbon ride."

To ride this track you must first attend a certification class, with the option of either a four-session class for those with no track experience, or a one-session accelerated class for those with sufficient prior experience in track racing. I was able to complete a Saturday-morning accelerated class, with Andrew Mirzaoff as the instructor (with help from Allissa Maglaty, an Olympic team hopeful), and then hop on the track that afternoon for an open training session. By the end of the day I had 1:25 hours and 27 miles of experience there. That track is a blast to ride! The feel of riding along the top rail then dropping down what looks like a vertical two-story drop to the sprinter's lane takes a bit of guts... but what a rush! But the very different nature of this track also requires a very different approach to riding it.

One thing I was told is that I should maintain at least 17 mph to avoid slipping down the banking. That also affects everything from your warmup (it's best to warm up on rollers first) to race tactics (you can't do a track stand or even ride slow in the turns during match sprints, e.g.). They also recommend using soft-compound tires and wiping them down with isopropyl alcohol beforehand. Another thing to do is make sure printed-on tire labels are either removed or facing downtrack as they can be a bit slippery.

The track also requires a very different and more critical approach to riding flying 200m time trials. They have marked the optimum line for the flying-200m with small orange "X" markings on the track, as it's just too easy for people to get in trouble if they don't follow this. I didn't know about them at first and tried my usual line around the track, at max speed dropping down from the top rail out of turn 4; it was rather scary as my bike was pushed uptrack in turn 2 by the G-forces! After Rich explained the orange Xs to me I tried again; what a vast improvement! Rich has front and rear disk wheels, which is great for indoors, but I only have a rear disk wheel so would want a front disk too if I ride here regularly.

Winding up for my flying 200m.

On Sunday Rich and I were registered to race in a LAVRA Track Racing event, the South Bay Wheelmen TT Cup. We were just entered in the individual flying 200m and standing-start 500m races, but they also had other timed events and a Madison race. I was trying to learn how to ride flying 200m from watching local racers, but I must admit I still messed up badly; I spent too much energy getting up to the rail during the windup laps, then dropped down too soon into turn 1, and then stopped pushing at the home-straight's mid-point line rather than the actual finish line. Argh! My 12.972-second time was much slower than my best at Hellyer (12.09). And Rich also was disappointed with his 12.334. Yet surprisingly nobody else even broke into the 11s... something we usually see at Hellyer's races.

For the standing-start 500m races they have sweet starting stands with a pneumatic clamp connected to the timers, just like at World-class races (at Hellyer we have human holders). So we just clamp the bike in, hop on, and wait for the timer's countdown to release the bike. I managed a nice 37.802-second run, almost equal to my personal best 37.74 (hand-timed at Hellyer), while Rich ran a nice 36.809. This made me feel much better about my weekend's racing.

So I have a lot to work on if I want to do well at 250m tracks, but man, I sure had fun!

World Championship Prep Races, Hellyer Park Velodrome, 2/16/2014

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis the Mennis) — Wed, 26 Feb 2014 16:34:00 +0000

By Dennis Pedersen

Nils and I went to these low-key timed events for practice and fun. I won the standing-start 500m time trial in 38.3 seconds, Nils won the standing-start 1k time trial in 1:16.5 (known as "killers" because they are very painful!).

It's always an open question what equipment to use, and Nils swapped his bars and stem between some of the events to test his setup. I mostly used my training equipment, including my heavy "faux" disk rear wheel with a PowerTap hub (reads my power output in Watts), so I can provide data to my coach, Jeff Solt ( track sprinter extraordinaire). I used a 48x14 (also known as a 92.6-inch gear) for my flying 200m, but a lower 50x15 (90-inch gear) for my standing-starts. In retrospect, after Jeff checked my data, it seems I should be using taller gears. I may go with a 94.5-inch gear for all events next time.

Here are a few photos:

Dennis in his flying 200m time trial (12.4 seconds, 37.27 MPH, 2nd place). Notice the tongue.

Nils in his flying 200m time trial (12.5 seconds, 3rd place). The guy is super-aero!

Dennis as #2 in a team sprint (1:17.1, first place)

Nils during his 1k time trial (1:16.5, 1st place). These are aptly-named "killers" ...I don't think he's smiling!

The final Low Key Hill Climb, and concluding thoughts on the LKHC series

noreply@blogger.com (Stefano) — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 06:25:00 +0000

Somebody said that in time of peace men satisfy their impulse to go to war by racing bicycles. I agree. In this particular instance, my own personal battle was to get to the top of Mt Hamilton faster than the guy who was going to end up winning the General Classification, David Collet. Actually, I wanted to get up there much faster than Dave. (Incidentally, Dave is a really great guy, and I was really happy I got to meet and ride with him during this series; we follow each other on Strava and plan on going out on training rides together next season).

I got into the race quite depressed ("heartbroken", in the words of Eddie) by the amazing amount of points that a certainly very strong mountain bike ride had given Dave on Saturday, which had cost me my several-weeks-old GC lead. I had beaten Dave at Bohlman-On-Orbit, in a close sprint finish. I had beaten him at Patterson Pass. I had beaten him at Lomas Contadas. I thought I had him. But no, thanks to the black magic of Low Key points calculation, the mix of low attendance and huge time dispersion on the one mountain bike hill climb gave him enough points to put me out of contention for the GC. Especially with Hamilton only left, a race with just the opposite features: large attendance and small time dispersion.

Mark Edwards had warned me of the presence of three-time olympian and 7- or 8-time Canadian TT champion, ex-pro Eric Wohlberg in the race, so the overall win was almost surely out of reach. However, I had a very clear objective to shoot for, and I decided I was going to be as aggressive as possible from the gun.

Have I managed to clip in my pedals yet?!

After struggling again with clipping in my pedals (alas, one year of biking and I'm still there!) I sprinted up to Nils to the front of the race, and started attacking probably not even 5' from the gun. It was me and GC #3 Bill Laddish, and it was clear that we both wanted to put some time over our direct competitors. We immediately agreed to work together and started pushing it. Our breakaway didn't last long (perhaps half of the first climb), but I continued to stay at the front, either pushing against the wind or riding on the wheel of the guy in front.

I could hear Mark telling me to be smart and to save energy, but I just wanted the race to have a fast pace and to tire Dave out as quickly as possible. But Dave, smartly, was riding in 5th-6th position, well sheltered in the lead group. Through the end of the first climb, the descent and the first half way of the second climb it was Chris Evans taking most of the air out front. Kudos to him. I did my share, but had started to realize how foolish my initial strategy had been.

Half-way through the second climb it was a great "Rich Brown" attacking generously. I decided to let him take a few lengths. I really like and respect Rich, and I know he likes and respects me as well. We understand each other at many levels (for one, we both have two kids each, the exact same age!). Dave was getting antsy, and he actually decided to get to the lead of the chase group, which pleased me, and I happily rested on his wheel. He was 10" on and 15" off the saddle. I could hear Mark telling me that that's a sign that a biker is close to pop. But I knew that Dave is actually a mountain biker, used to long stretches off the saddle. Still, he was clearly struggling to keep Rich in sight.

I knew Rich was ultimately not a factor, but at the end of the second climb I saw the actual factor jump. And jump like a pro. It was Eric. I found myself boxed 3-4 positions from the lead of the group, but knew that that was the winning breakaway, and put a ton of power to catch up to the Canadian before we'd get to the downhill. Unlike Eddie, I suck at downhill (Eddie knows this and chastises me every time on our long rides). But what was I to do? I braced myself and stuck to Eric's wheel all the way down and then up the last incline. Pace was all right. At some point, actually pretty soon in the incline, Eric turns to me and is like "they're right there, let's go" and invites me to take the lead. Honored, I put in a very honest 1-1.5 miles pull, which I believe managed to put some ground between us and the chasers.

At that point I had the pleasure to enjoy the second pro-move of the day: instead of nicely taking the next pull, Eric sprinted past me and left me in the dust. In great style: body low to the handlebars (see the picture), effortless, one thing with his machine etc. And more importantly, not even leaving me a grain of hope to stay on his wheel easily.

Eric Wohlberg powering to the finish line

So he was gone, and there were a good 3-4 miles to go. The TT champion in front of me and the chasing group, including my friend Dave, chasing me. I could see them at every hairpin turn. And so, evidently, the could see me… Well, I decided that I was not going to be caught for that day, and pushed my pace the best I could, hitting myself in the head for all the energy spent early in the race. I was getting increasingly nervous when the wind picked up towards the top, but I was also feeling good, managing to stay in the saddle, and to summon good power. I could still see Eric up
at almost every turn as well.

The last turn before the finish. The chase group is not in sight.

At the end the chasing group didn't catch me; I was less than one minute back from Eric, and the chasers about half a minute back from me. Dave did eventually pop, and I ended up giving him 1:22. Enough.

I think there definitely are a few shortcomings in the LKHC points system. For example, no rewards for the final rankings: when I out-sprinted Dave at Bohlman-On-Orbit, we both put in a good effort, and I beat him, but we got the same time and the same points! Also, the disproportionate reward for the MB climb is quite frustrating. Take triathlons: the swim always has a huge dispersion, but that is accounted for by having swims be much shorter than the other two events. Or take grand tours: the TT are much shorter than the other stages, to avoid making TTers the only contenders.

The LKHC organizers argue that dirt climbs "mix things up [and] reward versatility". Well, then why not adding some running? Or rock climbing? Or speed chess? I'd be game for all! Also, there are other ways to mix things up. Random number generators work quite well…

I had a lot of fun during the series. It brought me a good amount of fitness and some racing strategy skills. I am so grateful to my wife, who understood how important this was to me, especially during an amazingly busy time at work, both from a fitness and from a mental standpoint…

I am grateful for the support of all the team, from my fellow low key-ers Nils, Eddie, Dan, Matt, Mike, Scott, and Matt S, to Mark and Jim for their advise. It meant a lot to me when today, at the Felton-Empire repeats, Scott told me that it made no sense that I had gotten second in the GC and that I clearly deserved first. I look forward to a solid 2014 season, hopefully quickly upgrading to cat 3 and being able to play some team work with trippers Morgan, Dan and perhaps also Mark!

LKHC #9: Mt. Hamilton

noreply@blogger.com (Eddie) — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 02:46:00 +0000

By Eddie Santos

For most, Thanksgiving is a holiday synonymous with a large meal centered around turkey. For the rest of us, it's a heavy dosage of pain centered around Mt. Hamilton. As tradition has it, the culmination of the Low-Key Hillclimb series brought a race up Mt. Hamilton on an absolutely picture perfect morning, despite forecasts of rain showers in the week leading up to the race. To thank the Gods for their providing blessed weather, Bike Trip put forth a solid Thanksgiving day team (likely annoying family members at home left to do all the cooking) of Dan, Nils, Scott, Stefano, and myself.

For those who have never experienced Hamilton, it's an 18.4 mile trip up to the observatory accumulating 4,399 ft feet of climbing along the way. In essence, the course consists of three climbs of starting with 5.9 miles (4.7%), a technical descent into the second climb of 3.2 miles (4.5%), and then a fast descent leading into the longest, steepest climb of 6.3 miles (5.9%). This was the fourth time I'd done Hamilton (third time racing) and thus had started to get a sense of how to best slay the beast. The previous times I'd raced up the twisty mountain, I'd gone out too hard on the first two climbs, blew up, and bled time up the final, hardest climb. These experiences however, allowed me formulate a plan of attack: error on the side of slow on the first climb, find a group of riders to work with on the flatter top part of the first climb and on the descents, and save some energy to punch the third climb square in the face.

Staging on Alum Rock Ave / Mt. Hamilton Rd

The riders staged at Alum Rock Ave in different groups, according to ability. Group one was those who had scored above a 117 in the series, group two above 105, so on and so forth. This put Dan, Nils and Stefano in group one, with Scott and I waiting behind. The grouping did not appear strict however, as I spotted some rather heftier fellas hands on hoods staring at Stefano's back wheel, with dreams of glory sparkling in their eyes beneath their sunglasses. The lead car sounded the horn and the race was on. As usual, Nils was charging ahead of the field already halfway up the climb.

Nils sprinting while it's still flat

Group 1 already had a good lead up the road as I turned onto the course. I immediately reminded myself to be cool, and start the climb at a manageable pace. After a few minutes I realized I felt great, my body was responding well, and so I decided to catch up to the first group that was just slightly ahead. I knew I couldn't hold them to the top, so the goal was to hang out at the back, catch the over anxious, and form a second group of strong, but not quite top riders who I could work with. I was hanging on pretty well and feeling great. I was careful not to overexert myself, and eventually started slipping back slightly. I was still hitting a solid pace and found myself riding next to Rob Easley, who would prove to be a valuable ally for the rest of the climb. At one point, he shot up the road and caught a few other riders. I didn't panic and kept my rhythm. Knowing the flatter, faster portion portion of the first climb was just ahead, I accelerated to catch them so I could sit on the back and save energy, and executed this perfectly. We caught others, formed a group of about 8-10, one of which I noticed was Dan Connelly, and thus knew I was in good company.

Rob was pushing a really good pace heading towards the first descent, and I was still in the big ring churning the pedals hanging onto his wheel. Rob was all over the road, but he was proving to be a really strong and motivated rider. I knew descending was a relative strength of mine, and if I could hang on, I'd be in a good position. Once we crested and started the descent, Mark Johnson of Pen Velo attacked hard and shot down the road. I was still on Rob's wheel and noticed he didn't have the firepower to follow Mark. Immediately, I took the reins, came around Rob, and started pushing the pace, with Dan and Rob on my wheel. Once we reached the flatter part near Grant Park, I flicked my elbow and Rob came around to help me out and keep the pace up. We caught Mark at the base of the second climb, with Dan and Alex Komlik bridging up to join us. Rob and Alex were doing a great job at setting the speed, and realizing I was in the presence of better climbers, I mostly held wheel, though I made sure to occasionally take the front to let them know I was there to help out. This was a race against the clock after all, and solidly behind the leaders, there was no point to not working together. We must've shed Dan somewhere along the second climb before a fast descent towards the last climb.

The last climb was now upon us, and though I was tiring, I still felt great, and was very motivated by the low time I was seeing on my Garmin. I knew the final climb would be just over 30 minutes, and thus knew I was well ahead of my very optimistic goal of 1:20:00 (honestly, I was just hoping to beat 1:22:00 to improve on my 1:28:XX time from the Mt. Hamilton Classic in May). Rob was dishing pain and I was matching him quite well. Alex and I helped out when we could, and occasionally Mark, though he seemed more apt to sit on. Near the top, the wind picked up and we slowed down ever so slightly. I decided to up the tempo to see if the guys had it in them to hold on, and grinded away at the pedals. The guys were digging deep and were matching me, proving that they were in it until the end. With about a mile or so to go, they came around on a big left hander before the straight away to the gate.

Stefano solos near the top with David Collet on the brain

The last mile was pretty fast and I was at the back of our group of four hanging on for dear life. We powered past the gate before taking a right hand turn leading up to the final ascent to the observatory. Rob and Mark shot up the road in a strong effort, and though I punched it, I decided not to contest the finish, partly because I was tired and we were racing the clock (not each other), but mostly because I was grateful for having had them to help me push myself to a fantastic time of 1:18:54 (113.28), over one minute faster than my most optimistic goal! This was by far my best score of the series, having scored consistently in the 107-108 range.

Overall Bike Trip had a fantastic day, led by Stefano who took 2nd with a time of 1:12:42 (125.55), 58 seconds behind winner Erik Wohlberg, Dan in 10th at 1:14:26 (120.50), Nils in 13th at 1:16:14 (117.49), myself, and Scott in 59th at 1:30:53 (97.52). This was good for 2nd place in the team division, behind The Brown Zone who had recruited a ringer in 3-time Canadian olympic athlete and current men's performance manager for Optum Pro Cycling, Erik Wohlberg.

With that, the 2013 Low-Key Hillclimb series concludes with great performances from various members of the Bike Trip team. Nils, Stefano, and I were the only amongst us to register the five necessary races to place highly in the overall classification. Stefano barely missed out on first behind David Collet, who stole first in heartbreaking fashion on last weekend's dirt climb up Montara. Nevertheless, second place is an all-time Bike Trip record and I'm sure an even more improved Stefano will be back next year for blood. Nils and I placed in 9th and 18th, respectively, as I managed a last minute shot up the rankings with my final performance. As a team, we finished third behind winners Sisters and Misters of No Mercy, and The Brown Zone, both of which scored highly based on the strength of their women and weekly recruits. We'd like to think we'd of won if it came down to just the men!

(l to r): Eddie (most fashionable), Dan, Stefano, Nils, Scott.

I managed to secure the Most Improved Rider category in a landslide, having improved my median score in this years series by 23.17 points (84.41 to 107.55), well ahead of the next rider, Joe Sullivan, at 12.12. This is in no small part thanks to you guys, and particularly our coach Mark Edwards, for providing fantastic training opportunities, solid race advice, and excellent camaraderie. With no more races until 2014, it's time to get back to training in an effort to secure Most Improved Rider next year as well. Let's get to it Gents, looking forward to seeing you all there.

2012: Eddie "Beefcake" Santos

2013: Eddie "Lesscake" Santos

For results and pictures, click below:
Week 9, Mt. Hamilton
Overall, 2013 Low-Key Hillclimbs

Lomas Cantadas: Stefano strikes again

noreply@blogger.com (Stefano) — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 04:49:00 +0000

I like steep. Lomas Contadas, LKHC#7, was a short sweet treat with a 1.3 10.5% grade aperitif followed by a 0.4 miles flat intermission and a grand finale a bit shy of 1 mile at about 15% grade. In the words of the only other bike-tripper at the race, my buddy Eddie, it sounded a bit like Bonny Doon. And if there's one climb we all know, love and respect is good ole Bonny.

This week's climb was not really on my list, as there existed a clear risk of divorce in asking my wife to deal with our 1- and 3-year old boyz again for a very very long morning after Patterson Pass last week. With the additional bonus of the 1-year old one just starting walking and very much enjoying practicing. BUT, the stars lined up right, and my wife being an astronomer and all, I was given green light.

The GC big dogs were all lined up at the start line, and it was again Carl Nielson leading the way from the very beginning, at a seriously insane pace up the first steep bits and through the flats. A smart strategy, I thought, given the shortness of the course and the fact that he had been out-sprinted last week at the end. At the beginning of the interesting last third of the race, the 15% fun part, GC #3 Bill Laddish put forward a serious attack, to which I responded jumping on his wheel and passing Carl.

A new solid contender, Hans Detlefsen, then jumped again shortly thereafter, and again yours truly decided to go with the attacker. This second attack was actually rather short, and just keeping a steady pace (so to speak) I found myself in the lead. After a few minutes Hans jumped again, but at that point I had spotted the landmark I knew corresponded to about 0.2-0.3 miles to the finish line. I upped the pace and "time trialed" (as much as one can time trial a 15% grade), and entered that sweet state where the hard breathing of your competitors starts to fade with the shadows of their bikes.

I crossed the line 6" ahead of Dave Collet, GC#2, who had stayed with the lead group all the way and saved it for a very strong finish, ahead of Hans (8" back), GC#3 Bill (15" back) and Carl (26" back).

Hard to say when fellow competitors and good riders respect you. But I was surely quite happy when Strava notified me that Carl Nielson was now "following" me…

Saturday I felt like the words of climber great Richard Virenque made a lot of sense: "You can say that climbers suffer the same as the other riders, but they suffer in a different way. You feel the pain, but you're glad to be there."

LKHC#6: Patterson Pass, first overall!!

noreply@blogger.com (Stefano) — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 04:14:00 +0000

I wished I had had a little more time to share this incredibly fun season of low-key hill climbs! Unfortunately Eddie wasn't there today to tell the story in his great words, so it's up to my cripple italian-english…

Today's climb was one roadies in the area know quite well: Patterson Pass. Only 4.4 miles, with a sweet rolling start for the first 1.5 miles, a gentle 6.6% for the following mile, and then the fun part: a 12% section, followed by rollers and an 11% grand finale (known as the OMG climb). Now, usually this course has tremendous wind blowing in the wrong direction, while today we were blessed with some nice tailwind.

Boxer Mike Tyson famously said: "Everyone has a plan 'til they get punched in the mouth". Well, today Bike Trip contradicted good ole Mike… Nils, Mark and I had an intense exchange of emails about strategy prior to the race, which ended with the following email from Mark (I'm quoting verbatim): "The forecast is for a slight tailwind @ 10:00 AM. ATTACK!".

And attack it was, from the gun: as soon as I had moved my eyes from the pedals that as usual wouldn't clip in (yes, I'm definitely still a rookie!), Nils was already 50m down the road cruising at a solid attack pace. Folks in our group were hesitating, and I jumped on Nils wheel, and we started working together, putting on a pretty good pace. We kept leading the bunch well into the beginning of the climb, taking turns pulling, but eventually Carl Nielson took the lead. I, frankly, was quite relieved. Mark, who knows Carl quite well, had informed me that Carl didn't mind setting the pace in the front, and I was happy to let him do that.

Drafting was a relatively minor effect, as the wind was from the back and the climb quickly gets in the >7%, but it was nice to just cruise along. I didn't really checked on the folks in the back, focusing mostly on Carl's wheel and on saving energy. I felt quite good through the first 12% climb, and Carl didn't really attack, but rather maintained a steady power output (which somewhat reminded me of following Mark's wheel on the Saturday repeats).

At the beginning of the OGM 11% ramp Dave Collet (#2 in the general classification) attacked very decisively. There was evidently no way I was going to let him go, and I jumped on his wheel and passed Carl. Dave pushed for a bit, but then we all regrouped. I felt well, and I knew exactly where the end of the incline was, so I decided to go and give everything I had. Which I did. I was quite happy to notice that the shadows of Carl and Dave were not glued to my wheel, and cruised to the finish line for the win.

Yours truly in the final attack, gasping for air ahead of Carl Nielson, Bill Laddish and Dave Collet

In the end Dave slowed a bit and let Carl and Bill Laddish (the fourth man in the breakaway) pass him. Bill eventually passed Carl, and, according to the LKHC timing, I was 3" ahead of Bill, 6" ahead of Carl and 14" ahead of Dave.

I am truly grateful for Nils and his great work at the beginning of the race and of the climb, and to Mark Edwards for his tactical insight. I felt like this was a well-planned effort, and a plan we managed to deliver quite successfully! An additional fun part of the story is that we gave about 30" to the Tour of Califronia pros on that same course, according to Strava. And sure, maybe they had some headwind… and maybe they had another 100 miles to go… Well, we have a few other things that get in the way of our biking, so take this Peter Sagan! and goodbye KOM Laurens ten Dam!

While I'm still in overall first in the general classification, and with a widened gap from Dave, who's still in second, Carl will probably put in the required 4 races, and other strong riders still could (including our favorite teenager phenomenon Adrien Costa!). So the game is still wide open, but I'm glad to have brought in the second win for the team, yeah-hee!

LKHC #3: Bohlman - On Orbit

noreply@blogger.com (Eddie) — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 20:25:00 +0000

By Eddie Santos

Pain. Agony. Peace. Perhaps the only words I can use to describe the latest Low-Key Hillclimb, this week held on the brutal slopes of Bohlman-On Orbit based in Saratoga. The 4.44 mile 2,036 ft ascent only tells part of the story, as the main stretch of Norton / On Orbit is a vomit inducing 1.6 mile stretch at 14%, in which pain and agony only begin to describe the feelings of one's legs as they weave back and forth across the road. Peace, you may ask? Well, I found myself realizing that this climb very well may be the end of me, and I was at peace with that, as long as I had an excuse not to keep going up.

Alas, that did not happen, and mayhem ensued. This week Team Bicycle Trip welcomed climbing extraordinaire Dan Perry to the fold, joining this seasons LKHC regulars, Matt, Nils, Stefano, and myself. Adrien Costa, our local junior climbing phenom, riding for the Garmin-Sharp development team, had re-emerged from a broken collarbone, and was likely looking to test his form post-injury. Kenneth Spencer, a traditional powerhouse who very recently broke the 15 minute barrier up Old La Honda, was also on the bill. The sight of these two certainly lit the fire under our Italian comrade, Stefano,who was so in the zone that we had to convince him to leave the seat post & saddle on his bike, despite his desire to shave off as much weight from his rig as possible. Okay, so perhaps I'm exaggerating slightly, but he did brave the climb without water bottle cages, so stick with me.

As expected, the pack shot out of the gate quickly, as both fast and slow riders jockeyed for position. After an initial mellow climb up Norton, in which Nils and I thoroughly annoyed the slew of riders around us with a playful banter, the fun began, the aforementioned 1.6 mile, 14% stretch, a segment appropriately titled "Son of a bi***" on Strava. My heart rate shot through the roof immediately, holding 190-192 bpm (~97%) for the duration of the segment. Despite this, I was feeling salty, and found that I had enough adrenaline coursing through my veins to keep hammering. I was mostly out of the saddle, occasionally sitting back down to give myself enough of a rest. The out of the saddle was mostly necessary, since unless I sat way up on the saddle, my front wheel would buck upwards due to the steepness.

Stefano and Dan were up the road. They were gone, off seeking glory as only they can on such a climb, as Nils and I were oscillating back and forth, making comments to each other every so often in an effort to have our competition believe this was just a casual climb for the two of us. Once On Orbit hit, bringing beauty that only an 18% stretch of road can, Nils got about 15-20 seconds on me, and hilarity ensued. Personally, the pain in my legs was as nasty as I'd ever felt. I was out of the saddle, with my hips swinging back and forth, and I was having trouble finding anything to muster into those peddles. I may have popped at this moment, but I had the advantage of watching our resident Honey Badger up ahead, in the saddle, swerving back and forth across the length of the road, as if he had been bit by a venomous Cobra and had the venom seeping through his veins. At one point, I almost witnessed him go straight off the road into the hillside (to which he later remarked, "you saw that?!"). To witness Nils exhibit pain is a rare sight, and so I knew, if he was hurting too, I should embrace the pain, and continue the journey upwards.

Once we got back to On Orbit, the terrain returned to a more steady climb, as Nils was able to recover and power up on slopes more favorable to a rider of his style. There were three guys just ahead of me and two more anxious to chase me down and ruin my spirits. With this in mind, and knowing that the end (of the climb) was near, I attacked on every rise that I could. The top was basically a set of rollers, and despite the appearance we were all dangling in front of each other like bait, no one caught each other and we all flew into the finish.

The performance by Team Bike Trip was so collectively solid, that we took the team competition ahead of LKHC powerhouse, Team Brown Zone, 358.21 to 356.79. Individually, Stefano placed 3rd with a time of 26:51 (125.67), 1:54 behind the winner Adrien (134.99), and 37 seconds behind Ken (128.55). Dan twerked in 7th at 28:20 (119.25), Nil in 15th at 29:52 (113.28), myself 21st at 31:21 (108.06), and Matt 30th at 32:24 (104.64).

On the season, Stefano moves into to the yellow jersey / top spot, a first ever for Team Bicycle Trip, with a firm 4 point lead over challenger David Collet of Pen Velo/Pomodoro, with Nils, myself, and Matt chasing in 7th, 20th, and 22nd, respectively. In the team competition, we advanced to 2nd overall, behind the Brown Zone, who have remained ahead of us on the strength of their women (we're looking at you, Katrin. No pressure.). I managed to claim the brown jersey, as the most improved rider from 2012 to 2013, having increased my median points by 23.47, from 84.59 last year to 108.06 for this year. This week's effort allowed Dan to claim the best Mass Adjusted Climbing Rate for the Fall thus far, illustrating the fact that he is, indeed, an animal.

Next week brings the Portola Valley Hills, a self-ride through the foothills of the Peninsula. We kindly request your presence.

Results & pictures here

Stefano obviously thirsty from not having any water bottles.

Dan making On Orbit hurt.

Nils pondering life's deepest questions.

I was in the saddle at some point?

Couldn't find a picture of Matt, perhaps he drove to the top? ;)

LKHC #1: Montebello

noreply@blogger.com (Eddie) — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 21:26:00 +0000

You know Stefano's full bore when he's out of the saddle.

By Eddie Santos

This past Saturday marked the return of the Low-Key Hill Climb series, once again kicking off with a climb up Montebello Road on a picture perfect morning. I've anticipated the return of LKHC greatly since last Fall, in which the series provided my first introduction to competitive cycling. Though I enjoyed pouring everything I had into the pedals, gritting my teeth climbing up the likes of Soda Springs Rd with a torn meniscus, the results were not pretty, and I vowed to return to the series with great vengeance.

Bike Trip had fine representation for this week's climb with Matt, Nils, Stefano, and myself present. Montebello is a very nice climb, totaling 2,000 ft of climbing over 5.2 miles. The first 2 miles are roughly 9%, the next mile is 3%, and the final two are 8% before giving way to some rollers leading up to the finish. The field had some pretty strong talent on the start list, including Chris Phipps, the recent masters national champion.

Nils shows (knows?) no pain.

The group staged in the upper parking lot, and after a rolling start to the bottom of the climb, the race was on. Stefano and Nils immediately did a great job navigating through the hordes of overly ambitious riders to get towards the front, clear of some riders who were making noises that made the rest of the pack concerned about their well-being. I followed Matt for the first mile, while he also weaved around riders who were dropping back fast. Initially, my legs (particularly my quads) felt somewhat sore after a week full of softball games, but it was only pain, and knew that they would be ready to go when I needed them.

After clearing a large number of people, we finally got some space, and so I decided to punch it to see if I could keep Stefano and Nils in my sights, at least until the flatter, middle part. I eventually lost sight of the two of them, but managed to ride up to a pack of eight or so riders to draft as the gradient eased. I drank, calmed my breathing, and hit it hard once again once the serious climbing resumed. I dropped four or so riders, and went uphill with another four at a decent pace. The next two miles were a hammerfest, in which somehow I managed to keep pumping my legs despite my heart rate holding steady at 187 bpm (95%). I found a groove smoothly moving in and out of the saddle to let the different muscles in my legs recover.

As we approached the top, it became obvious we were getting to the rollers when the group of riders I was with attacked. In hindsight, I should've followed, but I was on the brink and unsure how much longer the climb would last, and figured I wouldn't lose too much time simply maintaining my pace. Soon enough though, I saw the sign indicating 200 paces, and gave what I had left in the tank to get to the line, scanning the scene for the refreshments as I yelled my number out to the coordinators.

Glad photos can't capture internal stress!

The overall winner was a junior, Jason Saltzman, of Team Specialized Racing Juniors, with a time of 26:08. Stefano had a sizzling time of 28:09 (score: 122.43), good for 7th overall. Nils also had a blistering time, coming in at 29:01 (118.74), for 11th place. I was the next 'Tripper, arriving in 29th place at 31:15 (110.29), and Matt was just behind me in 32nd, at 31:55 (107.95). As a team, we finished sixth with a score of 351.46, yet just 4.34 points behind the winners, The Brown Zone!

Perhaps the picture of the year.

Last year, I averaged 86.45 over the four climbs I did in the Low-Key series, so to begin this year's climb with a score of 110.29, an improvement of nearly 25 points, was very fulfilling! It definitely reflects upon the high quality of training with great teammates week in and week out over the past year, along with the great support provided by the guys at Bicycle Trip. This next week's climb brings Montevina (+ dirt), which I'm very much looking forward to, and hopefully will be joined by more than a few of you fine folks!

Official results and photos here.

The Great Lake Tahoe Bike Race - September 29, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Langley) — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 00:20:00 +0000

Mark accepting his 3rd place winnings

RACE AROUND LAKE TAHOE 2013
by Jim Langley (black text) & Mark Edwards (blue text)

In a nutshell – whether you call it The Great Lake Tahoe Bike Race or The Race Around Lake Tahoe - the third time I (Jim) have done it and the second time Mark has - it was a lot of fun.

It was about 39 degrees in the morning so not terribly cold but I couldn’t warm up. I overslept, too, and barely had time to get dressed and hit the bathroom and make the 7 a.m. start.

I also missed breakfast and my all-important coffee so that didn’t help warm me up, either. I rode the entire way in cold weather gear – leg warmers, long gloves, etc. I was still cold at the finish and all day.

While Jim showed up the night before the race, I'd been in Tahoe two days already. With 7 a.m. temperatures of 29 and 34 the previous two days, I was thrilled to see 39 on race day (although the 51 the day after the race was even better). During my Thursday easy-hour pre-race ride, I got snowed on. The cold front that passed through was cold even by late September Tahoe standards.

Chilly start

I think it never got much past 60 degrees during the ride and we had headwinds all the way so it was a slow time and we never had the free speed of past years with 15 Symantec/Bicycle Trip racers taking turns at the front. I sure missed the help and pacing as did some of the other guys who came up to Mark and I at the start asking where the rest of our team was!

The record for the 73-mile loop is 2:50:21.9 set in 2010 by Jesse Miller-Smith, and everyone hopes to break the magic 3-hour barrier that gets you an Under-3-Hour medal. A handful of us accomplished that last year.

If you can break the course record and win the event, you earn $1,000 - $500 for first and another $500 for setting the fastest-ever time. There are 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th-place prices of $400, $300, $200 and $100. Race entry is an almost unbelievable $164. For that you get to race, get a T-shirt and a nice completion medal and license-plate frame that displays the time range you finished in, under 3.5 or under 3 hours.

Typically this "race" has a much different feel from a road race. No real tactics or games, most of the riders are just interested in getting around the lake as quickly as possible.

In previous years our Symantec Team literally fought for the chance to take a pull. Last year I (Mark) found it hard to get on the front and work, someone would almost always pull through almost immediately. This year, I'd take a long hard pull and no one would come through. I didn't feel like anyone was sandbagging, there were just not many guys confident enough to go to the front and push.

As always the race started at the Zephyr Cove Resort with the firing of the promoter's double-barrel shotgun that is sure to grab your attention - or knock you off your bike! And, as has happened every year I've done this pseudo race, it was a nervous and squirrelly pack - wobbling across the starting line and up the first hills rather than a skilled paceline and pack we're used to in masters races; especially with no Team Symantec leading the charge.

The other thing that drove me crazy is how the pack seemed to go out of its way to hit every rut, hole and sunken manhole cover on Tahoe's tortured tarmac. Man, they close the road and give us a police escort all the way around the lake and nobody can point out the hazards or find the perfect pavement. More than a dozen times I hit something so hard I was sure I had a slow leak - Mark, too. But our sewup tires withstood the beating and got us home thank goodness.

Eventually, the pack left the heavy traffic area and double roads and we hit the more scenic single lane road, a signal to those who know the route that we were about to hit the first real climbs that lead to the incredible both-sides-of-the-road views of Emerald Bay. But not before some loser in a pickup tried to pass the pack and lead car before realizing he was about to hit an oncoming vehicle head first.

This near disaster caused a lot of braking in the pack and screaming, and also an attack at the front. Luckily, Mark and I were watching for this and we both jumped, wove through the confused and braking riders and got on the tailend of the small group trying to escape. I felt a lot safer and we were setup perfectly to pound the first real test however we wanted.

Mark attacking Emerald Bay's walls

Still, I had to kill myself on Emerald Bay to keep up with Mark and just about blew up, but was able to recover eventually in the miles that followed by eating all my GU and the cookies I luckily stuffed in my pocket the night before so they would be there if I needed them.

The fierce pace on Emerald destroyed the pack, so after that Mark and I were pretty much sitting in with a smaller group than past years, maybe a total of 50 riders - if that. (At the finish, one of the guys who had gotten dropped here told me that it would have been smarter for us to set an easier pace so that we would have had a bigger group to work around the lake, i.e. for a faster time; what he said happened last year. Interesting observation but I'm not sure we had the power in the pack this year to have had that effect.)

On the Emerald Bay ups there were two guys that stood out as ultra-strong, the guy who eventually won, and what we think was a triathlete because he was riding a UCI illegal Cervelo P4 in an amazingly low position. More impressive, he spent about 2/3rds of the race charging to the front and taking crazy-long pulls.

On the Emerald climb an obviously strong climber went to the front to test himself and put everyone on notice (the guy who would take first-not the triathlete). He opened a gap and I (Mark) followed to get an idea of his strength. I was quite comfortable pacing him, but it was clear he was relaxed and the guy to watch. His "test" blew apart the peloton, at one point we had a good 100 meters on the next rider. I backed off about 100 meters from the summit to conserve and not show my cards, but it was pretty clear he was going to be a major factor at the finish.

Little by little the pack got whittled down on the fast descents and fun rollers and flats that make up most of the ride after Emerald Bay - and on Spooner, the long climb before the run into the finish, the strongest guy, a guy named John (who had attacked on the Emerald Bay climbs – attacked and opened a small gap. Mark and I had spotted him early as the strongest guy and Mark was ready and went with him. I got gapped and stuck with about 6 guys who were riding my pace. Mark and John and the super-strong Tri guy on the Cervelo and 3 other guys rode away on Spooner and formed the “money group.”

The impressively strong "Tri Guy"

Actually, I (Mark) was the one who made a small attack at the base of Spooner and John went with me. Almost immediately he took over setting the pace. After about two minutes I glanced over my shoulder to see a lone rider slightly behind us. I glanced back a minute later and there was no one. John kept a hard steady pace and opened a sizable gap from the three chasers. Within minutes they were out of sight. I still felt good, but knew my reserves were getting low as the altitude got higher.

About a mile from the summit John opened a 20-meter gap on me. (Jim note: Spooner is a long climb broken into 3 segments if I remember right - it seemed to go on forever to me) I (Mark) was fighting to keep it from growing when the lead car slowed and John got a draft. It probably wouldn't have changed the results, but mentally it landed a blow to my confidence. Going over the summit I couldn't see the chase group (probably 1.5 to 2 minutes back) and watched John's back wheel disappear down the 4-minute 50-mph descent.

I got as aero as possible sitting on my top tube for the descent, I was flying! Just as I slowed enough to be able to spin my 53/11, the "Tri guy" came flying by in his aero bars with two guys on his wheel (they had to be hitting close to 60 mph on the descent). I had to make a major sprint effort to catch their wheel.

I tried to get my three companions to chase John, who was within sight. To their credit, they tried, but just didn't have enough left. I'd pull on the hills and close the gap, but that often left my companions unable to go hard after we crested each roller. We held the gap steady (John was amazingly holding us off) and it came down to a sprint between the four chasers.

Mark sprints to 3rd

Tri guy took off first, I went after him, as did one of the other riders. The fourth guy just sat back and watched, I assume too tired to contest the finish. The finish was in a coned-off lane, Tri guy near the cones, me near the road edge. Just as I came around Tri guy, the other rider took a line between us. This knocked me off my line onto the shoulder, forcing me to ease off. While the guy clearly had the speed to beat me, it was unfortunate he chose such a dangerous move.

Still, I finished 3rd place and in the money (though you have to email the promoter before he will send you your winnings) and I didn't crash - maybe the best part! My time was approximately 3:02.

To finish my ride, I (Jim) recovered toward the top of Spooner and felt better and better on the final miles but I knew we were on a slow time, had no chance of breaking 3 hours (the final time was approximately 3:05), and that Mark was in the running for some cash so I just stuck with my little group torturing them a bit by opening gaps on the stiff little rollers into the finish ;-) I knew I’d be somewhere near the top 10 no matter what happened and I was also pretty sure I was the only guy 60 years old in the top 10 or so, too.

All in all it was another terrific Tahoe race, but both Mark and I are dreaming about doing it with a giant, fast team even just one more time. That record is out there and with the right riders and weather, we think it's breakable!

Northern California/Nevada District Criterium Championships, 55-59

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis the Mennis) — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 18:12:00 +0000

By Ed Price

I raced the Northern California/Nevada District Criterium Championships held on September 1st, 2013 at an industrial park in Pleasanton in the 55-59 age group. I was the last "official" finisher in 18th place, out of around 30 who started the race.

On Saturday, I decided to race the District Criterium Championships the following day. Pleasanton is a short drive and my race (55-59) started late morning (11:00 am). Because I missed the Dunningan Hills and San Ardo road races in mid-August with a nasty flu, it was my last shot at racing this year.

This was the same course used two years ago for the district criterium championships, although back then the race was held in early May instead of early September. What a difference 16 weeks makes on attendance. When the race was held in early May, my field hit the 100-man limit, but this time there were only around 30 riders. The course was a .very fast 0.9 mile, clockwise, three corner affair with wide roads, and excellent pavement.

My training was going reasonably well in June and July, I was pointing for the Dunningan Hills RR and the San Ardo RR in mid August when a nasty flu hit me hard a few days before Dunningan Hills. I haven't missed Dunningan Hills in seven years or San Ardo in 18 years, but I missed both of them this year.

This left only a few weeks to regain some strength and even though I wasn't even close to being at my best, I went anyway.

My race was a 50 minute timed effort. Lapped riders would be pulled. I was hoping to make it to the 15 or 20 minute mark before being pulled. Then I saw Larry Nolan at the starting line and my confidence fell like a lead balloon, heck I might last only ten minutes.

The race started fast but quickly settled down to a manageable 24 to 25 miles per hour average. Larry Nolan was at the back of the race reminiscing with me about the good old days of cycling. We chatted and laughed and commiserated until someone in the peleton told us to "put a sock in it" because they were losing their concentration.

Maybe Larry Nolan was not in shape, or over-trained, or under-trained, or, as it turned out, simply waiting for one decisive, all-out attack to the finish. I was feeling OK at 10 minutes, at 15 minutes, at 20 minutes and even at 25 minutes. I thought I might make it the whole way.

However, right around the 30 minute mark, Larry Nolan attacked from the very back of the group. I was right there, in perfect position to take his wheel, which I did, for about two seconds! Then he was gone, up the road and gaining distance with every pedal stroke. First, the pack strung out in a long single file as everyone tried to grab Larry's wheel, to no avail, then gaps started to open up. I found myself on a wheel that was gaped, went around but couldn't get back to the main group.

I had 20 minutes to avoid being lapped or I would be pulled from the race. I rode as hard as I could with two other riders until they dropped off, and then rode on alone. I was still averaging around 24 to 25 miles per hour when Larry Nolan lapped me so fast I couldn't believe it, he was riding 30 miles per hour and didn't look like he was slowing in the least.

The main field caught me at minute 42 and I was pulled from the race with eight minutes to go. Larry Nolan eventually caught the field, rode right by them, and no one could grab his wheel. He averaged 29.7 miles per hour for the last 20 minutes of the race. The guy is in a different class that the rest of us and I am thankful he didn't decide to attack from the start or my race would have been a very short affair.

Eddy Price

USA Masters Nationals Time Trial and Road Race Championships September 4-6, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Langley) — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 17:45:00 +0000

2013 USA Masters Road Nationals Race Report
by Jim Langley and Mark Edwards

Jim's race - click to zoom

Race Details:
Race registration/headquarters: Bend, Oregon (this was the 3rd consecutive year that Masters Nationals has been held in Bend. Next year it moves to Ogden, Utah).
Time Trial location: Prineville, Oregon 30K Time Trial "Crooked River" course on Wednesday, Sept. 4 (about 30 minutes out of Bend and 1,000 feet lower)
Road Race location: The "Sparks Lake" 84K course started/finished at Mt. Bachelor's ski resort, Sept. 5 (50-54 age group) and Sept. 6 (60-64 age group). It's also about 30 minutes out of Bend but higher with a start/finish at 6,200 feet elevation
Bicycle Trip racers at the Nationals this year:
Mark Edwards (team coach) raced in the 50-54
Jim Langley raced in the 60-64

Team manager Ed Price wrote this nice report on our races, which tells the tale nicely:

Our team coach, Mark Edwards along with Jim Langley just finished three intense days of time trialing and road racing at the USA Cycling National Masters Championships in Bend, Oregon.

Wednesday, Jim Langley finished in a solid 10th place in the 60-64 age group at the National Time Trial Championships, covering 30 kilometers in a time of 43 minutes and 42 seconds. The winner was Wayne Watson of Denver, Colorado, riding for Natural Grocers Cycling Team in a time of 40:36.

Jim followed up his time trial performance two days later on Friday with a 30th place in the road race in a time of 2 hours 34 minutes and 8 seconds. The winner was the very same Wayne Watson of Denver Colorado who won the time trial. Watson won a 3-man sprint to the line in a time of 2:27:30. He narrowly pipped Joe Lemire.

Our team coach, Mark Edwards finished 16th place in the 50-54 age group at the Time Trial Nationals, riding 30K in a time of 42:43. The race was won by a local bay area rider, Kevin Metcalfe of Pleasant Hill. Riding for Team Specialized Racing, Kevin raced to an amazing time of 38:00.

With no rest-day before his road race, Mark finished 28th place in the 50-54 Road Race at Bend on Thursday in a time of 2 hours 11 minutes and 26 seconds. The winner was Brendan Sullivan of Atlanta Georgia who finished about 30 seconds ahead (2:08:06) of Katrin Tobin's brother, Michael Tobin. One second back from Michael Tobin in third place, was an "on form" Kevin Metcalfe in 2:08:07.

Here's a video of the start of Mark's road race. He had nice weather and was up against one of the toughest fields at the Nationals. Here's a great race report of Mark's race:

Jim's comments about Ed's race report-
"Thanks for the great report Ed! We gave it our best shot but the competition at Nationals keeps getting stronger with more riders and more famous names. I'm embarrassed by my 30th place in the RR so I want to explain that I took a chance and it didn't work.

I knew I could not win if it came down to the final climb. The race was stacked with climbing specialists from places at elevation. So, I attacked about 1/3 of the way into the race. Ahead was a long stretch with rollers and I though I could build a solid gap. It took 4 tries and I finally got clear. I was out in the wind for about 10k and the moto ref gave me 5 time checks of 20-25-30-25 and 30 seconds, so I kept trying.

I felt strong and hoped I could get to the last wall with my lead intact. Back in the pack the NorCal and SoCal guys would not chase cause we help each other. Last year's winner, Hank Pfeifle (leading the pack in the photo of Jim's race at the top of the page) realized it was up to him and he finally chased me down dragging the pack with him, though about 20 guys got shelled.

After that I sat in and tried to recover but I could only tempo to the finish. It may seem stupid what I tried but year after year one or two stars and stripes jerseys go to guys who take a chance and I do think I had a small chance feeling as fit as I did."

Here's the USA Cycling race report on Jim's 60-64 road race.

Here's how the weather looked the morning of Jim's race - check out that flag! By race time it had improved but it was still cold and windy.

Here's Jim about to roll to the line in his 60-64 race on Friday when the weather had changed. It's about 46 degrees and with a 20 mile descent to start the race, riders were in everything warm they brought with them. Jim's hand were freezing and he didn't have gloves until he found one being blown across the parking lot by the wind and picked it up and switched it from hand to hand to keep his fingers from freezing before the start. A lucky find!

There were about 50 guys in the 60-64, which Jim believes is the largest field by far to enter that group in the 6 years he's raced in the Nationals.

In Mark's race they played the national anthem before the start and the riders had to remove their helmets. That's the first time they've done that at Nationals. They didn't do it for all the races.

Here's the lead group in the 60-64 coming up the final push, with about 3K to the line. The guy in front is last year's winner in his stars and stripes kit, Hank Pfeifle. He's the guy that chased Jim down (see Jim's race comments).

Here's the chasers from which the last podium position would be picked. There was a good gap between the two groups.

FUN NATIONALS NOTES
In Jim's race they started the 50-54 and 55-59 women's groups just before Jim's group (5 min. gap each). Jim's group caught the 55-59 at the bottom of the descent. The officials pulled the ladies off the shoulder so Jim's group could pass. The old guys then caught the 50-54 women but they were already on the shoulder taking a natural break - in a National Championship race. It made for a slow and very distracted pass by the men.

This was the first National where they did doping testing of the top and random riders. We haven't heard any of the results yet.

NorCal superstar Chris Phipps won the 40-44 RR in epic fashion - soloing home up the final climb with goldball-size hail hammering down on him and covering the road. Due to the miserable weather on top of Mt. Bachelor they postponed 3 races to Friday, but Chris enjoyed his Andy Hampsten moment I'm sure and got the biggest win of his career.

In finishing the 30K Time Trial in 38 minutes, Kevin the clock-crusher Metcalfe averaged 29.3684 miles per hour. Kevin is 52 years old. Crazy fast.

What does it take to become a National Champ? Joe Lemire found that getting laid off from his job was extremely helpful. His wife was then nice enough to allow him to setup his own elevation training camp in Mammoth Mountain for two and half months where he prepared himself for Jim's race at Nats, the 60-64. Joe had already had a great year in NorCal racing. To ensure his best finish in Bend, he decided not to ride the time trial that he had pre-registered to race. But as luck would have it, one racer was just a little better prepared than Joe and Joe ended up getting pipped at the line by Wayne Watson (who had also won the TT), and missing out on the coveted stars and stripes jersey. Understandably, he was disappointed after the race. He had done everything right but one guy was just a little bit better. But, that's Nationals - only one racer wins - and it's quite often the best racer. Joe may get his jersey next year when he's in the 65-69s.

Jim Gentes fans will be sorry to hear that Jim lost any chance in his 55-59 road race when the battery fell off his electronic shifting bicycle on the long, fast descent that started the race. The battery cage screws weren't tightened and they vibrated loose. Because the battery cage was mounted to the chainstay beneath the bike, the battery fell off and Jim spent the rest of the race kicking his derailleur with his heel in order to limp to the finish. He was in good spirits at the finish anyway, laughing at his bad luck.

Winters 35+ 4; CCCX 35+ 3/4, 45+ 3/4

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 02:38:00 +0000

Winters Road Race 35+ 4

My last weekend of racing for the 2013 road season. There are more races on the calendar, but this weekend features the last that is likely to favor my strengths. I had kind of decided that I was ready to take on the hill at Winters, but only the race would tell. I was signed up for the 35+ 4 race because the 45+ 4 race had filled before I registered. No 55+ race on the board. I knew I would be giving up more than 20 years to some of the guys in the race, but both Ed and I felt that the 35+ group wouldn’t hit the hill any harder than the 45’s. I figure that much, at least, turned out to be true.

The drive to Winters is enough to turn a number of racers from our area off. 2 1/2 hours, and with an early race time, I had to get up around 3 to leave a bit after 4. No teammates, but I was excited enough about this race to head out on my own. I didn’t encounter any problems on the trip up, so I got checked in and began my preparations. I had eaten some nuts and a banana before leaving home, but I like to eat 1/2 a PB & J about 1 1/2 hours before my race. I did that and got my number pinned on my jersey. I consider number pinning one of the more challenging facets of bike racing. Nobody wants to have their number flapping around in the wind, but you also don’t want it so tight that the safety pins are being ripped through the jersey material. After much trial and error, I have found the method that works for me, but I’ll leave that description for another time. I set up my trainer, got dressed and began to warm up. I have recently developed a preference for warming up on the trainer over doing so on the road. Most promotors want to encourage the least amount of bike traffic possible being associated with their race, and warming up on the road also presents the opportunity for flat tires or other road hazards. I used to avoid warming up on the trainer, but I have recently adopted a program of simply spinning myself warm for 20 - 25 minutes. I find that suits me as well if not better than a structured warmup on the road with short intervals, jumps and one or two sprints. So far, since adopting my new routine, I have yet to find myself unprepared at the line.

Our group at Winters was off on two 24 mile laps in our race. The hill lies in about the middle of each lap and it covers about 4 1/2 miles. It is mostly a rolling climb with chances for recovery, but the last 2 minutes are 10 - 12 % on legs that have already been pushed. As we began the climb on the first lap, we were catching the Pro 1/2 women who had started before us. I could not understand why they were not climbing at a faster pace, but we just moved on by. I did not feel our pace was that hard. As we moved up the climb, I felt pretty good until we got to that last steeper section. At that point, I was in my big ring and had to shift onto my small ring so I could keep my cadence up. I thought I had let up my pressure to the pedals, but when I made the shift, my chain dropped. I called out the problem, raised my hand, held my line and tried to shift the chain back onto the big ring. No dice. I had to unclip from my pedals and dismount after waiting for all of my group along with most of the women to get by me on the narrow road. I got my chain back on and began to chase. I was passing lots of stragglers, but I was worried I wouldn’t have time to catch back on before the top of the hill. It had been several years since I had last raced this course and I was not sure how far the top was. I asked a guy on the side of the road and he replied, “Don’t worry, you’re almost there!”. Not the words I was looking for. I thought my chances of catching back on to my group were better before the climb had ended. Still, as I found myself with a couple hundred yards to the top, I could see the back of my lead group. I pushed hard, but I couldn’t catch back on and had to chase down the treacherous descent. When I reached the bottom, I had the group in site, but I was on my own and probably 30 seconds behind. I chased hard, but I could only make up minimal ground on the group. After a total of about 15 minutes of chasing, uphill, down and in the flats, I was beginning to lose confidence. Then I got lucky. A group of kids on horses were crossing the road ahead, and my group had to stop to let them pass. I was back on. I had plans to stay on and recover, and I was able to do just that.

When we got around to the hill on the final lap, I made a mistake. I allowed myself to fall too far back in the group, so that when the attack of the hill began, I was pretty far from the front. Still, I found myself to be strong enough to bridge numerous gaps that opened in our group. As we passed through the feed zone about 2/3 of the way up the climb, I had worked my way up into the top 15, but I think I may have expended too much energy in doing so. When we got to that last steep section, I found I just didn’t have the energy to stay with the leaders. Over the top, I was 15 - 20 seconds off the back. I caught a couple of guys on the descent, but the lead group was building its gap on me. I began to chase again, but this time it was not to be. I didn’t lose sight of the leaders, but I couldn’t bring them back either. I caught 1 or 2 stragglers, and 3 or 4 guys chased us down, but even together, we could not shut down the gap. I have to admit I got a bit discouraged. I thought my fitness was good, but it had let me down in this race. When my chase group of 6 came to the finishing straight, I couldn’t even bring myself to sprint. I just let the other 5 have it. I finished 20th. Still, by the time I got back to the car, I was able to find a positive spin to this race. Yes, I had been dropped twice, and finished 20th in a race where I had hoped to podium. And yet, I knew that my fitness is really good. I also know that my weight has been on the way down, naturally. This time, I think it is going to stay down. Plus, the second time I was dropped very well might not have happened at all if I had maintained better race awareness. It gives me something to work for in the off season.

CCCX 35+ 3/4

Sunday was a different animal altogether. I didn’t have any expectations for myself after racing the day before at Winters, but I did want to ride in support of my teammates, Dennis and George. Plus, the drive from my house in Watsonville to the course was about 1/2 hour, a great improvement over the previous day’s travel. There were a variety of races that I was eligible to enter, but I had decided on the 35+ 3/4 race as my main race for the day because both Dennis and George were in it.

I had raced this course with Dennis in the first CCCX race of the season. He had won that race, and while I don’t remember where I finished, I do remember that I had been completely unable to help him. Dennis is a sprinter, though I find that he has tendency to portray himself as merely an average one. I am an average sprinter. In the right circumstances, I can provide a good leadout, or I can usually compete for top 10 in a field sprint. When Dennis sprints, he is very likely to win. When he goes, guys like me can’t hold his wheel. I’d love to learn how.

George is what guys like me call, “a young man”. When I see George at the Saturday team workouts, his is one of the wheels that I would like to be able to hold. George is not as big as me, but he is a bigger rider. He has great power and he is a good climber, but all of us who aren’t 140# are challenged in the hills by those who are. I don’t think George has raced a lot of races this season, and he was looking forward to this one. I think that George, like me, simply wanted to see how he would do, and I think that all three of us were looking for the opportunity to ride as a team.

A word about that here. People who don’t race bikes can sometimes have a hard time understanding why there is any value to racing with teammates. Indeed, I have watched a lot of teams at my level who don’t have any grasp of the concept. Bike racing at my level can certainly be every man for himself, but it doesn’t have to be. On a given day, a given course may be more suited to a single rider who is not on my team, or another team. On my own, the possibility of prevailing over that rider or team is small. When I have teammates to work with, I can possibly change the equation that might give that other rider or team it’s advantage. Our tactics, properly implemented, can serve to conserve my team’s energy while expending the other team or rider’s energy. That simple idea is what can make team bike racing so much more fun than racing on your own. On this day, we all looked to Dennis as our best hope. Our simple strategy was to take turns covering the attacks of other riders.

I think we were about a group of 20 as we left the line. After racing hard the day before, I had planned to sit in at first, but I found myself right at the front from the line and pushing the pace. I finally smartened up a bit before we reached the first time up the leading hill, and allowed myself to recover. As we began to go uphill, the attacks began and Dennis was out to cover while I dropped my chain for the second time in as many days. I let my anger give me the energy to chase back on. I think George covered the second attack and I covered the third. By that third attack, we were well into the backside rollers featured on this course and the pace was torrid. I think we averaged over 23 mph for our first lap, and over 22 mph on our second. I expect we were all suffering, but I could tell that George was not in a place where he could cover any more attacks. From that point on, I took turns with Dennis in covering the attacks. I think I covered a total of 5 before a lone rider got away in a break. It happened before the top on the leading hill climb, and I continue to kick myself. I chose not to spend the energy to go with it at the time, but I know I had it at the moment. Dennis made the point later that it is unlikely that I would have been able to stay with that guy, and I suspect he is right. Still, for the next 1 1/2 laps, our whole group chased. At some point, George got dropped, and not too much later, I lost focus and got dropped on the first of the backside rollers. I chased as hard as I was able, but all was lost. I rode the last 1 1/2 laps on my own, but I was happy to have helped cover some of the attacks for Dennis. Dennis finished 5th. I am stoked to have been a small part of it. This was a very fast paced race. It was lots of fun to do it with teammates, even if I did get dropped. I’ll hope to have more opportunities to ride in support of teammates in the future.

CCCX 45+ 3/4

I also entered an afternoon race just to round out the weekend. In all honesty, I don’t have a great recollection of this race. My energy was less than premium and I found myself doing whatever I could to just stay on a good wheel. A couple of guys got dropped along the way, but it was on the leading hill climb on our final lap that a couple of guys got away. The group was chasing, but it wasn’t happening. Then, I got gapped on the first of the backside rollers. I was determined to get back on and chased as hard as I could. I finally made it back just before the last of the rollers, so I was on with the group for the final dive down the hill before the finish. With two guys up the road, and me already blown from chasing, I didn’t make any effort to sprint. I was very happy to finish with the group in this race.

Many thanks to Rod and Keith for putting on such a safe, fun and well organized event. I am going to try and be more supportive of their races.

CCCX Circuit Race #10, 35+ 3/4, Fort Ord, 8/25/2013

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis the Mennis) — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 01:20:00 +0000

By Dennis Pedersen

Bob Montague, George Janour and I decided to join forces in a race we could all enter. In my case that meant racing with the younger group rather than my preferred 45+ group... but racing with teammates ended up being more fun.

The race course is the usual 4.3-mile loop on the closed roads of this former Army base, and we were to do five laps. We were determined to make this a fast and fun race. So right at the start, on Parker Flats Cut-Off Road, Bob took a nice hard pull at the front of the small group of 18 racers, and I pulled through right after him. I probably shouldn't have been surprised, but some guys from Leopard-Sapporo then pulled through even harder than we had... game on!

The race was full of attacks which we had agreed we'd take turns marking. I was impressed at the number of attacks and how well-timed they were, but also with our ability to mark them. If I'd had to mark them all I would have been exhausted very quickly; that's a major plus to having teammates. Bob showed tremendous spirit when he lost his chain on Eucalyptus Road's climbs but managed to rejoin us and continue his hard work. Wow!

The 35+ group definitely races harder than the 45+ group (we had several laps under 11 minutes!). The attacks really tired us out and a few times I was worried about my ability to continue... but I didn't want to let Bob and George down and I always managed to dig a little deeper to stay in contact with the main group.

We ended up having a few breakaway groups form, always with one of us in it, but they were all reeled back in like fish. Until we started our fourth lap; that's when a guy (I think from Dolce Vita Cycling) soloed off the front on the climb up Parker Flats. Nobody followed him and soon he was well out front.

The rest of us took a few pulls and eventually the breakaway guy was brought a bit closer. On the last lap Dave Porter (Bicycle Blue Book Racing) bridged up to him on Parker Flats and the pace picked up. I looked back and saw we'd dropped five or six guys in the process. I was nervous the duo would stay away, as they still had a nice gap on the final climbs up Eucalyptus. By then I was so exhausted from trying to maintain contact that all I could do was gasp for breath as I followed at the very back of this chase group as we descended from the top of Eucalyptus for the last time. But I was relieved to spot the duo about 100 meters ahead as we hit the bottom of the descent, on the long, fast straight leading up to the last two right-hand turns on Parker Flats.

Somehow I managed to make the strong draft of the riders ahead of me work to my advantage and I flew around them all on the right, past the duo and into the lead. It was a long sprint, but I figured it was my best chance vs. trying to fight them all in a bigger field sprint. Well, it almost worked, but four guys managed to counter-attack me at the finish line, with Erik taking a well-deserved win.

So, finishing 5th in a tough race like this was still an accomplishment for me and I was very grateful to Bob and George for the work they had put into this cool team effort. Thanks guys!

San Ardo 55+

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 00:41:00 +0000

My road racing season is winding down, and this year I have been gratified to find myself with a second wind in August. The early season races are generally better suited to my strengths, with the exception of these few races that I often attempt towards the end of the summer. In past years, I have had a let down in fitness after competing hard through the spring and taking time off for family vacation in June. Although I have gone through that same letdown this year, the dynamic was a bit different due to a change up in schedule. In early May, at a time when I would normally be geared up towards racing hard, we went to Europe for 2 weeks. That served as a signal to my body that it was time to go from racing mode to recovery mode. I put on weight and I found myself unwilling and unable to engage in the hardest high intensity workouts that I typically do on a weekly basis. I recognize this change from past years, but typically it has begun with our June vacation. Having it start in early May has allowed me to have a resurgence in fitness that is peaking in mid August. My weight has come back down and I have found myself looking forward to and enjoying the weeks’ hardest workout.

That workout is an interval effort that many on our team engage in on a weekly basis throughout the year. I do the workout a lot, but I also allow myself to step away from it if I feel my body is telling me to do so. When we returned from our family vacation in mid June this year, I was feeling fat and fully recovered from my early season racing. I decided to see if I could get fit again for 3 races on the schedule in August; Dunnigan Hills, San Ardo and Winters. I wanted to bring my weight back down and increase my ability to ride with intensity. I began in mid June by doing repeats on the back side of Hazeldel, in the same direction that the Saturday ride does it. Rather than use my power meter, which is currently broken, I decided to use time along with weight as my measurement. The fact is that it doesn’t matter how many watts you can put out, and it also doesn’t matter how much you weigh. What really matters is the combination of those two factors and the resultant time that it takes you to get through a given interval. My given interval starts at about 10 mph from the bridge at the bottom of the Del to the Stop sign at the one way traffic control. The effort is to repeat this interval 6 times, with my perceived exertion the same at the beginning and end of each interval, as well as being the same across all intervals. I restarted doing these intervals in mid June, weighing in at 197# (Clydesdale material). My first week out, I found I could only complete 4 efforts before I was done. My best time was 5’ 45”, with my slowest effort at 6’ even. The next week out, my weight was down to 193#, but I continued to hover in the same time range. I think I had one effort in the 5’ 30” range, but I did complete all 6. After that, I found I was beginning to look forward to my weekly interval session on Tuesday mornings. It continues to be painfully hard, but I am now completing 6 efforts each week with a best time of 4’ 45” and at a weight of 186#. The truth is this is still not good enough, but I know the deficiency is weight related more than power related. I think it is an important fact about racing to explain how I know this.

I regularly do the Saturday ride. Many of the most competitive riders in our county do that ride, and I find it a good opportunity to test my fitness and race readiness. The normal Saturday ride route does not include any huge hill, but it does include this effort that I have been using for my interval work each week. There has never been a time, during the season, that I have not seen this section on the Del used as the means for separating the contenders from the riff raff. They always hit it hard. I am never going to make it over that climb with the 1’s, 2’s, pros and youngsters, of whom there are always at least a few. My goal is to make it over that hill with the guys in our area who I know are as good at climbing as the best race climbers in the 55+ age group. I have identified several riders who fit that description. Some of these guys weigh 40 - 50 pounds less than I do. It takes too many watts to make that up, more than I can train for. For me to get over with them, I have to do 3 things. I must train my power as best I can, I must lower my weight to the point where I will not sacrifice any of that power, and I must make the effort to hold those wheels that I want to get over with. That last is a key point that I think is often forgotten in training. While the value of drafting off of another rider is not as great on a hill, it can still be substantial enough to make the difference in making it or getting dropped. It is almost always worth the effort to stay with a rider you know is a leader in your category. When I began engaging in interval training in mid June, I would round the last corner heading up to the stop sign on the Del during the Saturday ride, and see those riders heading out of sight beyond the stop sign. I was more than 1’ 30” behind them and discouraged. Now when I do that ride, I am still behind them, but the gap is more like 30”, and my time with other riders is at 4’ 30”. It’s faster than I can do it on my own, but it’s still not fast enough. There is a place, not far from where I currently sit in this, where I will know that I can reach back, dig deep, and bridge that last remaining gap. Right now, I know that to try and do that would blow me up, leaving my body too devastated to continue at race pace. I also know that I have somewhere between 6 and 10 pounds that I can lose without giving up any power, maybe more. The challenge I have is that when I reach for these lower weights, my mind has a tendency to send me towards panic mode, even though I can tell my body likes it. I just keep working on it and I know that I will get there eventually.

I am rambling through this because next weeks’ race at Winters, has a hill. I haven’t done it in a couple of years, but I seem to recall it being a hill similar to the Del. I am signed up for the 35+ 4 race there, because the 45+ 4 race is full and there is no 55+ category. I thought about the E-4 race, but their course is too long considering that I am also planning to do the CCCX races on Sunday. I do not expect the 35+ 4 race to hit the hill as hard as the 55+ racers would. The 4 races tend to stay together more and come down to a sprint at the finish. My hope would be to alter this dynamic by attacking as often as I can, but I will sit in the first lap to see how I do on the hill. If I get dropped, I will have to chase, and that will change my plan. Still, I am realizing that this course at Winters is really what I have been targeting in my late season training. I want to use it to prove to myself that I can climb with my peer group, perhaps even punish most of them. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

My race at San Ardo was way fun. After entering the E-4 race at Dunniigan and finishing well, I was excited to enter this mostly flat race with the 55 open group. I was a bit disappointed to see that the race was not going to be a big group with only 10 guys preregistered. Still, one of those guys was Steve Archer, one of the best racers in our district. I knew he would make sure the race was animated, but I had a few plans of my own. At the line we had 12 total, as two of our team, Kem Akol and Jim Moran, had made the trip down and signed up for the race. I am always stoked to get to race with teammates, but in this race, it was not to be for long. The course meanders uphill from the start for the first mile plus and then proceeds to roll through about the first half lap. By the time we had gotten through that section, I looked around and saw that there were only 8 of us left. Both Kem and Jim had been among those dropped, but I give kudos to both of them for making the effort and for remaining on the course and finishing the race!

For my part, I was feeling pretty good and I wanted to do my part to make the race competitive. Dave Montgomery from the Sierra Nevada team had animated the first part of the race and his effort had shelled the early riders. He had recovered and attacked again, staying off the front of our group for 10 or 15 minutes before Archer and his teammate made the effort to reel him back in. Our race had pretty much ongoing attacks, and I did my share, at one point staying away for 10 - 15 minutes. Pretty much everyone recognized Archer as the favorite and made either he or his teammate chase down the attacks. Still, he is a very strong racer and was able to launch a number of attacks on his own.

Our race continued on in this fashion until the risers at the beginning of our second lap. At that point, a guy from San Jose Cycling went to the front and attacked really hard. I had a gap open up in front of me and had to chase very hard, but at no point did I feel like I was in danger of getting dropped. However, we did lose one more racer before it was over, and we were down to 7 in the lead group vying for 6 places in the medals at the finish. Dave and I continued to attack, along with the rider from San Jose Cycling, but Archer and his teammate chased us down each time. Then, an opportunity presented itself. Archer saw that he had a slow leak and was flatting. He told the group that he was pulling off, and his teammate pulled off with him. At first no one acted, but I suggested that we needed to ride hard and lose both of these guys. We began to do so, but it was late and never in an organized way. Before I knew it, I looked around and Archer was back with us. His teammate, sacrificing himself, had given Archer his wheel and remained behind. Archer had chased us down and was back in the group. Pretty impressive.

The attacks continued with no overall impact, and we began to contemplate the finish. I knew Archer was a force to be reckoned with, but there was also a Cal Giant rider in our group who I thought I remembered as a good sprinter. What was more, he had not taken a pull or launched an attack all day. As we rolled through town and began the uphill effort to the turn for the finish, I was sitting 2nd wheel behind the San Jose Cycling rider. I was giving my best effort, but I think I should have been in my small chain ring for this. The big ring effort was starting to grind and I couldn’t keep up as Archer and the Giant rider came around me. I was trying to chase, but I ended up getting in Dave’s way in the process, for which I am very sorry. Still, I regrouped and continued with Dave’s encouragement on my wheel. I was starting to make up some ground, as we entered the corner for the last effort to the line, but I did not have enough. Dave came around me and took 4th behind the San Jose Cycling rider in 3rd, the Cal Giant rider in 2nd, and Archer with the win. I finished 5th as the last guy in our lead group had nothing left for the effort to the line. Kem came in a bit behind in 9th, and I think Jim was 11th. I think Dave may have taken 3rd if he had not been on my squirrely wheel. I’ll do better in the future. Still, it was a really fun day of racing!

Dunnigan Hills E-4 August 10, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 00:33:00 +0000

I have grown somewhat tired of racing the 45 4/5 races. I do not particularly think it is anyone’s fault, except for maybe my own. Every time I enter a 45 4/5 road race, we ride around at a non race pace for the entire race until we get to the last few miles. Then things crank up for a sprint finish. I think the thing that gets to me is my own inability to change this dynamic in my own favor. When racing in this group, I am likely to be among the top finishers, but I am unlikely to finish in the top 3. There have always been at least a few who are better sprinters than I, at the finish. The other tactic I have tried is to attack the group and try to get a break going. I continue to think that this is likely to be my best and most successful tactic in the long run, but as of yet, I have been unable to achieve any success.

In an effort to learn what I could from a similar but different group of racers, in a longer race, I decided to enter the E-4 race at Dunnigan Hills. I found even the prospect of entering this race to be somewhat intimidating and challenging. It was scheduled for 2 laps of the 43 mile course rather than my typical 1 lap. Plus, being an E-4 race, it meant that most of those who entered would be less than half my age. And yet, I was probably more excited at the prospect than I should have been. I’m pretty fit currently, and I wasn’t looking for a win at Dunnigan. I was more interested in testing my fitness in a long hard race, with an eye to developing a more informed point of view towards tactics in future races. My fear was that the kids would simply prove too strong for me, and they would ride away from me on the first lap, leaving me to ride alone for the majority of the 86 mile race. I think I have entered 1 or 2 E-4 races in the past only to get dropped early. A few years ago, I pre rode the course at Panoche with Robert Ameteli when he was a 4. I found I could not even keep up with him on that day when he was only riding a preview. Still, I was able to put my fears aside and focus on my goals. I made the decision to have a goal of staying with the lead group for the entire race. I felt this was a big enough challenge. I also knew there was likely to be at least 1 guy in this race who would have the talent to punish the group.

I made the long drive to Yolo, checked in, got my number pinned and got dressed. I warmed up on the trainer for about 20 minutes, but did not do anything more than spin myself warm. I figured this race would be plenty long, and I expected to need all my energy. Team manager, Ed Price, had asked me what I planned to eat during this race, and I had not really thought about it. For most of my races, I take a couple of goo gels and 1 bottle. At around 50 miles, I know that is all I will need. 86 miles is a whole different animal. Thanks to Ed’s prodding, I realized that I needed to be better prepared in this longer event. I stuffed 1/2 a PB & J in one pocket, 3 goo gels in another, took 2 full bottles of coke, and mentally prepared myself to take further bottles as needed at the neutral feed zones. I rolled up to the start line about 10 minutes prior to the scheduled race start and found we were running about 10 minutes late. No Problem.

As I joined in with my group to await the start, I saw 1 guy who looked to be in his 50’s, a couple of guys who might have been in their 40’s, and the rest who all appeared to be under 25. On the side of the road, I recognized John Albrecht from Santa Cruz, the father of a young mountain bike rider who has gotten a lot of local press for his accomplishments in the last few years. I said hello to John, and asked if his son, Jacob, was racing. He told me Jacob has developed an interest in racing on the road, and had been working on earning enough points to turn pro. I said that was great and asked which race he was in. “Yours”, was the answer. At that point, I spotted Jacob in our group and realized I was probably in for a tough ride. John told me that Jacob had won the E-4 race at Patterson the week before. His power file from the race had shown a 5 minute period where he had averaged over 450 watts. I expect that’s where he broke away from the group on the final climb, never to be seen again. Jacob appeared to be a big rider and I asked John if he was 190#. He laughed and said the young man was 160#, and racing age of 19. I was hoping the group rides I had done with Tobin and Sam C were going to have me prepared for this.

Our race started about 10 - 15 minutes late and we were neutral for the first mile or so. Once the flag indicating the race was on went up, the group began to surge. The surge would last between 1 and 3 minutes and then things would slow down a bit. Anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes later, the pattern would repeat. This continued throughout the race. About halfway through the first lap, we made a left turn and passed over the freeway, turning I think from a headwind into a crosswind. A split opened up in the field at that point and I found myself on the wrong side of it. Though the gap was no more than 50 - 100 yards, the lead group was surging. I jumped as hard as I could and dug deep, only to match the speed of the lead group. I was not making up any ground, but I continued to chase and at least held the gap. Finally the group’s surge subsided before I blew up, and I was able to get back on. I immediately drank a full bottle of coke and ate a goo gel. Luckily, the group was recovering from their surge, and that gave me time to recover as well. A few riders of the 50 starters had been dropped, one or two of the older guys among them.

Early into the 2nd lap, our group was passed by the 35 1/2/3 group. I was more than a bit surprised to hear a number of guys in our group calling for a natural break. I was more surprised when everyone pulled over to stop. I would expect this in my 55+ races, but it surprised me in an E-4 race. So much so that it made me laugh and I told the group I was going to attack. But I didn’t. Our whole second lap was slower than the first, and that surprised me. I was feeling pretty good, and a lot of these guys were running out of gas. Still, as we approached the turn that would lead to the finish, I realized that my goal for this race were going to be achieved. At first, I thought I should try to move up for a higher finish, and I moved up in the group until I was near the front. There was a guy riding near me at that point who gave me pause. He had started the race in a torn and obviously crashed jersey, his demeanor was clearly somewhat belligerent, and he was a somewhat squirrelly rider. After experiencing his riding style for a while, I chose to allow myself to drift back into the group a bit. I had a fundraiser to attend that evening, and I wasn’t willing to risk becoming a crash victim to maybe finish top 5. I was already aware of the possibility of a crash going through the chicanes that would lead us to the finish, so I just decided to sit in a bit farther back in the group and do my best when the sprint started.

Probably a mile before the turn towards the finish, a guy to my left hit a bump in the middle of the road and went over his bars. I was in the unfortunate position of watching his cheekbone drive into the asphalt, followed by his shoulder and his bike. I did not look back, though others did. I did not want to see the pain that guy must have been going through, but this event did confirm my decision to simply sit in for the finish of this race. Another guy went down as we went through the first chicane going to the finish, but the rest of the race was safe. When the sprint started, I was probably sitting about 35th. I sprinted in the saddle and found myself passing lots of guys. I was very happy to find that I finished 16th. Jacob had seemed to do little more than spin throughout the race, but when the time came to sprint, he rode away with the win. Its funny how obvious that kind of talent can be. I think I got some tactical ideas for future races.

Suisun Harbor Criterium, E4/5

noreply@blogger.com (Eddie) — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 20:33:00 +0000

After a two month hiatus from racing (and a 4 month break from my last crit), I was back in action last week at the Suisun Harbor Criterium. I've been eager to get back into racing since I've been training really hard these past few months, but unfortunately every race I've targeted has either been canceled (What construction, UCSC?) or I've had to miss it for the never ending stream of weddings, some of which I was the Reverend (officiant). Nevertheless, with a family birthday party in the East Bay Saturday evening, I had a great excuse to travel North and get a race in.

I had to get up extra early since being a cat 4 racer means you get the unfortunately early racing times that other people have earned the right to avoid. Still, the weather was great, and I was pumped up to give it a go. The field was about 45 riders, and my plan of attack was to follow the three guys from Audi as close as I could, since they had two guys who had seemingly taken turns winning every other crit over the past few months. The course was fairly small (~0.4 mile), really your most typical flat four corner clockwise circuit.

The race started off fast. I quickly found myself near the back using way too much energy to stay in contact. More than anything, I felt rusty riding in a fast pack and flying through corners. Though my legs were in pain (thanks George, Nils, Mark, and crew on Saturday...), I felt ready to go. I was more or less chasing the first third, but then midway through the race, I found myself smiling, willing to the embrace the pain, and a sick desire to inflict hurt on the pack. After a few laps, I had worked up to the front, and bridged up to a guy off the front. When I got up to him, he had this look on his face like he was going to cry, and he had stopped pedaling, so I knew a break at that point wasn't feasible. The pack caught up with us again fairly quickly and I was mid pack so I could save energy for the last few laps.

Towards the end, I decided my goal was to be no less than 5th wheel on the last lap so I could have a decent shot in the sprint. As the laps ticked away, I moved up slowly. On the second to last lap, I was indeed fifth wheel and was trying to hold it desperately as we approached the line with one lap to go. Unfortunately, a Team Mike's Bike's guy surging up the side on my left haphazardly gave me a Cavendish like shoulder bump (see: Stage 10, 2013 TdF) and my left hand fell off the drop. After a few moments of terror, I managed to keep the bike upright, but the real damage was that I had dropped 10 or so positions back. I hammered hard, but on a small course, it's hard to gain that much position that fast, particularly on the final lap.

The results haven't been posted yet, but I imagine I finished 15th or so out of the 45 racers. Frustrating to have had such a good race fall apart in the end, but I'm happy that I was able to get back out there and put forth a good effort, and it felt like my training had helped out big time, particularly the anaerobic efforts I've been focusing on. Definitely the first race where I felt like a contender instead of just a competitor. And there's a number of crits that I plan on doing over the next month (Giro di SF, Concord, Oakland GP), so at least I'll have other opportunities to place well.

Result: 17/42

CCCX Circuit Race #9, 45+ 3/4, Fort Ord, 8/3/2013

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis the Mennis) — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 19:17:00 +0000

By Dennis Pedersen

I really like these road races; partly because they're just a 45-minute drive from Santa Cruz, and partly because the race categories are so friendly to a Cat 3 Master like me with several options of when to race. So this is the fifth time I have raced there this year.

I picked up Nils so he could race the Elite 2/3 race at 12:30, and the gray weather started to clear up after we arrived. I got ready and warmed up, chatted with friends, and took a few photos of Nils while I waited for my 2:00 race start. I think there were barely ten racers, which is fun, because there are fewer variables which allows me to focus on my tactics to a very specific degree.

Our first lap (of 6 total) on this smooth, 4.3-mile rolling course (all on closed roads) was really just a warmup. But on the second lap the chatting riders behind us persuaded Scott Calley (VOS) and I to take some pulls at the front to liven things up, or perhaps initiate a breakaway. I felt it was in my interest to keep the pace higher, and also hoped I could spring a breakaway that would force others to chase into the wind. So on the Parker Flat climb we opened up a gap and, sure enough, some of the fast guys chased us down. I doubted they'd let me ride away in a break, ever, so I couldn't waste too much energy doing this.

So on the third lap Scott went on the attack again and got away solo, while I watched on to encourage others to either go with him or pull me up to him. In this case nobody went and so he started to disappear up ahead. After working too hard in some of the previous races here I stuck to my plan and just waited. Only occasionally did I push the pace, and never too hard. I wanted the gap to be manageable, and also to keep my competitors breathing instead of chatting. Eventually Rob White (Bicycle Blue Book) bridged up to Scott, really digging deep; he's a strong sprinter which made me think some of the others would chase, but still nobody did. Maybe they doubted he and Scott could maintain their pace.

I was able to stay really focused in this race and did a good job of carefully considering when I should force the pace and when to just hold back. I would carefully consider the wind force and direction, where key riders were positioned at any given time, and how I felt before choosing my place to attack. In this way I was able to put some of the other riders in trouble without putting myself in any trouble. It truly is easier to accept pain when you are the one dishing it out!

On the fifth lap, on the stair-step climbs on Eucalyptus, I opened up another gap so there were only four of us chasing just as we caught Robert, who was gasping for breath. I could see Scott ahead, but closer, so I felt everything was exactly as I wanted it. I was mostly just worried the others in our chase group weren't tired out and could beat me in a sprint; at least John Cheetham (Metromint) was forced to take some big pulls too, though not as many as I wanted, of course. Scott's teammate Courtney Grossman (VOS) hadn't had to pull at all since his teammate Scott was in the lead so long, nor had Mark Bailey (Alto Velo) so both were a potential threat. I guess I still have a few things to learn that would have helped me.

On the last lap I took a pull past exhausted Scott and now it was between the four of us to determine the winner. I was trying to string out our small group just enough to make it harder for guys like Courtney to beat me in a sprint, but mostly I was worried that John would be able to use my energy to his advantage. So I rested a bit on the final descent, watched, waited, and started my sprint at maybe 90% a bit early. I skittered through the last two turns, and prepared to use my last jump to meet whoever tried to come around me. It turned out that John was that person, and my last jump was too little to beat him, but at least I finished 2nd place after a very entertaining and empowering race!

I think we all had fun!

Patterson Pass Road Race - 35+ Cat 5

noreply@blogger.com (Stefano) — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 03:31:00 +0000

I went into this race with quite some frustration about my knee problems which had completely shut down my running for a week. And just days after signing up for a local duathlon (next Saturday) and nationals in October...

Great warm up and briefing about tactics with Mark Edwards and Jim Langley before the race. It's such a honor to be able to hang around people like Mark and Jim, and to to get their advice and pieces of wisdom!

The Cat 5 35+ race had about 20 riders in it, and started off at an easy pace, as I was expecting. I found myself at the front of the pack early on, but soon realized nobody was willing to take on the wind howling up Patterson Pass. When I slowed down to invite folks to do their share up front some guys yelled at me to "keep pedaling". Somebody then did go up front, but shortly I was again dragging the whole group, and decided I had no intention to do so, and picked up the pace. This was about 2 miles in. I thought about Mark's advice to listen to the breathing of your competitors, and that was a good indication that at least those around me were already close to red lining. In fact, shortly thereafter I realized nobody had any intention to chase me. I was still going at a good tempo when I saw the Cat 4 (who had started five minutes before us) up the hill, and decided it would be a good idea to catch them and sit in their peloton. Rookie mistake...

At the end of the second climb, after passing the Cat 4 field. Clearly in high spirits.

I worked hard to catch the Cat 4's, but didn't quite make it on Patterson Pass. I had them in sight though, and after working hard downhill and on the second incline, I caught them. But of course a Referee then got beside me and told me I couldn't ride with them and that I had to keep going and pass them. Which was not planned, but ah well!, I felt good and I dropped them before the end of the incline, and started going TT-mode.

The rest of the race was about practicing time trialing, and catching the occasional drop-out from packs ahead (including I think the whole, or most of, the W's field). The second time around on Patterson Pass I had a solid climb, but the strong winds clearly were not ideal for a tall skinny guy like me. Still, the flats back were lots of fun, and Strava tells me that I averaged 37 mph on the 5 miles stretch to Midway Rd (with a very strong tailwind, of course!).

Despite getting off course on the way back, and having a short conversion with CHP, I managed to clock an even split of 1:04 on both laps, finishing well ahead of the leaders of the Cat 4 race. I felt really good overall, and happy about my knee injury not affecting my biking. We'll see what happens running next weekend!

At the finish line, first finisher of the day

Little City Stage Race Masters 45+ 4/5

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 17:27:00 +0000

I have been somewhat discouraged about racing since flatting in the Time Trial at the Topsport Stage Race, back in April. When I took a look at the race calendar last week, I was thinking about Dunnigan Hills, San Ardo, Winters and possibly a time trial slated for the first weekend in August. I didn’t expect to be pulled in by the Little City Stage Race in Minden, Nevada, but I was. I invited my wife, Julie, and puppy, Tag, to join me on the trek, booked a room in Minden, signed up for the race on the next to last day, and began to ready my gear for the race. I really like stage racing, perhaps because it requires more preparation than a single race. In this case, I enlisted the help of Ed Price to teach me the ins and outs of tubular tires. My wheel that flatted at Topsport was a full disk rear tubular wheel that I had a pretty much brand new tire on. The problem had occurred because the shop that had mounted the tire for me had failed to put sealant in the tire as I had requested. They told me it could not be done after mounting the tire because it was one of the new Vittoria tires which have fully removable valves rather than simply removable valve stems. A bit more on this in a moment. Ed had offered to teach me how to mount tubulars so that I would not have to rely on someone other than myself to do the job properly. I picked up a new tubular and got help from the shop in getting the sealant into the tire. This turns out to not be a simple procedure with the Vittoria tubulars. There is an injector device for inserting the sealant into valve stems with removable cores, but it does not make up to the threads on the Vittoria that remain after the valve has been removed. The valve must be removed to inject the sealant or it will not go in through the non removable stem and it will clog the stem. We ended up removing the valve, making as tight a connection as we could on the remaining threads and injecting the sealant. A small amount leaked out, but the majority went into the tire. Much thanks to Tobin Ortenblad and Wade Hall who helped in this. Tobin suggested that in the future, I could cut out the valve stem from an extra Vittoria valve. This could then be made up to the tire for injection purposes. The injector would make up to the valve, the sealant would go in because there would be no stem and it might even prove possible to perform this process subsequent to mounting the tire. I have an extra valve and may try this at a later time. My lesson from Ed was really good. I had been willing to pay a shop mechanic to mount my tubulars because I did not know how to do it and I had heard stories about these tires rolling off the rims when not mounted properly. Having someone who knew how to do this process safely was all I needed to help me take this process over for myself. Ed didn’t really have to do anything except for talking me through the process. He had me prestretch the tire before applying 3 layers of glue to both the tire and rim. Each layer had to set up for a few minutes to become tacky and then the tire was mounted. It really isn’t a hard thing to do, but the job is a bit messy. I used too much glue on this my first try, but I think I will get better at it. Anyway, with my TT wheels ready, I lined up the rest of my gear and checked out the list of riders signed up for the 45+ 4/5 race. I felt like I might do well, but I decided not to get my expectations too high since I had not raced for a while and my weight is up a bit. Still, I found myself really excited about competing again as I set off for Minden with Julie and Tag. That excitement was subdued somewhat by my choice of routes to the race. I should have gone over from Watsonville to 101 and over to I-5 to go North to 88. Instead, I followed the google maps recommended route through the Bay area during Friday afternoon rush hour traffic in the middle of summer. Our trip was already going to be around 5 hours, but with the traffic, our first 90 miles took more than 3 hours to cover. The whole trip took around 9 hours, but the journey on 88 through the Sierras was nothing less than gorgeous. Still, we were gratified to finally arrive, and Tag was looking forward to his first bike race. Minden is actually a very charming town at the foot of the Nevada side of the Sierras. The Crit was my first race and it was held in the town center at a beautiful park with a Gazebo that functioned as race central. I got signed in, picked up my number and read the race bible. I was surprised to see that this race would have a different scoring system than the other stage races I had attended. Rather than time, the race was to be scored on points. Every racer would be awarded points for each stage. Racers who crashed or were pulled from the crit would get 1 point as would any racer who finished beyond the top 15 finishers. At first this gave me pause because I was thinking about the risks that racers might choose to take in the crit. Still, I see the advantage that this creates for the race overall because every stage counts towards the final total points that are needed to finish well. The other stage races I have raced have mostly been decided by the Time Trial because they were timed events. The Crit and the Road Race became simply a matter of not crashing and finishing with the group to get the same time. At this race, the top 15 finishers in each race would score points, from a maximum of 80 for the winner to a minimum of 5 for the 15th place, and 1 for everyone after the top 15. Each race would be competed for to the finish. I was excited, but I also realized that I might be losing a bit of advantage (Time Trialing). The other thing about this race was that the entry fee was higher than that of the other stage races I had entered, $135 vs ~$80. This allowed the promotor to offer multiple preems in the crit and greater overall prize money. With 29 guys in our field, I knew this was going to be a tough race all the way! Sure enough, the crit was animated from the gun. Looking over our field, I saw that there were lots of big but fit looking riders, typical of the all around profile that suits stage racing. These big engines were attacking on every lap, and the promotors kept it going by offering preems every couple of laps. My tendency in crits, since crashing out at Madera and having my ear reconstructed in my first year of racing, has been to ride conservatively and just try to be around for the finish. This crit had a chicane leading into the final turn and 200 meter sprint to the line. It became clear that you needed to be at the front coming out of that chicane to finish well, but my conservative crit mind was conflicting with the obvious during the race. Still, I took the opportunity on one of the non-preem laps to test my ability to position myself how I thought I would need to finish well. I came out of the chicane 3rd or 4th and that’s how I went over the line. Yet, I continued to experience a dichotomy between how I knew I must finish to do well and my conservative instincts in crits. Conservative won. Rather than attacking the group to get out in front on the last lap, I chose to sit in and went through the chicane mid pack. No one passed me in the sprint to the line, but I was 13th. I would score 8 points for that, but I had a lot of ground to make up. Still, I was through the crit and had made it safe. No crashes in our field. Julie and I watched a bit of the women’s race after I was done and it was a great day in the park. Later we went back to our hotel and I set my bike up for the Time Trial. I don’t have a TT bike, so I just attached bars to my Look, removed my bottle cages and switched out the wheels for my TT wheels. Getting the pump to work on those deep dish wheels seems to always be a challenge for me, and I was glad Julie and Tag were there to help. We had time to grab lunch before I warmed up on the trainer for the TT. Then we were off to the TT site at the Diamond Valley Road Race course about 1/2 hour from Minden. We followed the Google route again and it took us onto the TT course. That actually worked out okay because it refreshed my memory of the course which is a 5 mile out and back section at the end of the road course. It was clear from the riders I observed on the course that the outbound leg was fast and the inbound leg was a struggle. We got to the course and I rolled around a little while Tag and Julie grabbed a spot at the finish line. Before we knew it, I was in line and ready to go. I did my best to meter out my effort over the 10 mile route. It was my first time riding this course in a TT and I think that is a little bit of a disadvantage. I was not really sure where the effective points in the course were to give my maximum effort, but I felt that I rode pretty well and when I finished, I felt quite spent. I had struggled on the inbound leg through a section that was exposed, windy and perhaps slightly uphill. Still, I felt that I conserved myself enough to go hard in what I expected would be the last section. The only unfortunate thing was that the finish came up a bit before I expected it. I was coming around a sweeping curve and into the trees when I saw it looming 200 - 300 meters ahead. I tried to give everything I had left in that last push to the line. Overall, I felt I had done my best for the circumstances. I had finished 4th in the TT. Combined with my 8 points for finishing 13th in the crit, I was at 63 points and in 7th overall. The leader had won the TT by more than a minute over the closest competitor and had placed 2nd in the crit. I expect that he might be one of those guys who does not really belong in a 4/5 race. His point total was at 151 and the 2nd place guy had 108. I already could not win this race. All that remained was the road race, on Sunday morning. Before that could happen, we returned to the hotel. I set my bike up for the road race and we got ready for our Saturday night out in Minden. First, we hit the casino at the Carson Valley Inn and played blackjack for an hour before dinner. I made my usual contribution to the gambling gods, but we had fun. One of our biggest surprises of the weekend came at dinner. We had reservations at a place Julie had found online called Buona Sera, a small italian restaurant in a strip mall right next to our hotel. The place was fabulous. Friendly and knowlegeable service in a charming atmosphere that did not give you the strip mall feel. The food was not to be expected in a small town such as Minden. Fresh, housemade pastas, locally sourced meats and vegetables, creative menu design, and all this with very reasonable prices. We had a truly great meal and felt restored from a day of racing and logistics. A good night’s sleep and we were back to the races. On Sunday morning, we were checked out of the hotel and back at the Diamond Valley location for the road race. I had warmed up on the trainer before leaving the hotel so I just rolled around a bit before the race while Julie and Tag got situated at the finish. Ours was the second group to start behind the 55+ 1/2/3 race. There were only 7 of them, but I recognized most of them. Kevin Willits and Dave Montgomery from Sierra Nevada, the district champion’s jersey, the former world champion jersey on Rob Anderson, and a strong rider from Cal Giant were all in the field. I laughed when a guy in our field mused that we would likely catch those old guys. Having raced with both categories, I knew there was absolutely no chance of that happening. They went off, and a few minutes later, so did we. We were scheduled to do 3 laps of an 11 mile loop that constitutes the Diamond Valley Road Race course. I had raced it the last time it was used as the district road race course and had been dropped on the first lap. I am more fit now than then, and I expect a better racer, but I had a big image in my mind of the two hills that must be climbed on each lap to stay with the group. The first time up the hills, I went all out, chasing the man in 2nd place, Jeff, from Sierra Nevada. He got a gap on the group and though I was chasing as hard as I could, I could not bridge it and was back in the group by the top of the second climb. Jeff stayed away for the remainder of the first lap, but that was only because he was allowed to dangle. After that, there were no more attacks in our race. For my part, I had exerted a lot of my available energy on the first time up the climbs. I also was somewhat depleted by the amount of focus I had directed towards those climbs. I had forgotten the number one rule of 45+ 4/5 racing, “never do any work, but just sit in and wait for the finish”. Even though I really do not enjoy racing that way, that is how I have gotten my best results in road racing with this particular crowd. Outside of Jeff’s attack on the first lap, no one ever even attacked the climbs any further in our group. I expect that most of the group was following the rule and waiting. For my part, my energy levels would show themselves at the line. On the last lap, we caught 2 guys from the 55’s on the run in to the finish. One was the district champion’s jersey and the other was the Giant cyclist. I would learn later that Anderson had gone off the front and stayed away, but he was being chased hard by Willits and Montgomery who were in 1st and 2nd going into the road race. I think I may move to upgrade at some point because I would rather race like that and be dropped than race the way the 4/5 group does it. We came to line as a group, and for the last 3 -4 miles, I was sitting 3rd wheel behind the race leader and one of his team. At the 1 K sign, we cranked up the diesels and began the hard push for the line. At 200 meters, the sprint began in earnest. I jumped as hard as I could, but I soon realized that I did not have the energy reserves to sprint at my best. I continued to go as hard as I could while lots of guys went around me. I finally eased up before the line when it became too crowded and the risk of crashing outweighed any hope of finishing well. It was as I crossed the line in 15th place that I came to realize that I had not followed the cardinal rule of 45+ 4/5 racing. Still, I can’t help but want to race differently. I had a fabulous time at this race, and it was made even more fun by having Julie and Tag there! I spoke to Bob Liebold and advocated that he change the Madera race to this same scoring format. It really made every race count, and kept us racers thinking about how to be competitive. I lost a couple of spots because of my poor strategy in the road race and finished 9th overall. I’m okay with that, this time. My experience at Minden has me thinking about future races. Dunnigan has 3 possibilities for me to race. If I sign up for the 45+ 4/5 race, it probably presents my best opportunity to do well. All I have to do is sit in and try to position myself for the sprint finish. Even so, I know that I am not a strong enough sprinter to win without some stroke of luck happening. What I would rather do in that race is use it as a training race. I would try to attack the group on multiple occasions for differing amounts of time and see if it is possible to get a sustainable gap on this group. I expect that the training I have been doing will have to be adapted somewhat for this strategy to bear fruit. My other race options at Dunnigan are the E4 race or the 55+ open race. The E4 race is twice as long as the 4/5 race at 86 miles (2 laps). That appeals to me because I feel I have established pretty good endurance. The problem comes because the greatest part of the racers in this field will be less than half my age. They will not be sitting in, but rather, there will be constant attacks. I like that kind of racing, but I will have no teammates to help and will have to chase down every attack on my own. My only reservation about this race would be the unpleasant possibility of not being even in a chase group, but having to ride on my own for most of the race. The 55+ open race is only 43 miles, and I have raced with those guys before. I do expect there to be attacks, and the possibility of getting dropped is real, but it is more likely that I would at the least be chasing with others. It is also possible that I could finish well in this field, but there may be too few entries for that to be a real consideration. At any rate, I am excited to be racing again! What a great event was put on by Bubba Melcher at the Little City Stage Race! I will definitely do it again, if only for the beautiful drive through the Sierras.

Masters State Track District Championships, Hellyer Park Velodrome, 7/13-14/2013

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis the Mennis) — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 18:11:00 +0000

By Dennis Pedersen

Some of you know that I have changed my training regimen quite a bit this year. This move was based on my performance at the State Track Championships last year, and was designed mostly to help me win mass-start races at the velodrome, with very hard efforts separated by limited recovery. And perhaps even to win myself a California State Champion's jersey, with luck. My new training has definitely helped me in many ways, but not always in the ways I had anticipated.

Last year I only took 6th in the State "scratch race" but truly felt I could have done better. Last Saturday morning I felt confident in my fitness and looked forward to the scratch race (a simple 21-lap race). But this year was very different from last year. The 2013 State scratch race had a formidable field, with proven champions like Andrew Nevitt, Dan Smith and Larry Nolan... we even had an Olympic medalist and track legend; Leonard Nitz! The race was very fast at times, with just a few laps allowing us a bit of recovery. I tried to go with attacks a few times and stayed near the front, but I found myself gapped (and gassed!) as we entered the last lap and had to settle for 4th.

I had also registered for the "match sprints" (two-man races, for just two 335m-laps) on Saturday afternoon, but without as much confidence because my training, while also including sprints, didn't really target this type of specialized race. Even so I wanted to be as prepared as I could and was lucky enough to be able to borrow my teammate Nils' Giant Omnium to ride in the flying 200m time trials we use to "seed" the riders first. My Felt TK2, while an awesome bike, isn't actually designed for the high speeds of these short, violent time trials, and usually allows my front wheel to wobble at times, forcing me to back off my power to stop it. The Giant has a longer frame and is more stable which turned out to be perfect for me as I was second-fastest seed and set a new personal record of 12.26 seconds, averaging almost 37 MPH!

This also helped me by matching me against the slowest-seeded rider for my first two-lap match, against André Jackson (14 seconds). I drew the #1 poker chip from the bag that USAC Official Peter Bohl held out, allowing me to take the "pole" position at the start of our race. I lead André at a moderate tempo for a while before upping the pace and dropping him on the last lap for 1st.

Next I was matched against the next-slowest seed, Bill Nighan (12.5 seconds). I again drew #1 and was able to hold Bill against the rail, riding veeerryyy slowly at the top of the track (almost completely stopped at times so I could prevent him from dropping down behind me and seizing the lead), before executing a basic sprint out of turn 1 on the last lap to beat him too.

One better than last year!

Now I was in it for the finals against Rich Rozzi, who was fastest-seeded at 12.1 seconds (he trains specifically for match sprints and it shows!). I knew it would be tough to beat Rich, especially since he hadn't even had to race yet, while I had already done the fast scratch race plus two matches. This was partly because we were an odd number of entrants, and also because Dan Smith dropped out rather than try a hopeless race against him (I don't blame him, but it hurt my chances). I somehow drew #1 again and lead the start. Rich tried to come around me to seize the spinter's lane at the bottom, and up-track a few times, but I held him off until the back-straight where he sprinted down the track's banking out of turn 2 to come around me. I was prepared for this, but even so I wasn't able to match his speed and he passed me in turn 3 which he held onto for the win. Darn! But this was to be best 2 out of 3, so I still had a chance.

For the second match against Rich I drew #2 and had to take the top of the track for the start. But I was able to sprint past him right away to seize the lead (the thinking being that the slower seed shouldn't accept being behind as they then have to make up the extra distance later in the match). That surprised him and I held the speed higher to try to tire him a bit... but I was probably the one tiring more because of the extra races I'd had to do! This time I also started my sprint very early, from high in turn 4 on the first lap, again surprising him. But the result was distressingly similar as he passed me into turn 3 again for his second win. My day was over, but I was still proud (and surprised) of my silver medal!

Good times!

I hadn't signed up for any of the Sunday races but I decided to go to Hellyer the next morning anyway, partly because Nils had volunteered to help work the event, partly because I got drunk (just kidding) at a party the night before and met Tim Montagne there, by complete chance, who talked me into entering the "team sprints" with him and Allen Vugrincic. These guys are both very experienced track racers and have multiple Championships in their palmarés. I couldn't pass up the chance to race with them, and I had fun racing team sprints before so I looked forward to it.

The two other times I did team sprints (three-man races, for three laps, 1 km, for only the third rider's time) I've been the starter, which is easier as you just ride all-out for one lap and then pull off the course (your time doesn't count). This time I was second rider so I had to match my speed to Tim's as he started and then draft him for one lap until he pulled off. That worked well and I was even able to accelerate at the front for the second lap as I lead Allen out for his solo lap (my time still wouldn't count; the first and second riders really just serve as a "lead-out" for the third rider, though my tiny size doesn't help much at speed!). We ended up with a personal best for me of 1 minute and 11.5 seconds. I know we could have gone faster if we'd ever practiced together, and Allen had some tips for how I could have used my extra energy to set a faster lap 2 (he figured we should have been able to be 1 second faster), but both had high praise for me and I was very relieved not to have let them down. That was fun, and good enough for another silver medal!

Le Petit Sprinter.

So what did I gain from my weekend? Two silver medals ain't bad, but more importantly I had a blast and learned once again that I really am a pure sprinter (my tininess notwithstanding!) with little hope of ever competing against top racers in mass-start races, my mass-start wins being atypical. More than ever I am seriously considering actually following a pure track-sprinter's training program for 2014. In the past I haven't been able to convince myself I'd enjoy that, but now I am slowly changing my mind; the numbers argue in favor of that, for sure. We'll see how it goes next year!

Watsonville Criterium

noreply@blogger.com (morgan) — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 19:01:00 +0000

2013 Watsonville Criterium

Morgan Raines

7/16/13

I dedicated this race to a good friend of my "Ryan Erion" who passed away earlier in the week at the young age of 35. He lived in Tahoe and was a dedicated head coach for the Tahoe Select Snowboard Team, a team a mutual friend owns and whom I'm involved in. Ryan was a amazing athlete and special energy, he will be greatly missed. Cause of death still unclear to me. I printed a picture of him and wore it on my jersey for the race.

This is a race I always enjoy, it's a fun course in a quaint neighborhood. The turn out for my race( 35+ cat 4) was particularly small due to a race the following day in the bay area and it being late in the race season. With a smaller race there's not as many options as a big race, every one is exposed, and it's harder to surprise fellow racers. I decided to set a medium fast pace and try not to work too much. One rider kept surging on the small rise where the start finish line is, but after the third time I realized he wasn't getting away, but he was making people work. The race was twenty four laps, I was planning on making a break with four laps to go but with six to go the group was already strung out in a line and people looked winded. I decided just to keep a strong pace and save energy for a fast last lap and a sprint. On the second to the last lap one guy who looked strong and had been sitting in the whole race went to the front and started a strong pace. I jumped on his wheel and thought here we go, but with in forty five seconds he slowed up and looked tired, I picked up the pace a bit more. Were on the last lap and no moves yet just a steady pace, on the last strait away before the final turn the one guy who had been surging earlier jumps and start's to pull away

. I jump to get on his wheel into the last turn, we come out of the corner and I use his slipstream to help me come around him. As I come around him I see there's no one in front of me so and I keep my momentum and start to sprint. On the uphill rise I can tell there's no one attempting to come around me, I keep pedaling as fast as I can and cross the line clean and alone. 1st place

I thought of my friend Ryan and felt blessed to know him and was thankful for the life path I have found.

To HC3 cycling, Team Bicycle Trip, Grid 6 and family, thank you for you time and support.

ADA Tour de Cure, 6/9/2013

noreply@blogger.com (Dennis the Mennis) — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 01:10:00 +0000

By Dennis Pedersen

Whew... that's all I can say! After all of the groundwork laying the foundation for the HP Tour de Cure team, making sure HP would host the event at our Palo Alto campus again; helping spread the word in various ways; recruiting key people to help; trying to get HP team jerseys; helping new teammates get up to speed; and much more, the day of the ride itself is a big relief. But I love using cycling as a way to help people, and fighting diabetes with the American Diabetes Association is so rewarding.

Me and Fast Freddie on the Champions Celebration ride.

This year was my 6th as the Captain of the HP team (my 7th tour), and it was one of the most fun. One thing that made this year so fun was that we were joined by "Fast Freddie" Rodriguez, the current USA Cycling Pro Road Race National Champion! He's a class act who's giving back to the community through his professional cycling career. His mom has type 2 diabetes and that inspired him to sign up.

Fortunately my fund-raising went well and I improved by 40% over last year for $1,499 total -- thanks, donors! Since HP teammate Bill Kacmarsky (our top fund-raiser this year at $2,537.00!) and I had raised over $1000, as we did last year, we could attend the ADA's "Champions Celebration" on May 30th, at beautiful Silver Creek Country Club in San Jose. (Steve Andrews, Jeff Baltazar and Terri Carter also qualified but didn't attend.) The event included a ride with Fast Freddie who had won Nationals just days earlier; that was pretty cool! We rode out at a moderate pace from the Club, and along San Felipe Road, east of San Jose, through some gorgeous scenery. Check out some video I took with my cell phone during the ride (being careful not to crash him out!). Afterward we had good food and drink, raffles, door-prizes and Freddie and others gave nice speeches.

This year I had more support from HP's upper management than ever, with Executive VP Dave Donatelli, Senior VP Stephen DeWitt and others helping to spread the word, and even join the ride! I wish I could say the HP team set new fund-raising records, but it seems we will be a bit short of last year's amazing total: $21,389.76 so far in 2013 vs. $32,626.74 in 2012. But last year's total was a major record; we still did great and the important thing to remember is that we raised thousands of dollars that will help real people living with diabetes. Next year we hope to get HP's CEO Meg Whitman on board!

HP's Meg Whitman and
ADA's Allyson Schloming...
both hard at work!

And there's still time to donate: Click here to help!

While we weren't able to obtain free HP Cycling jerseys for the team, we did offer the option for people to buy their own jerseys at a good price. Still, because the production date was scheduled very close to the date of our ride it was very nerve-wracking and some people didn't get their jerseys until after the ride. The process is complicated and I was forced to balance between available production dates, getting the order placed in time, and not placing it too early so people signing up later wouldn't get a chance to order. All I can say is I'm very sorry about how it worked out.

The Tour de Cure ride was on June 9th and I chose the longest route option: 120k (74.5 miles). That route took me from HP's Palo Alto campus over the Santa Cruz Mountains to the foggy, drizzly Pacific Ocean coast and back. Because of my "Champion" status I had a special gold bib number (they have red ones for riders with diabetes too).

The morning of the ride I left Santa Cruz at 5:00 AM in foggy darkness. I was worried the weather would be the same in Pescadero during our ride. At HP's Palo Alto campus I got ready, had a bite to eat, some coffee, and handed out jerseys to Executive VP George Kadifa and a few other teammates. I had to leave the rest of the jerseys in a box under our HP awning and hoped the others would be able to collect their jerseys themselves. I left a clipboard with their names and jersey sizes, and that sort of worked.

I joined teammates Steve Andrews, Bill Rainey, Paul Roeder and others at the start line for the 6:30 AM opening of the 120k route. We had a few short speeches, from the ADA's Richard Alejandro; Allyson Schloming; and Fast Freddie. And off we rode to the cheers of the volunteers. Paul and I ended up riding with Freddie and the lead pack all the way to the base of Kings Mountain Road. The group was surprisingly well behaved, all things considered, though I joked to him that he really needed to protect his front wheel in this crowd. We laughed.

I usually ride the steep climb up Kings Mountain as an interval, but not this year. Still, I went up fairly fast. But Paul is a fast rider and got to the top of Kings Mountain ahead of me, and while I was pigging out at the first 120k rest station there he took off and I rode mostly alone for the rest of the day. Food really does slow you down!

Riding south on Skyline Boulevard (HWY 35) I was passed by a Sheriff with his siren on... that's never good. It turned out one of the Tour cyclists got hit by a car at the junction with La Honda Road (HWY 84). I heard that the motorist was confused by the various islands and ramps of the junction. That was scary, and it turned out the rider was badly banged up, possibly with broken ribs. That's the worst I've ever seen on this ride, or maybe any ride ever. I hope he is recovering well... and glad it wasn't Paul.

I descended down HWY 84 through what proved to be very nice weather down to the junction with Pescadero Road. The climb up Haskins Hill was also nice, and I had another long descent to Pescadero. I briefly joined a paceline of riders who however scared me enough that I dropped back and let them power on. Just as we neared Pescadero the fog greeted us and was so heavy my lenses needed wiper blades. Oh well. I skipped the rest station there, partly because they'd chosen a new location and I kind of missed it, partly because I was trying to avoid pigging out too much.

Stage Road, leading north out of Pescadero, is gorgeous, even in the fog. And I rode at a nice mellow pace up and over to San Gregorio (on HWY 84). Another pretty valley with another climb, up to HWY 1, awaited me. The weather was much better just in that short distance, and I dropped down HWY 1 to the junction with Tunitas Creek Road. Up the road a mile or so I stopped at The Bike Hut for another rest station break. Perfect timing for the start up the really long climb up Tunitas Creek Road in perfect weather with light cloud cover keeping the heat away. I went pretty fast, but again not all-out, and even managed to take some photos and videos of the amazingly beautiful redwood-lined creek and canyon.

At the top of Tunitas Creek Road we joined Skyline right by the first rest station again. I had a bit more food, I think in uncharacteristically moderate quantities for me, and took off down Kings Mountain Road at a rapid pace. There I ended up riding with John from Yahoo, whom I had met at the Champions Celebration, and on the ride with Fast Freddie. Nice guy. We ended up riding together a lot of the way from Woodside back to HP, passing tons of other riders along Alameda de Las Pulgas and Junipero Serra.

The turnout for the HP lunch and team photo was lower than usual, even though we had an HP awning this year and the weather was perfect. Not sure why, but I do know some HP'ers had to leave and go to HP Discover in Las Vegas. Senior VP Sue Barsamian even delayed her departure so she could join the ride! Wow! So while our team photo may not look impressive, keep in mind that our HP team had 54 riders, which is still a huge contribution to the Tour de Cure!


ADA's Richard Alejandro, Fast Freddie Rodriguez, and me.	I can honestly say this was the hard-partying HP'ers!

Bill Kacmarsky: Thanks for doing double duty as HP's representative on the ADA's Tour de Cure Committee, plus raising the most funds of any HP team rider; $2,511.00 to date!
Senior VP Sue Barsamian, Senior VP Stephen DeWitt, Executive VP Dave Donatelli, Executive VP George Kadifa, Executive VP Bill Veghte: Thanks so much for your efforts to promote the Tour de Cure. Executive support is vital to HP's ability to give back to the community.
John Laforga, Kathleen Lindenmuth, Anita Reid, Glen Elliott, Chris Beauchesne: Thanks for reaching out to offer me a helping hand; I sure needed it!
Fast Freddie Rodriguez: Thanks for giving back in this way and keeping it real!

Thanks again; I am already looking forward to next year's ride!