Pine Flat RR 2009 (Part II)

I won't recount the drama that unfolded before the race even began - Chris has documented it well, and I really don't want to relive the horror anyway. But here's my rundown of race day, my first race as a mighty Cat 4:


I guess living in CA has softened me up, because at the race start it was 40 degrees, and I was freezing. I layered up with nearly all the clothes I brought, and except for the fleece cap I was happy to have it all on. There isn't really a great place to warmup at Pine Flat, and I didn't have a trainer, so I just hoped that the first part of the race would be mellow. Not so - after the "neutral" 200' steep starting climb, the action got going, with godspeed riders instigating. The first 20+ miles (out-and-back portion) had lots of little surges that got my heart ramped up quick. I think I had some first race jitters, because I wasn't very focused and let a few gaps open up on some corners, which then required accelerations that were harder than they needed to be. After about 10 miles, things settled down a bit and I took a moment to enjoy the view of Pine Flat Lake. Overall, the field was content to stick together, and didn't much bother to chase when someone shot off the front. I tucked in near the back, and tried to remember to keep drinking despite the cold.


The long descent toward Belmont Road was a blast - great pavement and nice sweeping turns, and all the folks around me holding pretty good lines. For several miles, things were unevenful - I tried to take shelter from the moderate cross-winds, and very slowly moved my way to the middle half of the group as opportunities presented themselves. On a dead-straight section of road, there was a pretty nasty crash near the front of the field - I didn't see what happened, but the sound was awful as both bikes and bodies piled on one another - I was able to scoot around the carnage, but did get clipped by a flailing bike. I turned to make sure Chris wasn't down, and then found myself near the front of a now smaller field. I think nearly 10 guys went down, and a few of their teammates stopped to assist. The crash took some wind out of the sails of the group (or perhaps everyone was trying to save their legs for the climb to come), and for a few miles the pace dipped.

Our Saturday pre-ride of the last 10 miles of the course was really helpful, because when we did finally hit the main climb, I knew where it was going to hurt. I figured attacks would come as soon as we were on the climb, but that didn't really happen - Chris and about 4 other strong men did go to the front and slowly pull away, however. It was clear that this was going to be the winning move, but my legs didn't care, so I settled for cresting the climb alone in ~20th place as the field strung out. Some regrouping happened on the downhill, and about 5 of us got into a semi-organized rotation. The leaders were well up the road, and I knew we didn't have a chance to catch them, but I didn't want to get caught by the stragglers behind us either.

By the time we hit the final 1/2 mile climb, our group had swelled to 7, and I had a little left, so I pushed the pace right away at the 1km mark. This shed a few guys, but Webcor and Dolce Vita were right with me, and when they came around me with ~300m to go, I was toast. Getting to the finish line was painful, and I got nipped at the line by a hard-charging guy that I was too delirious to even hear coming. 16th place. 10 minutes later my sweat was turning to ice as we awaited the rest of our gang from the masters race. Thanks to Elmar for lending a jacket - otherwise I think I would have been in real trouble!