Wente Criterium - 4/26/09 - Cat5 22(41)

I’m not a big fan of crits, but I’ve watched Wente for a few years and came away with the feeling that if there was such a thing as a perfect squirrel race it would be this one at the outskirts of Livermore. The course is about 1.2 miles long, perfectly flat, with excellent pavement, and smooth corners. There’s also the notion that one should at least try to work on weaknesses – to that effect I promised myself a real crit every once in a while. Wente also fell into place because the road race was full by the time I decided to sign up for it. The crit however had quite a few spots open.

Cat5s are the very bottom of the racing ladder, the part that scrapes the dirt below everyone else’s tires. I guess it’s supposed to be some sort of weird motivation to get people to move up as quickly as possible. Wente did not disappoint: a 7:30am start, 3 places, no cash, no prizes, and no primes. Compare that to the Cat 4 Women or the Juniors – yes, they get CASH, 6 places, and a nicer starting time. I must admit that the Juniors had a fantastic and very exciting race!

We started off with a pretty full pack, heading West into the wind which was blowing about 8-10mph. I figured that the wind would discourage any successful breaks. A few times someone would jump and make it 30 yards in front of the pack. Then they’d dangle for a while and fall back. We were destined for a pack finish and my strategy was to come around the last corner on the final lap somewhere in 8th to 10th place. The finish is on a wide road and can easily take six or more riders across. It’s also pretty far from that last corner and you’re going into the wind. Normally, being in the top three is advisable, but here it seemed like a good way to go nowhere. I duly noted that most riders around me probably weighed 15 to 30 lbs more than me, had huge legs (for 5s), and were probably stronger. I would have to suck wheel until the very end and hope for the best.

The first lap was squirrely with most riders trying to figure out the corners and even the straightaway before the finish line became chaotic for a short period of time. Imagine five or six wobbling bowling pins travelling at 25 or so mph. A bit later a dog runs right into the front of the field. Fortunately the road is wide and some of us see it coming, but the little mutt still gets nailed and a couple of riders go down. A few people stop, the pack rolls on at a moderate pace. It’s time to take a deep breath and wonder what we’re doing here. The dog runs off and I’m thinking about the owner. I figure they both have a brain the size of a walnut and keep riding…

The pack gets in a groove, the corners get smoother, and I practice my best Pufferfish whenever someone encroaches. This is actually fun! The pace picks up when the lap card turns to ‘2’ and I’m trying to tuck in. The speed is a bit above comfort zone, but manageable. A guy to my front left gets squeezed into a curb and locks up his front brake. His rear wheel lifts a foot and a half off the pavement, but comes back down. The last corner is in sight and my visions of glory fade as I round it in the middle of the pack. The sprint is chaotic since there are many riders with similar physical ability. I get a serious case of tunnel vision and roll across in 22nd place for the 2nd time in a couple of weeks. I guess my success is still measured by the big three: stay upright, finish, and don’t finish last…

Elmar

Copperopolis M45+ 4/5 B/C 22(48)

The course:

As one of the classic races on the NCNCA calendar, Copperopolis has a bit of a reputation, mainly because of the rough roads which have earned it the nickname “Paris-Roubaix of California!” “Tighten down your bike and hold on to your dentures!” Looking at all the DNPs one would have to agree, but what I encountered was no worse than coming down the Geysers or Black Mountain on the Terrible Two or the North side of Morgan Territory prior to this year. Don’t get me wrong: this is not Sea Otter Circuit Race pavement, it’s rough and bumpy, but it’s not riddled with massive potholes and exposed roots. Riding a Roubaix with its longer wheelbase and a 700x23 in the front and 700x25 in the rear, both at a modest 100lbs, my backside felt significantly better than after any of the doubles or brevets I’ve done. Even with a pair of Ksyriums…

The course starts in the metropolis of Milton, a few houses clustered around a rather oversized Masonic barn. Heading Southeast on Rock Creek Road one is quickly introduced to the rough pavement. It doesn’t get much worse than the stretch leading up to the feed zone a couple of miles into the race. The first hill is really a series of steps on a narrow road. This isn’t quite as apparent when looking at Polar or Garmin data files, but becomes obvious on a pre-ride inspection. While the elevation gain still favors climbers at this point it is different from very climbing oriented races such as Pine Flat or Orosi. The wind and rollers past the first hill keep things interesting for everyone and it’s my sense that the race suits strong roleurs. The second hill lasts only a couple of minutes and the grade is benign. The following downhill is rough, but quite fast. Yes, there is some barbed wire on the right…

The Race:

My warm up on the trainer was a bit short and just before the race – 15 minutes, with a 30 second hard effort at 5 minutes and another at 8 minutes. I switched skewers on the rear wheel and headed for the start across the street, lining up with other riders in the M45+ 4/5C field. Casual conversation with the rider next to me revealed some startling tidbits: “they’ve combined the fields…” “What?!?!?!” I’m in utter disbelief and my pre-race strategy falls apart seconds before the start. I dreadfully realize that being with other Cs puts all of us at the back of the now combined field, a bad place to be. On top of that my field just more than tripled in size, forty-eight instead of fourteen. Welcome to Copperopolis!

The race starts and people are hammering right from the left turn on to Rock Creek Road. I try to make up ground, but it’s a bit sketchy out there. For the most part riders are holding their line, but the rough road plays a factor. There is no center line, so we’re covering the whole road. By the first uphill (to the feed zone) I’m in the top third of the field and there’s some bumping going on. The pace is insane from my perspective and I’m longing for a lawn chair and margarita. The legs feel fine, but my heart is repeatedly trying to evacuate. Surely this must slow down when we hit some of the bigger steps on the climb. I pass Will H. from Touchstone and latch on to Lee Millon’s wheel. Lee’s a buddy from DBC who’s done a bunch of brevets and PBP with me. He’s solid on the bike and has been doing really well in races (should upgrade to 3s), so I figure he’d be a good wheel to grab. We hit the steep step and Lee’s coming backwards. I pass and yell at him to keep it going. The pace has intensified and I’m getting that drooling slobber feeling. It’s the hardest I’ve ever gone for this long. My HRM tells me I’ve been redlining well over threshold for what seems like an eternity and have equaled the highest heart rate from a max test last fall. We hit the houses on top of the hill, the road flattens a bit, Lee has found his second wind and passes me, my legs blow. The lead group accelerates and gaps me. At least half a dozen more riders pass me after the false flat, until I finally find the strength to latch on to a couple of wheels that don’t pull away from me.

Our little group of three gets into a pace line and works well together, we’re all putting in our fair share. One of the guys drops off, leaving me with a rider from TBS. We rotate well and work toward catching people in front of us. There’s a lone rider who’s been dangling out there for a while, but we only reel him in slowly and he crests the second hill before us. At the bottom of the downhill I see a Touchstone jersey. It turns out to be Amy - she appears less than thrilled. I give her a pat on the back as we motor past. A bit further we catch our carrot, the single rider (Tim), at the STOP sign toward the end of the first lap and work our way back to the steps in a pace line of three. The guy from TBS drops off near the top of the hill, but we pick up James from Roaring Mouse. He looks pretty beat, but still puts in some strong pulls. At the base of the second hill he fades. Tim sticks with me for a little while and then also fades. I keep on going, pass a guy from DBC and hit the downhill. Toward the bottom of the hill Tim is back and loses a bottle right in front of me. The thing squirts out and drops in front of me like a hot potato. I barely miss it.

We still rotate for a bit and then go side by side as we approach the finish. I’m thinking about how this will play out. He’s probably stronger in absolute power, but faded on the last hill and it’s an uphill finish. The 1km sign passes, then the 200m sign. I tell Tim I’m good with passing the line together and we roll across at the same time. It’s a good way to end a beautiful race. We worked well together and there’s no need to kill sportsmanship and fun with a last second dash for a mid-pack finish. Copperopolis was an awesome race!

Elmar

Crit Survival - EBC

The EBC crit in PTown is a short affair, 30 minutes, on a course that’s approx. 0.8 mi long, flat, smooth, with three ninety-degree and one gently curving corner. After a couple of squirrelly warm-up laps in the 22-23mph range the pace picks up and we’re consistently cruising along at 26mph (for all those really fast guys who’re laughing, remember that this is Cat5). By the third lap any ambitions (hey, even skinny climber legs have dreams) I may have had for the race are gone and am in survival mode, desperately trying to find a wheel that doesn’t twitch and can actually hold a line in the corners. Unfortunately the good wheels have their own problems and share my predicament. I try the top third, the middle third, the rear third, the left, and the right side to no avail.

At Madera the pack felt fairly consistent, smooth and friendly (everyone wanted to move on to the next stage), here it twitches, intermittently, randomly. Riders are cutting the corners 4 or 5 across, but at different angles and vastly different speeds. Russian roulette comes to mind. I decide I’ve had enough and skirt the side of the pack for a brief moment. Wow, there is a lot of wind out there, better get back in the draft. I long for the days when I would have been dropped after the second lap.

There are no attacks and the speed doesn’t seem fast enough to string the pack into a single or double line. With two laps to go the pace picks up, we’re now averaging low to mid-28mph, still bunched together – it is scary. On the 3^rd turn a guy from POM FD loses control just to my front left. His right foot unclips and he skates his cleat around the corner, MTB downhill style, while his front end wobbles like crazy. Miraculously, the ensuing crash that flashes through my mind doesn’t happen and he pulls it off without taking out anyone to his left or behind him. Last lap - we’re hammering the back stretch, now doing 30mph. One more corner - sparks are coming off a pedal to my front right, but once again there is no crash. I finish 31^st of 47 and am happy, once again meeting my top three goals: 1.) stay upright, 2.) finish the race, and 3.) don’t finish last…

Congrats to Vanessa on a smart race and awesome finish (2nd Cat4, 3rd overall) in the women's 3/4 race. Seems like they had similar problems, but didn't walk away unscathed - there were two pretty hard crashes!