Joel wins BAR

Looks like the Best All Around Rider Awards have finally been decided and Joel wins the prize in the Masters 123. Congratulations Joel! A close second goes to our boy Bosch.

On a side note...Sierra Pacific takes 2nd place in both the Elite 1/2 and Masters 35 123

Here's the details...


2008 BAR Awards will be presented at the beginning of the NCNCA Race Scheduling meeting next Monday evening, Nov 3rd, at 7:00 PM. The race scheduling meeting will be held at the same location as last year at the Scout House at 299 Carlton Ave in San Bruno. Here is a Mapquest link for the location: http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=San+Bruno&state=CA&address=299+Carlton&zipcode=94066.

Having some fun at the park

Here Coby "Big Rig" Horton shows us that size doesn't matter when it comes to tip toe n' over the barriers.

Looking for riders in 2009

The Sierra Pacific Racing Team is looking for a couple of riders for the 2009 racing season. Cat 1/2 is a must and a geezer a plus.

So if you're looking to do a ton of racing with a pretty cool group of guys, send me your resume at cobyhorton@comcast.net

Folsom Circuit Race

We had a better field than yesterday, with riders showing up fresh from the SF Twilight Crit. 41 was the count I believe.

This course was great, never seen anything like it. 1.5 miles, multiple chicane section, hairpin, descent thru tunnel, roll up and over bridge over American river, back over another bridge, rise to the finish. Only one pothole to worry about, otherwise wide, smooth asphalt.

Multiple attacks from the beginning. Two or three laps and fifteen minutes in, a break of five develops that gets a good gap. I attack thru the tunnel expecting to be chased, but they don't. I bridge and off we go with Tyler, JD, AC Chris, two others. Three are suffering, and three laps later JD takes a big pull and then there were three! We still had 30 min to go and it got pretty painful. Important note: I'm the only GC guy in the break. I needed 10 places on the leader to win the omnium, but this was the only chance, so I gave it a lot, especially last two laps.

JD and Tyler started to take less pulls cause they know I need the break. I was happy to oblige, it was much better than I imagined, especially since I could see some other non GC guys bridging. Turns out the leader was over ten places back at the finish and I win the Omnium. And these guys payed out something fierce. $320 for 1st, bit more for 3rd in the race.

Plus, got 2nd in the Masters Omnium. VOS team of Martin and Paulsen had a tight rein on me, but was fun nontheless. Jeff took the win, rightly so....

Giro podium

Dunnigan Hills 35+

I skulked into the Masters race. Should have supported Vinnie in the p1/2 and his Cal Cup hopes, but.... The Wolhberg, Hollaway thing... and I had some Cal Cup hopes of my own.

First lap we had an eight man break, but it wasn't working well together and got caught at the beginning of the second lap, but the group had whittled down, and guys were tired. The next 5 miles, we're parading at a snails pace. At the end of the first set of rollers, 25-30 m to go, I attack, thinking I could take a couple others with me.

Instead I'm left dangling for 15 min in the heavy crosswind solo, staying at 20 sec. Turn right into the headwind, and next time I look it's more like 40 sec, so I really start going. By the time I go thru second feed, I can't see them at all.

I do the descent, get to the tailwind, still no one, so I roll the last 8 miles, and that's it! Hipp was a min behind me the whole time, turns out, but the peloton was at 3 min.

In the p1/2, Wohlberg and Jesse Moore had something like 7 min on the group. Not sure how the rest shook out.

Winters RR

Managed an RR win finally today at Winters, 35+ race. There was a big Sierra Nevada presence, and their man was Dan Bryant. SJBC, Form Fitness, MS, all were there in some numbers.

I really wanted to get away and went with an early break, 3 miles in or so. It turned into Chris(Lombardi), ChicoCorsa guy, Dan Bryant. Wire bridged across to us at the top of the first climb. After that we didn't see much of the group. Lombardi got dropped on second climb, leaving four for the last lap. The group was good, all working.

ChicoCorsa tried to go first in the sprint, and I tried to stay patient and came around him for the finish.

Vince got 10th in the p1/2. Don't know two many details except that a two man break stuck. Wohlberg was 3rd.

I got stung by a bee with a mile to go. If you want to see my ugly mug even uglier you can. It's pretty unsightly, you've been warned

Another Great Weekend for Sierra Pacific

We got two more wins this weekend.

Brandon Franklin won the Cat.4 race at Fort Ord on Saturday - This guy needs to race more!
And on Sunday Sierra Pacific rode perfect in the masters race. We had all three guys in the break(12). With the help of Joel and Tim, (these guys worked so hard to keep the break away, they almost dropped me) I was able to get a free ride and save it for the win. Thanks guys!

Yes, we'll take another

photo by Steve Anderson

Today was another great day of racing for Team Sierra Pacific in Watsonville. Eric and I go 1-2 in the masters race.

Vinny!

Here are two pictures from the P/1/2 race:

Note, Vinny had enough time to sit up and then zip up the jersey.

Pictures from Garrett Lau's site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/garrettlau/

-mb

Two more WINS for Sierra Pacific

today with strong riding from the team, we added two more wins to the total. Eric won the masters 1/2/3 race and vinny won the Pro 1/2.

great job guys!

Another "W" for Sierra Pacific

The "Pocket Rocket" puts another notch in the win column for Team Sierra Pacific in the masters race at Vacaville.

Great job Eric!

About halfway into the 1/2 race Saturday in Napa. While I was in a small break, my back wheel started to feel loose in the "P" turn. I was able to nurse it in for 7th and after the race was surprised to see that the rubber had separated from the casing, 9" long. Got home pumped it up and a minute later the thing blew! Would it have made it another lap???

Sometimes we get lucky.

Great Ride

Today I was lucky enough to ride with the man that taught me everything I know about riding.

Me and Robert "Bob" Brooks in Big Creek

He's known all over the US, not only because he has set National Records in TT's or won multiple masters national titles over the years, but because he is an all around great guy and friend to all. If you know him, you understand what I'm saying and if you don't, it's your loss. It was great to ride with Bob once again.

Vinny and I met up with Bob and Eric Zentner at Shaver Lake (5300') and rode up to Kaiser Pass (9200'). For some reason Bob and Eric wanted to head down into Million Dollar Mile first and check out a waterfall. It's beautiful and all but to get to the darn thing you have to descend at least 1800' to get to it. And right now I'm 188lbs and have been a crit monster this year. So to start a ride with a descent to 3500' and have a summit of 9200' is a little silly to me.

The climb out of Million Dollar Mile is 4 miles long and gets as steep as 16-18% for about half of it. Vinny must have been feeling pretty good because I never saw him on that climb. Worked my way up in a 39x23 and chatted with Bob. On this ride it seems that you go downhill only to go back up and make the next climb a little longer or steeper or both! So, up MDM and down to Big Creek (4920').

The Big Creek climb is another 4 mile climb up to Huntington Lake (7000'). It starts off steep and gets steeper (+18%), but does get a little easier at the top. Never saw Vinny on this one either. I left it in the 21 and got to the top in 35min. Around the lake with some more little up and down rollers to Lakeshore, the town at Huntington Lake. We took a little break for a soda and refill on water. Then off to the next climb.

Kaiser Pass (9200') is a 7 mile ascent to the top. The first mile is always hard for me, but the next 4 are a lot easier. I started to push the pace after about 2 miles, only to have Vinny turn it up a notch on a little kicker and gap me. With 1.75 miles to go it gets steep again and it really starts to hurt the legs and lungs. The last 500m is brutal! You can see the top straight ahead of you but it takes 3mins to get there, at least 16%. I got to the top in 40min.

The view from the top

Once again down so we can go up. Down Kaiser and on to Tamarack Ridge (7500'). Tamarck is a series of 4 climbs. The second and last are the ones that hurt the most. I was all in on the last one and threw in the towel.

Now, all we had to do is descend back to the truck. At this point I just wanted to get home! My body was ready to shut down. Even the descent was killing me. I didn't turn the pedals over once. Barely made it to the truck.

The ride came out to 70 miles and over 10,000 feet of climbing.

I get to pick the next ride!

Santa Rosa 35+

Had a pretty sizable crowd at the 35+ race today, given that the District TT Championships were on at Satley as well. That meant we were missing some heavy hitters, but it was still pretty interesting race. Dirk Copeland in particular.

So they weren't letting me get away with anything the first 15 minutes, but they did let a five man break get away! That really bugged me. That break turned into just two guys but they had 30+ seconds on us.

After a few attempts I finally got away by myself to give chase. I knew that Dirk would show up, which he did, with Fonseca in tow. Me and Dirk started to reel it in, Fonsecan conceding any sprint. With four to go we caught the two. there were off the front. They let Dirk roll away a bit with two to go, then chased him. Then I attacked and Dirk was kind enough to not chase me. Sounds like the other three gave up, cause I was able to solo in from there for the win! It's been a while, being king of second place as of late(or helping the teammates). Glad that Dirk beat the others for second.

2 Wheel Crit

Next best thing to ditching in the grass is ditching onto cobblestones apparently. We had an 8 man break about half way through the p1/2 race today when Tore's tubular rolled off his wheel. I was on the back and was the odd man out as everyone drifted into the curb with overlapping wheels. I was very lucky, with almost no road rash, rolling over the median with cobblestones right after turn 1. A bruised hand is the worst damage. Blew the front tubular but the ZIPP survived to see another day.

Two free laps later, got back in the break, but it didn't last very long, coming all back together with about 10 laps to go. The wind wasn't particularly strong today, so was hard to stay away.

Came down to a pack finish. There was a two man CalGiant leadout that helped Briggs win it. Wishing I had tried to attack that last turn cause I was feeling good. As it was I held on to KKlein and Badia's wheels trying to close down Briggs' gap. I got 4th.

They gave me the most aggresive rider bottle of wine. While it will be well drunk, I'm not sure I deserved it. Lots of other attackers out there.

One last note: four out of the top five today were 40+ (PPenn was 5th). Justin said last night it would be a master's day. Guess he was right.

Was good to talk to Brian before the race to learn that he won the 35+ District Championship TT. Nice work Brian.

Congrats!

Congrats to Tim Bulter for getting his upgrade. Good job!
-mb

Memorial Day 35+

Tim said it well: this was a rare case of the 35+ race being more fun than the p1/2. The attacks were a bit more sustained and the final couple of laps had more control.

It was Tim, Brian, and I, and we started out with good attacks and were able to get 5 out of 6 primes I think (we still haven't figured out how to share the gift certificate smorgasbord).

Though the attacks were good, nothing stuck since the wind was low. Too easy to speed things up. Specialized looked to be shutting things down, though I suspect that they would have let Metcalf go, who was registered as 35+ not the 45+ field which was also raced with us, picked separately. That mix made things interesting as there was no indication of who was who, so just cross the finish line first right? Larry let me know as I was leading out last lap that he was racing the 45+, but still....

Anyway, we had good control of that last lap. I lead it from one to go for 3/4 of the lap. Brian and Tim went from there. With Brian getting a good lead at final turn and holding it to the line! And Tim got 4th.

Memorial Day p1/2

The final sign that nothing was going to stay away was when I saw Wohlberg sit up rather than
bridge to another break attempt. He knew what everyone had realized: it was a bunch sprint.

It was Tim, Vinnie, John, Brian, and me. We tried to attack but as I say: nothing came of it.

The average speed was right at 30 mph, and we hit 34+ on the backstretch every lap. Last lap I did 39.5 and I never even sprinted. Two and three laps to go was frustrating as BPG had four guys at the front but didn't speed it up even more. Riggs went to the front yelling and took some pulls. I pulled with 2 to go as well, trying to set up Brian and John.

The final sprint got pretty chaotic and as I mentioned, the final straight was really fast. John got pinched in final turn and held out for 9th, I think he would have been some spots higher. It was Hollway, Klein, Magnell, Rapinski in top four.

New then Old Golden State Crit Course

For most of the day, the Golden State Crit course was new, with a nice 180 loopout added at turn one. In the p1/2 this made the race really good, making everyone work hard out of the hairpin meant that breaks were more likely to stick.

The team was truly great to ride with. Tim was attacking out of the gate. Vinnie and John added their efforts off the front as well. We were either creating, or getting in, every break up the road. I didn't feel great first 20 min (we almost missed the start due to terrible traffic). The two marked riders in the group, Hollaway and Rapinski, were getting jumped on every time the flinched, which made it also a little easier to slip away.

Tim had a good break going around mid-way. Not sure exactly who was in there, but Hollaway tried to bridge and that created a pack swarm that brought it back. That's the way things were going until about 15 min to go (Daniel asked the time, which is why I remember). There was a break with a 5 sec gap ahead with Rapinski, Justin, and a couple of others. We weren't represented so I bridged, reaching them just as they started to slow some. I accelerated and rode past them. Justin was looking back and I paused briefly to get him on my wheel and took a big pull to take us clear.

We got a pretty good gap quickly. I didn't think things would stay this way, expecting somebody to bridge. There was a chase group of four about 15 secs behind, and the pack was sitting 30 secs back. Very easy to chart your progress with the loopout.

Last two laps the gaps shrunk some, but we stayed away. We both kept working until about half lap to go. Justin was in front til the last turn. I was feeling pretty good about my sprint and jumped at 250 and was about to go by him at 150 yrds when he took me to the curb! Wasn't expecting that and slowed up. I restarted my sprint and threw my bike at the finish and came within inches, but had to settle for 2nd. Justin immediately apologized so...

Addendum:
They removed the 180 halfway through the Cat 5 race! There was a bad crash at end of p1/2 cause of a little lip at the left hand turn, guess they thought it was too dangerous. This made the Masters race even worse than it would have been: negative racing unbridled by the 180 to make it harder on those who sit in.

Tim and I attacked a bunch and finally got into a break together, but he got gapped off with Hernandez. I ended up with 8 or 9: two EMC, Fonseca, Paulsen, the parasite (who started to work after some prodding), couple others. Tried attacking them a bunch, but couldn't get away though managed to wittle it to 6.

Attacked with 1K and gapped them, but I tied up at the last turn and Holtz, Fonseca, and Paulsen came around me. I rode too hard in the break but it was the only way to make it stick I guess.

Again the team was great today.

Scratching up results from Panoche

Was trying to piece together what happened at Panoche by going through the photos: http://www.timallenphotography.biz/. Guess Wohlberg won again. Dan Martin won the Masters.

Joel

Modesto 35+

Was really good to see Coby back in action, as well as Eric. Along with those two, Tim, Brian, and Matt, we had six guys going into the Modesto Master's race. The heat was rising but it was still bearable at the start., around 85 degrees.

Right off we had some really good teamwork. Tim, Eric, Coby, and I were laying it out there, keeping the field off balance and in control. Each break was getting a little further out, so it was just a matter of time before one would stick.

I had one about 15-20 minutes in, with five others. We got caught at turn one, and I attacked again just as we made contact, taking a few with me. Tim quickly bridged up and laid down some amazing speed on the backstretch, long section. This quickly made a gap, but Brian still was able to bridge, bringing Derdenger with him. It was Scott (TeamOakland), Derdenger and a teammate, Paulsen, the parasite in Red, and three from SPOC.

There was a lot of game playing however, as the parasite, and others weren't taking pulls. Kept leaving a gap everytime I went back after a pull. After a couple of laps of that I figured I would join in the game of chicken and went straight to the back. Derdenger left a gap with me and TO Scott behind it. I wasn't going to work for them, so we were quickly dropped. Since Derdenger is a sprinter, I feel like they gave up a queen for our rook, so it was a reasonable move. TO Scott managed to get back up to the group though.

Sounds like Tim and Brian put in a really good attack though, cause they dropped the entire group except for Paulsen. Great work... They held on for a 1st and 2nd finish!

I promise Eric, I will get better at the lead out. I feel like we should have won the pack sprint, but I didn't do the best in the last lap and Eric got 4th in pack sprint (they officially gave hime 5th, 8th overall, cause the camera wasn't working). Coby and I were 9th and 10th.

Great fun riding with this team!

Sierra Pacific at Hellyer

Tim and I like to represent the team at the track at Hellyer as well. Tim got an awesome start winning at last week's Tuesday Night Points race.

I went out for the first Friday night series on May 9th. There is a series of 40+ scratch races for the season. Looks like there is a winner of the series standings at then end of the year, if I'm reading the description correctly. Got 2nd to Dan Smith of MS, so off to a good start.

Tim and I haven't been there for the same event yet, but looking forward to doing teamwork on the track, that being another new experience.

EBC p1/2 Race

This was a fun and active race for all. We had John, Tim, Brian, and I to start. Too bad the field was much smaller than the earlier Master's race where we had scored 2nd to Copeland. We only had around 50-60 for this, maybe less.

BPG had nine guys and radios, looking to come out in force again. They won week before at Cat's Hill and were to be taken seriously. Only two CalGiant, but doesn't seem to matter how many guys they actually field, still dangerous.

There were a couple of early attacks before the most dangerous break of the day formed. It was me, Rapinski (BPG), Olympic, Lombardi, some others including John (ICCC) but he wasn't working. In fact, I felt a lack of commitment to the break in general, and I didn't get a good feeling from it. Things really started to come apart after John went for a prime after saying he couldn't work for three laps! That got Rapinski up and arms and attacked the group, further tiring and slowing the others. I took a strong pull to try to get things back but all the others complained. Then John took one last, hard pull and that dumped everyone but me and Rapinski!


Damn Rapinski can pull. We got a big gap but I was getting my legs ripped off, I'm the first to admit. Been a long time since I've gotten to the point where I could barely work. Here is a picture of me hiding behind him. Felt like a soviet tank had run me over by the time we were caught. In way of excuses I will say there was a small voice saying: 'why did you race every possible Friday Night Track event last night?'.

Anyway, it's back together until Justin Fraga launched his panda attack with our Tim, around eight to go? At some point Tim came back to us, but Justin was still out there. Not sure how John got up to him and the two exTO riders made a good effort, getting caught, then attacked by, Rapinski. Sounds like they could have worked together, but the russian wanted to go it alone. We chased some, me and CalGiant's Miller I saw.

We only managed to get him with less than a half lap to go, but then the speed wasn't fast as no team seemed to have ramped it up. Briggs and Bosch got to the front of the pack and Briggs was able to take advantage of the less-than-speedy finish, jumping first with two turns to go, getting enough of a gap to hold out for the win. Bosch second, Logan (BPG) third.

It was a good day for us. Would have been good to win!

Wente p1/2 Crit

After waiting around for almost an hour and a half for the ambulances to clear away, this race got started.

It was a full field of over 100 guys, big team of the day being BPG, with around 10. We had Tim G, Eric, John, Brian, and I. CalGiant had around 5. Other notables: Halloway, Roman, Switters (fresh off his solo Wente RR from day before). They cut the thing short too...

Getting away was going to be really hard: the couse was fast, and while there was some wind, it wasn't enough for escapes. There were certainly attempts: I was away twice, the second time being more promising with Ryan and Christian, but the EMC rider that came with us was having a hard time. Roman and some others got up to us and I managed to get on the back of that just in time to get caught by the pack with about four laps to go. I think I saw Eric in a break at one point too. I'm sure there were others but I don't recall now. There was lots of swarming at different points in time.

We did have one solo crash. Did anyone else see the Webcor dude fly into the curb at Turn 1.1 (that's the little left turn after the first right)?

So back to four laps to go: I'm caught in back and Tim does a great effort to get me and Eric right up to the front, and then he pulls a whole lap, with Brian somewhere in the top ten. I pull a half lap or so, but I'm not sure exactly where the other guys are, so not giving %100. Lombardi, then BPG take the reins in the last lap.

So this guy Victor Ripinski is apparently an ex-Pro who wants to race around here for a while. I guess he takes a huge pull before the last turn and just blows the whole thing up cause when I come around last turn in 10-15th spot, there is a huge gap opened up. He pulled Justin close to finish from what I gather but he has Hollaway, Bosch, and Roman on his wheel and they all come around him to finish in that order. Sounds like Eric had a part in it to, by sweeping Brian's wheel.

John got 8th but not sure which side of the gap(s) he was on. Strange race... chime in with more details if you have them....

Sea Otter Circuit Race (3 hours of complete suffering)

This was probably the toughest race I have ever done. You do 31 laps which comes out to 70 miles with 300 feet of climbing per lap. The toughest part though was the 100 mph winds on the top of the climb and the back side of the course. I tried to stay towards the front, but it was very difficult, I think all 116 guys had the same idea. In the beginning I wasn't having trouble on the climb, it was the cross wind section. Every lap guys were getting shelled and you would have to close the gap. A group of 4 guys got away and then a chase group of 15-20 guys went. I was in a pack of about 20 guys. At this point trying to get up the road wasn't even an option, I was in complete survival mode. I would say the last 15 laps were pretty much taking the race 1 lap at a time trying to get over the climb and thru the windy section. The results said 47 guys finished and I was 39th. I have never been so happy about a 39th place before!

Vince

Sea Otter RR

The course is a 9 mile loop and then you finish on a climb on Barloy Canyon Road. The race is more like a circuit race because you do 8 laps. There is one distinct climb with some rollers scattered around the course. The third time up the climb a few guys drilled it and I went with them. The move ended up being 10 guys with 3 rock racing guys, 3 Plowman Craven (UCI pro team from England) a Z team guy and 2 guys from southern California. We worked pretty well together and then the last 2 laps guys started attacking. The last time up the climb there was a split and I didn't make it:( I almost caught back on towards the top, but they drilled it again and I was off again. I ended up being with Z team, a rock racing, and a Plowman Craven. Since Rock guy and Plowman had guys up the road they didn't do any work. Me and Z team chased but we never caught. On the final climb to the finish I set tempo and Z team and Plowman started sprinting for the line, the rock guy didn't sprint and I rolled across the line in 9th. Was happy with the way I rode, I just wish I would have placed a little higher.

Vince

Superfeet

Not exactly a race report, but info that needs to get out. The Superfeet guy will be in Town(Fresno) next Tuesday, at Barrow's PT. Touch bases with Paul over there and he will get you on the list for custom or semi-custom setup. I know few of us have the regular inserts and they feel GREEEEEAAAAT! (that was a Tony the Tiger impression).

Now if any of this information is wrong, then it's Greg Mellors fault, as he was telling me this on the ride tonight,HA!
-mb

SC 35+ race

Against better judgement I couldn't resist doing the 35+ race. I knew it would mean that I wouldn't be 100% for the p1/2 race, but on the other hand I've never won a Tshirt here...

The race had around 50 I would guess. I was only representive from Team 'Knucklehead', rest of the group was lots of MS, Specialized, some EMC guys. Hutch. need to an eye kept on him. Langley... maybe a break is in order. No Phipps. Metcalf... good for a flyer at some point.

The race was short at 18 miles, so it gets pretty active. Metcalfe is off the front at some point, but nothing too dangerous. EMC goes for a prime, has a good gap which I was able to bridge on the hill. I thought I would get it, but up comes Larry and that Zenn guy that always looks angry (irony??).

With ten to go, Roemer is off the front for a $50 prime. I'm moving up the pack from the back and luck out: Hutch jumps out of the pack right in front of me and I'm on his wheel taking a wild ride up the hill, pick up Roemer, take the prime, and it's off to the races.

Roemer 'looks' to be hurting and doesn't work too much. Hutch and I work enough to get a good gap going, but can hear the announcer saying that there is a chase group with at least Martin and Larry. Pour it on cause I'm alone and don't want to duke it out with more guys. With one to go, Mike and Roemer kind of sit up and look at me. I know Roemer is just waiting for Larry who has ditched the rest and bridging solo, I figured Hutch was doing the same, not knowing who was coming.

I took the bait and tried to gap them, ended up leading most of the last lap and taken in the sprint. 3rd was nice though, first Tshirt in this race ever.

I love Santa Cruz...

... really John should do the race report but I've never seen him do a post, so let me try to do a play by play from the back of the pack (which is where I was for first 30 laps, sorry team). Please feel free to add in more details.

We had Tim, John, Vince, and me. Total riders of 70 or so. Riders to watch: Reaney off his effort from Martinez, ditto Fraga. Bissell rider Zwisanski, BMC rider Gavin, some Rocks (Switters, Klein), other dangerous characters.

(excuses to follow, feel free to ignore:) I was pretty tired from two races at Martinez, then doing 35+ race at noon, but couldn't pass up another 50 times up the SC hill, so...

Tim, John, and Vince did a good job of covering the front at the beginning of the race. A sizable break did get away early that seemed like it was 10 or so. Apparently whittled down to three then caught. I didn't think the race was quite as hard as last year (lapped by Kodak). About 30 laps in I did one piece of work to close a big gap that me, John, and Vince were caught behind. Right after that Vince goes to the front and starts to hammer with Bissell, causing a break that took nine riders with it, including John.

I don't have too many details on what happened in the break: Bissell managed to break free and lap the field solo, leaving Reaney to take his group for 2nd. John got 6th, and Vince got 7th. Sounds like they worked a bunch in the break too.

Back in the field, Tim and I and CalGiant were blocking/not working in the field. Another group of nine got off that got 9th thru 17th. The 'field' fighting for 18th.

San Dimas Stage Race

The race was very tough with a full Pro 1 field of 140. Practically every domestic pro team had a full squad. I didn't have a whole lot of expectations for the race, because I knew by looking at the start list that I was going to be in survival mode. The weekend started off pretty well. The first stage was a 4 mile time trial with about 1,000 ft. of climbing. I was happy with my time of 14:29 and 63rd place. The road race was a little bit tougher. First off I want to thank Mark Fennell for feeding me during the race, it was a huge benefit and I really appreciate it. The course was a 7 mile loop with about 500 feet of climbing per lap and we did 12 laps. The elevation was disbursed thru out the lap with one major climb of a couple hundred feet(that is a complete guess I'm not good about estimating elevation gain). The key was to be in good position for the climb, because it was very narrow for 140 guys. The first 8 laps were ok for me, I mean it was super fast, but I was surviving. On the 9th lap Toyota put alot of there guys on the front and blew up the race! I was caught towards the back and got gapped and could never get back on. I ended up in a group of 5 and we chased very hard. I thought that we were going to get back on, but we never did. My group ended up being the last group to make the time cut. I ended up in 90 something place and like 9 minutes down. I was pretty disappointed with getting dropped, I mean the course was a power course, which isn't great for me, but I still thought that I would finish with the peloton. The only positive thing I could tell myself was "least I made the time cut and I can race tomorrow". I knew I didn't have much of a chance in the crit, but I figured it would be a 90 minute motor pace session. I did feel a little bit better when I rolled up to the line and could count less then 10 amateurs left. The crit was fast, we averaged 28 mph. I rode towards the back most of the time and just tried to stay out of trouble and get home in one piece! I did move up a little bit and made it to about the middle of the pack, but as I was moving up the thought came to my mind "what are you going to do when you get to the front?" It's hard to attack when your going 34 mph down the front straight! I drifted back where there was less battling and rode in. I think I ended up 93rd in the overall. Not exactly the result I was looking for, but I learned alot and got some good fitness out of it. All give it another go in Martinez and Santa Cruz this weekend!

Vince

Motorpacing in Downtown Hanford

After spending a relaxing day in the Sierra Foothills with an orange flag in one hand and a book in the other (The Orosi RR was our race for the year), I was looking forward to racing Sunday in Hanford. It's always great to do this race, as the crowd is super-enthusiastic, the course is great, and the prize list is sizable for both the Master's and Pro races.

The first race of the day, for the old guys, included a surprise guest, the well-bandaged but still spry Brian Bosch. After a high speed dismount the week before (holy cats 47 mph!), he couldn't really stand but he could still power in the saddle. Otherwise, it was the usual group o' suspects from Sierra Pacific Racing. The field of 40 or so included some who were not to be trusted including Chris B and Gregarios from the Morgan, Stanley, and Spine coalition, Dirk C. from Strawberry, D. Laberge from the Specialized squadra, and Hernando of VOS. After series of attacks and counterattacks, Brian and I ended up in the break with Dirk, Hernando, and Dean. Dirk won it from Dean, with Hernandez third. Brian pulled a monster tow on the last lap which scored kudos from the rest of the break, and I porked it when my gears slipped into the second-to-last corner....

It was not encouraging to see a collection of leg-rippers in a 40 man Pro 1/2 field, as I was pretty tired after the Master's race: The rule of thumb formula for race difficulty in small fields is (total number of riders-(total # of pros+total # of national championships in field)). The result of this formula at Hanford was much closer to zero than I would have liked. Shortly after the start, the big break of the day went away including both Jacques-Maynes, Svein Tuft, and Ken Hanson. The break was stuck at 15 seconds for awhile, but eventually pulled away. After that group disappeared, the race stretched, broke apart, and came back together repeatedly until another group of four including Joel also got away. The field was eventually lapped, but the second break stayed away. The tally for the race was Joel 8th, Brian 10th(I think), Eric 14th, and me 15th. To be honest, I was just happy to survive after bridging gaps the whole race.

Looking forward to Santa Cruz and Martinez!

Down but not OUT!

Yes, i did go down at Copperopolis on Saturday. Went down hard, very hard. At 47mph + can you hit the tarmac softly?

Was having a good race, made it over the climbs with the front group each time, until the last 3 miles. At that point, the race was OVER for everyone but the five guys up the road. I just wanted to get back to the car to head home and join the family for easter dinner and watch the kids hunt for eggs. As the chase group came to the last climb of the race. A rider attacks and I jump on his wheel and one more jumps in. The three of us head to the downhill. I decide to go to the back for the descent and give the other two room, as they were riding pretty hard and I felt 6th place was not going to be won by the first guy to the bottom. So, watching the two guys battle down the road, one right behind the other. The rider drafting lost control of his bike and down he goes. He slides down the middle of the road with his bike right next to him on the left. Now if we were going through a turn, no big deal for me. He would have just slid wide and i would have gone to the inside of the turn. But we were going 47mph straight ahead and even with the space I gave him, there was nowhere for me to go. I just pulled up on the bars and with my feet to try and bunny hop his bike. As I was halfway over his bike, it flipped up and hit the bottom bracket and rear wheel of mine. Which, pushed me over onto the front wheel and the next thing i was on, was my face. Thanks Giro for making such great helmets. Did a systems check and got back on the bike. Waiting for results to be posted to see where I finished.

So, i ended up with 7 stitches in the chin, 5 in the left forearm, your normal body full of road rash and everything hurts.

I would like to thank Dr. Eric Hanson of Sierra Pacific Orthopaedic & Spine Center for taking care of my needs with just a phone call notice. What a great sponsor!

-bosch

Sequoia Classic- Masters

The boys executed perfectly this weekend to lead Bosch out for yet another Sierra Pacific win. The win was not only Brian's third straight, but it gave him enough to claim this year's 99 series title.

The 99 series consisted of a combined points series from events held in Merced, Fresno, and Visalia over the last three weeks. I thought it was a nice feature added to this years early races.

Catch the action at ibnsports.com where they have included video of the entire race. Click on Archive, Sequoia Cycling Classic, then Masters 35+ 123.

Brian said coming around Steve Reaney for the win wasn't easy.

Photos courtesy of Peter Lanik

Tower Crit 35+

Thought I'd type a synopsis of this race....

The field was small, around 30 guys, with the Green Jersey in our midst, so we knew who we had to cover. The race started off easily enough, attacks as they were weren't dangerous.

After 15 mins or so of our 50 min race, Hernandez took off mid lap to get a prime, and I went after him. He got the prime, and then we had a big gap too. Brian, Eric, and the Green Jersey bridged up and we started to work. The gap got big, real big.

Eric attacked, I flatted. I got back in just in time to see Eric get caught, then soon after Brian put in a big attack, the GJ and Hernandez let him go, and Eric and I just sat on. Hernandez started to work pretty hard to pull him back, but the GJ was holding back on efforts. That led to Brian to start to pull away from us and eventually lap the field. Once there, Tim G and teammates picked up the pace of the pack.

Meanwhile Eric and I are watching the other two work. With two laps to go, I attack, Hernandez chases and catches. Then he counters and the GJ chases him down. Finally Eric attacks nicely with a half lap to go with me in front of the group. I let him go, and once he's clear for second place I power up before that last left hand turn, gradually picking up speed, then sprinting, barely holding off the GJ for third.

Tim G got second in pack sprint for 7th, Curtis got 10th.

Another nice lesson for me in teamwork, which is somewhat new to me. Thanks for a great race guys!

Tower Crit: Pro 1 (Sufferfest!)

This race was very small and had way to many fast guys! There was only about 35 guys, but there was a full Colavita squad plus many other pros. The race was fast right from the beginning and was constantly strung out. The first 15 minutes was nothing but attacks. Did my best to stay up front and even threw in an attack, but it didn't really do much because the pack was going so fast! Eventually 9 guys got a pretty good gap and the pack just shut down. I was already pretty much blown up, but I dug in and went for it anyway. The pack let me go and I got about half way pretty easily, I started to get tired and started to worry that I might not be able to get across, but then I saw a Colavita guy also coming. We worked together and caught on after a lap. About 10 seconds after a got to the back of the group I go into the hairpin and dump it! (Idiot) With nothing but a little bit of lost skin I go to the pit and get a free lap. I jump back into the group and it was pretty mellow for a bit. I did minimal work since there were 4 0r 5 Colavita, 2 Symmetrics, Blackgrove from Toyota, Holloway and Patrick Biggs. The attacks started about half way thru the race. This made it very difficult, after about 10 minutes it was just to hard to cover stuff and the group split. I end up in the last group with Briggs and 2 Colavita guys. The Colavita guys wouldn't work so me and Briggs did the best we could. We almost caught back on to the group, but then I see Blackgroves teammate drifting back from the pack and jumps into the group. He drilled it for about 2 laps and the gap doubled, he then pulled off and quit. I think Holloway was off the front so he was trying to bring him back. I thought this was against the rules but nobody did anything. We continued to ride a pretty good pace and at this point I was content with just getting home. One of the Colavita guys fell off or quit and I led it out for the other 2 guys and rolled in for 9th. I was pretty happy with the performance and I gotta thank Brian for closing alot of gaps in the beginning of the race for me. All around great weekend for the team!

Vince

Merco 35+ RR

I wanted the experience of doing the P/1 race in the crit the day before, and it was fun, but it really didn't help my form for the RR on Sunday. I was racing the day on stumps, is what it felt like.

There was a large group of riders from Specialized, MS, and to a lesser extent, EMC. Clover and Sierra as well. There was activity from the gun more or less, and I tried to cover most dangerous attacks. With a little under 1.5 laps to go (we did 3 laps total), Bennet and Hutchinson were 1-2 attacks and that looked to be trouble. Eventually Hutch got away with Bubba and McKinley and with only me trying to keep the pace up with five Specialized sitting on my wheel, they quickly built up 45 seconds on us.

With a lap to go, EMC threw everything into the chase, with me and one or two others helping. Eric was in there too. We got it down to 20 seconds with 5 to 10K to go. I assume that's why Hutch ditched Bubba and McKinley, but maybe he's just that hard. But with 5K to go the pace wasn't all that high, with no particular team driving the pack, allowing Hutch to keep his lead. It was a 4 second gap at the finish line.

Brian did another great job of muscling the final Kilo to get the field sprint, and 2nd overall.

Brian 7th today

In the p/1 today, real serious field, psuedo NRC, great result. The pic isn't too readable but it was Sutter Home first, Horner 2nd, BJM 3rd. That group of three lapped the field, the rest are in the field.

I got 2nd in the 35 race, out of a 10 man break. I didn't like the break cause there were three teams with 2 riders each. But it worked out pretty well. Hutchinson led out the last lap for Bennett and I was sitting third wheel. I blew the second to last turn which blew my chances for a win.

Pretty good day. 72 miles of fast crit racing and still another 72 miles tomorrow makes for a good workout.

The 2's was a bit of crash fest, and John was a little spooked for the last couple of laps.

Sierra Pacific Guest Rider

The team had a special guest today straight from the Tour of California. Astana rider Chris Horner has been in town a couple of days and wanted to hook up with Sierra Pacific for a local ride. We took chris 90 miles around Pine Flat and back which turned out to be the best day of riding we've seen in awhile.


You can catch Horner in action in Merced this weekend racing against the team in the Merco Cycling Classic.

Brian gets 3rd in p12

Brian gets 3rd in p12 race today with no help from vinnie or I. He made the eight? Man break that lapped the field.

Snelling/Merced

Looks like brian got 3rd at Snelling yesterday. Would have liked to have been there. I am in the rain in Merced for the crit right now. The 35 race had all of 9 guys in it. Bennett outsprinting me for the win. It wasn't raining for that race but light rain is starting for the p12 race.

Santa Rosa p1/2

Was hoping to do Pine Flat with the guys but had other obligations but did manage to get out for Santa Rosa (lot closer to home).

P1/2 had a small field of 30, and the wind was picking up so I figured it would be hard. Pretty early a break of four developed with Jared (Jittery Joe's/2007 U23 State Road Champ), Halloway, Parks, Rand Miller (I think). They got a good gap and were gone a long time before I started to work hard with CalGiant and BPG to reel them back in. It took a while but we got them. I bridged to them when we had them close in hopes of reviving it, but they were done.

The group stayed together for the end, Hernandez took a flyer but no one chased. I was sitting pretty in fourth wheel or so for the last four laps and was feeling good. Jared attacked with one to go and I decided to gamble on him. He took me clear for a 30 yd gap with a half lap to go. He let me through to take a pull with 600 yrds to go and I gladly did, but then he was gone! I was alone and tried to make it but the lead train caught me with 50 yds to go or so. I held on for 8th.

I put my report on the 35+ in my blog.

Pine Flat Road Race

First off I want to thank the team for riding a great race! Without them I wouldn't have done as nearly as well. The race started out pretty melllow. There wasn't really any attacks on the way to the turnaround. After the turnaround some guys started attacking and a group of 5 guys rolled off the front. With a long way to go and the toughest part of the race towards the end we didn't panic. The goal was not to bring back the break as soon as possible, because then another attack would have gone. So Brian, Tim, Eric and Coby went to the front and rode tempo to keep the break within striking distance, while I just sat in and was protected by the group. At this point I was starting to feel a little uneasy, because if I didn't ride well then I would be ruining it not only for myself, but also for my teamates. Everbody was sacrificing themselves for me to get a result. I was praying that I had legs on the climb! The boys reeled the break back on watts valley just before it started to get hilly. On the first roller a guy from the Cliff Bar team attacked and me and Ozzie from Cal Giant went with him. We quickly got a gap and started working together. We got to the wild cat climb together and then Ozzie fell off. Me and the cliff bar guy kept going and when we got to the steep section he started to fall off. I went hard about half way up and then decided that it probably would be best to wait, because I could see Jesse from Cal Giant coming and it was still to far to solo to the finish. The last part I took it easy and he caught me just as I had crested the top. We started working together, but then he stops and says he has a teamate coming. A group of 3 were chasing with ken Hanson from Cal Giant. They finally catch on and the group didn't work well at all, the strawberries would attack and nobody wanted to work. We fooled around for a little bit and then another 5 guys bridge to the group with another strawberry guy. At this point the group was not cooperative and strawberry started attacking. We were getting close to the finish and I threw down an attack just before the main climb and Jesse and Ken Hanson came with me from Strawberry. Not exactly the ideal situation, but better then fighting it out with 8 other guys. We got to the last climb and they started to tag team me. I covered the attacks, but when we made the turn with 200 meters to go I just didn't have a whole lot left. I sprinted as hard as I could but came up short and got 2nd. I road well and it was a complete team effort! Next up Snelling.

Vince

Dinuba 35+

And my thanks to the men in blue for helping me to win the 35+ race.

We tried to get 2+ guys into breaks for the first 3/4 of the race but they didn't hold, with Paulsen, Bennett, and others reeling them all back in, or at least bridging in a way that wasn't beneficial to us.

Brian tried another tactic, with us all going to the back for a bit to see what would sort out. Two guys went up the road with 10 to go and got a big gap with no one chasing. I gave a chase and Reid from VOS came with. One guy was cooked by the time we got there, and I was satisfied to mostly sit on while they took me to the last turn. Put on some burners to be sure of the win.

Brian also took 2nd in the field sprint for a 5th overall. A good showing.

Dinuba Elite Race

First, I would like to thank the men in blue for thier efforts today in the 1/2 race.

Three hours after racing the masters race, we pinned up for the elite race. With 30min to go before the start, many of us were a little on the filp-side for the elite race. Words like "my legs feel like @#$%", "Ah man, this race is over twice as long as the masters!" and "Vinny, you and Joel cover everything in the beginning we'll be hangin' out in the back." could be heard.

The whistle blew and we're off. I clicked in and sprint for the first turn. Come out of it third and a guy is driving it at the front. The first lap down and the next guy keeps it going. I looked back in the second corner and see a gap. We had six guys in the group and one is Eric E. This looked good for us, so I go to the front and kicked it up a bit. Our group of six worked well for a few laps, with help from Aaron (BPG) and Jon (VOS). We got a big gap fast, as the rest of the field just sat up. I had a chat with the Cal Gaint rider, to get him to do something but he was happy with sitting in and that must have been contagious because now nobody wanted to work with Eric and I. Because this was a great move for us, I stayed at the front for at least the next 6 laps. I didn't want anyone from the pack to bridge up to us and change our odds.

About half way into the race we could see what was left of the field ahead. I went for a prime and tried to jump across to the pack. The team saw me coming and kicked into overdrive. Good move guys. But it didn't work and all six in the breakaway were still together. Tim, Coby and Vinny stayed at the front the rest of the race and kept Eric and I safe from all attacks. Joel went off the front solo with 20+ laps to go and as he put it "That was the hardest 7th place I've ever raced for."

The last few laps saw a couple attacks from Jon (VOS) and one last try to deny us a victory came from the Cal Giant duo on the last lap. Coby and Vinny covered them and gave me a fast wheel to come out of the final turn with nothing but the finishline ahead.

Sierra Pacific gets the win and to make it even better, Eric the "pocket rocket" got second!
1-2 NICE!

Thanks guys!

Cherry Pie

Eric E aka "Pocket Rocket" jumped into a nine man break Sunday and was never seen again. The boys road great in Napa and we are definitely happy with the outcome.

With a full field of 100 riders, there was no shortage of talent as we saw the pace pick up to levels we haven't seen in a few months. It was certainly a great way to knock the cobwebs out from the legs.

Our guys were very active from the start and Joel and John were busy covering moves and atacking off the front. Eric soon jumped in and found the perfect mix of riders. Along with Lucas Euser, Jackson Stewart, Todd Hennings, Justin Devon, Brian Bucholz and others, the break was soon up a minute and we never saw them again.

The pace at times seemed the break was destined to be caught. With Fast Freddy and others taking their turn at the front, I was confident we'd catch but thankfully no since all I could really do for the first 30 minutes was watch what was going on in front of me.

The break ended up with an uphill drag race to the finish with Jackson taking the win followed by Lucas, Todd, then Eric for 4th.

Brian ended up taking the field sprint for 10th by several bike lengths.

Anyway, I couldn't be more happy with the way the team road this weekend. We trully have a great bunch of guys amd I'm looking forward to a great year!

Just for Lars!!

Hey Lars,

Just since you left the longest reply ever here are some action photos for you.

Here is the Finish.

And Second:

Photo credit to ATN:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/atn420/sets/72157603847959243/

Lars, do not worry, time change is almost here, 220 will be no problem when the Tues/Thurs night flogging begins!

-mb

nice start to the season

nice start to the season today: got away first lap, Brian bridged after a lap or two and they never caught us!

Wet Early Bird #4

The rain held out until the very beginning of the race today. It didn't take much convincing to get Casey to call it a 45 min race, short of the 60 min schedule. The rain scared people off and we only had about 25 to 30 riders

It started to rain pretty seriously after a couple of laps and then I got a flat. Ex TeamOakland teammate was nice enough to give me a wheel. Casey didn't want to get out of his car, but I figured I was good to jump back in.

Long story short, a four man break came about: Chis Hipp, Stanford guy, Billy Innes, and me. Stanford didn't work, Hipp was tired. Innes always makes 'work' look tireless. They all seemed to be fine with conceding, Innes giving me a nice lead out and me sprinting alone for the 'win'. Still, always nice to cross the finish line first. Real test is next week for the first real crit of the season. Hope to get a team presence out there!

First time flying the new colors in a 'race'

Black and Blue

That's a BIG bike!

I hope Eric never has mechanical in a road race and that Coby is the only guy around.

-bosch

Tollhouse

Today Vinny and I took advantage of the warm weather (60+) and rode up to the top of Tollhouse and back. At the start of the ride, the legs were complaining about the 4 previous days of riding. We took the first hour easy and from Watts Valley I turned it up a few clicks over Pittman Hill. After going up "Tee-Pee Hill" easy the legs were feeling a little better so Vinny and I pull off the road and strip down to shorts and jerseys. Roll into Tollhouse, got the watch ready and "GO". In 36:58 Vinny was at the top and 1:03 later I show up. I was all in for the whole climb - heart rate = 180 - 187. Pretty good times for January. I was shooting for sub 40, so I'm very happy with a 38:01. We pushed the pace back home until I cried "uncle" to Vinny with about 45min left in the ride.

Didn't like it when I was doing it, but glad I did it.

-bosch