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!