LKHC #3: Bohlman - On Orbit

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

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.

Patterson Pass Road Race, 35+ 4/5

By Matt Wocasek

After racing the district races on rolling terrain the last two weekends I was really looking forward to doing a mountain race. Patterson Pass has over a thousand feet of climbing in the first five miles, a much better environment for a climber like myself. I ended up second in a two man drag race to the line.

The race is held on the Altamont Pass west of Tracy, where it's always windy and hot in the summer. People were already sweating as we staged for the start.

There was a lead pack of around twenty riders that stayed together for most of the first lap. I tried to break things up with an attack on a short hill after the main climb. I pulled out a pretty good gap, but when no one wanted to join me I came to my senses and sat up. It was fun but wasted some resources.

The climbs on the second lap blew the pack apart. There were just six of us still in contact at the top of the main climb. By the time we ascended the second smaller climb, there were just four. When we started the long flat section on Old Altamont Highway there was no one in sight behind us.

There were two Wells Fargo riders in the group. They executed perfectly the classic one guy rests while the other guy attacks tactic. When we hit the short climb a few miles before the finish on the last lap, the chosen Wells Fargo guy and I started attacking. As we went over the top we realized that we had dropped the other two riders in the break so we decided to keep the power on and fight it out at the line. Coming into the finish he got a jump on me and held it to the line. I really have to work on my end of the race kick. The same thing happened to me at Copperopolis this year.

Watsonville Criterium, Cat 4, 7-18-2009

Matt Wocasek

The Bike Trip was well represented in the elite Cat. 4 race. Vladan, Abe, Robbie and I were able to stay with the pack without too much effort.

I tried to stay up towards the front of the pack but it seemed like riders were constantly moving ahead of me as we slowed for sharper corners.

With a few laps to go I found myself way too far back in the peloton to go for a good finish in the sprint. I had a number of close calls while trying to move up. At one point I was moving up the side of the peloton, trying to stay in the draft, when another rider had the same idea about getting closer to the front. He moved over on me and I had to lean into him to keep from going down. Next time… I'm going to stay up front.

On the backside of the course there is a 90 degree left hand corner with a rain gutter running through it. Somewhere around the midpoint of the race the lead rider grabbed too much front brake as he went through the cement gutter and crashed causing a number of riders to go down. Robbie hit a fallen rider and flipped over. He didn't finish the race, and I heard he ended up in emergency with of a banged up elbow, typical Cat. 4 crit.

In the final sprint I was able to go through the last corner at full speed and sprint with the group but I was nowhere near the front. Vladan finished around where I did and Abe was eighth.

Wenzel Coaching Sonora R.R. 35+ 4, 5/3/2009

By Matt Wocasek

The race started in Jamestown, a historic mother-lode town just down the road from Sonora. Unfortunately the local historic railway crossed the race course in a couple of places. Because it was raining and the extreme angle of the tracks you had to have some trials skills to get over them without zigzagging. Whole packs of riders went down on the first couple of laps. Luckily the tracks weren’t on a downhill so everyone was going fairly slowly when they crashed. After getting crossed up a couple of times I figured out that if I turned right, went over the tracks, off the road, then left and back on the road it was a little safer.

The course was on kind of rolling terrain with a few short steep climbs and one longer stair step climb. We just rolled along at a modest pace for most of the race. Every one was taking it easy on the flatter parts and then picking it up somewhat on the climbs. Compared to our training rides it seemed relatively easy. It was draining though because of the 54-mile distance. I tried to stay up in the front without doing too much pulling. After a couple of laps of this it started to look like it was going to come down to a field sprint between the ten or so of us survivors. I thought to myself "be smart sit in and go for the win on the uphill finish." This was a solid strategy, but I didn’t have the discipline to execute it.

On the third lap I attacked on a short climb. The climb wasn’t long enough though. I was still attacking when I noticed the whole pack was back on my wheel. No problem, the short hard effort felt like it loosened up my legs a bit.

The last time up the big climb I decided to put a little pressure on the group to see if some people would drop off. When I looked over my shoulder as I crossed the finish line to start the last lap I saw that I had opened up a pretty good gap on the rest of the pack. I thought, "well I didn’t have to work too hard to get away and there was still a hill to get over so why not put the hammer down and see what happens." After a short flat section I could see the pack a ways back all still together in a single file line. It didn’t seem like they were closing so I continued on thinking I would make a decision at the top of the next climb. I got to the top of the climb and the peloton was nowhere in sight. It was on.

I had something like ten miles rolling twisty road to race as fast as I could on. I was going flat out on the descents and using both lanes to zigzag over the railroad tracks. The peloton had been way cautious on the technical sections earlier in the race and I was hoping to gain some more time on them. After I realized I was probably going to make it I started thinking about how much fun I was having flying through the countryside on the way to winning a bike race. Then I thought, "sure hope they don’t catch me," and focused on hammering to the finish. When I got to the finish line it was kind of like the end of a mountain bike race. I finished by myself then rolled around while waiting to see how everyone else did.

Sure it was a small race that I won, but I should be a Cat 3 soon and top placings are going to be a lot harder to come by. You have to take them when you can.

Warnerville Road Race, 35+ 4/5

By Matt Wocasek

The inaugural Warnerville race turned out to be a fun race. I finished 4th in a field sprint.

The course didn’t have a lot of climbing, but it was difficult enough to break the race up. We had to complete 3-16 mile laps over rolling terrain in stiff winds. There was also a mile of dirt road with some sharp turns in it. Cyclocross! Lots of fun!

I noticed that the Davis bike club had 7 riders in the race so I decided it would be a good idea to get into a break with one of them hoping that the rest of the team would disrupt any organized chase. This actually worked out pretty good. On the second lap one of their riders attacked, with a rider from another team, and the others started blocking. I waited to see if the break looked like it would stick then jumped across a 20 second gap. We hammered through the dirt section increasing the gap, and just about he time we got a pace line going, the 3rd guy flatted. So instead of continuing with only two riders the Davis guy and I decided to call it quits and wait for the pack.

The lead group was a lot smaller when they caught us. The field must have split during the chase.

Once I was back in the pack I just tried to stay protected from the wind until the finish, not an easy thing to do on such a windy day.

In the run up to the finish, because of a strong crosswind, the front of the group was in a single file line right on the right on the edge of the road. I was 4th in line and got a perfect lead out. When the sprint up the final hill to the line started it seemed to happen in slow motion, probably because the wind was slowing us down so much. The guy at the front of the line jumped…I followed...everyone else followed me…I died…two riders got around me on the line. I guess I’ll have to win one on another day.

What a great course, I hope they have the race next year.

Merco Road Race, 35+ 4

By Matt Wocasek

The field of close to 100 riders stayed together until a huge crash took out the of the middle of the peloton with about 5 miles to go. I was lucky to not be caught up in the crash, but had to chase back to the lead group after threading my way through the carnage. I latched on to the back of the lead group just as we passed the 200 to go sign finishing a little way behind the sprint. I probably wouldn't have been cruising around at the back of the pack near the end of the race had I not burned so many matches trying to get a brake away going at the end of the first lap . It was a disappointment to not take part in the sprint, but at least my skin and bike are still intact.