CCCX Circuit Race #10, 35+ 3/4, Fort Ord, 8/25/2013

By Dennis Pedersen

Bob Montague, George Janour and I decided to join forces in a race we could all enter. In my case that meant racing with the younger group rather than my preferred 45+ group... but racing with teammates ended up being more fun.

The race course is the usual 4.3-mile loop on the closed roads of this former Army base, and we were to do five laps. We were determined to make this a fast and fun race. So right at the start, on Parker Flats Cut-Off Road, Bob took a nice hard pull at the front of the small group of 18 racers, and I pulled through right after him. I probably shouldn't have been surprised, but some guys from Leopard-Sapporo then pulled through even harder than we had... game on!

The race was full of attacks which we had agreed we'd take turns marking. I was impressed at the number of attacks and how well-timed they were, but also with our ability to mark them. If I'd had to mark them all I would have been exhausted very quickly; that's a major plus to having teammates. Bob showed tremendous spirit when he lost his chain on Eucalyptus Road's climbs but managed to rejoin us and continue his hard work. Wow!

The 35+ group definitely races harder than the 45+ group (we had several laps under 11 minutes!). The attacks really tired us out and a few times I was worried about my ability to continue... but I didn't want to let Bob and George down and I always managed to dig a little deeper to stay in contact with the main group.

We ended up having a few breakaway groups form, always with one of us in it, but they were all reeled back in like fish. Until we started our fourth lap; that's when a guy (I think from Dolce Vita Cycling) soloed off the front on the climb up Parker Flats. Nobody followed him and soon he was well out front.

The rest of us took a few pulls and eventually the breakaway guy was brought a bit closer. On the last lap Dave Porter (Bicycle Blue Book Racing) bridged up to him on Parker Flats and the pace picked up. I looked back and saw we'd dropped five or six guys in the process. I was nervous the duo would stay away, as they still had a nice gap on the final climbs up Eucalyptus. By then I was so exhausted from trying to maintain contact that all I could do was gasp for breath as I followed at the very back of this chase group as we descended from the top of Eucalyptus for the last time. But I was relieved to spot the duo about 100 meters ahead as we hit the bottom of the descent, on the long, fast straight leading up to the last two right-hand turns on Parker Flats.

Somehow I managed to make the strong draft of the riders ahead of me work to my advantage and I flew around them all on the right, past the duo and into the lead. It was a long sprint, but I figured it was my best chance vs. trying to fight them all in a bigger field sprint. Well, it almost worked, but four guys managed to counter-attack me at the finish line, with Erik taking a well-deserved win.

So, finishing 5th in a tough race like this was still an accomplishment for me and I was very grateful to Bob and George for the work they had put into this cool team effort. Thanks guys!

CCCX Circuit Race #9, 45+ 3/4, Fort Ord, 8/3/2013

By Dennis Pedersen

I really like these road races; partly because they're just a 45-minute drive from Santa Cruz, and partly because the race categories are so friendly to a Cat 3 Master like me with several options of when to race. So this is the fifth time I have raced there this year.

I picked up Nils so he could race the Elite 2/3 race at 12:30, and the gray weather started to clear up after we arrived. I got ready and warmed up, chatted with friends, and took a few photos of Nils while I waited for my 2:00 race start. I think there were barely ten racers, which is fun, because there are fewer variables which allows me to focus on my tactics to a very specific degree.

Our first lap (of 6 total) on this smooth, 4.3-mile rolling course (all on closed roads) was really just a warmup. But on the second lap the chatting riders behind us persuaded Scott Calley (VOS) and I to take some pulls at the front to liven things up, or perhaps initiate a breakaway. I felt it was in my interest to keep the pace higher, and also hoped I could spring a breakaway that would force others to chase into the wind. So on the Parker Flat climb we opened up a gap and, sure enough, some of the fast guys chased us down. I doubted they'd let me ride away in a break, ever, so I couldn't waste too much energy doing this.

So on the third lap Scott went on the attack again and got away solo, while I watched on to encourage others to either go with him or pull me up to him. In this case nobody went and so he started to disappear up ahead. After working too hard in some of the previous races here I stuck to my plan and just waited. Only occasionally did I push the pace, and never too hard. I wanted the gap to be manageable, and also to keep my competitors breathing instead of chatting. Eventually Rob White (Bicycle Blue Book) bridged up to Scott, really digging deep; he's a strong sprinter which made me think some of the others would chase, but still nobody did. Maybe they doubted he and Scott could maintain their pace.

I was able to stay really focused in this race and did a good job of carefully considering when I should force the pace and when to just hold back. I would carefully consider the wind force and direction, where key riders were positioned at any given time, and  how I felt before choosing my place to attack. In this way I was able to put some of the other riders in trouble without putting myself in any trouble. It truly is easier to accept pain when you are the one dishing it out!

On the fifth lap, on the stair-step climbs on Eucalyptus, I opened up another gap so there were only four of us chasing just as we caught Robert, who was gasping for breath. I could see Scott ahead, but closer, so I felt everything was exactly as I wanted it. I was mostly just worried the others in our chase group weren't tired out and could beat me in a sprint; at least John Cheetham (Metromint) was forced to take some big pulls too, though not as many as I wanted, of course. Scott's teammate Courtney Grossman (VOS) hadn't had to pull at all since his teammate Scott was in the lead so long, nor had Mark Bailey (Alto Velo) so both were a potential threat. I guess I still have a few things to learn that would have helped me.

On the last lap I took a pull past exhausted Scott and now it was between the four of us to determine the winner. I was trying to string out our small group just enough to make it harder for guys like Courtney to beat me in a sprint, but mostly I was worried that John would be able to use my energy to his advantage. So I rested a bit on the final descent, watched, waited, and started my sprint at maybe 90% a bit early. I skittered through the last two turns, and prepared to use my last jump to meet whoever tried to come around me. It turned out that John was that person, and my last jump was too little to beat him, but at least I finished 2nd place after a very entertaining and empowering race!

I think we all had fun!

Lost Hills Road Race, 3/31/2012

By Eddy Price

"Eddy, you have to wake up, it's 4:15 a.m. and you told Jim Moran you would meet him at 4:30 in Aptos  to drive him to a bike race at Lost Hills... remember" my wife shouted in my ear very early Saturday morning as I lay in a deep sleep. It took a few seconds for my brain to process what she had said.

Then I remembered, Jim Moran, my good friend, personal training client and new member of our club-team and I were driving to the Lost Hills Road Race near Bakersfield. Our race started at 9:00 am, it was a three-hour drive, so we had to leave Aptos at 4:30 a.m. to get there by 7:30 a.m. and I had promised to drive Jim in my truck.

I hate early mornings. Normally I wake up between 8:00 and 8:30 am and I stay in bed until I can't keep my eyes closed anymore, which might be up to 45 minutes, or around 9:15 a.m., but 12 to 15 times a year I awake very early in the morning, long before the sun rises, to drive several hours to compete in a bike race in some distant part of Northern California.

My alarm, set for 3:30 a.m. either hadn't gone off or I had slept right through it, but within ten minutes I had dressed, gulped down a cup of coffee, made one cup for the road, inhaled a bowl of oatmeal, packed my cycling clothes, and loaded the truck, arriving only four minutes late in Aptos where Jim and I had arranged to meet.

This was to be Jim Morans first road race and I had been on the lookout for flat road races as a gentle introduction to the sport. I didn't want Jim's first experience to be next week's race at Copperopolis, where the road is flat and smooth for only 50 yards before the route turns left, enters the "pave" and tackles an eleven hundred foot climb.

Jim called me three years ago to start a weight-training program, spotting my name on our team's website and finding my phone number in the yellow pages under my personal training ad. Jim was turning 60 soon and wanted to get in better shape, so his birthday present to himself was six months of personal training sessions with me at my studio in Aptos. We progressed from the gym to weekly training sessions on the bike and last year Jim took the plunge, reading everything he could on training (Chris Carmichael's book was our Bible), watching everything he could find about cycling on YouTube, purchasing a new Cervelo bicycle, competing in the Swanton Time Trial Series and, the final step every male takes towards being a competitive cyclist, shaving his legs.

We arrived at Lost Hills at 7:35 a.m. There was no rain, but it was very windy. Because of the low turnout, they combined the 45+ Cat 4, 45+ Cat 5, Women, and Open Cat 5 together, which amounted to about 30 riders total. The course was a four-corner, 27-mile rectangle around the oil fields of Lost Hills on dead flat roads with very long uninterrupted stretches, as far as you could see, and a four-mile section of dirt road directly into a 30 mile per hour headwind thrown in for good measure.

The race started very fast with a nasty wind from the left. Naturally, the riders at the front stayed as far to the right as possible, so that those behind wouldn't have much shelter from the wind. The only place where I felt a tiny bit of protection from the 30-mile per hour wind was as far to the right as I could possibly ride, so that is where I tried to stay. The problem was the road had zero shoulder and a rough "edge" and frequently I would end up in the dirt for a few seconds, putting my cross skills to the test, but endangering no one because I was riding in last place. The other problem was that every one wanted to ride to the right of the rider in front of them and with 30 riders, this wasn't possible.

I was riding in last place, suffering like a dog and wondering why in the heck I thought this would be an easy introduction to road racing. I rode at the back for the first four miles until I had to start to close gaps that would open in front of me. The third time this happened, I got "mad," not at the rider opening the gap, he was doing the best he could, I became mad at myself for not being more proactive.

So, I moved left of the group all the way to the center-line and motored up to the front of the group, settling in to forth place. Funny thing, the wind was no worse riding to the left of the group than riding as directly behind the group. Near the front, the draft wasn't any better, but at least I wouldn't have to come around the rider in front of me when he cracked and fell off the pace-line.

I eventually cracked right before the 9-mile tailwind section of the course. At that point there were only four riders in front of me. I kept them in sight until we turned right, hitting 36 miles per hour aided by a wind of equal speed. The headwind leg of the course began with a three-mile section of dirt road, dropping my speed to 10 miles per hour and the four in front of me pulled away slowly.

When I crossed the finish line with one lap still to go, I almost quit. The wind was at its strongest, I was riding 8 miles per hour pedaling a 34 x 23 gear combination and wasn't sure I could manage another lap.  Thankfully, the wind died down to a relatively calm 20 miles per hour and I started to feel better. I held 5th place the whole second lap, riding 68 miles in 3 hours 15 minutes. I was so tired that I was barely able to ride the three miles back to my car from the finish line. I even had to close one eye because I was seeing double and it wouldn't go away.

Jim Moran finished only ten minutes behind me, placing a fine 7th in the 45+ Cat 5 race.  It was remarkable considering he was gapped within the first few miles, but he rode strongly, eventually catching a rider from Oakland and they rode together for quite some time. Jim even had the smarts to wait for him several times because he knew they could make much better time working together, but eventually he rode away from him.

I purposely didn't enter the 55+, thinking it was too hard a category, but I would have won because there was only one rider in the group and he finished behind me. Still, 5th place is my highest ranking in several years, and along with my 6th place the week before at the Salinas Criterium, it means that I won two tee shirts on two consecutive weekends. All that pain and suffering for two tee shirts. Yes, I know it sounds crazy and maybe it is, but it keeps me sane.

Ed Price

Copperopolis Road Race 55+, 4/7/2012

By Bob Montague

Saturday was the race I had targeted as my most important race of the season. I really like the course, and I was hoping to do well. Ed and I carpooled up together and met up with Jim Langley and John Schaup. Ed had signed up for the 45+ [category] 4 race, and the rest of us were in the 55+ open field. Our race was stacked with all of the biggest names in our age group in Northern California. The headliners were Rob Anderson, Mark Caldwell, Steve Archer, Kevin Susco and our own Jim Langley. I also expected to see Chris Cerutti, but he was still recovering from illness. Still, we started with near, if not at our limit of 50 guys at the line.

The pace started off brisk and the initial piece of roadway going down to the feed zone hill is poor at best. I was already at the back of the group on the way down and I realized that would not do if I was going to have any chance of getting up the hill with the leaders. I moved up to the row behind Jim. I know that I can’t out-climb him, but I was hoping to be able to hang on his wheel up the climb. As soon as the feed zone arrived, Rob Anderson set the pace. He is an interesting racer in that he does not have a really big top end. However, when he gets a gap, there are few in our group who can both bridge that gap and then maintain his pace. On this day, he opened that gap with 4 others (Caldwell, Archer, Susco and a guy named George Smith). At the top of the climb, I was maybe 5 seconds off of Jim and he was 15-20 seconds off of this lead group. Jim and I regrouped with 8-10 others and we began to chase. I used the first few moments to recover as Jim was leading our chase group. I realized that our chase was not going to be fast enough to reel the lead group back and I moved to the front. I also wanted to give Jim the chance to sit in with the group. I raced with Anderson at Topsport and I felt that our group could chase them down if we worked together and chased hard. Only one other guy in our group was willing or able to chase as hard as we needed to to bring back the leaders. Jim told me he had hurt himself too much on the climb and perhaps others were in the same circumstance. I worked hard to drive the pace and for the remainder of the first lap, our gap behind the lead group remained about the same. By the time we reached the top of the second climb, it had become clear that we did not have the will to chase down the leaders.

From this point our task changed from one of chasing to one of preparing for the last lap and finish. I could tell that I was as strong as anyone in our group. I went off the front at the finish line at the end of the first lap and stayed away to the bottom of the hill before the feed zone hill. The second time up the main climb was easier than the first. In the group ahead of us, Susco had flatted and George had thrown his chain and dropped back to us. I was trying to think about how to position myself to help Jim at the finish, but he told me that he still could not recover from the first time up the climb. I was feeling good and driving the pace of our group, but I knew there were some better sprinters than me. Kevin Willits and Joe Lemieux along with Marc Hamlin as well as others. I expect that I was the least experienced racer in our group. That probably contributed to my placing at the finish. I did not try to get a gap on the last climb, but in retrospect, I think I should have. Still, a few guys, including Jim, got gapped. I was in front going over the top and everyone hammered the descent pretty hard. I was feeling good and wanted to make my best effort going to the line. I was hoping to go with Willits and when he started his move, so did I. Unfortunately, I got crowded to the edge of the road and had to scrub speed to stay on the road. I tried to reload, but everyone had passed me by and were heading for the line by the time I was able to go again. At that point, I went as hard as I could and passed 2 guys right before the line. I finished 11th and Jim came in at 15th. I would have been happier if I had been able to finish stronger, but I was really thrilled to be able to finish with the caliber of racers that I did cross the line with!

Topsport Stage Race, 55+

By Bob Montague

I haven’t written any race reports this year. I may start to try and do a better job of it going forward. This report concerns the Topsport Stage Race, a somewhat poorly attended event for masters racers, that I did in the 45+ cat 4 two years ago. That time I finished 3rd of maybe 15 entrants and it was then and remains my highest finish in any race. That finish motivated me to enter again this year, but this time I entered the 55+ open race.
The weather report for Saturday said to stay at home, but I headed out to Copperopolis anyway. I was already a little intimidated because the road race course had been changed from the first time I had done the race. The description said it was a bit hilly, not my strong suit. I also checked the preregistrations and was surprised to see the entrance of Rob Anderson, the current 55 -59 world TT champion, as well as reigning 55 – 59 national road race champion. There were some other strong entrants, including Kevin Willits and two others from the Sierra Nevada Team. My hopes of possibly having a chance to win were dimmed considerably, but I set out determined to do my best and let the chips fall where they might.

I reached the location for the RR and the rain hadn’t arrived yet. The wind was already howling and I could see that the earlier fields were being blown apart. I wasn’t too concerned with the wind, but I could see that it would be raining by the time our race went off. Indeed, it was pouring and very windy at race time. I had been able to change into my kit before the rain came, but it started before I began to warm up. It was hard to get warm and I don’t think I really accomplished it before heading to the line. Once there, I was surprised to learn that the officials were offering options to the fields. We could choose to do the whole race, one lap only, or we could choose to skip the whole thing and all get the same time. I would have probably chosen to do the whole race, but I didn’t feel right saying so when most of the others seemed reticent. The start line was in about the middle of the course and Anderson suggested that we do the out and back leg at a group speed and then decide if we wanted to complete the whole first lap. Everyone seemed to feel that to be a reasonable idea and we were agreed. The official was considering stopping the race all together because there had been some instances of hypothermia in the early fields and a few in our group (predominantly me) were already shivering. I told the official that I would be fine, but that I simply needed to get moving. And so, we were off.

Anderson led us out and stayed at the front setting a high but not uncomfortable pace. I believe that we all stayed together during the out and back leg, but there were a few surges. No one made any mention of quitting as we returned past the start line, so the assumption was that we would do a one lap race. A number of riders launched attacks during the race, but none could stay away. I thought to use a tactic that I have seen Steve Heaton use on several occasions. I attacked multiple times. Each time the field chased me down and I would recover, only to attack again. I probably attacked on 4 separate occasions, the last as we approached the finishing hills. I was unable to get away for long, and I had burned too many matches to figure in the sprint. Indeed, I was assessed an 8 second gap because I couldn’t hang on the back of the finishing sprint. I was not unhappy that I had chosen to attack so much, but I was a bit dejected that I finished last among the group. I was surprised to see in the results that a couple of guys had been shelled from the pack, so at least I was not in overall last place. Still, I was considering throwing my bike in the car and heading home. On returning to the car, I realized that I was very cold and that I needed to get changed and warm as soon as possible. I started my car and turned the heat up as high as I could, but I was unable to recover my body heat until I got to Angels Camp and checked into my room with a long hot shower. Nasty conditions for a bike race, but I consider myself a mudder.

I ate at the only decent restaurant in Angels Camp, an Italian place called Caruscos. It was pretty good and I ran into a few other cyclists there. I didn’t stay out late because I wanted to be rested for the Circuit Race and TT on Sunday.

The circuit race was held on the same course as two years ago, but they went in the opposite direction. I think the course is a little easier in the direction we went this year, but I can’t be sure. I again chose to try and attack on several occasions in the circuit race and again found myself to be unsuccessful. Once again, I didn’t have anything left in the tank for the finishing sprint and was next to last at the line and lost another 3 seconds to the leaders. At this point, I was in 9th place overall and 21 seconds behind the leader and 11 seconds behind those who didn’t have any time bonus from the road race. I admit, I was more than a little dejected and again considered packing it in. I decided instead that I would just have to kill it in the TT.

This is where the story takes a bit of a turn, and it’s funny how the turn in a tale can sometimes follow a different than expected path. I didn’t ride my best TT, but I rode pretty well, and it was partly the choices of others that decided things. I had borrowed wheels from Ben Jacques-Mayne, but I decided not to ride them because this was a very bumpy course and those wheels have fairly worn 19mm tubular on them. Also, I found that I was having some issue with the cassette for the gears on the disc wheel. Instead, I chose to ride my new Enve wheels. My only problem was that the gearing on the cassette was a bit iffy on this rear wheel too. I couldn’t get it adjusted right before the start, and while it was shifting alright, I couldn’t get it to shift into the 12. I had to settle for what I had because there was no time to fix it. I would just have to hope I wouldn’t need it.

At the starting line, it was both impressive and intimidating to be lining up with a guy wearing the stripes of the World Champion. I am grateful that he chooses to enter races that I can also enter. I do not have the abilities that he has, but that does not change the fact that it is an honor to have the opportunity to line up against the world champion. I watched him go off and waited my turn. I got a clean start and began to fight my way into the headwinds that persisted throughout the outbound leg. I passed my 30 second man within a couple of minutes and decided to dial it back a bit. I felt that I was going out too hard and I didn’t want to blow up before the finish. Turns out that with the winds and my gearing, I should have just continued to kill myself on the outbound leg. As I approached the turnaround, I think I saw the Champ coming the other way about 3 minutes before I reached the turnaround. Considering that was the gap between us at the start, he appeared to already have a 3 minute lead on me in the TT. Still, I kept my head down and worked hard into the turn. My 1 minute man was far ahead of me at the turn, but I had my 90 second and 2 minute men in my sites. I began to ramp up the effort to chase them down. Unfortunately, because of the tailwind and my goofy gearing, I was spinning out on the downhill sections at around 40 mph. It took me until the last ¼ of the race to recognize that I had to work with what I had. At that point I spun up to my maximum speed on the downhills and then recovered until the road turned up. Then I had more energy to hammer up the uphills. Using this technique, I passed my 90 second man before the line and was only about 10 seconds behind my 2 minute man. I felt I had ridden this TT as well as I could given the limitations.

Still, it was at about this time that I realized that I had not seen any of the Sierra Nevada Team out on the course. Going into the TT they held 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the overall standings in our race. Turns out, they had missed the start. As a group, they failed to check their start times for the TT. Two of their team chose not to ride the TT, and the one who did ride it was assessed a penalty that left him out of the standings. That moved me from 9th to 6th place without having to do anything. My TT finish moved me up to 4th in the TT and 4th overall in the race. That was good enough for a podium finish as there were awards to the top 5. Stay in the race! You never know what might happen!!

Almond Blossoms Road Race, 45+ 1/2/3

By Dennis Pedersen

I've done this race (also called Foothills Road Race, and part of Merco Cycling Classic stage race) two times before. It's always in the same area as Snelling Road Race held the previous weekend. The course is therefore pretty similar: two 24-mile laps through rolling Sierra foothills. In past years Merco always ended with a big sprint, while Snelling Road race, in contrast always finished with a breakaway group winning... would 2011 fit that pattern?

This year the wind at Snelling was just 6-12 mph, and it ended in a field sprint. But Merco had winds of 12-15 mph and it was also a bit damp. Russ, Miles and I carpooled that morning through intermittent showers and drizzle, but I was hopeful it would dry out by our 12:00PM race start.

I presented a plan to them that I came up with. My idea was to assign perhaps two competitors to each of us to follow if they went with a break. I had circled some names on the list of entrants that I felt represented a threat. Seemed a sensible precaution to me in case a strong break got away. But Russ pointed out that we were a small team, while other teams had far more riders entered. Ergo, it made sense for us to sit in, rest and force the larger teams to chase down any breaks.

When we arrived the roads were damp and it was still drizzling a bit. We got our numbers and suited up after much debate about how to dress, as it was damp but not cold. I added knee- and arm-warmers only, and waited in the truck while Russ and Miles rode around a little. I discovered I'd somehow left my sports drink at home. Unlucky! But when we lined up for the start the drizzle pretty much stopped for the remainder of the day. Lucky!

While 100 guys had signed up, only about 56 showed up, because of the weather no doubt. But it really wasn't bad. The roads were starting to dry, though we had to be cautious in the turns. The race started with a few guys attacking from the very beginning, but while some of them held us off for a while none stayed away for long.

At the end of the first lap, I think on the longest climb of the course (about 90 seconds long) on Cox Ferry Road, a few guys attacked hard and opened up a big gap on the rest of us. I didn't get a good look at them and thought it was just two guys. But it turned out it was three, including Cale Reeder (Echelon/Zteam) and Don Langley (Morgan Stanley); both names I'd circled on my list! Cale's teammate even said to Russ "there goes the race," but Russ didn't believe him.

I should have asked who was in the break but still clung to the hope we'd catch them. By not knowing who was in the break I was hamstrung into making poor decisions. I sat in and looked for the unrepresented teams to chase. That turned out to be mostly Davis Bike Club, VOS, Team Bicycles Plus and Wells Fargo. But it took an embarrassingly long time for me to figure out Morgan Stanley was blocking; maybe half a lap! So I started taking a few short pulls to hopefully close in on them. We didn't seem to be making much progress, with the motorcycle ref calling out over a 1-minute gap at times. Later on we closed to within about 25 seconds, but it was clearly too late when we hit Cox Ferry Road again and prepared for the finish without the break even in our view.

I managed to move forward and was behind Russ as we crested the last rise and approached the finish line, but when I tried to come around him the wind held me back... and Stanley Terusaki (Morgan Stanley) even managed to pip me at the line. Russ was strong, and took 5th! I still got 7th place, same as 2010, though perhaps my 4th in the field sprint allows me to believe I did better this year. I even got $15 prize money, which beats winning some T-shirt.

So, in retrospect, I wish we'd used my original plan, but it's always easy to say that with 20-20 hindsight. But I'm proud that the top two finishers were also guys I'd predicted could win. Live and learn. Ciao!

Snelling Road Race, 45+ 1/2/3

By Dennis Pedersen

I love this course, 4 laps on 11.7 miles of small country roads in the rolling Sierra foothills north of Merced, and signed up for my third time. But, February weather can be messy and, as in past years, I kept checking the miserable-looking forecasts up until Friday afternoon. At that point the forecast changed from "Rain and snow showers. Highs in the upper 30s and lows in the low 30s" to "Mostly Sunny, 50° high, Chance of Precip: 10%, Wind: NNW at 11 mph." That forecast, and carpooling with Bob (racing 45+ 4/5), was enough to get me to commit to race.

I picked up Bob in Watsonville, after scraping ice off my windshield, but there was no sign of rain so we were optimisitic that we weren't driving 3 hours just to get hypothermia. We even stopped for breakfast in Merced. It was a bit cool, but with gorgeous sunshine.

Neither of us had teammates to race with so we both knew we had to race conservatively to do well. The race always starts with a 1.5-mile neutral roll-out which is all the warmup I need. So we both suited up in our new team kits and lined up for our 12:40 and 12:50 start times. New for 2011, we have timing chips mounted on our bikes (see photo).

I knew from my past races that I needed to be near the front to watch for attacks. The other times I raced here the win went to breakaways and I was determined not to miss any. But this year the wind was a little less strong and from the west... that would change my tactics a bit. I won the field sprint in 2008 by sprinting early and the tailwind this year would make that more important.

As soon as the motorcycle referee signalled our race start two guys, one from Team Bicycles Plus (I think Lance Newey), attacked hard into the wind. In seconds they were 200m ahead of us. But they never gained more than maybe 20 seconds on us and were caught a mile or two later. A few others wisely tried attacks on the back section of the course where we had a tailwind, but they also were caught.

Just after we started the second lap, Bill Dunham (Alto Velo) attacked solo and opened up a nice gap. He held it for a while and a few other guys took turns bridging up to him. Some dropped back, only to be replaced by others, and it turned out this break stayed ahead of us for the next 2.5 laps. I never joined it because I had reason to believe they wouldn't last.

• The lack of strong winds encouraged us to work together and prevented cross-wind sections from giving the small groups an advantage.


• Their lead never grew beyond about 20 seconds.


• The large teams were not generally represented in the break, so I thought they would chase them down later.

I was right: On our last lap we were just behind the break and toyed with the catch. But we were also staying as fresh as possible for the finish, so we'd get close then back off. I kept riding conservatively while also working to stay near the front, only once or twice taking a short pull at the front. On the back section Jess Raphael and John Laine (both Safeway) took several strong pulls at the front reducing the gap to maybe 100m. But we couldn't rest yet, and others started to lend a hand in the effort.

I knew I needed to be near the front. I was doing well, but after we caught the break, maybe 1km from the finish, we slowed and soon the pack jammed across the whole road making it hard to advance. Then a surge started as we approached the last turn of the race; a hard right turn leading onto the 300m, slight uphill to the finish line. I was in the wind a bit, and somewhat blocked, so it took a few seconds before I could respond. Then Michael O'Rourke (Safeway) jumped all-out before the turn, just as I had planned to do but couldn't because of my poor positioning.

By the time I got around that last turn I was already well behind the leaders. But I also knew the sprint was 40 seconds long, so I just set a hard, steady pace up the slight hill, passing guys along the way who went too hard, too soon. I was actually able to gain on the three guys behind O'Rourke, but ran out of room and finished 5th, so I was still pretty jazzed! And now I have another masterpiece T-shirt.

Bob and I were both pretty happy about our races and very happy we got to enjoy such unexpectedly pretty weather. Next weekend we'll be back in that area for the Merco Foothills Road Race. I am looking forward to it!

Cantua Creek Road Race, 45+ 4

By Eddy Price

Sixth place last Saturday at the Cantua Creek Road race in the 45+ Cat 4 race was a real surprise, as I was hoping for a top 15 or 20 at best.

I haven't formally trained on my road bike more than four or five times in the past six weeks because of moving (Jan 1st) and then putting in 70+ hour work weeks to get caught up on all the work I neglected during the move.

I thought about not racing at Cantua Creek, that maybe I should hold off on racing until I have put in some long training rides, solo intervals, roller intervals and some Sunday group rides but I decided the best thing to do would be to race. So instead of training hard, I took two days completely off the bike right before the race, Wednesday and Thursday and rode the rollers for 45 minutes Friday. My legs felt fresh for the first time in months.

My only goal was to make it to the final finishing hill with the main group but beyond that, I had no aspirations of anything special. To be honest, I have been commuting everywhere on my mountain bike, road bike and electric bike, sometimes up to 20 hours in a week. In addition, because I am always cutting it close for my appointments, I usually have to hammer pretty hard to get there on time.

I wanted to help Bob and Joe podium, but I wasn't sure if that was even possible. To that end, I took a flyer just past the first turn-around and stayed away for about a couple of miles, hoping to force the other teams to chase me and give Joe and Bob a free ride. I could see them blocking at the front of the race for a while, but I didn't press on the pedals too hard because it was a long way to the finish.

At the end of the first lap, on the three mile stair-step climb to the finish, I noticed the headwind was pretty strong. We lost about ten riders on the climb.

On the second "out" section, I bridged up to a serious-looking four man break but we couldn't get organized and nothing became of it.

With about four miles to go, an accident occurred in the middle of the middle of the pack, causing 7 or 8 riders to hit the road pretty hard. Bob and Joe were near the front and avoided it completely. I was dead last and weaved my way through it pretty easily, then quickly bridged back up to the lead group who were quickly pressing the advantage they received from the accident. I would have done the same thing if the roles were reversed, so no hard feelings whatsoever on my part.

On the final three mile headwind climb to the finish, I started dead last, following the rider in front of me until they cracked, quickly going around him and waiting until this scene repeated itself, which it did over and over until I was in the top ten with one kilometer to go.

I could see Joe hitting the front of the race with about 500 meters to go, then falling back a bit. I could see I was in the 6th and final place for an award when two riders went past me like I was standing still. Still, I thought 8th place was pretty good until I found out the two riders who went past me (and Joe as well) were from the Cat 1/2 race. Joe 3rd, me 6th and Bob 8th.

My hats off to Joe for trying to win and still finishing 3rd. My hats off to Bob for being dropped early on the climb and not giving up, passing rider after rider until he was in a fine 8th place at the finish. I don't know if I could recovered like that. Great piece of riding Bob.

Ed Price

San Ardo Road Race, 45+ 1/2/3

By Dennis Pedersen

Russ and I raced at San Ardo last year and took 2nd and 3rd, so we were hoping to do well again. He drove Miles and I down to the poor, tiny town of San Ardo, south of King City near Highway 101 for our 8:50am race start (thanks Russ!). We also had Matt Wocasek so team tactics became possible.

My ideas for this 68-mile bike race did not involve initiating any early breakaways. The beautiful, gently-rolling hills of this rural course, and just 5- to 6-mph winds, discouraged such attacks. I did think that a late break, maybe at the end of the 2nd of our 3 laps, might work for my teammates, but not for a sprinter like me.

After we started our race I thought we were still being held back by the motorcycle referee, but we were just riding really slowly! The prospect of 3 hours of that was intolerable (even though the weather was perfect). We can either accept things as they are, or work to change them. I opted for the latter and moved to the front looking for breaks. At worst I'd allow my teammates to rest up for attacks late in the race, while ensuring that one of us was always present in any early breaks so that we wouldn't get shut out if the break maintained its lead to the finish. At best my chosen break would stay away and I could use my sprint to get Team Bicycle Trip a decent placement in the race.

After one moderate effort, about 1/4 lap into our race, I rolled slowly off the front. I looked to my left and saw Hunter Ziesing (Zteam) doing likewise while everybody else sat up. We looked at each other and soon we'd both taken off and gained a nice lead on the pack. I didn't even realize that at first and thought we were just pushing the pace a bit higher. Soon a few other guys decided we meant business and bridged up to us. The next few minutes we really started working hard, with a few of us taking turns pulling at the front while others just drafted behind us. But when I looked back I couldn't even see the peloton. Yikes, I wasn't sure I wanted to be part of a break with 2.5 laps to go!

There were now about 12 guys in the break (out of a total field of 50), but still only a few of us who were contributing to the high pace. I started doubting our chances against the other 35+ guys but then Cale Reeder (Zteam) made a conspicuous entry into our group wearing his US Championship jersey... that was both good and bad news! I knew he'd work hard for our break, but I also knew he'd do well in the final climb to the finish line. Well, I decided to keep working while also looking to see if we would have a good chance against the peloton behind us. The motorcycle ref told us our lead had dropped to 30, down from 55 seconds earlier. Clearly we had stopped cooperating after Cale joined us!

Cale and Hunter solved our dilemma by using the short climb just after the start/finish area at the beginning of lap 2 to attack our break... first Cale took off while we were panting, then Hunter joined him with an impressive effort! We could see them crest the rolling hills as we sped northward, but soon they had a gap of 20 to 30 seconds! And after a half lap of chasing hard I again sensed a lack of motivation in our break as the two off the front disappeared into the distance. But I was still worried the peloton would catch us since:

1. Cale and Hunter would cooperate well and were likely to get 1st and 2nd even if the peloton caught my break.
2. I was now the best-placed Bicycle Trip racer and I didn't think that a mass field-sprint would improve our odds at the finish since I would have to sprint against 47 guys instead of just 13 or so.

The next 2 laps were spent trying to get everybody to take turns pulling while looking behind us for the peloton. I never did see them (thanks in part to my teammates who rode at the front of the peloton, discouraging attempts!), but a few guys caught us on the last lap so clearly we couldn't afford to relax. Jess Raphael (Safeway) and Steve Gregorios (Edge), who had been working hard all along, finally got tired of us and each soloed off the front with about 1/4 lap to go. Whenever I tried this I just dragged everybody with me so I held back instead, leading us for long sections into the headwind toward town and the finish because nobody wanted to pull.

As we rode through town I somehow managed to position myself behind Dirk Himley (Zteam)... in second position for a change! We slowly rode over the bridge, then up the hill and under Highway 101. I kept expecting early attacks from behind me, but instead I was the first one to jump, about 30 meters before the left turn onto the finishing straight. I stayed seated but went as hard as I could sustain for the 300-meter sprint, railed the turn, rode my heart out and crossed the line in 5th with a big gap! Woo-hoo! Miles and Matt rode really smart at the finish and attacked the peloton for 16th and 18th.

So, 5th place wasn't what I had hoped for us, after 2 hours and 56 minutes of suffering, but I felt I rode with panache and that is so cool!

Timpani Criterium, 45+

By Dennis Pedersen

We had perfect weather, albeit a bit windy, in Santa Clara for LGBRC's flat, 4-corner criterium near Great America Parkway. Team Bicycle Trip was well-represented with Vlada, Matt Wocasek and I in the 45+ race, and John Schaupp in 55+. Ed Goulet also made a reappearance on the racing scene after a long absence... but in "unattached" status. My goal was to race aggressively and either go with a good breakaway group, or keep the pace high while holding back enough to be able to sprint at the end (which would also help my teammates if they could rest enough).

Our combined field was 67 riders. On the very first lap of our 40-minute race Morgan Stanley sent one of their riders on a solo flyer, but we caught him after a lap or so of chasing. A number of other riders tried their luck at various times, but nothing too serious; I chased a few of these down as I really didn't want to risk missing the wrong break, but others just fizzled out on their own. About halfway into the race a break of about 6 guys looked big enough to get away from the rest of the pack. I bridged up, with John on my wheel part of the way, and latched on, fresh enough to be able to contribute, when it all just dissolved into nothing. Darn. A little later Matt also took a really long pull to close in on a break while I drafted behind him. After he tired I went around and the pack followed shortly for another catch.

In turn 1, the site of many crashes from the dreaded overhanging bush in the past (it seems to have been trimmed back finally!) we had a crash from a different cause: I thought it was a guy who clipped his pedal but it was actually his front tire that flatted, scraping his rim on the pavement... screeeeech. He took down a couple other guys, and yet another went down when I swung wide enough to avoid the crash, but a SJBC guy swung even wider from my inside. We gently (it seemed to me) bumped shoulders, and bam, down he went like a sack of concrete. Yikes, we didn't even touch bikes. That was a bummer, but nothing an experienced rider couldn't have avoided (I have bumped and leaned much harder into others with no such drama; some of it in velodrome training sessions). Anyway, I feel sorry for the guy.

The crash later resulted in a restart when an ambulance was called onto the course... though it looked like everybody was well enough to be ambulatory at least. On our restart we were given a bit of extra time, 20 minutes total, to finish our race. I set my timer to count it down.

Later I saw a VOS rider jump free off the front, and it looked like it might have been Rick Martyn. So I rode hard to catch him as he's the kind of guy who might stay away if we just watch him. Stanley Terusaki (Morgan Stanley) thought the same and got there first. They traded pulls but when I caught them and Rick dropped behind Stanley after his pull he looked at me and promptly sat up; I prefer to take that as a compliment.

VOS kept animating the race and with about 15 minutes to go VOS sent Rich Juarez off the front; another real threat as he can definitely solo for a win! I, and another Morgan Stanley guy, again shut this down as he immediately sat up when we caught him... I really hoped I'd get into a strong break but that wasn't happening yet.

About 3 laps remaining I saw Mark Caldwell bridge up to another break, but I wasn't convinced it was the break "du jour" so I let others close in on them, which they did. I wanted (OK, needed!) to rest a bit for the finish anyway.

I saw my friend Chris Tanner (LGBRC) with about two or so laps to go, and decided to follow his lead as he is a very smart racer with a powerful jump. Just after turn 3, on the last lap, he stood up and jumped very hard which surprised me, and everybody else, a bit as it's still fairly far to the finish line, maybe 400m. But this set him up beautifully for a sling-shot jump out of the inside of turn 4, and guys like me who swung wide on the outside couldn't make up the gap on the finishing straight as he held his gap over the line for the win. Congratulations Chris! I finished in 7th place.

So, I worked hard to improve my own chances in the race, and also those of my teammates who sat in a bit more than I did. I felt strong, but the results didn't go our way. Still, we all rode well and had fun in the gorgeous weather.

Panoche Valley Road Race, 45+ 1/2/3/4

By Dennis Pedersen

I have definitely had some ups and downs this racing season... but that's pretty typical for most of us. After some decent results earlier, I DNF'd both of my last races (Santa Cruz and Cat's Hill), so anything would be an improvement!

At Panoche, now in its fifth year, I have either crashed, been dropped, or won. Nothing in-between. This year I got dropped again, which is tough as it feels like I'm sliding backwards, even though I am not.

Geoff Drake and John Marshall made sure the pace was super-hard on the ride out on this gorgeous, 27.5-mile section of rural road through the Panoche Valley south of Hollister. It was hard enough that on the last steep pitch I was gapped by about 10 feet from the leaders, but managed to catch back on the descent. But the very short break wasn't enough for me to get my hyperventilating lungs under control, so the following longish climb forced me to let the lead pack disappear around the turns ahead.

I was surprised how close I was behind them as they returned back toward the finish, John in the lead, after the U-turn at the 27.5-mile point. And I managed to find an Alto Velo rider to paceline with. Together we limited our losses for a while, but soon we had to acknowledge that the gap was increasing. We picked up one of his teammates who talked about how hard Geoff and John's attacks had been, which made me happy, sort of. We also passed John who had broken a spoke. But were we ever happy to see the "10K" sign! My left hip was really hurting, and I started to worry it was some nasty repetitive-stress injury.

Then, with about 4K to go, we saw the entire pack halted behind a pickup; it turned out they had to stop the race to allow a helicopter to evacuate a guy who'd broken his leg in a previous group. Bummer. And that made for a weird restart. The USAC officials did an amazing job of keeping us separated so the restart was as fair as possible. Two guys, one was Rick Martyn, got a 15-second lead, then the main leaders, then we chasers 3 minutes back. I could barely pedal at that point so I just rolled in.

But was I impressed to hear that Russ took 3rd, behind winner Larry Nolan (for whom a 4K restart is perfect, seeing as how he is a current Masters World Champion in pursuit!!!) and Eric Saltzman. Wow, way to go Russ! And Geoff managed 8th in spite of the many hard attacks he made.

CCCX Circuit Race #3, Fort Ord, 45+ 1/2/3/4

By Dennis Pedersen

I really enjoyed racing my bike in CCCX #2 last month since I love the green, rolling hills of Fort Ord and its closed, paved roads. This time our team in 45+ was Mark, Geoff and me. We were outnumbered by other teams in the 36-rider combined 45+/55+ field. VOS had 9, SJBC 4, Webcor/Alto Velo 7. Eddy was our teammate in 55+. This race ended up like "deja vu" for me, but with some key differences.

We had feared it would rain, but even though a few showers hit town in the morning while I was eating biscuits and gravy at Harbor Cafe it stayed dry, but rather windy, at the race. We discussed tactics en-route and during our warmup lap. We thought we rode smart last time, mostly, and decided to try similar tactics. But we also had some other options we'd throw down if the race demanded it. For me, I didn't plan on trying another solo flyer, but still thought stringing out the field in the flatter sections would serve us well.

When the race started (using the start/finish that CCCX #1 had used) I was a bit back but quickly moved ahead on Parker Flats Road with the tailwind helping me along. Last time I pulled the peloton along here, but this time, on lap 1 even, a break had already formed... yikes! I wasted no time in trying to pull the rest of the pack behind me to close the gap... I wasn't trying to bridge, per se, but apparently only Larry Hampson (VOS) followed me and sat on my wheel a bit before dropping back into the main group. Nobody else came, so I... pedaled hard and suddenly I was in another breakaway like last time.

This break had Brain House (BikePalace) who was one of the stronger 45+ riders in the break at CCCX #2, plus two 55+ guys: George Smith (Webcor/Alto Velo) and a Joselyn's rider. I didn't think we'd last, but like last time thought that I could help my team by forcing unrepresented teams like VOS to chase us down while Mark, Geoff and Eddy could draft them in the strong wind. It gets weird when you mix the age groups like this, because teams have to choose between helping 45+ vs. 55+ teammates. It looked like Webcor decided to help George in 55+ by blocking the pack, as Mark and Geoff did so selflessly for me in 45+. But VOS took no action that I know of; I think they gambled we'd come back together for another sprint finish.

Anyway, we pacelined fairly well for a few laps, George and I taking by far the most pulls (he later told me he thought we should just have gone by ourselves). But on lap 3 or 4 a ZteaM rider in his white kit bridged up to us; a considerable feat given the huge gap we now had! I wasn't sure who he was, but I was pretty sure it wasn't Hunter Zeising... perhaps his teammate Cale Reeder? Oof, he's very strong and proved that every time he took a monster pull at the front! The Joselyn's rider gave up, but the rest of us rode in a fast, rotating echcelon through the crosswinds. I had to skip a few of my rotations to avoid blowing up!

I neglected to wear my watch so I kept looking for lap cards. I thought we might be on the last lap, but when I looked at the cards they were partly blocked by the guy changing them and all I saw was a "2." OK, two laps to go... or was he tardy in getting the "1" card out? I didn't want to ask my break-mates if they knew, for some reason. I must remember to always wear my watch! Cale continued his hard pulls and I saw him scrutinize us all carefully for signs of weakness (there were plenty!). My legs were constantly burning, lungs at their limit too. So when we hit the "stair-step" section on Eucalyptus Road into the headwind the rest of us just watched him rapidly gobble up a couple hundred meters in no time!

And as we approached the finish I just kept riding like we were taking pulls so Brian sprinted off before I had a chance to react. Duh! Well, I still got 3rd which is pretty cool (and $25!), and Geoff came in 4th even after working hard with Mark to block! Great results for Team Bicycle Trip!

CCCX Circuit Race #2, Fort Ord, 45+ 1/2/3/4

By Dennis Pedersen

This new road-race series, held on Fort Ord's paved military roads, is put on by Kieth DeFiebre, the same guy who puts on the CCCX mountain-bike and cyclocross races there. Amazing energy; we owe him a big thank you. These races are a great way to practice team tactics too, and that's what we really need to improve on. Mark, Jim, Russ and I came up with a number of neat tactics to try, and I think we did a good job of executing them in the end.

The 4.3-mile course was mostly gently rolling through the old fort's hilly back country, but with a nasty "stair-step" section on Eucalyptus Road into the headwind from the northwest that had several steep, short climbs of maybe 30 to 60 seconds in duration each. That was followed by a hard right turn onto a very fast 1/2-mile descent leading down to a flat, straight, 250-meter finish. We thought it was a bit scary to contemplate a pack sprinting down that hill.

The weather was gorgeous, though rather windy. Our field of 27 old guys started out pretty mellow, but we'd all agreed that we'd want to keep the pace high so I started some long pulls at the front on laps 1 and 2. But I did so on the aptly-named Parker Flats Road with a tailwind so as to avoid working too hard. I also ended up sharing some pulls on the long, gradual climb after that (where the feedzone is during the District Championships) and a few other places. This forced riders from other teams to chase me down, which they did.

On lap 3 I took another pull on Parker Flats, bumping it up just a notch. Soon I was off the front with three other guys and we soon started a ragged paceline up its long, gradual climb. We didn't really work together all that well, but our gap increased, thanks to my teammates in the pack who started blocking for me. That was pretty amazing, and a total blast! I made sure my break-mates knew I had teammates blocking so they'd contribute to our paceline.

But... as so often happens breaks don't always cooperate, and some of them were apparently pretty tired. So I noticed that a number of riders gradually bridged up to us and soon our break was 7 guys. One of them, from VOS, just sat in, and so did others. More guys bridged up later, which bummed me, but all of this had the benefit of tiring them out in the process since they had to pass my teammates, then ride through the wind up to us. But soon the pack was almost all together.

On lap 4 I pulled again, and on that long, gradual climb some gaps opened up, almost everybody in the "break" sat up, and I was off the front. I held back a bit to see if anybody would go with me and one guy did (I think it was one of the guys who'd been pulling with me). But he dropped his chain—what rotten timing! So I quickly thought through some options:

1. Sit up and let the pack catch us: They were already just seconds behind, and as a sprinter I could have sat in and rested for a likely sprint finish.
2. Try to reorganize the break: I hadn't seen much evidence of cooperation so that seemed low-odds.
3. Solo off the front by myself for the remaining 1.5 laps. Hmmmm... like I said, I'm a sprinter so that seemed low-odds too.

In the end I decided our team's chances were better if I chose #3 because:

• Even if I got caught my teammates would all be excellent candidates for this course's stair-steps finish approach (assuming they hadn't worked too hard blocking).
  
• If my teammates didn't block they could rest while others were forced to chase me, improving our odds even more.
• My break-mates weren't pulling hard enough for #2 to work.
• I was a bit worried I'd blow up on Eucalyptus Road climbing those stair-steps on the last lap as the pace would go up.

Well, off I went, by myself, trying to maintain an even pace. I'd been timing my laps and each one was right around 12.5 minutes so I knew I could just hold that. Soon I couldn't even seen the pack, how cool! My teammates were still blocking and nobody else took up the chase. I couldn't believe it as the miles flew by!

On the last lap I swear the wind picked up a lot (it did; see the wind chart to the right here), and climbing those stair-steps into the headwind took some hard effort. I could also see the pack behind me now as they started to slowly reel me back in. But I still thought my lead was big enough and I tried to get my breath back so I could attack the last step; I treated it almost as the finish line because it would be very hard to catch me on the fast descent after it.

Well, as I flew down the hill, gasping, I looked over my shoulder as I reached the flat finishing section: Oh no, they were rapidly gaining on me! I put my head down and tried to sprint, but my legs were already at their limit and several guys passed me (including that VOS guy who sat in on the break). I still managed 4th in 45+, so I was pretty happy, but disappointed at the same time. Just after the finish line my watch beeped: 1 hour and 15 minutes, exactly as planned. Talk about consistence!

So, what could we have done better? I think we did really well, but:

• Perhaps blocking for me was our main error, as much fun as it was. If my teammates had sat in instead of blocking I would have been caught sooner, but we'd have been better in the sprint finish. But then we'd be sprinting down that screaming hill; scary.
• Ideally Mark, Russ or Jim would have soloed, not me. But they would have been chased down by those who know their strengths.
• We could all have stayed with the pack, then we could have attacked on Eucalyptus Road's stair-steps. That was a plan we considered, but in the end several really strong riders matched our pace there and might have been able to beat us anyway (Russ told me he had to pause for air on the downhill, it was so hard!).

So, no major regrets, and man, that was super fun!

Merco Foothills Road Race, 45+ 1/2/3/4

By Dennis Pedersen

Another gorgeous spring-like day for bike racing in the Sierra foothills. Last week Mike Sudbrink and I had to do the Snelling Road Race alone, since Russ Cadwallader and John Marshall were sick. But this time we had Russ along for company since he was feeling much better. The Tremendous Trio!

I was worried that this gently rolling 24-mile course, which shares some of the Snelling course's roads, would also create frustrating opportunities for breaks to get away from us. But having Russ along gave us some added options, and the wind was lighter too which made it easier for us to stay with the front of the pack. We were pretty hopeful of getting some decent results, in spite of the huge 100-man field stacked with several big teams.

Our well-organized two-lap race started on time for us at about 11:45. Man, it was a jammed course, even though the roads were completely closed off to other traffic in both directions. We got stuck a bit behind, and while Mike and Russ moved up through the massive pack it took me half a lap to cautiously move forward on the bumpy roads... I would rather take a bit of extra time than take extra risks with squirrely riders and potholes. Even so I did end up having to dive for the gravel shoulder once when some guys suddenly swerved.

By the time I got up near the front, east-bound on Turlock Road, I could see that Mike and Russ were doing a good job of staying well-positioned and closing the gaps that formed. In spite of the moderate wind guys were still trying to initiate breakaways, but none stuck.

The very, very bumpy Cox Ferry Road is so narrow that moving forward is even harder there. I remembered that from last year too, and made a mental note to be up front on the second lap. I also tried to memorize the course on Keyes Road where it approaches the finish line by Olsen Road, but it has a lot of similar turns. Oh well, I had to just hope it would click, and rely on the posted "1KM" and "200M" signs.

On the second lap I started moving further forward on Bledsoe Road, and had a good view of Mike breaking a spoke when he, like me, was forced onto the gravel shoulder by errant riders. Sigh, just two of us left! Russ continued to do a great job of controlling the front of the pack while I continued to fight to maintain my position near the front... not easy when everybody else in the huge pack had the same idea, and constant jumps off the front, with much swerving, broke up our rhythm.

When we turned north onto Cox Ferry Road I was in a decent position and used the empty left lane to push myself really hard along the pack to get a good position on this road. I did not want to be fighting for it later on, with just a short distance left to the finish! Consequently I was in a good position when we turned onto smooth Keyes Road again and started to jockey for choice spots for the finishing sprint. I felt good and in control. Bring it on!

I drafted an Alto Velo rider up the right side, on a small hill (which is also the feed zone for Snelling), and kept moving forward with the least amount of effort I could. But better to burn some matches now than be poorly positioned later, so I wasn't afraid to get winded to maintain a spot near the front.

We were really starting to move! I was maybe fifth place and hoping we could keep the huge pack strung out for the finish so as to avoid the mass chaos of a 100-man field sprint. Shudder, I don't want to go there! But the leadout train that was keeping me near, but more importantly below, my limit suddenly slowed after a few turns and that allowed a few guys to swarm us, though I somehow floated off the front briefly, just after the 1KM sign. Darn. But then a rider (I think from Team Bicycles Plus, or maybe Safeway?) tried a flyer on the last hill, and I found myself about 10 feet behind him, working hard to close the gap.

Just as we crested the last short hill a few guys came around me and I spotted the 200M sign and finish line; a slight surprise to me, just like last year! Thank goodness I was still well positioned, except now I was leading guys out: Hunter Ziesing (ZteaM) and Eric Saltzman (Morgan Stanley) to be specific. They did a good job of squeezing me out and forced me back to 7th place, which I held to the line maybe 20 feet behind 1st place Peter Allen (Safeway). Woo-hoo! Wheeze, wheeze, gasp... I was in the points this time! I even won some gas money for Russ, who took 25th.

I did better in our Oscars Party contest which Margaret organized at home while I was goofing off, tying for 1st with my semi-educated guesses on movies I'd never seen, thanks to my excessive cycling training. What a fun day!

Snelling Road Race, 45+ 1/2/3

By Dennis Pedersen

There was a crash somewhere to my left, the only one in our race, when a guy rode his bicycle off the shoulder of the road. I looked ahead for other problems and instead saw that the winning break of about seven or eight guys had just split off from our front. Every race has it's decisive moment, and that was ours, just minutes after our race had started.

I didn't know that break was the winning move yet, of course, but I knew from prior experience here that it could be. They had chosen well: The south-west corner of the generally flattish course, in the Sierra's gentle foothills, where several short hills and sharp turns opened up opportunities for gaps to form. Several thoughts went through my head:

• Could I bridge the gap up to them?
• Which teams were represented in the break?
• Which other teams would work to catch the break?
• Would the break work well together?
• How strong were the guys in the break?

I started to move up, as that would help me answer those questions, but soon came to a stop behind a bunch of guys blocking us at the front of our main group (now a chase group). It looked like Safeway, VOS and Morgan Stanley all had riders in the break and their teammates were working to hold the rest of us back. I didn't know who else, or which riders, were up ahead, but I knew enough to know it didn't look good for Mike Sudbrink and I.

When faced with the decisive moment, decisive action is required. What did I do? I waited. I had lots of reasons: Too early. Too tired. Too slow. Somebody else will take the initiative. But what I should have done was turn myself inside-out to catch that break, consequences be hanged. Waiting just increased the gap.

The next two-plus laps were spent on frustrating attempts to form chase groups, but nothing much materialized. The motorcycle ref called out the time gap: I heard "1:12" and "1:21" at various times. I felt certain we could catch them in this 50-mile race if we tried, but only sporadic pacelines formed. Me, a guy from Davis Bike Club and a guy from Team Bicycles Plus were the only ones to consistently make any effort... and the blockers did their usual good job of disrupting our attempts and sowing the seeds of doubt (their smack-talk just made me laugh though!). And we also had some poorly-timed neutralizations when we got passed by some Pro/1/2 racers, forcing us to ease off for several minutes at a time. At other times we neutralized other racers and one time I was the tip of the arrow as we passed a large group from a different race category.

On the last lap VOS suddenly went from blocking to pushing the pace way up, taking turns really pounding. As if attacking or, more likely, trying to bridge up to the break. Huh? What was up? I wasn't sure, but I had a hunch their man in the break, James Allen, had been dropped or flatted. I went with each attempt and they got shut down pretty well; I knew to mark Jan Elsbach especially, who I know can solo pretty well. At one point I floated off the front and I asked Jon Ornstil, in passing, "what happened, did you lose your man?" but he didn't reply. Instead he had an uncharacteristic look of panic on his face.

We really hammered the last half of the last lap but I didn't think we'd catch the break. I was pretty sure the break still had at least 6 guys in it, and I really didn't want to sprint for 7th place. 7th wouldn't get me anything, no upgrade points, not even a T-shirt. So as we approached the last turn, where I won the field sprint for 6th last time, I just sat up and let the field pass me. No sense in risking a crash. I rolled over the finish line in 33rd, and it turned out VOS only took 9th, so I'm happy I didn't bother.

The result was disappointing, no denying it. I honestly believe this race suits me, and I really hoped for much more. But I love the gorgeous rural course, the spring-time weather was awesome, and it was really neat getting to race with Mike; he's a great guy and a real legend. This was his first race back in a long time and I hope we get to race some more. Russ Cadwallader and John Marshall (our new Nevada teammate) couldn't make it due to illness, but what a team we will make when we all can be there, ready for action. I look forward to that!

San Ardo Road Race, 45+

By Dennis Pedersen

San Ardo is not a wealthy town. It's only 575 people, many living in beat-up mobile homes with dusty dirt yards, eeking out a living in south Salinas Valley's fields. Last year I double-flatted just a couple of miles into this 63-mile road race. But I did ride the entire course anyway to see if it would suit me, which it mostly does.

The race course starts in town, goes over the Salinas River, then up on Cattleman Road past HWY101 to the west, climbing the gently-rolling "big-ring" hills northward on Paris Valley before re-crossing the river on San Lucas and HWY198, then returning south on Cattleman which is a nearly-flat, wide-open road back into town. The finish, after three 21-mile laps, is a gentle climb (about 1 minute and 20 seconds long, right past the feedzone) back up Cattleman, just past HWY101 and on a side-road to the left.

I feel the final climb is a bit much for me. However, all those "L5" team workouts convinced me that Russ could do really well at San Ardo, and I decided it would be cool to lead him out for the finish. Another advantage to training with your teammates is this knowledge of our relative strengths and weaknesses.

I surprised Russ by taking Nils along for our carpool, so he ended up having to install his bike rack at 5:30AM under our flashlights! Sorry Russ; you were a good sport. At least the drive was only 1:45 long. We had lots of teammates racing but only Russ and I were in the 45+ race.

Our race went off nearly at the scheduled 8:50 which shows Velo Promo is working hard to improve the organization of their races. It was cool and a bit cloudy; nicer than the heat typical there. The pace was fairly easy on the rolling hills and even easier on the return south on Cattleman. I was intent solely on keeping the pack together so Russ could unleash his powerful long sprint at the end. Every time anybody went off the front while I was there I smoothly closed the gap. It actually became boring after a while; everybody just gave up trying. The only excitement was that I lost one of my bottles of sports drink in the bumpy section, but I had a gel for backup. Whew!

On the second lap I grabbed two bottles in the feedzone. All set! And Morgan Stanley started using their large team to force a harder tempo by pulling at the front. It still wasn't nearly as hard as the attacks VOS laid down at Dunnigan Hills. One of them complained that I wasn't pulling; I had been reconsidering my extreme defense anyway and decided the pace was too slow to favor us. There were several powerful sprinters who would be happy with an easy ride to the finish, including a current National Champion! I started taking some pulls.

Lap 3 got more lively, with Cale Reeder, Darryl Smith (both ICCC), Jeff Poulsen (Safeway) and others attacking on Paris Valley's rollers; two guys broke free. They were helped by an 18-wheeler that pulled onto the road between us for about a mile. Weird. Then the Pro/1/2 field passed us, just past the bridge on HWY198, so we were neutralized behind them on Cattleman. Argh. But Russ noticed that our break was drafting the Pros and had their motorcycle referee move them back; after a few minutes we caught them. But then an old truck with what is best described as a gypsy wagon passed us before getting stuck behind the Pros too. Funny.

The wind-up down Cattleman picked up when we passed the Pros (who just sat up "en bloc"), the gypsy wagon and also some women who had been dropped from their race. It got fun again! But a bit confusing.

The obstacles were not gone; as we flew through San Ardo we got stuck behind a van following the lead women's group. But just before we hit the base of the final climb the van pulled off and we had to swarm past the small group of women (excuse us!) and sprint under HWY101 and turn left for the finish. Not ideal!

I had worked really hard to stay up front the whole race and I wasn't going to give up my spot at the very end! I moved forward and was in a perfect position to spot a group that had decided to use the right shoulder, next to the feedzone, to pass the women. Crazy!

I jumped up to the leaders and we flew up the hill. I was third just behind Eric Saltzman (Morgan Stanley) as we approached the last turn. Shin Umeda (Alto Velo), our unintentional lead-out, faded, both of us hit the turn... and Eric just inched ahead of me as my legs started dying from the long sprint. Then I sensed somebody on my right; Russ! Awesome! I didn't even mind that he pipped me; that was my original plan! But 2nd and 3rd place was way more than I expected, especially after I spent so much time up front. Woo-hoo Team Bicycle Trip!

What a race. These last two races have really made my season. And all those workouts will be easier to suffer through!

Dunnigan Hills Road Race, 45+

By Dennis Pedersen

I'd never entered this road race in Yolo (about 20 miles northwest of Sacramento), but after several teammates talked about it last year I decided to go this time.

Many joked that this race should be called "Dunnigan Winds" because it has no hills but does have strong winds; but that is not accurate. The 42-mile course has about 950 feet of climbing... plus the strong winds. Though none of the rolling hills take much more than a minute or so to climb they have a definite affect on the outcome of the race by tiring out the bigger power riders who might dominate if it truly were pancake-flat. It doesn't have to be l'Alpe d'Huez to make a difference! And the crosswinds make it impossible for the pure sprinters to shelter in wait for a sprint finish.

But a small sprinter like me; now that might be a different story... or so I hoped. My worry was that I would get stuck behind one of the gaps I was certain would form in the pack of riders in the crosswind. Fortunately I'm getting much better at staying near the front of the peloton, thanks to Russ's example and Mark's workout rides.

Russ drove Miles and I (thanks!) from Santa Cruz at 4:30 in the morning (ugh). I didn't sleep well in the 5 hours I got, nor did Russ who had screaming neighbors to contend with. Even so I felt pretty good on our 2.5-hour drive as I ate my race-day breakfast from a tupperware bowl.

We signed in, suited up and had plenty of time to ride over to the finish area; thanks to Jim, John and others we knew it was critical to understand it in detail. I am really, really glad I saw it before racing! After several miles of flat, straight road next to I5 the course turns right onto County Road 96 at about 70 degrees, then the last 400 meters over the freeway overpass and to the finish line. I noted the distinctive low, conical silos there so I could look for them as we approached in the race. So, this was not what I had visualized from the descriptions, but very confidence-inspiring for me.

There were about 50 of us at the start and I was looking forward to racing, but our race was delayed until about 9:40. It was probably about 80 degrees and rose to 95 later. The start was 2 miles of neutral riding behind a motorcycle referee and already the NW crosswind from our right was strong. Then we turned south and enjoyed the tailwind as the race started.

Turning west on Road 19 we started fighting for shelter, crowding the center line; some guys got warnings for crossing it or even sent to the back. Morgan Stanley had 10 riders and they used them to launch repeated viscious attacks; we were "on the rivet" as they say! I was determined to stay forward but still missed it when one of their guys succeeded and also took James Allen (VOS) with him. I did notice that the pace slowed down though as we turned north on Road 90A into the headwind.

Turning west again (over HWY505 on Road 14) we had more crosswind which probably contributed to a crash which happened there. Miles and I barely slipped by the guys sliding on the pavement! Our pace picked up as some guys tried to use that to open a gap; no waiting here unlike the big ProTour races.

Like usual I was worried that the break would survive. When we started heading north again the pace went down which wasn't helping. Then our pace picked up as guys tried to bridge up; Davis riders mostly. There were several shifts in wind direction, and small hills, so we had to remain careful about gaps forming. I was happy to see we were closing in on the break. I was less happy when Miles and I failed to grab a water bottle in the neutral feed zone on Road 85. It was hot and dry. Russ offered me his but my own bottles turned out to be enough.

We caught the break just before the course turned east. That was the sign for VOS to start some impressive attacks in the crosswind and rolling hills on Road 6; mostly by Jon Ornstil and Rick Martyn, even though both had crashed earlier. Keeping up with them really hurt, but every time they let up before my legs did!

I was still up front and getting more optimistic by the minute as the road leveled off and the finish approached. We turned south onto the long, flat stretch back on Road 99W with a strong tailwind. Much to my surprise VOS kept attacking hard. Very hard; we were hitting well over 30MPH. I was on Jan Elsbach's wheel when it was his turn. He smoothly rode off on his own; nobody followed. Now I wonder what would have happened had I tried to go with him.

As others became aware that Jan was increasing his lead they started to try to bridge up. But I don't think anybody thought he could hold on and VOS did a great job of blocking. Then Morgan Stanley tried to chase, Wells Fargo tried some too. Even I took a short pull. Martyn joked that "Darryl Smith thanks you" (implying they would just be helping the big sprinters if Jan was caught). That made me laugh; I had other plans!

Then the pace slowed so much that I literally rolled off the front about a mile out. I could see the conical silos ahead. I sighed and decided to sprint for 2nd place. Then our last turn appeared; I couldn't believe nobody jumped! But then a Wells Fargo guy tried to go and I was able to jump up to him... a leadout! We went into the turn and I instantly jumped past him at 100%; I was treating the top of the overpass as the psuedo finish line and had a big lead. But I had to hold it another 200 meters... but with my lead and the downhill advantage it was enough for 2nd place. Woo-hoo! Russ got 6th while Miles got caught behind a gap.

After collecting my prize T-shirt we stopped for burgers on our long drive home. I felt pretty good! I love winning field sprints! But next time...

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.

Panoche Valley Road Race, 45+1/2/3

By Russ Cadwallader

One thing that should be understood is that I'm a roofer. I work in the valley. Heat was my friend until this race. It was super flippin' hot.

Started out with an attack off the line from Hunter Z. Attacks off and on all the way up by Jon O, Jan (the VOS attack team) and the Morgan Stanley crew. I stayed forward up the climb doing some work. Almost crashed when a Morgan Stanley rider had to swerve. I was overlapping his wheel, (a no no).

At the turn around I had dropped back. A very bad move, because there was a brake of 8 riders at the turn around. I rode up the double yellow yelling for people to work with me to close the gap but most of the riders up front were saying that they had someone in the break. However, I did recruit Mike Gadow (Tieni Duro). Both of us took some real hard long pulls. Brought the gap down to less than 50 seconds. Did have JD, a Morgan Stanley rider and fellow friend do some really good work as we headed towards the top.

Just before we got to the top, Jan from VOS went to bridge across the gap. I went with him, but half way out I was too toasted from the work I had done, so I fell back to the chase group. Mike & I were now pissed that no one would work. We really picked the tempo up and brought the chase group down to 10 or so.

The heat was really getting to us. When we got to the top water station we all grabbed water. Most of the bottles were only a quarter filled. This was the start of the real pain. Then a super nasty crash right in front of me. We were railing thru the sharpest turn on the down hill and Stefano Schiaffino didn't think he was going to make it and braked. He went sailing off the road at high speed, slid on gravel, rolled into and out of the drainage gutter and flipped into a bob-wire fence. He got hurt! After that we were down to 8.

Motor ref. kept riding up and telling me that the gap was 50 seconds. I was now in a dream state of mind. I looked over at Mike G and his face and jersey were covered in salt, kinda looked like frost. I said Mike, your face is covered in salt. He looked at me with a blank stare and said, Russ you face is covered in salt too. This was weird. Started feeling like I might stroke-out or something.

Finally on the flats at the bottom, others started to work. Every one of us was out of water with several miles to go. Mike and I were really blasted by the time we got to the finish. However, we both by some act of god dug down and sprinted. We took 3rd and 4th in the chase group sprint. Normally not good, but with all the work we did, I thought that was very cool. Eric Saltzman won the race. I ended up 12th.

As normal, anyone wearing a bike trip jersey raced well in this race. However, gotta say way to go to Amy & Michele, (2nd & 3rd). Knew you could do it Amy. Michele, I'm sorry, but you had an off day if you didn't win.

Berkeley Hills, post-mortem

I raced in this hilly road-race for the first time in 2007, and got dropped like usual back then. This year was very different for me. I was riding mainly in support of my Team Bicycle Trip teammates, and also used this race as an opportunity to learn from my power meter data.

Executive summary

The data I retrieved from my power meter after this race told me that these races aren't any harder than our team workouts. There are lots of brief power spikes, but lots of slower periods too that culminate in a lower workload than one might have expected. I crashed toward the end of the race (minor injuries only), but until that point I was staying near the front, even on the tough climbs that would have shelled me in the past, ready to chase down any threatening breaks.

Racing with a power meter

I have been using my PowerTap since last December, and it has been very helpful in helping me establish my "power profile." That has allowed me to better pace myself during hard climbs and such.

For instance, I already knew that the longest climbs at Berkeley were only about 2.5 to 4 minutes long, so I could then predict that I would be able to maintain at least my 5-minute power on them and even have some power in reserve. It turned out I needed that, because staying with these strong riders on the three big climbs, nicknamed "Mama Bear," Papa Bear" and "Baby Bear," pushed me to my limit... but, more importantly, not above it!

Another very nice aspect to knowing my power profile is that it kept me from overestimating my workload. Since I always seemed to get dropped in these long, hilly road-races in the past I was always nervous about pushing too hard and then getting dropped. Knowing where the line between working hard and working too hard lies gives me the confidence to know when I can push the pace or just "sit in" and try to conserve energy. My heart-rate monitor always painted a more bleak picture; it was always somewhat elevated in races, or maxed out, so I was always afraid I was just seconds away from "blowing up." Now I know better what I'm actually capable of, and the picture is always more reassuring when I use the power meter because the low Wattage numbers I often see remind me that it ain't all that bad.

I have also noticed an interesting discrepancy between how my heart-rate monitor and power meter calculate my calorie expenditures. In the past my heart-rate monitor would often report that I burned as much as 1,000 calories per hour in these races, while now I am seeing lower numbers from my power meter, more like 600 to 700 calories per hour... I'm still not sure why. Though much of that discrepancy might come from being a more efficient rider now, I also suspect that the heart-rate monitor does a better job of factoring in the energy burned from muscles other than the legs. Who knows.

So, in the end, racing with my power meter was very interesting and very helpful. I may start to use it in races more often.

The race as I saw it

OK, I can't help but add my own two-bits worth. The five of us on Team Bicycle Trip were arrayed against at least 12 riders from Morgan Stanley (with National and even World champions registered), 4 from VOS, 5 from Alto Velo/Webcor, and others. Since teammate Mark Edwards was the defending champion from last year, he wouldn't be able to sneak off unnoticed this time. So, outnumbered and "marked," we were definitely not in an easy spot. Yet we still somehow managed to pull off another spectacular win for Mark. How? By doing all those hard team workouts, and by being willing to sacrifice our own (hypothetical) placements, Mark could conserve energy for that final climb to the finish line after 54 miles of constant attacks from the others. We also had some potential winners with Geoff, Russ and Jim in the mix, so we didn't put all of our eggs in one basket.

I stayed near the front of the pack almost the entire race, on the watch for any attempts by other teams to initiate a break. Since we all knew that Mark would probably be the victor if he was in the lead group at the base of the final climb, we just had to make sure the lead pack stayed together, with him in it. The course does have some narrow, twisty sections that make it hard to see what's happening ahead and that can allow breaks to get away. But I saw Russ and Geoff at the front almost the entire race, so I stayed back just a bit behind them most of the time, moving up occasionally to maintain my place and conserve energy where possible. I am still one of the slower guys in anything but an all-out sprint, so I still have to be somewhat careful about overdoing it.

I did spot several attempts at breaks, one of them a solo rider, a few with two or three guys including Morgan Stanley and VOS, but none of these groups seemed to have much power and we quickly caught them all. I suspect that our team's strength also showed. I bet we prevented a lot of attacks simply by being there and looking strong as it's very unmotivating for the other teams when they can tell that we're all ready to go, even us sprinters!

With 46.69 miles behind me (out of 54), my race ended with a stupid crash. I thought it was from the pack veering to pass some riders dropped in the Women's race that started ahead of us, but apparently it was just due to some oxygen-starved rider in our pack who caused a ripple through the peloton that resulted in about five of us going down. I hit hard, but not too badly I guess, because all I suffered were some minor scrapes and my bike was almost untouched. Oops, forgot to mention my right knee; I could immediately tell that my race was over when I tried to stand up. It hurt and was really swollen just above the patella on the right side. I couldn't extend my leg or bend it. I'd have to pedal single-footed! I also worried that it might be like one of Bob's dangerous hematomas and I wanted to see the First Aid Nurse A.S.A.P.

Fortunately I got a ride back in the "SAG" wagon (thanks Darryl!) and was even able to watch my race finish, with Mark crossing the line, index-finger raised in victory! I whooped and hollered; How awesome to overcome all those hurdles and see him win again, and it made all our hard work worthwhile!

Today, the day after the race, I am happy to say that my knee is doing quite well and I will just be riding easy for a few days, icing the knee and taking ibuprofen, before getting back to the usual heavy lifting!