Tuesday Night Racing, Hellyer Park Velodrome, 5/22/2012

By Dennis Pedersen

Nils and I have been racing a lot at Hellyer the last couple of years. I drive there from my office in Cupertino, he meets me there, we race, then carpool home to Santa Cruz. The races start at 7:00, so it's not too hard to get there in time, even with rush hour traffic.

I'm still a Category 3 racer on the track, as is Nils, but the new format allows us to choose between the Cat 3/4 and the Cat 1/2/3 races. Nils decided to race the Category 1/2/3 races that night, probably to spare me the pain he'd otherwise inflict.(He did really well; looked super strong out there!)

My first race was a 9-lap scratch race (just finish first to win). A lot of guys like to mark me, so I tend to get followed around the track a lot. This requires me to come up with new tricks to try and catch them all by surprise. This time I went on the attack, was caught by several guys, but then Raul of SJBC attacked solo and nobody followed him. I refused, thinking I could afford to settle for 2nd. I even took a few pulls to encourage them to chase, but to no avail. So I attacked near the end to get 2nd place.

Next we had a 12-lap points race, with points awarded for our placements every four laps. I took 4th (I think) in the fourth lap after getting attacked hard, then recovering. Then 1st in the eighth lap by attacking with about 1.5 laps before that (6.5 laps in). Last lap I think I got 3rd place. This netted me 2nd in this points race, overall (8 points total).

Then we had another scratch race, but 20 laps this time. I took 1st in this one, with a long effort instead of a short sprint. I don't remember it well, maybe due to lack of oxygen in the brain. It was hard!

Last, another points race, with 30 laps and points for every sixth lap. Again, I don't recall the details, but I somehow ended up in 2nd overall in this points race. I think I got two one 1st, two 3rds and a 4th. But I was credited with 14 points which doesn't add up, so I may remember wrong.

For the "omnium" (the combined results of that evening's races) I took 1st overall, thanks to my consistent placings. Fun stuff!

Berkeley Hills Road Race, 55+ Cat 4

By Bob Montague

Sunday was the Berkeley Hills Road Race. I did this race a couple of years ago, but I think I was in the 35+ 4/5 race. The race takes place on an 18 mile loop around the San Pablo Reservoir, north of Orinda. It is defined by three category 4 climbs known as the "3 bears", none of which is particularly steep. They vary in length from "baby bear" to "papa bear". And the race finishes at the top of "papa bear" on the third trip up the climbs for my category. The climbs are substantial enough that I had not planned on entering this race. I got dropped pretty hard in my first time at Berkeley Hills and I didn't really want to relive that experience. When I saw the promoter had included a 55+ cat 4 race this year, I knew I had to reconsider. I continue to search for opportunities to compete, and this seemed like it could be one that might give me a chance to place.

As race day approached, I found myself very affected by seasonal allergies, to the point that it was affecting my ability to breath somewhat. I debated how to proceed and decided that the race would be good for clearing out my lungs. I didn't have a carpool, so I headed out on my own. Google says it takes 1 hour and 54 minutes to get there from my house, but at 4:30 in the morning it was more like 1 hour and 30 minutes. I picked up my race number and sat in the car to stay warm. I tried to call my Mom back in North Carolina, but there was no service for my droid.

Our race went off right on time with what I would guess to be about 30 guys. I talked to a guy who was in the 45 4/5 race right before mine and he asked if I knew Enrique. I said that I didn't, but that I knew of him. Apparently he lives near the course and this fellow rides with him on a regular basis (this is Symantec Enrique for interested parties).

I am getting sort of used to setting the pace when I race in a 4/5 field. It surprises me that so many guys will come out to race and then be content to just sit in and wait for the finishing sprint. Everyone can't be a sprinter, but it seems to be the way of the 4/5 races. It isn't like I'm attacking the field, but at the least I expect the ride to be as hard as the Sunday group ride out of Aptos. To make that happen, I have to go to the front and set the pace until others begin to share the load. I'm actually ok with that because I'm starting to see more and more that my role, at least for now, is to be an animator of my races. I am a strong rider, but I am not strong enough to get away from a motivated group. I am also not a sprinter, but I have enough power to provide a pretty good lead out. My goal in this race was to try and get away after going over the climbs the second time. However, another strong guy had the same idea and tried it on the first lap. I bridged up to him and offered to work with him. We had a small gap and both began to work to sustain it. There was another group of racers a small gap ahead of us, and we agreed that if we could get around them, we might be able to lose the rest of our group. We went hard and got around that group just as we were going up a short rise that was not one of the categorized climbs. I was thinking that we might be gapping our group in the confusion, but then I began to see the race numbers of our group and knew that we had been run down.

From that point, I sat in until we were back around and climbing the bears again. While the pace up the climbs didn't seem huge, I soon realized that lots of our group was being dropped and I was having to work very hard to hang on to the tail end of the lead group. As we passed the start / finish line with 1 lap to go, I was the last of 7 to make it into the lead break. Although the group worked hard to establish that gap over the climbs, they soon became comfortable at a pace that I suspected would get us caught. I tried various methods to make this point, including suggestion, cajoling and attacking. None of it worked until the strong guy I had gotten away with on the first lap, bridged up to us. From that point, the 8 of us began a rotating pace line that assured that we would not be caught by any other chasers. At this point, I began to think in earnest about the finish and what my best strategy would be for it. I knew that of the 7 of us up the climbs on the 2nd lap, I was the most challenged. I also knew that the prizes for this race only went 6 deep. I figured I ought to be able to beat the guy who had been dropped on the 2nd lap to the line, but I did not have a good solution for the rest of them. I decided to resolve to do my best and let the chips fall where they may.

I had a guy picked for the win, as he had been first and easily over the climbs the first two trips up. I began to work to stay on his wheel and get ready for the assault. We went over the first two of the three and things were going pretty much as I expected. The last time up papa was going to hurt all of us and I was resolved to do my best. On the descent leading up to that climb, I attacked. I put everything I could into it, but they ran me down in pretty short order. So short, that I had a little bit of time to recover before we began the final climb. These are the times that I race for. In my mind's eye, I can see myself climbing that last hill at the same pace as the guy in front, just preparing to launch my sprint when that line finally comes into view. The reality is that I was going all out and getting gapped by most of the group. As I expected, the one guy was already off the back and out of it, but there still were 6 in front of me. I didn't give up, but I couldn't see how I could beat any of them. This is a fairly long finishing climb, so I had lots of time to ponder. As I continued to grind, I began to get a sense of cramping in my hamstrings. I came up out of the saddle to give those muscles a chance to stretch. It was then that I realized that I wasn't the lone ranger. None of us was flying up that hill, and at least two others were having some issues with their legs. I stayed out of the saddle and found a rhythm. I passed one of our group and was gaining on the guy I had picked for the win as we crossed the line. 6th place and in the prizes! Stoked!!

I think Steve Heaton's jersey says, "Train the mind, and the body will follow". That was crystal clear in the finish of this race.

Tuesday Night Racing, Hellyer Park Velodrome, 5/1/2012

By Dennis Pedersen

I was getting over the flu and a crash that spoiled my races at the Santa Cruz and Sea Otter Classic Criteriums. So, even though I needed to get up at 3:00AM on Wednesday morning, I decided to do some track racing at Hellyer's velodrome on Tuesday night. I've really appreciated the new Cat 3/4 races they now offer too. Hey, live life, carpe diem and all that!

First we lined up along the rail for a 12-lap points race (sprints every fourth lap). Though I was somewhat marked in this race, often finding myself slowly drifting to the front while others watched, I was able to get two 2nds and a 3rd for 3rd overall, behind Stefan and Andrew, a fun Junior on SJBC.

Next; a 20-lap scratch race. Right off the bat I took a pull to speed things up, but nobody was willing to pull through. So I ended up staying at the front, but high on the track, so I could use the banking to accelerate downhill to catch any attackers. None came until John, a Junior on Specialized, flew off the front below me... I refused to chase, given how marked I was, so everybody just continued to follow me around high on the track, with Andrew glued to my wheel the whole race. Stefan mocked him jokingly, but Andrew was not amused like I was! This went on a while until John was a half-lap ahead. Then a few guys took pulls so I joined in and the gap came down to about a quarter-lap. Finally, with 2 laps to go, people woke up and a few of us caught John. Stefan took a strong 1st; I took 2nd by jumping past Andrew at the line.

In our 30-lap points race (sprints every fifth lap), John and I talked about trying a break, and got Andrew to join us. I was worried we'd blow up so I took the first pull, keeping the pace under 300W. But that wasn't hard enough so the pack stayed mostly together. Eventually I was able to go off the front with Andrew briefly, and took a 1st in our sprint, but I gapped him the next time we tried so I held back... that's when John took off. He took the last two sprints while we sat up. Stefan joked about Andrew following me again to the point where tempers flared a bit. I got a few more points along the way so I didn't do too badly with 3rd overall. But we had to soothe some ruffled feathers afterward. I like these guys, so keeping the peace is good.

Once again I succeeded in accomplishing my main goal: to have fun! Plus won a few minor victories to boot.