UCLA Road Race - E3

Course: 4 laps of a 12.5 mile loop with ~1500ft of climbing each lap. Basically all up or down except for a few mile flat section with a pretty good cross wind after the fast decent. The start/finish is about 1/3 the way up the climb.

Report: So after checking the ever-changing weather forecast for Pearblossom, CA the last few days, Jason Habeger and I decided to roll the dice and drive up and race this HARD road race. I did the race last year in the 3s and fell off the back of the lead group and rolled across the finish wasted in 8th. This year I was looking for revenge. When we arrived we were pleased to see the sun shining, but the wind was howling and was damn cold. I think is was hovering around 40 degrees when we rolled off at 12:40 with about 25 other Cat 3s.

The first lap was pretty mellow, one SDBC rider went off the front all alone, but never got too far. The cross wind section did sting the legs so basically the decent was the only place to rest the legs on the course.

Lap 2 the pace ramped up and a few little attacks were quickly brought back. The momentum was kept over the top and on the fast decent. We hit the flat cross wind section and riders were chasing on and the group was pretty strung out. A few riders had stick off the front that I knew were strong so I jumped from the front of the group and added some pace to the sneaky move. Jason Holden followed my lead. We had some good horsepower and cranked it up to get a gap. Everyone buried their heads and soon the moto came up and said 10seconds, then by the time we were on the climb it was 25. We settled down a bit and just rode a hard tempo rotating through on the climb.

Lap 3 Jason Habeger was having an off day so he decided to call it a day. The dreaded snow started to fall. By the top we had 1:05 on the peleton. Again we flew down the decent and eased a bit on the crosswind section where a SoCal Cycling and Helens rider bridged.

Here is a photo of the Pro1/2 race that was racing at the same time as the 3s. Great weather eh.

Lap 4 two additional riders bridged at some point, but most of what was left of the peleton was scattered all over the course and many called it a day. Again the pace up the climb was tough! Now the snow/sleet was coming down hard and everyone was wet and thus COLD. The decent was freezing and my glasses totally iced over and I had to take them off as my fingers lost function. Everyone was slapping the ice off their arm and leg warmers. One rider was taking a few risks on the decent and everyone in the break was content to let him go. Later I found out that this rider was friends with the (3) Helens guys that were in the break. In the cross winds there were the typical anxious attacks and soft pedaling by all. The lone rider off the front held us off and it was a uphill sprint for the now 8 or so in the break. I managed second in the sprint to grab 3rd on the day. After about 30min of sitting in my car with the heater on full blast I finally came back to life. It was great to initiate a break and have it succeed for once (even if it did swell a bit). In retrospect maybe I was doing more than my fare share in the break and should have saved a bit more to follow he late attacks and/or the sprint, but I really wanted this one to stick.


Result: 3rd

Valley of the Sun Stage Race - E3

In the 3s we had (3) Swamis. Myself, Mario C., and Jason H.

Stage 1: TT 14.4mi basically flat

Report: What had always deterred me from VOS was the flat TT, flat RR, flat Crit. But this year I had a full TT rig and have been training a bit on it. Jason and I had TT setups and Mario was going Merckx style. The wind was pretty calm in the AM and started to pick up on as it got closer to when the 3s went off. Mario rode hard but did not want to leave it all out there because without a TT bike and all the gear he knew he would not be a GC contender. Jason left it all out there and had a solid time of 33:36 good enough for 19^th of the 80 or so riders that started. I did not know what to expect a flat TT is something I am not typically fond of, but what the hell I warmed up well and was setting a good pace on the way out. About 4km from the turnaround I felt the sign of a side crank coming on…damn…I dialed it back a bit to see if it would go away, nope, so I held it at that lovely line where my side stitch was not getting worse but still pushing hard. In the end I came across in 21^st with a time of 33:42.  For reference the fastest time in the 3s was 31:32 and 29:29 for the Pros.

Stage 2: Road Race  

Course: 74miles, 4.5 laps of a 16miles loop with one 6km +/- gradual climb each lap.

Report: Well not being in a great spot in GC we were hunting for the stage. They moved the finish closer to the top of the climb this year so this suited me better. We made up a game plan but none of us had ever ridden the course so it was subject to change. It was 80degrees and pretty windy at high noon when we went off. We assumed that a break would not stick because of everyone riding for GC. The first lap and every lap for that matter was pretty slow until the climb which we hit extremely hard the first and third laps. Well maybe it just felt crazy fast because I was carrying 3 full water bottles up the climb. No neutral feed so we were all hauling our own water. The second lat a group of three broke away and got a good gap. The pace remained pretty slow on the flat sections and as we planned were content to sit in and save energy and eat. The third time up the climb they hit it again, I stayed near the front on the climb and as we crested the top we realized that ½ the group was off the back including the leader, but the guys close on GC did not have the teammates or the strength to drive the group away on the flats so almost everyone cough back on. This continued and the race was pretty boring until the final lap. In the last two laps we were neutralized a few times and this gave the break and even bigger gap. Leading up to the final climb Mario got me to the front and hit it leading up the climb. Mario’s legs were done so he gave me one last effort and set me at the front. There were a few attacks/surges after Mario’s and but everyone was chasing everything down at this point. I found myself a little farther back than I wanted to be while Jason was near the front. We caught one of the Pro breaks going up the climb so they were neutralized and we were allowed to go over the yellow line..my chance to move up 20 spots. Perfect I was right up near the front with Jason when we hit the 3km to go sign. Just a short while after Jason hit it. He jumped clear of everyone and I stayed near the shoulder just watching everyone look at each other. Riders started to ramp up the pace and we caught him and one of the guys in the break just before the 1km sign. Then a rider I recognized from Chula Vista jumped and I followed. He is a breakaway artist and climber and that is his best shot so I knew was going for the line as it was his only shot. I looked back to see who was following as I tried to stay as close to his rear wheel as possible and only one Helen’s guy was with us. Everyone from SoCal J. I yelled at Josh and said we have a gap so that he would not give up and leave me to take the front with 500m. So he took it all the way to 200m before I jumped for the line. I looked under my arm and saw the Helens rider sprinting but not gaining, raised one arm and took the field sprint for 3^rd! Team rode smart and our plan to save energy and let the GC riders do all the peacemaking worked.

Discussing the finish.

Stage 3: Crit. 35min (all races were shortened)  

Course: ~1mile Technical and bumpy 7 or 8 corner flat course.

Report: When warming up for the Crit Swamis got a big complement from Tribe a local team. One of the riders came up to me and said that they were happy to have us in AZ and that we were the smoothest riders in the peloton and we should be sure to come out next year. 

Again the plan was to sit in and stay in good position because the GC guys were not going to let anything go. From the gun Jason gave one solid attack. He drilled it trying to get a small group to go, but instead it just set the pace for most of the race it was pretty fast and strung out. It got pretty sketchy at times so I grabbed a $50 prime early stayed either in the top 10 riders or at the back chatting. Being only 35min, 3 to go came really quick and I was too far back. I waited for the time to move up and not waste too much energy and with 1.5 laps to go finally moved all the way up to the front. Just when I got their one rider hit it hard and I tucked in 3^rd wheel. He took it that full ½ lap but realized that the entire pack was on his wheel so he pulled off. The rider now at the front took a short pull and then I was at the front just past the start finish on the bell lap. Realizing there are like 5 quick corners ahead of me I said what the heck I would rather make it through them cleanly and not have to hit the brakes. I rode high tempo to the back straight and then eased a tad and waited and waited. Started to feel like a Miss-N-Out at the track do just enough so they don’t come around and then be ready for the big move. So one of the local squads was on my right and had a train of 3 guys ready to go the first rider jumped and I jumped to follow he was on the inside so when he swung wide to take the corner at full speed I held my ground and he basically just move in front of me leaving his teammates in the wind….oooooppppss. He drilled it for the double right turn that spits you out onto the front straight with about 350m to the line. As he eased exiting the corner I knew it would be strung out single file for at least the top 10 so this was my chance to get the gap. I jumped hard and went for the smooth outside lane, got the gap then sat back in the saddle and spun up through the gears. I knew that I was moving, had a gap, and just had to keep it going. As the line got closer I looked over my shoulder to see no one was there just in time to raise one arm to win the field sprint again but this time for the WIN. I heard Mario yelling and put his arm up when I turned to look at the pack coming across the line behind. What a perfect last lap! Couldn’t have asked for a cleaner and more fun sprint.

RESULTS

TT: 21^st 33:42 (2:10 off the leader)

Road Race: 3^rd  (50 seconds behind breakaway minus 4 second time bonus for 3rd)

Crit: 1^st  (w/ 10 second time bonus)

Overall GC: 14^th, 2:29 back

BLVD and Red Trolley - E3

BLVD Race Report
In the 3s we had (5) Swamis. Myself, Mario C., Jason H., Ryan D., George Z.

Well the weather was perfect for the first time in many years, so spirits were high in the Cat 3 field of about 50-60.

Lap 1: We started on the decent and got stuck behind a semi which was a little unnerving but Jason H and a few other went to the front and slowed the group down and the truck turned off a mile or so up the road. Then about 1KM or so from the right turn onto La Posta someone attacked was way off the front, ooooops he missed the turn onto La Posta so the group was back together again. Everyone knows how hard BLVD is so the pace was not killer this first lap, but 2/3 down La Posta it bunched up at a cattle guard and I heard a ride explode and some riders go down behind me. Later Ryan made his way up to say that George caught his front tire in the gap in the cattle guard (the one at the center line) Luckily George is alright but his front wheel was trashed. Several Swamis moved up at the end of La Posta to ensure we don’t have to close any gaps on the climb. The pace on the HW 80 was pretty good on the first lap and we dropped a few riders.  

Lap 2: No Chaos this time on the decent of La Posta because Mario stuck to the plan and rode on the front to keep it steady and keep breaks from going. He pulled most of the decent and most of La Posta. (2) riders did jump clear on the decent, but Mario kept the riders at the front rotating and they never got too far away. The pace on La Posta was got pretty heated and several riders fell of the back on the La Posta rollers. Again Swamis rode smart and everyone stayed near the front so we didn’t have to burn any matches to close gaps into the headwind on La Posta. Once on HW 80 it was all together again and one rider (US Navy kit) got on the front and just drilled it. Not really an attack, but just high tempo. By the top there was about 25 riders hanging on. Ryan, Jason, and I managed to stay right near the front. Mario called it a day at the feed zone and did his job for the team knowing the last lap would not be fun up that climb after all the work he had put it.

Final Lap: On the decent about 15 riders caught back on and one or two riders when off the front and got a pretty good gap. La Posta again was brutal, riders started to attack and then were brought back shrinking the group again to about 30. When we hit HW 80 one rider was still of the front but within sight. Just after the turn a few riders attacked and the pace was pretty insane. I came into the turn 1^st wheel so that I could drop back a bit and tucked in about 5^th after the attacks started coming, I don’t really recall the play by play but from the initial attacks on HW 80 the pack got shredded to 20 or so and then the pace remained pretty high tempo. Ryan and Jason got gapped slightly at this point and now were in the wind. I managed to stay tucked in and riders began to get antsy with 3km to go, I stayed in the top five the entire way but the pace was getting to me. This pace also caught the lone rider off the front. With 1KM to go I attacks started to come again, I just followed the wheels on the first few and then it died down again, then with 300m to go a rider made a small move up the road I jumped (not too hard or so I thought) just to get on the wheel and keep in the top 5, but as we hit the final kicker up to the finish I got out of the saddle to follow the wheels and go for the line then realized there was no snap left in these legs. So I gave it a go and limped in for 16^th. Ryan and Jason, didn’t lose much time on the group and finished a few places behind me. Not what we hoped for, but I think we rode a smart race and have a few cards to play on the upcoming races.

Red Trolley Race Report
In the 3s we had (5) Swamis. Myself, Mario C., Miles, Dulie, and Troy.

Report: Red Trolley we had some sore legs sit out and some fresh legs show up. So again we had a small but good group racing Sunday with a pretty big field of 70-80 riders. My plan was to sit-in for the first 2/3 of the race (hopefully my legs would come back from the dead) and Mario and Miles were going to attack, try to get in a break, and grab some primes in the middle third. The wind was blowing on-shore as usual and we have a pretty good headwind onto the front straight. Swamis was active going off the front and trying to get something to go but nothing stuck. As planned I followed a few moves in the last third of the race and launched one or two moves on my own. 

In every move I was in there would be 2-3 guys pulling and 2-3 guys just sitting on disrupting the pace. Here is a short video clip Steve from Platinum took of one of the moves I tried to initiate, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtlIwPNCzzU 

So with 6-to-go I was fed up with the negative racing and decided to wait of the inevitable field sprint. The pace was pretty high and people were hitting it hard on the climb and it would get strung out on the front straight then dwell on the backside. With 2-to-go I was in the top 5 and two riders really hit the hill as if it was the final sprint (some on the sidelines though it was due to how these guys were going) I was on these guys wheels so I decided I want that draft so I hit it hard and stayed with them just in case they get a gap and want to tow me around….but they sat up on the back straight again and then I was gassed and the strung out group swarmed once more. I got swarmed from both sides and I assumed I would not have much of a sprint left so I didn’t fight too hard to keep position. Halfway down the back straight I decided what the f*** I will give it a go so I moved up about 10 spots before the final turn now sitting on the inside line in about 20^th position I follow the wheels up the hill and start to open up my sprint to see a wall of riders in front of me hitting the wind, I look left and see there is a open road between the front group of 15 and the second group of 15 so I give it full gas and make sure my rear wheel is clear of the second group and get a free lane with about 75m left…I passed about 8 riders that were hitting that wall of wind to come in 7^th. I was happy with my sprint, but was pretty upset that I let the pack swarm me towards the end and was sprinting from way to far back....This weekend put some confidence back in my legs so now I just need to race for the Win.

New Orleans

Need to post about our wonderful trip to NOLA