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Matt and I from SquadraSF headed down for the Cat2 race which had about 40 starters, plenty of strong guys to watch including about 6 Metromint riders.
Course & Profile: A true nor-cal classic attracts SoCal cyclists as well, starts with a 18mile climb from the gun with 4000ft elevation gain in basically 3 even sections. Then a sharp decent followed by 40miles flat/rolling terrain with about 3 5min climbs sprinkled throughout.
The Plan: I knew there would be plenty of climbers showing up so my strategy was simple. SIT IN and follow the big moves or splits! In the valley/middle section of the race focus on recovery and nutrition. Then attack or make final selections on the last 2 climbs with 20miles to the finish.
To the Observatory and KOM: As planned I sat in the top 5-15 riders staying in the draft about 98% of the climb. Metromint decided to set the pace from the start. They had 5 or 6 riders with a few strong climbers including Keith Wong who has some crazy time OLH, so they were obviously trying to set it up for him. Fine by me, so they set the pace on the first two sections, Keith attacking at the beginning of the 3rd section. I expected this and again focused on saving energy letting the others chase. The pace picks up a lot due to Keith's move. The group catches Keith about the time you start to see the observatory. With about 10min to the KOM, there are only about 15 guys left. With a few KM to the KOM some accelerations start happening but no all out attacks. When we make the last hairpin there are about 5 of us up front and a JR obviously going for the KOM puts in a real attack. After some hesitation a Helens rider and myself start to bridge up to him. There is actually more climbing after the KOM so I am careful not to bridge it too fast. We catch him 100m before the KOM. The JR attacks again, the Helens guy throws in the towel and I decide to not burn a match here but continue to motor over through the KOM as the JR sits up after getting the KOM. I hit the decent first with a solid gap and conservatively descend. At the bottom I am at the back of a lead group of about 7.
The Valley: The lead group keeps the pace relatively high, since the Helens rider is off solo after a impressive decent. But the cross-headwind causes the group to swell to about 20 by 2nd feed zone. The climbs after the feedzone split the group again. At the top of the last climb of the race It was just me and 4 others. We were all committed to working and staying away, but again it was not to be after about 5miles we were caught by a group of ~10.
Finish: The finish comes about 1 mile after a long fast decent. We hit the base with about 12 riders. Everyone was anxious, there was a strong headwind, roads very narrow, and the finish is hard to see since it it after a little rise. At the 1KM sign everyone was stacking up near the centerline or gutter trying to find an open lane. I was kinda stuck in the middle but only a rider or two back from the guys in on the front, so I figured it was better than fighting for a spot on the outside which was in the wind. I waited patiently. One rider jumped from the front near the 200m sign and the rider to my left hestiated. Seeing the lane open I jumped immediately sneaking through and claiming my 1/3 of the road up against the centerline. I couldn't see the line over the small rise and just tried to keep my gear spinning up and over the hump. I gained ground on the rise and crossed the line first with enough room to throw an arm up, but still in shock that that gap opened up for me and that I just Won Mt. Hamilton Classic!
Strava File
Placing: 1st
At just over 30 starters, it wasn't the largest field ever, but Mike's Bikes, Metromint, and SquadraSF were well represented.
About 30min into the 90 minute crit, the field was effectively cut in half. One minute the pace was all cool with the occasional attack and then all of a sudden it seemed like the attacks were coming non stop. When the pace finally slowed, the pack was cut in half. Soon after my teammate Kurt goes up the road. Pablo and I try to recover and just sit in since Kurt was in a promising break.
After 20min, Pablo sees Kurt is coming back and we look at each other like what the **** are we going to do. Pablo takes initiative goes straight to the front and drills it, I jump on his wheel as Pablo pegs it at about 30mph. Pablo pulls off and I hit the front, giving it some more gas, I look behind shortly after to see what kind of help we will get in the chase effort. Answer...none, the group lets me ride off the front. I look up the road and can see the two leaders 200-300m up the road and the remaining pack back to their coffee ride pace.
I decide it is now or never and somehow bridge the ~16second gap. It took a little less than 2 laps at 29mph vs. the break's speed of about ~26mph. Probably the hardest 3min effort I can remember on the bike, if the gap was 5m further I probably would not have made it. After getting a full lap of recovery it was pretty standard break effort. Dana from Mike's Bikes owes us some good karma since we let him jump ahead and swap bikes with 5 laps to go after realizing he had a soft rear wheel. Dana jumped first with about 1/3 of a lap left, I remain on Ethan's (Metromint) wheel as he attempts to close the gap, he doesn't quite make it as we hit the last turn, at the exit of the turn I give it all I got sealing 2nd, but still a ways off the win. Kurt proceeds to ride off the front of the chase group with several laps to go grabbing a impressive 4th.
Placings:
2nd - James
4th - Kurt
Red Peleton was the only other team with significant numbers. SquadraSF had several riders representing the team, Jesse, Neil, Brian , Daniel, JR, Kurt, Angelo, Emory, and myself. So yes I admit we were a force to be dealt with making up 1/3 of the field. After about 10min of attacks, the pack starts giving some moves a longer leash. Emory gets up the road with a Red Peloton guy and another rider. They get a small gap, but it holds for some time. The pack continues to soft pedal not worried about the early break so I decide to jump across. I jump hard to ensure I don't bring anyone with me. After a few rotations Emory is feeling the effects of initiating the break and falls off the pace.
Break of 3: So now 3 of us have a small gap that is holding. I decide to hit it for a few laps then reevaluate the situation. The gap grows to ~20seconds so I start taking shorter/easier pulls to see what happens to the gap. It stays constant so obviously my teammates are doing a great job covering any bridge attempts and making an organized chase almost impossible. So I decide the odds are likely in our favor, break companions are still pulling hard, and my teammates will have an armchair ride while all other riders get worn out chasing or trying to bridge. Since we had a very strong E2 team in this race, the pressure on since two in the top 5 is not the same as two in the top 5, one being the WIN. So I am careful to monitor my effort.
Bell Lap: Everyone is anxious, the finish looks deceivingly long because there is a slight bend which blocks the officials tent and finish line from sight when you exit turn 4, but I looked at my Power Data from the Team Swift Crit (same course) and it only takes 20sec to hit the line from the last corner. I move up into pole position in turn three and jump first after exiting the corner, take the shortest possible line to the finish and take the win comfortably.
Field Finish: The team took control the front last few laps. In the end Kurt drilled it to the last corner, Neil jumping off his wheel winning the field sprint with room to spare.
Placings:
1st - James
4th - Neil
In the P1/2 race there were about 50 starters and, I was the only rider from SquadraSF and just about everyone was a threat, 7 Mikes Bikes, 8 Marc-Pro Strava, 6 Freemont Bank, 3 Cal Giant, 4 Metromint, Wonderful Pistachios, oh and local Nate English (Kenda/5hr-Energy). So with 6hrs of sleep (5am alarm) and racing a Crit on Saturday, I was wondering how the legs would be. I knew the race would be stacked, but mostly wanted to test myself in my first P1/2 race with a lot of climbing.
Course & Profile: Classic course w/ the P1/2's doing 90 miles with 7500ft of climbing rolling around San Pablo Dam/Reservoir. Climbing the "three bears".
Report: As expected: Attacks were constant for the first two laps. On lap two fewer people began to respond to the attacks and Nate kept putting in small attacks on the climbs or simply up the pace like crazy. Admittedly during this stage in the race so I jumped on more moves than I should have, but was worried more about missing the move than finishing at this point. At some point two got away and to be honest I did not even see them go, but with only Freemont and Marc-Pro represented I assumed it would be brought back, wrong, Mikes Bikes guys were suffering they actually used this time to let the pace slow so some of their guys could catch back on and Nate was not willing to do it on his own. Coming into the last lap there was another big split in the front group of 20 on Papa Bear, I was in the 2nd group of 10 or more. As we hit the boat launch area rollers the gap was coming down. Two riders attempted to bridge, I would have jumped on it but had just pulled through and was at the very back. I decided to roll the dice and hope this would cause our group as a whole to pick up the pace and close the gap. Wrong, I ended up stuck in a group of 10+ guys who just lost their shot at a top ten just 14 miles from the finish.
Since when did I enjoy solo TT efforts: Often when I realize I just let the race slip away from me I get bummed and then really annoyed by the negative racing in the shattered group that I am in. So what do I do, turn it into a training ride and try to get back home sooner than later. When we reach the valley it was very clear we were not catching the lead group again. After taking a hard pull to get things moving, I pull off to find they have just let me ride off. Now really annoyed I keep cruising and make the call to give it a go make the legs pay for not making the final selection and see if I can make it home before the group of 10 just behind me. At mile 82 I must have been really annoyed because a 9mile solo TT with strong winds included headwinds on the final climb is not my idea of fun and does not suit me either. So I made this my race within a race. I catch a Mike's Bikes rider a few miles into my solo effort and am excited to get some help, but quickly realize that he had blown so I continue on solo. The group behind is closing again so I get on it through the meandering valley until I am out of sight again. Coming into Mama Bear I have a pretty good gap, can see the lead group nearing the top, but I can feel my legs and body starting to shut down. I reach the base of Papa Bear with one rider attempting to bridge about 100m back and the group of 10 maybe 300m behind. I fight my bike and legs as much as I can trying to squeeze the last bit of power(lets call it energy because the power numbers at this point were pretty pathetic) out to just get through this hellish headwind climb. I do just enough to finish a few seconds ahead of the Stage17 race bridging and about 10 seconds ahead of the group of 10 chasers. Small success and good mental strength training.
Placing: 15th (1st of Cat 2s)
Strava File
In the E2/3 race there were about 55 starters and a few guys to watch. Jan (Gnar Lube) and Rainier (Mikes Bikes) were the guys I was really watching. SquadraSF had several riders representing the team, Jesse C., Neil B., Brian J., Daniel dM, JR, and myself.
We're Off: As planned we were active everyone moving around the bunch and taking turns going with moves that all seemed to be chased down by the entire field immediately. At this point I was getting sick of jumping of everything and wanted to pick my moves a little more carefully. I noticed Jan was with two other followed by 4 more that just a few bike lengths back. Still waiting attentively I notice the guys at the front of the field are letting the gap open and at the same time Jan appears to be drilling it at the front of his group, that is all I needed to see and jumped hard to bridge up to the lead group of three and pile on the pressure. After a few Hard rotations it ended up being 5 guys committed/making the move with a small gap.
Break: Composition was perfect 1 from each team that had several riders only problem was the race was not over for 40 MIN! Not much to say about the break except everyone worked evenly. My SquadraSF teammates assumed position near the front and helped the break stick by riding false tempo and quickly marking every move attempting to bridge. With 8-to-go we could see the pack about 1/4 of a lap in front of us. With 2-to-go the Cliff Bar guy attacked but was quickly marked, and riders began to shuffle around a bit.
Bell Lap: Halfway down the back straight I was 2nd wheel and shuffled back to 4th. I jumped hard on the inside just before corner (sweeper) #3 making sure I could take the inside line and then line up the best angle on turn 4. After exiting the the final turn I gave it a second kick and took the shortest line to the finish, Jan was able to get on my wheel before the final turn he took my early sprint as a perfect leadout, but I was able to gap everyone else so I crossed the line in a comfortable 2nd place for SquadraSF.
Placing: 2nd
Also pretty cool to see Team Rabobank riders Luis-Leon Sanchez and Laurens ten Dam cruising around the back of the E3/4 race. After getting yelled at by the announcer for joining in on the race they proceeded to do some motorpaced sprints and parade laps off the officials motorcycle. Pretty sweet.
Spring 2012 I taught a Supplementary Instruction Course for Engineering Dynamics at SFSU.
