Race: Wards Ferry RR P12
Result: 2nd & 14th
Course: Sanora, CA at the foothills of Yosemite. ~56mi over 5 laps constantly up or down totaling over 6k ft of climbing, some steep pitches, some narrow fast descents, but nothing is the same for more than a few minutes. This translates to NO REST and making 56miles feel much longer.
Report: Since SDSR is going on and it is a bit of a drive, only Tim and I represented SquadraSF in the P12 field of about 20. Our plan was pretty simple, since field was likely to be small watch for any splits, but in general try to save energy for the first half, then initiate moves/splits in the 2nd half if we are feeling good. There were a few notables despite the small field. Paul Mach (ExPro w/ Bissel & Kenda/5hrEnergy), Craig Fellers (Red Peleton) and a few local climbers. The only team with any real representation was Red Peleton with 3 riders.
Lap 1 was reasonably tame with a few attacks thrown in, Will R. (Olympic Club) away after the 1st lap. As expected everyone was looking at Paul, but he made it clear that he would not simply pull us around and bring riders back for us. Will was out of sight pretty quick, but it was still a long way. At the start of lap 2 or 3 (gets fussy here) in an effort to keep the pace us a bit and not let Win get away from us I did a halfhearted attack (just to test field and keep pace moving), was brought back, then when the next hesitation came Tim keeps the momentum up and attacks, everyone looks around and I am at the front and ride false tempo. Tim is off the front for several minutes, but starts to come back before the climbs leading up to the feedzone. When he comes back I counter as the pace slows once again and keep it going. Tim and my attacks thinned the pack considerably, (maybe 11 left in the field), but unfortunately I misread how committed Tim's attack was and my counter before and thru the climb which caused Tim to fade as the leaders powered through the false flat. On a positive note, Will was back in sight..
Another lap went by and Craig Fellers attacked with 2.5 laps to go as we caught Will who had been off the front solo. Again everyone looked at Paul, I kept rolling through on the descents and whenever the pace really dropped, but was conscious not to waste any matches since the race was only going to get harder.
The Break: Before the decent on lap 4, I had lot of momentum as the pack slowed to a snails pace (again) at the base of a roller and decided to come thru at speed and keep the pressure on...... I look back and they are giving me a leash. I keep the moderate pressure on as though I am just going to float out there and waste energy, but as the road turns I really hit it over the top and the final rollers before the decent. By the 180deg turn on the decent they were out of sight, so I take the decent as fast as I can and by the bottom, Craig is in sight, on the first climb after the decent I am closer but he slips out if sight as the road bends. Then all of a sudden I am right on him as he is trying to fix his dropped chain. I pass him and ease since wind is not a friend, he is back soon enough and is also clearly happy to have some help. For 1.5 laps we just keep the pressure on trading good strong pulls. I think both of us were having nightmares of Paul Mach catching us and riding right through us with one or two riders in tow.
Last Lap: We were still way out of sight coming through the feedzone then passed a field before the sharp descent and nailed it, surely increasing our lead, but then...the wheels started to fall off with about 1/2 lap to go. I think it was a combination of just one hell of a race and not eating/drinking enough do to the no rest and constant action. The first few climbs after the decent nearly killed me, but I hung in there knowing I needed to be on a wheel for a few more miles, but with about 1.5km to go I just started to fade big time, Craig simply road away without even picking up the pace, I was cracked, dizzy, out of water (it was too late anyways), and putting out tempo watts felt like the hardest thing in the world. The 1KM to go sign was a great sight, then the 200m sign was even better, except for the fact that it really kicks up there and I was out of gears, barely moving. Dropped riders from other fields started to pass me, but still I could not see anyone from the P12 field. I made it across in 2nd Place with plenty of daylight between me and the next P12 rider. It was not a pretty finish, but I am really pleased with the result and making the move when I did. For the record I cannot remember the last time I cracked that hard, Tim fought on catching some dropped riders and finished in 14th.
It was great to have a loose plan at the start of the race, we may have got a bit anxious early (my doing), but I really had a fun reading off Tim throughout the first half of the race, we marked moves well and put in some of our own attacks splitting the field. Having teammates in the race makes racing a little more relaxed and saves a few needed matches. Looking forward to the next race as a team.
Podium Shot: http://instagram.com/p/
Strava File: http://app.strava.com/
Data Geek Info:
Time: ~2:40 forgot to press start at the line
Norm Power: 246w
Intensity Factor: 0.91 !!! Yea NO REST!
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