Cat's Hill Classic Criterium, Saturday, May 3rd, 2014

Cat’s Hill Classic Criterium

Saturday, May 3rd, 2014

Los Gatos, CA

Event	Mike’s Bikes Cat’s Hill Classic Criterium
Date	05/03/14
Group	35+ cat 4/5
Bib #	914
Result	15th of 37

This course, like so many in the NorCal/Nevada district, has some big names on the list of its winners. I just had to do this race if only for the sake of racing on the same old broken streets as Greg Lemond, Ron Kiefel, Peggy Maas, Katrin Tobin, Sally Zack and more, dating back to 1974.

Course

The promoters bill this as “one of the toughest races on the NorCal circuit” and that’s accurate at least based on my experience so far this year. This is a backwards “L” shaped course with 6 turns: 5 right and 1 left, for a 0.9 mile lap. The streets in this hilly, affluent neighborhood are skewed, so the corners are either slightly acute or slightly obtuse, but still within five to eight degrees of 90°. With the exclusion of the narrowing lane after the climb, the streets are really wide… maybe 10 meters. From the start, there’s a long straightaway on fractured concrete slab streets. After about 1-1/2 long blocks to turn 1, a 95° right, then quickly turn 2, an 85° right. One block with a speed hump, then the concrete changes to fairly new asphalt, laid down last year, as turn 3, an 85° left onto an immediate 23% climb for one “short block” (about 50 meters?). This tops out in a lovely, narrowing, shaded lane, then dips slightly. It feels like paradise, but this is where you need to hammer while everyone’s catching their breath. Two short blocks, then turn 4, a 95° right with a dip on the inside, followed immediately by a hump, that slows you down. The whole exit of the turn climbs a hump that requires extra acceleration to keep the speed up. I got pinched here only twice. It’s best to take that turn on the outside where the profile is more even. One long block to set up for turn 5, a 92° right, exiting onto the familiar fractured concrete slab surface for a five short-block, 35-40mph descent to turn 6, a wide 80° right, then 160m to the line.

Details of Race

We started with 37 riders and most, like me, knew it was important to get to the base of the climb near the front of the pack in order not to get boxed in or fouled by riders who botch their shifts. The hill is steep enough that you’re going to have to climb in the gear you select at the base. I found myself in the exact middle of the pack for the first 3 or 4 laps (we did 15) and by the 3rd prime contest I was topping the climb in the front 3 or so. For some reason riders were hugging the right half of the road to the curb, boxing each other in. Once I noticed this trend, I began using the left side which gave me a clear path up. The long, fast descent was actually pretty safe, yet I still yielded 3 or 4 positions here on each lap, due to caution. Even so, I was usually able to make that up on the long straightaway approaching turn 1. Unfortunately conservative descending was the difference of 5 positions for me at the finish. By the final lap, the 25 of us who were left were strung out on the long straightaway heading to turn 1. I accelerated from mid-pack, up along the left curb, to the front 4. I planned to stay locked in here until we hit the climb for the last time, knowing I had kept pace with the fastest riders on previous ascents. I wasn’t prepared for the mad rush though and 8 or 10 riders filled the turn at the base of the climb. I also chose my gear unwisely–it was the same 39x24 I’d been using previously, but the pace required a stronger effort in a 39x19. I was 12 back by the top of the climb. I clawed back a couple of positions, hammering in “shady paradise lane”, but coming out of turn 4 along the top of the park, I caught a glimpse of soon-to-be winner Jay Parkhill (Team Roaring Mouse) who did everything right. Besides hitting the hill decisively on the last lap, he sprinted at 31mph to create a gap, heading into turn 5. All I could do was say “All right Jay!” to his teammate Nathan Codding, who was overtaking me. While we front 10 were approaching turn 5 at the top of the long, fast, 35-40 mph descent towards the final turn, Parkhill had a 20 meter gap. At the apex of turn 6, the pack is going 30 mph and there just isn’t enough distance to the line to execute a proper sprint. A gap established prior to the descent seems to stick… as long as you’re not shy about taking the final turn at blistering speed. I was a little bit conservative with my approach to that turn each time, so I noticed I usually lost 2 or 3 positions on the descent. On this final lap I was probably #10 at the top of the descent, but #15 at the line. 2nd place Patrick Minotti (cat5, Berkeley Bicycle Club) was really jazzed. He told me this was his first road cycling race in 25 years. He picked a tough course for his comeback!

Advice

Prepare for months with interval training (structured or Fartlek). Tires/Wheels: Strong wheels are recommended by the promoters. I have only one set, so no tough decisions there. I did mount 25c tires and went with lower air pressure than usual (100psi front/110psi rear) to give me a little better stickiness in the fast corner (turn 6). Gearing: Yes it’s 23%, but this is a race and the pace doesn’t allow sitting and spinning. To keep from getting dropped you have to repeat 15mph efforts on this shortie. If you don’t have compact gearing, don’t worry. A 39 works just fine. Just make sure you’re in it before hitting the hill. Some are actually big-ringing it, so if you have the power, rock on. Strategy: Don’t listen to me… I’ve only done this race once. But I’ve read that it’s not uncommon for a small group to get away early, then stay away. Big fields can get fractured by botched shifts and squirrely moves on the hill. If you’re still in it by the bell lap, treat the approach to turn 3 and the subsequent final ascent of the hill as a sprint for the line. If you can be out front along the topside of the course and commit fully to turn 5, the descent and turn 6, you should do well. If you’re 10 back, it’s too late to move up.

Links	Results	http://www.usacycling.org/results/?year=2014&id=1742&info_id=75103
	Strava	http://www.strava.com/activities/137106975

Berkeley Hills Road Race, May 10, 2014

Event	Berkeley Hills Road Race
Date	05/10/14
Group	M45 4
Bib #	618
Result	5th of 36
Course	From the race promoters: Traditional loop (approx 30.4km): San Pablo Dam, Castro Ranch, Alhambra Valley, and Bear Creek Roads, clockwise.  Pavement good to fair. Start: 2km promenade up service road from reg/parking area to (and then a short way along) San Pablo Dam Road. Finish: Top of the second long climb on Bear Creek Road (Papa Bear). Feed Zone: Approx 1.5km before finish on Papa Bear climb. Parking at feed zone for feed zone participants only. Our group does 2.7 laps for a total of 52 miles. The start is neutral for about 2 miles. The finish is at the top of “Papa Bear” (0.8 mi., 305 ft., about 7%), the second of two tough climbs. The road surface on the entire course is what I'd call excellent. There's nothing at all technical about the course. All corners are wide and obtuse.
Details of Race	The weather was perfect, if a bit breezy, but in this sheltered basin containing two reservoirs, it wasn't much of a factor. It was clear and cool at a bit after 8am when the groups all rolled out, about 55°. I was perfectly comfortable in bib shorts, a thin base layer under a short-sleeved jersey and arm warmers. Being bald, I used a lycra skullcap under my helmet. I didn't have anyone to do bottle hand-ups at the feed zone so I brought a third 18 oz. bottle in my center jersey pocket. I knew I'd probably drink a bottle per lap. M45-4s and M55-4s rode together and picked separately. The combined peloton rolled out with 61 riders. The centerline rule was in effect for the entire course (which was open to significant, weekend vehicle and bicycle traffic) it was not easy to adjust one's position in the group. I sized up the group on the first two ascents of Mama and Papa Bear. There were some strong climbers who surfaced, but no one split up the field and the peloton remained largely intact until the final ascent of Papa Bear. I kept an eye on my heart rate on those earlier ascents and at 173 bpm on Papa Bear, I don't think I taxed myself to the point where I'd be fighting cramps. But to be sure I sat-in on the descents and the long haul around the course to the final climbs. Up Mama Bear on the final lap, some of the contenders were beginning to be apparent. At the saddle(s), the front few cranked hard and I think it was a handful of riders who knew they couldn't outclimb the best, but hoped to create a gap to buy themselves precious seconds when we hit the last climb. This definitely stretched out the group, but we were all right there when we hit Papa Bear for the final time. I'd been watching Brian Ort's wheel (Team Roaring Mouse) for the whole race. He was looking extremely solid all day, setting the lead pace on all the climbs. All I had to do was match his pace, then sprint. But halfway up the climb, I began do fade. Each time another guy would come up alongside me, I'd dump it into a stiffer gear and climb out of the saddle. This slog was turning into a 300-meter uphill sprint. The grade increases to 8% for the last half of the climb and I just wasn't pleased with any of my gear selections. At the line I think I was in a 39 x 17. Brian and Mark Beckstead (San Jose Bicycle Club) were going head to head as a handful of riders pulled between them and myself. I desperately tried to retake a position that a passing rider gained but failed. Luckily I overtook another couple who had cracked, while stretching to the line just ahead of another. At the line I tried to count how far back I finished and was pretty sure there were 7 riders ahead of me, but since there were stragglers from other race groups on the course it was hard to identify my racers. Official results showed I was 5th among the M45-4s. Brian Ort was just edged out at the line by Mark Beckstead, who was in the M55 group. So Brian got 1st, and we all got a good look ahead at the competition beyond 55. I have a feeling there were at least a few more 55+ riders who crossed the line ahead of me. We all rode like we were in a single race, so I really have to hand it to those 55s. I'll take my 5th result and any upgrade points that come with it but I'll personally consider it an 11th-place race finish, based on rider points in the official results. I'm actually quite happy to know how competitive the 55+ riders are, and I can look forward to some quality racing when I “grow up.” For my result today I'll accrue 3 upgrade points. I won 2 nut bars and a 2 oz. “bear” bottle of really tasty local honey.
Advice	The climbs aren't tough enough to split up a cat 4 bunch. I'm not sure where it's best to attempt an attack. It might be worth a shot along the rolling terrain on Bear Creek Rd., just after Hampton Rd. I also think it would pay to attack on the steepest section of Papa Bear because the subsequent long, fast, 42mph descent is much slower with 75 riders than it would be in a smaller group. A group of 4 or 5 could create a sizeable gap on that descent.
Links	Results	http://www.usacycling.org/results/?year=2014&id=1576&info_id=75444
	Strava	http://www.strava.com/activities/139663679

Race Report: Mt. Hamilton Classic Road Race, Sunday, May 25, 2014

Event	Mt. Hamilton Classic Road Race
Date	05/25/14
Group	35+ 4
Bib #	512
Result	8th of 27
Course	Below is directly from the race flyer: This classic road course climbs 4,500' in 20 miles to the top of Mt. Hamilton, then continues 43 miles through remote ranch lands to the finish in Livermore, on Mines Rd. 0.5 miles south of Del Valle. Total elevation gain exceeds 6,000‘. Neutral water bottle handout at Isabel Creek, mile 25. Feed zone is at mile 40 at the fire station at the junction of San Antonio Valley Rd. and Del Puerto Canyon Rd. Feed vehicles must precede the PRO / Elite 1 group or approach feed zone via Mines Rd. Route: L on Fleming Ave, R on Alum Rock Ave, R on Mt. Hamilton Rd., straight on San Antonio Valley Rd., straight on Mines Rd. Here's my own description of the  62 mile course: The 20-mile ascent of Mt. Hamilton essentially begins at mile zero of this course. It's fortunately broken into 3 sections, separated by two brief descents: 7 miles, 1,656 ft, 4.5% avg. grade 3 miles, 740 ft, 4.5% avg. grade 7.8 miles, 1,893 ft, 5.3% avg. grade Then comes a technical 4.5 mile, 2,400 foot descent with many hairpin turns, one with a cattle guard at the apex. Aside from that, the road surface was really very good. Then comes 14 miles of rolling terrain, before the 4 mile, 607 foot, final climb, which is split into two efforts by a false summit. After cresting this last climb, the last 19 miles are an average -2% descent, although there's a perpetual headwind which makes it feel like flat ground. The centerline rule is in effect for every inch of the course.
Details of Race	27 lined up for the start. I chose to race with the Master 35 group because I was ranked in the top half dozen of those preregistered, while the the M45 group was a mix of category 3 and category 4 riders. Many (not all) of the cat 3 riders had higher ranking points than me, as did a few of the cat 4 riders. While I had a chance to move up in the rankings if I beat any of those riders, I was most interested in a better shot at a higher placing and the resulting upgrade points to add to the nine that I've accumulated to date. From the whistle, the pace was brisk, at 14 mph. At mile 3 there was an attack. After a few meters another rider went. The rest stood pat. There's a KOM prize in addition to prizes five deep at the finish. I knew that while the mountain was a formidable obstacle, the bulk of pain in this race would come while covering the 14 mile midsection. I also knew I wouldn't win the KOM, but I wanted more time to study the form of each rider before the group fragmented, so I accelerated and reeled in the two attackers. This kept us together only for another mile or so, but it also served to gap the weakest climbers. My primary goal for the ascent was not to win the KOM, nor did I think I'd match the descending skills of the leaders. But I knew if I climbed at my pace, I could control my effort and avoid “blowing up” later, like I knew at least a few of the dozen, who clung to the wheels of the leader, would do. My other goal was to summit ahead of as many riders as possible, to “put time in the bank” that would certainly be “withdrawn” as more confident riders would certainly overtake me on the tricky descent. The second part of this goal was to use those riders on the 14 mile rolling section to come. In letting the lead group go, I was able to drop my HR to 175 bpm for the remainder of the ascent–a level I know I can just sustain without too high a price in mild conditions. To keep fatigue at bay, I alternated between climbing in and out of the saddle. This helps me use different muscle groups and also serves to stretch my back, neck, shoulders and glutes, hopefully delaying the inevitable cramping that comes from riding at threshold for extended periods. Just before the crest of the 2nd pitch, at 11.7 miles, I caught two of my group. We descended together until the 3rd pitch began. We picked up a third rider in this little valley who pulled us to the base of the climb. I patted him on the back and thanked him for the pull. One of the other two riders asked me if I'd had “a flat back there or something” which I chose to interpret to mean that I was looking pretty strong, much like those who had dropped him earlier. I was interested in building a train for later, so I tried to ease up on my pace to keep us together. But it was soon clear that these three were cooked for the day, so I resumed my pace. I “played leapfrog” with two women from an earlier group all the way to Lick Observatory at the summit. At the top an official with a clipboard noted my number as I passed and I wondered how many of my group were still ahead–I guessed 10. One of the women appeared to be a very competent descender, so I let her go first and gave her plenty of space. Since my crash back in February, I haven't regained the confidence required to descend rapidly and skillfully. I was grateful that “traffic was light” because choosing a good line through each turn was key. About three quarters of the way down the 4.5 mile descent, one of the three riders from my group I'd dropped on the last pitch, overtook me. Finishing the descent, he introduced himself as Rollie [Rolland Jurgens (CA Technologies Racing)], and we started trading short pulls. Rolling through the neutral feed zone (actually just water) I guzzled the rest of my first bottle, tossed the empty into the pile and grabbed two ice-cold bottles, loading one into my empty cage and the other inside my jersey, against the back of my neck. The temperature had already climbed to about 80° and the cold felt great. I was only aware of this single opportunity to get water on this 61 mile course and expected to have to make the 3 bottles I had, last. The descent was long enough to make my legs stiff. Then while working with Rolland, I felt the first familiar twinges of cramps in my calves and thighs. My first two bottles had electrolyte mix, and I was eating my calorie and potassium-rich Medjool dates, but the heat was accelerating the effects of effort. I warned Rolland that I'd work with him as long as I could, but that sometimes these cramps can be debilitating. He said “likewise” so I could tell he was feeling the same way. We managed to stick together, making good progress, for about 10 miles as my cramping increased. The two women from the mountain latched onto the back of our “train” at the feed zone, risking an infraction if a moto-ref happened to come by. We didn't allow the two women into the rotation, just in case. At about mile 32 we overtook another from our race, who was able to latch on and share in the work. At 35 miles, the lead dozen from the E4 race, which started 10 minutes after us, flew by. The two women jumped onto that train but were dropped soon after. At 40 miles I was fighting six different cramps. Near the top of the first pitch of the final climb, Rolland had gone off the back. The other rider was still hanging on, but fading. Through the saddle between the two summits of this final climb, I downed the Espresso Clif Shot I had in my pocket. Wow! I felt great immediately. The cramps were still an issue–the spasming Sartorius muscle, contracting across the top of the Vastus medialus on each leg was a disturbing sight, much like wire cheese cutters going through soft cheese. My side-stitch had eased, but my calves were still cramped. I started shifting into harder gears and sprinting out of the saddle. This actually helped relieve the discomfort a lot, while increasing my speed. By now, I had dropped the last remaining "car" of my little pain-train. With 11 miles to go I noticed a rider who I thought might be Rolland, about 500 meters behind. I decided to sit up and wait for him so we could work together. As the rider approached I began accelerating to match speed, but just as I did so, a new cramp seized my left foot. The rider wasn't Rolland, but it didn't matter because I couldn't latch on. I managed to relax the muscles and resume my pace. I chased that rider all the way to the finish, but was always 30 seconds or so behind. This is a point to point race and I had a 43 mile ride ahead of me to get back to my car. Most racers had worked out complex caravans to avoid this, but I was actually looking forward to my second consecutive Sunday century. I only hoped, as I waited for preliminary results to be posted, that if any prizes were on offer, that they'd be small and light enough to fit in my jersey pockets. I didn't have to worry... the results printout showed the order of the top five, and my name was down in the middle of the “DNP”s (short for “did not place”). I counted lines down to my name and it looked like I finished 15th. I was disappointed, mainly because this showed my ability to estimate the numbers of riders ahead and behind me on the course, was lacking. At any rate, I loaded up on water, orange slices and bananas for the ride back to San Jose. I texted Jen to let her know I was ok, then loaded the breadcrumb course I'd imported onto my Garmin 500. I followed this route at a leisurely pace, riding 10 of the final 16 miles with a nice Fremont local who had ridden the same 102 mile route that I had, as his Sunday recreational ride. Back at the car in San Jose at last, I packed up, changed clothes and rolled on home. That evening the official results were posted and I was thrilled to see that I actually placed 8th... the preliminary result I'd seen at the finish was merely a numerical list of bib numbers after the initial top five. If I'd managed to overtake that one last rider, finishing 7th, I'd have earned 1 more upgrade point. Still I was relieved to see that my ability to keep track of riders ahead and behind is fairly accurate after all. By the end of the day I'd ridden 105 miles with 8360 ft. of total elevation.
Advice Links	A good, challenging race for all-rounders. If possible, be with the lead group at the summit. Find good riders to work with in the midsection. The final 40 miles is tough, and it's not really possible to catch a strong lead group if you're solo. Be safe on the descent. There were a lot of road rashes being treated in the first aid tent. Results http://www.usacycling.org/results/?year=2014&id=1437&info_id=76125 Strava Race: http://www.strava.com/activities/145641628 Return: http://www.strava.com/activities/145641604

Race Report: Early Bird Road Race: January 18, 2014

Event	Early Bird Road Race
Date	01/18/14
Group	45+ 5
Bib #	831
Result	3rd of 13
Weather	Mostly Sunny, 40°, calm

Course

Registration/Start is at the hotel east of I-5 in Patterson. We roll out, neutralized, for 1 mile, west on Sperry Ave. to the right turn onto Del Puerto Canyon Rd. and the race is on. The first 15 miles averages about 2%. At about mile 18, the road becomes a 2.9 mile 11% cllimb to a traffic cone turnaround. A fast descent back down the same canyon road, then flatter hammering until the finish on a tough little uphill. The asphalt road surface isn't particularly hideous... the usual amount of potholes and cracks that a remote canyon road suffers. I used my regular 23c rubber at 130psi.

Details of Race

Our small group of 13 stayed together as the road meandered up through beautiful, rocky, Del Puerto Canyon. The scenery reminded me of some of the desert canyon roads in southern California. One guy with bright colored socks didn't seem to mind pulling us all along at an easy 19 mph. When the climb began in earnest, we were swallowing up stragglers from the m45 cat 4 group that started ten minutes before us. Robert Easley (Pinnacle Reactor powered by JL Velo) came from behind and took off like a shot. I had just worked my way up to the front of our group and while I was climbing strongest of the other eleven, there was no catching Easley. I couldn't even remember his jersey colors to watch for his gap when he came back down as I approached the turnaround. When I made the turnaround I had a 3 bikelength gap to David Hoag (San Jose Bike Club) and a 100m gap to the next rider. There were huge gaps between our strung out cat 5 group. I descended fast. After about 1 mile, David caught me and organized our rotation. I learned immediately that David is a strong, experienced rider who is a perfect breakaway partner. We took turns on the front, around the winding canyon curves, averaging 28 mph finish. We knew one of our group had finished the climb ahead of us, but I had also seen a rider on the roadside, back at the base of the steepest part of the descent, dealing with a mechanical issue, so maybe we'd already passed him? I didn't matter, we might be chased down by others, and as it was, we both had a great shot at the podium. Twice on exposed turns, I scraped my inside pedal while cranking through the apex. I'm sure I gave David a scare. We overtook Stanley Tsang from the 45+4 group. Stanley began working with us. Then I remembered the start official mentioning that 2 riders in the c4 group were mistakenly issued numbers that were out of series, matching the series of our group, which was 800-850. Stanley's was 848. I put 2 and 2 together and told David the next time we passed side by side. We asked Stanley about this and he confirmed, realizing that he couldn't work with us. He was in a tough spot because he's strong, yet he knew it would be tough taking off alone ahead of two podium-hungry riders. So he settled in behind as we chased our dreams. As the grade flattened, we worked harder but I'd been at threshold since our chase began and my hamstrings developed cramps. I apologized to David for my shorter efforts. We also felt the power drain as our train had grown to about 10 riders and our anxiety increased about who might be in tow. Stanley agreed to pass the word through the group that we were c5 in case any of our groups got mixed up. David an I didn't like the idea of any of our group getting a free ride either, after all the hard work we'd done so far. With about 4 miles to go, Jason Campbell (Berkeley Bicycle Club) surfaced from the train. It was the guy with the socks who pulled us up the canyon! Now we had a third worker bee (I learned later that David is a bee keeper). He had earned his spot with us for chasing us down, even after pulling the whole group to the start of the climb earlier. With 1km to go the well-rested guys in the c4 train began their setup for the finish. We were going to have simultaneous c4 and c5 sprints. I told David I'd lead him out since he worked harder on the last several miles while I was fighting cramps. Neither of us wanted to give up our positions, even to sock guy. With 300m to go I was just about to get on the front to lead David out when he started his sprint. The grade kicks up pretty hard here and I could see David fizzle a bit and it was looking like Jason might take the line first. I got around David and hammered a bit to make good on my promise. He rallied with this break and shot ahead to the line. I managed to hold off Jason... or more likely he graciously backed off out of respect for our breakaway effort. Ultimately David was 2nd and I was 3rd. I feel a little bad that the m45 4 guys couldn't “have their own race” but in looking at the official results, they were competing for 16th place anyway. This being my first real road race in a long time, I didn't understand the value of waiting around for official results, so after exchanging handshakes and business cards with David back at the hotel, I loaded up and drove home, not knowing If I was 2nd or 3rd for 10 more days, until Velo Promo posted the results. This race taught me a lot of great lessons at a really good time: Pay attention to the number series of your group. Communicate with other riders during the race and be very clear. If you think you're in the top ten, stick around for results. Oh, and remember Stanley Tsang? He's amazing... he records most of his races with his GoPro camera. He caught most of this saga on video: At 6:17 on Stanley's video you see myself and David finishing the climb as he is just beginning his descent. At 6:55 myself and David overtake Stanley. The saga goes on from there, through the finish. We don't see David and I cross the line. Stanley is a great videojournalist, interviewing other riders and describing what's going on during his races. Check out his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/chidonchea

Advice from a first-timer

If you're a cat 5 master, this will be one of the few road race opportunities in the season to have a dedicated cat 5 group. We were uncommonly lucky with the weather this winter. It was dry and while it was cold, there wasn't any ice on the road. It's normal to encounter ice and/or bad weather. The climb to the turnaround will decide how the pack splits. The descent is fast but you have to work hard to maintain a gap or close one. The slog back gets harder as the grade flattens. At 200m to go you're going uphill. Don't start your sprint too early. Keep track of who's in your train. Try to make sure none of your group are hiding among other groups you may be towing. Other groups shouldn't be mixing anyway, but while that's up to a ref to enforce, it's a good idea to communicate the situation to the other riders.

Links	Results	http://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?year=2014&id=186&disc=RR&cat=05&age=45-99
	Strava	http://www.strava.com/activities/107285116