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 |
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.
|
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 | |
| Strava |
No comments:
Post a Comment