Bariani Road Race: March 15th, 2015

The spectacular Sierra Buttes preside over a somewhat less remarkable frontage road.
photo: Katie Truong

Result

11^th of 58

This was my second time racing on this course. A little slower this year, due to the wind. The difference a year, and my new team, would make became evident right from the whistle. More importantly, our team's efforts helped get our protected rider onto the podium, and a fifth place finish for our second sprinter.

The Course

Three laps at roughly 13.7-miles each, for 42 miles total. This day is dry and slightly overcast, with a temperature of 70°. A constant 15-18 mph wind blows from SSW, meaning the finishing stretch will be into the wind.

The Plan

We expected to show up with nine riders. Our protected man being Mark Carson. We had second sprinter Neil Leary in the back pocket too. Kevin O'Donnell would be Mark's main guardian. Tony Low, our remarkable, aerodynamic “locomotive” would serve chasing, train-propelling, and other protective roles. Jim Forester, Peter Aughney and I would be ready interpret and to respond to credible attacks. If none occurred, and if the pack was relatively cohesive halfway through the final lap, then Jim, Tony, Peter and I would form the blue-hot train of doom, stringing out the field, hopefully delivering Kevin, Mark and Neil through the rollers, around the final turn, and into the setup for the final sprint. Even though the road is wide on the final stretch, we don't want fifty guys involved in the sprint.

I would ride in the front of the pack, hopefully within the front ten riders. My assignment was to go with any viable breakaway, with full intent to stay “gone.” By “viable”, of course I mean it has to be sufficient in number, and threat (other teams represented). If a breakaway goes without me in it, I've failed.

"Blue Crush" (Cushman & Wakefield Racing) leading the peloton into the wind on the first lap.
photo: Katie Truong

Lap One

Next to Victory Velo, we were the largest team. Knowing the course narrows dramatically once we turn north onto the crappy roads after four miles, CW lined up in front for the neutral rollout and no one protested when we pulled the pack into the wind. There wasn't the usual fight to get to the turn onto CR 88A. It's very difficult to move forward on these skinny, potholed roads, with a centerline rule (yet no centerline).

I wasn't quite in position yet when an attack off the front by a solo rider was covered by Chris Kolm, and I think a rider or two tried to bridge, but shortly all were reabsorbed, but the original rider, who flailed on his own. I worked into my position as we all came back together.

Rolling east, on CR14, through the only features on this course that could be called “rollers”, Victory Velo's Christopher DeMattei attacked by himself. I rolled my eyes. He's already in a crosswind out of the south, and it's only going to peel his eyelids back when he rounds the turn onto the frontage road. But I thought I heard a voice from a teammate nearby (probably just in my head) yell “Go!”, so I go-ed. The pack stayed pat and laughed at us with their pirate laughs while I caught Chris 500m prior to the overpass. I asked “Are we really going to do this now? Or should we wait for some more guys next time?” He was cooked, but wouldn't stop. Once onto the frontage road, I sat up, then he followed suit. I looked for some blue to drop in front of.

Lap Two

The race got downright fun (for me anyway) on this lap. Only Tony and Mark's race reports have filled me in on what caused the action. Rounding the turn onto CR88A, onto the cruddy roads, a strong looking guy in a bright red jersey seemed ready to attack. Phil Tercero and Klaus Grimm were ready to play too. They were stretching out the pace and I thought this could turn into a split. I thought we were just speeding things up, I was glad to be in the front, picking my own line through the dicey 90° turns, happy to have the extra cornering clearance that my new (used) Speedplay pedals provide. After a bit Phil yells “Let's go! Let's work! We got a gap!” I didn't know there had been a crash somewhere behind us. I kept hammering with Phil and Klaus. At some point we were joined by Jim Forester, and then a few others. We had run out of right angled turns, so it was hard to look behind to see the real situation, but I could see there were only eighteen or twenty riders in our group. I thought that was too many and our rotation would get too sloppy, but someone astutely muttered “it's better than seventy-five!”

Phil and Klaus were super-motivated to work hard in the front of this lead group. Jim looked strong and willing so he and I matched their efforts, the four of us pulling the rest along at 29mph for two miles. I got a case of potty-mouth yelling at other riders to help out before I realized I was trying to catch flies with vinegar. About then I suggested to Jim that we back off, knowing Phil and Klaus were two of the top sprinters in this race, and were thus motivated enough to perhaps wear themselves out.

Once eastbound on the first flat section of CR14 I saw KOD come alongside and I figured he, Mark and Neil had made the split no problem. What I didn't know was they had been caught behind a crash on one of the turns. Tony had to quickly unclip while skirting the mess, then go into TT mode, pulling KOD, Neil and Mark within range of our lead group.

Lap Three

The slog south, along I-5 is nearly pathetic at 18mph. It felt like a commuting with a backpack. Turning west onto CR19, Jim, me, a ZOCA rider and one other find ourselves up front again (in my case because I don't want to be caught blocked on skinny roads), as KOD coaches an echelon training drill. I still feel really fresh, and for me the drill is like a car-trip game that the adults use to keep me happy.

Going north, Phil and Klaus light it up some more. I join in and Jim is along for more fun. I knew we didn't have much time for meaningful breakaways to materialize, but I was still feeling really good, as I had all day.

Eastbound onto CR14 for the last time, the pace is already high, so it doesn't seem crucial to form the blue train. Jim and I keep the pace hot through the rollers, to the turn south onto the frontage road. I'm finally fried so I peel off, but quickly have to work my ass off to latch back onto the tail of the group of about twenty. I'm watching from the rear as Mark and Neil choose their wheels. We're still about 1K to go and there's a surge, but no one is out of the saddle. At this point, more to watch the action, I find some big, fading corpses to slip in behind, and move up to around twelfth wheel. Smart guys like Mark and Neil waited longer than I expected in this wind, so much so that I found myself almost alongside Mark, thinking I'd better surge one more time to give him a leadout. But right then the sprint began and I flailed over the line, eleventh, just edged out by... yup, Chris DeMattei from Victory Velo. Curses! I missed top-ten by inches.

Team leader Mark Carson (far left) crossing the line third. Teammate Neil Leary (near right) finishing fifth.
photo: Katie Truong

Takeaways

This was one of the funnest races I've ridden. Our team did well at Snelling, but I didn't accomplish all of my duties there. For this race I was determined to set a goal for myself: To not only confidently hold position near the front, ready to act, but to be a controlling force in the race. Last year as an unattached racer, I had to treat every race as an “A” race, being my own domestique and lieutenant. Those diverse duties often had me err on the side of caution, staying more sheltered, slightly farther back in the pack, where I often got blocked when important moves happened. Ironically, having a specific set of duties as a team member this year has given me liberty to focus on dynamics that I'm so glad I didn't miss! I really finished the day feeling like Jim and I made some guys hurt, driving the pace. Sorry that it turned out to be some of my teammates. Oops.

Cherry Pie Criterium - Sunday, March 1, 2015

My too brief attempt to string out the field
photo: Katie Truong

I didn't plan to race this weekend, but with teammates up at the Chico Stage race, and several teammates heading to this one, the urge to do this nearby race is too hard to pass up.

Jim Forester and Henrik Schubert already had their carpool arranged, so I invited unattached Jeff Kato to carpool with my wife Jen, race-dog Stella, and myself.

Goals

In this combined field there were six uf us Cushman & Wakefield racers: Jim Forester, Dan Rugani, Jaime Madrigal, Henrik Schubert, Peter Aughney and myself. The race was a combination of two groups: M35-cat4/5, and M55-cat4/5, picked separately. My “raciing age” is 55, but denial and the desire to complete a second season in the m45 group has me registering for m45 and occasional m35 groups. I thought I was entering to be picked with the 35s, but in the end, officials recorded results based on racing age.

With two weeks until my next race (Bariani), my primary goals for racing this day, were simply to maintain my pack riding skills and get a great workout. Nothing beats the random power surges that result in a criterium. Also I hoped to be available be of use to my teammates.

Team Pre-Race Discussion

Our brief pre-race meeting acknowledged these factors:

• the brevity (25 minutes), the size of the field (likely 65-70, with 50 pre-registered and many, like myself, signing up onsite)
• the abbreviated hill on the course (shortened by almost half compared to last year)
• the expected high speed right from the whistle

We decided to attempt to unite near the last few laps and check in with each other to see if we feel like mounting an attack.

The Race

A year ago, during torrential rain, I placed 5^th of 20 in this race and felt the course was quite safe. But this day the peloton was over three times the size. One more factor made this year's race completely different. Promoters cropped my favorite feature–a 290-meter long finishing stretch, up a pack-splitting climb, from the chicane to the finish line, which got progressively harder each lap. Now the u-turnaround and finish line were 120 meters down the hill, resulting in a much faster course. Now at only 170 meters, the tight chicane would certainly be the start of the final sprint.

In such a short crit (25 minutes!) Many a racer's plan to get a good position at the start were foiled by the official releasing us to ride full lap. I used this time to regain a decent pack-forward position at the actual lineup.

As predicted, the pace was fast from the whistle. Early on, Henrik skillfully dug in and maintained an impressive hold on a position in the front 5 for the whole race. At about mid-pack, I used the first 4 laps to note the areas that were best for moving up. The wide, sweeping curves and corners of last year were much tighter with more riders. I had success  for advancing in the pack on three sections:

• A 350 meter, curved stretch right after turn 1
• A 240 meter stretch right before the chicane
• The 170 meter rise from the chicane to the u-turn.

The rare times I achieved a forward position I was not diligent about holding it (I need to work on this). Kudos again to Henrik on his skills here. With 6 laps to go, on the big curve, I moved up along the right side, from mid-pack to the front, ahead of Henrik's wheel. Through the narrow, 270 meter, curved section that followed, I asked Henrik if he felt like going for it. I could tell he thought it was way too early, and he was right, but I like to change the flavor of these short criteriums. Time to string out the peloton and even see if Henrik and I could get away with maybe two more riders. I launched but only succeeded in increasing the peloton's  pace from 25 mph to a bit over 26 mph for about 1-1/2 laps riding on the front. Shortly after I began this effort, passing through the narrow section on the backside of the course, I heard a crash that must've been among the front ten riders. Next time around, I saw Jaime laying on the asphalt, with a course marshall next to him. I felt terrible for him and I could only hope he was not badly hurt. He appeared to be conscious, and I assume the course marshal asked him to stay put until medics arrived to check him out. The road is divided with orange pylons and yellow tape there because the other half is open to vehicle traffic. So the marshall needed to protect Jaime from traffic on either side of the border tape.

I wasn't producing a gap, and I was now toast. With about 4 laps to go, a rider jumped into the lead on the finishing stretch, overcooked the u-turn and clipped his pedal. He slid to the right, but not far enough. The rest of us had to alter our lines out of the turn to avoid hitting him, while making sure our new lines didn't cause more damage behind us. Jim pulled through for a bit, and by then we had a lap or so to go. On the bell lap, I knew I wasn't recovered enough to claw my way into position to set up before the chicane. If I had, I'd become an obstacle, so I remained mid-pack and watched the sprint from there.

While teammate Henrik Schubert takes 5th at the line, I'm rolling in twenty riders back, calling out a downed rider
photo: Katie Truong 

It took skill even at non-sprinting speed to avoid a rider who crashed in the front six sprinters.

At the line, I came across the line 26^th. But with the age group split, I learned I'd finished 5^th and Jim 6^th, of nine m55 riders. I'm not particularly proud of my result, because I was racing with the whole field, not nine guys.

The team regrouped afterwards, then rolled down to find Jaime was basically fine, though stiff and banged up a bit. He had many family and friends who came to watch him race. Seeing them I again felt terrible about him laying on the road for two laps. By the way, double-kudos to Jaime for winning the E5 race earlier that morning!

There's no substitute for efficiency. The same goes for commitment. You can combine both qualities, but I didn't in this race. Once I deviated from the team's plan earlier than expected (staying sheltered in the front 10-12 until possibly the last 3 or 4 laps), I should've committed more fully to the attack, which might have at least created a gap, which in such a short race, is actually worth a try.

I didn't approach this race with much in the way of commitment, so it took me a long time to get around to posting this. I think this disappointment in myself helped me develop determination for my next race.