Turlock Lake Road Race, April 9, 2016

Threading my way (on far right) up the side to the line
photo: Katie Truong

Group

Master 55+ 1234

Result

15th of 39

Teammate

Dan Tkach

Conditions

Constant light rain, 5mph breeze, 65°

Course

22.4 mile loop, two laps for 45 miles. Good road surface. Mostly flat, but some rolling terrain, with a few out-of-the-saddle lumps to get over. A two kilometer 0.5% uphill to the finish. There were four or five stretches of deep water covering half of the road, but no real hazards.

The Race

While the light rain was constant, and there were many large pools of standing water across the road, the air was warm enough that I was really comfortable with my clothing choices, and really glad I didn’t wear a wind vest or leg warmers.

I’m still learning how to roll with this new field of more experienced racers, and this flat course attracts a lot of really big guys. My primary goal for this race was to just stay sheltered, ride smart, and finish well within the group. Not very lofty, but this season, due to a crash, a goof, and lack of fitness, I haven’t finished with the pack yet, in a road race. I really needed to build more experience, freelancing my way into and through the bunch sprint with these guys. Because it’s unlikely that I’ll stand on many podiums this season, my simple goal is to gradually improve my USAC ranking, by finishing ahead of higher-ranked racers.

For the first three quarters of lap 1, I was more than halfway to the back, just staying sheltered, and moving up one or two spots at each turn. I was expecting more attacks off the front, but everyone seemed pretty content to stay together, though there was a surge as several riders contested the county line sprint, but we regrouped and rolled along together. I didn’t know who the marked guys were, but Sierra Nevada/Reliable Racing had three guys, so maybe the pack was letting them drive the 23.7 mph average pace. This was also everyone’s first look at where the deep water was.

It had been two years since I’d raced this course, and at that time I blew my setup for the last two kilometers, having wasted energy on attacks in the rollers on Hawkins road. This time I wanted a clear view of the last turn, and the long gradual grind to the line. I moved up to fourth wheel and stayed there.

Beginning lap 2, before I could go back to shelter at about tenth wheel, I got roped into the pacemaking on the front. very soon I got yelled while working with the front going into lap two, and I’m not sure why. Two riders attacked and appeared to be starting a rotation. They had a 15-meter gap, and I was near enough so I joined them. The pack didn’t close it down. When I took my short turn, I peeled off but no one pulled through. The guy on my wheel immediately barked “You can’t pull through and then sit up!!!” I didn’t backtalk, I just stayed up front for another minute and put in some solid power, but by now the pack was on us, so I pulled aside and found a graceful moment to slide back into the group and lick my wounds. I’m still not quite sure what I did wrong, I could’ve sworn we were going, but I guess I’m just not ready to read the pack.

Rolling south on Los Cerritos road, I was still in the front five, too close to not go with another attack off the front, though it was quickly shut down. But this increased the pace, stretching the group, and there were some guys being dropped off the back.

Westbound, onto the straight, flat section of Keyes Rd., I didn’t see who attacked first, but soon Hal Rooney (Los Gatos Racing), Tracy Muegge (Sierra Nevada/Reliable Racing), Brian McAndrews (Thirsty Bear p/b Akamai) and Quentin Sims (Fig Mtn. Brew Racing) were off the front. By the right turn onto northbound Hawkins road, the gap was 35 seconds. Two of Muegge’s Sierra Nevada teammates were just sitting on the front of our group. There was no sign that anyone was going to chase, I suspect because few of the rest of us had any teammates in the race. I hadn’t seen my teammate Dan since the first lap.

I did see two different guys try to bridge alone, but they were sad, solo efforts that were aborted quickly. Our average speed along lumpy Hawkins road was already 25.8 mph, and even three guys working together would only sacrifice themselves on behalf of the pack.

The four up ahead maintained the 35 second gap through the turn onto Lake road. With three miles to go, the rest of us knew we would sprint for fifth place. It’s never a great feeling, but at least I still had a good chance to achieve my goal of a pack finish. And with many higher ranked riders around me, I had a good shot at sticking to my season goal.

The windup to the sprint was surprisingly civil, with only a little bit of bumping, but no wild swarming. We had both lanes to use, and I opted to work my way to the center of the road, to avoid being boxed in on the shoulder. I decided not to assert a great forward position, in favor of safety, so when the sprint began I was at about 20th wheel. I knew the uphill grind would cause many early guys to “go backwards”, and I was still feeling really fresh (staying sheltered, I rarely rode above zone 2 for the whole race). I ramped up the power, picking off six riders along the way, for 15th overall (11th in the bunch).