2016 Patterson Pass Road Race

Up Flynn Rd. on the first lap. Photo: Alex Chiu

Date
Saturday, August 6th, 2016

Group
Master 55 cat 123

Result
11th of 20

Conditions
Sunny, 65-79 degrees. West wind at 15 mph.

Course
Two laps on a 23-mile loop: Patterson Pass Rd. west. The lap begins with a tough climb–1100 feet in 4.8 miles. The grade starts gradually, 1-4%, increasing to 10%. The upper, steeper pitch is exposed to a strong head wind. A fast, non-technical descent follows, with a sharp right turn onto Flynn Rd. After the second significant climb on the course, another long but challenging descent (a sharp off-camber left turn, then more headwind). Crossing over I-580, continue descending down Carroll Rd. Then a smooth right onto Altamont Pass Road, east on Grant Line Rd. This 6.3 mile tailwind section is fast! Then right turn, south on Midway Rd. A strong crosswind makes the tough little hump on Midway hurt. back to start/finish area.

The Race
John Marengo (Cat2, Team City Racing), and Cal Erdman (Cat3, Team City Racing) set the pace up the first long climb. I stayed ready to go with attacks. Hunter Ziesing (Cat2, Hammer Nutrition/53x11) took off as the grade increased. No one chased, and I knew how strong the wind was near the top of this climb, so I didn’t feel the need to worry about him staying away. Marengo kept a solid pace going, so we all stayed in a group over the top.

Once onto the lower section of Flynn, I expected a regrouping. I knew there would be a tailwind, so I got on the front and set a faster pace to string things out and see if some guys would start thinking about attacking. We still stuck together, but at least the pace up the steeper section of this second climb seemed to be stringing out our small field.

The rest of the first lap was uneventful. The podium selection was made on the upper half of the second ascent of Patterson Pass. Dan Shore (Cat2, Hammer/53x11), Steve Archer (Cat2, Morgan Stanley /Specialized), and Robert Anderson (Cat2, Team Specialized Racing Masters) split off the front. I saw it happening and had to let them go. Several weeks ago in the Mount Hamilton road race I pushed too far into my red zone trying to stay connected with the three leaders and paid a price later in the race. This time I planned to work with a strong chase group.

Five of us topped the climb in pursuit of the leaders: Hunter Ziesing (Cat2, Hammer Nutrition/53x11), Jon Ornstil (Cat3, Hammer Nutrition/53x11), Joseph Foster (Cat2, R4R-Make A Wish), Quentin Sims (Cat2, Fig Mtn Brew Racing), and me. The lead group was long out of sight.

After the descent, and the right turn onto Flynn Rd, beginning its ascent, Jon gave me a good-natured, but corrective nudge, saying “Well, get up there with your buddies!” reminding me that the work of chasing was up to me, Quentin and Joseph. Jon and Hunter had a teammate in the breakaway.

As true as this was, it seemed like Hunter was really anxious to reduce the gap to the front group. He kept talking about wanting to help work to help with the chase. Jon kept trying to get him to calm down.

Hitting the fast tailwind stretch on Altamont Pass Rd., I tried to get Quentin interested in an efficient 3-man rotation with Joseph and I, so that even if we couldn’t catch the leaders, we’d at least stay well ahead of the guys we dropped on the climb. They were just way smarter than me–likely sensing that I was self-destructively willing to work hardest.

I should have been as smart. The remaining pursuers from our race caught up with us. Still no leaders in sight, we’re racing for 4th now, and I’m starting to cramp from the hard efforts. I’m also losing power. I lose contact with the group as they hammer over the last hill on Midway–only about 1.5k to go. On the left side of the road I see Jon Ornstil with his bike. Puncture? Mechanical? Whatever it was, it's the only reason I finished ahead of him today. 

Powering down the far side, I caught back up to Brian McAndrews (Cat2, ThirstyBear p/b Akamai) and Jan Elsbach (Cat1, Davis Bike Club Race Team) who appeared to be fading. They rallied and pulled easily ahead and I came across the line 11th. The lead group finished about 3 minutes earlier.

Takeaways
Like just wrote in the last paragraph, "I should have been as smart." I'm still picking up tips on how to read the other racers. Now I'll start working on keeping my cards closer to my chest as well. But aside from burning too many matches throughout the race, I felt fantastic.

Links to more photos
Leaders get away over top of climb
Our chase group
Our chase group again
Leaders finishing
Sprinting for 4th
Bringing up the rear

San Rafael Sunset Criterium

Jeff Kato being cool (left), and me looking exceptionally "dorky" (right)
photo: Craig Huffman

Teammates
Jeff Kato (45+ cat 3), Dan Rugani (35+ cat 4)

Field
35+/45+ cats 3/4, 42 starters (two age groups race together, picked separately for prizes five deep)
45+: 25 riders
35+: 17 riders

Result
17th of the 25 in my age group (though I was last of the remaining pack, so we lost quite a few guys during the race).

Conditions
78°-80° and sunny. 10mph breeze from the east.

Course
50 minutes (actual 38 laps) on a 0.6 mile (1K) clockwise loop in Downtown San Rafael. Start/Finish at 4th and C st. One block then right turn onto D st. for a tough little uphill grind. Right turn onto 5th st. for three blocks, slightly downhill but into the wind. Fast, wide right turn onto A st. for one block. Hard right onto 4th st., with two blocks to the line.

The Race
This was the first race of the day at 1:30pm. Registration wasn’t open until 12:30, so it was a little bit dicey getting our warmups, numbers and then some practice laps on course. But Jeff and I were able to line up in the front row, with Dan just behind us. I told Jeff before the race that I didn’t feel super strong, and might not be of much help to him. He said he’d assess himself late in the race and consider an attack if he felt good. Both of us planned to focus on staying sheltered and upright for the finish.

At the whistle we had a good start, but no one wanted to drive the pace, so on the backside of the course, the pack was bunched up. The pace picked up after turn three and I quickly found myself mid-pack for subsequent early laps.

I got up near the front by lap 20, so when the third prime was announced for the following lap, I attacked the hill on D st., getting a big gap. Keeping the power on down 5th, I glanced under my arm to see how aggressively to take the last two corners. 

Coming through for a prime on lap 21
photo: Alex Chiu

The pack must have been uninterested, so I dialed back my speed slightly, but easily picked up the prime. It took a full lap to settle back into the pack. Immediately back to back primes were announced. A rider attacked and got free. I was still close to the front so I chased, getting a small gap ahead of the pack, yet wasn’t able to close on the leader. That was enough speedy antics for me and I settled back in, hoping to recover.

I spent the remainder of the race trying to maintain a good position in the shrinking pack (we lost many riders in the first 30 minutes). I hadn’t seen Dan recently, but Jeff was always in sight, doing better than me at keeping good position. With 3 or 4 laps to go, he moved up front which made some guys sweat a little. The pace quickened. See “Takeaways” below for possible explanations of why, by the bell lap, my legs cramped and I had to sit up and let the pack go. I came to the line last of the remaining riders.

Takeways
The average speed for the race was just north of 26 mph. Unlike my experiences at Cats Hill and Davis, I never felt like I was getting any shelter from the wind. I nestled in the pack, but it really felt like I was having to work hard for the whole race. My heart rate averaged 177 bpm, which is higher than the redline that I set for long climbs. On the bottom of the course on each lap, it dropped closer to 168, but ramped back above 180 for the upper half of the course. One contributing factor might be that I was scared of turn 4. I allowed too much space ahead of my wheel, because each lap I had to get out of the saddle and hammer to close the gap on riders ahead.

Another spot that took a toll on me most laps was the inside line into turn 2 at the top of D street. Guys would crowd the inside corner, causing a traffic jam. Whenever I was dumb enough to take that line, I often got slowed by stalling riders. The entry on the inside line was bumpy, and the exit had more road crown to ascend. This cost a match lap after lap.

Extra Stuff
Below is a video by Mike Redman, just showing the lineup, start, and a slow motion view of the pack coming out of turn 4. Thanks Mike.

video: Michael Redman