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