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| Jeff Kato being cool (left), and me looking exceptionally "dorky" (right) photo: Craig Huffman |
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.
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| Coming through for a prime on lap 21 photo: Alex Chiu |
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
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