September 6, 2008

Mark C - While it stands to reason that TT race reports are about as exciting as sliced bread, I'll try my best to at least make this informational, since Velo Promo was telling us that they will be using this course for a RR in the spring. Aaron Lombardi and I left his house in Elk Grove at 5:45 AM. Took us about 1.5 hours to get to the course. We never did find out where Warnerville is... if you Google Map it you get a street corner. Parking was along a country road in the middle of nowhere. If this had been a road race, we could have conceivably had to park a half mile away from registration. The course was listed as a 20 mile out & back with several small hills. In reality, the course ended up being a 22.4 mile jaunt with very little flat... almost all rolling or inclined, much like the hills of Snelling, Bariani, or Dunnigan. If they hold a RR on this road in the spring, it will undoubtedly be windy with gobs of attacks coming on the unrelenting rollers. Roads were a bit chunky in parts (enough to cause my water bottle holder to work loose and for Aaron to lose a bottle of water), two bumpy bridge crossings and a railroad track crossing. We beat the wind, but it was picking up as we finished. Started off on a downhill and quickly got up to 40+ mph. From there I suffered to a 1:03:48.4 (good for a tad over 21 mph avg) and Aaron finished just under 58 minutes (good for almost 23.2 mph avg) My avg HR was 176, avg cadence 84, total ascent of 569 ft and total decent of 594 ft. I'm still trying to figure out this TT thing, so I'm not really sure if my HR and cadence #'s are where I want them or if they are just the numbers of an old and tired bike rider. In the end, I think I got 4th in my group and Aaron got 2nd in his (we won't go into how many people actually registered/showed...), this was good enough for both of us to get the infamous Velo Promo Tshirts - although mine is missing - I think the guy that I carpooled with to the race wanted a shirt so badly that he ended up with two of them :) Fun TT, nice course (only passed by one vehicle in 22.4 miles), good lunch afterwards at Hula Burger in Escalon, good times. Hope to do it again next season.

September 1, 2008

Nick O - Giro San Fran today! I'll keep this short and semi-sweet! 3rd lap lost water bottle due to the enormous ruts, RR tracks and misc clumps of asphalt that were dislodged during the race. 13ish laps to go crashed in corner #1, but stayed upright. Two broken spokes on the rear wheel from guy running into me and fat dent in chain stay on the non-drive side. Got a neutral wheel from Williams, nearly buried myself on the chase, but moved up enough to finish 7th! Justin Hall that raced in the break with Steve and Jeff yesterday gave me his only water bottle on Lap# 4... Cheers.

August 31, 2008

Mike V - The Elite 4 race was two laps and hard from the gun. I started at the back and realized that this group was going to spit, so I worked to the front. The hammer went down something fierce, it strung out, and luckily, I got on the first echelon just in time. We spit the group and started riding away, about 15 riders. I was totally buried but not about to let up. Then, about 16 miles into the race one of the guys sits up and says. "we are off the course, this is not the right way!" We ended up turning around, picking up all the chasers behind us and started racing back. Apparently there were about 20 riders that were at the back of the peloton that went the right way, so they were now the lead group with at least a 5 mile lead. The reformed chase group, now over 30 riders got back on the course and started racing again. I got in the break group with basically the same 15 or 20 guys and we hammered on. It was a blistering pace and guys were getting shelled left and right. We briefly caught the 4/5 pack, but with Mitchell on the front, it didn't last. The tail winds were brutal! I wish I had a 56 chainwheel! When we turned for the second lap most guys quit, but about 10-15 of us kept going. 10 became 4 and I was working with the lead chase goup of 4 riders, including two Metromint guys that wouldn't work hard because they said they had two riders up the road, but they did pull around on the echelon during the hellacious windy sections. Soon I saw some straglers up the road and I put the hammer down through the rollers. I caught the two Metromint riders and a few other twos and threes that were dropped from the group up front. I pulled straight on by those guys, a few were able to catch on. Turning onto the last 8 mile downwind section there were 10 of us, including those we picked up. We shelled a couple of them during the flurry of attacks that ensued, including the two Metromint guys we caught. At 1 mile, the last attacked went. I had just pulled and was falling back when it happened and I freaking fell off! I buried myself to catch. Making the last turn, I caught two riders and spinted over the pass and to the line 6th. The first guys were the ones that did the least amount of work, of course. I don't know how many guys took the correct turn and didn't go off course, one of the guys we picked up said it was about 15. I was extremely happy with my race. I dished out a lot of suffering and never missed a pull. My only mistake was at the last mile. But, everyone knows I can't sprint worth a damn anyway. I can only guess what would have happened if we didn't go off course. We were pretty mad that our motorcycle guy didn't lead us through the turn. He was apparently at the back of the peloton and followed the guys that went the right way. He let us (the lead group) ride off into nowhere land. He should have at least came up and told us! I was so spent at the finish line that I could barely get back to my car. My odometer read 96 miles and we never stopped racing. It was the first time I did a RR where the group didn't dooddle and chat around the course. All I heard was the sound of suffering all day. I only had 3 bottles for the entire day and finished very dehydrated. My afternoon was spent couch surfing and drinking everything in site. I am going to say that I would have been top 10, if we only stayed on course and since nobody could drop me. But I will never know. I thought it was a great course and will do it again. The extra miles make it well worth the entry fee.

Steve O - 35+ 4/5 A Group Report - A windy day for Dunnigan RR!! In our race there were 13 DBC riders, 6 Team City, and 5 Rios (we missed you today Kenny). We started about 40 minutes late and rolled out pretty slow. With the strict centerline warning and the winds, we were all crammed into half the road trying to find shelter. The roadway was so congested that it was difficult to move up to the front, so we tried to stay close to the leaders and watch for attacks. About 5 miles into the race, the inevitable happened and Brian Halkett (DBC) took off taking a couple of riders with him. Gilbert immediately covered the attack (as usual, strong riding today Gilbert!). They were off the front for about 20 minutes giving the rest of us a chance to ride easy. Eventually the other teams realized that they needed to bring them back and put an end to the break. The race didn't get interesting again until we hit the rolling hills at about mile 23-25. Through the hills there were a few brief break away attempts, but nothing serious. Jeff and I went to the front and picked up the pace a bit just to inflict some pain and see if the pack would split (this might have been a mistake in retrospect). As we roared down the final downhill, the pace picked up considerably. One of the Team City riders and a DBC rider (Justin Hall) broke away at an incredible pace and opened a fairly big gap. A larger group (including Jeff) took off to catch the two. I grabbed onto the back of that pack but have to admit I was having a hard time holding on at first. I almost fell off the back but up came Rich who pulled me back into the group - Thanks! Once in the safety of the chase group, I was able to get some rest and recharge. Up front, Justin (DBC) recognized the futility of the 2-man breakaway and came back to the chase group. This left the single Team City rider up front with about 7 miles to go. With the wind at our backs, the chase pack surged and began to break apart, eventually leaving 4 of us to chase that single rider. It was Justin (DBC), Scott Pfiefer (Team City), Jeff, and myself. I was pegged but reached deep into the reserves and kept pulling through. We were rotating well and moving about 30-31 MPH but not making any progress on the single Team City rider. This was an amazing ride - I estimate that he held about 30-32 MPH ALONE for 6-7 miles!!!! As we neared the final turn I considered trying to rest a rotation or two for the sprint, but I could see the pack behind only about 400 meters. So I put my head down and kept pulling despite my thighs, back, lungs, and brain screaming to STOP. Coming over that final overpass, I had nothing left and just rolled to the line. We never caught the Team City rider (Jason)!!! So he won. Justin Hall (DBC) was 2nd, Scott Pfiefer (Team City) 3rd, Jeff Mitchell 4th, and I took 5th. Another DBC rider took 6th (Jason Snovel). Gilbert was around 10th. Aaron and Rich came in with the main group. It was a tough day, but a good race. Nice job Jeff!! It's official, the Road Racing season is done for me.... Let cyclocross season begin!!

Jeff M - 35+ 4/5 A Group Report - I heard the weather report last night and was actually hoping for wind, and the wind came. I figured the wind would favor strong riders getting away. The race started out and as planned we had Gilbert stay with one of the DBC guys. Gilbert played it like a pro, One DBC guy jumped, then 20 seconds later Gilbert jumped on with the next DBC guy to go. They got a nice lead with DBC up front blocking. Some guy in the pack announced," we need to work to chase those guys down, we know how strong RioStrada and DBC are after they kicked are butts last weekend". I was feeling real proud in the pack!!! The cross winds were tough and guys started falling off the back early. Just after the 505 section we started putting together a tough pace. Steve and I decided to make some people hurt when we hit the rollers, probably did a little to much work, but these moves helped us in the end. Towards the end of the hills, two guys went off the front at a strong pace. I waited a bit and then hit the throttle, attempting to bridge. A couple of guys came up and helped bridge the gap. From that point, the attacks kept coming. Rich T. came up and helped me bridge another attack, Nice work Rich!! We crossed over the overpass before the right hand turn were the long straight away starts with the group stretched out in single file with severe gaps in the line. 2 guys in the front with a small gap, then 5-6 of us including Steve and me chasing the lead 2. Quickly one of the lead guys, a DBC rider dropped off the lead team City guy and came back to us with about 7miles to go. The team City guy started putting time on us as we were putting time on the guys behind us. 2 guys dropped off of our group fairly quickly and left us with four. Our group was DBC, team city and 2 Rios. We worked are buts off, with a decent chase, going between 30-32 the last 10 miles. We made the one mile to go when I knew we were not going to be caught. Took the right hand turn, went hard to the top of the overpass, but unfortunately nothing left in the legs for the sprint. I tried to stay with the 2 other guys in the group, but was not able to build the speed. The team city guy stayed away to the finish, could not believe he did this alone for 7 miles!!! I finished 4th and Steve finished 5th. Two Rios in the top five, nice!!! I felt like I crossed the line with nothing left in the tank, very rewarding. A shirt and $5, oh boy. We made a very nice showing!

Jim E - 35+ 4/5 B Group Report - I signed up late and ended up in the B group by myself. Third Pillar had about 8 to 10 guys in the race. A group attacked 1/2 mile into the race and the rest of the Third Pillar team sat on the front and blocked for their teammates. I'm not sure if it was the narrow roads with them riding 4 across or the head wind but we pretty much let those guys ride away. About 10 miles in a got a couple of a guys to go with me and we started a break, a few more joined in but it all came back together. At least it got the third pillar guys off the front. Almost got dropped in a brutal cross wind section and rode near the back for awhile. We picked up a few that were in the original break and estimated maybe 6 were left up the road. When we turned into the tailwind section a another 6 guys must have gotten off the front. I didn't see them go. I did a lot work at 30+ the last 5 miles and my legs felt good. My legs cramped slightly going over the final over pass and I ended up getting 5th in the sprint, which I though was good for 11th. Oh but wait, didn't know about the 6 that got away in the tailwind so 17th. Jay a can't imagine riding that race in the wind with only 6 riders. Congratulations on the win you earned it. Bummer they didn't let you ride with us. We did have one crash in the cross wind with everyone hugging the gutter. Two laps would have killed me.

Jay D - 35+ 4/5 C Group Report - There were 6 of us in the C group. We tried to ask the officials to let us tag onto the back of the B group or get into the Cat 5A group, but both groups were too full. So they sent us off as 6. There was myself, a Chico rider a 3rd Pillar rider a Synergy Taleo rider and a couple of unattached riders. We all agreed to work together for a while. Once in the headwinds and cross winds it was sort of a cluster-F. I don't think any of these guys have ever ridden in a pace line or echelon. I kept telling them to pull off into the wind, but to no avail. So I just did my pulls and tried to stay as protected as possible. Once in a while we would get a decent pace line going, but then it would fall apart. After a while it was clear that the 3rd Pillar rider was doing very little work. Either he didn't have any gas in the tank or he was purposely not doing any work. Finally as we approached I-5 heading east the Chico guy put in a nice attack, I quickly jumped on his wheel and so did the Synergy guy. So 3 of us had a small gap. It came back together, then I put in a nice attack over the overpass before the right turn. That did a little more damage but it came back together again. As we turned downwind the Chico guy put in another hard dig, and Synergy guy and I followed. Another small gap opened but it came back together again. Then finally I put in one last hard effort and we finally dropped the 3rd Pillar guy. So 4 of us were left blazing downwind to the finish line. The one unattached rider said to me "you guys can have the sprint, I'm just trying to keep my bike upright." As we got near the right turn to head over the overpass I made sure to be 2nd wheel behind Chico guy and Synergy guy. They put in a decent effort up the overpass, and I just stayed on their wheels. Synergy guy started to fade early with about 300 to go, then I notice the unattached guy who said he wasn't interested in the sprint go shooting by on my left, yeah nice try buddy. Chico guy was out front, so I shifted into my hardest gear and then with 200 to go came around him and sprinted to the line for my first win! It was a great experience and I'm super stoked, even if there was only 6 of us in our field! I got my first Velo Promo t-shirt and $20!

July 13, 2008

Curtis - Rick Bradley, Ron and I headed out at o'dark-30 to race. Good conversation, and a pleasant drive. Registered and got ready for 3 22+
mile laps (i had 70 miles at the end). Rick was doing the 35+ 1-3 so had to do 4 laps. The course is incredible. NIce grassy foot hills, cows, farms, limited traffic, WIND. Opening 15 minutes started with a series of climbs, nothing too bad. Then we hit the rolling flat section. The pace was moderate. then the attacks started. first one was furious- Ron bridged to the lead group, so I was off the hook and sat up hoping to have an easy ride. as expected the field regrouped and the next 12 miles where a series of attacks and counters. We finished the first lap and where about to
climb the hills again. I was sitting in a bad spot near the back of the pack. I had drifted back while tossing water bottles and searching for GU. The pack accelerated- I paused to finish my GU. BAD move. I was not 2-3 bike lengths of the back- and then there was another attack. Long story short I chased for 4-5 miles with the pack in sight. Settled down hoping to catch stragglers. Got stung on the head and had to stop to get the Bee out of my helmet. caught some guys and had a good pace line gowing- cramped so bad with 5-6 miles to go I had to stop and walk. Limped into the finish tired/cramped/dehydrated and with a bee sting. Overall I had a great time.

Gilbert - The ride from the Masters 35+ 4/5 view.  Number one, this is a great course, fast, just enough of climbing to separate the field.   The major climbing takes place within 200 meters from the start and goes thru the feedzone and Finish line. The first climb pitches up gently levels out and then pitches up again a bit steeper. (for 4/5's you do it 3 times) From that point on you are hit with 2 or 3 power climbs and 1 or 2 fasts descents. Roads are a bit narrow with the center line being strictly enforced, so if your not up front it is hard to move forward with guys strung across the width of the single lane.  This would have been the perfect race for all us Rio Strada 4/5' s to control. I without a doubt think we could have had 3 or 4 top 10 placings. In fact the Davis team was out in force again, but failed or did not have the ability to control the race. A team with 3 guys played their cards correctly and finished at the front.  I had a great ride and was in the hunt after 1 & 3/4 laps when two guys in front of me banged together and came out of their pedals right in front of me. I managed to stay upright, but my front wheel ran into one of the now shoeless pedals and bent a spoke on my recently trued Rolf's. I initially didn't notice a problem until one of the fast descents and then the wobble started. Things held together despite the wobble and i was in hunt on the final climb, but could find no way thru the riders in front of me (the sprint up the final climb was contested by about 25 riders). The lead up to the finish is where things fell apart for the Davis team, they started leading too far out and by the time we started the last (steepest) part of climb they had all exploded.  All and all a great course. Great weather cool and overcast in morning and no smoke. PS. the dairy had cheese samples on hand, some really good stuff.

July 13, 2008

Nicolas - Besides the pedal scrape going around the last corner and loosing my water bottle on the 2 lap things went well. The long uphill finish got
to me about half way through be I sucked it enough to be there for the sprint. Ended up 5th. One more until Cat 4's!!!

James Elder - Nic I rolled in to the sign table just as the Pro 1/2 finished everyone was arguing including the 7 guys in the break.  My race started off really well and I stayed up front ( top 5 ) for about 8 lap but after several attacks and breaks by the wells fargo and the synergy teams being up front wasn't the place tobe. I ended up getting dropped near the end (didn't finish last) but as far as any of you will know I could have finish 7th since they didn't have a camera and everyone after 6th will get a DNP.

Yezin - Woke up at 4AM feverish and vomitting.  Went back to sleep until 10AM. Woke up and was first to make my bed.  Best place I've had all year.

July 5, 2008

Sergio Jimenez - The little hill really hurts after a few times.  That's all I have to say.  Every time up that thing, at the top, I was pretty gassed.  I
seemed to recover well though on the front end of the course so that was good.  Spent most of the time towards the front and out of trouble.  Ron
chased a break for a few laps.  I put in my two cents as well but started getting tired after about a half lap so shuffled myself back into the group.  Before the race Ron said that on the last lap we needed to punch it up the climb on EITHER the inside OR the outside.  So with one lap to go, I of course went straight up the middle.  Ron launched really hard on the outside and went down the hill in great position.  I had no where to go but follow the line dictated by guys all around me. After the hill it seemed to stay strung out and we came into the finishing straight with mostly the same position that we crested the hill with.  I got just far enough up front to see Ron take second by a good gap.  I got 10th, a velobob t-shirt, and $25.  (which pays for the 1/2/3 race I ditched). Good times.

Ron Rouse - So, going into the Vacaville Crit I was going to work for Serigo and try and get him the win....well, things don't always work out the way you planned :) First off, I would like to say that hopefully next year we see more Rio's out at this race, it is a much better course then Davis in my opinion.  During the first half of the race Serigo and I stayed at or near the front, I helped to chased down a break or two trying to keep it
together for Serigo so things were going well.  At around the mid way point of the race is when the hill starts to burn, at first we are cruising up it at 20-22 mph and then later at 20 mph my legs were like "really, again up this stupid hill."  So, I just sucked it up since Serigo seemed to be looking good and I wanted to help him get the win. So around the time my computer show 40 minutes of race time I started looking for the lap cards at the start finish line (SFL).  And every lap, when we would pass by the SFL I will look all over the place for the stupid lap cards and NOTHING!  Over and over I looked and still nothing!!  So, on one lap we were starting to pick up the pace considerably so I asked a guy next to me "hey, how many laps left?", he looked at me and laughed and said "you're kidding right?", which I replied "No, I am serious...what lap is it?", he then replied again, with a you-are-a-knuckle-head look on his face, "The Last Lap." Unfortunately at this point in the race i was almost at the back of the pack since the hill was kicking my butt, so then, in a panic to help Serigo I started moving up as we approached the right hand turn that leads to the hill, if I had found out after this turn it would of been too late for sure to move up.  At the hill I was only at about mid pack so I had to gas it up the climb, not knowing which side Serigo was on I took a guess and choose the left side and unfortunately he was not there so when I reach to front of the pack I swung over and bumped out the guy in the 5th spot in the line and then started looking for Serigo. Unfortunately, I could only hope that Serigo saw me swing in and he would then move up and get it behind me, however this is not that easy since as you start down the hill it is basically is the beginning of the sprint, since there are only two more turns, so the speeds are high and therefore hard to move up at this point. So, at the front with me are two guys from some team. I got 2nd, a t-shirt and $120 bucks!

July 4, 2008

Yezin Taha - Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh! Flatted at mile 13 before the first climb.  Fixed the flat in about 3:30 (don't ask me why it took so long, I don't want to talk about it), and made it within 400 meters of the pack at the top of the climb.  Lost them on the backside and flats.  Hooked up with others at mile 31 and rode back in.  Swapped a wheel with a Sierra Nevada guy so he could stay in his group about 5 miles from the end.  Looking forward to Vacaville. Did okay at Davis.  Won a prime just to see what the sprint was like, then blew myself trying to break away.  Got back in and finished okay. Thanks to Ron for getting me to move up.

Jim M - My group, Cat 5 45+ was fairly small (about 15) and combined w/the 35+ young punks (also about 15).  I rode up front for a change and was in a group of 5 that actually had a small gap on the field through the initial rollers.  The group pretty much busted up on the climb.  Passed a couple guys, then time trialed the 2nd 20.  Caught a few more guys through the remaining hills and flats.  It was quite a sufferfest out there with the hills, potholes, and lack of water.  I checked the results and found out that I actually wound up 5th and won a t-shirt! Woo Hoo!!  Oh yeah, and my heart rate never went below 180 after mile 15 (seriously).

Steve Offerman - Sorry for the long report, but I want to read this again next year before I sign-up for Leesville again. We rolled out at about 9 am.  Weather was calm and warm already.  The first 10 miles was an easy roll-out going only about 17 MPH.  Good chance to relax and talk with Mike V for a while.  Our mellow start all ended in a second when we turned onto XXX road.  Immediately the pace kicked up and the road turned to *crap*.  Potholes and cracks only begin to describe the surface.  There were also broken sections of pavement, areas of deep gravel, and sections of dirt road.  When someone tells you that the pavement is bad at Leesville Gap ….believe them!  I hear that Copperopolis is worse – it is hard to imagine. I got a lot of varying advice about tires and what pressure to run.  In the end, I was confused about what to do and went with my usual Michelin tires with pressure around 105.  Pre-race I was a little concerned about the gravel and dirt, but these sections were better than the pavement and rode like carpet.  The pack was actually riding pretty slow at about 15-17 MPH.  Since there wasn't much of a drafting advantage, I headed to the front where I could see the obstacles. At about 15 miles we started up the big hill.  Heaven for me as I like the hills!  Being at the front I was able to set a reasonable pace for myself.  As we ascended, the attrition started!  The climb lasted about 20 minutes total (without many rest sections).  By the time we hit the top, there was a group of 7 riders ready to hammer.  We jammed down the mountain – roads weren't quite as bad here, but still a lot of hazardous potholes.  The group was working well together despite the surface.  About 3 miles after the descent, there was some confusion around a corner and 2 riders went off the road.  We turned up a dirt road hill and slowed way down, but the riders weren't to
catch back up.  Now there were 5 of us. We rotated to perfection and kept up a speed around 25 -26 MPH.  The road surface improved significantly after halfway through the race.  At about 35 miles (I think?) we started up the second significant hill.  This was a much shorter climb, but steep enough to be very tough at this point in the race. I have to admit I struggled up this one and was the last over the top.  Then our descent.…. This one was much faster!!  I was in the back starting down and let a little gap open between me and the last rider – I kind of figured it wasn't too much and I new I could probably catch up in the feedzone ahead.  We hit the bottom and then it happened….  I was about 50 yards back but could not get back to the group!! Here is the lesson:  If you aren't a particularly strong descender (like me), glue yourself to the pack going downhill because even a small gap could be too much when the road flattens. Then the stages of grieving:  1.) Denial – I know I can catch them!!  TT position and pedaling as hard as I could.  2.) Sadness – If I wasn't so dehydrated, a tear would well up in my eye.  3.) Anger – How did I F**K this up!  I lost them on the descent!!  4.) Aceptance – Put your head down and finish the remaining 20 miles as well as possible. That was the LONELIEST and LONGEST 20 miles of my life!!!!  I was like a wounded animal trying to fend off a pack of hungry dogs.  At about mile 45 I passed one of the leaders who was on the side of the road putting air in his tire.  Now I was in 4th.  I continued to pedal as hard as I was capable, but I didn't have much in the tank.  My legs were also on the edge of cramping. I was suffering with every pedal stroke.  At mile 57 we made a right hand turn and immediately left the nice pavement for dirt/gravel road again – this went on for about a mile and a half.  Goddamit!!  On the gravel, the rider I passed earlier came up with another group of riders – I tried to hang, but I couldn't hold on.  After the gravel we made a left turn back onto to pavement.  My computer read only a mile left, but there was no finish line in sight!!!!  I continued my slow, painful march to the safety of the line – still no pack in sight to my rear.  At about mile 63, I could see some riders in the distance behind me and see the finish in front.  I put my head down and tried to finish strong, though I am sure it looked pretty feeble.  In the end, I wasn't caught and finished 5th.  My computer read 64 miles (not 60). This was a very tough race!!!  I can't remember feeling that bad I in a very long time.  20 miles by yourself just sucks.  What a crazy day!!

July 4, 2008

James Elder - My 35+ 4's race didn't go as planned.  Started off well but it got pretty tough 4 or 5 laps in and I ended up mid pack ( I must have really been on the back the way Ron yelled at me to "MOVE UP" over the next 6 laps).  I caught my second wind and "MOVED UP" within a couple of bikes of Kenny. I was feeling pretty good at this point and my thinking changed back to placing not just surviving. Then I learned why you race in your drops, coming out of turn 3 with about 8 laps to go the guy inside me swung wide and hooked my bars.  We were hooked together and heading straight for the curb.  I was leaning back and basically fought him off me when the guy inside me finally ran out of room in the gutter.  He hooked something on my bike as he fell and it literally yanked me down on top of him.  I got back up quickly and made it to the pits and got right back in.  I felt really good at first and still had thoughts of placing but with two to go I was mid pack and headed back.  I sat up on the back side of the course and finished last.  I could have sprinted past one Davis rider and finished second to last so I have that going for me.  I'm pretty sore today, but almost no road rash.  The guy I landed on separated his shoulder so it could have been worse.

Nicholas Oliver - Well, I was worried for a minute about 1/3rd the way through the race... Since I've been on vacation for the last 12 days I didn't really get the chance to ride as much as I should have... Thanks to Ron yelling "move up" I was motivated a fought through the burn to stay within the top 15ish. On the last lap I managed to move up to about 6th before the zig-zag. Going into the last turn some dude decided to dive into the corner from the outside which forced me to tap me brakes, slowing me enough that I couldn't take the sprint. I passed a few guys though finishing 4th. Great race..

James - I crashed. I got up, I road more. My bike told me where to stick it and I finished DFL! I was feeling good. I was sitting in the first third of the pack and then about 17 minutes into the race we were going into turn two and someone hit me on the inside. I have friction burn on my calf from them hitting me. That forced me up the hill into an other rider and that is where the bikes and riders started hitting the pavement. It was an ugly wreck. I know five people when down and there was a screaming kid of a lawn, not sure what happened there. Once the field had passed I made sure I was relatively ok, grabbed my bike and make my way to the feel lap pit. I was riding in the back of the pack for the next 8 laps or so and then started to move up. I was injured and the sweat running into the still bleeding road rash just sucked but I was going to make a run at the top twenty. Then when they called two laps to go my bike told me to get bend. I didn't know what was happening – other than my break started
rubbing. I tried to pedal trough it. I was not working, so drop out of the pack and hit the lever then sprint back into the back… That didn't work. It was getting more and more tension. By the time I finished I was DFL and the brake pad smelled like burning rubber. The right brake lever was rotating down. Not the best race for me. But I am generally ok and unless I need to replace the handlebars so is the bike. I would have been far happier if I could have had a liter at Sudwerk after all that.

June 21, 2008

Yezin taha - Napa has a good thing going with their downtown criterium.  The race course was tough and technical, the setting is perfect, and it feels like it is going to take off as a big race draw year after year. I raced the E4s today at 8AM.  It took a few extra minutes to get us going, but once it started it did not let up.  The secret to doing well at Napa is to get off the line FIRST!!!!  Unfortunately, I had a pretty miserable time starting off, and ended up at pretty much the back of the pack off the bat. I spend the next half of the race moving up the pack.  I finally got within thirty spots of the front, and hung out there for a while to catch my breath.  This is easily the hardest course I have ever ridden for making up places.  While I was hanging out on a wheel, only one person tried to get around me, and he couldn't... and I wasn't even trying to hold him back.  Like I said, it was a difficult course to move up in. Anyway, I wasn't very successful moving up from there on out.  I'd get a position or two every lap, and sprinted for the finish for twentieth or so. 

June 15, 2008

Steven Larsen - Sunday. Father's day. And the Nevada City Classic. The race rolled off and I was incredible nervous. I took control at the top of the hill and rolled down for our first time through the start/finish in a complete aero-tuck. According to the announcers, we were clocked in at 53mph down the hill. That's definitely zooming. anyway, prime bell was rung and I took it. Then another, then another, then another. I got all but the last prime. Which, actually was my plan. The told the rider who got it to keep going and I instantly sat up. Peter Taylor gapped the field (or what was left of it). This attack came with 3 laps to go and I don't think anybody expected it to stick. I knew though that if there wasn't a rider off
the front the 3 climbers left in the group would keep attacking me until I cracked, this breakaway forced them to work steadily and in the meantime help me take a breath on the climb. Rolling through with 1 lap to go the gap was still 20 seconds. Somehow me and one other rider (who won in '07 and came out all the way from UTAH!!!) caught Peter on the flat part before the descent to the finish. The utah rider took the initiative and started to sprint over the roller. I sat back and coming down the descent I took the risk and dove left through the 45degree turn with about 250 or 300 m to go. The risk was that at that speed there was a large bump and it caused my wheel to skip and bounce. I pulled myself out of it and began doing what was really more of a spin out drill rather than an actual sprint. I pulled myself low and I pulled off a win. I was ecstatic! It was a huge win and I couldn't believe I actually won on such a tough course. Anyways.back to training. Thank you for reading!

June 14, 2008

Steven Larsen - So today was junior district crit down in livermore. As Bryan and I drove in we noticed the course was less wide than previous yrs. Then we figured out that it was reversed, a big deal for a race that hasnt changed in some 6 years. So i began warming up and it was relatively warm with a slight breeze on the finishing strench coming from west. So as in any Junior race we hammer it for the first 4-5 laps. Coming into the 6th lap i believe, i came out of the last corner and the bead of my tire seperated and i basically rolled a clincher off my rear kysrium ssc, yeah not on my list of fun things to do before i die. But anyway i was chasing an attack down when this happened at probably 28ish
i dont know for sure though. The back wheel was fish tailing everywhere and i kept it up unbelievable long according to some spectators. Though
it bugs me no one got it on tape. I probably went some 25-30ft and when i was trying the bring the back wheel it just went out. So lesson learned guys dont try to powerslide on soft aluminum rims. So my ksyrium rim is trashed, which sucks. I managed when the bike did go out to basically take my new cervelo up in the air and land on my butt instead. (Hey Ron the Larsen trend continues, do you have anymore med shorts?) I ran to the pits which were about 150m down the way and changed my wheel out and got back in with my butt half hanging out.. Oh well!! Once i was back in it was attack after attack mostly from DBC and Specialized. I sat near Tieni Duro's main man Peter Taylor and i followed him around, or DBC's Zack Wick. So the laps counted down 7-6-5-4... And a 2man break went somewhere inside 2 laps to go and specialized blocked. SO i came into the last lap with San Jose's Daniel Farinha and rode away the last half lap he gapped me in the last turn, which was partly due to the nerves from previous incidents. I started my sprint and held off the field and plus some, to take a 4th place after a blowout and crash because of it. So not a bad day in my mind. Sure could've done better, but like i said my nerves we kinda shakey. Just got some gu stuff for 4th...

Bryan Larsen - I was all over to spectrum this weekend. Feeling good, feeling bad. Riding aggressive, riding defensive. My weekend began in Livermore for jr district/state Criterium championships. I told myself I would not let Davis control it and to make them work, well I blew that one. Alex controlled the front while a davis and Lombardi rider rode off in the first 10 laps. I did some chasing towards the end and tried to get people organized but none of it worked. We brought the gap down from 30 seconds with 5 laps(ish) to go down to 7-8sec with one lap to go and maybe 2 or 3 seconds by the finish. I crossed the line 2nd in the group and 4th overall. It was my WORST finish at district crit for the past 5 years. I was never lower than 3rd and disappointed I drove back home only to collapse on my bed when I got home and sleep for 4 straight hours.

June 14, 2008

Brian - I did the masters 4-5 race with Jeff, Jim, Steve, Robert and Luis. From the beginning I don't think a lap went by when there was not some sort of an attack taking place, and at least one Rio was always involved in either the break or the chase (or both). Steve O. and I made it around for close to four laps off the front midway through the race  . However in the end it came down to a field sprint with Davis starting a pretty good lead out at 3 to go. By the last lap I was about 4th wheel coming towards the last corner when a group came up the right side, I was able to latch on and finish in 8th.

Yezin - I rolled out to the Folsom Criterium on Saturday along with a bunch of other Rios. It was nice to see so many of us there. The course was in great shape, and there weren't any tricky parts in it. Not much wind to speak of either. For once, there were attacks in the 4s right off the bat. There were 7 primes handed out throughout the race, but even those weren't bringing the breakaways back ; Jeff and I managed to participate in just about every breakaway there was, and Steve O put in a huge effort to bridge up to a breakaway pack. Unfortunately, "no- man's land" claimed Steve until the pack caught back up to him. I got away in a couple of breaks, but none of them stuck. Either the guys I was with were worn out when we grouped up, or they just had no clue of how to rotate. However, Jeff was able to pull off a fantastic breakaway with 8 or so laps to go. He shot off the front with another guy, and just continued to pull away. I went up to the front of the pack to cause a little disruption, then just settled in and watched as Jeff pulled further and further away. It was a great feeling to see a Rio doing that in the 4s... I don't remember a breakaway sticking in any of the 4 crits I have been in yet. Anyway, Jeff's gap opened up to about 30 seconds for a few laps, but then their pace
started to suffer and pack began to move in.; Some big dude jumped and caught up to them when they were about 15 seconds off, and somewhere along the way Steve O made a jump off the pack to try to catch up with Jeff.; If Steve had been able to make it through "no-man's land", then I think Jeff and Steve would have been duking it out for first. The pack ended up catching Jeff, and I shot around to try another breakaway. Then, about half a lap later (wtih two laps to go), I noticed my bike wobble around a turn.; I looked down and my rear tire was going flat, so I pulled out. I don't remember how everyone placed in the sprints, but they were all in the top 20. Great job fellas.

June 8, 2008

Nick - So, the first suprise of the day came while registering for the Cat 4/5 Race, preems(?) would be offered, 13 to be exact... I know a lot of you don't think thats anything to write about but for a first year racer, always hearing that damn bell in all other races, it was nice to know that awards would be available for us lowly 5's. The course was similar to Wente, w/out the bot dotts.. Very good pavement which made for a fast race.  I hung out in the middle for the majority of the race, wanting sooooo badly to go for a preme but knew my chances for a sprint at the finish would be less if I did.    So, with 4 laps to go I thought about moving up but actually didn't react for 2 more laps. 2 to go, moved up to about 25-30 and took a big swig of H2O for the final go...    Final lap, on the last straight away I followed the surge on the inside gaining about 10 places going into the final corner. As I came into the turn I toticed everyone going to the inside so I switched down to my 12 and hit it as hard as I could through the finish... I knew I had a decent finish because I was the first through corner #1 and I had stopped pedaling at the finishline.     I ended up 6th and $15 richer.

MAY 18, 2008

Chris Husing - Master 35+ 123 report -   Most of the usual suspects where present except the specialized master pro team and the Z team.  Since I was the only Rio (again!), I resorted to the teamless tactics.  Let the big teams cover the breaks then bridge up to the break.  This strategy proved promising 3 times, but each time we were chased down.  Throughout the race, ones and twos were popped off the back during hard surges and on the second to last lap there was a gnarly crash.  By the time we started our last lap, there was 15 or so left.  Two riders got ahead and were riding well.  As we set up for the sprint, we caught one but the other stayed for the win.  S. McCaw and P. Allen came around me in the sprint and I got 5th.   As a side note: this has never happened to me.  As we were going though the neutral feed zone (very nice tough for Modesto RR) one of the feeders threw the water bottle at me.  The weight of the full bottle landed into my front break lever slamming my break on and almost making me crash...crazy.
 
Robert Leever - Did the 4-5 race with Chris Barker. Flat, flat, flat. There wasn't even a freeway over crossing. No wind to speak of either. Just like
was stated before, it was a crit with 1-2 miles between corners. Chris and I rode in the pack (at the back, talking away, for more than a few laps) for most of the race. Some of the Roaring Mouse guys tried to get away on the first few laps, but they were not really strong enough to make a clean break. Soon, everyone just settled in and rode it out waiting for the last lap. A nasty wreck occurred a few miles from the end when a BEER guy shot off on the left and a couple of guys touched wheels in their haste to chase him down. A Davis guy we noted earlier because of his riding style(I don't think his cadence went over 40 rpm = all day) moved off the front and opened a 100 yard gap four corners from the end. Then I'm not sure what the heck happened. I was just behind Chris at about 2K from the end, waiting for someone to chase the Davis guy down when everyone started shouting. I then noticed a train of riders moving up on the left. I was thinking that there weren't that many guys behind us when I realized they were the 1,2,3's catching us and passing us. Everyone was yelling and screaming. Some of the 4-5's hopped on the back of the train and moved up causing more shouting. Then the 1,2,3's slowed and we started passing them! Soon (but not soon enough) a ref showed up and gave a us a "do not pass" order, but by then the damage was done and some of the 4-5's were already gone. I have no idea where I finished and it will be a miracle if the promoters can sort out how we all finished. Kind of boring except for the drama at the end. Not too bad though....7 down, 3 to go till the upgrade.

Mark - Bring your shin guards and eye protection... LOTS of gravel from the chip-seal pavement.  Glad my titanium bike doesn't have any paint or
it would have gotten sand-blasted.  I didn't think this course was that hard.  Of course, I sat in the back all day.  If there had been any wind it would have been different.  Imagine a flat Bariani - without any wind... that's what we had.  Without wind, the course had no teeth.  Steve Offeman was actually racing at the front at times. (I was merely participating in the race at the back.)  The course was a nine mile loop out in the middle of a bunch of dairy farms.  (Nice aroma on a hot Sunday morning.)  Lots of turns for a RR course; made it seem like a giant crit.  Nothing ever got off the front.  I don't think it was negative racing so much as no one was strong enough to hold off a large field on a flat, windless course.  One or two guys would try something, get about 300 yards away and either quit or get reeled in.  Steve and I covered everything!  He was in the front a lot, I was in the back a lot... we had the entire Peloton surrounded! Sorta like how Kobe and Luke Walton combined for 37 points Friday night (Walton had 3, Kobe 34).  Came down to a big field sprint. Steve said he was around 25th or so, I was a the back of the bunch.  Kudos to Sergio for his pre-race advice.  We found the Merlock ride (#10) that Serg said was stronger than strong.  Of course, he ended up winning it!  If we did anything wrong, it was that neither Steve nor I followed #10 to the front.  The guy was right next to me with about 7 miles to go.  Needless to say, I spaced out and lost track of him.  By then it was too late. Overall, fun day.  Easy course (today)  Safe... no wrecks or any real boneheads in our group.

MAY 17, 2008

Brian Agnell - Good to race in the morning it already felt hot at 8 am. I did the elite 4-5 's w/ Nic and was going pretty good untill about 3/4 into it a guy just kind of tipped over in front of me. He took out 4-5 others and sent myself and another guy onto the sidewalk.  It was kind of funny because there were people on the sidewlk watching the race, I even weaved through some kids that were riding their bike in the opposite direction on the sidewalk. So I get back onto the course and catch up to the back of the pack but never really got back into the race.  Nic looked really good!  He is a natural crit. racer!  Hung out after our race and watched Sergio in the 123's  he looked strong also.

Nicholas - I sware... I need to get out of the 5's! One of the same guy's from the Wente Crit that was yelled at the entire race caused a crash today.  He was all over the place. Other than the crash that took out about 6-8, it was just a steady, strong pace.  At one point I thought, there is no way I am going to finish this race. That was about half way through. Being with the 4's was definately harder than I thought it would be. Brian A was in the front half of the group the entire time and I was in the back half until the final 3ish laps when I slithered my way toward the front. I made it onto the sprinters group rounding the last corner, took the outside and fought my way up to 23 out of about 60. I don't know where Brian ended up but it was a very challenging day for me. I'm looking forward to being back with the 5's next week

Sergio - 35+ 123.  Maybe 30 guys.  Hot.  First 10 or 15 minutes it was mellow and I stayed near the front.  Then for the next 5 minutes or so there were several flyers and counters.  Until the eventual break was formed, it was single file and tough.  By this time there were two groups off the front, and the main pack settled down for a bit.  I was able to recover for a while.  Then the pace picked up again as we picked up all but three that were about a half lap up.  With five to go gaps were opening, and I was basically in survival mode having to go full gas to stay on the train.  I limped across the line towards the back of the main group.  Thanks to Nick for shouting plenty of encouragement.  I'm officially on vacation and off to Bodega Bay.

MAY 10, 2008

Gilbert -  As a first time Berkeley Hills RR guy, I had heard tales of Baby Bear, Momma Bear and Papa Bear and for the most part they were true.
Baby bear was easy, Momma Bear kind and in the words of a James Brown tune, "Poppa don't take no mess". The masters 35+ 4's followed the same pattern as Yezin's elite 4's. We went out at a group ride on the bike trail pace for the 1st lap which was great for me. The second lap picked up a bit, especially when we hit Papa Bear for the second time. At this point the lead group of about 20 split from the rest and the race was on. As we pushed around for the 3d lap the carnage on the road was apparent, a female rider was off the road crying crocodile tears and a young guy was off the road cussing like a drunken sailor. One of the things I've noticed going between racing in the 35+ and 45+ groups is the amount of cussing, when guys bump in the 35+ group you get "watch what the @#$% your doing you @#%* squirrel, When guys bump in the 45+ group you get, "watch out, hold your line brother". Anyway, back to the race, 3rd time up Papa Bear, Mr. Hangover had convinced me that the pain was no longer worth the effort, I finished somewhere in the 20-25 position. So, key learning, NEVER drink before doing this ride, it is not worth it, arrive early and warm up it will be doing your legs a favor, be alert although this is a climbing race there are some very fast decents with buckled, potholed, sand, etc portions of road. Oh, take Papa Bear very seriously, he goes on forever, kinda like my dad used to lecture me.

Yezin - I had never done the race before, so the first time around was just to learn it.  Nothing major happened the first lap, no one was interested in going fast, and the pace was very mellow.  Not quite as mellow as the masters 45+ who we caught at the end of the first lap (and who then got embarrassed and charged past us five miles later), but still pretty mellow. The second lap was more of the same.  I don't think anyone dropped during the climbs, and the flats were more of a sunday cruiser bike ride pace than an actual race. It was starting to look like a mass finish line sprint.  Then, the crash happened. I've never seen a crash like this before.  We were heading down a big hill between 45 and 48 MPH when one guy went a bit wobbly on some bumps.  He bumped into another guy, and they couldn't get themselves straightened out in time.  The wobbly guy went down, and a domino affect started.  Four or five guys went down in the first mess, when all of a sudden a bike went helicoptering into the air over our heads.  It hit, or landed in front of, a guy in front of me (after I thought I had picked a safe line to avoid the first crash), and that is when it went crazy. Bikes, water bottles and people just exploded across the ground.  The right shoulder of the road was taken up, the center of the road was taken up, and debris and bikes made it into the oncoming lane of traffic.  We were still doing 40-ish MPH at this point, and couldn't stop, so everyone who was left up had to either scoot through the middle, or go into the other lane.  Luckily, there was no oncoming traffic. My safe line was shot, so I cranked a hard left and went into the other lane, passed by the mess just in time to see a guy catapult higher than my head and take what looked to be a header straight into the ground... at 40MPH.  It was sickening. A bunch of people were caught behind the wreck, the wreck took out about 10 guys, and only fifteen or twenty guys were in front of it.  We pedalled hard to catch back up to the pack that got away, and the race was down to forty or so riders. Everything settled back in, and we just rounded the course.  Guys started dropping on the hills, and the final group was only 25 strong... when another guy went down one KM from the finish.  The pack split to avoid the wreck, and some dude slammed into me yelling at me to get out of his way as he leaned his full weight on me.  I just stuck my line, and let him get his balance off me instead... and I didn't even get a thank you for it. I stuck with the group for the next 300 meters or so, but my bender from the night before caught up to me (not to mention only riding five times in the last month, and my quads cramped up solid. I finished in the top twenty. I followed up on the wreck afterwards, and most everyone was okay.  Two guys went to the hospital, but no one had any head injuries.  Mental note for next hilly race, "an 11-23 just doesn't cut it".

MAY 10, 2008

Nicholas - Cat 5 - The Cat 5's today were a bit anxious and squirley, especially out of the corners. Several guys had obvious control problems when down in the drops so I tried to steer clear of them. Unlike the Wente Crit, I tried to just stay in the front 3rd of the group. For the most part everything was pretty smooth and chill.  No breaks were able to get away due to two De Beers guys keeping the front locked down.  Going into the last lap I worked my way up to about 20th position and just waited to see what was going to happen. The De Beers guys went for it at the start of the last lap. I knew they wouldn't be able to sustain that effort for the entire lap so I moved up as close as I could going into the last corner. I was sitting about 15 back as we approached the final corner, Ken was up ahead of me as was Rich, a Airport River ride regular.  As several guys bonked off the front, I shifted down and cranked it as hard as I could through the corner and all the way through the finish and ended up 7th
out of 47. Ken was 3rd.. It was a great experience...

Ken - Cat 5 - Squirrelly is a good description of the cat 5, one would think if your brave enough to race, you should have some bike handling skills... But no, guys wouldn't hold there line in turns, grabbing handful of brakes, squaring corners, etc etc ... So, here is my spice on what happened, like Nick said we hung out in the top 10-15 most of the race, with about five laps to go some guy comes completely out of his line and almost taking nick down, i heard Nick give him a few choice words. so with one lap to go i moved to about 6 or 7 hoping to make things happen, all a sudden some guy try to make room were there wasn't any, kinda reminded me of BMX, so i gave him a little love tap and he almost went down.. from there i put my head down gave it everything i had passing 3 or 4 guys and finishing 3rd ...

APRIL 27, 2008

Dave S - Master 35+ 4 - Let me start by saying this was a full roster of 100 attitude ridden, sketchy riding knuckleheads on what would otherwise be considered a wide open, safe course.  It seems to me, the less technical the course the less safe the race is.  Enough of my postulating, back to the race. Pace was immediately fast right off the gun, average speed ended up being 26.9 mph.  Being the only Rio in the pack, I was looking for quick wheels to make my way toward the front.  I felt good and had decent position most of the race, staying out of the wind, but maintaining
position in the top 30 or so.  There was a curve on the backside of the course that curved into the road a bit.  Several riders close to the gutter were getting pinched and slowing that side of the field down. Lots of yelling and cursing as the accordion effect made its way to the back.  I made mental notes throughout the race to say away from that pinch point and stay on the other side of the group.  All went as planned until the second to the last lap when (no surprise) on the backside near the infamous "pinch point," I heard a loud crashing sound directly in front of me. Bikes and bodies were flying and the guy right in front of me went down as well.  Through some miracle of God I somehow stayed upright, weaving my way through the carnage of taco'd wheels and flying water bottles.  There was a neutral lap as a result, then the last lap after that.  I never checked the results, but think I finished somewhere in the high 30's.

Dave S - Elite 4- This race was much more tame by comparison, smooth riding through the turns and the "pinch point" on the backside was picked up by everyone early on.  Yezin, Steve Larson and I raced this one.  Yezin stayed toward the front most of the time, Steve behind him while I was a few riders behind Steve.  Not very eventful other than some guy solo crashing into the curb.  Whatever...  After about 30 minutes into the race, I started feeling like crap. Wasn't sure why, but ploughed on. Last 2 laps got pretty fast and furious as a small group broke away. The entire group reacted and quickly pulled them in.  By the last lap we were all together, where again a small bunch escaped on the second to the last turn.  I finished toward the back on this one.  As I slowly rode back to the car and opened my trunk, there were two large full water bottles sitting there.  No wonder I felt like crap, no water since my first race!  Dummy!!  So, yes, it's true, I will now officially blame all my shortcomings on placing in races as a "drinking problem." Sounds like a good excuse, right?

Sergio - Cat 3 - 45 minutes of loafing followed by 5 minutes of 119 guys (yes 119) that all thought they could win it.  I was beyond boxed in, which is my own fault.  Couldn't even sprint anywhere.  32/119.

Sergio - 35+ 123 - Race started almost two hours late due to several bad crashes in the juniors and womens race (old team mate of mine now on Tibco went down hard and got a trip in the ambulance.  Looks like broken elbow and a few ribs. Not good)  By this time it had been 5 hours since my morning race and I was hungry, cranky, and tired of sitting around in the 90+ weather.  Race was fast, go figure.  I somehow ended up in the brake of 10 or so that stayed away.  I ended up in the brake.....but didn't stay there.  It would seem I can't do 32mph sharing pulls into the wind.
Me and three other guys floated back to the comfort of the field, where I spent the remainder of the race licking my wounds and trying to get
keep my lips from sticking to my teeth.  Crossed the line with the main field. 

Steve O - elite 5 - I returned to the battlefield the next morning to race the crit with Kenny L and Nick.  I pre-rode the course and felt it to be pretty reasonable and safe.  But I have to agree with the others that there was alot of squirreliness going on.  On about our 3rd or 4th lap there was what sounded like an explosion from behind.  For the next two laps, we passed he bloodied remains of a cat 5 rider sitting on the curb.  I spent most of the race just trying to stay out of trouble.  On the final lap I put myself up to the front and rounded the last corner in about 5-6 position.  I gave it everything I had with Ken on my wheel.  Unfortunately what I had left after the RR on Saturday wasn't a whole lot.  Ken took 8th and I was 13th. Nick finished very solidly in his 1st crit (I think 22)!!  Congrats guys. Good racing!

Yezin - Cat 4 - The mens' cat 4 was pretty fun despite the madness.  We averaged 26.6 mph for 45 minutes, which was due to the long sweepers and open straightaways allowing us to hold our speed.  The strange thing about holding your speed is that people do strange things in the corners at speed.  The most popular item today was blowing out of your pedal while in a full lean and pedaling.  I'm not sure why that was the choice of idoicy for today, but it was popular.  I saw a couple guys do it (including coming into the final straightaway in front of me), and just nail themselves on the top bar.  I'm going to have to research this, but those guys should qualify for Darwin awards since there is no way they will ever be able to have children now. I did fairly well in the race.  I tried for one prime, but didn't get the gumption to try any others.  I wasn't really interested in going for the prime at the start, but I got tired of the jostling in the middle of the pack, and took off to the front.  All of a sudden, I was in the lead on the back stretch, and figured I'd just hang out for the sprint. Some other dude with thunder-quads put the hammer down in the last 80 yards though, and snookered me. The last four laps really heated up, and it was tough to stay in the front.  Throughout the race, we'd get a good line going, and settle in at a decent pace, when two swarms of riders would come along the sides, pass us, and then bunch up for the turn.  I'd go from 10th or 15th to 40th in a couple seconds.  I decided on the last laps that I would wait until I saw the surge coming, then run up the side of the pace line I was in as they came around.  That kept me in the front for the last few laps. The last lap was going as planned, I was holding my position well, and came into the home stretch about tenth.  Then, dude blew out of his pedal and racked himself on the top tube.  It really was
amazing watching him do everything he could to keep his crotch off the top tube, but it was hopeless.  He is probably still crying. I had to brake and wait for ball-buster to settle down before I could get back in the mix, but thankfully I didn't fall too far out.  I hopped back up into the pack,
and then realized an eight man break got away while the other dude was racking himself.  I could have bridged it, but then I would have pulled everyone else up and worn myself out, so I just hung out in the second pack until 80 yards or so, and took off.  I caught a couple guys in the
front pack, and dropped everyone in the second pack.  I ended up in seventh, although they scored me as eighth.  That should count for a point since there werer 84 guys in the race.

Steve L - Cat 4 - So i was in the 4s with Yezin and Dave so i never saw Dave except after we finished but Yezin was goin at it constantly. I think he went for a prime but died close to the line and got passed...Overall though the 4s werent that fast little accelerations and people just being stupid like riding into a curb solo. I ended up boxed in near the finish and got like top 20 or something.Im really suprised there weren't anymore crashes but there easily could have been, people riding in gutters and pinching on the sweeping turns, really dangerous.

Steve L - Juniors-   Now the juniors. It started out slow but by the 2nd lap we were going full fledge. Attack and slow down constantly. Zach from DBC JNRT and i gapped the field but he realized it was me and quickly sat up and stopped. eventually Zach and Marcus SPECIALIZED slipped off the front and i wasn't of knowledge of this. Once the gap was over a minute Sam bolster from RFAR and i were unable to pull it back as swift and tieni duro weren't helping despite not having a man in the break. Eventually there was a nasty crash when some genius decided to try to pass in the gutter and took out 7-8 guys. One guy had to be taken away in ambulance with a broken collar bone and a nasty concusion because of this we were neutralized with some 4 laps to go for about 5-6 laps we had cooled down and then the refs completely stopped us it was redicioulous. So we started up again basically from scratch mean while we were all out of H20 and they wouldnt allow the parents to give us water when we were just sitting there in the 90+ degrees. in end i was 6th wheel out of the last corner and was bridging to 2 guys only about 15 ft up the road on the left side then the field decided it was coming over and i got boxed in at the left curb unable to sprint i just rolled in...probably about 5th or  6th .

APRIL 25, 2008

Chris H- Race report for M 35+ 1,2,3 -   I was the only Rio in this race.  The course was not as hard as I remember some 8+ years ago.  I got "popped off the back" (some would say"dropped") on second climb.  Knowing this group of riders, I continued to race getting in small groups and eventually finished.  Since this was a race of attrition, I finished in the top 30 or so.  I really wished I could say 12th place, but can't.  However, it is habit to always review the results prior to leaving the race.  I was very surprised to see that the officials listed me in 3rd place, just above Kevin Metcalf. Immediately, several cat 1's and ex-pros began saying "who is Chris Husing."  Fortunately, as much as I liked seeing these guys squirm, I said "I am Chris Husing and I was not up there."  Now I am going to embellish the story a bit.  They sequestered me and marched me to the official to declare that Chris Husing was not 3rd place.  I sure hope that all of you appreciate the publicity I gave Rio Strada today.

Jeff - I signed up for the 4's race to race with Yezin instead of signing up for the 35+4's. The race started and surprise surprise, no Yezin. 3 laps, 4 times up the climb. 1st lap fairly easy, no problems on the climb, most of the 100 riders probably stayed together. I worked my way up to the front 1/3 of the pack for the next time up the climb. There was a brake about ten riders up from me when we hit the steep part. I had to sprint up the steep part to close the gap, put me into the red for a while. We crossed over the over pass and started the roller climbs on the other side. I was not fully recovered and was pushing hard to stay with the lead group. Recovered on the down hill and stayed near the front and prepared for the next time up the hill. This time upthe hill, most of the pack was gone, probably only 30 left. The pace was fierce up the climb, I caught a good wheel and was doing well. 5-7 guys broke away on the steep section. I was in a group of about 12. Was doing my share of the chasing when a guy in front of me started to loose control going up a hill, faded back and swerved into my front wheel, my foot came out of the pedal, but I stayed upright. While trying to get my shoe back in the pedal, some guy from behind me started whining, get out of my way, I am barely hanging on. I laughed at him and told him to pay attention and relax! Me and about 3-4 other guys started laying it down and caught the lead group on the flats before the last time up the hill. Unfortunately the rest of the 12 sat on and wouldn't help. All the guys in the lead pack where about 40 lbs lighter than me, damn climbers! I stayed with the lead group up the final climb until1.2 K to go where the hill gets steep. The group accelerated and I tried to stand up to match the pace when my legs cramped. I soft pedaled for a while, almost fell over, then regrouped and made the top off the group a ways. I finished probably 15-20Th. Great day, I saw a few other Rio's out there. I saw Michelle who looked like she was in the mix in her race,nice job. The one thing I must say is, damn you Yezin, you could have won that race!!!

Yezin -   I had trouble getting my heart rate up on the drive to the race. However, upon realizing I had left my shoes at home, I was able to spike my heart rate back up to 240 bpm. This could be a very effective warm-up technique for future races. I'll try it again tomorrow... with the shoes this time.Damn it, damn it, damn it.  I passed on a message that I wasn't going to make it, but I don't think it got to you.  Sorry for missing the race.  Then, to top it off, my transmission blew up... again!  This time for good, no repairing it now.  So, one missed race, and $3000+ for a transmission - Volkswagen. Either way, I wish I was there.  Great job on cranking away.

John - Cat 5 - The noon start time for the Cat5s was not cool. It was hecka hot. Temperatures in the mid 80s. With Steve O and Gilbert pushing the pace, I got dropped. Mark S slowed down for me at the overpass, and we worked together for most of the race. We caught a Davis guy, but
he decided our pace was slow and rode solo ahead of us. On the 3rd lap, Mark and I hit "the wall" again. I kept spinning at a leisurely pace and caught the Davis guy. He was fried from dehydration and other ailments, and I went by him. Now, it was time to ride "the wall" for the last time for the hill top finish. At the base of the wall, I started to cramp on the left leg. Then, I started to cramp on the right side. Typically, when I get leg cramps, I spin easily. But, this time, I had to ride up the wall. Whose idea was it to have a hill top finish? My initial goal was just to make it to the 1K sign. Then, I saw women on the course to urge me on. That was a good sign. I still looked good. So, I kept going and finished.

Michelle - Cat 4 - Yup, I'm great at the downhills. I got up to 38 mph on the "big" downhill at Wente the first lap. Unfortunately I'm not as good going uphill to do the downhill.

Steve O - cat 5 35+ - After being "outed" by the team last week, I had to do something to assert my manliness.  So I shaved my legs, pulled on some tight spandex, and flexed my muscles in the mirror a few times.  Then, headed off to Wente RR ready for some real MAN racing.  Dammit someone was going to pay on those hills!! John, Robert, Mark, and I were waiting for the race to start when up road Gilbert.  I was pleasantly surprised to get in one more race with Gilbert before his departure to the 4s!  I was pretty excited.  The whistle blew and off I went.....with the wrong group.  A couple hundred feet down the road and I realized my error.  I dusted off my ego and road back to the line to re-join my crew. The whistle blew again ... this time for real.  I took a place in about the 1st third of the pack with Gilbert and we were off.  It was about mid-80s
with a light breeze.  Everything was pretty straightforward for the first two laps.  The front of the main group stayed mostly intact.  My legs were
good and I could ride the big hill pretty much in my pace and keep up. My plan was to just stay with the field, look for a major split, and try to be
in it when it happened.  Thanks for the good information before the race Gilbert! - the steep part of the hill was definitely the toughest part of
the course, but the separator was the second hill after the overpass. As we rode up the hill before our third (and final) lap, one of the InfoSystems riders threw down the gauntlet and took off.  I stuck to his wheel and as we came accross the overpass it was just the two of us. Coming up the second hills, two more joined us and I knew we had something going now!!  We flew down the hills without the difficulty of the pack hitting the
brakes around each corner.  Into the flats and we had a 38 second gap. At this point I could tell my legs were better than two of the other riders,
but I kind of suspected the fourth guy in the blue (unmarked) jersey was sandbagging.  His pulls were very short and infrequent.  I put in a
SUBSTANTIAL amount of work in to keep us out in front.  I knew if we started playing games, it would all be over.  Coming into the final hill it
was still the four of us and the pack was out of sight.  I started up the hill with the guy in the blue jersey stuck to my wheel like a ball & chain.
The other two fell off pretty quick.  About halfway up the steep part of the hill, blue jersey came around and started to pull away.  There wasn't
much I could do at that point.  Not even the cheers of my 4-year-olds could make my legs turn any faster!  So I finished in second!!!  Great race for me. I think a great course....if you like some hills.

APRIL 11- 13, 2008

APRIL 5, 2008

Sergio.

APRIL 5, 2008

Jeff M - Cat 4 - It was a beautiful day for a race in the hills. The race started with a nice climb almost as soon as the pace motor cycle pulled off. Yezin and I were up in the front of the group. I was sitting behind Yezin, with Yezin in the front, or behind some other guy as Yezin dropped the hammer and broke away.  It was so sweet watching Yezin pull away.  The guy in the lead kept looking back at me as if it were my turn to take the lead, so I would pull along side of him and slow down until someone else would pull around to take the lead.  I watched Yezin gradually get a bigger and bigger lead, looking very strong. We got to the top and started heading down the big hill on the back side. The group started slowing in the narrow winding downhill.  I thought for sure this was Yezin's break, solo should be faster down the hill.  Suddenly there was a massive surge at the front and Yezin's lead was gone. Sad, But Yezin was still looking very strong. We finished the first lap with Yezin and I still up in the front, me trying to stay in the draft most of the time, but occasionally pulling at the front.  The second lap went about the same until we started the climb back up to the finish line.  Two guys came up to the front and started accelerating up every rise.  I was able to match this feeling OK for a while.  By the time we finished the second lap, I knew my time was limited.  I was playing the game, sprint to the front and then fall back on the hills, still keeping myself in the game.  With about two small climbs before the big downhill on the third lap, I was dislodged for good.  I watched a group of about 12-15 ride off.  Yezin was up in the front still. I worked with two other guys, both on the same team for most of the rest of the race.  They dropped me once on a hill, but I chased them down and continued to ride hard.  I was able to see a group of 3 about 200 yards in front of us.  I realized Yezin was one of the riders, he had also dropped off of the front.  I found out later that he was in the top 10 and dropped his chain, had to get off his bike and fix it.  He was not able to get back in the lead group after that. In the final lap with about 2K to go, the two guys in my group were trying to make me do most of the work.  Knowing that the were up to something, I played like I was toast, still staying in the front.  I made my move about 1.5 K to go with two little climbs left. I hit the gas on the first hill, starting to put both of them into trouble. I
continued to accelerate on the flat before the last climb and began my sprint at 200 Meters to go.  I passed one of the guys that caused my
earlier demise, who must have blown big time. My sprint was just enough to stay away. Great day overall.  Gilbert did very well hanging with the lead group for over two laps.  Unfortunately he was not able to find anyone to work with to chase. 

MARCH, 2008

James - I'm down here scouting out all the south valley races for you all and the Hanford crit went well. I got there with plenty of time to register and warm up. I did have some issues with the trainer, my Easton skewers do not fit well in it, I need to fix that problem. So I did a street riding warm up. I lined up with the 35+ 4/5 on the line for a change, not the second row and tried to listen to the prerace announcements. Unfortunately I could not here them and the whistle was blown before many of us were ready. I scrambled to get a start, I missed the click in on the first try but kept going. Once I found the pedals I was in and made a good run to the first corner. The course was an unique shape, an hourglass shape. Corners one and five were the same intersection, just divided by caution cones. The first three laps I was riding on the left side of the pack, my most comfortable spot. But I kept getting pushed of wheels and getting shuffled back, finally about lap five I got bored with being pushed back and ducked into the middle of the pack and started shooting gaps whenever I wanted to move up. Much better drafting and I quit loosing positions. Twelve laps to go, had an other rider make contact with me going into turn 4, nothing major, we all stayed on the out wheels. Lap ten I
knew I needed to move up some. So started shooting gaps on the long back stretch and moving up to the front third of the pack. Five laps to go and once again contact with an other rider coming across the line, once again, no harm done we all stayed up. Three laps to go I decided to move up. I wanted to be in the first ten riders. Much to my surprise I managed to pull it off, but I had used up way more energy that I had expected and had to get back in the pack for whole next lap. Final lap I tried my best and managed to hold the 31 MPH pace, came out of the final corner, started to sprint, got it up to 33, passed four guys and managed 19th place. I'll take it.

MARCH 22, 2008

Gilbert - Masters 45+ 4/5 - The Cooperopolis roads may be a pot hole & patched nightmare, but the surrounding area is spectacular this time of year and a better day to ride we couldn't have imagined. First of all, where do all these old, fit, strong riders come from? Two fields of fifty! I went to a basketball game not long ago and couldn't find 2 fit guys in an arena full of beer drinking, nacho munching basketball fans. But here we were at one of the toughest climbing courses matched with some of the worst road surfaces and we have two fields of guys over 45+ ready to ride. And these were the 4/5's, the other Masters 45+ was full as well of guys that can make the young guys cry. Go figure.

I was the only Rio in the field, so it was up to me to represent, a very unnerving position to be in I will have you know. But, hey, a small price to pay to wear the blue and white kit. Anyway, back to the ride. I moved quickly to the front of the group to avoid the yo yo ing that takes place when the paleton goes up and down the first series of rollers on this course and the congestion that sometimes takes place at the back when the climbs start to get steep and the pace gets furious at the front. I was in great position at the top of the first and most difficult climb and moved away with the lead group of 12 from the rest of the paleton. Three or four guys at the front took most of the responsibility for keeping the pace high, so I was able to sit in and conserve my energy for the second big climb of the course. At the base of the 2nd major climb I moved to the front and decided to see what the legs felt like, next thing ya know I am cresting at the front of the group and headed down the long, curving descent. Lucky for me the rest of the group came flying by and allowed me to follow their lines down the hill avoiding (as much as one can avoid) the potholes and patches which line the descent (also lost my first water bottle here).

Second lap was a bit tame until we reached the last 1/4 of the 1st tough climb and then all hell broke loose at the front. Unfortunately I decided to click to a bigger gear just as the front accelerated  which left me gapped! I crested the climb on my own and gave chase. I caught two guys (same team) who had fallen off the back and joined forces to begin the chase (lead group was now 9). One of the two guys I joined cramped and fell off, that left two of us. But we lacked a bit of cohesion, in fact I had to give the other guy an ultimatum, "you work with me or you ride alone" , he rode with me. From that rough start we fell into some smooth work and caught the lead group just before the 2nd and last climb of the day. I got 3/4 of the way up the climb before the legs started getting a little tight. Again, a key learning, if my legs were tight, the rest of the group (most of them anyway) had to be getting tight. But in the heat of the moment I allowed myself to ease up a bit and was gapped at the top. Never could reconnect with group (combination of the group speed and having to deal with the difficult descent by myself). Finished 11th, I should have pushed myself to the top and rested on the way down. Oh well. Oh yea, the Ellsworth wheels worked great, climbed well and took a beating, but still true.  

Yezin - The Elite 4s kicked off with a staggeringly annoying yo-yo for the first few miles until we hit the climb.  The climb kicked up, and a few people sweated out a barrel or two of light sweet crude oil and sweat.  We crested the first climb, and everything settled back in for a long and boring ride around the"lake".  We cruised around the lake, hit the second hill, and then screamed through the descent to finish the first lap.  The second lap came around, and we were back on the climb yo-yoing like a bunch of fools.  Mental note for next year to get to the front of the pack to conserve energy. Well, I got gapped on the first climb of the second lap, and spent the rest of the day playing catch-up.  I guess I'm just not in climbing shape yet.  However, I hooked up with some others, and cranked through the ride... dropped the guys I was riding with and picked up with other guys, dropped then, and picked up with more.  In the end, I must have moved up 15 places from when I was gapped to when I finished. What I learned from this ride is that you need to be at the front of the pack on the climb.  That way you avoid the yo-yoing of the pack, and you have a buffer zone to fall back through, and still stay in the pack, if you can't climb as fast as the others. I paid attention to my water and food per instructions from Gordo, and it really paid off.  I was able to completely crush the other three guys I was working with over the last km.  I just dropped them like sacks of potatos and sprinted through to the finish.  Give me a couple more weekends, and I will finally be placing in these races.

MARCH 15, 2008

Mike V - 35+4/5:  no crashes (whew!).  I powered past the UC Davis guys to lead into the S-turn on the last lap.  I blew up before the sharp right hand turn 600 meters to the finish.  Everyone and their mothers pasted me to the finish.  I don't know how the other guys did, but they were all ahead of me.  4s:  Much faster race with at least 3 small crashes and one finish line crash that broke a collarbone.  The first crash was the result of a big guy on a tubular with what appeared to be no glue.  The second crash I saw was a guy that dug his pedal in the S-turn.  I finished in the top half right behind Yezin.  Criterium racing is not my thing.  Too freaking sketchy.  Guys were diving into gaps and into the inside corners on every lap.  Nobody knew how to stay on a wheel.  The rule is, and I wish the officials would say this before the start of every criterium race:  go into the corner on a wheel and come out of the corner on the same wheel.  Too many guys would break this rule and push everyone off their lines. 

Jay D - The Elite 5 race at a chilly 8AM went pretty well.  There were some crashes in the  corners and  some squirrelly riders out there for sure.  One guy clipped his pedal in the same corner at least 3 times on separate laps. Perhaps he was the one who ultimately went down?  We had Mark S, Myself (Jay D) and Zak P for the Rios in the Elite 5 race.  We weren't able to help each other out much, but it's always nice to know you have some team mates along side of you.  With Ron's excellent pre-race advice we tried to keep near the front of the pack which worked out pretty well.  I started to fade a bit on the last lap then the crash happened right next to me which startled me a bit.  I lost about 10 bike lengths but was able to sprint back up to the tail end of the pack just at the finish line.  I placed 22nd which I'm pretty happy with and Mark S got 10th !!! 

Jim M -  4/5 35+.  I went into the race with low expectations (thought I'd get shelled the first lap for sure). Ron's pre-race pep talk and strategy were inspiring though, and it felt good to at least have a plan. And as Jay D said, always nice to have team mates around.  I watched most of the Rios from mid pack and had grand plans of moving up, organize, and help the sprinters in the end.  I was behind Gilbert with a couple laps to go (he later said "yeah, I though I saw you...did I lap you?"  Thanks for the vote of confidence Gilbert :-)  Unfortunately I waited too long to move up, and got caught in the chicanes (s curves) near the end.  Too much energy to catch the guys who got through first.  Was happy to finish with the pack though.  I agree w/Mike V.  Some squirrelly riding out there. Always nice to finish crash free.

Mark S - Elite 5 35+. A bit chilly as Jay said and some very squirmy riders. I know that one guy will need new pedals as he hit them on that same corner 3 or 4 times. Don't people know when you are 4 or 5 years old that you don't put the pedal down on the same side you are turning? Oh well, I guess he learned the hard way. Anyway, the pace was not that bad as compared to our training rides. Thanks to Ron for the good advice. Jay and myself tried to stay in the top one third of the pack but it was kind of hard as there was allot of fluctuation in speed and every time we had a nice pace line going the front guys would slow down and the pack would catch right back up. On the last lap I was about 10th or 15th going into the corners, I should have been to the front more like Ron suggested.  Got stuck behind a slower rider on the last corner and a couple of guys came on the left side of me. I gassed it around that guy and headed for the line and came in 10th. All in all I was pretty happy, stayed safe and finished.

Aaron - I was in the back of the pack doing a field survey - Actually I was taking my lumps in what Mike Kelly called the 'washing machine effect' getting tugged and pulled and pushed around by the various speeds the 4/5's are known for.  I rode- or raced, if you want to call it that, on my tubular rims- and my lack of confidence in the wheels showed- Little afraid to dig in the corners and maintain my positioning so I hung out and tried to hold on.  I will say, from the back it looked like Davis had some organizational skills going but they just didn't finish on the back stretch.  I think I'm on the rebound- of this slump I'm in but tomorrow will be another big test. 

Mark C - In the back, followed Mike V. around until about 5 laps to go and my legs rebelled.  Kudos to Mike, V. he rode a smart race.  Sat in the back most of the ride (which was good for me) and moved up at the end to give a good go of it.  I thought our race was pretty sane.  The only thing of note was some guy with loud, annoying, brakes.  On the first lap, into the first part of the chicane , dude hits the brakes and everyone around thinks bikes are going down.  Never really got used to the sound, but at least by the 3rd lap we figured out it was noisey brakes and not a crash.  I can only figure the guy must have had carbon rims with the wrong type of brake pads.  Not sure what the average speed was, but every time I looked down (outside of the chicane) I always saw at least 27mph.  Heart rate was usually between 170 and 185.

Brian A - M 35 4/5  -2 laps to go- Davis starts lead out , looks good for us they have around 5- 6 guys up front we have 4-5. They string it out pretty good, but at one point I think they dropped speed from 30mph to 27mph. coming into hairpin on last lap. Whole field swarms and that is that.  Next time we will get them.

Steve O - Land Park was my first crit and I was, needless to say, a little jumpy.  I was in the front, then the middle, then the front, then the middle, etc... But, luckily not off the back.  Every time we went through the corners, I lost ground and had to pick it back up in the straights.  In the 2nd to last lap, the DBC guys looked like they were organizing for a big move, which Brian and I covered, but then it fizzled.  In the end, I was somewhere near the front trying to set up for the lead out, but shortly after the last turn, I started running out of gas and the pack just devoured me.  I saw Ken speeding by to a 10th place finish.  It was good to get a crit under my belt, but I was a little disappointed that wasn't there as a lead-out man in the end.

MARCH 16, 2008

Mark C - I got dropped on the right turn onto CR13.  Assuming my reserved position at the back of our 100 rider back, the usual carnage occurred as riders dove to the gutter to keep people off their wheels in the cross winds.  Only the strong survive.  Hooked up with four others and plowed our way through 40 miles of head/cross winds.  What really sucked was there was no real tailwind except on the dash to the finish line, and, of all places, the KOM hill.  Other than that, it was at best a huge cross wind from the NW or a terrible headwind.  I think it was windier this year than two years ago, and I would guess we were getting 25+mph winds at times.  I basically finished in a group with a guy coming back from a broken collar bone, a former boxer, and a guy coming back from a broken leg...

Brian A – I felt pretty good first couple laps at Zamora.  The field seemed pretty much together after 1st lap.  So, I took it easy and drifted to mid pack along north part of course on second lap.  Bad idea, I guess the first lap took it out of guys looked like some were starting to struggle so I made my way up to 1st 15 or so  before climb but that was not good enough. It just took a few guys to slow up at the wrong time and I was now in catch mode up last half of hill. Top of hill was only about 30 meters behind them and I had another guy now to help.  We chased for the next lap but could not close- I am now cross eyed and can't feel my legs.  Done    Yes it is true you must stay at the front.

Gilbert -  First of all, I have to say all the Rio's I talked too after our race had a great time!  Despite the wind, I had a dammm ride! (at least for a 52 year old guy). Rio's finished 4th (Steve Offerman), 6th (Ken Lane) and 10th (me, yeah baby!). We held tight for 3/4 of 1st lap (we worked hard at sheltering each other from the headwinds and crosswinds) and then 3 guys started a break, and Steve was in perfect position to go with it. Ken and I were in the chase group (6 total), so it was a great time to practice team racing. Ken & realizing that Steve was in the break sat on with the other 4 and made them work while we protected our guy in the breakaway. (also gave us a chance to conserve some energy, thanks for the excuse Steve).  On the last climb of the 2nd lap two of the guys in our group tired of Ken and I not working as hard as them and took off. Ken had enough in the tank to go with them, so now it was my turn to take short easy pulls and let the two left with me work.  It was cool to see it all play out, 3 Rio's in the top 10!  So, it was a great day of team tactics and riding, a HELL of a great time

Jay - Great race Gilbert, Steve & Ken!  After the break formed Mark Stern and I were in the 2nd group.  Again trying to conserve as much energy as possible.  This group had about 4-5 DBC riders in it with a few others. Since we knew we had 3 guys up ahead we didn't do any work.  We just used our experience from riding out in nasty Davis winds to stay sheltered.  On the fist time up the KOM we gassed it pretty good and broke this group up into two smaller groups.  I hung in there with this group for the next two laps.  On the final time up the KOM two guys went and I tried to chase them down.  Wasn't able to catch them but by doing so dropped the rest of my group.  So I rode solo from the KOM to the finish line with two guys just ahead of me.  The group behind us wasn't able to catch me so felt good about that.  Let me tell you that last cross wind section after the KOM and before the finish line is no fun to ride buy yourself.  I gave it everything I had and ended up in 15th.  I'm very stoked with my race today.  Not bad considering last year I got dropped on the 1st lap.  Great job Rios!

Steve O -  I was NOT excited about riding in that wind.  It just looked painful!  As Gilbert said, we rode together for almost 3/4 of the first lap.  Just trying to seek shelter for myself or provide it for Ken or Gilbert.  Then I was lucky enough to tag on the last wheel of *the* break. It actually started with 8 riders that were being pulled out by two of the DBC guys.  Pretty quickly we lost 2.  On the first hill we lost 2 more. Then there were 4...  Luckily 4 riders who knew how to ride an eschelon (Thanks for the windy training rides in Davis Ron!).  I wasn't entirely sure whether this break could stick, so at first I was taking as short of pulls as possible and taking it pretty easy.  In the 2nd lap the motorcycle pulled up and told us we were 2 1/2 minutes ahead of the pack and I started to turn it up.  Thanks Ken and Gilbert for the help from the peleton!!  On the last lap, I thought a couple of the guys looked a little tried and felt like I had enough left to make a dent on the last hill.  But when the hill came, I realized how tired my legs were and all of a sudden I was struggling to hold on.  We rounded the final corner together but I just couldn't keep up in the sprint - 4th place.  The funny thing is that the two riders that I thought looked the weakest were 1st and 2nd.  That's bike racing!  Overall a very cool day of racing!!  We had three Rios in the top 10 from our race which is pretty awesome!!  Great job everyone

Yezin - Wow, what an interesting race.  I started off with the other 100 riders and Dave Smith.  We mosied along down the first stretch with an enormous headwind, then cranked it up the first hill.  Apparently, there was a split there, but I was in the front half so it didn't get me (it got Dave though). The back stretch was pretty fast, and that is where I figured out my strategy for hiding out of the wind for the rest of the (my) race.  We came around the turn onto the chip seal, and gassed it up again.  I felt great on this part of the course, so I just sauntered up to the front (I was on the Roval Stars with some different tires, and boy were they slippery in the wind - AWESOME!).  When I got to the front, I kicked it up with some others, and we gapped out more people.  By the time we came around the turn off the headwind on the second lap, we were down to about 35 guys.  That is when I started my "jackass gapping" (that term is trademarked by me, so don't try using it yourself).  I'd wait until we had put out effort on wind/hill/etc. and then wait for a natural gap to open in front of me.  I'd then pull left a tad bit to deter the guy behind me from passing, and I would not respond to the surge for about three seconds.  I then sprinted up to catch the group.  After three of these, no one was left behind me (crappy thing to do, but definitely quite fun).  So, we were looking good, small pack (22ish), and I was feeling great... until we came around onto the fourth lap when I suddenly, and disasterously bonked.  I couldn't believe it since I had just felt so good a minute before.  Anyway, I somehow. finished off the fourth lap (at record breaking speeds of 8mph at times).

Mark S - I was in the middle of the  pack on the first lap until we were coming into the rollers and then the next  thing I knew I was in front of the second group and working too hard. Not where I wanted to be. I pulled to the side and then I came off  the back. I tried like hell to stay with that group. This is the  group that had Jay D in it. I settled in with the next group and I think we had about 6-8 guys. We picked up one or 2 along the way. We worked well as a group taking turns at the front. Coming along the road by the freeway at the start of the second lap we could still see Jays group and I really wanted to bridge up. They were not that far off.  Yet, every time I got to the front to pull I hit the gas and got yelled at to slow down. I guess they weren’t willing to work that hard. I didn’t think I could bridge up by myself in that wind so I slowed down I just did my part. Our group stayed the same working well until the last lap at the start of the rollers. Two Davis guys made an attack and I was about 5 or 6 bikes lengths back with a few guys behind me. Kind of in no mans land and not sure what to do. I should have tried to bridge right then but I let off and regrouped with the guys behind me. Bad call, oh well next time. Worked real hard the rest of the way and came in 29th. I was pretty happy with that.

Dave S - The pack rolled out quickly right off the bat. On the backside of the first lap about a ? mile from the KOM, in a heavy crosswind section, it strung out.  Two guys in front of me got gapped, I didn't react quickly enough as I sprinted pass them, came within 10 feet of the group and couldn't quite make it.  Very demoralizing.  At that point me, a Dolce Vita guy, a guy from Z Team, someone from Berkeley Bicycle, a "Ride of a Reason" rider worked together nicely until the last lap.  The three guys ran out of juice into the headwind and at that point it was just me and one other.  We worked together until the crosswind section before the tailwind to the sprint.  We slapped each other on the back, thanked each other for the wheel for 40 miles and it was each man for himself!  The Dolce Vita guy beat me by a bike length. 

MARCH 2008

Bryan Larsen - I raced three times this weekend. The juniors at 7:30 am on Saturday morning. The category 2’s at 1:30 that afternoon. And the Brutal Road race Sunday morning in the category 2’s.

Going into the juniors race I had very little warm up but I was still feeling pretty good. I raced rather conservative and only went for a prime or two. Did a few minor breakaways but nothing to extreme. I was planning on saving my legs for the next two races, and what better way to do it than just wait for a sprint. So I did, and in the sprint I even waited really long. Once I decided to go (which I did so at about 60-70% of what I can do), no one could get close. I had about 5 bike lengths in all of 75m of sprinting. I was able to soft pedal from there and look back. Overall, easy sprint, easy win.

Then it was time of the 2’s Criterium. As most of you might know, Merco is a REAL Criterium. It goes from 3 lanes, then two, then barely one lane while racing through crazy corners with fences lined with people. We flew thru the twists and bends that were also very rough. As we bounced through we were staying relatively safe. I started doing some work near the front, I pulled some breaks back and did a couple of attacks. Overall, I was feeling great! Then with 7 laps to go, they slowed at the front and all of a sudden the group completely rushed to the front. CRASH I was knocked outside during the fall and got up relatively quickly. Untangled my bike (which was a challenge that I will tell you about another time) I rode as hard as I could over to the pit with knees and elbow bleeding as well as dirt everywhere. Got there, got fixed. Free lap….actually I got 2. So they let me in with 5 laps to go, the absolute last chance to go back into the race…man, was I lucky. So with adrenalin pumping, elbow throbbing, and heart pounding they let me go (rather late I might say) and ended up sliding dead last position. And with 5 laps to go, I’ll tell you, those guys were flying! With somewhere between 70+80 starters as well, it was going to be a hard job to move up on any course, never the less this one. I put my head down and was just gritting my teeth as I’d try to sprint up to the front in little steps. But, time ran out. I could only manage to get up to about 30th place as soon as the race was over.

Then, the 2’s road race. This was going to  be the longest race I’ve EVER done,  rolling in at nearly 97 miles. I packed two GU’s and two packs of CLIF BLOKS (which are the best food ever created for cycling by the way…). I was a little bit anxious about the long day. I wasn’t sure how my legs would feel after two tough races and a crash the day before. I also wasn’t sure if I would be okay with that distance. And most of all, I wanted to redeem myself. We rolled out very slow, which was a nice change as compared to Snelling the week before. I did a lot of pulling on the second lap. Then going into our last lap a group of 7 got up the road. I was at the front, and I don’t know how I missed the cut. I was trying to get people motivated to chase, but it was doing nothing. I then went to the front, and started getting people to pull through. I noticed instant organization as soon as this happened. We were bringing it back. Then all of a sudden, people would just stop working. The gap would open again. We got it down to 30sec at one point. Then it opened back up to over a minute. Anyway, we didn’t catch them. They stayed away by about 20 seconds. I got myself to the front over the rough section coming up to the rollers. I was on the rivet at this point. Practically cross eyed. We took the turn and were on the same road as the snelling course, right near the feedzone. I got very close to the front, about 5th. Some guys jumped. I just followed, then the other side, so I jumped across. Then they sat up, and I made the worst mistake of the day, so did I. I should have just jumped there to stay out of trouble. I didn’t. Instant swarm. I went from 3rd wheel to about 15th. Then, exactly that…trouble. Huge crash. I ran over the first guy at around 30mph. Hit the second guy, ran him over as well. Then the third guy stopped me, launching face first toward the pavement. I hit face first and ripped myself pretty good. Lost a tooth (so now I really look like im from Placerville…). I also hit my head really hard. I think I heard I was unconscious for about 20-30 seconds. Once I woke up, if I really was out, I couldn’t see. Everything was completely blurred, I kept blinking, just thinking it was water or something in my eyes. After about 5 minutes that cleared. Then I went to go check on my friend, Andy. He was the first guy I fully ran over. He was unconscious. Then he woke up and had no idea where he was, or really who he was for that matter. He would just ask us a question, we’d answer, and then 1 minute later he’d ask me the same question again. He was not looking so good. I eventually found my bike and rode up the final hill. I rode across the line minutes behind the group with blood dripping from my face and knees and arm. Not exactly what I had planned for that day of racing, but oh well. I DID finish my longest race I’ve ever entered. So I guess that’s a win in itself.

FEBRUARY 2008

Ron Rouse - Cat 3 - After riding at the front for the first lap,  "The Break" started to form with Rick and a rep from at least every big team.  I knew my day would be over if I didn't make the break.  I gave it a shot and opened up the gas.  During my attempt, there were two guys on my wheel.  I figured that they could help to close the gap, but NO.  After trying to bridge to Ricks group, and in doing so blowing the two guys off my wheel unbeknowst to me, I came within about six bike lengths of the group. SIX FREAKING BIKE LENGHTS!!!!! I felt like I sat there for an hour before I blew but could not finish closing the gap.  I kept yelling "Rick!" "Rick!" but he never turned around to help :(  So, I went back to the main group and got blown out the back from the repeated attempts to bridge up to Rick's group.  On the next lap, while picking-up pack scrapenal by myself and a guy from Rick's team and some other bone-heads, we were able to get within a close shot of re-joining
the main pack.  But only about three of the eight of us knew how to even ride in the wind!  The funny thing is that there were two Sierra Nevada guys in this little group.  One guy knew how to ride, and the guy other kept riding us into the gutter!  Too funny....  Anyway...while working and getting real close to the main pack, Dino from CBW was just sitting on the back of us.  THEN, when we got the closest to re-joining with the main pack, Dino lept from the back, after not working at ALL and made the gap to the pack.  Good Job Dino, but you suck for not helping!  So, after we all saw that, THAT WAS IT!  Day Over! 

Yezin Taha - Cat 5 - Steve, Robert and I all ended up in the Cat 5s waiting for our few minutes of fame.  We three Rios got up to the front of the pack on the promenade to the race course.  We lost Robert on the second lap when he was caught behind a crash, so Steve and I just worked along with the pack to get through the miles.  Steve and I worked well together.  I began cramping at the start of the second lap.  I essentially hid for the rest of the race.  A couple turns pulling, blocking wind for Steve on occasion, but mostly just hiding. So, one mile left.  About 15 guys are left of the original 50, and Team Beer breaks away for a heroic sprint.  I didn't think he would be able to make it, but I felt pretty good about watching him try as I sat on some random dude's wheel.  This continued up to the final turn, past the 200 yard mark, and most of the way up the hill.  I felt kinda bad watching everyone else sprint so hard, so I cranked it up for the final 80 yards.  Steve was bashing away at his pedals too, and we both ended up finishing in the top ten.  I pulled off a 5th or 6th place, and Steve was right behind me.

James Norton - Cat 4 - Yes I did a weekend of racing.  There is a reason I avoid road races. There are these things called hills, and hills are bad for me. It turned out to be a windy training ride. I got dropped right after the feed zone on the second lap. I regained the pack when it was neutralized but once we hit a hill I got shuffled back and back, and off the back. My goal was to finish the race but on the 4th lap, with a mile to go, when the 20 riders that still made up the cat 4 field came by… I decided too call it a day and forgot the final 12 miles.  And speaking of crits. Merced went decently!  25 people, 25 laps and I finished 17th. After not finishing Snelling that made my smile. It was actually a fun route. The ally behind the court house was a little scary but there were no accidents in the 35+ 4/5 group.  Two riders got a good break and the centurion team sat on the group.  We still kept a good pace, especially considering the wind. No complaints on the crit.
Maybe I'll officiate Snelling next year and race Merced again.

Steven Larsen - Cat 4 - So the morning started out chilly and early though not as early as some who left sac at 4:30 a.m. , we stayed overnight in merced. I did the Junior 15-16 and about 30 some people started. As we had our neutral 3 miles we went with ease and talk and did so until the feedzone where the attacks began. We were flying from then on out. Through the feedzone we were probably hitting 38-39 but only to slow down through the shkane, 3 guys took bad lines through the right turn and crashed, one flipped over some branches and ended up going to the hospital. After that a Specialized JNR rider escaped and we decided to just keep tempo and let him sit out there in the wind. As we came into the second lap we ramped it up big time especially with the tail wind on the feedzone strech. Riders were being popped left and right. I fell off for a second to take a drink then attacks started again. Which caused mass confusion. We flew through the feedzone within a blink of an eye only for another rider to go off the road through the right then immediate left turn though he did not crash. By this time the wind was getting worse and worse. The lead group was me, and about 7 other riders. everyone else had been shelled. Attacks were constant as was the confusion. Coming into the third lap i went to take my vest off on the finishing stretch but was halted and almost blown over, eventually i got the damn thing off. We were flying on the third lap and did something like a 27-30 min lap. One Tieni Duro ride went off the front and we just let him stay out in the wind which was pretty bad by this time. We caught him and he died and got shelled. As we turned onto the rough section the real fun began. We ramped it up to about 35-38 into a nasty crosswind. By this time the facial expressions went to that of disgust. I came into the last corner about ten feet behind 8th wheel only to wind up my sprint and ended up getting 5th snipping two people about 15ft from the line. The race was fast and hard as i had expected especially with multi-time national champion riders in TT and RRs so i was happy with my result. A bit more training and I'll be a bit farther up on the results.
 
Aaron Lombardi - Cat 4 - Let me start by saying Snelling was a hard, hard race but I guess not as hard as years past.  Why you ask?  Well, we had open road all the way throughout and aside from puddles on the side here and there, the pot holes that had been re-paved and a little gravel- it wasn't that bad.  Having a full road is a big difference especially with 100 riders.  It appeared we had all 100 starting out.  Took awhile to ride out to the course once we did it was full gas- with the tailwind we were hovering around 34-38.  But like a typical 4 race we slowed down once we took a turn into the wind in fact had a pee zone at one point on lap one as we had to step aside after another group of riders by who caught us. Problem was the referee neutralized the peleton and the 2 man break ahead of us, but not the 2 man break ahead of them.  Once we got back up to speed the pace increased and the conditions worsened.  In fact each lap became  more difficult than the last.  Near the end of lap 2, Dave called for me and I slipped back a little and he said he was cooked.  So we lost Dave, and were down to 4; Mike, Jeff, James and myself.  About a mile into lap 3, James got burned off and I was struggling to stay with the bunch.  At that point the peleton was down to about 50 riders!  Being at the back forced me to bridge gaps that were opening up everywhere.  About 7 miles into Lap 3, I got dropped soon after I found Jeff on the side of the road trying to fix his flat.  I offered my wheel to my leader, he just smiled.  So seeing that I wasn't going to get back in the race from where I was at I stayed with Jeff until he fixed his flat.  Problem was his flat took 20 minutes to fix- cold hands and a new tire are to thank for that.  In that time James caught up with us and all 3 of us rolled on together with the agreement of working for each other to get to the finish line.  As soon as we got going James was dropped- I believe he was cooked.  So, me and Jeff soloed for a while.  We got past lap 3 and debated about continuing.  I was pissed that I got dropped but I know I'd be more upset about quiting so both Jeff and I soldiered on.  Lap 4 got worse the winds picked up and really threw us for a loop.  After that lap we (Jeff and I) were on our own once again.  Lap 5 was ridiculous, in that we were on the course all by ourselfs - we might have passed one other guy and Jeff basicly pulled my tired ass all the way in.  Winds on the final lap were easily +30 mph by the last lap in contrast to the 1st lap where we maybe had 2-3 mph winds. 

Michael Vondergeest - Cat 4 - The Cat 4 race was a full 100 field and we rolled out at 15 mph to the race course.  Jeff Mitchell and I stayed at the front on Lap 1.  On Lap 2, Jeff and I continued to stay at the front.  The group was neutralized when the Cat 123 group passed us.  A couple guys tried to escape but I think all were caught.  At lap 3, Jeff flatted on this lap on brand new tires at the absolute worst time and no other Rios made the break.  Most of the peloton was shelled.  I worked within Chase group 1 behind a ten man break.  We worked like hell (I worked way more than my share with a few others, the rest were sitting in) We caught the lead group going into Lap 4.  I started Lap 4 with the leaders. It took all I had to sprint up the first hill of the lap and stay on.  Unfortunately, I did not have what it took to hang on the leaders on the downhill portion and through the wicked fast corners.  I got dropped with about 4 others and felt wasted.  The slower speed is also due to the increased winds, which were leaving lone riders all over the course.  I kept the hammer down and never gave up.  On Lap 5, I powered this lap, found myself in chase 1, then chase 2, and then I helped to pull chase 2 back into chase 1.  At one time I actually sat up and turned around to ask if anyone could come forward and pull into the wind and offer help.  The faces I saw told the story...everyone was totally toasted. I put my head down one last time, got to within about 30 feet when some other guys finally came around and finished the catch.  I was so happy to feel a draft again!  The last few miles of this lap I sat in and tried to avoid catching any wind.  Snot and spit were flowing like the Ganges River.  The legs were cramping and I was puffing wind.  The last 2K into the last corner was spent in one line along the gutter.  We took the last turn as a group of about a dozen or more.  My legs had no sprint for the finish and I didn't want to pop a calf muscle so I didn't sprint the climb to the line.  I was so damn proud to have worked that hard and make it into a group to finish.  I think we were chase group 1 or maybe 2, but we were tough guys and fighters.  -mike V

Steve Offerman - Cat 5 - All I thought as I rolled out of Snelling was thank God we raced early.....  The weather was only getting worse.  It was also my first road race ever.  It was a great day for me.  I raced the elite 5s with Yezin and Robert.  We went off at 8:15.  It was COLD, but the wind didn't start until somewhere in the second lap.  My goals for the race were to ride safe, stay near Yezin, and hide from the wind.  Our group seemed really jumpy in the beginning - there was a lot of accelerating and repositioning going on.  Everyone was just trying to figure out where they stood.  If I was going to get popped off the back, it would be during one of those crazy accelerations out of nowhere.  So I just made sure to stay in the front 1/3 and stay out of trouble.  In the first lap there was a rider who took off and we never saw him again....  We assume he got first.  In the second lap there was a crash that fractured the group.  Some guy's front wheel slipped of the road and he took out about 4 riders.  Nevertheless Yezin and I were in front of that.  After lap 2 we both pretty much became fixtures near the front and rode smart.  There were a couple of DBC riders in our group who seemed to want to drive.  They were a little frustrated that nobody wanted to come up and pull, but they kept working anyway....  On the final lap, I ended up in the front position during the windy back stretch, but couldn't get anyone to come around me.  I was literally riding 13-15 MPH and everybody just sat back and watched.  At the 1km mark, a Beer rider took off for the line.  Despite every competitive bone in my body, I watched him go.  The group then picked it up, passed him after the corner, and sprinted to the finish.  Yezin turned on the juice and finished really well (we think 5-6).  I think I was within 2 or 3 riders.

Gilbert Martinez - Cat 4 - Pace did go out a bit faster then normal (but this was the 35+ not the 45+ group I normally ride with), but as mentioned by Gordon things do (and did) slow down after the accelerations. So, the key was to hang tough until the accelerations/climbs ended and then recover and start anticipating the next. I really had to work hard to position myself out of the wind (positioning is tough enough without crosswinds blowing), I knew a few of the Davis club riders, so I took advantage of their wheels.    The first lap whittled the field down from 50 to 25 or so, then by the 4th lap it was down to about 20. At about 3/4 thru the last lap a group of 3 got away and the rest of us settled in with the team members of the 3 who got away doing no work (this meant the Davis guys, Bicycle Plus guys and another team with 5 or 6 members sat up) while the rest of us worked. We managed to pull 2 of the 3 in before the charge to the line. I finished in the back of the sprint
with a bit of a hamstring cramp.    Overall, a good first effort for this year.    Enjoyed the ride!

Bryan Larsen - Cat 2 - So.yeah. There definitely was a lack of racing for me today. Though while I was there it was insanely hard. I Dropped out after 1 lap in the pro 1,2 race. The peleton (originally about 90 guys) was down to 15. I was about mid"group" (and I use quotes because I was by myself." Let's just put it this way, road races should NEVER start as this one did. It was crazy! I was in my biggest gear for the warm up as we reached speeds approaching 30 to 35mph. So I figured people were just anxious to get going and get to the front and as soon as they let us go,. we'd be okay I was wrong. On the first road (same road as the feedzone) we were approaching speeds of 40mph with a tailwind. I could barely hold wheels with my junior gears. I would go around someone then the person would sit up just for my effort to be repeated again. I basically was on the rivet from mile 1 (and I mean the warm up thing through town). So no awesome velo promo shirt for me this year. :-(

Jim McDonald - Cat 5 - It was my first road race today (that's the only excuse I'll give).  Several people told me that the pace would  be slow to moderate the first lap, then build up.  The parade to the start was nice (3 miles through town).  Gilbert and I rode up front with the DBC guys.  As soon as we hit the start, it started to ramp up fast, and pretty soon we're cruising pretty fast and hard (I'm curious to hear Gilbert's take).  The DBC guys had numbers (about 1- to12) and that seemed to be their strategy...to hit it hard and work as a team.    I got pooped out the back of the pack in fairly short order (didn't think I could hold that pace and still finish).  Unfortunately, it looked like the pace got more sane shortly after I was dropped.  I followed closely behind the main group for nearly the full lap, but lost them into the windy back section (the 75 mph gusts were an exaggeration...I think they were only 50 mph).  I hung in there and started passing folks who were shelled  later in the race.  I got warmed up and felt good later in the race, but there's no chasing down the peloton by yourself....especially in the wind.  Oh, did I mention that it was cold...and haled a couple times?

JANUARY 2008

Ken Lane - Cat5 - Earlybird race in Fremont. Had a great time racing. The course is very wide open and safe. Being new in road racing it took me about half the race to realize that I was not going to be able to break away from the pack. So, I settled back in the pack, my legs felt very good, things got a tiny bit squirley going into the last turn, but nobody went down. I was very anxious to take off on my sprint, but the last straight-away is a long dog-leg right and I was worried about going to early. With about 100 yards to go, I decided I could make it from there and went for it and won.