Panoche RR

Objective: Test my climbing legs for Pescadero. Hoping to stay with the main group on the main climbs of the day. 


The heat was definitely a factor. When the 4s started at 9:15, it was already above 80. When I finished around noon, it was 95, with a not so cool breeze. The organizer had sent an email recommending that riders take 3 bottles, and that was a life saver, since it wasn't something top of mind for me to have done otherwise. (They also had plenty of bottles at the feed and various refreshments at the finish, which was much appreciated. Said afterwards that they gave out 200 gallons of water.) 

The start of the race was fun. I'd hung around the line and got in the first row for the start. I stayed right at the front for the first few miles at a conversational tempo, and then worked to hang out near the front and keep an eye out for moves, pulling through when the time came. A guy went off at mile 8 and we left him out there for a while, then a few guys got impatient and the pace picked up with some responses. I followed one move, but we all ended up sitting up again at the top of one roller or another. The terrain in the first 10 miles was moderate rollers with flats in between. Fun and fast.

After a series of rollers, at one point the road didn't roll back down, so there we were, on the first substantial climb. The pace picked up and there were as many riders going backwards through the pack as forwards. I'd started the climb at the front, drifted back, realized there wasn't any more room to drift after the first 25 guys or so and chased back on with some effort. We hit a fast downhill, then the second climb. I unceremoniously popped off the back right where the event photographer was set up. 

Climbed much of the rest of the way on my own. Slowed down when I saw Ed Richardson (only knew him because I'd talked him at the start line) at the side of the road with a mechanical, but hesitated on whether to stop and he waved me along. Another guy (Hollyloft jersey) chased back to me shortly after that, and I welcomed the company on a couple of downward rollers, getting a decent draft. On the twisty decent, I dropped the guy by a good amount. At the bottom, looking at the wide open terrain, I sat up and waved him to join back up. It turns out he was having problems with his hub sticking and making noise on him, so he sat up and I took off. 

Much of the middle part was about riding with and against the wind. It felt great doing decent tempo with the tailwind and slight downhill solo at 28 or so, but a 5-man chase group came along doing low 30s. Even better. We saw the main pack going the other way not long before the turnaround, with a few stragglers off the back. Then we hit the wind. It pretty much shattered my little chase group, which wasn't helped by guys wanting to pull off away from the wind, which really created no shelter at all. I'd started it off right, but someone got the group to switch. Not a helpful group at that point. 

When a guy hammered on by, I hesitated, looked at his number (by his speed, it surprised me that he was a 4), then bridged up to join him. He was super motivated. Talking to him after the race(Chester from Santa Barbara), it turns out that he'd had two flats just before the race (pretty freaky flats... I saw his tubes split open... perhaps blowouts the heat?) and missed the start but chased solo for the entire race. He ended up with 16th, iirc. Anyhow, I didn't hang with him at the start of the hill. 

Water in the feedzone was extremely welcome. But I was dumb and threw two bottles but only bothered to grab one, since I had one that was still nearly full. Somewhere before the feed, a Dolce Vita guy (Ben) from the 5-man chase group caught me. We started chatting when he saw a Bioware-branded bottle I had (from Jade Empire, I think... I don't get much game schwag nowadays). Turns out he's an executive producer at EA. We started chatting games for a few minutes. He sat up after the feed and I soldiered on. Met some guys coming up from behind (stopped with mechanicals, etc) and some guys dropping back, and a new chase group coalesced. At some point, Ed rode up (some 25 mi after I'd seen him stopped). Mostly the group worked together, but there were a few attacks, particularly by Calder, a Cal alum I'd ridden with at the Berkeley crit. 

I ran out of gas with about 5 miles to go. Around the same time as my two remaining bottles went dry, so perhaps not a coincidence. I clawed my way back to a Third Pillar guy we'd caught, rode with him awhile, then sprinted passed him at 200m. 

Finished. And off to find some shade and Dave's cooler, with the 2L bottle I'd filled with water and stuck in the freezer the night before. Best ice water I've had in a long time. 


Result: Don't know. 30ish maybe (of 65 reg'd). 

Lessons: 
- Take as much water as you can when it's a hot day. 
- I need to practice echeloning in a cross wind, and could be more assertive in organizing a group doing it wrong.
- Even when dropped, racing can be even more fun than a fast group ride. Don't sit up.
- When the pace isn't super hard, might as well talk to the guys you're riding with. 
- Generally felt like I saw more road racing tactics than at Wente. Not sure what I learned, but it was good experience.