Lafayette Crit (3rd!) + Coyote Creek Circuit Race

Quick summary of last weekend's racing: No results to speak of Saturday, but got 3rd place overall (of 48) on Sunday. 



Coyote Creek Circuit Race

Course summary: 2 mile circuit in foothills of eastern San Jose, of which about a quarter was uphill, or at least on an incline. Finishing stretch included a good 0.5km of real climbing with the last 150m at a relatively steep 7%. We did 10 laps in 46 minutes (24.8mph average). 10:15 start.

Teammates: Seth, Ryan, Jake, Jeff. This was Jeff's first race back from his rather serious crash two weeks ago at the Burlingame crit.


I came into the weekend with a sore left quad, aching a bit where I'd gotten dehydration cramps at the end of the Leesville Gap road race last Saturday. I mostly rode easy during the week, with only one day of intensity (a few Headlands hill repeats on Wednesday). Even that was perhaps a little too much too soon. So I wasn't even sure I should race on Saturday. But gamely went along and told myself I could skip out if I didn't feel OK during the warmup. Took an advil, warmed up OK, and jumped in the race. 

The hill pace was decently fast tempo but not too hard, followed by a brisk pace on the flats (read: easy when out of the wind). Not too bad so far, but I wasn't feeling great. Decided I should try to get a prime early, then settle in to make something happen for Seth or Ryan at the end. 

I went for the second prime, on lap 4. A Webcor guy attacked off the final corner at the start of the incline. When another guy went a couple seconds later, I thought I saw an opportunity. I got free of the pack and jumped to close the gap. Got within reach of the second guy pretty quickly, then passed him. Hit the false flat in the middle of the climb and sat back down to power it out. Closed the gap to the Webcor guy, hit the bottom of the steep stretch and one of us jumped. We were side by side sprinting it out. I was coming by him but ran out of gas with 10m to go, he edged forward, and I sat up. It was an all out effort (a power PB: 60s avg of 540W) and left my legs feeling like bricks for a couple laps. 

Started sticking near Seth and Ryan around with 3 to go, taking some wind on the flats to give some shelter. Went to the front on the flats with 2 to go and took a couple pulls. Was sitting near the front with Seth on my wheel on the flats for the last lap, saw Keith Jordan attack towards the corner, worked to close a 5m gap that formed around 5 wheels back. Started to get swarmed in the final uphill corner, got out of the way, and then realized I didn't have much left after trying to follow the pack. Sat up. Meantime, Jake gave Seth a proper leadout to what was marked as 200m (though no one believed the marker afterwards... someone said it was 400m).

Result: 45th. 

The quad was aching a bit after the race, but I spent the day icing it and recovering the couch while watching the Tour de France. 



Lafayette Crit 

Course summary: 0.6 mile two-block lap around downtown Lafayette, with a gradual uphill on the finishing stretch and three left corners, one 90 after a slight downhill from the finish (not too fast), a fast 90 after a short block downhill and a sharp 160 or so at the point of a triangular block, with a steep camber, where the corner meets the hill. 26 laps in 38 minutes (25mph average). 9:30 start.

Teammates: Seth and Jeff.

Podium photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/69993972@N00/2666074103/sizes/l/in/set-72157606156225701/

Photo: http://nettephotos.smugmug.com/gallery/5416208_bHqFB#331184430_eNjmZ

Results: http://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?permit=2008-1917


My sore left leg felt better Sunday morning. Warming up with Seth, I decided I felt pretty good and should go for the finale. The more gradual hill was also more to my liking. 

I spent the first few laps (really, the first half of the race) trying to figure out turn 2 and turn 3. I started out taking them too wide. With turn 3, it was simple to scrub off speed and take an easy wide line, but that meant having to sprint pretty hard out of the corner to make up momentum while on the uphill. The inside line required threaded a big patch of bots dots and was steep at the apex, so required some finesse but was much faster. I didn't do turn 3 right more than a couple times.

The tempo riding up the incline suited me just fine. The race pace was actually feeling pretty moderate for a while. Then Peter from Third Pillar went off the front for one of the first primes. No one bothered to close the gap after he won it, so he just sat off the front by 5 seconds or so. When I heard the bell ring for him for another prime, I figured it was silly for us to let him get an easy one and picked up the pace on the hill. I didn't really attack, just pushed the pace to inspire the pack to chase. I crested the hill and had fun going through the corners without anyone in front of me. Got a perfect line through turn 2, no brakes. At some point I pulled off to get someone else to pull through. Eased off, but no one was motivated, so I kept on going. Didn't feel like too hard an effort, right above threshold. Hit the incline, saw Peter slowing and thought I could close the gap, so attacked. But with 50m to go he still had 10m on me, so eased up. Took stock as I crested and still felt pretty good. Caught up with Peter, then we got back in the pack. Didn't get the prime, but at least it was a much more measured effort than Saturday. 

Generally stayed 10 to 15 wheels back for the rest of the race, moving near the front now and again but not working. Was behind Maurice Monge (SJBC) when a guy went down a wheel or two in front of him on the inside of turn 2 with around 3 to go. He slid to the outside while we dove inside. (Seth had to bunny hop the curb to avoid, race down the sidewalk half a block and jump back in.) Shortly after that Sam Wilson (Stanford jersey and who won Saturday at Coyote Creek) went to the front and started pulling. I wasn't sure what was up, but it strung out the bunch. 

I was 7 or 8 back at the bell, with Sam Wilson still at the front. I was behind German Villa of BBC into turn 2 and took it wrong, braking too much. Jumped out of the corner to make up the rather alarming gap, then kept my momentum going, moving up and around to 5th wheel. With 100m to the final corner, the guy sitting 3rd (bikeRX jersey) jumped. The other three of us behind Sam followed and were right on him into the corner. We headed in pretty hot and somewhat messy from having powered right in. I didn't take it great and ended up with a little gap to a Squadra guy sitting 3rd. Sat down and powered up to his wheel, then jumped with 100m to pass him. 

Joakim of Kovarus won. Sam (who got 5th) said that he was working for him. 

German (BBC) crashed hard in the final corner behind us and almost took Seth out. Seth slowed way down, then battled it out for 9th, but didn't get placed since there wasn't a camera. 


Result: 3rd. 

Winnings: $35 cash and a bunch of useful bike merchandise. A good haul. 



After the podium awards, Seth and I rode out through Happy Valley to Bear Creek. It's a great little one hour loop from Lafayette with a good climb up Happy Valley, then Papa Bear. 

Later in the afternoon, I drove Mateo, Eduardo, and Christian down to San Jose to Larry Nolan's points racing clinic at Hellyer velodrome. Pretty mellow warmup and basic drills (paceline, ribbon ride, double paceline). The double paceline took some concentration, basically riding shoulder to shoulder for 20 minutes. We were divided up into three groups (basically: cat 1&2, middle group and slow group), with one group doing on track drills while Larry discussed tactics with one group and Harvey Nitz (3-time Olympian) talked about bike handling techniques and legal and illegal aggression (hooks, flicks). 

Then the groups each did a short points race (18 laps) while Harvey commented. Ours seemed like a B-group pace, with a couple guys battling Jeff and I in the sprints. Mateo pulled the group around pretty nicely for a couple laps to set up the second sprint. One guy won the first two, with Jeff getting second and third, and I grabbed two fourths. One guy not in contention put in an attack and I followed, then passed him. Got off the front and held it for 3 laps to grab the last points. Maybe good enough for 3rd (behind Jeff), but the race wasn't placed. Gotta go to Tuesday nights for that. 

It was a pretty relaxed atmosphere and he invited questions and feedback. He also said he'd send around some reference materials. I'm meaning to follow up with Larry with some email questions. He outlined a simplified way of counting points in your head (basically just tracking who wins firsts and seconds), but I didn't quite get it. 

Got home at 8:30pm. Sunday was one long bike day. 

Leesville Gap RR

63mi. Main climb was 1500' in 2 mi. 

Sample of some of the pavement: 
http://tinyurl.com/5l7dum


Highlights for me: 
- Chatted up Greg Remaly before the race. He'd passed me just a few k into the Mt. Diablo hillclimb from starting two minutes back (and finished in under 26 min to my ~30), so I knew he was a guy to watch. He's a pro triathlete and it turns out he's road racing due to an injury that's preventing him from running. Said he's done some club races but it was his first real RR. 

- After a pedestrian opening 20 min, a few guys rolled off the front. I recognized Greg in there and convinced Scott Davis (Tim Fehon's friend) to help me ramp up the speed and get it back together again. 

- Saw Isaias lose a bottle and told myself it was a good thing I'd bent a loose bottle cage back into shape. I'd given my bike a once over and put Conti Gatorskins (w/ kevlar) on the bike to be ready for the day.

- Once we hit the rough stuff, I totally agreed with Dave Parrish (a Mouse cat 3) when he told me at breakfast that the gravel was way better than the cratered, broken pavement. Tried taking the advice to stay up front in the last section before the climb. 

- Saw Greg go. Pace was already decently high, but having him off the front ensured we were really hammering. He stayed away for close to 50 mi for the solo win. Impressive. 

- Lost a bottle in a particularly rough section. Was real sorry to see it go. 

- Consciously worked to eat and drink where I could through the rough lead up into the climb, since it was already 45 minutes in. Ended up spending a number of minutes with a half-open gel pack hanging out of my mouth when it went from not-rough to rough. 

- Was feeling OK in the rolling stuff but there were definitely some surges here and there. Was pretty surprised when we hit the climb and my body didn't seem to want to follow the pack. I saw Keith Jordan clawing his way back to the pack as I drifted off and told myself I should follow his wheel. Didn't grab on, but after a few moments, I was back in it. Climbed a steady threshold pace and caught 8 or 10 guys who'd popped off the back. 

- Caught Tim right at the top and passed him at the bottom of the gravel descent. Was working hard to chase and was thinking that I might still be up far enough for a top 20. A guy in a "Beer" jersey went past and I grabbed his wheel. A chase group of 6 or so formed, including Scott Davis. 

- On the rough descent my handlebars started rotating forward. Made riding on the hoods pretty odd, but figured I could make a go of it on the tops and drops. 

- Hit a fist-sized rock that I really should have seen (black rock on white gravel) except for all the sweat in my eyes. It took me a minute or so before I really felt my front tire go flat. 

- Pulled over to the right and muddled through fixing the flat. Discovered I'd lost my other bottle. Had a real rough time getting the wire bead tire back on, but fortunately a support car stopped and helped me out. I asked for some water and they gave me a welcome but small screw-cap bottle. 

- Got going again and rode with various 4s and 5s at a moderate tempo. Found the screw top bottle annoying to drink from, but cherished every drop of water. Attacked on the hill before the feedzone just for the heck of it. Thought I might as well get some training in. 

- Grabbed 4 bottles in the feedzone. Downed and dumped one right there. Asked for a cytomax bottle since I'd lost two and didn't have enough gels to make up the fuel difference. Guy happened to have one in a cooler at the end of the feedzone. Just in time. 

- Had some fun in a mixed group paceline. No one was in contention, and any shelter was a welcome in the headwind. 

- Cramped 7 miles from the finish. Right on the inside of my left quad. Stopped to stretch it, then soft pedaled back solo. 

- Was super glad to see the car. Even more glad to scarf down a bunch of watermelon. Waited for Paul's 3rd (officially 2nd) finish to get sorted out, then off for sandwiches. 

- Results were interesting to mull over, between Keith getting 3rd and the Beer guy and Scott got 19th and 20th. I was posted as 35th. 50 started and 38 finished. 

- Think I learned a lot regardless. I thought I knew how rough a RR with unpaved stretches could be (I've done a few collegiate ones), but this one is something else. I know better how seriously to take locking down my bike before a race like this. Now I just need to take it to the shop to get some of the rattles and creaks out. 

Davis Crit

Highlights for me:

- Was glad when I saw how tight the course was. 6 corners in 0.7mi makes for a pretty technical course (more than Burlingame). 

- Told myself while warming up I should go out and win it or do a big lead out for Seth or Jake. Decided to go for early primes if the opportunity arose but no primes late in the game. 

- Started at the front, but lost and regained position a few times in the middle part of the race, when the pace got really slow. Remember looking down and seeing we were going 20mph at one point. 

- After a few close calls, I started to focus most energy on watching who was around me and playing defense. Spend the middle of the race mid-pack.

- Moved up in the last 5 laps, then right up to Seth and Jake in the last 2 laps. I heard that there was a guy off the front from the announcer, but didn't see the move or the blocking that helped it go away. 

- Was right on Seth's wheel at the bell and went with him when he attacked, but lost his wheel and got squeezed hard on the inside in turn 1. Didn't lose too much momentum and came out of it 15 or so back. 

- Closed some gaps and passed a guy who almost lost it in turn 2 when he took a wacky early apex line and had his wheel skip when he changed lines. Guys kept fading and I kept closing gaps. Was happy to see just a small handful ahead of me, then a good sized gap up to Seth. I think I made up one place from the final corner for 7th. 

- Happy to get my 2nd top 10 and best placing yet. I've gotten a pretty consistent rhythm going in the crits, with 6 of 7 races since Memorial Day weekend ending in top 20s. 

Tuesday Track Night - 7/1

Mice: Jake and Sam in Bs. Nole in As. 


This was my first Tuesday night out at Hellyer (Tuesday has fewer, longer events and Wednesday has more, shorter events) and the first time I was racing on my new Felt TK2. It was great not to have to rent a bike... especially once I got the carbon seat post clamped down enough to not keep slipping. The bike definitely took some getting used to, since the position felt a lot more forward and aggressive than even the rental track bikes. 

July is points racing month. Yay! A reason I want to be going down on Tuesdays is to use it as a replacement for sprint/AT intervals I'd otherwise do on Tuesdays, and the longer format seems perfect for that. Plus, the points races are like mini criteriums, with lots of tactics. 

All in all, I think most of the gains for the evening were mental. I figured out pretty quick in the first event that racing the Bs meant that I couldn't do anything willy-nilly and expect to score points. I put in a few big efforts (great training), but either at the wrong time or using the wrong attacking technique. 

The first effort was a case in point. There were a couple guys 100m off the front and a couple laps before the next points sprint and I moved around high to prepare for an attack off the banking, but moved too far forward up the pack before going hard, so the guys on the front saw me and I lost the element of surprise. Everyone was fresh at that point, and they got my wheel. Good news was that the break got closed down and Jake went on to get 2nd in the sprint. Given that there were only 3 sprints in 30 laps I was also measuring my efforts a bit, hoping the second race would have more sprints. For the last sprint, there were 3 guys with a gap off the front, and I was in a decently organized chase group of three for a handful of laps. After the bell, one of the guys attacked out of our group and got a decent gap on me. I counted the places up the road and didn't see a reason to sprint for 5th (no points past 4th), so I sat up. 

The second race was more interesting tactically, but not for the reasons I'd have expected. With 8 sprints in 40 laps, I was hoping the pack would stay together and I could jump out of the pack to pick up points here and there. Instead, a break of 3 went away from nearly the start of the race. Great news: Jake was in the break. I was about to try to cover the move myself until I saw him go past. Team tactics mode kicked in and I sat back down. (I've bridged up to teammates in the past, taking riders with me and that's just bad form.) 

But the good thing about having a teammate up the road is that I could have some fun with the pack. I tried out a variety of blocking techniques: sitting second wheel and slowing down to let a gap open up until someone sprinted past then getting on their wheel; slowing down when it was my time to pull until someone sprinted past; pulling off right after someone else finished their pull and then pushing back into the second or third wheel of the paceline. The pack was being way too nice about it. I won the pack sprint for 4th on the first sprint, then the fit guys started attacking to bridge. I covered a move or two, then didn't cover a counter move. That was the one to go away. It took him a long time to bridge up, but in the meantime, he grabbed 4th on a sprint or two. The pack got agitated and tried to organize, but I kept blocking and generally messing around. 

If I'd known better, I might have tried to convince the pack to slow way down so that break would catch us faster and the sprints would be up for contention again. Tactics in a situation where the field was getting lapped seemed to be a new concept for the Bs, since apparently it's pretty rare. Jake got a lesson in a different aspect of this. His break of three rejoined the pack, but left the fourth guy behind. But once they lapped the pack, the fourth guy became the first guy on the track and started picking up big points, then also rejoined to get the 20 points for lapping the field. In the meantime, as confusing as it was to have riders up laps and down laps, Larry Nolan shouted out that there was a cookie prime for the pack, so I finally had another chance to sprint. I went from way out and thought I had it, but got passed at the end. The final sprint was also up for grabs, and after starting the lap at the front, I tried moving off and up to sprint off the banking, but found that was a waste of position. Jake and I sprinted it out side by side, with me in thesprinter's lane for the shorter line. I had a gap on him, but he got me in the end.


Grand total for the evening: 2 points (two 4th places). Results link: http://www.ridethetrack.com/blog/res_tues.html

Not only was it good mental training, but I also definitely got the interval/intensity training I was looking for. The races were a good length for having big efforts mixed with sub-threshold recovery riding (first race was 15 min and the second one took 20 min).


Love the Points racing tactics. I'm thinking of doing Larry Nolan's Points Racing Clinic on 7/13: http://www.ridethetrack.com/pdf/08pointsrace_clinic.pdf