Merco Foothills Road Race - Race Report

Bergen won the Women's 3/4 sprint

Pretty good race prep, decent sleep, etc. Felt pretty good, though was a bit concerned the night before that I might be coming down with something. Sickness didn't materialize, thank goodness.

Did a much better job of staying protected and out of the wind, compared to Snelling. There were 11 Mice in the race, and we were out to race as a team, with the plan of everyone working to get Ryan, Josh, and I to the finale, then us working for Josh. We had some milestones set out for the race, so guys knew when to get organized. Ryan and I were calling out tactics on the road.

Given there were so many of us, when there were spots of concern, it was pretty easy to find a Mouse or two nearby and tell them to do something, like get Josh or I up front, or work to shut down the too-large break that was just gapping the pack at the start of lap 2. All in all, it helped me relax and do very little work until the last half lap.

We took control with 8 or 10 or so miles to go, pretty far out, but it was just to get the tempo up, since it was starting to be a sketch fest on the easy run East on Turlock Rd. It really helped make the left turn onto Cox Ferry safe and easy for our main guys. With the potholes and narrow road, I was worried that we'd have problems if we left it too late to get guys to move up on Cox Ferry.

The hill on Cox Ferry was the start of the hurt for the finale. Paul and Hank (Mice) got to the front and surged up it big time, taking some initiative and getting a gap that did make the front of the pack respond. That kept it nice and strung out, with me, Ryan, and Josh sitting near the front. But the pace dropped on the false flat after the steep pitch and chaos ensued.

From that point on out, I did do work here and there, taking a fair bit of wind when I couldn't find a decent wheel, but was mainly concerned about keeping our position. Had Josh on my wheel a fair bit, but we were all in a mix doing what we needed to do.

I was 6th or so heading into the left hander onto Keyes road. It was a hot turn, with the line strung out on the left side of the road going in, so we shouted to shift over, which we mostly did. 2 guys in the first 5 didn't make the corner.

I was real happy with the position, but we didn't have anyone set up to work, The pace kept up for a bit, then dropped. Uh oh. Swarm came around the left, then a touch of wheels and a huge crash, even with my left side around 15 feet, at the other gutter. The wave came over to me and there was a bit of shoulder rubbing before I got out and closed a smallish 20-30m gap. Josh was right in front of me.

Mice who made it past the crash into the lead group: Josh, Ryan, Isaias, Paul, and me. Pretty good news. Bad news was that 4 Mice went down: Nick, Hank, Ed, Mateo.

Right-left corner combo on Keyes was no problem and helped Josh and I move back up. I found Isaias and as we were ramping towards the final left-hand corner, I told him to go and he gave us a great pull in, really putting the hammer down, and pulling us at the front for a minute or more.

After the corner, a bit of chaos, as it our early leadout was spent and it was still a ways. Didn't see Ryan around. Some attacks at the base of the hill, plus a noisy a dropped chain and/or flat caused some confusion, and some guys chopped over on me, causing me to hit the brakes as we climbed. Went from 5th wheel at 1k to 15th at the top of the hill, with 700m.

I lost track of Josh here, so got off the leadout plan and wasn't thinking clearly. Ryan came by on the left on the hill, and it was a big mental error not to do what it do what was necessary to get on. I had enough in the legs that I should have been able to at this point. Instead, I followed more moderate wheels, then caught up to Ryan with around 300m to go. There was a wall of guys across the road, really the boundary for the top 10. I was edging left as Ryan starting left, and I realized I was headed into a camper/trailer parked half into the road, and stabbed the brakes, scrubbing a few mph. Got it it back to speed but just spun it out, never sprinted.

Results: Josh @ 9th, Ryan @ 11th, me @ 19th, Paul @ 26th, Isaias @ 32nd. Big step forward for Mouse Cat 4 teamwork.

48 miles in 1h 55m (25mph avg.)