From AV......
Race: Kovarus Montery circuit race
Category: Master 35+ 4/5
Field size: 65+
Teammates: Kurt L, one more gentleman whose name I forgot
Place: 1st
(sorry if this is long, but it's my first win so I feel compelled to share all the details :-)
The race was a 1:20 timed race around access roads of fort ord, mostly flat with three short climbs, the last one leading into a sharp corner and onto a fast downhill finish. Weather was very iffy, raining just before the start and very cold (45F).
I was definitely very hesitant to get in the car and drive down to Monterey this morning given the frigid temperatures and downpour at home at 7AM. But then I started thinking that I have put in a lot of time in bad, windy weather this winter and this would be a race of attrition, and that I should be able to survive in less than ideal conditions. I was bolstered by my top ten finish in the wind at McLane last weekend as well. There were only a few teams with more than two riders, none with more than three, so team tactics were going to problably not be a factor. The plan was to stay in the top third of the field the whole race and make sure I was in any interesting moves. The first third of the race went pretty smoothly, and when the bell rang for the first prime I moved to the front to get a feel for how the finish might play out and who the strong sprinters might be. I followed wheels until the end of the downhill section and took the prime, coming around one guy right at the line. Turns out, this wasn't such a bad idea given the way the race finished. We had a pretty good gap on the field after the sprint, but I decided that it was way too early in the race to try a break, so I sat up and drifted towards the back of the pack to recover.
As I sat at the back for a lap, one guy in a yellow jersey with no apparent team attachment rolled off the front and managed to get a sizable gap after a lap or two. He went off with about 50 minutes still left in the race, I had no idea he was out there. Noone seemed too concerned even though the gap was over 40 seconds at one time. the pack rolled around at a moderate pace until the lap cards started coming out. With three to go I made it a point to stay in the top 10 in case a move started to happen, a few small breaks went away but we closed down within a half lap. My plan for the race boiled down to something that I had observed on all the previous laps. There was a short downhill right before the final steep climb, which led to the final corner and a long downhill to the finish. On all the previous laps, I was having to ride the brakes down the hill which limited the momentum carried onto the uphill. I thought that if the race was still together at the end, then if I just got to the front and punched it down the hill, I could probably carry enough to get over the top and through the last tight corner in good position going into the sprint.
So, on the last lap I went to the front on the back side, and punched it down the hill (by this time the field was probably only half of the starters), and just as I came over the top I could see the guy in yellow who had so valiantly been hanging off the front the whole race. I looked behind me and I had a pretty good gap on the rest of the field, so I guess that part of the plan worked. The next part was almost too good to be true. I had to pedal like crazy to catch the breakway guy, he somehow still had something left. As I got on his wheel I looked around to see the guy that I nipped in the frist prime coming on strong, and the rest of the field 20M behind, so it looked like the three of us were going to make it to the line. I knew I could outsprint one of them since I had already done so for the first prime. Miracously, the guy in yellow dug deep and towed us right down to the finish straight and kept going. I stayed tucked in until about 100M to go and jumped, and managed to hold them both off at the line for my first win.
This is my third season of racing with Alto Velo, and the first where I really feel like I have the fitness and some tactical smarts to be competative. Thanks to all in the club who have been supportive and have kicked my ass all over the valley for the last two + years, I guess it finally paid off.
Thanks for reading,
Bill
Category: Master 35+ 4/5
Field size: 65+
Teammates: Kurt L, one more gentleman whose name I forgot
Place: 1st
(sorry if this is long, but it's my first win so I feel compelled to share all the details :-)
The race was a 1:20 timed race around access roads of fort ord, mostly flat with three short climbs, the last one leading into a sharp corner and onto a fast downhill finish. Weather was very iffy, raining just before the start and very cold (45F).
I was definitely very hesitant to get in the car and drive down to Monterey this morning given the frigid temperatures and downpour at home at 7AM. But then I started thinking that I have put in a lot of time in bad, windy weather this winter and this would be a race of attrition, and that I should be able to survive in less than ideal conditions. I was bolstered by my top ten finish in the wind at McLane last weekend as well. There were only a few teams with more than two riders, none with more than three, so team tactics were going to problably not be a factor. The plan was to stay in the top third of the field the whole race and make sure I was in any interesting moves. The first third of the race went pretty smoothly, and when the bell rang for the first prime I moved to the front to get a feel for how the finish might play out and who the strong sprinters might be. I followed wheels until the end of the downhill section and took the prime, coming around one guy right at the line. Turns out, this wasn't such a bad idea given the way the race finished. We had a pretty good gap on the field after the sprint, but I decided that it was way too early in the race to try a break, so I sat up and drifted towards the back of the pack to recover.
As I sat at the back for a lap, one guy in a yellow jersey with no apparent team attachment rolled off the front and managed to get a sizable gap after a lap or two. He went off with about 50 minutes still left in the race, I had no idea he was out there. Noone seemed too concerned even though the gap was over 40 seconds at one time. the pack rolled around at a moderate pace until the lap cards started coming out. With three to go I made it a point to stay in the top 10 in case a move started to happen, a few small breaks went away but we closed down within a half lap. My plan for the race boiled down to something that I had observed on all the previous laps. There was a short downhill right before the final steep climb, which led to the final corner and a long downhill to the finish. On all the previous laps, I was having to ride the brakes down the hill which limited the momentum carried onto the uphill. I thought that if the race was still together at the end, then if I just got to the front and punched it down the hill, I could probably carry enough to get over the top and through the last tight corner in good position going into the sprint.
So, on the last lap I went to the front on the back side, and punched it down the hill (by this time the field was probably only half of the starters), and just as I came over the top I could see the guy in yellow who had so valiantly been hanging off the front the whole race. I looked behind me and I had a pretty good gap on the rest of the field, so I guess that part of the plan worked. The next part was almost too good to be true. I had to pedal like crazy to catch the breakway guy, he somehow still had something left. As I got on his wheel I looked around to see the guy that I nipped in the frist prime coming on strong, and the rest of the field 20M behind, so it looked like the three of us were going to make it to the line. I knew I could outsprint one of them since I had already done so for the first prime. Miracously, the guy in yellow dug deep and towed us right down to the finish straight and kept going. I stayed tucked in until about 100M to go and jumped, and managed to hold them both off at the line for my first win.
This is my third season of racing with Alto Velo, and the first where I really feel like I have the fitness and some tactical smarts to be competative. Thanks to all in the club who have been supportive and have kicked my ass all over the valley for the last two + years, I guess it finally paid off.
Thanks for reading,
Bill
posted by Chico Cyclist at 9:48 PM
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