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Wine Country Crit
5/13/04
1st
Jrs Field 11
Team Mates: Shawn, Josh, J.P.
Lining up we saw that our only competition was Team Swift and although they had the numbers on us we had the greater firepower so we felt that an agressive race would be more productive. As it was I attacked and got the first prime after which I sat up a little and let the field catch me which set up Shawn perfectly to counterattack everyone and get a gap with Anton Nicola. After pulling Anton around for a lap, Shawn dropped him by sprinting out of a corner. Soon after Anton was back in the main group Swift positioned themselves perfectly for me to attack. Reno and Anton were on the front and Josh was blocking the last guy on the right while I was on the back of the group. I allowed them to get a bit of a gap before the final corner and then I attacked on the inside right on the entry. I quickly got a 300 meter gap and then I yelled at Shawn to wait for me. Soon we were working perfectly together in team time trial mode and we finished that way with Shawn giving me first while he took second. We also collected all of the primes.
Cat 3/4
Field 80?
Team mates: Jason Kent, Shawn, Josh, Charles, Rajiv
This was a fast race, faster then most pure Cat 3 races, somehow the 4s managed to speed things up. Jason has already described most of what happened during the race. I spent the whole time in the top 20 because it was much easier there then further back as the middle would slow through the corners while the front did not. Some dangerous breaks went during the race and I sometimes helped bring them back. On the last lap there was one man with about a 10 second lead on the field and I pulled for about 400 meters to bring him back and set up Shawn for the win. After I pulled off, I sprinted to get into 4th position right in front of Shawn in case the lead out failed in front. As it turned out a RHVilla rider pulled for half a lap at a killer tempo to set up Matt Willinger for the sprint. Coming through the last corner Shawn passed me on the outside and I drifted behind him and sat up allowing a gap to form behind him. This mean that no one was on his wheel and he only had to worry about the five or so people in front of him. He caught the break with 40 meters to go and won.
Redlands World's Qualifier RR
5/16/04
Team mate: Shawn
Field 37
All of the best juniors in the nation attended this race including the 15-16 and 17-18 National Time Trial Champions. The course was hilly with a pitch at 20% and there was virtually no flat anywhere around the lap. The race was fairly short and consequently really fast but the opposition was not as crushing as I would have expected. On the second and third laps Shawn got dropped on the climb and I had to slow down and help him reintegrate the field. These efforts cost me but my biggest problem in that race was a lack of energy because I stupidly only ate two packets of oatmeal for breakfast (about 200 Cal). I was literally having trouble keeping my eyes open but I still tried to do as much as possible to keep Shawn in the front pack. I succeeded and he made the front group while I gave up on the last time up the wall and just cruised to the finish. There had been a lot of attacks all day and Taylor (the 17-18 TT champ) got away on the start of the last lap, no one really cared because he had gotten dropped on the climb on the two previous laps, however he gained a minute on the field in the space of about two miles and he kept that gap to the finish. While trying to bring back Taylor, Shawn found himself on the front with 2k to go with a tiny bit of a gap while no one in the field wanting to pull through. Foolishly, instead of stopping and forcing someone around him he attacked on the dead straight downhill finish (one could see the line with 4k to go) and Erik Riggs chased him down while trying to set up Switters. Consequently he got caught and sat up finishing at the back of the group which was 13th. I rolled across the line in 17th after finishing with a group of 5 who came together on the descent. Still the race was a valuable learning experiance for us as we realized that the best Juniors in the nation are beatable, we just messed up our tactics that day, given another attempt we could have deffinetly won the race. A heads up for all of you new riders, 6 of the top 15 or 20 juniors in the nation live in NorCal so do not be discouraged if you are dropped in a Jrs race, you are competing against some of the best riders in the nation.
Cantua Creek RR
2/16/04
1st Place
Cat 3
Field: 15
Teammates: Shawn, Josh
Got in the break with Collin at the end of the first lap, he was working way harder then me. After the tailwind I saw that Shawn was bridging so I sat up but a few minutes later the field caught us. Rode away into the headwind when Shawn opened a gap, established a huge gap in the next 5 miles so that they could not see me most of the time. I took it fairly easy on the tailwind on the last lap so that i woud not bonk on the headwind. Managed to suffer through the wind but it was extremely painful. Was relieved to finish but I felt good about the team's first Cat 3 win. I expect many more to come. Shawn sprinted well and learned a valuable lesson. And I have to thank Josh and Shawn for their team work, it made my win possible.
Dinuba Crit
2/15/04
2nd Place
Juniors 16-18
Field: 9 (in age, 10 all ages)
Teammates: Charles, Tyler, Lars, Josh, Peter, Shawn
Dinuba Crit- I attacked on the second lap and was off the front for 2 laps before I sat up and waited for Josh who was bridging up. couple of laps later the pack was closing on us so I picked up the pace and eventually they gave up. We didnt sprint for the win since I wanted to pay back Josh for his team work yesterday and the prime he let me win
Pine Flat RR
2/14/04
4th Place
Cat 3
Field: 43
Teammates: Shawn, Josh
I sat in for the first half of the race but paid attention so that I didnt miss a potential split in the pack. After shawn got into the break I moved near the front and sat in about 5th position making sure that the chase wasnt too fast. I could tell the break was not really going to last since they only had about a minute and a half at the start of the hill. At the bottom of the hill I was marking the winner (Matt Willinger) so I was following his every move. I made the intial selection of 5 but when Matt attacked I was maxed out aerobically and fell off. About 30 sec later I started bridging up to him and the other person who managed to follow him. However I couldnt quite close the gap on the hill and I lost ground on the down hill because I was spun out in my 14. I was looking OK for 3rd but one of the 5 that made the origional selection caught me with 50 m to go and I couldnt respond. Still 4th place is a good result especially considering it is still February and I have only been back from Bronchitis for about 3 weeks. |
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