Peter Taylor - 2006

Copperopolis Road Race
Jrs. 13-14
Field Size 25
Place 8th
Teammates: Alex Gee

I came into this race thinking that Daniel (Easton/specialized) would attack on the first hill. My plan was to try and keep with him and if I couldn't I'd drop back to the main group. The race started and I was first off the line, I pulled for about 100m and then pulled off, making sure to stay in the front. The climb started and I started setting what I thought was a hard tempo to see how strong everyone was. At this point I realized that the majority of the field would stay in the group, so I pulled off and sat behind Daniel letting him make the pace. With about a half of a mile of climbing till the end of the hill, I cracked after my heart rate hit about 200 beats. I didn't panic and waited for Curtis Howard (CVC), and Alex Gee to catch up. After they joined on we agreed to work together to catch up with the group. After the hill we could see the lead group in front of us. We worked together and caught up with about half the race left. We just sat on the back of the group which consisted of eight riders. There was a strong headwind, so no one really wanted to do any work. About a mile to go before the final hill I noticed that Zack Wick (Davis), had just caught up with the group. Just before the final hill I attacked. I wasn't trying to win with this attack, but what I've noticed is the group will actually allow a single rider to ride off the front of the group as long as he does not pose too large a threat. My plan was to ride a nice steady tempo to the top of the hill; the group however, would speed up to respond to attacks and slow down, which really pays a toll on the legs. The group caught me just before the top of the hill, but everyone was breathing heavily because the accelerations and decelerations had obviously happened. Right after we went over the top of the hill starting the descent that would take us to the finish, Zack attacked. I got right on his wheel followed by Curtis. We got a huge gap on the rest of the field and it was obvious at his stage that the winner was going to be one of us. Just before the 1K sign I went over a huge bump just when I was shifting. My chain came off and I began to lose a lot of momentum. It took me a while to get it back on by which time I was 8th on the road. By this time I didn't have a chance of finishing higher or lower than 8th so I just watched the sprint to see Zack take first.
Next year if I'm in the lead group I'll try to get them to work together, to make sure that Zack or any one else doesn't catch up. All in all I'm quite happy though, because I never knew I could climb that well.

This was 2nd of two races that were part of the Central Valley Ominum Point Series. Points were awarded separately for placing at the road race and this criterium. I won the road race so my goal going into this race was to do well and win the Central Valley Classic. The course was very strange because it was counter clock wise as opposed to the traditional clockwise course and included one 180 degree left hand turn. It was held in the Tower District of Fresno and older area of shops and homes.
I arrived at the race very early for a 7:35 a.m. start and noted that the course was wet and still slightly slippy on the white lines. While I was warming up on the course, it started to rain. Not wanting to get myself wet I went back into the car and waited for the race to start. It started about an hour late as there was a truck parked on the course that had to be towed away. So, I actually went on the trainer under the overhang of a shop with Zach and warmed up again for about 30 minutes. After I did junior roll-outs I went to the start line. When I arrived there it became apparent that the officials were going to split the race into two groups,as there were lots of younger, smaller riders. The 15-18s started first and the rest of the juniors started a few minutes later. This completely changed the dynamics of the race. I decided at this moment that I would set a hard pace for the first lap or two and try to reduce the size of the group.
The race started and I immediately attacked from the line. By the third lap I had reduced the group to a field consisting of: Curtis Howard (CVC), James LaBerge (Lombardi sports), another CVC rider, and a rider from SJBC. I shared the pace with the other riders in the race until the third lap, and then I started attacking almost once every lap for three laps. By doing this I hoped to reduce the group size, and to see how far from the finish I should attack from. After the fifth lap everything slowed down, no one wanted to take the lead at this point so I led almost every lap. I think it was okay though, because my heart rate was only around 140 beats. With about three laps to go, I pulled off and started to think about the final sprint. I decided that with about one mile to go I was going to try to break-away. On the last lap I was in fourth position; after we rounded the 180 degree turn near the beginning of the last lap I attacked. I got a gap of about twenty five yards. I looked back and I saw Curtis Howard about ten yards behind me. I accelerated and held the lead until the finish with about a 25 yard gap.

We arrived at the race and it was incredibly miserable. It was cold and damp and almost anything it could be that you would not hope for. I registered and warmed up and went to the start line. Zach and Jordan were there. After I did junior roll-outs I waited a very long time for the race to start by which time I was cold and VERY wet. The race was a mixed field so included the 17-18's; however the 13-14's only had to do 1 lap of 15 miles whereas the older juniors had to do two.
The race started and nothing really happened for the first 1-2 k. Someone attacked and I tried to stay on his wheel. Just when I was doing this, I saw Jordan drop his chain. He nearly crashed but managed to stay up. I stayed near the front for the next one mile, until another attack came. I tried to stay with the attacker, but couldn't so I slipped back into another group a bit behind. At this point the race was split into many little groups. There was a leading group of two, followed by a chasing group of two, in front of another chasing group of four, which I was in, and then the main field was behind us. All the other 13-14s in the race were in the main field so I worked hard to keep my group in front of the main field but were caught two thirds of the way around the circuit. By this time, Jordan was back in the group and was doing most of the work trying to catch the leaders. I worked with the group and pulled for as long as I could trying to help Jordan catch the leaders.
With about 5k to go I stopped taking long pulls and started getting ready for the sprint. My dad and I walked the last quarter of a mile before the race and I knew I wanted to be first around the last corner since the course narrowed as it entered into Kearney Park and had lots of little turns. I told Jordan that my race was finishing soon, and he said he would lead me out. Jordan picked up the pace and on the last corner I attacked. No one went on my wheel and I rode to the finish by myself. Now that I think about it I probably went a bit too early, but as it turned out it was okay. Thanks for the lead-out Jordan.