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Cat’s Hill Criterium
Saturday May 5th, 2007
Category: 17/18’s
Distance: 7.3mi (8 laps)
Field: 17
Place: 9th
Teammates: Andy, Ye, Eric, Peter, Nick A, Chris, Will, Alex, Adam
Goals: Help Andy and Ye as much as possible. Not getting dropped would not be a problem this year.
I wasn’t originally planning on doing this race because it hadn’t been my strong point in the past, meaning I’d been dropped every single year. I figured that my day would be much better spent doing a training ride to try to prepare for Berkeley Hills next weekend. I ended up changing my mind because I figured it was a points series race and I should go to try and help out Ye and Andy by using myself as much as possible.
I drove to the race with Jason, so we got there at 8ish, obviously plenty of time. I pre-road the course with Chris before any of the races started. Then we watched the beginning of the 4’s race and looked to see what gears people were taking the hill in. It looked like you could big ring it for the first five laps and then it became more difficult. Chris and I went back to Jason’s car and warmed up with Alex, Adam, and Will for about a half hour.
Lap 1: I was able to clip in pretty quickly and got a good start. We took the hill at a decent pace and I found that I felt pretty good. I was able to take the hill easy, accelerate over the crest, and keep my speed up until the right hand turn. The group took the upper flat section surprisingly easy, so I was able to move up even more on this part. They also took turn six surprisingly slow, so there wasn’t any fear of crashing.
Lap 2: The group kept a pretty much constant pace this lap. Most riders who were left after this lap would stay until about two to go. On the hill I was crossing my chain going into my small ring in front and a smaller cog in back. This seemed to work well and I shifted into my big chain ring as I was cresting the hill.
Lap 3: It was pretty much the same routine here as in Lap 2.
Lap 4: The group had become a little smaller with most of the 17/18’s and about ten 15/16’s. Tyler Brandt and Ethan Weiss seemed to be pushing the pace up the hill along with Taylor Kuphaldt. JP was at the front as well, but didn’t really do anything.
Lap 5: I began to feel my legs hurting a little bit, so I made sure that I was in an easier gear before climbing the hill. However, sometimes I overcompensated and had to shift while climbing the hill, which still wasn’t that big of a deal.
Lap 6: I think this is the lap where I noticed that Peter was having mechanical issues and had to slow up from the group on the start/finish stretch. Climbing up the hill I was towards the back and was again able to move up. Towards the end of the upper flat section I noticed that Taylor and an AMD 15/16, the first and only break in the race, had gotten off of the front. They had a 4-6 second gap. Normally this isn’t very big, but in a Criterium with two laps to go it can become a little risky. I saw my chance to help out.
Lap 7: I was at the middle of the group, so I moved to the outside and just powered to and off the front. Tyler Brandt was attacking at the same time. I already had more speed than him and I was able to pass him without having to get out of the saddle and accelerate. I stayed off the front until the top of the hill when I caught the break. The field caught us a couple of seconds later. I knew that I had done my job, so I pretty much relaxed until the next start finish.
Lap 8: This lap seemed much slower than past years, maybe because of increased performance on my part or lack of 17/18 competitors. Anyways, I was able to give a quick pull on the start finish and then just sit in. Before turn five Andy and Ye road up the left side of the group and everyone surged. I was tired enough from pulling in the break on the last lap and I knew I couldn’t really help any more, so I slowed up. I finished right off the back of the pack.
The important idea that hopefully most people will pick up from this race is that even if you don’t think you will finish particularly well, go out, give it all you’ve got, and help those on Tieni Duro who can thrive in that race. Cycling is truly a team sport and that is the whole point of Tieni Duro, to ride and race as a team.
Wente Vineyards Road Race
Saturday April 21st 2007
Category: 17/18’s
Distance: 50 Miles (3.5 Laps)
Field: 20
Place: 3rd
Teammates: Ye, Andy, Eric
Finish: Uphill/Tailwind
Conditions: Cool & Windy
I went into this race hoping to finish pretty well since it’s really the first climber’s race of the season. I was also hoping to race smarter than I had at Sea Otter, which includes not sitting on the front, working on the front, or chasing anyone down on the front when you don’t have to. I was also hoping for a little more team coordination this race tactics wise. The main plan was to get me in a break without Tyler Brandt, who is a really strong climber. This way I would hopefully be able to drop my breakaway partner on the finishing climb.
When I got to the race I was able to get a close parking spot because my dad was doing sag-wagon for the junior 17/18’s, so I didn’t have to lug my stuff around. I got changed and started warming up with about fifty minutes to go. I warmed up on the trainer for about 30 minutes, did rollout, and went to the starting line.
Lap 1: The race didn’t start very fast and the pace was kept slow on the flats. Andy drilled the pace on the rollers and I moved to the front on the steeper part of the climb right after the hard right. Tieni Duro’s plan was for me to drill it and basically drop as many people as I could, hopefully most of who would be sprinters. I instantly got a gap. As I looked back, I could see that the field had broken apart. Tyler was bridging the gap on his own and caught up towards the top. I then, not wanting to work with him, simply sat on his wheel across the freeway and up the second part of the hill. When he pulled off and I didn’t pull through, we basically just sat there looking at each other. I looked back and saw that two riders, Brandon Mart and Jeremy Ferguson, were bridging. When they caught up to us they didn’t really work at all and I could tell that what was left of the field was catching up, so we just sat up and rested. When they did catch us I saw that both Ye and Andy were still there. There were more attacks the rest of the lap, with Andy starting several and getting great gaps, until the quick climb up the old finishing hill, when Tieni Duro picked the pace up again.
Lap 2: Everyone kept it pretty slow on the flat part through the start area and still no one picked up the pace on the gradual uphill. Instead of me drilling it on the steep part, Tyler took his turn. I jumped onto his wheel and we instantly gapped the field again. This time Jeremy Ferguson, from Team Spine, was also with us. Tyler pulled all the way until the first downhill and then pulled off. Most people would think, “Wow, he just worked a lot and I should do the same,” but no. He just pulled where there was no wind, so essentially you were working just as hard as he was. Now he pulls off after working the same amount you have and expects you to kill yourself while pulling him in your draft through the wind. This was really smart on his part, but I just sat up (not wanting to be in a break along with the other two best climbers there) and let him do some more work. We did get a really solid rotating pace-line down going on the windy downhill. After making the hard left we noticed a group of four catching up to us. It consisted of Logan (BPG), Brandon Howard (CVC), a DBC rider, and the Monticello rider. No one really wanted to work, so by the team we reached the old finishing hill another DBC rider, a Webcore rider, Ye, and Brandon Mart (Spine) had all caught back on. There were a few attacks before the start area, which made my legs start hurting a little bit.
Lap 3: Ye attacked right at the start line, not the finish line, and no one followed. Soon after our field was neutralized, thereby giving Ye a bigger gap. No one worked until the steep part where it was the same routine as the previous laps. Tyler went to the front, picked up the pace, I jump on his wheel, and Jeremy behind me, except this time Logan somehow got on as well. So this time there were four of us off of the front and Tyler did the same “pull where there’s no wind and pull off as soon as you feel some.” When we were reaching the top of the climb, we caught Ye and he was able to jump onto our group. He attacked some on the descent, but wasn’t able to get a gap. By the time we reached the old finish, Brandon Howard and a DBC rider had caught back up to us.
Lap 4: Right before the start line Ye flatted and did not have enough time to catch back up before the finish. Right after that start line the DBC rider attacked and because our group was so small and it was so close to the finish, no one responded. He got a big gap fairly quickly. A few minutes after that, Brandon Howard attacked and also got a gap. After the right onto the gradual climb Jeremy attacked leaving me, Tyler and Logan sitting there. I had to make the decision of pulling back Jeremy or to sit in with Tyler and Logan and try to catch back up on the hill. I’ve never been one to sit in, so I went to the front, got as aero as possible, and drilled it. Logan and Tyler sat on my wheel, but I definitely made up a lot of ground towards all three riders. Right after the right turn onto the steep part of the climb, Tyler and Logan passed me. I tried to jump on, but got gapped. I kept going and soon passed Brandon and the DBC rider. I then passed Logan who jumped on my wheel for about 30 seconds until dropping off. Tyler and Jeremy were right ahead of me, neither of them working because they wanted to save it for the finish. I came within ten feet of them when Tyler looked back, saw I was coming, and attacked. He got a big lead and didn’t look back. Jeremy was still within striking distance and I was catching him quickly. At the top of the hill I got out of the saddle and sprinted with all I had left for the line, but got beat by about a wheel length or so.
Overall I’m happy with the way I raced as well as my finish. I didn’t do anything stupid during the race, I was in every break (not counting the pointless solo ones), and I had a pretty good finish. More importantly, I think we raced well as a team. Everyone was thinking out there. Even though Andy wasn't feeling well, he still put in several good attacks, forcing Tyler and others to chase. Also, nice job to Ye who really stuck with the group on a course that doesn’t particularly suit him, and was there to help right up until he flatted. Congrats to Peter who won the pack sprint getting 4th in the 15/16’s.
Snelling Road Race Report
Saturday February 24th 2007
Category: Junior 17/18
Distance: 50 miles
Field: 26
Place: 20thish
Teammates: Zach, Andy, Ye
Tieni Duro went into this race feeling fairly confident thinking that there wouldn’t be too much competition. Our main competition was going to be Ben and JP. The less threatening riders would be Tyler and Brandon. Our goal was to set either Andy or myself up for the win by getting either one of us into a break with anybody except Ben or JP.
Our race started at 12:30, so I was able to sleep in until 7:00. I arrived at the race with about an hour and a half until the scheduled start, so I went and registered, found out how the 15/16’s had done, and checked in with Andy, Ye, Zach, and Jason. Once I was dressed, Andy, Zach, and I rolled down the road for about ten minutes and quickly talked about basic ideas for the race, mainly about how to block and get away from JP and Ben. Our race started about a half an hour late, so we became pretty cold at the start line.
Lap 1: The promenade was really at an okay pace, enough where I was able to add to my warm-up without going too hard. I felt fine on the first couple of neutral hills. When we hit the course, the pace was picked up a little bit and someone did a half hearted attack on the hill. On that note, never attack half heartedly unless you are testing the field to see who’s going to react. Otherwise it’s just wasted energy. Anyhow, the rider didn’t get a gap and the pace remained slow for really just about the rest of the lap. TD, Tieni Duro, was pretty much spread out throughout the pack with Ye and Andy in the middle and Zach and myself towards the front. By the end of the lap everyone was pretty much together and the only real attacks had come from Zach and maybe one or two from JP. I had a very small/short break with a rider from Swift on the way to the bridge, but he refused to work (or was very week) because his better teammate Tyler was back in the pack. This frustrated me, but once I realized it I just slowed up. If someone is in a break with you and they’re the only other person and they won’t work, slow down and go back to the group. What you’ll end up doing is using yourself to try and get away, they’ll just sit on your wheel and slow you down when they get the chance, and the group will eventually catch you.
Lap 2: The beginning of this lap was about the same as before, really slow. This really started to tick me off since I’m much better at long efforts as opposed to a whole bunch of attacks at the end of a race. Zach and I continued to ride towards the front, typically 1st to 3rd wheel. I had decided by this point that I was going to work for Andy unless an opportunity presented itself. On the back stretch right after the hill after the bridge, this happened. I was riding with Zach at the front, me first wheel and Zach second. I slowly began to pick up the pace and at the same time Zach slowed down. Now, this is often a successful maneuver because you can’t really go wrong. If no one passes the 2nd rider, than a gap opens up. If someone does go around, they must work to catch the 1st rider. Anyways, no one got on my wheel. I made sure not to look back, get out of the saddle, or speed up too quickly. If you think about it, when someone attacks out of the saddle from the side of the group, does someone always chase them down? Yes. But if someone slowly pulls off of the front of the group, there is a better chance that no one will think something of it, plus it is easier for the rest of the team to cover any counter attacks. This is also what happened at Cantua Creek when two of us made it off of the front. Anyhow, so I opened up a gap fairly quickly and as soon as I was out of sight I picked it up. Unfortunately I was on the bumpy section where the strongest headwind was. I checked behind me pretty frequently to check the field’s distance, and I realized that I was gaining ground pretty quickly.
Lap 3: On the long flat section past the finish I really picked up the pace to 25-26 mph, but made sure as to not go too hard in case I was going to stay away for the rest of the race. At the feed zone I could no longer see the pack on one of the longest stretches, so I figured I was doing well. I later learned that I had a one and a half minute gap on the field. After that I kept the pace around 25-30, because of the slight downhill. However, after the swooping right hand turn with the sand, I looked back and saw the field coming pretty quickly. I kept the pace up until they were within 30 yards and I realized that I was just wasting energy. As soon as they caught me, Andy counter attacked. This was perfect. Ben and JP were pretty tired from pulling me back in, but some Cal Giant and Swift guys chased Andy down. My breakaway, which ended up lasting about 35 minutes, had worn me out. Looking back at my polar files it turns out that I was in very high ME, AT1, or AT2 the entire time. No one else counter attacked after that and the rest of the lap was pretty much like the first.
Lap 4: This was the last lap and I had hoped that the pace would be picked up, but it wasn’t. Zach and I sat in the top three until there was maybe 4 miles to go. Then he and I moved to the front. With about 3 to go he and I started a rotating pace line with each other and sometimes Tyler Brandt. We were able to pick the speed up a little bit. Doing this on the flats would not have made a large difference since everyone behind us was protected from the wind anyhow, so we made sure to pull on the hills where we could hurt some of the larger riders. We also repeated our tactics from before where the 2nd rider would slow up so that another rider from another team would have to go around and work. I dropped back after an attack on the bumpy stretch, but when I tried to go to the front to create a lead-out for Andy, a Simply Fit rider attacked and basically did it for me. I just dropped off the back of the group and finished the sprint, about 2 more minutes, on my own.
Overall a good race finish wise, but tactics wise it could use some work. We were really trying not to bring it down to a field sprint, because it really isn’t good practice for harder races such as Sea Otter, Fitchburg, or Nationals. It would have been better if there were a few more counter attacks after I was brought back, but Zach really wasn’t feeling well, which didn’t really help. Lastly, I have to thank my teammates for blocking, again, when I was off of the front. Although Ben and JP were one two in the chase train (one of our guys should have always been second), TD was 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Very impressive overall.
Cantua Creek Road Race
2/17/07
Category: 3’s
Distance: 72 Miles (3 Laps)
Field: 27
Place: 2nd
Tieni Duro Teammates: Andy, Ye, Zach
Course: It’s an out and back with a downhill/flat/headwind on the way out and an uphill/flat/tailwind on the way back. Each loop is about 26 miles (three loops). The finish is at the top of a half mile climb at about 4% grade.
So this was my first Road Race since the Challenge Road Race in September. We had four riders in the 3’s category and we figured we could pretty much control the field since there would not really be any other teams represented. We figured that our main competition would be Haydn Mackay from Cycle Sports because he had done fairly well last year. Our plan was to separate the field for the sprint so that Andy would not have so much competition. Our other plan was to get Andy into a break at the beginning of lap three. Ye was our second sprinter in case something happened to Andy. Zach and I were planning on doing better in Sunday’s hillier race, so we were going to work for Andy and Ye today.
We had stayed the previous night in a hotel that was about an hour away from the course. We got up at five and left by six. It didn’t take us as long as we thought to get there, so we had some time to relax and didn’t have to rush. Since it was a really long Road Race we figured we wouldn’t need to warm up on our trainers so we just spun around on the road instead. When we got to the line we remembered we had to do rollout, but that went fine.
The race started really really slowly with everyone basically sitting around. We kept having to brake on the flats because the group kept slowing up. One random rider sat about 10 feet off of the front for a couple minutes, so we decided to just leave him. He returned to the group fairly soon. After about three and a half miles a rider with a bright green jersey powered off of the front of the group. He didn’t attack, but just rode away from the group. I was pretty sure that I recognized his jersey. There was a rider at the Patterson Pass Road Race that had a bright green jersey, attacked off of the front in the first five minutes, and won the race. Since Zach and I were supposed to cover or be in every break I told Andy that I was going to go pull him in. I moved to the front and got out of my saddle. I didn’t really “attack,” I just sped up a little bit. After about ten seconds I looked back and saw that no one was on my wheel, so I decided to go for it. I jumped into AT/1/2 for about five minutes to get up to him. After I caught up he asked me if I was going to work or not. I told him yes, but I didn’t really start to until the group was out of sight. We then introduced ourselves and started rotating taking pulls. He made sure that I only pulled for a quarter of a mile at a time.
So basically I’m going to go through this pretty quickly since it was the same thing over and over. I kept working with Rich, the other rider in the break with me, until we could no longer see the field on some really long straightaways. On the second lap we heard that we had a five minute gap and we were both pretty happy. Rich made sure that I was eating, drinking, and not working too hard. He was a really nice guy. I started taking longer and more frequent pulls. By the third lap we had increased our gap to seven minutes. He asked me if we wanted to finish together or what? My legs were hurting quite a bit and I really didn’t want him to drop me and have myself be caught by the group, so I told him that we should finish together. On the final climb he slowed and waited for me, so at the sprint he just sped up a little bit and won. Overall a pretty good race.
Now for the teammate and tactics part of it. This would definitely not have happened without the other three guys racing in 3's, Ye, Zach, and Andy. They did a great job of blocking the field, as well as trying a bridge attempt. When the attempt was caught, they made sure to not keep pulling the field. They stopped the rest of the field from ever getting organized, and controlled the race. Teamwork made the difference, and won the race for Rich and I. Andy was also able to kick butt in the pack sprint taking third. Zach took seventh and Ye took somewhere around 10th.
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