Friday, May 30, 2008

Memorial Day Crit 13-14

13-14 crit

This race was a junior point series race. I needed to beat Alexander Freund who rides for Davis and on the red bike in the picture. Chris and I tried to attack and get away from him. He kept chasing us down. There was a crash with 2 laps to go and they stopped the race. I told all the kids just to attack him. I think he figured what we were doing after the second to last lap. On the last lap he pulled the entire way. I stayed on his wheel. He almost dropped me on the back straight. I took the last turn wide and sprinted. I won by about a bike's length. This was the first race that I won in a field sprint.

Iron Horse Classic



Durango, Colorado

Over last weekend I was in Durango, Colorado to visit my Uncle and racing. On Saturday we  were going to go over two 11,000 foot passes. Over night it snowed 10 inches on the passes and they canceled the race.

The Crit was on Sunday. It was an 8 corner course with a short power climb. From the gun a 5280 rider attacked. I chased him down. He attacked me for the next few laps, but I stayed with him. I attacked him for a prime, but was caught after it. Then he pull the rest of the race. With around 400m to go I attacked before the downhill. I had a small gap on the decent and sprinted to the finish. I won. 

After the race I was breathing hard. I think it was from the lack of oxygen up there. It felt great to come back to California because the air is so thick.

Monday, May 26, 2008

4 out of 5 ain't bad



Left to right: Marcus Smith, Daniel Tisdell, James LaBerge, Chris LaBerge, Dean LaBerge (Masters); Joel Shaffer; Charlie Avis; and Andrew Lanier (missing Edan Levanton and Davis Bentley)



Now, that's a winning gap! (Charlie storming the 15-18 field)

On this Memorial Day the San Jose Bicycle Club promoted a full day of bicycle racing including my first ever 35+/ 45+ combined field. I've raced a good number of 45+/ 55+ races but not one like this. It's a race within a race.


Brian Bosch (Sierra Pacific) gave himself a 600 meter leadout for the win. Yikes! Former US Pro National Champion and former US Postie Eddy Gragus was visiting from Colorado and held on for 2nd, while Friday Night Track Promoter Michael Hernadez nipped me for 3rd. But wait, I placed 4th, er, 1st in the M45 race. Dean scored 5th in the M35 race. Kevin, Steve, Wyatt and Mike laid it all down for the team, but we could not deliver the much coveted double victory.


Chris and Marcus were up next in the 10 to 12 and 13 to 14 race and Marcus took his first ever field sprint win with a well timed jump.


Finally, the 15-16 and 17-18 year olds took to the start line and quickly reeled off split times that rivaled the best of the day. Their field was shredded, and then the kids took over. Just in a span of the last lap we could see Marcus attacking off the front, then Charlie, Daniel, Joel, James and Andrew winding it up before Joel launched an impressive attack that took him to about 600 meters to go where Charlie immediately attacked and soloed in for the win in the 17-18 race. The chasers gave it a go but only towed James closer to the line as he took the 15-16 win for a total of four wins on the day.



Prayers and get well wishes go out to David Tisdell, Daniel's brother who crashed in the 10-14 year old race.

Where's Marco?

The Mount Hamilton Road Race climbs 4500 feet in the frist 19 miles which is why I didn't race. But, I woke up early, pedaled from my house and made it to the top before the pro/1/2 field (why to go Charlie!).



Unfortunately, I pulled out my camera too late when Billy, Kevin and Rob went by. As they rode away I was able to catch this great shot of Marco tho ;-)

With Kevin's help Billy took the win in the 35's and Kevin held on for 5th. Rob and Mick were in it as well.
Davis took 7th and Daniel earned 12th in the 3's. I am so glad I didn't do that race!

Monday, May 19, 2008

In the Hood - Hood River Criterium

Since barring a mishap we had the GC sewn up the team plan was to launch Billy and Craig to go for the stage win. Since Craig was only 11 seconds out of the top 10, we were also hoping to move him up into 10th place. As an added bonus, my parents who have retired and moved to Oregon had made the trip to Hood River to watch the criterium.

The race started off agressively and in short order Billy was off the front with 45+ leader David Zimbleman and Rich Thurman. It had the makings of a successful break, but after a few prime sprints they stopped cooperating and were brought back. Craig made a number of attempts to get away but he was marked too closely.

With about 20 minutes to go they rang the bell for a $100 prime. I had good position and followed an attack by John Browning who was 4th on GC. I was unable to come around him for the cash but his accelleration had created a large gap and when he sat up I kept going. It was a low percentage move, but I figured maybe it would start something and I'd get some company or set up a counter by one of my team mates. What happened though was that every time somebody attacked or started a chase, my guys would follow the right wheels to discourage that chase. While I was going at a steady speed, the pack was alternating going faster than me and slower than me. But due to the efforts of the team, the net effect was that I got a 20 second gap and was able to hold it. My only thoughts were:

1. DON'T crash solo in the hair pin like a moron!
2. Keep it steady, don't dig too deep.
3. LABOR!
4. Did I mention don't crash in the hair pin?

In the end, I had the pleasure of winning in front of my parents due to the help of the best team that I could imagine being part of. I am truly thankful for their help and lucky to have them as friends and team mates.

In the end we won all four stages in the 35+ race with Rob and Billy winning the circuit race and the time trial respectively and 1st, 2nd, 5th and 11th on GC with myself, Rob, Wyatt and Craig. And we also had fabulous weather, which considering the past editions of this race was a welcome relief.

Already looking forward to next year...

Saturday, May 17, 2008

In the Hood - Wy'East Road Race

This stage has been changed from last year due to the fact that one of the passes we would have climbed is covered with several feet of snow! It was shortened to around 70 miles, but still had 8000' of climbing. Early on was fairly uneventful until Billy flatted on a very fast, very long downhill. The worst place in the world to flat. I thought we had lost him for the day only 20 miles in. But Craig went back for him and brought him back. That was a great team effort and a big relief!

At miles 25 Craig followed Rich Thurman on the attack and went off on a big adventure. At about mile 50 he dropped Thurman and set off on his own. Meanwhile in the group I was sitting in like the princess that I am and getting an armchair ride through the stage. Mick and Billy did a ton of work keeping the tempo steady and controlling the field. The team made this tough stage almost seem easy. I can't thank them enough.

Unfortunately for Craig he got caught with about 5km to go. The end was strange. Since the race had been so steady we had a lot of guys left. On the final climb to the Mt. Hood Meadows ski area, 3rd place rider David Garcia set a lot of hard tempo. I wanted to have a go, but tried to be patient and bided my time until about 1.5km to go. At that point I attacked and was able to stay away for the win. Rob came in 2nd with Wyatt finishing 7th and Mick in 10th. Craig rolled in with Billy and after all that work he was a little tired. I can't imagine why. :-)



Here's a team photo before the stage with our destination off in the distance behind us. Rob is MIA, out warming up.


Friday, May 16, 2008

In the Hood - TT stage

No official results yet but this is what we know right now.

Billy ripped the TT. 39:59 by his watch. If I had to guess, that would be the stage winner.

There were rumors of a sub 40' ride by Zimbelman in the 45+ group.

I rode 41:24 which should be enough to take the jersey. Sorry Rob...

Rob is comfortably in second place.

I had bad luck with cars and got caught behind two of them. It probably cost me 20 seconds or so. Still a long way of off Billy's time though.

Tomorrow will be epic. 8000' of climbing in 75 miles. There are 120" of snow on the ground at the Mt. Hood Meadows ski resort where we finish. Our plans to take a few runs after the stage were squashed when they closed the resort after last weekend. Obviously not due to lack of snow!

Jeannie Longo was late for her start by about a minute in the women's race and still finished 4th at 18 seconds. The UCI didn't like her bike setup even though it was okay in the prologue... Oh yeah, and she's 51. I'm just sayin'...

Mt Hood Cycling Classic 2008 - Cooper Spur Road Race

we're here, it's hot, rob won his first masters 35+ race, davis is banking up-grade point, billy has taken a liking to tea, kevin didn't burn any matches, wyatt beat me in the final sprint, and mick is focused on the TT.

senior 3s results and GC
7th Davis Bentley (only 23 seconds off the lead)

master results and GC
1st Rob Anderson (first masters 35+ win)
2nd Kevin Metcalfe
5th Wyatt Weisel
8th Craig Roemer
18th Billy Innes
21st Mick Hellman

more to follow...

the boys in hood

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Berkeley Hills Road Race

At Berkeley Hills Road Race the 13-14s were put in the 15-16s pack. As 13-14s  we only raced one lap while the 15-16s raced 2. On the second bear the older kids went hard. I stay with them until near the top. I got into a chase group of around 6 riders. three on them were 13-14s. I knew from past experience that the final climb was very long. At the bottom of the climb one of the kids attacked. I kept a steady pace while the other kid attacked also. Now the two of them were up the road but one of them was fading. I caught him and the other one. then I went a few mph faster and got a gap. I caught Daniel's group of 15-16s near the finish and won out of my age group.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

push aside the pain and enjoy yourself

I had soooooo much fun last night at the San Jose track. I have been racing the track for 16 seasons and this was by far and away the most fun I have had during a track race.

Promoter Michael Hernadez (VOS Racing) pulled out all the tricks and put on a show. He started off with live music during the warm-up, brought in sponsors, volunteers, food and brews, designed a great race format and heckled every rider that clipped in.

Come on out for the next race on May 23.

old bald man vs. Mario Sandavol, credit: OTB Photos, http://www.otbphoto.com/. Ironically, Jeff Solt (Mario's coach) taught me this move!





Friday, May 9, 2008

Course de la Paix Junior, Stages 1,2,3a

I left last Saturday from SFO with a travel itinerary like this: ten hours on a plane, 7 hours in Heathrow airport, another hour flight to Brussels, a 45 minute drive, a five hours night's sleep, quick breakfast, and then 10 hours in the car from the National Team house in Izegem, BE, to Litomerice, CZ. Factor in the nine hours sleep on Monday night, and thats just shy of 40 hours of doing absolutely nothing. We just spun for 1.5-2 hours on Tuesday, in preparation for the 95.5 km stage 1 that started on Wednesday. Six riders, Larry Warbasse, Jacob Rathe, Danny Finneran, Ryan Zupko, Rob Bush, and me, are representing the US and A in the "Peace Race", the second of five Nation's Cup races (junior equivalent to the pro-tour). Wednesday's stage was three laps, each with a 3km climb, for a total of 95.5km. I was very nervous before the start, as is natural when 15 countries send their top riders to this race. The first time up the climb was fast as the eventual winning break took off. I had no pop in my legs and suffered badly up the first time. By the time we hit the climb the second time, I just couldn't spin my legs any faster, and the constant surges in the field were too much for me to handle. I fell off the back with five other riders (three of them from the USA. yikes) and finished 5th from last in an unimpressive 86th place. Larry and Jake finished well in 18th and 26th respectively.
Stage 2 was a point to point race that was supposed to be 88.5 km, but was lengthened to around 97 km (no one knows why). The profile was relatively flat with a small climb at about 60km and a 1km drag up to the finish with a gradient of 10%. Since I was already way out of the general classification, my job was to be active on the front and try to get into an early break. For the first 10-20km, we averaged about 48km/h and I found myself in a couple of small moves, none of which stuck. A small group rolled off the front at about 45 km, but was caught at the bottom of the hill. On the climb, a sprint for the mountain points resulted in an 8 man break that built up a large lead pretty quickly. I followed some attacks in an attempt to bridge up to the group, but once again nothing stuck. The German Team went to the front with 10km to go and reeled in the break, so it turned into a large field sprint up the last climb. I finished safely in the bunch in 54th place, with Larry finishing 15th, Danny in 51st, Ryan in about 60th, and Jake a little farther back. Both Rob and Jake crashed, with Rob's coming in the last km, so he finished way behind, but was awarded to same time as the winner.
Day 3 has a TT in the morning and 97km stage in the afternoon. I am currently writing this post TT and pre-road race, so we don't have TT results yet, but I think I did a pretty good ride. My legs still don't feel 100%, but they're getting there. More to come once I have results from the end of today.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

USA Cycling Regional Camp - Sonoma June 15-20

Team Specialized Racing teammate Larry Nolan is taking on the Head Coach position at the June 15-20 USA Cycling Junior Development (and U23) Regional Camp. Teammates, including former 4-time Olympian Leonard Harvey Nitz are expected to make special guest appearances. The camp will be held on the campus of California State Sonoma University. Here are the details:

How to Qualify: West Coast Regional Camp invitations are based on competitive race results from the following: at least one top-5 finish from any LAJORS or similar caliber road event, at least one top-3 finish from any NCNCA Junior Points Series event, or by permission based on race resume from the previous 12 months of racing prior to the camp. 14 year-old racing age athletes are eligible for camp invitation provided they have qualified by racing in the 15-18 age group categories.

How to Register: Riders who have already qualified will find a development camp link in the upper right hand corner of their "My USA Cycling" homepage. Simply follow the link to register on-line. Riders who do not have the link should email their race results to the Camp Manager at the address below as soon as possible in order to update their eligibility.

Staff and Curriculum: The camp will be staffed with USAC certified coaches and mechanics. Daytime training rides, skills clinics, and competitive events will be followed by evening seminars. Camp performance results will be used to qualify top junior athletes to attend the 2008 National Endurance Camp to be held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

Cost: The cost for the 6-day camp is $700 and includes all meals and lodging. Teams with 3 or more athletes in attendance pay a discounted rate of $525 per athlete. Grants based on financial need are available from the USA Cycling Development Foundation.

For more information, visit www.usacycling.org or contact:

Claire House, Camp Manager
norcalvelo@gmail.com

Larry Nolan, Head Coach
nolanfive@yahoo.com

Benjamin Sharp, Junior Programs Manager
bsharp@usacycling.org

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

ah, that's much better

Okay, so we embarrassed ourselves at the Wente Crit with 10% of the field and just a 3rd and 4th to show for it... at the 35th annual Cat's Hill classic we redeemed ourselves with a fine 1-2-3 finish in the M35 race, a win in the Jr 15-16 race and a win in the Jr 13-14 race. Ah, that's much better!

Marcus' win in the Jr 13-14 event was a classic. He and Chris LaBerge hit the 23 % Cat's Hill for 3 laps and Marcus dashed to the line for the win. The smile on his face was priceless. Please check out Marcus' blog entry.

James win in the Jr 15-16 event was just as impressive as the younger group raced with the 17-18 year olds and James took 2nd overall in the race. What a sprint! Daniel Tisdell, Edan Levanton, Chris LaBerge and Marcus Smith all helped James during this 8 lap event.

Next up was the Masters event. 66 starters we were told on the line and 10 of us. Good odds, but a bit of pressure too. Red and White Specialized everywhere! 20 laps in total, so after 11 laps we're neutralized due to an accident on the course. We take this 20 minute break to recalibrate our strategy. Thankfully we have leaders like former professionals Scott McKinley and Dylan Casey to help us! We're going to restart with 8 laps to go so we make up a plan to go ballistic with 4 laps to go and we follow it to a tee. Craig, Kevin and Billy soar off the front and a handful of riders join them. They attack and attack and take up the speed. Steve, Mike, Wyatt, Scott, Dylan, Dean and I are surfing the front end of the chasers and spring across to the leaders on the last climb. Billy has already flown off to victory while Dean and I shoot the last corner at warp speed and gun it to the line for a very nice 1-2-3 finish. Great teamwork everyone!

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Cat's Hill 13-14 Win

The Course: For my age-group the course took around 2 and half minutes per lap. There is a climb every lap. For around 75m there is a 23% grade followed by a false flat. Next there is a short flat section and then the downhill. The finish is 150m after the last turn. About 1.4km each lap.

The Race Coaching: I was in the 13-14s and we only did 3 laps. I received some excellent coaching before the race from teammate Larry Nolan and from my coach, Clark Natwick. From Larry's experience with the race he told we that the first one into the last turn usually won the race. The plan was to attack every time up the hill until I had a gap on the field.

The Race: Alexader Freund from Davis attacked straight from the start. We caught up to him after the hill. On the second time up the hill an Above Category rider attacked. We caught him also at the top of the hill by the park. Throughout the race I never went further back than 3rd in the pack in order to avoid getting behind a slower rider on the hill. On the last lap another Above Category rider attacked near the base of the hill. He had a large gap. After the steep slope he had a 7m gap on the field which I was in. I chased him through the false flat and by the turn his gap was down to 5m. On the short flat section around the park I was going much faster than him. By the second to last turn the gap was down to 3m. I remembered what Larry said about being the first rider into the final turn. I went full blast down the hill and he veered right to avoid a bumpy section. I went straight over the bumps and passed him. I took the final turn fast and won the race. I thought they were on my wheel but didn't want to look back. It turns out that I had a 30m gap on the second place rider.

Some of my advantages:
I had Sram shifting which helped setting up for the turn into the Cat's Hill. The section before the hill is fast and riders need to shift quickly. With Sram I used the double tap system and shifted during the turn. This helped me not lose positions during the flats or on the slope.

On a hill like to Cat's Hill you know the difference between stiff bikes and whippy bikes. I used my Specialized SL2. The bike was solid under me as I went all out on the hill.

I had great coaching. If I wouldn't have received all the coaching from Larry and Clark I wouldn't have done as well. I went all out on the decent because Larry said that after the last turn it is too late to change your position.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Racing with Levi and Scott

Today I raced one of the grasshopper series event in prep for Mt. Hood. It was an epic 85 mile race with 8,000 ft. of climbing. In addition, 1/4 of it was off road. It was right up my alley. Levi, as well as Scott Nydam of BMC showed up. Once things got fast, only about 20 stayed with the lead group. Things split up even more, and the lead group became 5 riders, all cat 1's or pros. I was one of the riders struggling to catch that group. We hit a dirt descent, where I saw Scott on the side of the road, fixing a flat. I knew he would be coming up fast, very soon. Sure enough, I took a quick look back and saw him flying towards me. I knew I had to match his speed, then jump on. Once I latched on, I couldn't believe the speed he chased the group with. Also, I was shocked at his ability to maintain that speed. I gave it everything I had, just to hold on. It was the fastest I had ever gone to date. We actually caught the group, and there was Levi! I felt like a pro at that point, but it didn't last long. Another steep climb, and Levi and Scott were completely out of reach... maybe someday. Some hills were so steep, that a 39x27 wasn't even close to being the right gear. I finished 13th out of 80 and had a great day.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

when it all goes wrong...

When it all goes wrong we still learn our lessons... for all the new racers out there we like to share our experiences. For all the riders that like to point out our mistakes, here’s a fine example.

At the Wente Road Race (Saturday, April 26th) the riders get tested on their strength, smarts and ability to hydrate (see other race reports), whereas at the Wente Criterium on Sunday, April 27th the athletes were challenged on their patience and finishing speed. This popular course attracts large fields but also frustrates more riders than most courses and here’s why: this course is too easy. While it may look like a normal 6 corner industrial park course from the air, at 2km per lap with just two real corners it has field sprint written all over it. Many can jet off the front at 30mph but only the most cooperative breakaway can hold off a charging pack.

Basically, every rider thinks that they can win this race when they hear than last lap bell!

In the M45 race Morgan Stanley/ Spine had the numbers. Maybe 10 out of 75 guys. Hang on to that data point. Let me boil a 45 minute event down to one sentence: Kevin worked selflessly for me to get into position to win the race in a 75 man field sprint. Thanks Kevin. I owe you again.


In the 15-16 and 17-18 junior race 14 year old Marcus Smith marked a fine move by Zack Wick (Davis) and they opened up a gap. Marcus wrote up a race report but I’m mentioning it again here because I can include a picture and there’s a tactic to learn. Joel, James and Daniel were in the field. If they had chased Marcus they show no faith in his abilities to stay away or take Zack in a sprint. They also risk working too much and being attacked by their competitors. Instead, they left the chasing up to the competitors and the competitors let the break go. It was a good call because we don’t want to show that we chase our own team.

In the M35 race we had the numbers. Nine teammates in a field of 100. Let me boil down a 40 minute race so that we can all learn: a break of 8 riders formed late in the race and we had Billy and Jeff in the break. Both are great riders but they had strong riders with them in Brian Bosch (Sierra Pacific), Michael Hernadez (VOS), Bubba Melcher (Clover) and others. The call to bring the break back was made. Not a decision that came quickly or was communicated well but we chased so that our three sprinters (Dean, Ken and Scott) could finish it off in style. Unfortunately, the chase showed that we didn’t believe Billy nor Jeff could finish it off, and we will never know. It also showed that we didn’t know how to chase well as a team, but we did catch the breakaway and then puttered with our lead-out catching the last bits of the break on the last corner and wasting everyone in the process of doing so. Dean ended up third and that was about as good as it got. Brian Bosch came back to the field and still won the field sprint while Patrick Briggs (Giant Strawberry) took second.
As long as we learn from our experiences we’ll continue to post some good results.

Lar