MAKING FRIENDS IN A BREAK!

What happens in Davis stays in Davis... Sometimes when everything you've been taught goes out the window you sometimes have to ask yourself... WHY!

RULE # 1... Never run down a Teammate if you have a Teammate in a break.

RULE # 2... Never destroy your own Teammates when in a break.

and so on, and so on.

Well the other night we were out on our normal Tuesday/Thurs ride, and as normal 1st and 2nd sprints seemed to be status quo.
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Now as most of you may know the third sprint can go several ways. You can sit in with the group, and try to hang till the end... Or you can go for the "Breakaway".
Now couple of things can happen when you decide to go for a breakaway. You can go it Solo, or try and get some guys to go with you. The latter always being the best choice.
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We, this night, and the group making the breakaway move looked strong, and had the potential to stay away. We had Myself, Darin, Chris (Big), Rhys with Doug M. sitting in on the back.
I had on the onset had my doubts about making it stick, because the chasing group had Phil M., Adam S, and other strong guys. None the less that's what a breakaway is all about. The other good thing about this break was we had all DBC Masters in it (See Rules 1 and 2 above).
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Sometimes the mix might have a Rock guy, a Junior or someone that's not a Masters. Makes the last couple of K's a challenge because now your trying to figure out how to beat them. Now... Note! Two of our DBC Masters were in other kits so it kinda makes them the enemy.
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Well we were driving a good pace with a decent lead, and as we crossed the bridge Doug sat up and said he was going to wait for the rest of the group (I think we were just hurting him).
So as the four of use rode on, we continued working as a "Team". (See Rules 1 and 2). We would trade pulls in an effort to try and keep the pace high. So this is again kinda where things went wrong... Well at least from a "Teammate" stand point. Chris (Big) was at the front pulling doing as usual one of his monster pulls. I was in line behind him waiting for my turn. We were just about onto Old Davis when Chris signaled that he was done, and started to move off the front to take his break at the back.
WELLLLLL...I guess this when a "Teammate" is not suppose to drop the hammer, and attack! As we rolled onto Old Davis I had decided to give it one last big effort. Well all I heard was the other guys screaming "We dropped Chris" I being the loving caring guy that I am... Punched it!
Open another gap on the other two, and at that point for whatever reason (forgot about Rules 1 and 2) decided... Ok Boys, come and get me! I thought for sure they would run me down, and in their wake, spit on me or something. Well I was able to hold the gap to the line. So as the guys came up there was at least one of the three that was not very happy with me. "Hey what happen with (Rules 1 and 2)? That's when I mentioned to Darin about the color of Chris's kit. So be in Orange and Blue or you may be thru...
All the BS aside it was a great ride and a good workout with good friends. I do think though that I'm going to have to be looking over my shoulder the next couple of rides ?????????

Ciao and Out...

Great way to spend a Weekend

Fast re-cap from this week... Wente Road Race 45+... 3 laps... 4 times up the "Climb" Kinda funny that everyone calls it the "CLIMB"... By most standards it's not really a big climb. There are certainly climbs that are way harder! I guess what makes it so brutal is simply the speed that you have to go up it to stay with the lead riders. As I attempted to stay in contact with the main group, the only thing I could hope is that the front guys were hurting as much as those of us that were at the back! First time up came at 16/17 mph... The next two times up the pace had slowed some, but not by much. Third time up I finally could not stay in touch with the lead group and slowly fell off the back. I have always said there has to be some benefits to being off the back in that you now go into chase mode. Some guys would sit up and call it quits! Not me... Chase to the very end... It's just the way I roll! 81 guys... Finished 39th... I'm kinda Ok with that... Better next year.
Sunday brought a recovery ride with Alan and Jan. We met in Winters for a slow easy spin around Cantelow. When we got back to Winters it was just too nice of a day to call it quits. So
I decided to do another lap. Top of Cantelow I ran into Dan P. and John. We rode back to Winters, and they to Davis. I stopped at Wheelworks on the way home, and as I came out of the store I saw Dan and John having a nice cold recovery drink at the 33rd St Bistro.
They had the Collegiate Races going on so we decided that sitting on the balcony with a couple of cold ones, and watching some great Bike Racing would be a great way to spend the afternoon. What we got was an awesome display of Aggie power. With wins coming both from the women's A's and the men's A's racing Teams.

Ciao and Out...

The Day of the HardMen... Not!

Well this weekend didn't go quite as planned... Finally a Saturday/Sunday without a Race on the schedule. Saturdays Race Ride I could ride hard and not worry about the next day. There had been smack talk flying around about how the Race Ride has gotten soft.... SOFT? Talk about the "Good Old Days"... Why is it always about the good old days? Talk about how Steve Larsen use to make the Race Ride Hard... Well Duh! Steve, would go to the front and not back down. Wasn't to concerned about someone coming around him and taking a pull. It just became your job to hang on if you could. Yeah! The Good Old Days... Anyway back to my bad day... We were on the rollers on English Colony, and I thought it would be a good time to go. Well as I powered up the first roller I heard a loud pop! Didn't at the time think much of it so I charged on. As we neared Cantelow we had a small gap on the chasing group. That's when I looked down and saw I had broken a front spoke! Crap! Day over... Done. So I pulled up and stopped. The wheel had a good wobble to it, but not enough to stop me from getting home. So I just turned around, and rode back to Davis. Earlier you had heard me mention about the complaint that the ride had gotten SOFT! Well we had decided to add the last sprint of the Tues/Thurs night ride to the end of the Saturday ride. So thinking this would be cool to see the finish of this new addition. I rode over to the end of Old Davis road to watch the HardMen come in. Well as they came into sight, and to my surprise the Hardmen consisted of Rich and Liz... Chris B... and David H. ???? I guess we'll need to work on Harding up the rest of the group!

Ciao and Out...

Fast Up-Date

Whew!.... What can I say... Seems to go that way. I need to post to the blog, but hey... Later.

The last time I smacked the keys was just after Land Park and Zamora. Since then I've added Warnerville (Call it Windyville!), and Copperopolis. Wanerville was an new to the calender this
year. I had decided to give it a shot. In print it sounded good... Relatively flat, and a one plus mile of gravel... Hmmm I said... That could be different! Well just to keep this story short, I think this is one that is going to get more popular as time goes on. Copper... What can you say about Copper! I've written a few RaceReports over the years about this one. Not much changes... I still suck! It is just a little too steep for me to hang with the climbers. This year the road seems to have gotten a little worse. Good things about this year... I finished again, my Teammate finished 2nd, and Levi was DQ'd... Can't get much better than that. Copper is just one of those Races that you have do do at least once. After your first you might say never again, but for some strange reason you seem to keep coming back!

Ciao and Out!...

I thought I had it all figured out! Guess Not!

Lets keep it local! Land Park and Zamora! Another two day Race weekend! If I had to choose I like the Crit first, and the Road Race second... No maybe it's the other way around! No quite sure... Oh Well! Whatever... Saturday was the day that the weather was suppose to be in our favor... Rain but not really... We have lucked out this year with the weather holding off on the Days that we are suppose to Race! Given that there are still parts of the country that are covered with Snow... I ain't Bitch'n!... Land Park 45+ ... Kevin Metcalf, and Safeway (Greg B.) and VOS! DBC... Me... John... Nelson... and Kevin Mc (55+) on the line. After a Collar Bone and a Separated Shoulder I have to admit I still am playing the head game thing. I seem to be sitting at the back for most of the Race (I know bad), and in the closing laps pulling myself up to the front to see what happens. This crit had some predictability to it in that Safeway would be setting up Greg for the sprint, and Kevin M. would try to ride off the front of the group! Kevin does not like to mix it up in the sprints! So as predicted Kevin rolls off the front, and Safeway starts to set Greg up for the sprint! 3 laps to go and I pulled myself to the front to try and set John up for a top ten finish! John had been doing a good job of keeping himself up front for most of the Race. Things didn't quite go as planned, and John held on for 11th... Kevin off the front for the win... Greg winner of the Field sprint! I hate when you call it, and do nothing about it! Oh Well that Racing!... Up next Zamora.
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The threat of rain had me nervous, in that no one likes Racing when it's pouring! Well to wake up to clear skies, and no rain. Sunday Morning was a real treat! I picked John up early AM who had not gotten any sleep the night before (Helping his son's broken car). None the less we were on our way to Zamora for an early AM start. Our Race was going off at 8:10... We did have winds, but thank goodness the rain held off. Now I have a general rule of thumb! Don't go with first break! Heard it from someone somewhere... Again none the less it was something I heard! Well first turn into the head wind, and riders attacked! Splits started to happen, and I guess thank goodness John read it right and went with a break... Well you know what happen next! Don't you? No one chased! The breakaway slowly started to ride away from us, which now creates another scenario... We (DBC) now have to just sit in, and not help to bring the break back! Makes for a boring race in that you fall victim to the actions of the others. Which decided that chasing was not in the play book. As the group on each lap came up to the base of the KOM, I would put myself up at the front....... Good/Bad?Hmmmmmm! Well I wasn't going to ramp it up so I just kept the pace at one that I thought was not gaining any ground on John. Everyone seemed happy just to sit in as we went up the climb, and as we turned into the headwind towards and pass the Start/Finish line. Once we turned back onto the Frontage Rd. Safeway ????????? Who had a guy off the front decided to give chase... Well after my time at he front it was enough that I finally had to scream uncle! Pop Pop Pop... We had seen it all day as we had passed riders that were in a similar boat. Once I somewhat recovered I gave chase, and by the time I hit the base of the KOM we almost had the group... Down side it was the last lap, and the attacks up the KOM were hot and heavy since there was still a chance to place in the top ten. So I was pretty much left to finish at the back of the group... Oh Well! John held on for 5th! Pretty Good you'd think... Kinda funny that he was beating himself up for letting his 2 breakaway partners beat him in the sprint! I guess that is a good thing in that it adds to your learning experience. Anyway all in all a good weekend. We had two good days of Racing with good finishes, and still lots of Racing to go!

Never be Late for Dinner!

So we were told we would be fighting daylight on the Tues/Thurs race ride. Don't be late!... Word of advise... Don't show up at 5:32! Myself, Jane, and Nils roll up to an empty parking lot. We figured we had three of us, an they couldn't be that far ahead.
So we decide to chase... Now the bad thing about chasing is that your legs haven't really warmed up! So going to 300+ watts starts to hurt in like 30 seconds. HTFU! We can see them off in the distance, and we catch and pass recumbent Frank... He confirms their just ahead. Wouldn't you know it we would choose the night they decide to ramp it up right out of the gate. as we chase down 29 we are slowly rolling past people already being spit off the back! WOW What the frick! Let me tell you there's nothing like 25mph and not gaining any ground.
To make a long story of suffering short, we finally caught them at Winters. Once back in the group I think it's time to sit at the back and recover... Not the wife! She's rolls up the front of the group deciding to mix it up with the boys! Second sprint rolls as normal... Attacks, drop off... Attacks, drop off.... I give it one big pull to try and catch Switters and Phil. Can't quite do it... I drop off and fall to the back. Second sprint ends... Not sure who won... Off for leg 3 of the night. We normally roll easy down Stevenson Bridge but for some reason slow came at 25/27 mph... Zzzeeeee's this is getting a little out of control. We make the turn onto Old Davis, and everyone is trying to position themselves for the final sprint... Speed increases... Pack is getting tight... Attack... Counter... Attack... Counter... Speed increasing! Pack about to explode with sprints!
GO... Someone GO!... Now! Now! Now!... WHAT THE! Ding Ding Ding Ding! What a Train? Crap! Nothing like getting shut down in a heartbeat... We are all laughing... All claiming victory. Rail arms go up... Cody attacks... 300 meters out front! Just to keep the kid in line, and his head in check... Switters runs him down and takes the sprint! This was my first Race Ride of 2009... Just had to say it's good to be back... Just make sure your on TIME!


Ciao...

WeekEnd in Paradise

So my weekend went like this... Upside things... Start time for my first Race was at 12:45 Saturday. Upside thing... Able to leave at 7:00 Saturday. Good thing... Got to Madera with
plenty of time to spare. First event the Crit! Went to registration, and met with John and Nelson.

My riding partners for the weekend... 45+. Got my number Left side... Right Side... Left side. Yo Yo musical numbers... I look left, and who's signing up for the 45+ Bubba M. Well that just up'd the ante for the weekend. Bubba likes to hurt people... You know rip their legs off kind of hurt! Watch'z ya gonna do? HTFU! First event the Crit... Normal roundy round ride'n... Few attempts to get off the front early by a few riders... Nothing sticking... 8 mins gone by... 40 min Race... Lot'za time... 20 min in, and another break... Bubba! Not good but still early. Lapping the 55+ for the first time... Why does this always happen right when you are coming into a corner? Bubba and another rider still off the front, don't seem to be closing... Fast forward final 3 laps... Up to the front I go. 2 laps sitting about 5th wheel good but not great. To far forward sometimes is not a good thing especially if no one is setting a real fast pace. Sure enough BELL LAP! Fighting to stay near the front! One corner down three to go! Next corner still good... Stegall comes flying up along my right side... Yelling grab my wheel! Hesitate (Stupid) for a moment... Problem #2... We are about to lap the 55+ for a second time... Problem #3 we are all heading for turn 3 at full speed! Now last time I had someone tell me about Physics... IS... That two solid objects cannot occupy the same place at the same time... This is not a good scenario un-folding in front of us! We're all SCREAMING LEFT LEFT! Brakes coming on! Through the corner... Lost John's wheel... We're into the last corner everyone one going full gas! Sprints are on! We never caught Bubba, and I finished where I needed to be two corners ago... On John's wheel! That Sucks... I hate making stupid moves! One down two to go...
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Up next the Time Trail... Report goes as follows....

Fu#&'n Bee!
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?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????THIS SUCKS!
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Up next the ROAD RACE! This was an early one... AM start... Good and Bad... Bad up at 5am. Good... Done early. Met John at his hotel for Breakfast... Hmmmm Pancakes and eggs... Looks good John! Hmmmm, I'll have some Oatmeal. We down our breakfast, and we're off. Get to the Race with plenty of time... For what ever stupid reason I just don't stress about warming up for a Road Race (especially the flat ones). We roll out neutral for about a mile... Left hander onto the course. Had I mentioned Bubba before! Swoosh 35 mph in an instant... Git in, shut up, hold on. We motor along for the first lap... Few attempts at a break, but nothing sticking. First laps are always a gamble for a break... Too many guys with fresh legs willing to chase things down. Second lap we roll by the feed... Tempo still high. As we make the right hand turn back onto the main road I see a group start to roll off the front... Looks like about 6 guys, and guess what! All the main Teams were represented... Not Good! There still close enough to bridge... Off I go... Up the left, on the line coming up on a slower rider... Move left a little... You know what I would call a "Center Line Fudge" about in my book 3 to 5 lines, just enough to get around one guy! I'm clear and starting to bridge... Then that familiar sound of a MotorCycle... Then comes the look, and the FINGER POINT! Back to the back DAVIS! Crap... Guilty! What could I say. Caught with my hand in the Cookie Jar! Had I mentioned before I hate doing stupid things.Drift to the back, take a few minutes to recover. By now the breakaway had open a gap that would be to hard to jump across by myself. So up to the front I went, and began to chase!
The bad part about this whole deal was that the power in the Peleton had guys in the break!
Any Help? NOT!... Soon Nelson and John came up to try and help. We kept the pace high, and began the slow process of trying to pull the break back. VOS had put a guy near the front (great tactics) he wouldn't pull, and did not try to interrupt the chase (very professional), he was always willing to let us back in line. This Cat and Mouse game went on for the last lap and a half.
We were able to bring the gap down, and finally a couple other smaller Teams came up and, started to help with the chase. As we came on to the rollers, I gave it one more effort hoping John and Nelson could stay near the front. Might still be able to pull a top 10 for the DBC.
Into the last roller to the finish line I finally popped, and resigned myself to finishing at the back of the group. Good Finish? Hmmm maybe not! Good Racing? You bet! Being in the break would have been awesome! Deciding to try and do something about it... Priceless

Ciao...