By Daniel Holloway

It had been some time since I last raced Berkeley Hills. I don’t recall much about my last experience, but I’m sure I didn’t finish. Our team tactic was simple and one we have been using as of late. For now I will keep it a secret as it seems to be working. The race started at and nice early 7:30 AM and the weather was surprisingly warm. It was clear hydration was going to be key – the more Osmo we could get, the better.

Photo Credit Tim Westmore.

Once we made the turn on to San Pablo Dam (SPD) road we started to launch our attacks, and then covering anything that went across. Nothing really got established on the first lap.

The second time down SPD Switters launched and got a solid gap with another rider. Third time around the race got aggressive again and Shawn and I found ourselves in a group of ten or so. As we get to the bottom of the climbs Shawn says he isn’t feeling great, I asked for some food and he filled my pockets. Rather than destroying himself to stay in the break he went back to the field to tell the rest of the guys we needed to reset the break away.

A half lap later Roman and Steve made it up to the group, savior arrives. I had a quick chat with Roman about how we should ride, I was feeling really good and felt I could get the job done in the right circumstances. Roman and Steve rolled through with the rest of the breakaway while I sat at the back playing poker, only pulling through when I had to, not to disrupt the rhythm.

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This race has been a race that I’ve been wanting to do for a few years now and I was excited to race it this year and experience an NCC (National Criterium Calendar) race. On top of all of this excitement, the team was all looking to work for me to pull off a good result or possibly the win! With the excitement exceeding high, it was hard to stay calm and think about other things in life that could keep me away from thinking about it. I got to the race with Dana a couple hours before after flying in that morning, got registered, pinned up numbers, warmed up and before we knew it it was time to race!

Photo Credit: La Sarge Photography

The weather was a possible factor with it being about 65 degrees and mostly cloudy and rain drops looking to fall down anytime, but there was no rain drops the entirety of the race. The race started out fast which was expected so I let riders use all of their energy to attack and follow moves and by the time about 30 minutes into the race, I knew it was to come down to a field sprint with all of the team that were represented in the race (CashCall, MRI, Optum, and Smartstop). Eric was able to get a few primes throughout the race and about 60 minutes into the race (out of 90 minutes) through I told him to relax and save it for the end (lead out). Read more

by Daniel Holloway

I have always like Wente, Its a longer circuit with wide roads. Its always fast and the racing just flows. A smaller field than normal was in attendance, but still had some strong riders. Travis, James and Myself were the representatives for Team Mikes Bikes p/b Incase. Having never seen a break stick it on this course our tactic was to follow moves that only included the few danger men and teams that had numbers. About 20 minutes in to the race we did a big team effort for a prime to get a feel for the final lead out, the group gave the guys going for the prime a large buffer (3 of us). Knowing there was going to be a counter attack, I kept my awareness up. Sure enough a few guys come by, unfortunately we spent a little to much effort for the prime and couldn’t latch on. After a couple laps of everyone attacking the race was in 4 groups. 2-3 guys off the front, a group of 5-6 chasing, another group of 10 or so and then the rest of us. James made a great move to be the second group and then jumping them once they were tired to make it all the way to the front. I had to do it the harder way, I leap frogged from group to group over 3 laps to finally making it up to James and the 4 guys he was with. Once in the group we rolled along smoothly with everyone doing there fair share to make the break stick.  Read more

The break on final climb (Allen Jackson photo)

By Adam Switters

The Wente Vineyards road race is one of my all-time favorites. It’s a great course and one of the few that has a pure hilltop finish. I was a little unsure of my form at this race. I had been involved in a bad crash at Redlands and had taken two weeks off the bike with a bum hand, but I was excited to come help the team.

Team Mike’s Bikes p/b Incase started off the race with a flurry of attacks. We were hoping to be well represented in the early break. Midway through the first lap, Dana and I found ourselves in a fairly large break (~12 riders) that quickly gained time. Dana and I rolled through just enough to keep our breakmates happy, but I was honestly hoping another group would be able to roll up to us later in the race. Read more