Santa Cruz Classic Criterium

Flying solo for Mike's Bikes against a stacked field of Cal Giant and Specialized, then add to it 39 laps and a hill and I will honestly say I was a little intimidated.

The "plan" was to be near the front and wait a dozen laps or so before attempting to get into a move. Low and behold that plan did not work as before I knew it there was a breakaway with fifteen or more seconds. How did I not see them go? Anyway, they were up there, and I was back here and Cal Giant was definitely not letting anyone bridge. I tried to sneak away around the hairpin and up the climb but all moves by anyone were pegged by a Cal Giant racer. A little frustrated I waited for the bunch sprint, the break was gone for good. On the bell lap I was in the first handful of racers going into the hairpin. World Champion Larry Nolan took a big pull coming out of it and through the soft chicanes toward the hill. Steve Reaney took off on the hill, everyone followed, I jostled then started sprinting.  Halfway through my sprint I thought: wow these Reynolds Forty Six wheels are fast!  They just kept spinning faster and faster (it was my first time using carbon wheels).  I kept sprinting, got held up by a fading racer, but slide by a few more. Kept sprinting. Managed to hold everyone but the breakaway of four and the National Elite Criterium Champ, Steve Reaney. 6th Place.

-Rainier

Turlock RR 2011 E4 Report

While many of the Central Valley destinations offered up by the long NorCal road bike racing season are, perhaps, less than picturesque, the same cannot be said for this weekend’s inaugural Turlock Road Race. The race course was situated as a clockwise circuit of the Turlock Lake, lapped twice for the Cat 4 field for a distance near 55 miles. From the start finish area, we were treated to a beautiful view of the lake and the brutally rolling course offered a wonderful change of pace from office park crits that are so easy to get to, but really leave a little something to be desired.

I arrived for my noon start in Turlock looking to shake things up a bit. My training has been going well, but a few spells of bad luck have left me

a little short on results. I hadn’t seen the course before, but I got a bit of a course recon report from fellow Mike’s Bikes racer, Paul Ngo, who had raced the 3s race early in the morning. Paul’s report of a lot of fast short rollers turned out to be an accurate picture.

The 4s race rolled out with around 75 riders with some fairly well staffed teams in attendance. Davis, Rio Strada, and San Jose had all brought at least 5 guys a piece, and, being alone, I had found a few friends in the staging area who were also short on teammates for the day. Immediately from the gate, the course has a fair bit of false flat descending, with a few mild rollers. Upon turning onto Los Cerritos, the real rollers start to show themselves and as the circumnavigation of the lake continues, the rollers from Snelling RR, and a very difficult set unique to Turlock combine forces to make for a very difficult lap of racing.

After rolling along near the front of the group with a few attempts to get a group to go up the road (one particularly vicious attack on a roller familiar to those who have raced Snelling punched a pretty big hole in the pack’s moral, if not the pack itself), I settled into the pack for the last half lap before putting myself out in the wind a bit to move back to front of the group in the closing 5k. With about 1.5k to go, the pace picked up a bit and the jostling for position began. With 1k to go a line began to form on the left side of the road, which a thought was odd given that the last bend was a very slight right hander. I stayed to the right and positioned myself behind a Daniel Stevens (a friend of the team) and when Oliver W. from Rio Strada let loose with about 200 to go and Daniel didn’t respond I screamed at him to jump and then went around him in an attempt to chase Oliver down. Unfortunately I ran out of road, but rolled across for 2^nd place.

Check out the video below for the final few kilometers. I’m the enormous guy in the Mike’s kit on the beautiful Cannondale SuperSix, Daniel is also on a SuperSix in a green/white SB kit and Oliver is in the dark kit with the white compression socks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWitLKKgOQY

All in all, I’m pumped about my first podium of the year. I can’t wait to unleash the full force of the Team Mike’s Bikes 4s (all 2 of us) on Copperopolis in 2 weeks!! MBFY!!

(Sorry about being so tall....it looks pretty silly doesn't it?)

-John

Apple Pit Criterium

I was finally able to sneak out for a bike race this Sunday and figured the Apple Pit Criterium in Santa Rosa would be a great low key event.  Well, it was great, but with 125 riders in the field it wasn't exactly low key.  It was a P/1/2/3 race and at 90 minutes long, the wind picking up and a motivated field, the race was sure to be fun. From the gun, riders were attacking like crazy, but nothing was really sticking.  Webcore  Alto Velo had the largest team in the race and they were racing very aggressively.  Moves would go and dangle, but nothing would get more than 10 seconds before coming back quickly.  I went with several moves and even attacked at what felt like the right time, got the right combination of riders (Cal Giant, Webcore, Clif. . . everyone with a teammate that would be happy to let us go) but nothing stuck.

However, at about the 50 minute mark, it was clear that the field was getting tired.  The front of the race was a long line of single file riders, all fighting hard for position.  Moves would lob of the front, stringing the field out more and more.  Shortly thereafter, I went with a move that contained several Webcore riders, a Cal Giant rider and a few others.  We worked and got a gap, with riders stickling onto the back from the field.

All of the sudden, our "breakaway" has 30 guys in it and the field sat up.  Hmm. . . awkward.  The race is almost over.  There are all of the strong riders and teams represented.  What now?  If we continue to race aggressively, something might stick out of this group. But there are a lot of guys with team mates sitting in waiting for a sprint, making a sprint likely. After some deliberation, I decided just to sit and wait.  Cal Giant soon made it clear they were working for a sprint (though they were yelling at everyone else who was waiting for the sprint).  Webcore was trying desperately for a break to stick from that group, but after being the most active team all day they didn't seem to have the juice left to make it work.

Going into the last few laps, I got good position on the wheel of Steve Reaney (Cal Giant) and waited.  Patrick Briggs (Yahoo!) jumped early and got a gap, but Jared (Cal Giant) hit it before the last corner with Steve and me on his wheel. I launched my sprint with ~200 meters to go, almost plowing into the back of Jared as he came backwards.  Reaney dusted me, but I still managed to get Briggs and Jared for second place.

It was a great race and tons of fun, just the kind of race to make you realize how lucky you are to be able to race your bike.

Unfortunately, Apple Pie's only went to the winner. . . got to work on that for next year.

Landpark Crit

My first race of the season, and my third in the P12 field could not have started better as the inclement weather tapered off and sunshine showed on Landpark Criterium in Sacramento.   I love Landpark!  It is essentially an oval shape, with the start/finish at one end of a straightaway, and two tight chicanes pressed together at the other end of the oval.

Thank you for the photographs Jim Elder.

As soon as the whistle blew, breaks commenced, one of which early on contained my teammate Nole Studley.   I watched closely in order to do my best to keep him out there but his break was shortly brought back.  I made sure to get into the next move, and when I was there I realized it wouldn’t be one to stick as it was lacking key racers from the largest team presence in the race, Clif Bar.  As such, we were quickly brought back.  My teammate Ben Stern was up there in the mix.  An attack here and an attack there and a couple laps thereafter, I found myself sliding away in a small group that chased a prime prize.  Maybe nine of us?  We pushed hard, although not exactly smoothly, and built up what one spectator said was a thirty five second lead on the peloton for the majority of the race.   However, some riders would not pull through at the front and others chased primes hard, causing our group to splinter and regroup, hurting our chances of successfully staying away.  To boot, there were two racers from the same team, Webcor, that were working well for each other and not for the longevity our little group.  That being said, it was a sprint for a prime with three laps to go that was the winning move for one of the Webcor riders.  Webcor race was blocking for his teammate ten seconds ahead and our little group could not pull it together to draw him and one other racer back.  My last ditch effort came out of the chicane, sitting third wheel the two ahead of me swung hard right and I attacked hard left to attempt a solo bridge to the two leaders.  My efforts were nullified when the small group latched onto my wheel five hundred meters later.  In that lap the peloton retrieved us and I had a couple laps to move around and get ready for a bunch sprint for what seemed like third place.  On the last lap, coming out of the first chicane I was second wheel and moving into the second and final chicane I was maybe sixth wheel.   The sprint for the finish was long and dodgy, I knocked fists and bumped hips, but managed to hold onto tenth overall.  Glad to be back!

-Rainier

Land Park Criterium

Team Mikes Bikes racers were itching for some action after what feels like a month of rain, I don't know about you but I'm getting tired of washing my bike (thank heavens for the Bike Smart Muck Off kit!)

Nole and I headed out saturday morning to the Land Park criterium in Sac. a really cool, technical course in a lovely park setting in south Sac. The weather was optimistic leaving my place in Martinez, but turned awful by the time we reached Davis.

We spoke to Becker on the way up and he informed us that the conditions were downright horrible, this excited me. We arrived at Mikes Bikes Sacramento and got ready. I was looking forward to testing out the team newly arrived racing wheels, Reynolds 46mm tubulars with specialized Mondo tubular tires. They looked fast anyways! I got changed, warmed up, and started out into a heavy downpour for the short ride over to the course for the 30+ 1/23 race where I'd have my first chance to race with Keven :)

The course was pretty crazy in the wet, especially the first half before the rain subsided. Keven bridged to an early break, (nice work!) which looked promising, unfortunately it was brought back and there was some reshuffling before a Jesse Moore inspired effort went clear just after the midpoint in the race. I sensed the timing of that but missed the move, and my effort to bridge came up a wee bit short. It was a lot of fun though, especially as the rain let up. Keven's strength was inspiring, looking forward to racing with him again soon!

In the hour between the 30+ and the P/1/2 the sun came out and the wind picked up and the course was completely dry for the start! go figure. Nole initiated the first move of the race, and moments later Rainier had made it into the significant move of the race. That break shouldn't have ever come back with 8 guys and all the major team represented, and no real chase coming from anyone not named Jesse Moore or Greg White. Nole and I were sitting in the chase group trying to block a bit at times and in general just watch for moves. There wasn't much coordination to the chase, but i suppose we were moving cause the group whittled down to about 18 guys. The break hovered around 15-20 seconds and Rainier looked really good whenever I'd catch a glimpse of them. With about 10 laps to go I figured they weren't going to stay away, because their advantage wasnt increasing at all and I think they started to attack each other. I told Nole to prepare to win this thing in a sprint and tried to keep him sheltered in the cross wind portion as best I could. The break did come back with less than 2 laps to go and the sprint was pretty chaotic from what Nole's pedal struck calf would indicate! He and Rainer got 10th and 12th respectively and yours truly managed to finish his second race of the day. Looking forward to upcoming NorCal Monuments: Santa Cruz, Menlo Park, and the Mike's Bikes Cat's Hill Classic. See you all there!

-Ben

Madera Stage Race

After tons of confusion and oodles of disappointment, I was granted time off work and motored my way down to the Vlaanderen of Norcal: Madera.  Not quite a fair comparison (not fair at all, really), but the short rollers and farmlands and torn up roads do bring some similarity.  A guy can pretend!

Before diving into the nitty gritty, I'd like to make a note about race promotion.  Having racing the Merco weekend seven days previous, I found some stark contrasts.  Topsport did a fantastic job with Merco: results were posted within twenty minutes, start/finish areas were clean and concise, the registration attendants actually knew which side our numbers were supposed to be pinned, the crit course had full barriers, etc.  Madera, on the other hand, was yet another Velopromo event.  Don't get me wrong, I'm very thankful for the events Velopromo puts on...I just think they could up their game and attitude a little bit.  The differences between the two weekends were obvious.  I'll leave it at that.

Criterium

7:30 AM, ouch.  I expected this one to stay together, and it did.  I can't wait to get out of the 4s, the negative racing is killing me.  A few laps in, John rides up the inside next to me and jumps to bridge up to a little move, yet seemingly Schlecks it and nearly endos!  He rode his front wheel for a good 50 meters in a move that, as far as I could tell, defied all physics given his momentum and the fact that he started out of the saddle.  Impressive skills on instinct.  Turns out his rear quick release got knocked open in the previous turn, and his rear wheel came out of the dropouts as he went to jump, then popped back in when he landed.  According to the official, this was not a mechanical issue worthy of a free lap as nothing was broken.  REALLY?  I'm not sure if this one is on USA Cycling or Velopromo, but damn, very weak.  I didn't see John the rest of the race, as he was forced to TT around solo to not get pulled.  They finally pulled him with one lap to go and let him keep his number.  On that final lap, I moved up to fourth or fifth wheel and hung out there until the back stretch.  I noticed a good 5 mph drop in speed over the train tracks, and had the idea of a 1 km attack in the back of my mind if the same lull in pace happened.  Sure enough, the pace drops on the back stretch, and some guy a couple spots attacks pretty hard.  I risked it and jumped on his wheel, we had a gap around the last corner, and the guy takes the slowest possible line.  I was forced to jump around and start my sprint early as the pack hit it up the outside, and managed to hold on for 3rd spot by half of a wheel.  I probably would have had a better result if I was more patient, and I probably would have had a better result if that guy took a faster line around that last corner.  I'm learning new things about the last lap at every race.

Time Trial

Not much to say.  There was wind, as expected.  It hurt, as expected.  I remember passing a guy or two, some turns, and the finish.  John missed the second turn, which had no flag person and about three cones.  I finished 9th and was at 8th on GC.

Road Race

With about two minutes to make up for a GC win and no upgrade points for it, my tentative plan was to hang out and wait for the final rollers.  The first three laps were civil and nothing important went down.  We started the fourth lap and I rolled up next to John and gave him a good stare.  He knew, and launched off the front.  After everyone freaked out and chased him down, I countered and got a good gap.  I lost sight of the pack for a bit and hung on for a few minutes, hoping that someone would bridge and we could take over GC.  However, given the negative tactics and that first on GC was a big guy who put 1:30 into second place in the TT, it wasn't going to happen.  John told me to stay put and commenced with some wild display of stubborn power, attacking about fifteen more times and frustrating the hell out of the strong guys, who kept chasing him down.  He did well to soften them up, as I followed #1 GC over the apocalyptic pavement and to the rollers.  John hit it again and stayed out front for the first few rollers, and I jumped on the Davis train heading to the last hill.  Everyone hit it at the bottom, and I dug for 5th behind three skinny ass juniors - most notably little Diego, who also won the crit.  I probably would have had more in my legs if I kept it in my pants earlier on, but attacking like that is fun and I wanted to have a go at GC.  I played it smart the rest of the race, but, lesson learned.

Great fun this weekend, a few more upgrade points, lessons learned, huge pancakes, some good talkin' to from the Velopromo moustaches, and a thankful evasion of bed bugs.

Cantua Creek Race Report

While a bit hesitant to pack the car and head out into the awful weather Friday night, I made the 3+ hour drive down to beautiful Coalinga, CA in anticipation of the following days Catua Creek Road Race. While the drive down did little to encourage me, the sky on Saturday morning had cleared and as the air began to warm, I knew we had a great day for racing on our hands.

The Cantua Creek RR course is actually a 26 mile (round-trip) out and back course. The majority of the course is pretty flat, with the exception being a couple freeway (I-5) overpasses and a challenging, lumpy section at the start finish area. The course is all single lane, with the centerline rule in effect.

The E4 race was a three lap affair (70+ mile total). Of course, this early in the year, everyone is still feeling out their own form as well as the condition of the other racers, so it’s tough to pick a guy to follow all day. I had a few ideas of who had been going well and thought I’d wait until the last lap to see who looked strong.

The race got off to a typical fast start, and everyone was moving around the road trying to get comfortable. Because of the rain from the week, the shoulders of the road were fairly muddy, causing more than a few nervous riders, but more annoyingly, the mud was very sticky causing quite a bit of mud to build up between brakes and tires. I was unfortunate enough to pick up a rock that became jammed between by front tire and the crown of my fork. After trying to shake it loose for about 30 minutes (mental note: DO NOT put your fingers in between your fork and spinning tire!), I was forced to stop to get the rock out. While certainly a blow to my mental game, the group wasn’t moving particularly fast at that point, so I got back in without much a problem.

….and it was a good thing because that’s when the attacks began! Two juniors sprinted away from the group and as soon as soon as they were reeled in, another pair of racers decided it was time to go and they went away. The group didn’t respond at all to this pair until the second lap when they were caught after the start/finish downhill section. Once again, the group was pretty mellow until a solo effort went clear and was completely left alone. In fact, most of the group had no idea that anyone had gone. As the group rounded the turn around at the far end of the course we were informed that he had 1:10-1:30 on the group. While not panicking (35+ miles left after all) the group definitely stepped-up our efforts. It wasn’t until starting the 3rd lap, though, that he was back in the fold.

So there we were, 2 laps complete, 25 miles to go. At this point the group began to really accordion a lot. It was a fascinating bit of racing, because we were surging so much. At some points we would start drilling it and the next moment we would all slow down to about 15 mph. It seemed that no one wanted to give anything away and so no one chose to do any work. A few small attacks were tossed in on after the last turn-around, but they really did little more than accelerate the group for a short time. It was becoming clear that we would make it to the last section of rollers together.

The finish at Cantua is about a 2.5-3k section of road that begins with a sweeping right hand turn over and over pass and then a series of rollers into the line. The final k is and up hill right hander, flatish section, and then a 200m roller up to the finish line. The centerline rule was in effect until 200m when we were allowed full use of the road. Although the pace had gone up, no one made a break for the line early, and the pack started to swarm a bit between 1k and 200m to go. I had been sitting in the top 10 at the 1k sign, but as the pack swarmed, I got pushed back a bit, and at 400m to go I began to pick my way forward. I chose wheels pretty poorly, as one guy blew up at about 300m the next guy pulled his cleat out of his pedal and began weaving all over the road. By the time I started to sprint at the 200 sign, a small group of 4 had already begun their kick for the line and I was left behind, rolling across in 8th

The good: The course has a fun finish and the weather was beautiful.

The bad: I didn’t really give myself a great chance at the win.

But overall, it was a very solid day of racing free from crashes and flats, and that’s always a plus.

-John

Out of the Storm - Fresno Weekend - Cantua Creek & Pine Flat Road Race

Quote of the weekend:

"Are you trying to kill us? There's gasoline on the ground."

- Gas station attendant reacting to Ben's camping trip meal at the gas station.

Well, who would have thought that a 4am wakeup call would lead me to beautiful weather. In the right place and at the right time.

Ben Stern and I headed out of Berkeley running water off with the wipers. When we hit Coalinga, the sun came up and we were treated to a 4 hour window of blue skies. It was still 40 degrees… burrr.

For Cantua Creek Ben mentored the Cat 5 field. I mentored the Cat 5 Masters Field. For Pine Flat, we switched groups.

-Shawn

I Heart Criterium Racing

Record breaking temps and two days of 180 degree turning fun! The Cherry Pie Criterium is the unofficial kick off crit for the NorCal road racing season, and its a good one! This years unbelievable February weather helped make it an enthusiasm builder weekend. Fresh off our team camp (which had weather on the other side of the spectrum) the Mike's Bikes team was kitted up and throwing down at Cherry Pie and the Ronde Van Brisbeen (Saturday) races. On Saturday, Keven and Paul rode like studs and both finished in the top ten on a tricky course. I hear they bagged some primes (prizes for the winners of a lap) too. Some awesome POV camera work by a fellow racer shows just how well these two raced on Saturday and is a very cool watch. Scroll to 1:30 for some good footage of Keven and Paul:

Sunday was just delightful, Shawn and I headed out to Napa really early and saw off some of our friends in the junior race, which was a field chock full of up and coming talent. Great to see the kids progressing (and good recon of those twerps for when I face them later in the day in the P/1/2 race). I set up shop on top of the little hill where you can see nearly the entire racecourse, and had a bunch of friends, teammates and so's join me for spells. My first attempt at Ryan's magic breakfast rice was successful and powered my mornings spectating and poor yet spirited dancing. Our cat 4's had a good race, unfortunately Bex got involved in a spill and while he was ok, he just missed the free lap rule and was unable to reenter the race and tear everyone's legs off on the bell lap. Ryjo pulled a 10th-ish finish and looked comfy out there. Paul and Keven were all over the front end of the race for the second day in a row and rode efficiently. They were just a bit off from closing the deal, with Keven in the top 10 again and Paul just behind. Its just a matter of time till these two strong riders sniff out just the right timing and tactics to notch the Mike's Bikes team some wins. By the time that race ended I was digging deeper into the picnic basket for some sandwiches, bananas and other snacks, starting to get anxious to throw on my own kit and start warming up.

Finally it was time and I rallied Shawn to kit up and get a warmup going. It was definitely getting windy and I noticed I felt a lot better warming up with the aid of a tailwind! Did a few sprints to open the legs up and felt solid. Dibble and Studley arrive and we are all smiles. Get to the line to see a good sized field (80+) We went in without much of a plan except to use Shawn early. He did a great job watching the front end of the proceedings early on and can be seen pictured off the front tailing the likes of Mike's Bikes Berkeley employee and Yahoo! strongman Nate English. Tyler took the reigns from there and got into the mix in some of the days failed breakaway attempts. The reversed wind (from most years on this course) played out in a fast yet clumping type race for the P/1/2 field and nothing got very far up the road despite some strong riders digging hard.

In the end the race came down to an unorganized and chaotic bell lap where Nole had a strong effort and can be seen building the confidence to sprint with the big names. We already know he can produce the speed! The podium was made up of Logan Loader, Fast Freddie Rodriguez, and Sam Bassetti. Gotta love NorCal, where else can you get your arse handed to you in an office park crit by a former ProTour star for a mere $30?! Can't wait to get a few more weeks good training in the legs and some of our strongmen off the IR. Gonna be a great inaugural season for Team Mike's Bikes.

I'm off to get married, see y'all in a hot minute :)

-Ben

Reflections on Early Bird #1

Larry Nolan has a great expression that I’ve heard said one way or another at each Early Bird Crit. It goes something like, “You know how you thought you should get into racing because everyone you rode with told you how fast you were? Well, look around, because everyone here has heard the same thing.” I’ve always loved that line….I think it sums up the feeling of the Early Birds perfectly.

This year’s kick-off, Early Bird Crit #1, was no different. Everyone who comes down to Fremont, from the newest Cat 5 to the most grizzled Cat 1 (I’m thinking Pat Briggs here), all secretly harbors a hope that they’ve brought something to the table that others haven’t. For new racers, ignorance, as they say, is bliss. While for returning racers, that hope may stem from a winter training plan that started in October, a diet that was meticulously adhered to

through the holidays, or even a simple plan to not “show” any real form until later in the year. Regardless of the approach, every real bike racer comes into a race with a plan and a dream.

So what’s my plan this year? Well, frankly, to reveal that gives away too much right from the start, but let’s say that roaming around a race venue with easily the most well supplied and outfitted team in NorCal doesn’t hurt one’s mental approach. Before hardly a pedal has turned in anger, Team Mike’s Bikes is looking at a great year. Somewhere between the Cannondale Super Sixes and the fully custom Capo kits, we know we’re coming in hot!

Early Bird Criterium #1 came off very well. Several of our more experienced members showed up for the morning and afternoon mentoring sessions. Shawn and Maurice guided many new racers through probably their very first experience riding in a fast pack in the morning, followed by Hank spending most of the afternoon doing the same with the 35+ crowd.

To put a special icing on the day, Hank and Tyler got a chance to ride together and show off our amazing new Team kit in the combined P/1/2/3 race. Both showed excellent poise and I’m fairly certain I saw ear-to-ear grins on both guys!

Looking forward to the year doesn’t even begin to describe the feelings that start to swirl around at the EB’s. With a blend of excitement, hope, and passion (mixed with a healthy dose of fear) the year is off and running. It’s gonna be a good one. MBFY!

- John Becker

Prögress

Rand Miller said it right: "…the lack of racing in the off-season makes the Early Bird Crits seem like fun." (I know, never start off with a quote).  They are fun, though. EB #2

After seeing the aftermath of several gnarly crashes, I was easily convinced to race with the P/1/2/3s.  This didn't make me any less nervous, however, and so I got right to what I do best when I'm nervous: attack!  After a lap or two, about 10 guys rolled off the front, and then a Specialized guy and one more hit it off the front of that group.  I jumped hard and quickly bridged to them, and we made quick work of opening up a gap.  Two more joined (an old Specialized guy and some dude in a polka-dot jersey), and we managed to get 45 seconds on the field in the matter of a few laps.  Unfortunately, my power at threshold isn't quite up to par with ex-Lance compatriots or Nate English, and I popped.  I surfed around the pack (so so much more easily than with the 4s) and rolled across the line at the back of the pack.  My inabilities garnered the title "cream puff" from the NorCalCyclingNews blog, but, hey, I picked the right move!  At least I've got my head on straight.

EB #3

I had planned on riding down from Oaktown with Nole, but after he hangover'd out of it I ended up driving down solo.  Itching to be out in the sun, I got in a good 2.5 hours around Sunol and over Palomares before the race.  I decided my efforts would be best suited for the 4s race today (okay, I wanted to see how I'd match up against some old foes), so I parked it on the grass by turn 1, ate some mashed potatoes, hung out with a dog, and massaged my legs - I call it "coiling."  We lined up, and as I surveyed the field I began to fear for my sweet SuperSix (I call her Kalika - Indian goddess of life/death; creation/destruction).  Shawn said to "get frisky" or something like that, so after watching a few moves get pulled back I rolled up the gutter and dug deep.  I got 20 seconds solo by the first lap, but couldn't manage to recover, and a lap or so later I was swallowed up.  Palomares was laughing at me.  I recovered, watched more moves get pulled back, avoided the sketchballs, and finally heard "2 to go."  As expected, Dolce Vita's leadout train was forming and I began my poaching.  Last lap on the back straight I was in position, and all I had to do was follow the train, hop on the too-early sprint, and bike throw around for the win.  Hooray!

-Ryan

Early Bird Road Race - Pee Breaks Rule

I love the Early Bird Road Race. I have done this race three years in a row now and each year I look forward to it. Not sure if its the 20 mile promenade that allows you to catch up with fellow riders, the kicker of a climb that sheds the sprinters, or the rolling descent back that drops the weenies, but this race is awesome.

Every time I have done this race, it has played out the same way. On the long roll out to the climb, a few strongmen attempt to attack and hit the climb early. They dangle off the front for a bit, then realize it was a bad idea and get swallowed up. The climb is always a ball buster which creates a natural split in the field and allows a break to form off the front. It's worth it to turn yourself inside out on the climb to make this selection because after the descent, if the break works reasonably well together and holds off the

field, it comes down to a sprint between them in the last 500 meters. My first year doing this race as a 5 I made the selection on the hill but ripped open my front tire on the descent and last year as a 4 I made the selection and sprinted in a break of three for 2nd place.

This year was no different than the past two years. There were a few small attacks leading up to the climb and just before it, but the field wasn't letting anything stay away. Kovarus and other teams sent a few people off but Chica Sexy was patrolling the front keeping everything together for their stud David Mesa who won the San Bruno Hill Climb earlier this month. Paul and I floated around the field until the last few miles before the climb where I worked my way up to the front to prepare for pain. Sure enough right when we got to the base on the climb, riders began to press on the pedals. Sinelnikau Aliaksandr from Third Pillar (one of three P/1/2 riders combined with our field but scored separately) went first and got my attention along with a few other riders. Looking at the garmin data, my heart didn't appreciate my responding to this move, but my legs didn't care. Dancing around my max heart rate, I kept it together to the turn around point and sat last in selection of six which included two P/1/2 riders. After doing my best to not crash myself out on the descent, our break of six got organized and began rotation. Everyone did fantastic work but Aliaksandr and Chris Isley of Webcor really showed some strength. The motorcycle gave us a time update of a 40 second split. As we started to get closer to the finish I noticed Marco Arocha of Velosport starting to leak sand as he reached the front and quickly rotated off to the back. Real subtle but smart. With 1km to go, congratulations on a successful break were exchanged and we shuffled for the sprint. I sat third on Mesas wheel and at 250m he went with Arocha. Mesa faded but I ran out of road and finished next to Arocha for 2nd. I asked Arocha about his sand bag issue and he said that he was getting popped off the break and needed to recover. Sorry Marco, don't think you go from getting popped to leading out and winning a sprint in a few km later but nice tactics. I proceeded to ride back to the car and drove to Mike's in Sausalito for a busy Saturday at work.

6 points in the bank. One other thing to make clear though. Pee Breaks Rule. For all you Cat 3 riders who whined and complained when at mile 10 I went to the front and polled for a pit stop, then proceeded to pedal off even though 10 of us had stopped for a nature break, you suck. Thanks to Dr.Phil (no idea who this is) for apparently going to the front and slowing em down. I went to the bathroom right before the race, but I also drank coffee and a bunch of water. I know it's only a two hour race, but I'm not going to carry a basketball full of Mountain Dew up the hill.

- Hank

Early Bird Road Race

I rounded the turnaround in top 10, I thought that I would have been able to catch Hank on the long way down. There was Hank's group of 7 and then me and then other other chasers. After putting in a hard solo chase. I sat up and was joined by a group of about 6 riders. They were pulling pretty hard, know that Hank was in the break, with strong legs and flowing blonde hair, I rotated through but never pulled. We got as close as 38 seconds, with time checks from the moto. We could see Hank's golden locks flowing ahead and there was no group insight from behind.

After we popped some cream puffs along the way, the group stopped chasing at about 2km to go to gear up for the sprint. One guys launches at 1km to go, he fades, others take over and they fade. I waited, but never launched a full out sprint and rode in at 3rd in the group sprint for 8th overall from the P123, but 6th in the 3's.

Looking back, I regret not going harder on the climb to be with Hank's group, I placed too much confidence on catching on the descent.

Good job Hank! Another great start to the season!

- Paul

Early Bird Mentoring Skills Clinic AM session

"beep beep BEEP BEEEEEP BEEEEEEP!!!" "C'mon, the sun isn't even out yet." "BEEEEEEEP BEEEEEP BEEEEP, WAKE UP!!!" "Ughhh, fine!!! (grumble grumble grumble) Happy now?"

"Welcome back to bike racing season, Shawn."

Well, after having a conversation with my alarm clock I decided it was time to have a conversation with my coffee press.

Fast forward…

In Fremont, heart beating. "Bike race parking." "Yeh-ah!" I get to join the orange vest crews alongside Maurice to help mentor the fresh blood. I swear there were 150 people there. It was amazing. I get paired up to mentor a group of 20 with help from one of my upcoming junior stars, Ellis Anderson. We're off and I'm leading the group down the middle of the road to test out "bike bronco" on the always feared, bot dots. "Yee-hah!"

Our next task, get a group of riders, many who have been afraid of riding in a group to feel comfortable riding inches from each other and rotate in a steady paceline. Ellis was a rockstar, helping control both the front and the back of the group. The pacelines were absolutely beautiful. I swear they were smoother than some of my breakaway companions in the pro/1/2 fields. It looks like the future of cycling is looking bright!

- Shawn Rosenthal