Onboard with Eric Riggs - Landpark Criterium

Eric Riggs, our not-so retired teammate, takes a break from law school to race and edit an entertaining GoPro video at Landpark Criterium.

2013 Winters P12 Road Race: A NorCal Classic

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By Adam Switters Winters road race has always been sort of a homecoming for me. Living just down the road in Davis for 6 years while attending college, I have ridden the road race course well north of 100 times. The course brings out every type of rider, from sprinters to climbers. The final climb is just far enough that the climbers can hope to hit it hard and bring a small group to the line, but also just easy enough that sprinters are often able to make it over the top for a chance at a sprint finish. This year’s race was the 6th race of the Cal Cup series and one of the last races of Northern California’s Prestige Series.

Team Mike’s Bikes came into the race with a strong squad that included the defending champion Dana Williams. Add in Roman Kilun who was second in the NorCal Premiere Series, myself who was leading Cal Cup, and on-form riders Brandon Trafton, Nick Newcomb, Shawn Rosenthal and James Laberge. The team was coming to the race with some serious horsepower. Our goals for the race were three-fold:

1. Win the race

2. Defend Cal Cup lead

3. Premier Series Points

What we didn’t want to do however was forsake goal #1 for goals #2 and #3. The main objective was to win the race, and if we happened to grab some points along the way, then that was an added bonus. Joining us in our 96-mile adventure would be a strong Marc-Pro Strava team, and several strong individual riders.

From the gun, a seven-man break got up the road and quickly gained two minutes on the pack. With both Trafton and Newcomb up the road, we were able to sit pretty and relax. After 35 or so miles, Newcomb would come back with three other riders, leaving three riders still up the road, including Trafton. Now out of the break, Marc Pro put five riders on the front of the peloton to close the gap, and with 45miles to go, the race was gruppo compacto. Unlucky for us, we were now down to four riders as both Laberge and Kilun succumbed to flat tires.

The third time up the climb, I helped to push the pace, and off the descent, five riders had a gap. We worked hard to push the gap out as much as we could, but the Marc-Pro led peloton pulled us back in a few miles later. After a quick succession of attacks, Jonathan Teeter (2nd place Cascade TT in Pro 1) managed to get a 30 sec gap. Noting the TT prowess of Teeter, we put Trafton and Newcomb back on the front of the field to keep the gap in check. Despite both riders being in the early break, they rode out of their minds and were slowly bringing back Teeter.

Marc-Pro was having none of this however, and they started attacking once again to try and press their numeric advantage. Trafton managed to sneak off the front once again with perennial strong man, Chuck Hutcheson of Marc-Pro. Hutcheson would ride a tiring Trafton off his wheel coming into the final climb netting him a 30 sec advantage over a dwindling peloton. I hit it up the final climb hard hoping to split up the group, but to my surprise, twenty or so riders were able to crest the climb in the lead group leading to the biggest pack finish that I remember in Winters road race history.

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With continued attacks and tactical games being played, the race became very chaotic. With 2 kilometers to go, my remaining teammate, Dana, and I, were stuck in a back group of 10 dangling about 5-6sec off the lead group. We caught them with 1k to go and Dana shot to the inside while I went around the outside hoping gaps would open. Luckily, with 250m to go, Craig Fellers (Red Peloton) jumped on the outside with Hutcheson and myself on his wheel. Hutcheson jumped with 200m to go and I came off his wheel with 125m to go and put my head down. I was able to take a clear victory and managed to miss a crash that took down its fair share of rider right behind me.

1. Adam Switters (Team Mike’s Bikes p/b Incase)

2. Chuck Hutcheson (Marc-Pro Strava)

3. Thibault Jeannes (Hennebont Cyclisme)

Full results: http://www.usacycling.org/results/?permit=2013-3038

Thanks to Team Mike’s Bikes p/b Incase for their great support and Velo Promo for putting on what I always think of as the best race of the year.

2013 San Ardo Road Race: A Hard Fought Battle

by Brandon Trafton The race started out pretty cold, there was some fog that rolled in over night and being from Fresno, with consistent 100* summers, I was freezing. Rainier however, felt right at home from living in the city of San Francisco.

Right from the gun a Garmin development rider attacked the pack non stop.  There was some response from the field but the split finally happened about an hour into the race. There were seven guys up the road initially. Chris HD, Greg White and I then bridged shortly after. We rotated pretty consistently for the next lap and a half.  Then Chris HD started attacking the breakaway group before the start of the fourth lap.  After one move, I countered and a Lombardi Sports rider followed me. We were then caught by five of the initial break about 20K later.

About 15K to go, there were a series of attacks that ended up putting Colin Joyce (Cal Giant) up the road solo, Chris HD chasing and myself chasing Chris. I didn't look behind too much but when I did, it looked as if if was every man for himself. After I caught Chris, we rotated to catch Colin, we tried to attack around him but he was able to catch on as we passed. Colin was sitting on, so as I pulled out to signal him that he had to work, Chris attacked ceasing the opportunity (craft little devil). We gave Chris a few hundred meters and that was all he needed. He turned on the after burners and stayed away whiles Colin and I reluctantly chased keeping one eye on each other. Colin got the sprint for 2nd and I came in 3rd. It was a very fun race; super active, which I enjoy. Teammate Adam Switters still holds the Cal Cup by 3 pts. I'm looking forward to next weekend in Winters and Vacaville.

Suisun Harbor Criterium 2013 Race Report

by Adam Switters Suisun Harbor was the 4^th race of the Cal Cup series put on by Velo Promo. It’s part of a great series at end of the season races that helps keeps everyone’s motivation high well into September. Even though I was leading the series, the intention was for Team Mike’s Bikes p/b Incase to win the race regardless of who won. If we were able to keep the Cal Cup lead along the way, then that would just be an added bonus. Luckily, after an extended break in May/June, I’ve managed to come back into some form so I was pretty confident that I could pull off a good result for the team.

After yesterday’s first and third finish at the Dunnigan Hill’s road race, the team was flying on high spirits. We were obviously in good form and were excited to race a hard aggressive race. With Suisun’s short, technical and wind course (.5mi long), the race was ideal for a breakaway. We came up with a game plan that consisted of us racing aggressive and trying to stack any breakaways.

After starting out at the back of the pack, I quickly learned that the front of the race was the place to be. After moving up, I managed to spend a number of laps solo off the front before getting caught and countered by my flying teammate, Brandon Trafton. Brandon managed to quickly build up a 15sec gap that allowed me to follow bridge attempts. After following a few moves, we caught Brandon and I was surprised to see that 10 of us has extracted ourselves from the field and Eric had joined us to make 3 Team Mike’s Bikes riders out of 10. With 25 laps to go, our break had 15 seconds and I knew with the team represented, it was going to be hard for the peloton to pull us back.

The next 25 laps were a blur. The break maintained a fast speed not because of good cooperation, but rather because there was a constant flurry of attacks all the way to the finish. I threw in some good attacks, but with my good form, I as holding back a little and looking for the serious moves and my teammates Eric and Brandon were rock stars both attacking and covering every move that went. Much to our chagrin, the race came down to a sprint between the 10 of us. The last lap became chaotic with everyone trying to position themselves for the last corner. I stayed near the front and came through corner 3 in third wheel. Coming into the last corner, I jumped through a narrow gap between Ariel Herrman (Metromint Cycling) and my teammate Eric, managing to pull out a few bike lengths gap immediately as the gap closed. With a 200-meter tailwind finish, I was able to sit up comfortably with 50 meters to go and celebrate the win.

I definitely couldn’t have achieved this win without the selfless work of all my teammates (Eric, Brandon, James Laberge, Travis Lyons, and Rainier Schaefer). I also managed to extend my lead in the Cal Cup, which was an added bonus!

Adam Switters is a former professional cyclist and currently races for Team Mike’s Bikes p/b Incase. He is a USA Cycling Certified Coach is the owner of Switters Coaching. You can check him out at his website http://www.SwittersCoaching.com/. Feel free to comment if you have any ideas for workout or questions.

Dunnigan Hills RR, 2013.

The year prior our team had won this race and we agreed that winning again would be the priority while trying to stack Cal Cup points would come secondary. Race favorites were Johnathan Teeter (Marc-Pro/Strava), Zeke Mostov (Slipstream-Craddock Junior Development Team), Tyler Brandt (Get Crackin'), and Chris Stasny (Hagens Berman Cycling). Thankfully Dunnigan Hills doesn't actually have any hills, because otherwise it would have been a slightly boring day of watching Teeter and Mostov ride away from everyone. The course is flat, borderline windy, with some small rolling hill sections - which is exactly what is needed to max out the Specialized Venge's aerodynamic advantage. Unfortunately less than two miles in the race four riders went down on an oil slick taking down teammate Steve O'Mara - a huge blow to us as O'Mara has been a dark horse all season long and would have caught a lot of competition off guard by how strong he is.

The first move came at about five miles and had too many big names in it and not enough teammates. Teammate Rainier Schaefer and I sat on trying to convince the break to sit up and reshuffle, but they decided to keep riding and deal with us later.

"Later" came in the headwind section with thirty-five miles to go, with everyone in the break taking turns to launch attacks. Schaefer was on point today in a big way and took turns with me matching each acceleration. Mostov and Chuck Hutcheson (Marc-Pro/Strava) were able to split the break up and rode away with me on their wheel, but with some fifteen riders giving chase and myself still not liking the odds and not working we all regrouped with ten miles to the finish.

A lot of cat and mouse riding started up, with Hutcheson trying to put me in a box every time Teeter attacked. It probably should've made me mad, but it was so ineffective that it was actually really cute. Chris Harland-Dunaway (Marc-Pro/Strava) showed just how big his motor was and took some big pulls and some huge welds during this time, chasing down moves he missed and ultimately keeping everyone together for a pack sprint finish.

Coming into two kilometers to go Mostov attacked and made the move of the day, putting in huge time into the group very rapidly. Schaefer came out of nowhere and did a tremendous job of chasing him down and setting me and teammate Adam Switters up for the sprint. Right when I thought Schaefer was dead and done for, he shifts up a few more gears and starts his standing sprint for a good ten more seconds.

His lead out had caught everyone off guard and riders who should have been marking me were too many bike lengths back - it set me up perfectly for my jump at around 400 meters to the finish.

The gap opened on my jump proved large enough to hold off the group for the win, with teammate Adam Switters flying in for third place just behind.

riggswin

Alex Chiu  and Tim Westmore were at the race and took some amazing shots. Special thanks to Heather Pugh for sitting in the feed zone all day for us and feeding me boat loads of OSMO and Equator Coffee.

Menlo Park Grand Prix

by James Laberge After last night's San Rafael Twilight Critrium, it took a little bit of extra time to get up and get moving but once I drove down to Menlo Park, it was all game on and the forces of the team were ready to head out for a win in the prestigious Premier series race. The team was: Roman Kilun, Shawn Rosenthal, Rainier Schaefer, Dana williams, and myself. The plan was to be attentive because it was windy but if it comes down to a field sprint, then Roman would lead me out for the sprint.

The race started out fast with lots of guys trying to gutter everyone, making nobody feel safe in the pack. Lots of attacks kept going up the road and only a couple cases where there was a decent gap back to the pack but with the strengths of seasoned pros such as Nate English (5 Hour Energy) and Phil Mooney (Jamis/ Hagens Berman) everything was getting brought back. This was until about 15 laps to go when former teammate Tyler Brandt (Get Crackin') and Rob Evans (Bear Development) were able to get away and get another decent gap but this time no one wanted to chase it down.

We threw in some attacks trying to bridge up there but nothing suceeded. With 5 laps to go, we put the whole team on the front to start slowly bring the two breakaway riders back. At about 2-3 laps to go, they were about 15 second up the road and other teams wanted to take over so we let them do that to save fire power for the last lap and then we took over at 1 lap to go, just as we catch Tyler and Rob. Shawn then took a massive pull in the headwind section on the back straight and then an attack came from Phil but we were able to get on him right away. Coming through the last couple turns/chicaine, I was 3rd wheel behind Roman and Dana. Dana opened up his sprint and I stayed on him for another 50 to 100 meters and then opened up my sprint. I put my head down and was able to put my hand up for the win! Dana was also able to hang on for 2nd place and makes a Team Mike's bikes P/B Incase victory and 1-2 finish! Roman was able to hold onto 9th place and keep his distance from Chuck Hutcheson (Marc-Pro Strava) in the individual standings in the premier series.

It was a great job by the team today and we did a great lead out for the win and extend our lead in the Team standings by about 75 points. Thank you again to Shawn, Rainier, Roman, and Dana for a great lead out and teamwork! Thanks also to all of the sponsors that support the team! Thanks for reading.