SCNCA State iTT Championship - The Report

Strava:  http://www.strava.com/activities/145065407

About Palmdale: if you ever decide to stay up here for any reason, definitely stay on the WEST side of the 14.  I stayed on the EAST side and never felt confident that my car would still be outside my hotel room in the morning.  I didn't even want to leave my bike in my room as there were guys walking around like they were just scoping the place out.  There was even two guys who parked just outside my room and sat in the car and looked at me as I unloaded.  Thankfully, I'm from the hood too, so maybe they recognized one of their own.  HA HA.

About the course: I drove up on Friday and had every plan to just go straight to my hotel and settle in.  However, I opted to have lunch with the wife first, and she had asked whether I was going to check out the course beforehand.  What a novel idea?  It never even dawned on me to do so, but I think doing so would definitely ease some of my anxiety of racing on an course I'm not familiar with.  It took a whingle to get there as it was an extra 25 minutes away from my hotel, but I'm glad I got to see it.  There were some guys there riding the course likely preparing for the race.  I never stopped since it also looked like a place where they filmed Boyz-in-the-Hood.  I drove around the whole thing to check out the road conditions, width, and the varying (albeit slight) elevation change.  The first 6 miles had an average grade of 1%, which made me wonder how the hell people were doing 36 mph averages on it last year.  However, given how hard the wind was blowing in the afternoon, I don't think one even had to pedal to get up to that speed.  The right turn to 240th street led you to a slight downhill, which I figured would provide some reprieve from the slight climb before it.  It didn't take that long to get down it...in a car.  Then there was the right turn to Palmdale where the road was actually finally smooth where the roads before definitely seemedb like they could use some repaving here and there.  It wasn't smooth the whole time as it got rough again after a little pitch up, but it was nowhere near as bad as the last part of the Stagecoach.  On the last road, it was similar to the first two but seemed pretty flat throughout.  For the race, the course would not be closed to cars but it would controlled at the intersections and there was very little traffic in the morning other than support cars driving around.

About the weather:  As I mentioned above, the winds were definitely howling on Friday and I could just see setting some mean KOMs with that wind behind you.  I actually died down some the next morning, but it would be best described as going from a category 4 tornado to a category 3...i.e. it was still a tornado.  It definitely had me wondering how the race was going to be on the course and how to ride through it, but I didn't actually get to see what it would be like until I actually raced it.  I warmed up on my trainer, so I really wasn't sure what to expect except I knew I definitely wasn't looking forward to heading into it. As it turned out, you did have a tail wind on the first stretch, a head wind on 240th, more head wind on Palm, and it behind you once again on 180th and on Avenue O.

About me:  I parked on 180th as most had and warmed up on my trainer as most everyone else seemed to also.  I saw Kim Nida there, possibly Tracy, Rose and Peter before the race but other than that, I just did my own thing.  My own thing included chugging down a bunch of coconut water and some water with electrolytes just before the race.  I tried to put away my trainer and get to the porta potties for a last minute piss given all the fluids I drank in the morning given I had planned on not taking any fluids with me.  However, by the time I got to the porta potties, the line was too long and my time to line up was coming up too fast.  I decided I'd just without taking one and make the best of it.
 
About the race:  I changed my plan this race (last minute) and decided I'd focus more on my power (3s average and overall average) and actually opted not to look at speed at all.  I had speed on my display, but on the very bottom just under distance.  I don't really know if this worked well for me as I ended up feeling like I was always behind the eight ball the whole race, but that's what I get for making changes on the day of the race.  When I finally got going, I was monitoring my power and couldn't figure out why I just couldn't hit the numbers I was hoping for.  I had a decent warm-up being on the trainer for about 20 or so minutes and actually sweating, but I never did push very hard and if anything, probably pushed too little to really get a lot of blood flowing through my legs.  Thus, monitoring my power was definitely making me feel like I just wasn't ever working hard enough.  While my numbers were low, I still did 28+ mph avg on the first stretch.  It wasn't enough though as the guy who started after me was already passed me probably 3/4 of theo way of the stretch.  Sigh.  When I came up on the first right turn, it felt like running into a wall.  You can see it was downhill, but the winds were pushing so hard that I really had a hard time getting through that section at a reasonable speed.  When I got on Palm, I still didn't feel that connection with my bike but pushed through anyway hoping to just get the damn race over with.  After getting passed again, I got a little bit more motivated and finally found my rhythm half way through Palmdale Ave.  I tried to keep the guy who passed me not too far away and succeeded in doing so.  I did end up passing a couple guys in the process as well.  When we hit 180th, I finally felt the wind let up and thought to myself, now it's on.  I tried to chase the guy down and was even pedaling at the top gear throughout, but still I wasn't closing like I'd hoped.  I passed a couple other guys but I don't know if there were in my category or not.  When I rounded the final turn and headed for the finish another 6 miles away, I was really pushing hard and almost held the top gear throughout the entire distance.  I started to run out of steam at the end having pushed so hard, but I managed to average 29.4 on the last stretch.  I was definitely done after that and did not even know how I'd make it back 6 miles where my car is...and against the wind to boot!

About the results:  Having moved up to Cat 4, my expectations were definitely not as high as had I raced 5 as originally planned.  I catted up though after seeing only 4 other people signed up for CAT 5 (there were 20 all together in Cat 4) where it just didn't seem worth racing if only against that little.  One guy didn't even show up, so actually there were only 3 in the end.  For Cat 4, I just missed the 10th spot by ~1 second.  Of course, I wish I could have hit the turns harder but I never really felt comfortable since they weren't too wide, there could be cars, and it didn't seem clean enough where I didn't want to wash the front.  I don't know if it would have mattered or not, but whatever.  In the end, my time was 53:35 with an average speed of 25.8 mph.  This is a far cry from what they did on the course last year, but the conditions were definitely more challenging as others were off their time previously by at least a couple minutes.

About next time:  We'll see if this is a race I'd do again.  I may just to see if I can top my time from this year, but a 23 mile TT is definitely not the same av ~10 mile TT.  I'll have to see what the conditions will be like next year, but I'm definitely not looking forward to 9 miles of serious headwind again anytime soon.  Ridiculous.  

GP Crit Series 2 Race 2 - Live and Learn

Strava:  http://www.strava.com/activities/144497016

Arriving at the crit, it looked like the conditions were pretty ideal with cool temps based on some cloud cover and what appeared to be a little wind only.  It was actually even a little nippy when changing to get ready where I couldn't wait to get on the bike to warm up.  The first lap was definitely cool, but what was surprising was how windy it was on the back side of the track.  We were expecting more headwind on the bottom of the track, but that actually ended up not being the case. While it's been worse, it definitely was not  "ideal."

Now Shannon and I had discussed some strategies before today's race, but we had discussed some last minute changes based on what we thought was going to be a rather small group.  When we were called to line up to race, however, it was a lot bigger than we thought and with even some new faces here and there.  There were some of the usual riders there too and seemingly with more team mates with them, so Shannon and I ended up having to figure things out as we went.  Then again, isn't that always the case.

Due to the size of the group, it didn't seem like anyone would try any breakaways, but on the 2nd lap, last year's point leader up until the last race broke away and ended up being joined by another younger rider.  No one seemed to do much, so I decided to sneak up and then break off to join them.  We had a pretty sizable gap where we kept away for a good lap and a half or so.  However, no one wanted to join and eventually the peleton opted to chase us down as a whole instead.

There were a couple other attempts for breakaways, but none that really stuck.  It seems like the races have been more about no one wanting to really work to weed out the slower guys from the faster ones.  It's going to be an interesting series if this way of racing continues given that it becomes a big sprint session at the end where almost anything goes.

Shannon and I had gotten together on the last lap as we had hoped and we were definitely going to give the final sprint a go.  At first I thought I was going to lead him out, but when I called out to him on the opposite side of the peleton, he crossed over and got in front of me where I figured I'd go ahead and give the sprint a shot from his slipstream.  We definitely made progress before the 2nd to the last turn as we made our way closer to the front.  This was even after some people were rolling out just in front of us where it took some negotiating just to be able to keep momentum.

When we got on the stretch before the final turn, Shannon was definitely moving and I was just hoping we could keep his momentum through the turn to contest the sprint to the finish.  We didn't get close enough to the front, however, to be able to take control of the corner where this guy (I won't mention team names or describe him since others read this) cut the corner from the outside (something he seemed to be doing the whole race) and ended up pinching us out of the turn.  The whole race was like this as I had to cut through the weeds in one corner a couple times.  Anyhow, once we had to check up for that turn, we lost a lot of momentum and was no longer able to contend for the final sprint.  I tried to whip around Shannon just after coming out of the turn but those who had an outside line had better luck and ended up finishing ahead of us.

Of course neither of us were happy with the results, but that's only because we're competitive.  There's always the possibility that we could have tried something else, but that would be more of a case of woulda, shoulda, coulda.  I know I wish I did some things differently toward the finish of the race, but that's like crying over spilled milk, right?  In the end, at least we  managed to apply one of our planned strategies (which hardly ever happens), but it just didn't work out to our advantage this evening.  Oh well, live and learn.  We'll be back....  Great racing with you nonetheless, Shannon!

Lunch Ride - Failed Sprint Training, 80% Headwinds, Still the Best Workout Available

Strava:  http://www.strava.com/activities/143617108

Attendees:  Vince, Shannon, Todd, Vin, Jaffe, Mitchell, Terry and me

Today was supposed to be a sprint training ride with the following sections defined as the sprint points:  405 bike trail to the bridge, Shady toward Bonita Canyon to the bike trail, the condo, and Bison to the corner of California.  I chose a slightly hilly route so there would be a good mix of climbing and flats.   Since I had dropped off on Turtle Rock (more on this later), I didn't get to contest any of them.  Thus, let me outline who crossed the line first according to what Vince shared with me in the locker room:

405 bike trail - Vince (broke away on Shady)
Shady to bile trail - looking at top speed according to Strava, likely Shannon (unconfirmed)
Condo - Todd missed Summit so according to Vince (DQ'd). Top honors go to Shannon.
Bison - Probably Shannon too.

Looking at the above,  no wonder there was a collective gasp when we saw Shannon come into the gym after everyone else to get ready.  Ha ha.

Terry was out for his second time with the group, and his goal was to stay with us longer than his first.   That's the spirit.  The start was pretty fast as usual with Todd mostly at the helm and Vince helping to push the pace (Jaffe tried to trade pulls with Todd but Vin thought that was funny more than anything else).  I helped get us to the light after Jaffe's less than successful pull attempt.   I think Terry was able to regroup with us at the light, but things may have gotten a little too manic after that.

When we got on Culver, Vince set the pace early taking the front, and I relieved him followed by Todd and Shannon.  There was some more rotating as we headed over and onto Turtle Rock, but I remember at one point I ended up behind Shannon just before he was getting ready to take a pull.  While everyone was working to keep the pace up, I felt it pick up more as soon as Shannon took the front.  I noticed his cadence is faster now, and this worried me a lot since it seemed like he's generating even more power than before.  Thus, I was in no hurry to try and relieve him.  Instead, I was just trying to hang on and wait until he got a little tired before taking a pull.  Before it got to that point, however, Todd called out to me that my saddle bag was falling off.  I could have left it as is and kept riding, but I didn't want to fall off and possibly have someone run into it and crash.  I waved everyone on and decided I'll just deal with it and then hope I can get lucky and catch some others at a light.

After re-attaching it to my saddle, I started to go and Jaffe went by and passed me hardly skipping a beat.  Thus, he served as my first target where it took up to Sunnyhill before I was able to reel him in and pick him up in my slipstream.

I was pushing on Shady hoping to catch a glimpse of front group, but I only ended up seeing Vin more than mid way up.  I was able to pull away from Jaffe up the climb chasing Vin, but Jaffe was back in my slip stream on the 2nd sidewalk entrance that lead to the 405.  We were still behind Vin, so we gave chase  (we meaning me with Jaffe in tow...LOL).

The headwind on the 405 bike trail was ridonkulous.  I got as low as I could and I think this helped to reel in Vin and pick up another passenger after passing him.  I was wondering if they were going to try and sprint to the Bridge to spite me, but neither of them did.

We got to the stop light at the Strawberry farm intersection where I noticed once again that my saddle bag was unlatched again from under the seat rails.  I detached it all together at that point and decided I would just carry it in my back pocket.  When the light turned green, Vin and Jaffe took off leaving me behind.   HA HA

Fortunately, they were caught at the light at Ridgeline, so I was able to regroup with them there.  When we were finally able to cross, Vin led us up with Jaffe in tow, and I decided a little payback would be nice.  After Vin led all the way to where it pitched up with Jaffe offering him no relief, I decided I'd kick it up at that point and passed where neither were able to latch on.  What? It's good training for them.

I broke away and had to ride all the way to Bonita Canyon on my own against that wicked wind.   I was stopped at the light after just missing the green, so Vin was able to catch up and join me there.  Vin's a trooper since he opted to lead us over to Turtle Ridge, but after I took the front once we started climbing, he was off again.  I was still pushing to try and see if I can get lucky and catch others.   It wasn't too far away from the turn around point on Summit when I saw Shannon and I think Vince heading the opposite way.  I tried to push harder when I saw them, but it wasn't enough where I didn't see them at the Bonita Canyon intersection.  Here, Vin would catch me again.

Vin and I traded pulls on Bonita Canyon where the headwind again was just insane.  When we crossed McArthur, he took the front first but I pulled ahead during the little rise and would almost lead us out to Jamboree.  Since Vin was just behind me though, I waved him on to start Jamboree first hoping 1) he'll give me a target and 2) he won't make me nervous making the turn.

Climbing up Jamboree, Vin took off right away and I guess I didn't give him enough credit where I expected to be passed him shortly after.  Instead, he was in full sprint mode on the climb where he held it for a while making me realize I better kick it up a notch or he'll get up over it before me.  It literally took me just before it flattened out to get by him.  I even had to keep looking back to make sure he wasn't going to sneak by now that he had my respect for the sprint.  Fortunately, he didn't.  I thought I had a pretty good effort climbing up Jamboree, but then I saw Shannon's time on Strava where he killed it matching his best time ever.   Nice.

Vin was able to catch me at the intersection on McArthur as it just turned green as I was rolling up on it.  He took the lead immediately and I thought okay, let's see how the kid does defending the sprint.  I wasn't going to go until he went though to make things interesting...and so I can recover from the condo effort as well.  When he took off just before the last light over the 73, I stood up and expected I would be able to pass him before the intersection.  I came up beside him but unlike the past, he never slowed and kept going making me work the whole time.  I think we hit the intersection together, so I did get some sprint training in today after all.   Thanks, Vin.

It's nice to be back with the crew, and with Shannon coming out too, this would be the ultimate training environment for racing in my humble opinion.  I'm bummed I missed out most of the ride with the crew, but there's always next week.  Is it too early to be excited about it?

As always, thanks for the workout, gents!

BRCM Lunch - Be Careful What You Wish For Ride

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/activities/140774679

Attendees:  Todd, Vince, Vin, Jeremy and Jaffe
Special Guest:  Jeff Barrett (UCI Professor and GP Critter)

Highlights:

• It never fails to amaze me how in typical BAM fashion, guests bring out the best (or worst depending on how you look at it) in the team.  Not only was there virtually no warm-up (which I suppose is typical), but the pace throughout was bordering on absolute ridiculousness...especially considering the weather.  The trophies achieved pretty much sums it up.
• Speaking of the weather, the coastal route hardly provided any reprieve from the heat with the average temperature at 99 degrees.  According to Garmin Connect, the peak temperature reached 107.6 degrees.   And while the wind may not have been as bad as predicted, it was still pretty noticeable and definitely had us moving around here and there.  All around, I'd say "hellacious" would accurately describe today's conditions.
• Todd was saying as we were getting ready how he was going to pull back given the heat.  That lasted for all of a mile or so.
• Vince, Jeremy, Vin and I think even Jaffe also contributed to the maddening pace taking turns on Back Bay.  I may have taken some pulls here and there as well.  
• Jeff may not been ready to push up right away holding Vince out for a bit on Back Bay.  Then again, Vince held Todd out just before sprinting to the gate near the end.  Karma?
• I chased Vince and believe I passed him before the gate.  He still got KOM.  Karma?
• We all regrouped for the left turn to PCH, and I'm pretty sure Vince heard me miss clipping into my pedal when the light turned green.  He took off along with Todd to punish me.  Fortunately, we were able to catch up to them after a while.
• We rolled through the neighborhood all together from Avocado, but we lost the professor on the climb up Fernleaf.  
• Todd lead us all the way through Ocean and Poppy, but he got tied up behind some cars while others had gotten on the sidewalk and took off on PCH.  That's gratitude for you.  HA HA.  Todd was able to reel them in (with me and one other in tow).  
• Todd is forever the workhorse and pushed up to lead on PCH seemingly without any sign of interest from the group to relieve him.  Maybe that was just how I saw it from being hot and cranky.  I ended up pushing up to help get us to NPC where we all sat to cross together (no one took the left turn this time...nice).
• The climb up NPC was absolutely horrible.  The winds were in our face and moving my bike all around and the heat...oh the heat...had us cooking on the way up.   The pack started out all together, but it dwindled down to Todd, Jeremy, Vince and me.  Todd and Jeremy were side by side originally with me and Vince behind them, but Jeremy opted to get behind Todd first and then had me pass him seemingly like he was throwing in the towel.  He didn't, however, and the 4 of us stayed together all the way up.  I guess everyone was afraid to ride alone up that hill on this day.   I know that's what motivated me.
• We regrouped at the top with Jeff bringing up the back.  I'm just glad no one passed out in this weather.
• We made our way to San Joaquin and eventually the horseshoe, where Vince, Todd and Jeremy started pushing after making the turn.  I was behind Jaffe, who worked to close the gap, and I pushed up passed him and to the front to start working with the others to keep the pace up.  I was the last one to take a pull, or so I thought, and started pushing as hard as I could to see if we can PR or KOM the segment.  I didn't realize no one was on my wheel after a while, but I guess others had either checked up due to a car or as Todd pointed out in the locker room, Jaffe had detonated in front of him (Adrian-style) and broke up the group.  
• I rounded the corner to San Joaquin but shortly after was passed by Vince, Todd and I maybe Jeremy?  Vin was right behind me, so I made sure to let him know not to take me out on the turn.   I knew there was still Spyglass to climb, so my tactic for it is similar to the condo.  Save it on the downhill and hit it on the climb.  
•  When we made the right turn, Vince took off so Todd gave chase and I lost track of where Jeremy was at this point.  I started to sprint up the hill with the momentum and made my way past the guys.  At first, I thought I was thinking of staying on Todd's wheel, but I had momentum and kept going as a result.  I had a pretty decent gap and similar to the horseshoe, I checked up and waited for the guys.  When Vince and Todd passed me, they took off down the hill and I had to give chase knowing that if opportunity presented itself, they would leave me at the intersection.  HA HA.
• Since there was a car there, the light didn't take long to turn green and the 3 of us starting to go on San Miguel.  The next thing you know, Jeremy rounds the turn at full speed and starts to break away from us.  Nice!  I guess that's his payback for sucking down everyone else's water bottle having forgotten his.  HA HA.
• Todd started to give chase, and I thought Vince was going to be behind him, but I ended up jumping on Todd's rear wheel to help.  It was by chance that I did since Vince had gotten a flat behind us somewhere on San Miguel.  Fortunately, Vin was still behind us and stayed with Vince for the rest of their ride.  
• It took about a third of the way on McArthur after San Joaquin before we finally were able to reel Jeremy in.  Jeremy had enough of the wind on his own, and McArthur was definitely pushing some good headwind against us, so Todd and I took over for the rest of the stretch before Bonita Canyon.
• Jeremy started us off after that intersection, and lead until Bison.  I took over after and tried to make it interesting for a sprint over the 73 but Todd made his way past me no problem.  I pulled a Roberto Duran at that point and just thought "no mas."  

As part of The Weather Channel app heat advisory, it warned that people should use caution if doing strenuous activities outdoors.  So much for that with this group.  And here I really missed riding with them after almost a 3 week hiatus on lunch rides.  I guess I do need to be careful of what I wish for when it comes to this group.  They're brutal...but I love the training!  Thanks, gents!

GP TT and Crit (Series 2 first race) Report

Strava
TT:   http://www.strava.com/activities/139073596
Crit:  http://www.strava.com/activities/139073594

First things first...I'm really bummed I haven't been able to get out for our lunch rides for the last two weeks.   My last outing was 3 weeks ago and only with Vin, so technically, that's 3 weeks of not riding with the crew and getting the intense training that I value from our lunch rides.  Hopefully, I'll be out next week.  I did wonder on the way to the crit how this lack of intensity training would play out for today's races, but I couldn't let that mentally affect my efforts. 

Todd got to GP just after me, and of course I proceeded to tell him about my bio issues and how my stomach was bubbling after a less than successful attempt for a #2 prior to leaving work.  I did warn him how riding behind me probably wouldn't be a good idea, so at least I I was considerate enough to do so. 

During the warm-ups, there was obviously some windy sections and mostly as you hit the bottom of the course, but that seemed to die down some before the race.  The temperature was definitely more ideal compared to last week, so it would just be the wind that we'd have to contend with on the TT.  If you haven't read it enough already, having a power meter is absolutely invaluable for racing in these types of conditions. 

Todd and I warmed up separately, so when I lined up, he was still warming up.  Knowing that TJ would be behind me definitely raised the anxiety level for the race.  He's got such a fast lap, that I always have to prepare myself in the event he passed me.  Of course, I would also use that thought to push as hard as I could as long as I could, so it was definitely helpful to have him out there. 

This was an usual TT where I didn't end up getting passed at all.  I always expect a 1/2/3 to pass me, but that never happened and I did all the passing.  I ended up passing Rose, a friend we met who races a lot of TTs, and startled her inadvertently as she didn't hear me call out that I was on her left.  It was on my 3rd lap and at the bottom of the track going into the 2nd turn of the double apex where I dove into it just ahead of her.  I had to alter my line a little bit just so I can get by her on the outside, but I didn't want to lose too much time by going too wide, so I passed her at speed just before getting through that turn.  She was upset originally, but she forgave me after. 

I knew I had a good first lap as I saw my time was ahead of my last time out by about 6 seconds, but I also thought I was feeling it more for doing so by the 3rd lap.  However, I seemed to have recovered enough for the last lap and managed to finish just getting under 23 minutes...which was my goal.  Strava shows me as having done it in 22:54, but my Garmin said 22:58 (27.2/3 mph avg).  We'll see what the official time says.  Todd felt he had a good run too where he bested his previous, but then wasn't sure after a while, so we'll see as well.  Hopefully, we managed to get the top 2 spots again as we did 2 weeks ago.  We'll see....

After the TT, we saw Shannon and John L. as we got ready for the crit.  I sucked down as much coconut water as possible hoping not to meet the same cramping fate as last week and got a little warm-up in as well.  We all met up after and talked to other people who were out for the race.  Here, Todd and I noticed how everyone seemed to know Shannon (celebrity status) and rightfully so.   I'm sure everyone realizes that he's definitely a force out there (and everywhere else), so it's no wonder that everyone wants to be on his good side.  One guy who wasn't even riding even fixed Shannon's number expecting he might be in a breakaway where he didn't want it to impede him from doing so.  It's obvious that people are coming to terms with what we've known all along...he's a beast!

When we lined up for the race, we saw some new faces, some returned faces who weren't there toward the end of the last series, and some familiar faces as well.  The size of the group wasn't as big as it's been before,  but it was definitely respectable.  Given it's the first race of the series, I wondered who was going to be pushing the pace and what the dynamics were going to be for the race.  Most importantly, I wondered if I was going to be able to keep up. 

Shannon pushed up to the front of the line upon the start, but I wasn't too far behind and Todd just behind me.   It was a big group ride in the beginning, but Shannon and one other broke away n the 2nd lap pretty much without much of a response from the peleton.  I pushed up closer to the front on the back side of the track when I saw this and contemplated on joining them.  However, I was hesitant to do so given I wasn't sure I wouldn't tow the group behind me.  Ultimately, I decided I would just watch to see if others would be drawn to help where should the breakaway grow, I would also try and jump in...try being the operative word.

Ultimately, no one pushed to breakaway with Shannon and the other guy, so they were relegated back into joining the pack eventually.   There were a couple other small breakaway attempts, but none that seemed too threatening.  When it got to the prime lap, I was actually thinking of going for it just to see if I could get some extra points, but I knew doing so would mean I probably wouldn't have enough for the end.  When I stood up for a sprint to end the prime just before the last turn, I wasn't really in a good position and realized that it was just good to sprint enough to stay with those who took off so as to not have to put too much effort into bridging any gaps.  That worked out and I was able to manage my output accordingly.

While the 3 of us were separated early on in the race, I did find my way to be close to Shannon around the last 2-3 laps of the race.  There were still a couple riders between us, but I would try to keep close to him in case we can work together during the finish.   There was a crash that had occurred during the bottom part of the track (due to flat I think), and some took the opportunity to amp it up at that point.  Fortunately, all of us were able to make our way past that unscathed.  Additionally we also were able to stay with those who tried to take advantage of the opportunity.  It's one of those things that comes naturally nowadays where you know those who are just ahead of the crash will likely take off.   I guess you can call that racing experience.

There were a couple more surges on the last couple laps with some pretty good ones on the last.  It's just that attacks at that point were short-lived where they would end up being pulled in by the rest of the peloton.  After rounding the bottom of the track, I was beside a guy we met who was a professor at UCI (Jeff) and he swerved toward me from reacting to someone on his other side.  I asked him to hold his line just to make sure we were both safe because I didn't see the guy who caused him to react, but the exchange in dialog caused me to lose sight of Shannon.  Thus, I just had to keep working to get in position for a sprint and see what I could do.  The surges beforehand took some toll, but no guts no glory, right?

As we were on the straight just before the final turn, the speed started picking up and I couldn't tell who was around given the sun was directly in front of us.  Everyone was basically just a shadow at that point, but I did see the two guys who rounded the corner first.  All I focused on at that point was being able to round as fast as I could and hopefully be in a position to have a good sprint.  One guy had passed me beforehand, so I tried to use his slipstream, but I ended being out in the open just going for it after the turn.

I didn't think I was in the best gear for a sprint after rounding the turn, but I also thought switching might cause enough of a stutter where I would even lose more position.  I did manage to make my way past some people and chasing down the two guys up front, but I ran out of steam close to the end and ended up hopefully in 4th place (unofficially).   Shannon wasn't far behind me as I had passed him unknowingly where I didn't get a chance to call him out and give him a lead out for the sprint (or vice versa).  Todd was also in the pack during the finish, but the chaos within our group kept him from getting into a good position for a final sprint. 

Not a bad night of racing for team BRCM.   John L. had gotten a flat and wasn't able to finish with the pack, but at least it didn't result in a crash.  I think there were a couple during our race. 

Although Shannon had to tend to some things after the race where he couldn't stick around long after, he did give Todd and I a bomber of his tasty brew.  Hell, that's better than winning!  I'm going to save it for this weekend, so I can drink and enjoy it responsibly.  Thanks, Shannon.

Todd and I hung out after for a bit and talked about the racing.  One of the things that people may not understand is that while we're all competitive, we also do what we can to push one another and help each other improve.  Todd and I were exchanging tips and strategies for TT, so this definitely epitomizes the teamwork and sportsmanship that I hope more people get to know about us.  Who better to talk this over with than last year's GP TT winner.  No matter what, we're going to continue doing what we can to represent the team and help each other to do so.  I already know Shannon is the same way, so who can ask for better teammates, right? 

Go team BRCM!

GP Crit 8 - Series 1 Finale with Team BRCM on Podium!

Strava:  http://www.strava.com/activities/136403092

Before the race, there were some e-mail exchanges among the "critters" where I indicated it would be nice leading into the next series by finishing this one on top or on the podium.  Shannon obviously took this to heart, but more on this later....

The weather conditions were pretty horrible with strong winds (not as bad as Tuesday or Wednesday mind you) coming from the NW making the bottom of the course pretty rough.  On top of that, it was friggin' hot.  It's hard to transition from racing in cooler weather to when it's as hot it was given fluid requirements change drastically.  As much as I thought I was prepared for it, I was cramping 2-3 laps out from the finish of the race.

Thankfully, the laps weren't as long as they are usually where they had a slightly modified short course due to some event that seemed to have taken place there recently.   It was slightly longer than their tradition short course though, so it was interesting to race in some new terrain.

I had arrived there earlier than Shannon, so I was almost ready to go and warm-up just after he finished registering.  Beforehand, he introduced me to Carlos, the points leader, and as part of our discussion, he mentioned how he was going for it early in the race.  He hadn't been feeling good earlier in the week though, but he wanted to see if taking off early would get him favorable results.  Shannon and I took that to be on guard early on, but Shannon (and I by default) would do what we could to help.  It may also be our chance to take part in a solid break, so....

When the race finally started, it didn't seem to be as big of a crew out there and definitely lacking the Rockform participation we were accustomed to early on.  It's ironic given that the Carlos races for that team, so you'd think he'd have some support in the race.  Then again, there are only 2 or 3 of us who come and race here wearing BRCM, so welcome to the club.

On the first race, and just as he indicated, Carlos made a break before the first turn and Shannon and I watched at first to see how others would respond.  I was going to stay with Shannon as I normally do, but you can tell it was going to be a fast one early on.  When the #2 guy gave chase, we saw that he closed in on the group ahead where Carlos checked up and started falling back toward the pack.  We were still toward the front of the chase pack at the time, so at some point I remember pushing up to help provide Shannon some coverage.  The lead pack wasn't far ahead and at the time didn't seem like there was a lot of concern given Carlos was with us...or so I thought.

After getting pulled back in on the chase group, I remember seeing Shannon starting to make his way ahead to the lead group.  I thought about this when I saw it and didn't think the chase group wouldn't respond.  I figured if Shannon stayed in the lead group, pushing up would also mean possibly bridging the gap inadvertently and ruining their chances to keep the break.  So in the pack I sat....

As we continued to race on, it was obvious the chase group wasn't ever going to get organized so I took a few pulls, one of which was more than half way around the course mind you, just to make it worth my while.  Shannon's group had splintered some with people popping off reducing the breakaway group down from 12 to about 5, so the opportunity for a possible top 10 finish still existed.

After having taken some pulls and feeling the onset of cramping on my left calf, we neared the 2nd to the last lap where I was up pulling at the front part of the course.  One guy went passing by pretty close to me, actually startling me as he did, and took off with no one responding.  After we rounded the top of the course, I sprinted away from the chase group and caught the guy (Evan as we would later meet) and tried to encourage a breakaway together.  I relieved him after a caught my breath, but he never came around to relieve me where we finally were caught again by the chase group at the bottom of the course.  It was worth a shot, right?

On the last lap, you couldn't even see where Shannon and his group were anymore, so it was just a matter of seeing what will happen within the chase group for the final sprint.  My calf was increasingly threatening me at this point, but I figured I'd man up and just do what I could anyway.  Now, I hadn't seen Carlos at all for the few laps we rounded after he got reeled in, but he appeared on the last lap and I thought I'd see how he manages to find ways to push up to the front for the final sprint.  You don't get to be a point leader by luck, so....

As we got to the bottom part of the course that would eventually lead for the final sprint, I was just going to stay with him and see if I can shoot by at some point.  Despite being midpack in the chase group at the time, I thought there must be something special he would do to push ahead of everyone.  There just has to be.  After rounding the last turn, I started sprinting as he did but I was already starting to make my way past him early on.  As I passed, I think I literally saw him just give up and thought to myself...damn...that was a bad gamble on my part.  I guess I should have paid more weight to how he indicated he wasn't feeling good, as he pretty much gave up on all hopes of winning the series and ultimately lost the title.  I decided I'd just keep going for it passing about 10 or so people on my way, but that only left me with being in 17th place and a very angry left calf at the finish.  It was so angry, in fact, that I couldn't even pedal during the cool down given it had fully locked up.

When I heard the news that Shannon got 2nd place, that's pretty much all I needed to hear.  Regardless of my own personal outcome, this was a team success.  I may have cited the butterfly theory before, but I truly believe that even the smallest changes during the race can lead to the biggest changes in outcome.  With a #2 spot for Shannon, I wouldn't change a thing about how this race went at all.  Congratulations, buddy!  You deserved it for sure.

We celebrated Shannon's results with some fine brews he made (damn, the boy has got it down pat), along with a bomber of Saint Archer Pale Ale I brought.  Shannon ended up giving me a bomber of more beer he made that I brought home, drank, and pretty much passed out from.  Good stuff.  I do wonder once in a while how much faster I would be if I didn't drink, but then again I wonder how much less I would ride knowing I'm not going to drink afterward.  Irony defined.

Let's get ready to RUUUMMMMBBBLLLEE...Series 2 starts next week....