Weekend Race Reports

8/17/07 - Dunnigan

Some great racing by the Specialized Sierra Nevada boys today. We had really good representation in a bunch of races. Rick Burns got 2nd and Bob Montuori took 4th in the 45 4/5s and we heard Peter Allen got 3rd in the 45 123s – frickin’ awesome guys! Here’s lil recount of the 123s.

Good conditions with very light wind and not too hot. Funny thing is I was not gonna do this race cause my longest ride since May has been about 50 miles – no joke. We had a good field with some notables missing and no AMD (must be tunin’ up for worlds & others winding it down). First of two laps was pretty boring really and not much to talk about – almost like an easy training ride really and good for my lack of endurance training. Lap two would bring some action with three going off the front then another four and two. DB got in the mix and clawed his way in there and that group eventually came together. I think he said it took 45 minutes – ouch that’s a long bridge! One Safeway (Ma) flatted out of the break, but got back in the main group. We passed the 4s and then got re-passed. The big teams were represented and things literally slowed to 18 mph or so at points. Not quite your typical 123 race and a bit bizarre. In fact, it was much easier than last year. Thanks to DB who did a ton of work and letting the rest of us kind of hang out and cover anyone gettin’ frisky. DB had a concussion earlier in the week from takin’ on bad guy criminals – he’s one tough dude. Steve, John and Lance took the coverage role and I pretty much sat in the “lazy boy” and saved it – ummm thanks guys. We chatted and were comfortable with DB up front and that he’d get a good placing and thank goodness he and a couple others caught the first three off – that’s where a radio would be really cool.

Maybe a bit before the midway point on lap two things picked up then slowed down then picked up – kind like a yo-yo. Steve called it like going from intensity level 3 to 11 and back (on a scale of 10). A crash happened, the field slowed and some stopped. Unfortunately it brought down Michael Hernandez our beloved blog king, which really sucks cause he's a good guy. Steve turned around and John slowed looking to turn around as well as many guys wanted to give Michael respect, which he certainly deserves. I thought for sure the race was over with the break out front and we’d just cruise after that, but not everybody stopped as guys were saying "go neutral" and "soft pedal" and it was kind of a cluster fuck. I would have been fine with a soft pedal back. Seeing that two of my mates turned around others stopping and others that weren’t stopping, I kept rolling slow as out team had a couple that turned around– somethin’ told me we needed someone up there in case someone attacked. Well it is bike racing and sure enough it broke loose on the following right hander. In my book that was a crappy place to start driving an attack whoever started it. I had to put in a HARD effort to bridge that crap. Once the race, remnants thereof, was rolling, EMC was not content with two in the break, so Parks unleashed a series of attacks on the rollers that were relentless. I came around once or twice at the top of roller and even attacked Parks and Phipps once to see if we could split the remaining group and increase our odds, but there was enough gas left in others where that was not going to happen. Frickin’ no one else rolled through, so yeah guys I sat the rest of the race and proud of it. Parks must have attacked at least ten or 15 times and maybe more. I was kind of curious why they weren’t happy with the odds and Holtz said it was due to the Cal Cup standings and they wanted Nathan to get points. Makes sense if that's their Team goal I suppose, but I wasn’t going to help if they wanted to bring their own guys back and bring up their best sprinter. Guess I’m a little less dumber than last year :)

Making the turn down the last long stretch against the freeway, the moto hooked up and we were only 30 seconds back and confirmed what we thought. EMC had Holtz and three or four others – superior numbers. Drank the last of my four bottles and kept a watch on Parks & Holtz and really was not concerned about anyone else at this point. An EMC and Oly Club attacked and got about 15 seconds. Dan and I hedged that the others wouldn’t let go and sure enough that gamble paid off and we came back together. Started to get some goose bumps and leg muscle twinges with about 2k or 3K to go - was that nerves about the finish, dehydration or both? Ah there’s the 1K sign – nice....go to drops.

Came around the final turn before the short lil steep freeway bump about 4th wheel and 500m to go thinkin' that was maybe a bit too far up front. Holtz and Parks attacked and I followed and caught, so being in front worked out ok. We still had about 400m to go so the move kind of surprised me. Put it in the 11 and quickly decided that gear was not gonna turn today and needed leg speed so dropped to the 13. With about 300 to go EMC slowed again and Morgan Stanley (Coates) attacked. Fortunately EMC followed and I waited having the perfect set up and no one else really in contention. With about 75 to 100 to go EMC slowed again and looked spent, we looked at each and then I just burried the sprint and took it for the V! Good teamwork and a strange turn of events today.

Suisun Crit – 35+ 123

Nice temp and some decent wind. The Fairbanks and Dunlaps made it a family affair and Shelby slept all the way down and back. She and Sarah are both doing awesome and had fun getting out of the house - next trip is to mom's next weekend down in the East Bay and no mas bike races for this guy (...this season) except maybe one more crit.

Despite a middle of the night fussy feeding, my legs felt surprisingly good today. Went full gas from the start and was going to stay up front and ride aggressively. This was a short race, but due to the wind, one where a break could easily stick. Was in front for most of it and when I took a little breather maybe 10 or 15 laps in a four man move went up the road. Well SSN, Safeway, EMC and CVC All fell asleep at the wheel, hit the snooze button and missed it. Clark tried to bridge and got stuck in no man’s land. Fbanks tried to help me bridge, but they had a good gap. Oliveiri from EMC and Kyle from Safeway were on board in our Chase 1. Oliveiri pulled for a lap or so, Kyle pulled for two then I did my job and pulled hard for two and we were not gaining – the break had the pedal down full throttle too. We had one other who was worthless and couldn’t take a pull and was soon shed. Well I was certainly not content racing for 5^th and Bosch tacked on so we gave it a whirl. EMC sat to kill the break for Park’s Cal Cup points, which I suppose you can't argue with and all is fair. If you actually look at the point standings though and the fact that crits are 15 and RRs are 20, there’s no way I’d catch him with Challenge and University IF I were to even race the rest of the series. Little secret - I am not going to do so - season is pretty much over for moi. We shed Kyle (too much wine at DM’s wedding and I appreciate your comments after), so Bosch and I traded pulls for about ½ the race. At one point we got it within maybe 10-12 seconds, but we either stalled and or they pulled away – I don’t really remember that detail of why - crap. Two dropped off the lead break and we were racing for third. I fell asleep and missed Oliveiri’s attack with ½ lap to go and got gapped behind one of the guys that fell off the break...duh. Oh well, fifth vs. third no biggie for this lil race (I think it was like 5 buck sor something…) and it was an awesome weekend. John took 9^th (3^rd in the field sprint) and JBee was 13^th. Congrats to Joel for winning – he drove that break frickin’ hard and deserved it.

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