Hey all…
Modesto RR…6-laps of a 9-mile course…elevation change of ~3-feet 
)
Racing Masters 35+ 4/5 ‘b’ 50-riders, no centerline rule
Dave B and I pre-road about ¾ of the course as a warm up at a nice easy pace discussing strategy (1. keep upright, 2. have some fun, 3. stay near the front and out of trouble, 4. go into the last corner in 3&4th place…win the race).
Lap 1
In spectacular fashion, the guy leading the pack sits up at the 1k sign and looks back over his shoulder and dumps his bike on the ground causing other riders to crash and the front half of the peloton to head for the dirt on the sides of the road. I was riding about 10th at the time and managed to get through the gravel/dirt shoulder and back on the road with what was now the lead riders. I was looking back to see if Dave was still upright and he also successfully managed the detour and yelled for me to keep going.
Lap 2
Group of 4-5 riders gets off the front
Lap 3
Dave and I participate in a chase with about 15-other guys on the front and bring the breakaway back from a >1-min lead to <9-seconds…at that point one of the breakaway riders sits up and drifts back into the group, everyone stops chasing and the breakaway starts opening up a gap again. Two riders from the pack attack and bridge up to the break and the gap opens up to >1-min again. I tell Dave not to participate in any chase and that I will help chase if anything organized gets going.
Lap 4
No one wants to chase and for some reason… the Talaeo team (the largest in our group with 5-riders) has apparently decided to practice their blocking drills for the day and are executing a perfect example on how to shut down any and all attempts to chase the break…No, they don’t have a rider in the break, their just Yahoos.
Lap 5
More of the same…
Lap 6
More disorganized “chasing” at 20-mph…give me a break, getting frustrated…
At the 2.5 mile to go point, a group of 8-Masters 1-3’s go by. A guy riding for Rio Strada in our race that I have been marking through the race…very strong… takes off and I immediately go with him
(David Hassleman who lives right behind Steve Baker). I look back and we have a gap and go by the Masters 1-3 group. I pull past and tell him we have a break and do my pull. As I rotate off and Dave H takes a pull, I see that Dave B has bridged up to us…three off the front of the pack trying to bridge up to the 4-riders off the front.
I take the next pull before going through the last right hander ~1k before the 1-k sign…I see the breakaway group ahead and bury myself chasing (~27mph) knowing that Dave is on behind me. I get about 50-feet off the break and am not closing anymore so look back at Dave B and tell him to close the gap if he can. Dave B rockets up behind the break, leaving Dave H and me still riding about 50-feet off the break.
At this point we are now at the 1-k to go sign and pass the Masters 35+ 4/5 ‘a’ group. Dave H jumps out of the saddle and closes to Dave B and the break…at some point one of the break riders has attacked the break and I am still creeeeeping my way onto the back of the break. We go through the last corner and I’m on the back of the break (6-riders in the last turn ~350-meters to finish line, one rider off the front). 2nd place finisher jumps immediately after the corner, Dave H jumps with 300-meters to go and I yell at Dave B to gogogogogogo! Both of them are now chasing 2 of the original break down the last 200-meters. I’m trying to figure out if the funny little lights in my vision are real or not and what will happen if I try to get out of the saddle. With 100-meters to go I pass the last 2-riders in the original break and about fall off my bike crossing the line.
Dave finished 4th, I finished 5th
Last 1.5 miles: avg 24.9mph, max 30.5mph, 27.6mph at finish line
Lessons:
- Plans change…heard that one before )
- Never give up…be ready and take the opportunity if it presents itself, you never know
- Communicate with your teammate if your tapped out…let them go for it
- Riding a race with multiple team mates opens a lot of doors
- Dave is a savvy, smart rider who has some gas in that tank!! Great job of racing!!!
- Don’t expect the biggest team to do any work and to actively block for no one ) …it just happened
Rob