Body Concepts Inc

Happy 4^th to everyone!!

Body Concepts Road Race 45+ Cat 4’s Team

Current leaders of both the BAR and BAT points for Northern California-Nevada Cycling Association!

Thanks to our sponsors:

Nike Vision, Western Health Advantage, Bicycles Plus, Eagle Vision Eye Care, Premier Access, Voler

Leesville Gap RR (Paris – Roubaix of Northern California) Report

Stats:

~61-miles (11-miles of major potholes and gravel roads)

2,664 ft elevation gain

Main climb ~15-miles into the race ~3-miles long, at average 6% grade, 1,500 ft elevation gain

Temp: 80’s

Wind: from the north east 10-15mph with gusts (25mph?) that were blowing me at nearly 200-lbs sideways

45+ Cat 4 field of ~50-riders

Body Concepts had 7-riders starting

35+ Cat 5 field of 4 riders

Body Concepts had 1-rider starting (John Depew just back from Team Will event…850 miles in 10-days…check out http://team-will.org/)

So we were very lucky and had great weather today for Leesville!  Our plan starting out was to put Rick and Todd in the lead group up the first climb to try to slow the overall pace while the rest of us attempted to chase back on with Randy F. as our designated sprinter for the day. If we were not able to chase back on, Rick and Todd were to win the race for us )

Davis attacked almost from the start into a head wind, but never got away. This resulted in us catching the 35+ 4’s category before the rough pavement began. The moto refs neutralized the 35’s and we went around them which was great because we now had a clean shot through the rough section less than ½ a mile ahead. Unfortunately, the moto ref’s did not keep the groups apart and 100-riders hit the dirt/potholes section at the same time with both groups vying for position as tires popped and water bottles flew out of cages as is typical of this section. Our team had at least 4-5 riders in the top 15 at all times…myself included. I did not want to be back in the melee that was behind. Randy V had a mechanical issue and his rear wheel stopped rotating causing the rider behind him to crash into him…both hit the ground, race over (bummer!! We didn’t find out until after the race was over)

We made the bottom of the climb with Rick and Todd perfectly positioned. Both groups were still mixed together and it was impossible to tell how many people from our category were ahead as things stretched out. I rode the climb with our designated rider for the day Randy F and came over the top of the climb with about 6 other riders (Randy put in a great effort with me to chase back on in the last 500 meters of the climb). We had been looking behind as we climbed the switchbacks checking for Carlos and Randy V, but they were nowhere to be seen. Randy and I decided to immediately push the pace and shortly caught up with Matt who had gone ahead on the climb. We now had about 10-riders in our little chase group…but only 3-4 of us were doing any work…the next time I rotated off the back I “asked” the guys sitting on the back to either take a pull or “get lost”. We finally started getting some cooperation and settled into a semi-functional rotation chasing riders ahead.

Going through the feedzone one of the stronger riders took off. We grabbed water bottles from Linda (my wife…she successfully gave me two bottles at once as I rode by and got one each to Matt and Randy F right behind me as well, a pretty amazing feat)…nothing like cold beverage 35-miles into the race! On the downhill (47+mph) I kept wondering if my bars/fork/wheels were still intact after all the pounding from the miles of crap we had just ridden through…they apparently were because I stayed upright. (NOTE: my Nike Vision glasses successfully deflected all bugs in this agricultural region with deft aplomb even at close to 50-mph…thank you Nike Vision)

We had no idea at this time how far the lead group was away by, but after the end of the race, Linda said that Todd was so far ahead she thought he was another team member from an earlier group. We put our heads down and started reeling in the rider who attacked in the feed zone. With Matt and Randy F pulling on the downhill sections. I would take pulls though the flats and we soon caught our bait. Now we were after the lead group again…the wind was at our backs and we were cruising 26-30mph. On a turn we ended up in a quartering head wind and just like we planned, went into a 3-person echelon putting the group in the gutter…~3-miles later at 21+ mph there where only 5–riders left in our group as we turned into another down wind section. My lateral Hamstring was now starting to cramp on both legs so I put it into a really big gear and kept saying to myself Glutes and Quads…Glutes and Quads…the Hamstring cramps dissipated. We caught two more riders in this section then turned into the quartering head wind again heading for the little blue tent in the distance and finish line. We went into our echelon again Rob-Matt-Randy and ~3.5-miles later had not dropped anyone but were at the 200-meter sign and I was toast.

I had been talking with Matt who let Randy F know that I was going to pull to the 200-meter sign and then it was up to them. At the sign I pulled off and they went for the “win” in our little group. Randy took 3^rd in our 7-rider group sprint.

Data (Rob)

Average HR from climb to finish 173 (zone 4 for me is 167-178)

Overall race zone 4 = 62% zone 5 = 5%

Average bike speed entire event 19.1, Max of 47.2

Total time of race 3 hours 10 minutes

Final 3.6 miles average HR 182, Max of 190 (pulling into head wind section)

Final 3.6 miles average bike speed 21.8, max 24.7 at 200 meter sign

Results

45+   Todd 2^nd, Rick 11^th, Randy F 15^th, Matt 17^th, Rob 18^th, Carlos 28^th (coming back from long illness), Randy V dnf-mechanical

35+   John dnf-flatted twice after the really nasty sections

Lessons

1. NEVER forget you chamois lube…I’ve got the outline of my saddle tattooed on my buttocks and will not be on the bike again for a week while it heals

2. It is good to have two plans…options are great ) Awesome job Rick and Todd!!

3. Check all your bolts, screws and any other fastening devices on your bike before doing an event…ask Randy V for details )

4. You feel really good when you’ve ridden your best and laid it all out for your team mates.

5. Like I’ve noted before, you can do more than you think you can…all you have to do is be willing to risk defeat to find out what you are really capable of. If you are defeated, you get to learn something for the next time. Playing it safe teaches you less…you don’t find your limits to know what you need to work on for next time.

Next Race: Lodi Crit…next weekend

Have a great week!!!

Rob

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