First off, my family’s thoughts and prayers go out to Carlos for a speedy recovery. He is a stud. 

John and I were in the 35+ CAT5 round that started a little after 9am.  We recon’d the finish with the overpass so we knew it was going to be a race to the top of the overpass for position then 200M to the finish.  This isn’t going to be a lengthy overview as the race was pretty straightforward.  The pace was less dramatic than the average Tuesday evening ride as two teams, Victory Velo and Fun Sports, kept the pace fairly sublime.  John and I pretty much rotated through the pack but kept noses completely out of the wind.

The last stretch was about 20 miles long paralleling Hwy99 and I was waiting for the surge to happen.  There wasn’t one.  Every once in a while the pack would speed up a touch but nothing that latest too long.  With about 5 miles to go, I managed to get myself up to the top 10 and hold myself there.  I felt pretty good about the fact I was getting smarter on how to hold my position.  The odd thing was the last turn came up upon us at mile 41, not 43, which caught a few people off guard.  I heard a Davis guy cuss afterward that he got caught flat footed.

 At the last turn, I hit the gas to get myself top 5 over the overpass but spent too much fuel as I couldn’t hold my position. I tell you, 200M is frickin long!  I ended up in 12^th place (out of 53) with John in 13^th.  He can give you more detail but looks like he was trapped behind a wall of bikes so couldn’t get a good position going into the last turn.

 KEY LESSONS

1. I kept my nose out of the wind, finally.  With 53 riders that was pretty easy.
2.  Hold your position!  The first 35+ miles I was letting people in without too much protest.  The last five, fuggetaboutit!
3. Keep enough in the tank to finish.   I blew most of my energy to get over the overpass and didn’t leave enough for the finish.  And I keep pulling up at the end rather than rocketing through.  I see that I am not in the top 5 so I tend to soft pedal rather than jam through.  That won’t happen anymore.

Rob’s Race Report

Race:  Dunnigan Hills Race ~46 miles of rolling terrain

Category:   35+ 5’s (Kenny and John)

45+ 4’s (Todd, Rick, Randy F, Matt, Rob and Carlos-designated rider)

 Weather:  high 70-low 80’s, no wind to speak of, clear and wonderful

 Race Stategy:

35+: sit in, watch for breaks of 4+ riders going off the front, top 3-4 going through last corner…go into full on sprint leadout from top of the overpass

45+: Cover all breaks (Taleo, Davis, Tri Valley, Rio Strada, Wells Fargo) set up for a sprint finish leading Carlos out from last right turn ~800-meters from the finish line.

 Race:

The first break of the day was initiated by Taleo at the first feed zone (blocked the entire road with their team as one of there riders went up the road…sounds like Sonora tactics?).  A few minutes later another couple of guys went after him including Tri Valley Velo, Wells Fargo and Davis. That left Rio Strada and our team out of the break. Randy was nearer the front than I and did an awesome solo dig to bridge up catching the second group before they caught the leaders. That left Rio Strada out so I lined up behind Robert Goss and waited until he and a team mate attacked out of the group a minute or so later getting a free ride up to the break…the main pack was right behind at that point and we were back to “groupo compacto”. From that point on Todd decided to implement his 15-match technique over the next 20 miles repeatedly (literally 15-attacks) stretching the pack out…making other teams work to stay with him as a “marked rider”. Rick and Randy pulled back a few other attacks keeping the plan intact. Meanwhile Carlos and I were sitting in saving for the finale.

 Last year the final 15 miles was a tailwind with average speeds over 28mph…this year no wind so speeds were more in the 23 area. In the final 10 miles Taleo sent out several solo attacks that the ever present Todd covered along with other teams. I got on Ricks wheel and told him that Carlos and I were going to be glued on his wheel…he guided us like a cruise missle through all the flack, attaching to Todd’s wheel from time to time between attacks. Matt and Randy were keeping in the top 10-15 riders and things were looking good for BC.

 Before the race started the refs warned all of us that any rider even touching the centerline for any reason would be immediately DQ’d not just relegated to the back…sure enough the designated rider from Taleo went over the centerline about 2-k from the finish to get on his buddies wheel and the moto-ref was on him pulling him out of the race in less than 5-seconds…finally! the refs following through with the warnings ).

 1.5-kilometers from the finish things are getting dicey with people pinching into small holes trying to stay in position or attempting to move up…the final right turn was on us. The plan originally was to put the hammer down from the final corner…that didn’t happen.  Just before the turn Carlos came off my wheel so I told Matt to get on my wheel…Randy had moved back in the group to bring Carlos back up. There is a freeway overpass about 100-yards after the right turn and we went over it in a group…Todd in about 3-4th rider, Rick in 5-6th, Myself and Matt on his wheel…not sure where Carlos or Randy were at this point…we are all focused on what is happening in front of us. I yell up to Rick that “we’ve got to go” as we came over the top of the overpass…still no movement in the pack…everyone is waiting. Apparently, Randy and Carlos had moved back onto Matts wheel at this point based on Todd’s photos. We pass the 200-meter point and a large orange semi-truck of a person comes flying up my left side…no one on his wheel…I make the decision that it is now or never and jump on his wheel going by Rick, then jump out of the saddle and angled left all the way to the edge of the road going flat out from ~150-meters. As I’m coming by the group, I can’t believe no one has opened up the sprint yet. I hit the front free and clear with ~100-meters to go and just keep looking for the finish line, I can feel someone coming up my right side (Gregg Marioni-Giant Strawberry Team).

A couple of guys roll up after the finish line and tell me that one of my team members has crashed in the sprint…I’m totally surprised by this information because I didn’t hear a crash during the sprint. I wheel around and ride back through the finish line and can see Linda (my wife) and Todd (Carlos’s friend/Co-worker from the sheriffs) are huddled over someone. Kenny and John are also there. As I get off my bike, I see it is Carlos and he is really hurting. Linda and Todd are trying to keep him still…he’s covered in dirt and blood…Linda’s shirt is bloodied. Paula Mara is arriving and there is another guy on a cell phone calling in the medics. About 10-minutes later volunteer firemen arrive and a little later an ambulance. They close the race course as there are emergency vehicles all over the final 200-meters. I pick up his helmet and there are cracks in one side and impact signs in the front/right side. The EMT calls in a hellicoptor from UCD because there are signs of concusion and difficulty breathing. Todd says he’ll take Carlos’s vehicle/contact his girlfriend Kat and I/Linda take his bike and head to the ER. To make a long story shorter Carlos is going to be fine: he broke his right Clavicle, Scapula and ribs that collapsed his right lung, a concussion, and road rash from head to foot…they are trying to determine if they are going to do surgery on his shoulder fractures…  It is a Very good thing Carlos is in such phenominal physical shape…that prevented a potentially even more devestating injury, plus he is as mentally as tough as they come… Carlos has an amazing family who all arrived within a short time as he was going through a bunch of testing…it is very obvious they all really adore him. He also had probably 8-fellow sheriffs come by while we were waiting…pretty cool people.

 From the photos taken by Todd (Carlos’ friend) it looks like Carlos crossed his front wheel over Matt’s rear wheel in the sprint…something that can happen at any time in a ride even in the pro’s. I absolutely know Carlos was giving it his all and it was just one of those things that can happen…no one’s fault, just unfortunate…    Being the consumate team mate, Carlos was most disappointed that he didn’t win because the team had worked so hard for him and he was in the perfect leadout position. Carlos is very fatigued but would, I’m sure, like to hear from you: cponce@sacsheriff.com

 Results:  While relatively unimportant given Carlos’s crash…

Kenny 12, John 13th in the 35+ 5’s

Rob 1st, Rick 3rd, Todd 6th, Matt 11th, Randy 15th in the 45+ 4’s A-group

 Lessons:

1. Race results are not important when someone gets hurt…we are all very thankful that Carlos was not more seriously hurt…His helmet saved his life!

2. Thanks to all who helped Carlos including bystanders, Linda/Todd, fire dept, emt’s, lifeflight crew and the awsome professionals at UCD med center.

3. Having a Stud like Todd on your team who has 15-matches to burn compared to everyone elses 2-5 makes a difference…just ask Gregg who had to chase Todd repeatedly today and ended up second.

4. Having a Team race together, covering attacks (Todd, Randy, Rick), creating attacks (Todd and Rick) and guiding each other through traffic (Todd, Rick, Randy) is what it’s all about…a successful finish is the result of that team effort! You guys are showing everyone how its done…great job!!

5. We need to work on our leadout train…this is our second attempt this year (Snelling was the first)…

    a. we got lined up much better this time…

    b. we need to communicate more in the line going into the final 500

    b. we need to work on pulling the trigger sooner, we have the horsepower, we just need to be committed to the plan and execute it…we get another chance over the next 2-weekends )

 Next week…San Ardo RR…Matt is the designated rider….Randy F, Rick and Rob supporting cast…wish us luck

Nine riders from Body Concepts Race Team lined up for the start of the Snelling Road Race on 2-27-10 in the Masters 45+ 4/5 category eager, anxious and hopeful.

The first major player of the day, the weather, turned out to be perfect, as in no rain ~60 degrees with mild wind. The course was ~ 12-miles per lap and we did 4-laps in our race. There were several attacks by other teams that were covered by our 4-designated team members effectively and we had a couple of team members off the front (Carlos and Steve) causing other teams to chase. Matt and Randy F showed their experience pulling back several breaks and Dave road a very smart race moving forward as riders advanced covering several surges/attacks during the 4-laps.

On the final lap the pace picked up significantly and we struggled a little getting together as the finish approached trying not to get blocked in and get our leadout train organized, Brad and Steve helped get us to the front. With about 2-k to go we were all near the front and had about 7-of us lined up…we did not pull the trigger as we had hoped at that point and a group started moving up the left side of the road as we went through the 1-k to go mark. Rick and I moved over into this line 5-riders back from the front. My job was to pull the leadout train through the last corner so at the 500-meter point I took off to pull Rick and any other team mates through the last turn. I went through the turn with good speed and looked back to see if Rick was on my wheel…he wasn’t. I assumed he was 1-2 riders back and put my head down and road as hard as I could for as long as I could…two riders came by me at ~200-meters to go with Rick on their wheel. Rick looked cool and collected as he came by me and I knew then we were going to win…he is that fast )  Rick, according to my wife who was at the finish line, had a healthy lead as he crossed the line in first place.

Team finishing places: Rick 1st, Rob 7th, Randy F 13th, Matt 14th, Carlos 18th?, Randy V 19th, Steve 21st, Dave 24th, Brad 32nd

Two other team mates competed in the Cat 5’s …have not heard how this went but the results show Ken 23rd and John 27th.

Our next races will be at the Madera Stage Race on the 13-14th of March…

Rob

Click here to view the embedded video.

We placed at Cantua Creek 2nd (Rick) and 3rd (Randy). At Pine Flat we got 6th (Rick) & 8th (Steve) two weeks ago with a partial team attending.

Check back next week for a full race report

Rob

Enjoy!

We are very happy to have a new team member, John Depew, who joined us at our last skills clinic on 2-6-10 bringing our team up to 12 riders.

Our first official race is going to be next weekend at Pine Flat with the “climbers” on our team. 

On the 27th we will be racing with the entire team at Snelling RR and have some big plans for that race. We’ve been practicing for the last 3-months so it will be interesting to see how what we’ve practiced actually plays out in the race environment which is always chaotic.

A note regarding our GREAT TEAM SPONSORS check out their websites:

Nike Vision  www.nike.com/nikevision/main.html 

Western Health Advantage  www.westernhealth.com

Bicycles Plus  www.onlinecycling.com

Eagle Vision Eye Care  www.michaeljohnsonod.com

Premier Access   www.premierppo.com

Voler  www.voler.com

Our last skills clinic on 11-14-09 we worked with 4-on-4 race finishes with attention to multiple attacks and covering tactics.

This last Saturday was our third skills clinic todate and we again focused on race finishes. This time we concentrated on leadouts covering the last ~1.5-miles of a race finish. We had some very good learning experiences and discovering where some of our strengths and weaknesses are. We all stayed upright which was great! We have a fantastic group of guys who are all working together and having some good laughs along the way.

Our next skills clinic will cover moving around in a group and maintaining pack positioning.

Have a great week and keep the rubber side down.

Rob

PS   Woke up to 6-inches of snow this morning in Rescue!

This is why I think that life is so wonderful and exciting:  What events will unfold in our garden, what will happen when I step out the door, will my new recipe be delicious, will I flip the boat today, will I successfully help someone live a healthier life, who will I meet, what will I learn?  And most of all, my husband, my friends, and my dog to share it with.