Cat: M Cat 5, Overall GC: 18, Field: 46
This was my second year for this stage race and I was looking forward to it. Stage races are a blast. I know we have some very talented Cat 5 men racers and I encourage all of you to put Madera on your race card for next year. In two weeks, there is another Stage Race that is similar to Madera called TopSport and it is new this year. It has a circuit race, time trial and a road race. I am doing it and it would be great to have teammates. I would love to see one of our elite racers uncork a fast TT and put us in the GC lead! When I talk with racers about stage races some will say, " I do not have a TT bike and / or I have no TT experience". Well, as shown this weekend, all you need to post an excellent TT time is great legs, lungs and heart – the fasted TT time was posted by a racer on his road bike. And we have a Beat the Clock TT this weekend that provides a chance to practice. I hope to see some of you at TopSport and Beat the Clock!
Stage 1, CriteriumSat. 8:50 AM, Placed 10th.
Last year I got blown off the back in lap 3 and time trialed by myself. This year I rode with the pack, surfed wheels and tried different lines. Since we had a strong wind from the west, it put the home stretch in a cross wind. My goal was to finish with the pack and conserve energy. In turns 2 and 3, I used an outside line to end up shielded by the peloton from the wind and on turn 4, I used an inside line. The two primes were fast but no problem. On the finishing lap, I was near the middle of the pack but took the inside line. I got an alley and sprinted past a number of riders for 10th. I got the same time as the pack toward the GC classification.On turn 4 on an early lap, there was a crash right in front of me. This section of the road was into the wind and the front of the peloton bunched up. When the crash happened, I braked slightly, looked left and went around with no problem. I believe all the riders were back in the race that crashed – nothing serious.
Stage 2, Sharon ITT, Sat. 1:55 PM start time, Time: 28:28, Place: 20
I felt the crit in my legs and the wind was approximately 18 mph with gusts to 25 mph. It felt hard to pedal my TT bike against the wind in the easiest gear warming up, so I knew this was going to be a tough TT. My plan was to ride 80% on sections 1 and 2 and put in the hard effort when I was into the wind on sections 3 and 4. Normally, I race with a disc / trispoke combination but Coach Dan said not to use the trispoke so I substituted my Williams System 30 front wheel. Handling of the bike in the wind was not a problem. The ride into the wind was brutal and I was glad when it was over. An elite racer from Team Taleo posted a 23:XX time and took the lead in the GC. And he did it on his road bike. Team Taleo had 5 racers in Cat 5
Stage 3, Daulton RR, Sun. 11:35 AM, Place: 21, 51 miles (3 laps).
When we lined up, I was talking with the Taleo racers and they planned to control the race from the front and chase down any breaks. The wind was less than Saturday but would be a factor. As with the crit, I hid in the peloton and conserved energy. When we got to the Paris Roubaix section of rough road, I moved to the front behind Taleo. According to Coach Dan, breaks usually occur near the end of the rough road on the slight downhill section. There was a break and the front accelerated. I was in position behind the GC race leader. We killed it chasing the break and screamed up the rollers. I was fourth up the rollers and we caught the break at the neutral feed zone. Lap 2 was a repeat of lap one. Once again there was a break and this time, one guy got away. Once we were through the feed zone, the pace picked up and we went after the solo break. The pace through the rough road was fast. I was near the front for the uphill finish in the rollers but did not have enough left in the tank. I finished 37 seconds back. The leaders caught the single break and he finished 10th.It was a great race and a lot of fun. The cat 5 men were perfect gentlemen, great racers and a lot of fun to ride with.
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