The Recon

Mike, a friend from across the hall, and I went out to Stinson Wednesday morning to get an idea of the course. I’d never ridden on Mt. Tam West of the Ridge, but Highway 1 was pleasant enough leading to Bolinas-Fairfax. We hit the cattle guard at about 15 minutes and started the main climb. Mike’s a freakin’ mountain goat and dropped me about halfway up. I got to the top at about 50 minutes which made me kind of worried about breaking an hour on event day. We had to turn back before heading out on Ridgecrest, but it was great to get a sense of what the main climb and first two thirds of the course would be like.

The Warm-up

Instead of driving all the way out to Stinson, which took us an hour on Wednesday morning, Mike had a great idea: we drove just partway up Shoreline out of Mill Valley to Erica Rd, parking at a friend’s house and we used the ten mile ride to Stinson as a warm-up. Though foggy, with some traffic, the ride made for an excellent warm-up and had enough flats and hills get my legs ready for both.

The Flat

We got checked in just in time and headed over to the start with a few minutes to stretch and talk to fellow Mouse Andrew. Group one had just taken off and about forty Cat 5s congregated around a very loud official with a very loud whistle. He sent us off and one of the Godspeed guys who likes tearing the legs off riders at the Tuesday Park Ride promptly set the pace. I just sat it and relaxed in the draft of a fairly sizable group, the flat was over before it even started.

The Climb

Watching forty Cat 5s turn ninety degrees and being confronted with a plywood covered cattle guard is pretty amusing. Nonetheless, no one bailed and the climb got underway. I started the climb in the first third of the pack, and while ten or fifteen climbers easily peeled off I managed to stay in position passing and being passed equally for the first third of the climb. After that definitely I started to watch the guys ahead of me get smaller. Mike passed me after coming from the back of the group and it started to get a little lonely at about halfway up.

Whenever someone passed I’d get on their wheel for as long as I could, but never long enough to get a steady rhythm going. About two thirds of the way up I started to see guys from the public men’s group hammering by. I’d look back every once in a while to see the same guy: the Synergy rider on the yellow Madone from the Becinia Crit who couldn’t corner for squat. Since he couldn’t hold his line up at Benicia I kind of wanted to stick it to him on the climb and while he came close to passing me I got a second wind in the last 500 meters of the climb and headed up and over onto Ridgecrest.

The Seven Bitches

Since we had to turn back early Wednesday morning I haven’t ridden the Ridecrest rollers in a while. Because my fit is so poor on my bike my lower back was killing me and really started to feel it after the second or third sister. The big stairstep before the end was particularly gnarly even though I could get some good momentum coming out of each little climb. I got sick of being passed and passing yellow Madone dude, so I tried to get him and a couple public men’s group guys to work together with me but no one seemed to want to stick together.

The Result

I came off the last sister expecting more and I tore through the final sprint with a lot left in the tank: I’ve really got to work on pacing myself and working harder on the climbs. The result, 36th out of 39 with 1:01:25, so, not last (but certainly not good). I had loads of fun though, I’ve never gone up Mt. Tam with so many other riders.

Fellow Mouse DP had an awesome result in the 4s, and Andrew said he improved on last year (54 minutes is pretty damn good). Mike pulled in right after Andrew posting an impressive 55:11. I’m already looking forward to next year. I figure riding the course even just once a month will shave minutes off my time by next year.

The Post Ride

Having parked on Erica Rd, Mike and I rode back down Panoramic for a nice cool down. As a bonus we stopped and said “Hi” to Mike’s friend who lent us a parking spot – she’s got an incredible house looking off toward Muir Beach.

Mike and I arrived home, Ashley fed me a delicious lunch, and then we set off in search of the most beautiful little red track bike anyone has ever laid eyes on (I’ll let Ashley tell you all about it).

The Skinny

Tenth out of seventeen starters. Seth held a strong position throughout the race and finished a very close second, though he could have gotten first if he held out a quarter lap longer on for the sprint. Chris won the 4s after a disappointment at the Giro on Monday. Timmay! and Federico rocked it hard in the 4s race as well.

The Report

Set in a combination bay side downtown and suburb the first annual Benicia Town Race was a four corner criterium with the most variety in a course I’ve seen yet. The slightly downhill smooth start/finish leads into a typical 90 degree corner and onto slightly rougher pavement for the flat leg of the course. Corner two kicks off onto an abrupt uphill about half the length but the same height as the “hill” in the Giro. Just over the first hump is a little dip and another slight hump leading into turn three and ending the “rollers” leg of the course. Turn three leads into a slight uphill and enough of a headwind to slow any leader down significantly before turn four and the sprint.

Seth and I (and Ashley) arrived on scene, in an overcast and windy Benicia set for making the Roaring Mouse presence known in the inaugural race.

With only seventeen starters, most of whom had already gotten a good look at the course, the race started off quickly. However after a couple laps it was clear that the pace wasn’t going to get much hotter until the finish. I was pretty happy to sit in and see what happened.

A few laps in a guy in a Team Michelin jersey tried a brief solo flyer but quickly drifted back into the group after the hill on the back stretch. It became pretty clear that while it didn’t require much of an effort to get through the back stretch it was also a great place to move up and start positioning for the home stretch. As the race progressed it was also pretty clear that most of our small field couldn’t corner. I admittedly took corner three a little wide a couple times, but several other riders were consistently cutting straight through the pack and then turning very suddenly, especially on the first and third corners. I was doing my best to steer clear of those riders but I kept ending up behind the same two squirrels for several laps.

About 10 minutes in I started to get worried about hanging with the pack because I’d always lose a few positions on the flat stretches, but my anxiety subsided as I realized I could easily make up those spots if not more on the first hill on the back. Most riders seemed to stay in a fairly high gear while I tried to down shift considerably and spin right past. Maintaining a position mid pack I was also able to keep clear of some of the idiots in the corners. Halfway in I had developed a good rhythm of moving up on the hill, avoiding poor handlers in the corners, and maintaining my position on the flats. Watching Seth hold a pretty solid position up front for the entire race also made be feel pretty good even if I wasn’t able to provide any assistance.

All was good, even as the officials put up the lap cards and the pace heated up a bit. Michelin man tried another flyer without success. Seth had also been drilling it pretty consistently: with three to go and Seth on the front I tried to yell up the hill for him to hang back, but my lungs couldn’t handle riding and hollering at the same time. Larry, taking photos on the sidelines tried to get the same message across. It took this time and Seth looked pretty good for a sprint going into the bell lap.

One of the aforementioned squirrels took the first corner of the last lap wide cutting me off as I was still pedaling through the corner – correcting, I caught a little road with my pedal. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to throw me off my rhythm and before I knew it I was down several spots and had a bit of a gap going into the rollers. With no easy wheel in sight I new I’d be toward the back of the pack with a bad position going into the last corner. The wind didn’t help much on the stretch between corners three and four. However I did see one guy trying to pass me before the home stretch – instead of trying to hammer and maintain my position I let him through and immediately hopped on his wheel.

The Finish

Up ahead I could see the pack closing down on the finish in groups of two or three, with Seth still in the mix after trying to break away on the back stretch after the hill – a little early, but he still had the guns to put away 2nd place just as I was putting my head down for a sprint.

Since the pack had usually been recovering on the downhill before the finish I wasn’t quite sure of the best place to go so I may have gone a bit early. As soon as it leveled I took the inside line, clicked up twice and hammered. My leader was probably expecting it since I let him have the corner so easily and went as well. I took 10th by about a wheel. I probably could have let him do a little more work.

The Reflection

Had my corner on the first turn of the last lap been clean that 10th could have easily been at least 6th. But while 10th isn’t anything to write home about (especially since only 17 started), I’m generally pleased with how I raced, perhaps only wishing I’d stayed further away from some of riders who couldn’t take the turns, especially on the bell lap. I’d say it was my best race to date, it was a blast, and, hey, at least I out sprinted one guy.

In the end it turned out to be a fantastic day for the Mouse. Seth was rocking the entire race, and took second (and could’ve had first if he waited just a bit longer); I got a top ten (well, out of 17), and got a semi-legitimate sprint and pack finish in.

Not to mention…Chris, Tim, and Federico killing it in the fours with Chris taking the win in an awesome sprint! Congratulations Chris! It was an awesome and well deserved finish.

Also, it wouldn’t have been a race without Larry on the sidelines taking action shots and shouting encouragement. Thanks for all the tips Larry!

Afterward, Seth, Timmay!, Ashley and I celebrated our relative successes over large plates of various breakfasts down the street from the reg tents.

The Photos

The more of Larry’s work I see the more I am impressed: here’s some shots from the Elite 4 race that Chris won, and from the Masters 35+ 1/2/3 (no mice, but great photos).

In lieu of actually writing anything up, here’s a short and sweet summary of a few races this summer…

Lafeyette Criterium

My first race, nervous as hell, but got a nice warm up on the course. Loving the new pavement I felt pretty good for a few laps. I got dropped about 16 minutes in (about eight laps) and pulled myself out after an old overweight guy on a Orbea with Zipps wouldn’t stop sucking my wheel around the course for a couple laps when were obviously down and out.

Albany Criterium

I felt a little better about my chances after having gotten an initial taste of crit racing. Since we weren’t the first race I got a mediocre warm up out on the street. The pace seemed significantly more tame than Lafeyette, even though my computer says it was about the same. Maybe because this was a four corner crit with very little rise and Lafeyette has a bitch of a hairpin going up for along rise to the finish. I sat very comfortably in the front half of the pack for at least twenty minutes before I started to hurt and lose positions. My head started to swim so I missed the lap cards altogether and didn’t even realize the bells ringing weren’t in my ears. It was over faster than I thought, and though I didn’t finish with the pack, I finished and I wasn’t last: 24th out of 27 finishers, 31 starters.

Giro di San Francisco

First race as a Mouse and I was stoked. We did some recon that Saturday and put together a pretty complicated strategy. Unfortunately that all went out the window when the race actually started. James Bellenger of TFK had a really unfortunate spill in the second or third lap (I was a few riders back and some him crash pretty hard) which put us in a six lap neutralization – heal quick James. While they were tending to James a spectator collapsed, either from a heart attack or the sight of James’ blood. That stopped the race altogether with 75 anxious 4s and 5s losing their warm up at the starting line.

We must have sat for half an hour while EMTs tended to the spectator and James. The officials gave us ten laps to go, after racing only two, of twenty-four total planned. They actually started us off kind of quick, I didn’t even know we were racing until I saw the front half of the pack pull away very quickly. I got stuck behind other confused riders still trying to clip in and the pack was already around the corner by the time I got away. I spent a few laps trying to catch back on before getting dropped back with a smaller group with similar problems. A Team CS rider and I tried briefly to get back into it together but we had already lost too much ground and were whistled off with four or five to go.

Either way it was a blast to finally ride with a team, especially a team as fun as Roaring Mouse. Thanks for all the support guys, and thanks for making the Giro, even a botched Giro, an event to be reckoned with.