Ronde van Brisbeen - Weekend Race Report

This is yet another long overdue post. Last weekend was the Ronde van Brisbeen (Brisbane, CA). This was a two day event consisting of a Criterium on Saturday, followed up with a Circuit Race on Sunday – there was also an Omnium up for grabs for the combined points for the two days.

Saturday’s crit was 50 minutes on a pretty technical course with a 180 degree turn that was immediately followed by a hairpin S-turn. After that, you got hit hard with the headwind. I was feeling very strong and really wanted to get into a breakaway during this race. With the tight turns and the wind it was definitely a day for a break to stick. Early on in the race the pace let up and I launched an attack…after hitting it hard for a bit I took a look back and found no one on my wheel and a large enough gap that I had to keep going. I sat out there for about 5 laps (snatched up 1 prime) and the entire time I was really hoping that someone (or 3) would bridge up….nope. Once I was back in the pack my teammate, Aaron, counter attacked perfectly and got away for a small break with a couple others. This was also brought back. One guy finally slipped off of the front and held it to the end…so the sprint was on for 2^nd. I was in a decent spot coming out of the S-turn and was able to snatch 10^th place overall, with all of my teammates coming in shortly behind.

Sunday’s Circuit Race was 50 minutes on a 1.7 mile course that included a long gradual hill (about ½ of the course was uphill). Because of my Saturday finish, my team wanted me to just sit in (hidden from a nasty uphill headwind) and try to stay fresh for the finish as I was the best candidate on our team for the Omnium. I dig that…all I had to do was take it easy and stay hidden from the wind – I’ll take that any day! My teammates were awesome. They established breakaways and chased down any that did not contain one of us in it. The race stayed together. I was a bit nervous towards the end of the race…these guys gave it their all throughout the race so that I could stay fresh and kill it in the sprint finish. The pressure was on! I was in horrible position (sitting about 30^th) as we crossed the start of the final lap. Cursing myself until I saw my teammate Dan sitting nearby. As we hit the lower end of the course, he popped over to the side and hit the gas. I hopped in his draft and he delivered me right up to the front in perfect position for the final climb. He then continued on and drove the pace of the pack up the hill till about 500 meters to go. The sprint was on. A few guys jumped and I was able to come around the front guys and hop on their tail. With about 300 meters we were in full uphill sprint (with a headwind). It was a real power draining sprint and I was not able to get around these guys. I finished 6^th for the day and that put me at 5^th for the Omnium.

I was stoked. This was a great weekend for me and our team. Everyone on the team raced two excellent races. I had a personal victory as Sunday was the best placing I’ve had out here in Cali AND it was a race with a hill.

Up next: Martinez Criterium this Saturday