This Weekend

No racing, just riding...and I can't wait.

Climbing

Click the pic for full effect

Gatorade

The pic is of my teammate Carmi and the camera chopper.

This morning me and three of my mates headed up to Geyserville for a Gatorade commercial shoot. It was a full day filled with a lot of repetitive riding back and forth and up and down a climb and a ton of calories from the masses of food they served us.

Great times overall. I snuck a pic while riding up the climb (knowing the camera was not on me). That's the next post.

Dottie's

Martinez Criterium

Today was the Martinez Criterium. 50 mintues on a fun/technical course. There was wind and bumpy roads to keep us busy throughout the race. All of the turns were great though. For the most part, it was a very safe race (I think there were 3 very small crashes, but nothing too damaging).

Today's plan...sit in and wait for the sprint finish. Our team, Active Athlete / Squadra Ovest had a total of 6 riders in our Cat 3 race (Chris, Dino, Aaron, Murat, Gabe & myself). The team pretty much all mixed it up in the front of the race, establishing breaks and keeping the pace high (except for me)...with 5 to go, I made my way up to the front only to get swarmed again and again, lap after lap. 2 to go and I got up there and stayed. I sat about 10th and was able to contest the sprint.

Here's where things get funny. When you are sprinting at the front of the pack and aiming for the podium, you KNOW where you are and what place you got. It's a bit different than when you are in a pack for 10th. I remember thinking that I needed to pass one more guy to get 3rd place and that didn't happen. I got 4th place. The race officials video camera was not working today, so they asked all the top 15 riders to come over and let them know where they think you were placed. I fought for 4th, but two guys stole 2 spots in front of me and I was officially placed 6th. Complete bummer...I know I was 4th. I accepted 6th, got my upgrade point, my cash and called it a day.

We then grabbed some burritos and watched the Pro/1/2 race, where our teammates Jan and Charlie were racing among a large Rock Racing squad. Rock established a 4 man break with a few of the other big teams and then Bahati bridged up to make it a 5-man breakaway, with 2 Rock Racing teammates. Rock won the race and Bahati took 3rd. Jan and Charlie had thier work cut out for them as this race looked crazy fast. They both did a great job and raced hard. I didn't see the final results, but Jan was near 30th.

I forgot my GPS today (normally I toss it in my back pocket). So instead of a nice fancy Google Map, you get a nice fancy Angelo drawing using Microsoft Paint.

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

Cafe De Luca Ride

As you can tell from previous posts, the weekend's team ride did not turn out to be a bust...it actually got better. We planned to do the Judson Ride, which starts up in Evanston and rolls north from there...it meets at 8am. This is a great ride that brings out all of the Chicago hammer heads from all teams to beat up on each other. I woke up at about 6am, looked out the window, snapped that picture below (it turned out horrible, but it's a snow-covered street...a few inches) and then went back to sleep thinking that the day would end up on a trainer over at the Get a Grip Cycles Fit Studio.

When I re-woke up at 10:30/11am the sun was out and the streets were clear! We called around and organized a Get a Grip Team ride to roll out at 12:30 and do my favorite Chicago ride - The Cafe De Luca Ride. This is a much better route (my opinion), but the Judson would have been nice to see all of the other friends I have in the Chicago cycling scene. I guess I can't have everything.

Eric, Steve, Jon, Cesar, Uwe, DJ and I headed out for a cold and windy ride. These guys are ready for the season...Steve was a total hammer-head and the rest of the gang held on in a strong fashion. If you are reading this and heading to the Hillsboro-Roubaix, watch out for the green goblins.

The bike I borrowed from the shop was great, though I could not get used to the SRAM group for the life of me. I kept shifting the wrong way and also nearly dropped my chain a few times. I also REALLY missed the sweeping action that Campagnolo provides. I can see Shimano people switching to SRAM, but once you go Campy you won't go back.

Anyway - Here's the Cafe De Luca Ride/Route: