The race is a great course that draws talent from all over California in the amature fields and the PRO fields routinely sees top .
The course features an uphill TT spanning about 3+ miles and 1300 feet. The Road race is loops around Bonnelli park and features a moderate raiser/ rollers combined with a short punchy climb on the back side. The Cat 2's did 8 laps equating to somewhere around 56 miles miles. The last day was a downtown 6 corner criterium that also featured a little 40 ft riser on the back side every lap. Not much, but enough to take it's toll during the race.
From what I understood about the TT is people routinely went out too hot so my strategy was going to be the exact opposite... Keep it on a leash until the road pitched up and then open up a can of 'go uphill oh so fast'. The only problem with my strategy today was that I never seemed to take the leash off. My time was about 2 minutes slower then a recent ascent of OSM, which as I understand translates pretty well. At the 1 k sign I figured either I was having the ride of my life and feeling better then I anticipated and was on miraculous form or I was out on a Sunday stroll. It turns out the later was true. Note to self: get a speedometer.
Time Trial: 73rd place PLATINUM PERFORMANCE CYCLING 16:10.09
While rolling around warming up for the road race I did not necessarily have any particular tactic in mind other then see how the race was going to unfold and stick close to Craig Nunes (local central coast SlO strong man) Both Marco and Gary said this guy wont waste any efforts, if he goes I should also go. Well by the third lap I was dropped on the stretch into the finish after getting caught behind a split in the peleton by a minor crashed. I attempted a chase but the previous three laps combined with the second 'Hot' or sprint lap and thrown me on the rivot early on and I was with out legs by with to chase. Still, I put my head down and said to myself if I did not catch them by the back raiser I will throw in the towel. Just then a group of 7 or 9 riders came up and I hopped back in with them and we caught the main group at the top of the feed zone. At this point in the race I knew that my only goal now was to do whatever it took just to finish this race. It was fast, smoggy, and hotter then expected and I was in the hole early on. My some miracle I finished with the main group and as a result moved up 20 or so odd spots in GC (From 70 something to 52). To be completely honest though I was very happy that I finished this race. It was probably one of the hardest races I have done. The ironic part is that going into the stage and looking at the coarse profile I thought that it was going to be too easy... It rode more like a really hard circuit race and with the smog and heat aggravating my asthma lets just say I was buried somewhere deep in the hurt locker. But hey, sometimes that is just how it goes I considered finishing a huge bonus to my mental fitness and am very happy that I did not quit and was able to race the crit the next day.
Road Race: 55th Place PLATINUM PERFORMANCE CYCLING 2:20:26
I thought he Crit would be a little easier with only 73 riders on the start line and I figured that a lot of the riders would be tired from their efforts. My starting position was not all that great and the race was fast from the gun... Averaging ~28mph in a 6 corner crit with a small riser = very hard for me to move up with no real legs. So the plan became the same... hold on for dear life and try not to get gapped out. With 3 to go I was certain that I may not finish the race but dug deep and held on for an entirely mediocre finish. But again, I finished the race.
CRIT: 62th place PLATINUM PERFORMANCE CYCLING
And because I finished was able to get ranked in the GC 2:26 seconds behind the winner.
52th place Gillmore, Chester PLATINUM PERFORMANCE CYCLING 3:29:13
Big ups to all the other platinum racers down there this weekend and to my wife and family for making it a weekend filled with much more then just bicycle racing. It was a blast.
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