UmneyDurak

This weekend was bucket of fail. Did San Rafael Masters 35/45 3/4. It wasn't all that fast, tried couple of attacks, but they were chasing everything down. Got out of position on final lap, as usual, and ended up 11th overall. Whole idea was to have an easy race so I would be fresh for Albany, but that didn't go well either. Seems like I lost my mojo this year, and can't take corners as fast as I used to. Which is costing me positions, and places. Very frustrating. I have the form, but just can't seem to put it together to be in the right sport when it counts. Plus cornering thing.

Ygduf

NorCal Loser Wrapup in here.

Did Albany crt, same as Aaron but in the 35-123. Enough team presence (just not mine) that I was ludicrously marked. Every attack (and I tried plenty) saw 4-5-6 guys chasing me. The course is a bit too short with a few too many corners for me. It's just hard to string together enough time at enough power to snap the elastic.

I had one teammate and the break that I let go away had him in it, but he's like a worse version of me so he took last of the break, too. What can be done.

hack

At least you guys raced ... I haven't done that with real interest since ... Snelling?

I did race Cascade, but it isnt even worth doing a writeup for because I sucked so bad. Injured my hand real good about a month and a half before Cascade and my training was reduced to short trainer sessions. Great way to prep for a 4 day, climbing oriented stage race. Considered not going, but I already paid for reg and housing.

Here's a quick recap.

TT was meh. New course. Out and up a hill (4%??) 7 miles and back down the same hill. Went out too easy considering I spent a lot of the return in a Froome/aero tuck (first time doing that on the tt bike). Better than last year, but only good enough to be mid pack or so.

Road race sucked ... sucked ... sucked. My fitness wasn't primed for a 3,000 foot opening 14 mile climb and I got dropped. Spent the next 70 miles or so rolling solo on some beautiful roads though. Women's pro field caught up to me on the final climb and it was cool to watch them throw haymakers at each other while I limped along.

Crit was a blast. Love that this crit is always soooo fast (29 mph avg). Strung out corner to corner and with 6 laps left it was clear that for those of us in the middle of the pack, the race was done. With 2 to go folks thought they'd try to make up a position or two, but caused a hefty crash. Teammate and I got caught up in in, I broke a wheel while he broke his frame and elbow. Bummer town. Called it a race at that point and sat out of the last stage.

Turns out there was a yuge crash on lap 1 of the circuit race/last stage. Haven't seen video of it, but it took down 50 riders (110 started and 47 finished) and strava ride titles suggest a hand grenade was tossed into the peloton.

Time to catch some late season fitness and races, but for some reason I've been running the past week.

UmneyDurak

Well glad you survived without injury. That sounds like one giant charlie foxtrot, with all the crashes.

worth_racing

I agree with Matt on this. I think I came out of the saddle once the entire race and that was after the crash. The front straight is only like a 15-20sec effort and then it slows for the slight incline between 1-2. That is my fave corner and is the easiest to move up in the pack on the outside.

Had plenty left in the tank and wish I would have tried something with 2 to go. Always next year. This season was a bust for me anyway. Too much work and too little training. Only have about 10 races in so far, compared to maybe 30 by this time last year.

One Red Kite District Champ race (40-44), Giro SF and Oakland left for me.

I run the City Cycle Racing Team out of Marin btw.

tetonrider

technically, that's the "old" course!

did you guys start at the snow park (sorry.... 'sno park'! ) and go CCW up and over bachelor... or did you start where the pros start down near the HS?

damn. sorry to hear.

heard about this. sounded terrible. did it really take out 50+ riders (so that they couldn't even continue)? thought it was on the 3rd lap. you sure it was the 1st?

word is that cascade is done--for good. not sure if that means everything or just the amateur fields.

mattm

The word I heard is that this was the first/last time they'll do it as a UCI race.. but it would still continue like it used to.

You hearing it's done-done??

tetonrider

yes.

for the record, i have no criticisms of the event, and the very existence of the event was a significant inspiration to me to race my bike more. it became a season highlight to travel to Bend each year, play bikes for a weekend, see old friends, make new ones.

my $0.02:
unless the change in race status pulls in talent like Chris Froome and other top World Tour riders, it's not going to materially engage a broad audience, increase tourism, etc. spectators don't care much for any of the road stages, and as long as there are a group of riders willing to race in circles around that crit course at twilight it doesn't really matter if it's a domestic pro or an amateur cat 1 doing it, as far as the crowd is concerned.

if i remember right, the reason given for eliminating all amateur fields except for a single male 2/3 field was the upgrade in status for the pro race with its associated costs/obligations.

if the cost of cascade going to 2.2 status (which is a step up but it NOT going to draw those WT riders) is the loss of all but one amateur field, i'd argue that it's a net negative for domestic cycling. limiting opportunities for racers to participate in the sport necessarily shrinks the sport, and taking a premiere event (for amateurs) off the table is a notable blow.

i can understand that organizing the amateur racers may be a headache and not financially viable; perhaps, even, someone just doesn't feel like doing it. we all know that promoting races is a labor of love, and as amateur racers we're lucky they choose to do it.

now i hear that things are over, in a more permanent way. will someone else pick it up? are the rumors incorrect? will it go back to last year's status (with or without all the amateur fields)? i don't know anything for sure.

personally i hope it is not gone for good.

the same promoter used to run the Hood stage race.

hack

We started down in Bend, same as the Pros. Head up Cascade Lakes CCW around Bachelor, down the backside, and back up to the new sno-park at the T intersection.

Heard from several sources (teammates in the race, family of teammates, etc) the crash was on lap one. Occurred on the descent after turning off Archie Briggs and onto Mt Washington, but before the left hand turn to the final kicker. Wide open stretch of road, but someone tried to bunnyhop a manhole cover with less than stellar results. Was told that 50 went down, I'd gather quite a few got up, but pulled out after failing to catch back on.

Also heard that this was likely the final run of the race all together (UCI or not). Director called it quits, town less than thrilled with the road closures, etc. I'm not sure what they gained from going UCI. Most of the teams that were there would have been there regardless (well, aside from "Team USA").

Ttoc6

dammit. The two big stages races on the [North]west coast gone in a year. And I never got to race either of them...

tetonrider

not sure why you were unable to make those 2 in the past, but the basic theme with road racing is "race them now because they might not exist next year."

sad but true.

tetonrider

interesting. didn't expect them to do that but it makes sense.

i believe your sources. i just heard about it while i was out of town, and the story told to me made it sound like it was a later lap. i would have guessed it was on one of the descents in the first half of the loop. riders always seem a bit nervous on those on lap 1.

that's still amazing to me that so many riders dropped out. with such a large group going down, you figure they'd still be able to work together and keep going, esp with no time cut.

hard to imagine that 50-60 riders literally were unable to continue.

glad you were not injured.

yep...pretty much got confirmation of this tonight from someone in Bend.

sad!

maybe someone else will step in. if not, it joins the long and growing list of stage races that are no longer...

Ttoc6

Walla Walla basically always overlapped with collegiate for me and cascade is a 4 day race. Hard to get out of summer work for two/three days to go play bikes.

Ive heard Walla Walla might be returning but the trend says otherwise..

mike868y

c'mon man, gotta master the "oh i already have a vacation planned for these dates..." maneuver while interviewing

Ttoc6

In college I would tell the ta that I was part of a sports team. Worked everytime for Nats, business and other stage races.

I've got a "real" job now. Should be a bit easier to get out of work to go race Chico or whatever next year! Just use the paid Vaca time!

Matt2.8NJ

I was also in the 35+, also with my head not in the finish... rolled in a few places ahead of you. Did the 2/3/4 afterward with better results. The 35+ had a lot of staccato attacks whereas the pace in the 2/3/4 was steadier (but faster for the most part).

Glad you made it OK thru the 45+.

Ygduf

Patterson Pass RR 35+ - 3rd.

Red Kite 35+ - 2nd.

Patterson was brutal. Winnowed the small field down to me and a teammate of the guy otf I was chasing before cracking in the heat and giving in to my hotfoot. On Altamont I was coasting at 36 and the air was still. Climbing the pass for 3rd time I considered walking, very seriously, as it might have been faster.

Averaged 280AP/320NP for 3 hours. Then averaged 180w for the final 30 minutes, looking over my shoulder to be sure no one in my field was coming. I forgot caffeine before the race and I've never felt worse.

Red Kite - @mattm's teammate who eats my lunch in these races was there. I kept it close until he went otf to take a prime and I jumped up and through him. He took me up on the offer and our 2-man break stayed 20-30s ahead for 30 minutes until Dave kindly only sorta-creamed me in the sprint.

mattm

East-coast podiums back to back! Nice racing man.

(and not that new 10-place East-coast podium...)

tetonrider

cascade was 4 stages / 3 days for the amateurs; it's relatively recent that they went to 4 days/4 stages for the 2s (and last year for the combined 2/3 field).

i get your point though. gotta add travel time onto that, and showing up at midnight the night before stage 1 isn't the best formula for success.

mattm

Red Kite p/1/2, 2nd. Tiny field, like 10 of us at most.. wtf. This race has turned in to a ghost town, but I keep coming back for BAR points (I'm 2nd overall in the p1/2), and for the best training there is for racing: racing.

It's always windy af on this course, so a small field just meant the race would be that much harder. Perfect for training!

Local cx national champ guy came for a training session/to kick our asses, which was good - it's kind of boring if it's just the "usual" guys. Cx champ attacked from the gun, not surprisingly, and from there it was a lot of attacking and regrouping, until it came down to five of us. We were kind of the "break," maybe more like we just dropped everyone else.

One of my team mates dropped out pretty early, and the other one marked the guy in first for the series and they were trailing behind. So I'm basically alone to battle the cx champ guy with three other dudes in the way. We all took pulls evenly until the last lap. Except for the random attacks here and there.

Cx champ got the 'hole shot' in to the last corner, I was third in to it, sprinted for 2nd. Maybe if cx champ had a bad day and I had a really really good one I could beat him, but 2nd was about what I was expecting so overall not bad.

UmneyDurak

Umm yeah the 2/3 was 9 people and only because bunch of 3s like me doubled up. There were only three 2s. Seriously what a hell happened to this race? Is it the heat? Even at the beginning of the year 2/3 was 20+ riders.

Ended up 5th after chasing for 20-30 minutes with another 3 two people up the road, a 2 and a 3, who were chasing a group of two, a 2 and a 3. Well technically speaking we had a third, a 2, but he just sat in until he got dropped with 5 to go or so. Weird race.
Annoyed I missed the break. The two who was seating on our wheel let the gap form leading in to one of the prims.

hack

For me (and quite a few up here), I don't want to be in Livermore until 6 or 7 on a Sunday night.

UmneyDurak

In general or Sunday evening?
I wonder if it would make a difference if it was on Saturday.

mattm

I can dig it. But wouldn't that apply to someone at pretty much any Sunday crit?

I guess they could start earlier.. oh wait he runs like 30 fields, I think they start at 8 AM as it is.

aaronmcd

I agree, any late Sunday crit is tough mentally. Cuz game of thrones is Sunday night!

I chose not to race today. Felt kinda guilty about it but only one preregged!! And I had food I really needed to cook and hungry friends... Anyway, turns out I rode a bit but didn't feel the energy so its just as well I sat out today.