Ladies and gentlemen, the Giro has come and gone, and another riveting edition of the fabled Cal Cup has come to a close; Hellyer has so fabulously covered the weekly developments that I, Hernandito, have scarcely managed to slip a word in edgewise.

The end of the 2009 road season is swiftly approaching, and with it comes my obsolescence; I know nothing of the world of cyclocross. After the upcoming Folsom and Chico race weekends, I’ll soon have nothing to write but reviews of my favorite microbrews or reports of the latest off-season NCNCA gossip.

Therefore, I intend to savor the last few moments of this season before hibernating for the long cold months of October, November and December; I’ll kick off my final few installments with some random Thursday ramblings. Read on at your own peril…

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As mentioned previously, my fellow blogger Hellyer has covered the Cal Cup quite nicely; I’d simply like to augment that fine race coverage with a few vignettes of my own.

To begin, allow me to editorialize for a bit. I would estimate that we are privy to nearly one hundred events on the NCNCA road calendar, and someone must win every single race; however, some victories are simply more beautiful than others. What do I mean by “beautiful,” and is it even possible to arrive at a general definition? I’ll loosely frame this discussion in the context of the Winters Road Race and the Giro di San Francisco; feel free to disagree with my assertions.

I’ll start by saying that every victory is special in its own right, and each is worth of pride and joy. However, I’m only referring to the most inspiring and spectacular wins as “beautiful”; such conquests occur infrequently. That we recently observed two such wins, on consecutive weekends, is nothing short of a statistical impossibility.

A beautiful victory must be hard-earned, mustn’t rely on the misfortune of others, and ought to display the victor’s immense resolve and talent. A victory can be beautiful in terms of teamwork, tactical brilliance, raw power, or the overcoming of insurmountable odds. To place my upcoming statements in the neutral context of European Professional races, I consider Cancellara’s 2008 win in San Remo a beautiful victory, along with Di Luca’s (now tainted) 2009 Giro stage ten win on the streets of Pinerolo.

Mark Cavendish’s victories are often too garish and self-aggrandizing for my taste, but I admit that the sight of his powerful Columbia team shepherding him to the 200m-to-go sign is both spectacular and inspiring; I consider it an example of beautiful teamwork.

Now that we have a roughly-hewn definition laid out, let’s talk about the 2009 P/1/2 Winters Road Race. Held on one of the hottest days the NCNCA has seen all year, this ninety-mile road race quickly degenerated into a hardman’s race of attrition. At the beginning of the third lap of four, a serious breakaway attempt went up the road containing Nate English (Z-team), Phil Mooney (Metromint), Fabrice Dubost (Webcor), James Mattis (CalGiant) and Evan Huffman (Lombardi), who was leading the Cal Cup standings at the time. Andres Gil (Pacific State Bank), Huffman’s primary competition, tried desperately to bridge across to the leaders for nearly half a lap, to no avail. Once more, Gil attacked the weary field, and this time no one feigned a response; he soon found himself within the confines of “no man’s land.” If anything, the pack assumed Gil was bluffing–surely it was impossible catch the group of five up the road–and that he would soon wither in the hot summer sun.

Gil was not bluffing. As the remainder of the field either continued unhappily onward or headed back to the cars early, he bridged the several minute gap to the lead group, joining the leaders just after the climb on the third lap. Such a feat of strength alone is inspiring, but what transpired one lap later is truly legendary. Over the course of the fourth and final lap, three of the original riders in the break succumbed to the heat and blistering pace; first Huffman was dropped, then English, and finally Mattis. All three were passed by the shattered remnants of the field.

Gil was able to fend off multiple attacks by perpetual attackers Mooney and Dubost, and the trio came to the line together; Gil bested his companions with a vicious kick and found the time for a glorious salute. It is difficult to comprehend the depths of discomfort required to bridge such a gap alone, but to finish the job with a victory is historical. Beautiful!

Let’s move on to my second example–the Giro di San Francisco–that exhibited some of the most intense action of the season. As if attempting to perfectly replicate the previous weekend’s Vacaville Grand Prix, Webcor’s Fabrice Dubost escaped from the field with Jared Barrilleaux (CalGiant) less than five laps into the race; the duo built up a maximum advantage of fifteen seconds. Over the course of the next hour and twenty minutes, their tenuous lead hovered between six and fifteen seconds, and each rider’s respective team expended copious amounts of energy keeping the anxious field in check.

With five laps to go, and a mere ten second advantage on the hard-chasing field, the race seemed destined to end in heartbreak for the leading duo; Lombardi had amassed their riders at the front and seemed intent on bringing the race together for a sprint.

Barrilleaux and Dubost were not keen to have their day in the sun ruined for a second consecutive week, and they drove harder and harder as the laps wore on. The fatigue etched deep lines in their faces. It was fatigue brought about not only by their exploits on the day, but also by the seemingly interminable nine-month NorCal racing season.

Photo from Veronika Lenzi.

With one lap to go, the outcome of the race was anyone’s guess. Sterling Magnell, racing in a Williams Wheels kit rather than his former Rock Racing attire, had a guess of his own; he launched a searing attack with two corners to go, as the field closed to within 3 seconds of the day’s escapees.

It was a scene straight from a flat stage of the Tour de France: the desperate day-long breakaway staving off the sprinters’ teams, and the crowd willing them forward all the way to the line. Everyone held their breath, with memories of Cat’s Hill and Vacaville running through their heads; could Fabrice hold off the accelerating Magnell and capture an elusive victory? Could Barrilleaux match the Frenchman’s sprint and take the honors himself? Or, would Magnell ruin the day for both intrepid riders?

Out of the shadows, cast by the looming downtown San Francisco buildings and trees lining the course, emerged the triumphant Webcor rider, just ahead of Magnell and Barrilleaux. Dubost clenched his fist in triumph, having powered away from the field and his hapless breakaway partner.

Photo from Veronika Lenzi.

Perhaps some of the luster is lost in my retelling, for which I apologize, but believe me when I say that it was beautiful to behold!

While those two races fit my definition of beautiful victories, I’d love to hear some of your personal favorite local finishes; I do love a good bike race story!

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Enough of the past. Let’s move on to the future, shall we?

The Folsom Cyclebration starts tomorrow afternoon, and my money is on Mooney, the Metromint breakaway artist and time trialist extraordinaire. That guy’s riding a wicked wave of fitness and, provided his ITT is good enough to offset the sprint of either Kevin Klein or Evan Huffman in the later stages, I think he’ll take the overall title.

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The following weekend, the 2009 season will move to its final resting place, somewhere between the ghost town Henleyville and the college town of Chico. Given their location, both spatially and temporally, these upcoming races tend to be poorly attended, but I’ll try and pick a few winners. I’m banking on some repeats.

A quick glance at previous years’ results indicate that Eric Riggs will materialize from the ether to win the P/1/2 men’s race at Henleyville. Does anyone know what happened to that guy?

I’d also love to see Chris Turner return to Chico and repeat his five-lap, solo move for the win in the Chico Downtown criterium; that, my friends, was a well-earned win for Chris, who is one of the nicest and most underrated riders in the P/1/2 ranks.

Photo courtesy of Bob McConnell

Finally, Jane Despas will probably win the W/1/2/3 races at both events, unless SugarCRM shows up to contest her dominance. In that case, it will prove to be a battle to the death.

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And here we are, at the end of my post. Though I’m feeling rather motivated to continue writing, I’ve got three talks to prepare and nary a PowerPoint slide in sight. I’ll leave you now with this humorous publicity stunt involving stripper poles attached to New York City pedicabs.

Photo courtesy of theawl.com

I would not be surprised to see Jess Raphael pedaling one of these contraptions around a local criterium next year, with Mike Hernandez (in drag, naturally) working the pole.

Have a good evening folks!