NorCal Cycling News - Cycling and Racing in Northern California

Time to test the legs

The MERCO weekend used to be a standby for the National Racing Calendar … with Doug Fleutsch organizing a big tent festival atmosphere that would bring riders from around the country to attend.  The weekend offered a long but not unduly demanding road race that enticed teams with quality early season speed-endurance training, and a fastly technical downtown criterium that swept out the winter pack riding cobwebs.  The races were always perfect season openers for big sprints and long bombers.  But the past few years have seen a serious downsizing of NRC events on the west coast, largely influenced by increased financial requirements of USAC.

But this year Lee Shuemake and the TOPSPORT promotions crew have taken the lead in bringing March-Madness back to Norcal by building the classic weekend event into a 4-day, hugely anticipated, stage race that will launch American professional teams towards the form needed for the month-ending Redlands Classic.

For the Men’s race … all eyes have to be on the battles that will rage between the big boys of the Ameri-Pro peloton … Bissell, Jelly Belly, and Kelly Benefits.  It’s true that there will be some very talented Pro-Am teams in attendance - especially in the form of CalGiant, Marc Pro-Stava, Yahoo!, and Wonderful Pistachios.

But those teams sending riders to the Tour of California are at a level of racing that must be reacted to, not acted upon.  Bissell’s Andy Jacques-Maynes is in stellar form and loves to attack citizens more than a middle-east dictator.  Hell, the entire Bissell squad is going to be firing bunker busters at the field.  But there will be resistance.

Uprisings galore...
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STAGE 1 … put the hurt on quick and big

The opening MERCO stage’s profile doesn’t look that intimidating, but lap after lap up the circuit’s climb will see riders suffering under a painful barrage of high watts and razor sharp accelerations.  With 130-odd entrants in the men’s field, it’s going to be a fast, aggressive race that will have many teams looking to escape and gain a leg up on the GC before the following day’s challenging time trial.

An exciting aspect of the stage will be a 1-mile finishing climb tacked onto the final minutes of the stage.  Spectating and photography should be stellar as teams will be launching men up the hill like they’re storming the cliffs of Normandy.

Aside from the strong likelihood that a large break will duke it out for the stage win, the first day’s finishing climb will be a showcase for proven climbers in the pack to open up their throttles and roar up the hillside.  Obviously, Bissell riders like Paul Mach, BJM, and Rob Britton are to be watched … but, I’m picking a couple of darkhorses who might set some tongues to wagging.  Yahoos Nate English has a tremendous climbing engine and I see the finishing drag as a perfect place for him to fire the afterburners.  But I also think Full Circle Sports’ Stefano Barberi merits watching, as well.

The opening stage of MERCO will be phenomenal and likely to see more than a few amateur riders flirting with the time cut.  I’m certainly one of those candidates.  But that is the beauty of American cycling - we still have opportunities to race and test our limits.  Or, as the incurably poetic David Albrecht phrased it to his teammates Jeff Galland and Anthony Ferretti:

“Looking at the roster for Topsport begs the question; what the hell were we thinking?!

At least Grewal is training full time and has no other distractions… So how did a couple 40-somethings decide it would be fun to do a four day stage race against some of the best domestic pros in the country? On training that consists main…ly of twilight, back-pack laden commutes to and from a full time job? And while sporting flu symptoms and looking at a forecast of rain for most of the race?

I wonder if I can even make the time limit in the TT after not riding with aero-bars on my road bike in more than a year… and can I still recover from back to back hard stages at this age? It sounds kind of hopeless and will clearly require major suffering… so why do I feel like tomorrow’s start line will instead be a homecoming to the only place I have ever felt I really belong?

I can’t wait to spend some quality time in the pain cave with you and Anthony, but truly this whole thing reeks of an undiagnosed psychological disorder…”

Word up, David.

Stage win prediction: Andy Jacques-Maynes, Bissell
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STAGE 2 … truth do tell

The 12-mile time trial course is an out-n-back affair with a bump in it that will leave a lasting impression of lung-butter in most riders’ chests.  For those who have been working on their TT position, it will be a day to truly test the self against both clock and competitors.  For those who are cracking out the funny bike for the first time all season … use extra chamois cream and schedule massages now.

The constant gain in elevation for the first 4 miles will grind away at riders, and heavily influence who will be able to blister the return trip speeds needed to place highly on the stage.  This stage is suited to a bigger, stronger rider like BJM, Kenda/5 hour Energy’s Roman Kilun, or Michael Friedman of Kelly Benefits.  But which of those riders have been putting in time on the TT bike is up for question.

There are a couple of darkhorses in the TT … Bernard van Ulden is always good for a solo effort, but it’s hard to think he’s going full guns this early in the season.  Paul Mach has proven himself well against the clock and is likely a favorite for the TT and overall win … but, he’ll probably get too consumed with blogging about his stage 1 result the night before the TT and fail at getting enough sleep to be worth a shit for stage 2.

I’m super interested to see how the wolverine, Eric Wohlberg, will go in the time trial.  It’d be pretty sweet to see the iron man crush youngsters hopes and dreams … again.

Stage win prediction:  Paul Mach, Bissell
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Stage 3 … crazytown criterium

With the unfortunate course redesign forced by Merced city construction delays … the new course is going to be utter insanity.  A 6 block straightaway dives into a hairpin that will be filled with hours of rank carbon braking squeal and stank.  The race will be a series of 40 uber-intense intervals, as riders jump out of the hairpin each lap.  It’s going to be gruesome.

Hopefully those who aren’t NRC sprinters will stay out of the way and just ride wheels into, around, and out of the hairpin.  That will be me.  The best I’ve ever done at this crit was when I snuck away on the opening lap $300 prime.  I never saw the front of the race after that.

The rider to watch, of course, is the enigmatic Rahsaan Bahati.  He’s registered as the solo Bahati Foundation rider - and if he makes the time cut for the first two stages, he’ll be the man to beat in the MERCO Crit.  But, with so many breakaway artists in the field … and with the mayhem in the pack that will be created by the hairpin … it’s not outside of imagination to see a breakaway succeeding in the criterium.  However, stage race tactics and GC defending actions daunt even the die-hard attackers of CalGiant and Pistachio-land.

Another big sprinter that will gain attention for not only the criterium, but every stage at MERCO, will be young Norcal powerhouse Logan Loader.  Loader has proven his speed and fitness early and often this year and is a rider who WILL be snapped up by a professional team after this year.

Stage win prediction:  Rahsaan Bahati, Bahati Foundation.
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Stage 4 … only the strong survive

120 miles, folks.

Even with the course profile being relatively tame regarding elevation harsh’ocity … it’s still 120 miles.  The Tour of California teams will assert their superior fitness, endurance, and strength in this final stage of the event and it will be fascinating to see what young amateurs stay on terms with the big teams and show themselves well.

This is where I see the CalGiant BerryBoyz representing themselves the best over the weekend.  The real secret to success of this program is that the young riders are forced to learn what it really takes to ride at the highest level … in a word:  trainlikef*ckall.

John Hunt, James Mattis, Steve Reaney - these guys burn the ethic into their younger riders by example and education.  And the youngsters thrive.  Look for the Berry youth movement to have the recovery, training, and desire in their legs to put in a big show on the final stage of MERCO.

Stage win prediction: Kelly Benefits Alex Candelario

GC win prediction: Paul Mach, Bissell

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Can’t wait.  Hope to see you out there.