NorCal Cycling News – Cycling and Racing in Northern California

Editors Note: This is a new feature written by guest writer Cat3 Bloggity covering action in the Cat3 world.  He thinks nobody cares about his world, but i disagree, so I’m leaving out his tag line of …. “Races that nobody cares about and results that don’t matter.”

 

In case you didn’t get it the first time, this is for fun and I definitely don’t know what the hell I’m talking about.  If I offend you, feel free to squirt cytomax on me at the next criterium.  My sense of humor is definitely on the irreverent side and it is my belief that anyone who dresses up in brightly colored lycra to charge around business parks on Sunday mornings should not take themselves too seriously.  This post is a follow-up to my hindsight post last week.

April – Apple Pie is the best pie and that’s why we drive for 3 hours to race 50 minutes on this course.  Here’s a little note to all you would-be breakaway artist in the Cat3 field:  If you’re going in a breakaway, you have to make two or more people in the pack quit chasing.  The race came down to a sprint despite the half-hearted attacks.   Luther Kopf took a handy little win with a combination of bike handling skill and great kick.

Next up was the Santa Cruz Classic which has hill and the capability of sucking the life out of the riders.  It started very fast and the lap by lap attrition was high.  A Santa Cruz local found a great location to watch the race and smoke a doobie.  Those who thought blowing pot smoke into the peloton would calm them the fuck down were wrong.  The race was full gas start to finish.  William Myers was strongest on the day and won the race with a punchy sprint.

April was a big month of racing, starting with the Menlo Park Gran Prix.  This race is so awesome!   There was a sizable field and a few attacks but the Peninsula Velo and Form Fitness teams seemed to enjoy driving the pace and quashing any real breakaways.   Another note and this time it is for you sprinters:  If you find yourself at the front of the race too soon, don’t sit up.  Take a few more pedal strokes, maintain your speed, hit the next corner and reintegrate into the pack.  How many times we seen guys hit the front, freak out, and slow down?  It sucks…  That is exactly what happened at Menlo.  Young Nick Kinney, from Whole Athlete got into a break (with yours truly) and he looked super strong.  A decent sized gap opened, but it all came together at the last corner and Danny Boyle from Red Peloton took a well deserved win.  Watch for Nick this year.  That kid is knocking on the door!

May – The Wente Crit just snuck into May and we showed up to find it windy and warm (as usual).  This time the race was a mixed field (Cat 3 & 4) and we had close to the maximum number of riders.  It was stupid.  Most of the time the peloton rode slowly and tried not to run into each other.  That didn’t really work as the refs called multiple neutral laps and at least 2 full race stoppages as people hit deck on the widest turns in the history of criterium racing.  The last stoppage came just as the pack was reeling two Red Peloton riders.  Everyone had to line up again and Team Audi and Red Peloton (they were all over this race) drove the pace.  Once again someone sat up and the front got swamped, but somehow Keiran Cox found his way through the mess to take a quality win.  Quick note about Keiran; he didn’t listen to Zinn cycles when they told him he wasn’t tall enough for a tall-person bike.   Gotta love those 200mm cranks!

The Tri Valley Velo Criterium presented by PG&E wins the longest race name of the year.  The course is always fast and not too technical.  Overall it just an awesome race for the fast men of the peloton.  Mark Davis was definitely there because we could hear his commentary throughout the race.  If Mark was alone in a breakaway, would he still be talking?  Probably…  There were a few attacks but the nature of the course lends itself to a field sprint.  Matt Chatlaong found a nice position in the final meters and was able to win at the line.  Keiran Cox grabbed another podium.

So that about wraps up the season so far.  I’ll have another post for you about the fun times I had at Dash for Cash and the Taleo Criterium later this week.