NorCal Cycling News – Cycling and Racing in Northern California

There was exciting racing up in Burlingame which is  one of the longest running races on the Peninsula. The local speedsters had a good shot at this one as many men and women who have been cleaning up on the NorCal scene were off contesting races either at nationals in Georgia, or in the midwest at the Tour of America’s Dairyland.  Both races came down to exciting sprints down the final drag with Andy Goessling taking the men’s race and Martina Patella winning the women’s field.  I was able to get a quick inteview with Goessling and captures Patella’s finish on my trusty, but obsolete, Flip camera.  I have a few more stories from the race but figured you would all be hungry for a little update after doing your own rides on this beautiful NorCal weekend.

M12 Race
It is exciting to see how much the current generation of USA Cycling Development graduates are actually having an impact on the local, domestic, and international peloton.   Andy Goessling, (22 – Firefighters Cycling) survived a hairy race and won the final sprint after navigating a late race crash. I don’t know if it was the lack of speed or Big Pink had nobody to play with but if we are going to continue to mock SoCal we cannot have last lap crashes folks. If you all are going to be riding like you are from New Jersey then at least get a brawl going after the race.

W123

Despite being underdogs in a field packed with some local talent (Red Racing, Metromint, Webcor) TIBCO II started off the race aggressively and looked like they will drilling the front every time i turned around.  It didn’t reflect in their results but their aggressive racing made for an active and exciting race. Martina Patella proved she hasn’t lost any pro instincts with her finish and sweet victory post as she crossed the line.  Elis Bradshaw was half a bike length behind her, showing she might be ready for her second peak of the season after a killer early spring campaign.

Masters 123

I ran into Briggs at a coffee shop and got the run down on the race.  It went something like this…. “I wasn’t even going to do this race but figured it would be a good warm up and then Wholberg got on the front….” at which point I think we both got bored and drifted off towards the coffee counter.  I assume the story went something like… “Wholberg drilled it, I got his wheel, they should just mail me my natz jersey now!”  He’s like NorCal’s Jeff Spicoli – pure California. I now REALLY REALLY want him to win Master Natz.