Napa Grand Prix, 35+ 3/4

Napa Grand Prix Race Report 21 June, 2008
By Michael ORourke

First off, this is a super fun event. Five stars in my book! Great technical course (more later) and the most spectator friendly event I’ve been to. And it’s in Napa, how bad can that be ? O.K, now for to the down and dirty.
Weather; 84 and sunny, up to mid 90’s by noon and a very slight breeze.
Course; Total length - .5 mi., counter clockwise. 3 short 90* left turns (around one block) followed by a 90* right. Down the straight into a slight headwind (about 200 meters), another 90* left, and immediate 180* (Left again) into a sweeping right, then another 150 meters to the start/finish (picture an upside down “P”.)
Go ahead, re-read that. I’ll wait.
Right off the bat I can tell three things about this course; 1) it’s very break friendly, 2) Going into the bell lap out of turn 4 (entering the first long straight) you’ll need to be no farther back than 6th, and preferably 2nd or 3rd if you want any chance at the podium, 3) the 180* turn will exact it’s pound of flesh. Maybe even several pounds!
My parents were up from Palm Desert for a visit and have never seen me race. In fact, I think they’ve never even seen a bicycle race, period. I mention this because while we arrived a little later than I would have liked, I failed to take into account the amount of time it would take to get them familiarized with the venue and settled in somewhere. Bottom line is I ended with just enough time to suit up and get to the line – no warm up. This will be interesting! We started off and as expected. This is a very quick and aggressive race. Because the course is as short and tight as it is, any riders who fall off the back get pulled in short order. Almost like a Miss and Out track event. After a few laps of getting familiar with the course and figuring out the best lines to take thru all the twists and turns I’m getting a little more comfortable with the layout and thinking more about my strategy. My biggest area of concern is still the 180 as everyone seems to have a different idea of which line is the best/safest/fastest. Some going wide, some cutting it early, and everything in between. One big clusterf*** that has “Disaster” written all over it! Sure enough, maybe 10 laps into it, a rider took the inside line a little too hot and is now sliding towards you know who. The good part is that this didn’t surprise me, and while he did knock me sideways a little I was able to remain upright and slightly ahead of him. The bad news is just as I thought I would emerge unscathed, I suddenly found myself going over the front of my bike for no explainable reason. Then the panic set in! Turns out he hit me hard enough to pull a portion of my front tire off the rim (tubulars). As the misaligned tire rolled thru the brake calipers it wedged in, locking up and pole vaulted me over the front. Well, at least it was low speed and early in the race. I shouldered my bike (along with three other riders) and jogged up to the pit. The Williams wheel guys were great and with some not so gentle persuasion we managed to wrench the front wheel out and get a replacement in. So, “Once more into the breech, dear friends” and I was on the back and working my way up.
I immediately noticed that the Willams wheel handled very differently than the ones I have and am accustomed to. I’m not saying they’re bad, just different. And this isn’t the kind of course I want to learn about new handling characteristics. So I spent a couple laps getting around guys along the straight just to have them get back around me in the corners. Still, there’s something that doesn’t feel quite right about the bike. Then I realize the other problem – now I have a flat rear tire! Once again into the pit for a wheel change, and once more into the breech. By now I have adjusted somewhat and can at least work with what I have. I just had to mentally relax and accept the situation. I was able to work my way up to the top ten just as the lap cards came out. I’m not one to make excuses, but I really didn’t have the confidence thru the corners (because of the different wheels) and didn’t contest my positioning thru the first few corners of the bell lap. I did manage to keep 6th place out of turn 4(as discussed earlier) and passed two on the finish sprint after the hairpin for 4th over all. Not altogether bad when you consider a crash and a flat into the mix! While I came into this race expecting to contest the win, all things considered, I’m quite happy with the way this turned out.

Napa Grand Prix, 35+ 3/4

Napa Grand Prix Race Report 21 June, 2008
By Michael ORourke

For course and weather, see the previous race report.
Right off the start I hear my Mom yell “Keep your tires on!.” Moms - ya’ gottta’ love ‘em! This race (45+) was a smaller group and better behaved than the 35’s. Right away I can see that we are all taking the same (and in my opinion best) line thru the hairpin. I also had my familiar wheels back on so handling was no longer an issue. I did manage to have my rear wheel bumped once, but it was over before I knew it. There were a couple attacks, but nothing substantial. A few primes offered up, but I wasn’t interested in contesting those. I’m after those upgrade points! There’s one rider who keeps going off the front and I can tell he’s hungry for a break. He looks capable, too. So, he spends a few laps off the front, and the gap seems to be growing. Todd Marshal, of Armstrong Lending is an old teammate of mine and went down with me in the last race. He’s had many good results thus far this season and I figured I could count on him for a good break partner. Counting him and the other guy already off the front I figured three of us had a good chance of staying away should we bridge up. No one else seemed interested in closing the gap, and it had become uncomfortable for me to let this guy get farther away. So as I pull thru past the Z-Team rider I ask if he’s ready to shut this down. He just smiled, so I took that as a “Yes”. A couple corners later I look back and I have about 5 seconds on the group. So I figured “Fine, I’ll bridge up by myself and the rest can race for 3rd. Just then along comes Todd and an ICCC rider. Good, reinforcements! Another lap or so and the four of us have a 10 second gap and are working together fairly well. I can tell Todd was a little cooked from bridging, but figured he’d recover. I wasn’t going to feel comfortable until we had at least 20 seconds on the field so every time I pulled thru I really tried to drill it. Then, as I yelled back at Todd to get on my wheel he simply replied, “I can’t, your hurting me!”. The other two didn’t seem to be fairing much better, either. “This is so cool!” I thought. I’m in a break and apparently the strongest rider in it. All we have to do is hit that 20 second mark and I’m golden. 10 seconds grew to 12, then 15, then 18, and within a few more laps, 20 – the magic number. Even though I was doing a majority of the work it was worth it as I could now take a little recovery, even if it cost us some time. The announcer threw up a couple prims to get the pack to chase. Apparently a couple riders attempted but failed and now they offered a prime to us the lead group. I came thru completely uncontested and that confirmed it for me. Now the lap cards have come out (10 to go) and just in case anyone is playing possum back there, I decide to gap a little each lap before the straight section into the wind, which had now picked up enough to be a factor. I took my recovery into the wind while they chased back on and then would drill it again thru the corners. I unexpectedly picked up a 5 second gap with 3 to go. These are really short laps so I figured I could solo it in from here. I though I was off the front, but then the ICCC rider came past me just over the start/finish line going into the bell lap. I’m thinking either he’s might still have a lot left in the tank and this will be a very hot lap, and I damn well better not settle for 2nd after all that. Not with my Mom watching and all! As it turns out this was merely a tactical error on his part. He wasn’t’ strong enough to pull away and all he did was give me a really great lead out into the wind. Maybe he figured I was cooked? Had he sat on my wheel instead, he might have had a better chance at contesting the sprint. The key for me at this point is to stay on his wheel out of the wind, and don’t f-up the hairpin! Around we go, total concentration and I nailed it! Now it’s a drag race to the finish and the way my sprint has been lately I had total confidence. I got the jump (slightly) coming out of the turn because of the perfect line, and I think adrenaline must have gotten the better of me as I actually passed him much sooner than expected. Again, I wasn’t going to go this far and take second! I even had time to sit up and mug before the finish! Man, that felt great! Normally I don’t encourage that kind of selfishness, but it does seem to be a bike racing tradition, and those opportunities don’t come along all that often.

Specialized/Sierra Nevada Crit, Elite 3

Specialized/Sierra Nevada Crit Race Report 14 June, 2008
by Michael ORourke

Course: .9mi, clockwise, and kind of a “D” shape. After the start/finish line there’s a 90* right turn, a long looping 180* (right again), a hard 90* and a slight “S” bend for 200 meters back to the line. Weather: 94* & sunny with a slight breeze. I didn’t expect anything atypical form this race and those expectations were met. There were several attempts at breaks, but nothing stuck, mostly due to “negative” racing. That is, everyone is waiting for someone else to start a break or bridge up. Periodically someone has a dig and promptly gets run down by the group. Not much to do but sit in, which was fine by me as I’m comfortable with a bunch sprint.

This almost makes two races out of one. The first race is to the lap cards. Today’s objective is to conserve energy without missing the winning break. Normally I would patrol the front, but this group didn’t feel as sketchy as they usually are, so I sat back in the pack a little more and kept an eye out for any potential escapees. Once the lap cards come out (5 to go) the game of positioning begins. And just like comedy, it’s all about the timing and knowing your audience (or fellow racers in this case). Again, this group seemed to be riding defensively, so it was unlikely the pace would escalate much thru the countdown. Stay in the top 25%, move into the top 10 with 3 or 2 to go, top 6 on the bell lap. I had planned on making a run up the outside because the inside lane can close without notice. However, I found myself on the inside anyway. I also planned on launching my sprint from the fire hydrant (about 100 meters or so before the last corner). Fortunately, the inside lane opened up just briefly enough for me to slip ahead of the big surge to the curb. The objective was to get in front of the group just before the last corner, take it as hot as possible and gut it out to the finish. While I wasn’t in front going into the corner, I rounded the coener 4th or so. Still, a workable scenario. Turns out the guy leading our little parade thru the corner was leading out his brother, and doing a fine job of it. It also meant they were both now leading me out. And that ladies and gentlemen, is what we call “poaching a wheel” =) Anyway, after we slingshot thru the corner, I think there were now 2 riders and about 2 bike lengths between me and the finish. Nothing left to do but put my head down and peddle like a hamster on crack !

This is the time when practicing form sprints pays off. I didn’t have to think about what gear to be in, or remember to put my hands a little farther up the drops so I can up shift to keep my cadence, keeping my head down, or any of that stuff. It now has become automatic. I passed #2 on my right with no problem, he was already starting to fade. #1 was still going strong, but I could tell he had topped out. I was still gaining and it was now just a matter of real estate. I actually got around him a little sooner than I expected and told myself to stay smooth and keep going until I could no longer see his wheel in my peripheral, which is exactly what I did. Another win for Victory Velo and a confidence builder for moi…not to mention more upgrade points !