Cat. 3 Chico Stage Race Report:
Short version:
It was hot. The volunteers and organizers were awesome. We rode as hard as we could and suffered. Lots of Corsa on the podiums. Did I mention it was hot?
Long version:
Friday - Dave K., Corey D., Mike P., and myself rode one easy lap of the Paskenta RR course to get a feel for it from that direction. The rest of that day I thought about the course, weather forecast, field sizes, & possible race scenarios and started realize what we were in for.
Saturday - Before leaving Chico I posted the following on facebook: "I have a feeling this RR is going to be MUCH harder than people realize". That said, I underestimated it. By a lot.
Corsa had 5 of the 14 racers in the cat. 3 field. Before the race we decided not to take advantage of our numbers, at least not until the second lap of the race. We wanted people to have a good experience and come back next year (with friends), so attacking again and again from mile one was not in the best interest of the long term health of our race (thanks for pointing that out Mike P.). Before the race a San Jose BC guy rode over and said, "so, you guys have five guys...any chance we can keep this race civil for the first lap?" Our reply, "yes, and thanks for coming to Chico, bring teammates next year".
Race started, civil riding ensued...for about two miles until a Team Type One guy attacked and a UC Davis guy followed. Mike P. covered the move and they opened a big gap, quickly. San Jose BC guy happened to be next to me so I said, "hey, we didn't start that". He replied, "ya, I know, you just covered, but it's going to make this a long day". So we had a guy in the break and 4 of 11 in the chase. We just sit in and let the other guys chase. No problem.
No problem until two other guys bridged. We weren't paying attention and didn't cover the move. Okay, now we had 1/5 in the break and 4/9 in the chase. Not a very good position considering we represented 1/3 of the total field. We talked a bit and decided to be patient. We lost three guys before the gavel on lap one. We were now 3/6 in the chase group going into the gravel. In the gravel a DBC guy and Mike R. flatted. That left myself, Anthony and a Rocknasium guy chasing a five man break. Now we actually had a numerical disadvantage going into lap two. @$&#!, how did we let that happen?
The follow car (Geno) passed us because the "break" was now larger than the "chase". I was starting to panic. We had gained time on the "break" through the gravel and the Rocknasium guy was wiling to work with us, so we still had a chance. The three of us chased hard for 7-8 miles (passing two dropped break riders in the process) and caught the break. Mike P. gave us a thumbs up as Corsa now had 3/6 in the new break. So at that point we had the numbers back on our side. Mike P. immediately attacked again, solo, and opened a huge gap on the rest of us. One of the other break guys said, "tell you teammate Jens Voit to give us a break, he was driving the whole first lap". I just smiled, knowing Anthony and I had a free ride until Mike was caught, or won.
The other three worked well and eventually brought Mike back. Once all together again I started taking big pulls because I was not sure who was chasing and I liked our numbers in the break. On Black Butte Rd. we were all out of water and starting to cramp and the pace slowed. Two guys caught us, luckily one was Mike Ricks. Now we had 4 of 8 with half a lap left and everyone CLEARLY hurting.
In the hills just after turning off of Black Butte Rd. we lost Mike R. to a medic ordering him off the course (low B.P). Now 3 of 7. Nearing the gravel Mike, Anthony and I talked and we are all in pretty bad shape and cramping but Mike P. seemed to be the strongest (despite all his early work). Literally, as I was try to think of a way for us to put Mike in a good spot two guys attacked. I was the closest Corsa to the front so I chased. After joining the two attackers I looked back and saw that there was no reaction behind us. Uh oh, now I had to be committed to the move. I was REALLY hoping that the others would catch us because I was cramping all over the place, but the gap grew and grew. Just before entering the gravel I was sure this was the winning move so I had to do whatever I could, as the last Corsa guy (even though Mike P. was clearly the strongest on the day).
About half way through we dropped one guy. At that point it was me and one other guy and I was in absolute misery. My only hope was that he felt as bad, or worse than I did. He flicked his elbow to signal me to the front and I decided to see what he had. I tried to lift the pace...and I cramped. Uh oh, new plan. Get through the gravel and rollers and try to sprint (somehow without cramping). I came out of the grave first and tried to stay on the front so that I could set a pace that I could maintain, but he eventually came around me. I held his wheel as long as I could, but he eventually rode away from me. I tried several times to close the gap but cramped each time.
At that point I just tried to limit the damage over the last 2-3 miles. It was horribly painful. He put over a minute into me. I put two minutes into the third place guy. Mike P. was 4th, & Anthony 6th.
It was 90 mile, 100+ degree sufferfest. Everyone in the field was destroyed by the end. Time gaps were huge. We all tried to recover for Sunday.
Sunday TT - Dave Kyle offered up his TT bike which was awesome. Just sitting on it made me feel fast, however I felt it was a little too big for me so I rode the old road bike with clip on aero bars.
I beat the leader by 1 second but the third place guy won the stage and took a minute forty of the time I had on him back. Painter maintained 4th, Anthony moved up a spot to 5th, Mike R. absolutely flew to a second place on the stage, and Dave moved up despite riding his road bike (Anthony used his TT bike).
Crit - Before I even knew what the GC situation was Mike P. came over with a paper on which he had worked out all the results. He delivered the bad news, that the third place guy was now only 19 second back of me. He basically told me, "You stay on his wheel no matter what, we'll take care of the rest". He wasn't kidding. He and Anthony attacked from the start and eventually lapped the field. The Rocknasium guy in third did the lion's share of the chasing with most of the other non-Corsa riders either content with their GC place, or too tired from Saturday to do anything about it.
When Painter and Anthony lapped us Mike Ricks attacked. All the while I just followed the Rocknasium wheel. Dave Kyle sprinted to take away the prime time bonuses and covered a few moves that the non-Corsa guys made. In the end it was Anthony, Mike P. and Mike R. taking a podium sweep, and protecting my GC spot in the process. Total team effort.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED TO PLAN, ORGANIZE, AND RUN THE EVENT. ALSO THANKS TO THE REST OF THE CORSA CAT. 3'S FOR THE SELFLESS RIDING. I OWE YOU ONE.
Josh Bullock wrote this on Sunday, July 4, 2010. This post has 27 Comments.
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