Orosi RR
Orosi RR
3/20/2010
M45 4/5
8th of ~26
Saturday was the Orosi road race, one of the hardest races in the district.
The organizers ran the 55+ race with our 45+ 4/5 race, swelling what was already the largest field in the race and changing the dynamics quite a bit. The course is two laps of a 26 mile loop which has one uneven 1600′ climb, a couple shorter climbs, a lot of large rolling hills, lots of bad pavement, pot holes, sand and gravel, one screaming fast technical descent, and 5 miles of flat per lap.
On the first time up the climb a number of 55s went to the front and set a fast but not too fast pace. No one wanted to pull but the pack didn’t shatter like usual. We had about 20 riders (half the field) left by the top, and a bunch more came back over the course of the lap. So I knew the second trip up would be hard.
Approaching the climb and the start of the second lap I rolled off the front and thought about breaking away but I wanted to be with a small group after the climb. I went to the front and set a pace that was hard but livable for me. About 7 guys went by but I got to the top with a group of 8 or so on my wheel. The 55s in the group tried to get us organized to chase but some of us were tired. My legs had that about to cramp feeling. We did catch one guy and lost a few out the back.
I came off the back at one point, and I hurt so much that I gave up for about 30 seconds. But I could see that the group slowed a bit, so I toughened up and worked for a bit and then bombed a short descent to get back on.
On the big descent I made sure to be near the front and not behind the poor descenders in the group so I wouldn’t get gapped. I went pretty fast down it. At the bottom the strongest of the 55s came by and said “we have a gap, lets go!”. I took a pull, moved over and my hamstrings cramped hard. I had to let the group go while I worked them out. Then I was stuck by myself for a flat 5 miles, the worst nightmare for a skinny climber. I had to go fast enough that I would not get caught. I managed it (the rider behind me was my teamate Holger, who is a much stronger rider, and he was a still couple minutes back at the finish).
I finished 8th in the 45s.
I’m happy that I finished that well. It’s the highest placing I have had in a non hillclimb race. But I am disappointed that I didn’t get to sprint it out with the group and maybe pick up a place or two.
We tried out a new chip timing system, and the results are interesting. I was only a minute back of the last of the riders from the chase group. The first of those guys was only a minute back of the two 45 4/5 leaders.