Early Bird Crits

A few of us made it out to Fremont yesterday (1/18).
Kevin and Billy went out for the 4’s. I saw them speed by on their last lap as I registered for the Advanced Skills Clinic and the Pro,123 crit. I think Kevin got 5th.

We all participated in the clinic, which focused on attacking and chasing down breaks. They had to spend most of the time showing people how to pace line, which could have been a separate session. Regardless, we all got upgrade points for attending.

In the pro,123 crit we were lucky enough to have the presence of “fast freddy” Rodriguez. Rocking the R&R kit, it was hard to miss him. There was like 60+ riders in our field.

Lot’s of attacks.

I got into a couple moves that were short lived and chased down Freddy a couple times too. He eventually got in a move with Roman Kilun, a Health Net rider (formerly on McGuire) and some Webcor guy. They got away after about an hour of the 75-minute race. The field nearly brought them back on the last lap. I kept my eye on Jamiel Danesh, JD Bergmann and the other sprinters as we wound up for the finish.

I was quite surprised that I was able to get up there with those guys and ended up passing JD in the last 100m. I got in around 8th or 9th in the field sprint. It looked like Jamiel took it. Not sure if it was Freddy or Roman who won the race, but it is still January and no one was really fighting for it too hard.

Saw Jim after the race getting ready to earn a couple more upgrade points of his own. I left before he finished, but he was looking pretty good.

All in all, a good workout.

B

Early Bird Road Race Course

The Early Bird is about as simple a course as you can get, out and back. I did find a site that had it mapped out according to mile markers, and you can check out other features such as topographical information as well as view an altitude gain chart. I haven't looked yet to see what other rides or courses there are mappings for.

January Training

Chris Stevens, left, and Jim Riley at the top of Seven Sisters during Saturday's Alpine Dam ride.

A January team ride is just the thing to gauge ones fitness. Road blocks leading up to Seven Sisters from Alpine Dam seemed daunting at first, but the debris on the road and sections of maintenance work were easily passed. Gusty winds on the exposed rollers and sections of gravel did, however, make it interesting.

2009 Road Season

A new season is upon us and I know many of us are eager to get out there and take some names. Props go out to all the people who went out for cross, bringing home some impressive results.

The road season is off to a great start with Jim winning his category at the San Bruno Hill Climb followed up by a win at his first crit. Deuce is coming off cross with some great finishes and I’m sure that momentum will keep the pressure on the competition in the coming months.

The 3’s ended last year in top form and another member in the ranks could make for a powerhouse squad. The 4’s have the numbers to really develop some team tactics. The 5’s wont be 5’s for much longer.

In the upcoming season some of us may be shooting for rank points, a podium finish or maybe even an upgrade. Whatever it may be, I wish everyone a great season. One reminder is that most of the races now have online registration and they do fill up fast. With that said, plan ahead and lets go out there as a force to be reckoned with.

San Bruno Hill Climb Cat 5 Winner

Congratulations to Jim Riley on his first place finish. With an impressive winning time of 16:54:05, Jim bested former Godspeed Courier and cat 5 second place finisher, Peter Taylor by 24 seconds. Jim is new to UCI racing and the race team, but is a veteran Godspeed messenger who consistently takes top placings at allycats and messenger events. Way to start the new year.