Dispatch from the Sonora road race.
This past Sunday, Kevin, Maestro, Billy and myself made it out to
Sonora for their first annual road race. Aside from a slightly
smaller than ideal field (roughly 30), it was a great time and we
represented pretty well.
The course was a 13 mile loop that featured a few short climbs,
generally rolling terrain and no significant flats. The roads
were wet but the rain held off (at least at before we rolled out).
And we started off with a bang: some dude from another team
led the field the wrong way during the promenade and
succeeded to tack about a mile extra onto our neutral section.
Thanks, man.
Once we got going, it was climb, descend and repeat. About two
miles into the first of our four laps, a few people went down on
some wet railroad tracks (45 degrees to the road).
No messengers surveyed considered them a problem. The only
other technical sections were two almost identical bridge crossings
that featured a quick, shortish descents followed by a two sharp 90
degree turns and power climbs. Most people were being pretty
timid given the wet conditions, and Billy bore the brunt of it on the
first lap. Crossing over the first bridge, another rider lost control on
one of the sharp turns and ran into him, causing him to slide out.
No major reprocussions, but Billy pulled out after soloing for two
laps on a gimpy wheel hoping to catch on to the group. Damn.
A few other incidents reduced the field to a core group of about 15
and it stayed that way with Maestro feeling strong and pushing the
pace through a at-times steady rain. A couple others shared the
workload, but he consistently opened up small gaps on each descent
and found himself on or near the front when things inevitably came
back together. Not that we didn't try to keep him away. More than
once, Kevin and I attempted to block when the few chasing Maestro
would form up with him into a group of three or four. We were
quickly sniffed out each time. I took a few turns pulling, but mainly
Kevin and I hovered mid-to-front pack during the middle of the race.
A steady pressure from the front broke a few more guys off, and it
was about 12 or so heading into the last lap.
And on that final lap the pace quickened. With Maestro in control
and commanding everyone's attention, it was going to be hard to break
him off the front. No real opportunities presented themselves, and he
was on the front with about 2K left. After hanging back a bit with Kevin,
I decided to work my way up to Maestro. My plan was to give him
some rest for a bit and then lead out before the start of the final climb,
which picked up with about 1K to go. Hopefully, a few guys would
follow my early move off the front and tire out, which would set up
Maestro in command of a well-timed chase group. So a bit before the
base of the climb I got in front and started to push it pretty hard,
but without any obvious or sudden snap. I zoned out for a bit as the
climb started before I looked back - and saw no one close.
Apparently, after I started my move, Maestro quietly soft-pedaled for
a bit, allowing a rather-substantial gap to form. By the time anyone
noticed, I was too far up the road and the climb was hitting them
hard. Halfway up the hill, I looked back and didn't see anyone
gaining. So I put my head down and didn't stop. I guess the field
was paying close enough attention to the guy hurting them throughout
the race that they missed his teammate going off the front. Yeah.
Final results:
Jim - 1st
Maestro - 5th
Kevin - 8th
Billy - DNF (but self and bike are ok)
-Jim
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