Godspeed takes a WIN! Brandon sprints to victory in the cat 3 criterium.
Merco Credit Union Grand Prix and Foothills Road Race
The first big double header of the season is now in the rear view mirror. Good bye Merced, good bye Pine Cone Mongolian Grill parking lot. We'll see you again, real soon.
What can I say about the races? Exciting as always.
What can I say about Merced? America... F#@k Yeah!
What can I say about the races? Exciting as always.
What can I say about Merced? America... F#@k Yeah!
-DAY 1-
From what I saw of the cat 4 race there was a large field. I could only see the mob flying by in the distance since I was on the trainer warming up for the cat 3 race. From what I heard over the loudspeaker...Godspeed Courier was on the front! There is something about having your name blasted to the public as you accelerate past the S/F line that gives you visions of stardom. Or is it just stars you're seeing from being on the rivet and losing oxygen to your brain? Either way, it means you are a bad ass when they read your name off the start list and then try and say something cool about your team name.
Great job to ALL the 4's who mixed it up at the front of the pack for a bit and an especially good job to Godar for his lead out attempt with 3 or 4 to go. He also got to practice his victory salute with one to go! I heard there was some sort of neutralization of the field after a crash towards the end of the race which may have caused some confusion with the lap count.
Happy to see everyone stayed upright after the last crash on the final lap.
The cat 3 race was certainly not a full display of fireworks for the spectators, yet Deuce and I made our presence known in the field with his success in winning a prime and my early leg stretching drill of flying off the front through the s/f section. More air time for team GS.
My legs felt good after the practice so I sat up and fell back to my position of sitting in for the final sprint, 24 or so laps still to go. After placing 3rd in this race last year, I was looking to give it my all for another podium finish. As it wound down towards the end, I started to move up and held my position well with 4,3,2 to go. There had been a couple of late attacks from riders looking to get away, which was good for keeping the field stretched out, but they were pulled back by the bell lap. I was in an OK spot going into the first couple turns and maneuvered through the sketchy turns well enough to stay up front. Approaching the second to last turn I had moved up a bit more on the right side, which would end up being the wind side on the section before the last turn. Unfortunately no one was on the go in front of me and I had to stay out on the outside and in the wind coming out of that second to last turn. At that point I could not wait for a wheel to open up behind the 3 or 4 riders on my left or risk getting swarmed into the last turn. So I was unable to take the shorter, inside line, and went around the outside and just had to go for it with no draft. It was hard to tell but I think I was like 5th out of the last turn, and I'm sure there were riders further back who had more momentum on the inside. I had moved behind dude from Z Team during the sprint and felt like I could be pushing harder but just couldn't spin faster. I really could have used an 11 tooth cassette. My bad for not being prepared. I fell like I could have been spinning an 11 just as fast as the 12. Now I know I have the power to do that, I'm looking forward to the next crit. Anyways, I couldn't hold on for the points and got passed by a few other guys right before the line. Good for 9th.
Deuce was not far behind as he was able to pick his way through on the final straight for 11th.
-Day 2-
Happy that it was not raining Sunday morning. I'll have to say...I had a quality breakfast at the Quality Inn. Waffles came out perfectly! After packing up and leaving the room I chuckled over the 24oz cans of Bud Light laying on the ground behind the Pine Cone. Dried up puddles of puke not far from them. The night before we experienced a terror of noise from the popular Merced lot. It was a good ol' night of "my crotch rocket is louder than yours", after last call
at the infamous Mongolian BBQ/Night Club. Next time I'm bringing ear plugs.
Well the cat 3 road race went pretty much as expected, however I did not think the early breakaway would be as large as it was. I told Deucey I would work for him and he should just follow my wheel and let me do all the positioning until the end. If I were to get in a breakaway, he would just sit in as I would not do any work to make the break stick. I jumped out on a couple early moves within the first 10 miles, but it seemed like the field was prepared to chase everything down. So, I fell back a little and decided to start eating my Cliff Bar. That is when a group of 9 got off the front. Immediately Fusion sent guys to the front to block and before we knew it they had a substantial gap. I jumped across with a few guys trying to bridge but we only got half way before the field reacted and came up to us and stopped the chase. No one else wanted to keep it going and I'm sure many riders hadn't realized Fusion was blocking. So I went again to try and bridge and at least keep the field moving fast enough to hold the break at a safer distance. Finally a couple riders from Roaring Mouse started to help the chase and a dude from Sexual Camel also hit the front. I had to recover a bit before making my next push and that's the way it went for the next 40 miles. Only 5 or 6 out of 70 riders would do the work to chase and almost that many Fusion riders thwarting the chase by not pulling through at the front. I was a bit stressed to say the least. I should have been more attentive on the first lap and been in a position to make it in the break. Since we had to worry about the chase for so long I was not thinking about talking with Deuce about what the plan would be if we caught them. I just kind of assumed he was clear as to when to assert himself at the finish. On the last lap, I took a huge pull through the feed zone and down into the first roller section. I was starting to feel the effects of my work and tried to recover again. When we made that first hard left off Keyes, Mike was now towards the front and was helping with the chase. Travis T from Metromint was also up there now and we started to see the break come a little closer. I went back up to the front and took a few more hard pulls. My last effort brought the break back close enough for the rest of the chasers to finish it off in one or two more pulls, and at last we caught them! I had to take time to recover after all that and fell towards the back to sit in for the final miles before having to move back up for the last 2 Kilometers. As we started to approach the biggest hill that leads into that fast descent before the hard left (and onto the Snelling course section) I started to move back up and was trying to reach Deuce so we could reconnect before the finish. I should have made it up sooner, cause he was starting to feel frisky and pushed to the front just before I got to him. He made it to the top of the hill first and decided to keep it going on the descent and got a gap going into that left turn. It would have been a good move on the next hill (Snelling feed zone) or even a bit further down, but I think Mike thought the finish was a lot closer at that point. When he got caught he was still able to stay near the front, but there were a lot of guys who sat in the whole race who started to move up. I was a bit tired and tried to get up there, but once again it started to get wild within the last 2k and I could only make it up so far before getting stuck behind dudes who were blowing up. The last 1k of that race is always crazy and so easy to misjudge the distance before the line. Mike was able to finish in the top 16, while I sat up after getting stuck behind 2 riders who quit on the rise before the finishing straight. I think we still did well considering there were only 2 of us. Fusion had a bunch of riders, had someone in the breakaway and pretty much controlled the field and still did not manage to get a top 10 placing. We were able to play a big part in shutting down Fusion and that in itself was a good achievement.
All around I think team Godspeed performed very well. The cat 4's were also at the front of the race in the final miles on Sunday. I think we just need to work on our timing a little bit and have a more detailed plan for different race situations before the race begins. Everyone who came out has shown good form and I am looking forward to the upcoming events.
See ya's
B
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
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
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| 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.
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
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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.
Bay Area Super Prestige at Golden Gate Park 2008
Chris Pilette,"Chops". Courtesy of Scotty Paz from Team DF.
Chris Stevens courtesy of Scotty Paz from Team DFL.
Mike Gil, "Deuce". Courtesy of Scotty Paz from Team DFL.
Mike "Deuce" got 2nd in the race and 2nd for the series; Chris "Chops" clinched 7th in the series for singlespeed. Nice work, gentlemen. Kudos to everyone who raced. Personally, I want to race in the mud, so I'm racing through January.
Chris Stevens
Sunday in Prunedale
Doesn't seem like Deuce is going to brag, so I'll brag for him: he dropped his chain, but sprinted back to 3rd, putting 2nd in jeopardy (check the photo), puked afterwards, and still mounted the podium with a smile. The course was fast, technical, and dangerous, since one guy managed to put his head into a fencepost, requiring a helicopter evacuation, but apparently he's all right, just concussed. Another dude down with a broken foot. Guess I need to work on my killer instinct because it bums me out to see bodies lying along the course. (I can just hear what Godar would have to say). Fred and I hung in there behind Deuce, but the competition was pretty fierce, a lot of these Santa Cruz guys have some good off-road skills.
Chris Stevens
Chris Stevens
Congradulations Mike on the 3rd place finish at the District CX Championships!
Brandon and Mike at Surf City Psychocross
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Brandon Correia leads Michael Gil up a section of the Surf City course. Gil went on to place 9th.
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