I raced twice this weekend. One was planned and one was a sort of punishment. Here's what went down.
Race 1: Cat's Hill Classic
Cat's Hill is a crit down in Los Gatos that's been going on for 34 years. I guess that's why they call it a classic. It's got a cool bit of history as the past winners list includes the likes of Greg LeMond. And to maybe save some suspense, I did not add my name to that list.
It's called Cat's Hill because there's a hill. It's about a block long and it's steep, like 23% grade steep. While a hill like that is hard by itself, the rain didn't help, nor did the fact that the hill starts immediately after a left hand turn from a slight downhill approaching. One might think this would be helpful as you could hit the hill with some momentum. In theory this should be true, but in practice it created issues because you had to shift to the gear you were going to climb it in early. It also didn't help that since the roads were wet guys were grabbing hands full of brakes going into the turn to the bottom so momentum was lost there as well.
The field started at about 70 guys and apparently it was half that in two laps. I found myself fighting to stay in the front group and then somewhere I found myself in a second group with no idea where the front group went. I was starting to get frustrated with racing and wondering if all the training I put in was ever going to pay off. This was around lap 7 when at the top the hill I was riding over the "stop" that is painted on the road. Because the paint is slicker than the pavement my rear wheel spun out with two pedal strokes. Luckily I didn't crash my junk into the top tube or stem but I did lose a ton of momentum. This little mishap put me over the edge. As I looked behind me on the hill I didn't see another person so I assumed I was in last place and around 30th on the road I decided I was sick of racing for 30th and I pulled over and sat under a tree.
Much to my surprise when the groups came by next time I discovered the front group only had about 7 guys in and the group I was in was the 2nd group on the road and they had about 7 guys as well. This clearly didn't help my frustration as now I wished I was back in the race, but it doesn't really work that way. I would have finished somewhere between 10-15th had I stayed in. Lesson learned.
Race 2: Sonora County Road Race
I wasn't going to race this one for a few reasons but after the debacle at Cat's Hill I needed to redeem myself in a way. Luckily I have a very supportive and great girlfriend who was willing to give up her Sunday, wake up at 4am, drive 2.5 hours into the Sierra Nevada foot hills and sit in the car while I raced my bike. She's the best!
This course was described as rolling with a few short climbs. After racing it I'll say a better description would have been rolling with all short climbs. There wasn't a single flat stretch of road. We were either going up or down the entire time. The course was hard, somewhere around 5,000' of elevation gain in the 50 mile course.
Our field was small as this was a first time race that just got it's permits weeks before. The rain and all around crappy weather probably didn't encourage too many people to show up on the day of. I think we started with somewhere around 30 guys. We had a neutral start to the course where we went the wrong way and the flat people didn't even bother to yell at us and let us know. That was pretty funny as we passed another group on the road later who had done the same thing. Their field was 6 with 4 guys from the same team so they apparently had decided to just cruise it as they were not putting in any effort.
The first lap was pretty slow as everyone was trying to figure out the course. There were a couple sets of railroad tracks that caused a crash in the back but luckily those guys were able to get back on. Going into the second lap I learned a very valuable lesson of placing in the group. I pulled out a bar to eat and in the process of opening it up I lost 3 or for spots which is pretty normal. After taking the first bite I noticed a gap starting to open from where I was to the people who had moved in front of me. I jump around them and tried to catch back on but it was too late. I was gapped and the combination of bar in my mouth making it hard to breath and the group in the front turning the screws made it tough to get back on. I chased hard for about another 10 miles keeping the group in sight but never really able to make up ground. There were only 2 guys who tried to go with me, but neither were strong enough to help in the chase so I eventually just put my head and and went for it alone.
I basically just chased/rode tempo for the next 30-40 miles hoping to catch the other people in that front group who'd get popped. At about the end of the 2nd lap the two guys who had followed me caught up and asked that we work together. Again, every time I'd get on the front they'd just sit on for miles. Their paces up the climbs were too slow and they couldn't stay close on the other rollers or descents. For the most part these guys stayed with me for 2 laps, never doing any work, and basically just sitting on for the ride. I thought I was clearly establishing that I was the strongest in the group and figured I'd climb away at the finish if it came to that, or that my tempo would eventually just ride them off my wheel.
Because I wasn't planning on doing a 50+ mile road race this weekend I only packed smaller bottles. With 1 lap to go I was essentially out of fluids. Since it was cool and rainy I almost didn't notice and it didn't strike me as a big deal, but I learned that lesson about half way through the last lap. I towed those two guys up to another guy who had been dropped off the front group. He still seemed pretty strong and set a fast tempo up one of the longer climbs on the back side of the course. About half way up I popped. It was so sudden. Going into that climb I felt tired but ok then all of a sudden I felt about a half second from dying. The other two guys came around me and rode the rest of the way in with that guy and I was left to painful get myself to the finish alone. The last quarter of a lap was round and going up the finishing climb I was in the smallest gear I had, which I hadn't even came close to using the previous times up. I'm not sure I've ever bonked like that but it was definitely a lesson in just how important having enough fluids really is. This part is gross but I was so dehydrated that when I peed after the race it was literally brown. I've never seen pee that dark so I trying to drink whatever I could get my hands on as fast as I could.
I have no idea where I finished. I have no idea how many people that started even finished. It was a great race and a great learning experience. My legs haven't hurt like they did a few hours after since my Ironman. Getting up from being seated was a challenge. I'm really glad I went and did that race regardless of what shows up on the results sheet. It was a really tough course combined with terrible conditions and the perfect punishment for not finishing at Cat's Hill. I'm not sure what would have happened had I not gotten gapped and had to chase. I feel like I could have stayed with the front group, especially as I could have sat in the wheels through some of the faster sections instead of plowing through it on my own.
All in all, great lessons learned!
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