Madera, Land of No Shade

Cat: 3
Team: Greg G., John C., David A., David G., Maurice, Ron
Plan: Ride all out at the TT and see who sits in the best position.
Place in the GC: 12th (Ron)

Our original plan was to work for Big Steve Vickery who is InfoVista's version of Cancellara, but a pretty serious training ride accident has the big man sidelined for a while. So we went to make the best of it with a couple other riders that can pull off a decent TT once in a while.
I was hoping it would be Dave A. or John in the hot seat, but noooooo, they soft pedaled the TT leaving the little guy with the best time.

I did manage a decent time, a PR actually, 23:36 and with in range of a top placing.

The Crit:
The guys did a great job riding like a team and making sure I wasn't put into any difficulty. No easy task mind you, the boys had to bring out a big leash to keep me from attacking myself into oblivion. Even with Greg, John, and Dave A. doing the 3 point tie down I managed to wiggle loose a few times to get into moves for the hope of a successful break.

During the crit David A. and I worked out a good system for making sure nobody steals the wheel from your protected rider. Sometimes going through corners small lateral movements can cause you to lose your teammate's wheel. So I started calling out for Dave to slide left or slide right so that he would move back in front of me. This worked really great and with Dave's race savvy we could put people right into the wind.

It came down to a field sprint and everyone received the same time.

The Road Race:
Note to team, if you go to Madera bring team mates that have Cyclocross experience.
With all the cross racing our 3s have done, they were all very comfortable with the bike bouncing all over on the rough section.

5 minutes into the race and one of the Specialized juniors is trying to bump me off of Dave's wheel.
Me, "dude, slide back"
Kid, "you slide back"
The kid won't budge.
Me, "hey Dave, slide left"
Dave slides left and the kid is now in the wind. Very cool!
The kid continues to try and bump me off until I finally asked him if we were really going to fight for my teammates wheel with 60 miles of race left to go. He backed off.

John covered a first lap move and Dave A. went right to the front and messed up any organization that started to form. He made a lot of friends, and I was happy as could be to sit back in an easy chair and let John's break roll away.
The great thing about this team and racing in the 3s is the experience we have. While we may not be the youngest and fittest, our guys know how to pay attention, react, and/or make things happen.
Maurice, Greg, and Dave G. watched my back while John marked moves and Dave A. made a general nuisance of himself at the front.
Greg was on top of things in the feed zone making sure I got the bottle I needed from Denise and giving me a good shove to get back in the pack.
First feed, Me = spoiled brat that wants my special bottle. "I don't want that bottle, I want my bottle" (stomping feet on ground and whining).
Second feed and I am in a 3 man break, Me = Butter Fingers, and I dropped the bottle.
Thanks to Greg getting me my special bottle on the previous lap the neutral water I was able to grab worked fine to supplement what I had on board.
I took a small drink to make sure it was just water then poured it on my head, back, and legs to get cooled down...REFRESHING! (Always double check the contents before doing this move, Cytomax doesn't come out of your hair very easily.)

The 3 of us worked well together and got close to a minute out, but Dave A. said the pack got angry when I took off with the AV rider. Most Cat 3s are not very attentive, especially when distracted by a very bumpy road.

We were caught with about 6 miles to go and just before the rough section which gave me time to recover before the finish rollers. Maurice was surfing the front of the pack and that gave me some good moral to suck it up and try to finish well.

It looked like around 8th or 9th in the group of 20ish, with Maurice and Dave A. right there too.

The real treat of the weekend and what made it all so fun was the camping, John's fabulous cooking, and laughing it up with good friends.

I am looking forward to paying back all the great riding and work the guys did.

Special thanks to Denise for braving the heat after her race to make sure we had our drinks.

Ron