Sometimes it all comes together.

Every once in a while, every once in a LONG while it all comes together. And for me yesterday at the Early Bird Road Race was that event. The EBRR has a long standing history of being weather dependent but the first good omen is that the weather was socked in all night long. Socked in means higher overnight temps, means no ice despite the volume of precipitation we experienced in the days before. So great - race is on.

I lined up with the Master's 35+ 4/5 field - this would be my first appearance as a Master's racer. The field was a good size with ~35 racers. We rolled off into the mist and low clouds and maintained a VERY casual pace as we followed the rolling road out Del Puerto Canyon. I was riding in the top 10 riders to make sure I wouldn't get nipped by any stones or debris on the road. After 10 miles an unknown, unattached rider pulled away from the group. He didn't appear to be working very hard but with our less than breakneck pace he was opening a gap. I sat patiently until his gap grew to be almost out of sight on the winding road at which point I pulled around the lead riders - shouted some encouragement/scolding at the pack - and took off to chase down our race leader. It was only about 2 mins of moderate riding to reel back in the guy out front, and my move motivated the pack to pick it up. Before long, we were all one big happy family again.

Eventually the hills started to steepen and the real race started. Given what I had seen thus far I planned to stick right with the lead group on the climb. Not to make a move but not let anyone eek out a lead either. Well, the pace was solid and the hill was steep and I had not made any recon on the course so I couldn't judge things very well. Tactical mistake #1: ALWAYS RECON THE COURSE when possible.

A couple of very strong climbers from Wells Fargo kept the pressure on, and the grade started to grind on me a little (which is not a place I am used to) but I knew if I could keep the gap small enough I could pull them back on the descent. So I dug deep and ground it out and hit the summit turn around about 30 seconds behind the leaders. There were 3 out front and a couple of strung out chasers with me as we started descending.

The chase was on but I was very weary to keep my descending in check. Had to make up time but you can't catch a break if you can't keep your wheels down so I descended fast but safe and as things started to level out a little I could see the break in the curves in the distance. Soon we were back to pedaling and I passed one of my leaders. I urged him to jump on and we started trading long pulls to chase down the leaders. We picked up a Wells Fargo trailer to the lead group and he jumped on but refused to pull as we were chasing 2 of his mates. Finally as we grew close we picked up one more straggler from the leaders and the 4 of us consumed the final 3 race leaders for a cohesive breakaway of 7. We quickly negotiated a truce and agreed to work together to stay away through the rollers and flats.

It was a fast pace - 28 to 30 mph around sweeping corners and through short straightaways and the miles melted away quickly. The pulls were moderate but hurting some more than others and I was feeling pretty good. Before long we came within 2 miles and at that point the cooperation of the break sort of naturally disintegrated. One small roller and we dropped from 7 to 6 as a promising looking tall rider from Dolce Vita cramped and dropped off the back. Then Wells sent one of their 3 on a mini flyer. Not a full blown attack but a tester. I jumped around his team mates to cover and everyone fell into line. 1 km to go and the 3 of us independents let Wells take the lead. The pace was slow and there were only 2 moderate rollers to go with finish line at the top of the second. I fell in behind my chosen Wells rider and picked a slightly harder gear. The first roller sapped a very small amount of momentum and as we crested the group started to accelerate into a small dip before the final roller to the finish. I dropped down to a sprinting gear - about 2 below my comfortable pace for this speed. My leading Wells rider launched as expected and I reacted immediately on his wheel. The acceleration forced the rest of the group in line behind us. Then, all of a sudden, my lead out let up hoping someone would break and he could jump on their wheel as they passed. I held my ground and slowed up as did the group for a moment. We were inside 150 meters and the finish was looming. Third wheel jumped to the right of us and pulled even with the leader from Wells. PERFECT! This was my moment and I jumped left around Wells, scraping the center line as I passed and accelerated. I was in the perfect gear and buried my head for 100 m. With 50 to go I took a quick peripheral peak over my shoulder - no one was even close. I pulled through the last 50 m and through the finish line to a small cheer, hands off the bars and fists pumping (you can't really help it). 

Important lessons:

• Recon the course. Failed on this one but knew enough for the next point...
• Eat early. I knew enough of the course to understand that any food/calories I wanted to take on board would have to be before the climb. You can't eat during a grueling climb and can't eat when descending at 30 MPH or pulling in a break at 30 MPH.
• If you think it's going to be a sprint, pick your strategy or wheel early! Way before we came to the last 2 miles, I knew who my wheel in the sprint was going to be. How? Easy, he was strong in the climb and in the break, never missed a pull, and was tall with long legs (lots of leverage) for the sprint.
• Patience. The hardest thing to do is be patient. It has taken a year and a half of sprinting in group rides and races to finally learn some patience and trust my sprint. Wait until you think it is too late, and then a little longer. The right time will be obvious. 

Thanks for reading!!

CS

P.S. New kits are AWESOME. Look for the copper and silver on the road!!