Place: 8th out of 64 starters
Teammates: None
Duration: 3:37:51
Distance: 86.5 miles
Elev. Gain: 1145 ft
HR: 191 bpm max, 151 bpm avg
Speed: 39.1 mph max, 23.8 mph avg
Full field today in the E3, and almost all the top names still competing in the category were signed up, save for the pure climbers. Davis had 10 riders, followed by Red Peloton (RP) with 6. RP is more of a sprinter’s team, and they were most likely playing for no breaks and a group sprint. Davis was more of a mystery, but with 10 riders, they had to have a plan… which they did as was shared with me. Attack at the 505 on lap 2.
I marked the dangerous riders going in, and knew that for any break to stick, we most likely had to have Davis and RP represented. Roger Martin of Wells and I spoke before hand and we agreed to communicate and see what we could do together.
There were attacks from the start, but nothing got more than 10-15 seconds off the front. The race had its serious surges around the first time through hills before the drop down towards I5, and I was able to suck wheels and follow any promising break. Being alone, I had to rely on the larger teams to bring back any break that I didn’t mark.
On lap 2 near the 505 turn, the attacks got more vicious as Davis tried to play their plan, but it didn’t work. I was in every move, usually sucking Roger’s wheel, and we almost gained a gap with a group of 6 that could stick near the feed zone. When we were nailed back, I gave up trying to make a break stick and decided that I’d save myself for the sprint finish that was coming.
Then, Roger attacked once more, this time with only one other rider with him, and one lone wasted attack 10 seconds up ahead. It stuck. Damn it. They had 40 seconds at the last set of hills and a full minute at the I5 over crossing. I felt great, but there was little I could to nail it back without teammates.
Then RP sensed the race was slipping away. I had put in a few pulls with the stronger riders left (we were about 30 riders now). RP put 5 guys at the front and drilled it. In less than 2 miles, we (they) nailed back the break. It was a new race with about 7 miles to go.
I marked two sprinters I knew had a knack for finding the front. The pace surged and relaxed. We hit the last overpass and my left leg went into quad cramps. I was able to push through them, but they did not go away. Earlier in the season, this would have meant the end of my day, now I can survive them. Progress?
RP kept their guys drilling it. I looked up and saw the last left turn coming. I was able to accelerate and put myself into RP’s train as the third rider. Perfect. We hit the turn fast and I went a little wide and hit gravel. I dropped maybe 5-6 places by the time I was able to get back up to speed.
The last kilometer was narrow, so where you were coming through the turn is pretty much where you stayed. Roger was next to me and we both had to go around a dying Webcor rider. He accelerated, but my leg kept me from going all out. I felt good cardio-wise, but just couldn’t crank out the watts with knifes in my quad.
At 200m the road widened, and all hell broke loose. 4 riders cracked a small gap in the last 100m, this would be the race. I came out of my saddle and pass a few, and was caught by one. 8th place. My best road race placing as a 3.
I’m happy with the result. If I wasn’t cramping I think I had a shot.
Both Davis and Red Peloton did some great team work in the race, kudos to them. Especially Red Peloton organizing a whole team to shut down the late break and then start a lead out train that may have worked on a different course. I’ve barely been able to put together a 1 man lead out, much less ever put 6 guys together at the end of a 3.5 hour race. Great work.
What I learned:
- This is a team sport. I knew this, but it was made clear again today. Without teammates, I had to be very careful with my matches.
- Position, position, position. Crashes happened at the back, as they usually do. I missed them by plan.
- I’ve been using massage therapy (in addition to every known dietary trick) to work out my cramping problem. It’s working, I just need to stay on it.
San Ardo RR, the only RR I’ve ever won, is next. Bring it.
With 10 guys, Davis didn’t do much work. They didn’t represent.. And their game plan, which they shared with you, me, Kirk Evans and who knows who else, was a failure. They did zero work on chasing any attacks so, I’m not sure how you can give the team with the most riders that much credit!
We failed only in one area. Not scouting the finish before the race. We didn’t think it was as long as it turned out after the over pass.. So, we started to control the front too early. Had we timed the move better, we would have excecuted our plan.. I’ve enjoyed reading your blogs since Folsom last year
By: some slow poke on August 14, 2011
at 9:07 pm
I hear your point, but it’s super hard to organize any kind of team effort and make any plan stick, so I don’t disparage anyone who is out there trying. Which made your team’s effort all the more amazing. Like you said, your ‘failure’, and I don’t even want to call it that, was a timing issue only. You proved that you were fully capable of controlling the race when it counted. Next time, right? Next time, that is, unless I’m out there in the race. In which case you can race for second
. Great racing with you.
By: anotherclever on August 17, 2011
at 10:14 am
Really hard for me to read Kashy’s comment above without wanting to launch into a lengthy defense and response, but I did want to comment on Michael’s initial post first.
It’s a testament to both your strength and smarts to finish as well as you did without a team around you, especially in a race like that with so many strong and evenly matched riders. Glad to hear you’re using massage therapy as part of your training, I found it had revolutionized the way I recover, which is a huge part of doing well the higher you climb in this sport. Nutrition-wise, what are you doing for help with cramping?
To briefly respond to Kashy’s above comment I’ll only say this; when you lose your top 3 riders and designated team leader by halfway through the first lap, it’s hard to execute plans you’ve worked hard to put into play. That said, I’m obviously happy that as the team’s designated 3rd option for the sprint, I took a very close 2nd. Like Michael said above, it’s tough too put together a 1 man leadout, much less 6 guys on the front 80 miles into a race, and Red Peloton did excellent work there at the end to take control of the race. I certainly think that given how our team plans crumbled, and even our “B” option started suffering severe cramps towards halfway through the 2nd lap, the only way we stayed competitive was due too the fact that we rode within our means, and THAT is the best any of us can do. I’ll echo Michael’s kudos to RP, and also say that Michael should be proud that he hung in there and rode a hell of a race given that he was all alone.
I’m proud of what we did, and I’m glad that Roger Martin is on his way up the ladder after punishing us as much as he has this year. He’s so tough it’s scary.
Good luck at San Ardo, Michael.
By: MichaelClaudioDBC on August 17, 2011
at 11:14 am
Mr. Claudio, I do not want to take anything away from your awesome finish..You raced a great and smart race and so did Mr. Kopp. I think the results will often times tell a good stroy here and this is certainly one of those instances. Congratulations to you both.
I stand behind what I said before, though I think maybe I should have softened it or surgar coated it.. I know M. Claudio doesn’t really care to read such remarks, but I’m just being honest with what we observed. Specially when it came to the most dangerous break of the day on the second lap as myself and 2 others had to move up and past an army of at least 7 Davis guys to go get that break and bring it back while they were soft peddaling. Again, this is not to take anything away from your great 2nd place finish M. Claudio..
Also, what I’d like to add is that I spent much of the beggining of the race in the very back warming up.. I am being told that some of the Davis guys did some efforts then which I was not able to wittness. So, I give them credit for that. I also would like to credit them for the final mile as they orgonized well after our train left early and didn’t achieve its objectives.
By: some slow poke on August 17, 2011
at 12:39 pm