San Diego Omnium Road Race
May 21, 2005
If I have another 140 lb racer tell me what a great climber I am for being such a big guy, I’ll become Darth Vader. I know it is meant as a compliment but I can’t stop thinking that if I was a good climber I wouldn’t be in the chase group having a discussion on climbing in the first place. Funny, when I was a body builder and weighed in at 210 lbs I always felt pretty small next to the “real” body builders. Now I’m a skinny 190 lbs and looked at by other racers as a giant – must be some irony in there somewhere.
Photos from "The Digital Photo Guy"
May 21 and I’m in San Diego to compete in the Cyclo-Vets Omni Road Race. I couldn’t make it down early enough to compete in Friday’s time trial and I’m still too chicken to compete in the crit to be held on Sunday. So at 0700 hours I’m at the head of the line waiting for our chance to enter the 50-mile course. I signed up for Masters 40+ and here in San Diego this means guys from age 39 to 53 (there was a category Masters 55+.) There are 40 guys in line and since this is a relatively small group all categories are represented. What I mean is that some of us are Cat 2, 3, and 4, with a bunch of 5s tossed in. This always makes the Masters 40 a tough group, you may be up against a guy who has been racing for 20 plus years and joined masters as a Cat 2. But this is also a good thing as their bike handling skills are superb and you have a much less chance of bouncing off the road.
Photos from "The Digital Photo Guy"
We really are not in San Diego but 40 or more miles to the East off of I-8 in the Buckman Springs area. It is dry and hot, with end of the race temperatures in the low 90s. Seems like we are out in the middle of nowhere and I noticed an INS checkpoint (or as my wife says, “La Migra") just a couple of miles away on the San Diego bound side of I-8. I know it’s going to be hot so I fill both my water bottles. Bottle one has my complex carbohydrate drink that should stop me from bonking and bottle two I decided to put Gatorade in it instead of water. I finished both bottles during the race and still drank a Hansen’s soda and a full bottle of Gatorade right after the race.
Photos from "The Digital Photo Guy"
The lady blows the whistle and we are off. It’s a neutral start for the first ¼ mile or so. This means that the actual start of the race is ¼ mile away and we are just to roll easily until we hit the actual start and finish line. I punch my heart rate monitor and settle in about 5 places from the front of the line. A center rule is in effect for this race so we are not to cross the yellow line in the center of the road and only to ride on the right side. I don’t know this course so I ask the guy next to me where the 1200’ elevation gains are and how tough they are. We are doing 2 laps of 25 miles each and each lap has a series of small gains and then one long grade toward the end of the lap. After listening to him I realize I’m back in the Devil’s Punch Bowl seat again (see my other May race post) and in for a hard morning of climbing. I decide right then and there that I must be aggressive and get to the front of the peloton before any big climbs. In the first two miles I find myself next to another racer about 40 meters in front of the Peloton. He makes a comment about how we’re the “snake patrol,” riding so far out in front of the group but I use this time to quiz him on the course.
Photos from "The Digital Photo Guy"
There are a lot of strong riders in this group and a couple of guys shoot past us with the peloton in hot pursuit. Our stay at the front is short as both of us settle in with the top 10 guys at the front of the chase group. Speeds are pretty high and the peloton is content with keeping the two guys off the front in view at about 60 meters in front of us. We hit the first roller hills and I have sufficient power to stay with the group. I did drop to the back of the pack on the last roller but easily moved up to the top 5 and even handled a couple of pulls at the front – definitely riding a lot more aggressively in this race. One of the toughest parts for beginning racers is just trying to get a drink from your water bottle. You really have to judge when the peloton is sitting in and grab a quick one before someone takes a flyer off the front and the whole group takes off. This group was jumpy and I was in on several “attacks” while I was riding near the front. Not knowing the course is a true disadvantage and I really didn’t have the slightest idea when the course was going to get series with the vertical. I looked at my computer and saw that we were at mile 11 and knew the hill must be coming soon - so I did something I’ve never really done before, I attacked. I actually took off chasing after the two riders in front of the peloton, and I took off like I meant business. Bad move. I looked like I really knew what I was doing and the lead elements of the peloton had to take me seriously so they were off after me to bring me back. My only reason for taking the flyer was to get out in front and start the uphill grade with a good lead on the group so that I could drop right into their draft at the top of the hill. I had tried this tactic at the Sea Otter Classic but there I made my jump within site of the hill and it was pretty obvious what I was doing. Here, I misjudged the distance to the grade and fought off the peloton until we reached the base of the grade. My move was gutsy but it was too soon. The peloton enveloped me at the base of the long 5-8% grade. I was working as hard as I could up the grade but I was slowly moving back through the group and at mile 18, I was spit off the back. I had plenty of company as other riders went off before me and I was passing other big guys that had shot their wad, trying to hang with the group. They were successful in hanging on longer than me but at a high price. Such a high price that I was now easily passing them up to form my own chase group of one. At about mile 20 I saw two more guys get shelled off the back a good ¼ mile ahead of me. I made it my goal to “time trial” and catch these two guys and make a 3-man chase group.
Photos from "The Digital Photo Guy"
I could no longer see the lead group but I could still see the two guys that had lasted longer than me on the hill. Each downhill I poured on the coals and could tell I was gaining on them. The first lap came to an end so I still had 25 miles to go. Within the next 4 miles I caught the two guys in front of me. We discussed what happened and how tough it was to stay with the lead group – we were now the official chase group. We set up a pace line to give chase but it was pretty obvious by this time that the lead group was out of site and out of range. I was the stronger rider in the flats and descents but Eric, a grade school teacher in San Diego, was the stronger rider on the hills. I started pouring on the speed and we soon dropped the 3rd racer. I never did catch his name but learned that he was a new Cat 5 racer with this race being only his second race ever. Eric and me made a deal to sprint against each other at the 200 m mark but both of us found our quadriceps to be “fried” when we had occasion, on a small hill, to rise up out of the saddle and stand up on the bike. We agreed to not sprint but just finish the race as strong as we could. With about ½ a mile to go I told Eric to take charge and jump out in front of me as he deserved to finish ahead of me, since he was dropped by the peloton last and that he had given me a focal point to keep going strong in the race. He shot around me at this time and started driving for the line. In all honesty, I doubt I could have challenged him anyway. Eric is new to the Masters 40+ having just become 40 years old this year. He only weighs 140 lbs and is an excellent climber. As I was driving along for the finish a few yards behind him I couldn’t help feel a bit jealous of his seemingly weightless “dancing on the pedals” finish.
I ended up finishing in 25th place. 40 guys started the race and 8 guys dropped out and received the DNS or “did not finish” prefix in the results. My computer gave me a time of 2:25 for the 50 miles, which is about a 20.7 mph, good on such a hilly course. Check out the complete results at http:///www.Cyclo-Vets.org.
If I have another 140 lb racer tell me what a great climber I am for being such a big guy, I’ll become Darth Vader. I know it is meant as a compliment but I can’t stop thinking that if I was a good climber I wouldn’t be in the chase group having a discussion on climbing in the first place. Funny, when I was a body builder and weighed in at 210 lbs I always felt pretty small next to the “real” body builders. Now I’m a skinny 190 lbs and looked at by other racers as a giant – must be some irony in there somewhere.
Photos from "The Digital Photo Guy"
May 21 and I’m in San Diego to compete in the Cyclo-Vets Omni Road Race. I couldn’t make it down early enough to compete in Friday’s time trial and I’m still too chicken to compete in the crit to be held on Sunday. So at 0700 hours I’m at the head of the line waiting for our chance to enter the 50-mile course. I signed up for Masters 40+ and here in San Diego this means guys from age 39 to 53 (there was a category Masters 55+.) There are 40 guys in line and since this is a relatively small group all categories are represented. What I mean is that some of us are Cat 2, 3, and 4, with a bunch of 5s tossed in. This always makes the Masters 40 a tough group, you may be up against a guy who has been racing for 20 plus years and joined masters as a Cat 2. But this is also a good thing as their bike handling skills are superb and you have a much less chance of bouncing off the road.
Photos from "The Digital Photo Guy"
We really are not in San Diego but 40 or more miles to the East off of I-8 in the Buckman Springs area. It is dry and hot, with end of the race temperatures in the low 90s. Seems like we are out in the middle of nowhere and I noticed an INS checkpoint (or as my wife says, “La Migra") just a couple of miles away on the San Diego bound side of I-8. I know it’s going to be hot so I fill both my water bottles. Bottle one has my complex carbohydrate drink that should stop me from bonking and bottle two I decided to put Gatorade in it instead of water. I finished both bottles during the race and still drank a Hansen’s soda and a full bottle of Gatorade right after the race.
Photos from "The Digital Photo Guy"
The lady blows the whistle and we are off. It’s a neutral start for the first ¼ mile or so. This means that the actual start of the race is ¼ mile away and we are just to roll easily until we hit the actual start and finish line. I punch my heart rate monitor and settle in about 5 places from the front of the line. A center rule is in effect for this race so we are not to cross the yellow line in the center of the road and only to ride on the right side. I don’t know this course so I ask the guy next to me where the 1200’ elevation gains are and how tough they are. We are doing 2 laps of 25 miles each and each lap has a series of small gains and then one long grade toward the end of the lap. After listening to him I realize I’m back in the Devil’s Punch Bowl seat again (see my other May race post) and in for a hard morning of climbing. I decide right then and there that I must be aggressive and get to the front of the peloton before any big climbs. In the first two miles I find myself next to another racer about 40 meters in front of the Peloton. He makes a comment about how we’re the “snake patrol,” riding so far out in front of the group but I use this time to quiz him on the course.
Photos from "The Digital Photo Guy"
There are a lot of strong riders in this group and a couple of guys shoot past us with the peloton in hot pursuit. Our stay at the front is short as both of us settle in with the top 10 guys at the front of the chase group. Speeds are pretty high and the peloton is content with keeping the two guys off the front in view at about 60 meters in front of us. We hit the first roller hills and I have sufficient power to stay with the group. I did drop to the back of the pack on the last roller but easily moved up to the top 5 and even handled a couple of pulls at the front – definitely riding a lot more aggressively in this race. One of the toughest parts for beginning racers is just trying to get a drink from your water bottle. You really have to judge when the peloton is sitting in and grab a quick one before someone takes a flyer off the front and the whole group takes off. This group was jumpy and I was in on several “attacks” while I was riding near the front. Not knowing the course is a true disadvantage and I really didn’t have the slightest idea when the course was going to get series with the vertical. I looked at my computer and saw that we were at mile 11 and knew the hill must be coming soon - so I did something I’ve never really done before, I attacked. I actually took off chasing after the two riders in front of the peloton, and I took off like I meant business. Bad move. I looked like I really knew what I was doing and the lead elements of the peloton had to take me seriously so they were off after me to bring me back. My only reason for taking the flyer was to get out in front and start the uphill grade with a good lead on the group so that I could drop right into their draft at the top of the hill. I had tried this tactic at the Sea Otter Classic but there I made my jump within site of the hill and it was pretty obvious what I was doing. Here, I misjudged the distance to the grade and fought off the peloton until we reached the base of the grade. My move was gutsy but it was too soon. The peloton enveloped me at the base of the long 5-8% grade. I was working as hard as I could up the grade but I was slowly moving back through the group and at mile 18, I was spit off the back. I had plenty of company as other riders went off before me and I was passing other big guys that had shot their wad, trying to hang with the group. They were successful in hanging on longer than me but at a high price. Such a high price that I was now easily passing them up to form my own chase group of one. At about mile 20 I saw two more guys get shelled off the back a good ¼ mile ahead of me. I made it my goal to “time trial” and catch these two guys and make a 3-man chase group.
Photos from "The Digital Photo Guy"
I could no longer see the lead group but I could still see the two guys that had lasted longer than me on the hill. Each downhill I poured on the coals and could tell I was gaining on them. The first lap came to an end so I still had 25 miles to go. Within the next 4 miles I caught the two guys in front of me. We discussed what happened and how tough it was to stay with the lead group – we were now the official chase group. We set up a pace line to give chase but it was pretty obvious by this time that the lead group was out of site and out of range. I was the stronger rider in the flats and descents but Eric, a grade school teacher in San Diego, was the stronger rider on the hills. I started pouring on the speed and we soon dropped the 3rd racer. I never did catch his name but learned that he was a new Cat 5 racer with this race being only his second race ever. Eric and me made a deal to sprint against each other at the 200 m mark but both of us found our quadriceps to be “fried” when we had occasion, on a small hill, to rise up out of the saddle and stand up on the bike. We agreed to not sprint but just finish the race as strong as we could. With about ½ a mile to go I told Eric to take charge and jump out in front of me as he deserved to finish ahead of me, since he was dropped by the peloton last and that he had given me a focal point to keep going strong in the race. He shot around me at this time and started driving for the line. In all honesty, I doubt I could have challenged him anyway. Eric is new to the Masters 40+ having just become 40 years old this year. He only weighs 140 lbs and is an excellent climber. As I was driving along for the finish a few yards behind him I couldn’t help feel a bit jealous of his seemingly weightless “dancing on the pedals” finish.
I ended up finishing in 25th place. 40 guys started the race and 8 guys dropped out and received the DNS or “did not finish” prefix in the results. My computer gave me a time of 2:25 for the 50 miles, which is about a 20.7 mph, good on such a hilly course. Check out the complete results at http:///www.Cyclo-Vets.org.
posted by Bob Grove at 6:53 PM
<< Home