Spring Hill RR
April 11, 2010
M45 1/2/3
Place – well I finished.
I drove up with Mike Cosgrove. By the time we got there it was raining hard with strong winds. I did the Spring Hill RR today. Usually I have three goals. First would be to win, second is to place in the top ten and third is to finish. Today wound up being a goal 3 day. I felt good but made serious tactical errors. It was cold and rainy the entire race. I was in the M45 1/2/3 with 3 laps. The first lap a San Jose guy was off. We caught him by the last climb before the first right turn at then almost immediately Jon Orstil from VOS took off. I thought he could probably stay away for three laps but I failed to join him. Another guy did jump and the two of them were off. It strung out on the descent before the Chilano Road turn which follows by a climb. Another VOS guy was on the front going somewhat hard. When I passed him Jon and the other guy were within catching distance and even looked like they expected to be caught. Perhaps I should have pushed hard to bridge the gap. (That’s what I did last year and I foiled Jon’s break.) None of the pack was interested so I sat on the front for too long then finally slid back in pack to watch the two off the front gain a five minute lead on the first lap.
There was some action on the second lap but I’m not sure if anyone got dropped. Every time I tried to get food out of my terribly too small jersey pockets there was a surge. Finally I gave up on trying to eat which was another mistake. On the Tomales Rd there were some attacks and I chased to make sure I did not get dropped. Next thing I was on the front which I knew I shouldn’t do for too long but ended up staying there all the way to start. So I worked too hard in strong head wind although I was going pretty slow but still I was working more than all those behind me. When the climbing started everyone came around but I was able to stay on but it was getting harder.
Third lap – On the last decent before the Chilano Rd turn and climb I found myself on the back. With the wet I was not descending too well. This was a bad position to be in because I was off on the Chilano climb with a few others. No one seemed to have enough to close the gap. A Davis guy, with white suds foaming out of his shorts, flew by and the guy pulling did not jump on his wheel. I ended up pushing hard and caught back on. Then not long after that one or two guys were ahead just a little bit. So one guy jumps, then another and another. Next thing that turned into the pack and those that did not jump were off, including myself. Darn! No one else was trying to catch the pack so I worked by myself for a long time and they were so close but I couldn’t catch them. By this time my legs were burning. I think the lack of nutrition and being cold and wet were taking its toll on me. On the last mile of Tomales Rd I got a flat but was able to ride it to the finish since I had tubeless tires. Of course this slowed me down so everyone behind me passed. I probably got last place but at least I finished. I’m glad I did not have to stop and fix the flat because when I got to the car I was shaking cold.
Bill