Last of the roadie race reports (long)

Last of the road race reports (until track fights in the fall?) and
Series Summary

Sunday was the 12th and final race for the San Jose Bike Club winter
training series. Thanks to the track fights last fall, I decided to
dabble in more road racing. The series is made up of a prologue
(short time trial), 3 Road Races, 2 Crits, 2 Individual TT, 2 Team
TTs, a hill climb race, and a points race. As I learned, these races
are a lot mellower than real races. Similar to track fights, but
with 50 to 100 participants instead of 10-20. A lot of other teams
participate in the series besides SJBC, so I represented the TWW kit.

After the prologue I was placed in the Cat4s (typically 1 to 2 cats
lower than real categories). I didn't do too well in the time trials
(no TT bike, no Rudy Project aero helmet), but learned I was pretty
decent in the sprinting. For the crits and points race, the 4s and
5s went together with the 5s getting a head start. I've watched my
share of TdF sprints, and was able to pick the right guys to draft
and go at the right times to win both crits. One was pretty easy as
2 of us went very early, and the other guy just ran out of gas; and
the other, I barely won by about a wheel. I ended up winning the
points race as well, but definitely not in dominant fashion (1 sprint
win, 2 seconds, a 3rd, out of 6 possible sprints).


The road races were pretty challenging, as everyone raced together
but with staggered start times, so basically the 1's started about 6
to 8 minutes after us (road races were 28 to 48 miles long). The
first one, I was dropped from a 28 mph peloton and finished way back
(I'm blaming this on inexperienced pack riding). The second race, a
breakaway of the strong 3s got away early, and I was the only cat4 to
join them. We held off the peloton until the finish line (well the
other 3s did) where a couple of the ones caught me, but no other 4s
were with them.

The final road race yesterday, and I was leading the cat4s, and in
3rd for the overall. We started with the handicapped head start, but
all the groups joined together about ½ way through the 48 mile race.
Again, the group was moving about 26 to 28 mph, but I hung in there
until we all broke up on the second hill climb. Unfortunately two of
the guys right behind me in the overall race were Cat1s and were with
the lead pack. No 4s were able to hang with the lead pack on the
climb, so three of us stuck together with a small group of 3s, while
the rest of the 4s were dropped behind us. We were all together
until the last hill climb where our group split up and I opened a gap
on the other 4s (one was due to a front derailleur not shifting). I
formed a group with some 3s after the climb and finished off the last
5 rolling miles. So I took the category 4 win. That makes 5 wins
out of the 9 category races. I'll take it!

Overall, it was a fun series to participate in. Highly recommended
for anyone that wants to taste road racing. Also had a lot of people
asking about my WrongWay kit throughout the year. Next year I hope
to do the races that don't conflict with CX.

http://www.teamsanjose.org/ws/2008/category.php#c4

Rafael