Mt Hamilton Classic + CAAD10

Mt Hamilton Classic Road Race. First race on my new Cannondale CAAD10.

What a SOB of a race.

My goal was to make it over Hamilton with some sort of a lead group. Figured I, at all costs, needed to be in the main group for the remaining 40 miles or it's Good Game.



Started out with a quality 50 minute warmup. Then we were off up the 20 mile climb that's the front side of Mt Hamilton. 15-20 minutes into the climb, the person in front of me veered into the person next to him. They both went down hard. WTF GUYS. We are climbing at 13 miles an hour. I wish I could send you back to Cat 5.

Group came back together. Everything was going fine until about 40 minutes into the climb. Attacks off the front. Faster pace. Pain. About 50 minutes in, I cracked and fell off the lead group. Most others in the 60 person field already had at that point.

Suffered up the remaining 82 minutes it would take me to climb Hamilton. A number of E4s passed me.

Railed the 5 mile descent on the other side in less then 9 minutes. Almost made top ten on Strava for the segment.

Suffered for a good 15 miles or so, mostly solo, before being caught by a guy I knew from some other races. We worked together for the remaining 20 miles. Passed a lot of people.

Ended up 23rd out of 60.



As for the CAAD, it's pretty spectacular. 15.2 lbs with race wheels. Super stiff bottom bracket. Super stiff front end. Begs to be ridden in anger.

Speaking of weight, I'm down to 150lbs at 6'1". Race weight for sure. Just need a little better form.

2011 Cat's Hill Classic

Cat's Hill Classic. AKA; someone put a 23% grade in my crit!

First few laps hurt.

Middle laps, pace slowed up a bit. Made the mistake of just sitting in the pack and not worrying about positioning myself.

Last few laps, paced, predictably, ratcheted up a few notches. Had trouble moving up. Sprint finish. Ended up mid pack, not contesting anything.

I can't go into hotly contested crits like this with the goal of not getting dropped and expect to place. Need to be more aggressive then that. Need to put more on the line.

Fun course, glad I got up this morning and raced it.







http://app.strava.com/rides/564153

Quick note on the status of my road bicycles:
- 2011 Scott Addict R1: cracked FD mount. Frame is going in for warranty.
- 2009 Ridley Damocles: BB is coming apart. The aluminum part that the BB cups screw into is coming apart from the carbon BB area. Result: sloppy cranks. Trying to figure out the warranty situation.
- 2011 Cannandale CAAD10 4: ordered. Will replace my Ridley as my backup/crit/rain bike.

2011 Devil Mountain Double

First double century for me. First time on a bike for over eight hours in one day. First time riding any of the roads on the route.

Started at 5am. First ~90 miles, I rode with AV teammate Chris Evans. He set a strong pace and did most of the pulling. Was awesome for the windy sections. We were with the first couple riders over Diablo (240w, 1hr 7min). Dawn while climbing was spectacular.

Was nice to be in front of everyone as the sags were fully stocked and service was super quick.

Lunch I had to let Chris go, he is a good bit stronger then me and my stomach wasn't doing well. On the way out to Hamilton, was passed by a few 6am people, couldn't hold either one on the rollers though. Motored up Hamilton by myself at a nice reasonable 200w.

Mile 140, coming down the other side, I started to bonk. Feet, shoulders, neck hurt. Chapped lips. Headache. Stomach issues. Hadn't seen any other DMD riders in almost 2 hours. Was thinking there was no way I could finish when a Davis rider caught up to me. I held his wheel until the mile 150 sag.

The mile 150 sag at the house was fantastic. I sat on the cool cement in the garage, drank a mountain dew and slowly ate a bunch of food. In 23 min, I was almost 100% rejuvenated.

Cruising through San Jose, almost had a big issue. Picked up a screw in my rear tire. It pierced into one side and out the other, through the top part of the tire. But, somehow, didn't puncture the protective belt. No flat. I'd say that used up whatever good karam I had.

Motored up Sierra with no problem. 36:30, 210w. Felt fantastic.

Got to the pet the goat stop at a little before six PM. Wanted to get back before dark so I skipped picking up my lights, got aero and put down some power. The road along Calaveras Resevoir was an absolute blast. So was hauling down Palomares.

Only problem I had for the last 60 miles were super chapped lips and occasional hot spots in my feet that would come and go. They weren't bad though and didn't slow me down, more of a minor annoyance.

Finished in 14 hours, 13 minutes. Ride time was 13:20 with 53 minutes stopped.



GPS:
http://app.strava.com/rides/496493