2012 Madera County Stage Race

Last weekend did the Madera County Stage Race for the first time. It was a huge two days a racing for me. Lots of teammates and friends there too. Had good times.

Three stages. Saturday; crit, TT. Sunday; road race.

Crit







Big wide four corner crit. Lots of bunching up before the turns, not a lot of people holding their lines. Not very fast.

Got caught in a pileup. Bike was fine though and no broken bones. Was a few laps from the finish and got Same Time as the pack.


TT





No TT bike, aero bars or aero helmet. Even in the fours, most people had all that junk. Was way out gunned.

Hit my target power though. 30th out of 43.


Road Race





One of the hardest races I've done. Finished 30 sec off what was left of the pack. 9th out of 43. Only 22 finished. Did a good job making the selections. Winds, rough roads, rollers and mechanicals decimated the field.

Ended up 14th out of 43 in the GC.

2012 Merco Hilltop Ranch Road Race

Last weekend was a good weekend of riding, no two ways around it. Saturday did a five hour ride out to the coast and back. Sunday, I raced Merco Hilltop Ranch Road Race, E4, with the team.



Merco was totally different then Snelling on the previous weekend, even though it shared some of the same roads. Sunny, warm and NO WIND. Race was also an hour shorter.

Race was basically just two hours of good tempo riding. Not too many attacks. I covered three or four of them. Pack as a whole seemed to want a sprint finish.

Ended up 20th out of about 50.



There I am on the far left, black helmet, working on my cycling tan.