SJBC Winter Race Series...

[F'ueco]

 This past Sunday was the prologue.

1.9 miles on Melech Road, which parallels 101 from Metcalf Road south. The course started with a slight downhill, then some rollers followed by a short hill (perhaps .25 miles) to the finish. The winner's time was 04:18.11. Mine was 5:17.01 and Joan rode 5:21.42.

 Good times... I was 59th place and Joan was 66th (out of 103 competitors). We'll see how the next time trial goes!

results:
http://www.teamsanjose.org/ws/2008/ride1012.php

series:
http://www.teamsanjose.org/ws/2008/

[F'ueco]

Here are pics of Joan and me from the individual time trial yesterday (photos by Dan Sauers)... Not sure what my time was, but I think I did fairly well. I will post the results when I get them... 

[mudworm]

Looks cold. Now, is that Joan's bulky thigh or does she also wear a skirt (right below her left hand in the picture)? Either way, I want to meet her. 

[F'ueco]

Looks cold. Now, is that Joan's bulky thigh or does she also wear a skirt (right below her left hand in the picture)? Either way, I want to meet her. 

 She was wearing shorts with knee warmers. You'll meet her some time soon...

[F'ueco]

Looks like 46:38 for the 15.4 mile ITT... Not too bad, as that puts me in 8th place amongst the Cat 4 group.

Joan came in at 47:46, and is in 11th in Cat 4...

 This weekend is the Henry Coe climb time trial. Should be fun!

[F'ueco]

The road race was yesterday...

I had no problem staying with the pack except for going around the sharper corners. Those still wig me out a little. Somehow, I need to get over my fear of riding in a large pack. I wasn't too far back at the finish, but I'm not sure how I did compared to the others in my category. But I did at least beat Joan and one of the guys.

The problem for me was that just after the Category 3 riders caught us (we had a staggered start, with the 5s going first and the 1s last), we had a neutral zone (due to a bridge under construction) and then another stoppage due to an accident on the road. These acted to artificial keep the pack closer together. Without that, the pack would have been considerably smaller for most of the final lap.

After going off the back, I was with three other guys and Joan. Going into the final turn onto Sycamore, I was in the lead of the pack. When I checked a couple of hundred yards later, no one was behind me. So I just cruised up the "wall" to the finish... Finishing on a hill is brutal! 

 This coming weekend is the second criterium in the series, so more fun awaits!

[F'ueco]

Okay, so I was 47th (out of 102) and Joan was 58th. A fairly decent showing, I'd say...

Next up is criterium #2. 

[F'ueco]

You couldn't possibly ask for better weather for crit than what we had this morning! Our warmup was to ride to the race from Joan's place, and then about 5 laps around the course to scope out any changes in the road surface.

 Once the race started, I played the strategic race to perfection; I made one mistake, more on that at the finish. I found the staying on the left side of the pack going into the corners was much better. I didn't have to brake much at all, so I was able to carry my speed better out of the corners. So I had no problem staying with the group this time!

 After about 13 laps (out of 15), we caught the cat 5s (they started 2.5 minutes ahead of us), and that slowed the pack down [a better strategy for the group would have been to blow past the 5s and carry on at a pace they couldn't maintain], but I worked my way to the front half going into the last lap. About half-way through the last lap I was in about 6th position, and feeling pretty strong. The pace was definitely quickening through here! Coming out of the last turn, I had moved my way up to third position; which should have been the perfect spot. But then a few people passed me going into the finish. My mistake was to shift up too soon. I was pushing too big a gear to accelerate quickly. Oh well! 7th place wasn't a bad result (out of perhaps 45 riders).

 I'll post the results when they're up!