Snelling Road Race 2009

For the first road race of the season, Team AC brought a very strong team, and finished well.

Six Junior riders broken into two groups (Under 14 and 15-16), with Blair racing Cat 4 (he got the last slot, with 10 minutes to go!) and me racing Cat 5. The U14’s did two laps the 15-16’s did three laps, I did 4 laps, and Blair did five laps for about 65 miles! He gets the “hard man” award for the day, and really hammered with the pack the whole way!

Here are the pictures that Nicole took (thanks, Nicole!) and there may be others from Katie Fox later:
http://picasaweb.google.com/glocalize/200902SnellingRoadRace?feat=directlink

The U14 race went well, with Spence duking it out with Dylan Drummond, down to the final sprint, with Dylan holding on by a few yards. Skyler worked with the peloton and finished very strongly – big improvements over last year from these guys!

The 15-16 group did an incredible job of actually running tactics – we had three “domestiques” (Isaiah, Bob and Alex) helping to hold back the pack, while Bjorn and one Specialized rider held onto a two-rider breakaway. Their race also turned into a two-man sprint, with Bjorn collecting a second place as well. The other did a great job of working with the other Specialized riders to slow the pack down and protect the break. Way to go guys!

I raced with the Cat 5 riders, my first road race in about 35 years. It was really fun, and I was surprised that I could stay with the pack for the first half of the race. But on the third lap, I missed one sprint, and then got dropped. So the second half of my race was a time trial, but I was very happy to finish (maybe not last) and had a great time.

Blair rode with a VERY strong group of Cat 4 riders (these were the YOUNG guys, not the 35+ race!) and he held his own the whole way. Their peloton passed me once during the race, and it was like a freight train. He did great, and felt like he could have kept going (Blair, is that the endorphins talking?). I am in awe of this, having “only” ridden 54 miles ;-)

Though the final results are not in, the finish order was:

Junior U14:
Spence Peterson – Second Place
Skyler Taylor – Sixth Place

Junior 15-16:
Bjorn Fox – Second Place
Isaiah Rapko (maybe 14th?)
Bob Siegel (15th?)
Alex Howard (16th?)

Everyone seemed to have a great time, and it looks like there could be a very interesting match up between Team AC and Team Specialized this year. Kind of a David and Goliath thing (right, Chad?) but it looks to be a very promising start to the road season!

Davis Jr Crit (and Hard Man inaugural ride)

Today was cold, rainy, and windy. Enough to make any sensible person stay inside, read a book or watch sports on TV. So we all piled into the cars, and headed to Davis for the first Davis Junior Crit. Also to see the start of the Tour of California Stage 1.

A good time was had by all, despite pretty Belgian conditions. It never got above about 47 degrees and often the wind was blowing 20-25 mph, but there was a very strong showing of all of the Team AC members!

First though, the AC dads decided to take Blair’s local knowledge, and turn it into the first AC Hard Man ride.

A nice 20 mile loop (really, a rectangle) around Davis, including part of the TOC course. Blair lead us out, and we immediately hit some very strong winds and intermittent rain. But we had a great ride for a bit more than an hour and got to experience FLAT roads! Amazing stuff. Also got to see the effects of a 20 mph wind from each side, front, and back. Very interesting if you study the speed graph on the GPS recording: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.do?episodePk.pkValue=7632168 What it lacked in altitude, it made up for in wind ;-)

Once we returned, the races started. First, Lance, Fabien, Levi and the other big boys headed out on their ride. They were gone so fast we never really saw them, but I understand they made better time than the Hard Men.
Maybe next year for the rest of us…

First race was Jr. Men 10-14. Spence flew out of the start, immediately attacked and set up an unbreakable lead of 8-12 seconds over the whole rest of the field. Despite some strong challenges, Spence held on and took a very strong First Place. Skyler worked with the chase group, and turned in a Fourth Place in nasty, windy conditions.

Next up were Jr. Men 15-16, with a large, and pretty strong pack. The Specialized team looked very strong, and battled it out at the front with Bjorn, Alex and Isaiah. After much back and forth with each of them taking turns at the lead, and surviving several crashes on the field, Team AC turned in a strong showing (even the announcer recognized all the boys from the ‘cross season!). Bjorn got Second Place, followed (I think) by Alex, Isaiah and Bob. The conditions were the worst during these boys’ rides, with increased wind and rain, and very treacherous conditions. One of the other riders crashed quite hard and had to be medivac’d out of there. Very tough conditions.

The last race for Team AC was Jr. 17-18, which looked more like Cat 2 or Cat 3 – these are full grown men by the looks and the racing level and experience. Chris did a great job hanging in with the big dogs – some of the “boys” have probably been racing for 4-5 years, and were incredibly fast. Chris really hung in there among these really strong riders!

It was a full day, and really great participation – we had SEVEN riders out there – maybe the biggest showing except for Specialized – and a lot of announcer time promoting Team AC!

Way to go guys – a great showing and great performances by all! Here are some photos (lots of them, so choose your own favorites):
http://picasaweb.google.com/glocalize/200902DavisJrCrit?feat=directlink

Cherry Pie Criterium - San Jose - Results and Photos

The first “big” race of the season today, the Cherry Pie Criterium, had a great turnout for Team AC. We had two riders in the Junior 10-14 group (Spence and Skyler), and four in the 15-16 group (Alex, Bob, Isaiah and Spence). Spence raced twice – the 10-14, and 15-16 races, and Isaiah also raced Elite 4 right after the Junior 15-16 race.

This was a very well-attended event – testimony to the 37 years they said they’ve been holding it. I understand that there were also a number of other Team AC Elite athletes competing later, but we left around 11:30 AM so didn’t stay for the other big races.

Each group was very large compared to what we’ve been used to seeing at the other junior races, and the Junior 15-16 group also raced in the same pack as the 17-18 racers, so there looked to be 60-70 racers out there during the boys’ race today.

Good strong finishes by everyone, no crashes, and everyone seemed to feel good about their performances today. Spence and Skyler noticed how “small” their competitors seemed, now that many of the older boys have moved up to U16. They’re now two of the bigger stronger riders in the category (hmm, Above Category?).

Finishes were good, with one podium finish (complete with Cherry Pie!) for Spence.

Junior 10-14 (20 minutes)
Spence Peterson – 2nd Place
Skyler Taylor – 4th Place

Junior 15-16 (30 minutes)
Isaiah Rapko – 6th Place
Bob Siegel – 8th Place
Alex Howard – 11th Place
Spence Peterson – 12th Place

Pictures are up (thanks to Ken Howard, our photographer today!):
http://picasaweb.google.com/glocalize/200902CherryPieCritNapa?feat=directlink