tetonrider

a 2-3 foot finishing climb sounds rough.
[/QUOTE]

doge, VOF is typically a small turnout and tends to get more of the SLC crowd. not sure if you know, but it's now a crit+RR instead of TT+crit+RR. not sure if that is better or worse for your kid. the RR course is an out-and-back but is in a very cool state park. it had some of the strongest winds i've ever raced in. (i made a split but was the guy who just missed the 1st echelon...never been so frustrated dangling just meters from it but knowing the time bomb's clock was ticking.... later organized a 2nd echelon which caught the first when they slowed...only to later get dropped on a descent when i was spun out in 53x11. tom soladay won that day.)

also, since you're considering VOF there's a new stage race run by the same promoter as VOF near mesquite, NV. it's on 4/11-12 and is 3 stages (TT/RR/crit).

Doge

I noticed it has a Thur/Fri/Sat date and the Bakerfield RR (important) is Sunday. So that and the above may be reasons to skip it.

Side rant - Are there any other sports where all able bodied competitors in the SAME competition are not allowed to have the same equipment?
IMO all competitors in the same race should be allowed the same equipment (read 52X14 gear restrictions).

tetonrider

correct dates for VOF should be sat/sun, not thu/fri/sat.

while the RR is cool, for me, the race is not worth a long drive. i only hit it up in the past because it was the weekend following VOS and i spent the time in between riding around vegas and hit VOF up on the way home. this year, it is 2 weeks after VOS and doesn't have the TT, so it's even less desirable (for me).

dunno, but a friend of mine was racing the gila, and if you know that TT you know the kinds of discussions that happen related to the climbs & descents. after his race there was the usual talk of "i would have won if i just had a 58T chainring."

the people complaining didn't know at the time that the winner of the TT was a junior, with only his 52x14--a young tj van garderen.

still, i get where you're coming from.

Doge

You may have talked me out of VOF.

As to Gila...
2014 NorCal (so on topic) rider U17 won the Cat 1/2 in 36:19 and 1st overall winning both Cat 1/2 RR stages.
TJ won the Cat 2 in 2006 U18 36:45 and got 3rd overall. I am not sure they were on junior gears then.
The kids just keep getting faster.


We'll be at the Gila 2015 - on 53X14 and I don't know the course.
It does make a difference. With a big gear the winning time gap would be just a bit bigger. I think TJ uses that 13,12 and 11 now.

Doge

Got link? Interesting.

tetonrider

no real info on it yet. the promoter is not great about putting stuff online. i'll keep you posted as i hear more info.

only thing that i know is that this year VOF will run the 3s separate from the p/1/2 field, and the mesquite race will likely run p/1/2/3.

if you're willing to travel to VOF, you might also be interested in the tour del sol in st. george. VOF's about an hour east of vegas and st. george is about another hour past that. TdS is late march and is a TT, crit & RR run on saturday & sunday. it has some good stuff going for it but there always seems to be something that goes awry. i started going to SDSR (which was the same weekend the past 2 years) instead.

Doge

That is helpful. If you don't mind quote me or PM me when you have info.
As we're getting far from NorCal I don't want to clog this thread. We have a complete calendar - I just posted the NorCal rides to get feedback.

Which I did - thanks to all.

hack

Wowser, new super NorCal Masters team on the block. Looks like they went around and tried to get every natl champ:

https://m.facebook.com/ChronosRacingTeam/about

shovelhd

They're just doing what SoCal has been doing for a while.

Ygduf

That's mostly just the now-defunct Safeway. Though, Zimny is a surprise to me there. He said he wasn't changing teams!

hack

Defunct Safeway and Folsom Bike's Master's team. I imagine they can all race well enough, but I wonder if they can (or even need to???) race well together?

Ygduf

Yes, they need to.

caloso

Wowser is right.

tetonrider

can someone shed some light on the chico stage race? would be p12 or m35+, if it matters.

loved to hear from people who have raced it.

aaronmcd

And I want to hear about Chico cat 4. I really need to do a stage race or two this year.

mattm

I think Chico has a gravel section in the rr, haven't done it yet tho.

hack

I did Chico last year as a 4. You'd do great there. Road race will be 45-ish miles with the opening 15 being slightly down hill, then a mix of rollers and mild climbing. About 8 miles from the finish is a 4 miles gravel section with some rollers. You finish with a short climb to a descent and a mile or so of flat.

Bike Ride Profile | Road Race .... fun gravel... near Paskenta | Times and Records | Strava

The crit is basic, but fun in downtown Chico. .75 mile L shape (think Davis) with similar pavement.

The TT is also basic 9 mile flat route.

As above, raced it last year as a 4. The P12 brought in the big teams last year (Optum, AirGas, Hagens Berman, etc). You guys (P12 or 35+) do two loops of the road race above and you also get a Friday "circuit race" on a local race track southwest of Chico. 35+had some great competition and I assume the new 35+ team Chronos will be out looking to have a good start to their season.

Fun race, hopefully you and Fudgy come up this year. I could see him doing well in the RR and you in the crit.

The gravel isn't too bad and there is an informal race on Super Bowl Sunday that starts and finishes in Chico and loops through Paskenta (gravel in opposite direction of the stage race). Brings out a lot of guys and is a good time.

hack

A bit more...my experience at the road course is limited to once race, but wind can be a factor. You roll out with some head/cross wind for about 15 miles then turn south where you can get a pretty solid tailwind. We lost a few guys in the 4s at that turn due to the jump in speed and guys not able to connect. We lost a few more guys in the rollers with some attacking and the final split was through the feedzone (I fell off the group here).

Feed zones were in the rollers (25 mile) and at the end of the gravel (40 miles). Community is VERY SMALL in Paskenta, but it's cool that they come out with their signs to cheer people on.

Ygduf

You got that the wrong way around. Anyway, I have limited travel weekends and won't be spending one this year on Chico. I am, how would you say..., a ***** and don't like gravel.

hack

Booo...the gravel isn't too bad. Just pick a decent line and grind away for a bit. I wanted to read about you yelling at Horner to take a pull or something fun like that.

Ygduf

please, somebody tell me again I should enjoy riding on dirt

hack

not enjoy...tolerate

mattm

I heard that if you wear something from Rapha on dirt sections it makes you 1 mph faster.

aaronmcd

I love riding on dirt/gravel. But somehow I knew Fudgy would say he hates it lol

Ygduf

probably because I've mentioned that I don't like it one hundred other times.