"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Patterson Pass Road Race - 8/11/07

Hey all,

Quick question about the Patterson Pass race course this weekend in Tracy, CA. Does anyone around here have any experience with the course?


Velo promo describes the course as such:

A 23 mile loop with a lot of up and downhill (mountainous) in the first half, rolling in the second half. Two very fast descents.

Reason I ask is I want to know whether it's time to break down and buy climbing gears. My lowest gear is a 39-11. I haven't had a problem yet with the gearing, even on climbs on 10% or so. But, things might get exhausting on a certain courses in a race situation, grinding away in my 23.

So, just how mountainous is mountainous?

depends on what cat your racing ;) but seriously it does. Three loops up that thing and I'm going to be looking for the bail gear.

4's race. In desperate search of upgrade points, even if it means waking up at 5am for a drive up north.

So, just how mountainous is mountainous?

Route and profile:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1192469

1300' in 3.5 miles, 7 % grade so you're probably looking at 15-20 minutes or so of climbing on the main climb, depending on how hard people are hitting it. 2nd climb is a bit lighter. Multiply it by however many laps you're doing. Last year at Hamilton we were sitting on 14mph with burst to 18 in the uber geezer race on around the same grade.

A 39f 23r will get it unless you crack.

Route and profile:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1192469

1300' in 3.5 miles, 7 % grade so you're probably looking at 15-20 minutes or so of climbing on the main climb, depending on how hard people are hitting it. 2nd climb is a bit lighter. Multiply it by however many laps you're doing. Last year at Hamilton we were sitting on 14mph with burst to 18 in the uber geezer race on around the same grade.

A 39f 23r will get it unless you crack.

uber geezers? oh please. I saw you VOS guys at Cat's Hill, BHRR, ...

uber geezers? oh please. I saw you VOS guys at Cat's Hill, BHRR, ...

Nice thing about Alzhiemer's is you forget the pain from the last hill :)

Didja get that sandwich for me? ;)

Greb, you should be ok on the 23 in the 4's. And in three miles you can get a pretty good gap or at least cut the field down (hint hint).

Route and profile:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1192469

1300' in 3.5 miles, 7 % grade so you're probably looking at 15-20 minutes or so of climbing on the main climb, depending on how hard people are hitting it. 2nd climb is a bit lighter. Multiply it by however many laps you're doing. Last year at Hamilton we were sitting on 14mph with burst to 18 in the uber geezer race on around the same grade.

A 39f 23r will get it unless you crack.

So...happy. :D

Now to really see how my FTP (4.34 w/kg) and 5min power (5.15 w/kg) stacks up against the competition on a real climb. I've been wasting away in the Chicago for far too long.

Thanks for the link to the map.

I'll be there in the 4's too. Introduce yourself if you see a guy w/ wings on his legs.

I think I'd at least want a 25 in the back if I were running a 39 in the front.

I'm one of those wimpy guys who rides a 50-34 compact, but with an 11-23 in the back and that's just enough for me to get over that hill. The steepest part of that hill is the last 200M.

I did a training ride there on the day the tour of CA went over that hill and did 3 x the hill from the "5K to the top" sign. My times were 14:55, 14:25, 13:58. I was really surprised since they all felt like the same effort.

I use to live in Livermore and ride PP. For me it was pretty tough, but I don't race

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa32/stonecrd/pp_el2.gif

Nice thing about Alzhiemer's is you forget the pain from the last hill :)

Didja get that sandwich for me? ;)

Greb, you should be ok on the 23 in the 4's. And in three miles you can get a pretty good gap or at least cut the field down (hint hint).

Ignore me completely.

Much better thread:

http://www.ncncaracing.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=939

Hmm...

Guess I should decide pronto if I want to go out and buy a 12-27. I spent some time looking through my old stuff and found my old 12-25, slightly worn but still serviceable. I really just want to stick with the 11-23, but by most accounts, that seems foolish.

[edit] or not. Looks like for Campy, my options are 12-25 or 13-26. The jump from 23 to 25 hardly seems worth it. And I would hate to lose the 12 for the downhill sections.

So how'd it go?^^^

I ended up on a homemade 11-26.

So how'd it go?^^^

I ended up on a homemade 11-26.Racer Ex -

Where's your race report? I heard you didn't do too badly.

I'm claiming Le Chicken's title(no, not doper) king of malfunctions with another dnf. I lost the top 4 of my 12/28 and didn't feel like suffering up that two more times in the 21

Racer Ex -

Where's your race report? I heard you didn't do too badly.

I did Esparto today. Even my nostrils are tired. I'll try to write something tomorrow. For now just call me Poulidor, and that was only because someone was growing tired of outsprinting me in the last...well pretty much the entire year.

Vino, I mean racer Ex,

Thanks for racing the 45+ today so I could win some cash in the 35+. The 45+ top 3 were all faster than the 35+ winner. I say it's because those old guys can afford more TT bilng. :D

Good job this weekend!

Maybe I'll see you at Suisun City.

Vino, I mean racer Ex,

Thanks for racing the 45+ today so I could win some cash in the 35+. The 45+ top 3 were all faster than the 35+ winner. I say it's because those old guys can afford more TT bilng. :D

Good job this weekend!

Maybe I'll see you at Suisun City.

Told ya to borrow that disc :)

I like to think it's less the bling and more because only one of us rode Patterson the day before...

Nah. Ida still been third if I napped the entire Saturday. Damn TT specialists.

Done-again RR yes. Suisun, nyet. No BAR points.

Brutal race. Got dropped on the last (?) lap. Given my abilities, and the terrain, I'm a bit miffed at the results. On the main climb the wind seemed to be coming head on, and I couldn't find any protection from it. Going to try to mine the data file and try to figure out where things went wrong / what to work on for the future.

I found the 12-25 to be fine. Except on the descent, I really missed the 11t. Hit 51 mph at one point after someone let a gap form carelessly.

Dehydration took a while to keep in check. Arrived back home at 134 lbs. :eek:

Stats from the race:

Time: 3:39:19
Work: 3012 KJ
TSS: 290 (0.891)
Norm Power: 250 (Avg: 229 Watts)
VI: 1.09
Distance: 65.2 miles (computer cut out during one of the descents, so mileage not totally correct)
Elevation Gain: 7592 Feet

First 40 minues of the race, and part of the problem:
Work: 599 Kj
TSS: 67.2 (1.004)
Norm Power: 281

First 20 minutes, including the climb was close to 300 watts normalized. Well above threshold. From everything I can tell, I worked about as hard as I could. From what I can remember, where I ran into difficulty was during the really short and steep sections. Saw some people walking their bikes up the hill by the end of the race.

Any other power users with race data from this course? Or perhaps thoughts on my data?