Northern California - Early bird RR

who is doing it, and for that matter, who has seen the course?

It's near patterson, but apparently is on a different road than the infamous "patterson pass RR".

How bad is the climb?

who is doing it, and for that matter, who has seen the course?

It's near patterson, but apparently is on a different road than the infamous "patterson pass RR".

How bad is the climb?

That'd be my reservation; I'd hate to get dropped and have to complete the RR solo.

That'd be my reservation; I'd hate to get dropped and have to complete the RR solo.

i have that fear, but i've ridden more than 48 miles by myself before. Plus, it's early, the fields have been small in the past (looking at results) and..........i told some people I would drive. I guess I'm doing it.

Do they close the roads?

The climb of Del Peurto Canyon is gradual for most of the way but it does have steep section with Catlle Guards. The roads are fairly narrow and not in very good condition. There is often lots of gravel and occasionally boulders on this road (especially after heavy rain). I would classify the descent as pretty technical especially if it is wet or cold. There are no run offs, tight turns, poor road surface and often gravel. I reckon good bike handling skills are a real plus on this course.

I love riding this road but have never raced on it.

They dont close the road but it is generally lightly trafficked.

"Del Puerto is one long (and steep near the top) climb and a short descent over the County line to the turn around, then back, finish is after a short climb. Some narrow roadways, a few sharp downhill turns on the return. Often rocks in roadway. Can be icy: pay attention to warning signs and shady areas. Foggy start area; usually clear up the canyon."

You can see the profile on the first section of this route (just before 2 on the map)
http://www.modestonorthrotary.org/Century%20Ride.jpg

The climb of Del Peurto Canyon is gradual for most of the way but it does have steep section with Catlle Guards. The roads are fairly narrow and not in very good condition. There is often lots of gravel and occasionally boulders on this road (especially after heavy rain). I would classify the descent as pretty technical especially if it is wet or cold. There are no run offs, tight turns, poor road surface and often gravel. I reckon good bike handling skills are a real plus on this course.
I love riding this road but have never raced on it.
They dont close the road but it is generally lightly trafficked.

I can't imagine there is much traffic on a saturday morning. If you going all the way through, you're better off taking one of the highways.

I'm cool with techinical descents, I'm just hoping I'm still with the group when it comes to that. rumbutter -- how long are these "steep sections" :D

The only steep section is just before the turn. I am not sure how long it is exactly but it certainly puts some pain on people faces doing the Century. Its probably similar in length and steepness the last section of Patterson Pass but with much worse road surface (I cant help feeling that racing back down this steep bit would be horrendous).

I've heard from people that a bad accident or two occurs every year due to the road conditions; I'll be looking for a different road race.

The road is not that bad. If it does not rain the night before it will be fine. Who cares if you get dropped, at least I do not, it is practice. I am going to do it only because it is 25 minutes from my house.

I might still do it, but it's a longer drive for me. I'll have to see if I can get a hall pass for Saturday as wll as that Sunday's crit.

Good to do a RR this early to see where your at. If you get dropped, well you have plenty of time to train before the meat of the RR's start.

I've heard from people that a bad accident or two occurs every year due to the road conditions; I'll be looking for a different road race.In 2005 there was black ice on the course. Kevin Klein had a severe hip fracture and it took a long time to get the ambulance to him. Quite nasty.

In 2005 there was black ice on the course. Kevin Klein had a severe hip fracture and it took a long time to get the ambulance to him. Quite nasty.

I may get dropped just to be safe :thumb:

I'm not a big fan of the EB RR. the course is not indicative of the other courses you will race throughout the season. if you're a new racer, you should focus on improving your bike handling skills and gaining pack experience. you won't do that at this race. a better alternative would be to hit up a spirited group ride that day.

Not me. Too early to start racing and not worth the risk of injury at this point. I am staying focused on my training.

I rode the course today as a matter of fact. The ride up was not too bad, but the decent is terrible IMO. There is so much gravel on the rode in the fast sections and I almost crashed on 2 occasions; mind you I was only doing 19-20 mph on the way down. Maybe a good thing for the more experienced folks, but not me. The weather was awesome for sure.

I think I'm taking Lorrie and Mary Ellen's advice and bailing on this one, just keep focused on training and wait for the next one.

I did this last year for the first time and it ended rather short. If it has been raining the night before or a few days before there will be gravel and rocks on the road. Some of the rocks are not small either. I don't think they sweep the course or anything. If you do this race, I would recommend some decent tires. My rear tire got shredded. I don't even know what I ran over because I was in the pack. I saw quite a few people flat on the course because of the debris. Luckily they have a vehicle to sweep the course for people with mechanicals. It sucks to drive so far and to only have it cut short with a mechanical. But its better then a crash.

Well... anyone still planning on doing this despite all the advice against it?

If anyone has an extra seat in their car leaving from the east bay, I'm pretty desperate for a ride. I'll gladly pay in gas money+delicious food.

The thing to consider about doing a faux-race in the rain or wet roads, is even if your comfortable with your skill when it gets wet, are you comfortable with everybody's skill or lack of?

Wet bodots & newbies!

2 years ago, I did an EB post-rain....No Crashes.

The thing to consider about doing a faux-race in the rain or wet roads, is even if your comfortable with your skill when it gets wet, are you comfortable with everybody's skill or lack of?

Wet bodots & newbies!

2 years ago, I did an EB post-rain....No Crashes.

This one isn't actually a faux-race. It's worth points. Also, no, I'm not particularly comfortable with everyone else's lack of skill. Maybe in a part of the country that it rains more than 2 weeks a year, but not here.

I am not doing it and I live really close. My local club is having a TOC pre-ride of the last 24 miles to the finish here in Modesto, so I am going to do that instead.

Well... anyone still planning on doing this despite all the advice against it?

If anyone has an extra seat in their car leaving from the east bay, I'm pretty desperate for a ride. I'll gladly pay in gas money+delicious food.

I plan to do it, but mostly because I plan to visit my sister friday night and she lives near Modesto.

I did it 3 years ago and enjoyed the course.

It's new years this weekend so family first. No Early Birds for me.

This one isn't actually a faux-race. It's worth points. Also, no, I'm not particularly comfortable with everyone else's lack of skill. Maybe in a part of the country that it rains more than 2 weeks a year, but not here.

My bad, thought it was EB crit not EB RR. But I think the rest of the post still applies :thumb:

My bad, thought it was EB crit not EB RR. But I think the rest of the post still applies :thumb:

agreed

Anybody else go to the Road Race today?
I was there. The weather was very nice (no rain!), the roads were much better than I remembered and the competition was great!
I hope to see a few reports soon.

tomorrow is meet the teams day so i will be manning a tent with a Berkeley Bike Club banner.

I will have hot coffee, bagels and some fruit so come get your grub on!

also if your from bikeforums please mention that so i can put some names to faces!

thx

Keith

anybody else go to the road race today?
I was there. The weather was very nice (no rain!), the roads were much better than i remembered and the competition was great!
i hope to see a few reports soon.

+1

^^ +2

^^ +2
:innocent:

We had a small group of only 10 in the 35+1/2/3, but I had 2 teammates, and only 1 other team, VOS had 2 in the race. The plan was for one of my teammates to try and get away solo and the other 2 of us would cover any chase attempts. Well, with such a small field, every attempt to get away was quickly chased down. So the 10 of us get the the base of the big climb together and as soon as it gets steep I go to the front and go 100%.

At the top of the climb is a cone and turnaround, so I can see how everyone's doing. I have about 20-30 seconds on 2nd and a pretty big gap to 3rd with my teammates close behind in 4th and 5th. I take the wet and gravelly descent cautiously, but know that 2nd place is a great descender and is getting closer. When it flattens out I have about 15 seconds advantage and about 17 miles to the finish. I go into full TT mode, but probably lose a second or 2 on every tight turn and am caught with about 12 miles to go.

From here until about 1 mile to go the 2 of us work together taking 30 second to 1 minute pulls.
At about 1 mile to go we get a few small rollers and I hit each one all out, but can't shake him. With about 500M to go we slow way down to about 5mph and ride side by side. I drop back with him turning back every 2 seconds. Then at 200m to go, he goes and I chase. This is a bit of an uphill finish, and with about 100M left I can see him slowing down and I'm gaining. I'm thinking "is this possible?" Ive never won a sprint finish, but this one looks like it's going to happen. As I catch him and start to go by on the left, he moves left and Im forced over the centerline for a second as I go around, but quickly cross back to tale the win!!!

Or so I think until I see the results. I'm relegated to 2nd for a centerline violation. :( oh well, at least I wasn't dq'd.

Congrats! Great write-up, too! I can just picture you guys slowing to 5mph for the final showdown.

I'm new to racing, but isn't it weird for the other guy to move left like that midway through the final sprint? Is it okay to block like that in bike racing? Seems like that ought to nullify any resulting centerline violation on your part; otherwise, you're almost incentivized to headbutt him instead of simply going around him.

Great report PizzaMan. The officials should have caught the fact that he moved left on you.
Did you see the size of the other fields?