Northern California - Pescadero Road Race

Anyone going or gone in the past that wants to give me some sort of heads up. It will be my second race ever and I am still a little unsure about what to prepare for.

I'll be there in the 5s.

My legs are still sore from the combo of Eastern Sierra Double and then hiking in Yosemite right after.

Although they are much better today. I was practically limping on Tuesday and Wednesday. Seems like they should be good by Saturday.

Have you done the roads in the course? It would be a good idea to scope them out.

I've been on those roads many times.

I know several others here are doing it.

I am assuming you are Cat5??

I am in for CAT4b. I might be going to Yosemite on Sunday for some hiking also! :thumb:

UD

Yup, Cat 5. I have been on some of the roads but not all. I work near woodside so I might drive down and scope them out. Not much time though. Honestly, I just want to be able to stay in some sort of group and not be spit out and riding on my own.

I am racing in the cat 4B group. Never raced the course, but I've been on the roads many times.

I am racing in the cat 4B group. Never raced the course, but I've been on the roads many times.

I shall call him Nemesis, and he shall be mine. And he shall be my Nemesis. [Gets dropped by "Nemesis"] Ouch!!! Bad Nemesis!!! Bad! :roflmao2:

UD

4B here as well. JourneyLightly and I will be in Team Integrate/FFBC kit. UD and parity, we should work together :)

This is going to seem like a silly newb follow up question but do you plan on riding with a seatbag or whatever similar thing you use? I am just thinking if you flat out on 84 with no extra tube, you are a long way from home.

I will have my spectator with me (Ruth). She will come get me if something goes bad.

The only thing I am bringing is a flask of gel, a couple of endurolyte pills, a bar, and two full bottles of heed.

This is going to seem like a silly newb follow up question but do you plan on riding with a seatbag or whatever similar thing you use? I am just thinking if you flat out on 84 with no extra tube, you are a long way from home.

If the loop is longer than 10 miles and there is no neutral support vehicle (such as in this race), I always race with a baggie in my pocket containing a tube, CO2 & inflator & 2 tire levers. Sure it weighs about half a pound, but it's nice to have it if you need it. I can change a flat in under 2 min and still have a chance to catch back on.

Have fun! I'm headed down to SLO this weekend to see my brother graduate from cal poly.

winebelly you might consider putting stuff in your pocket as pizzaman says, and leave the seatbag off. you really don't want it flying off.

This is going to seem like a silly newb follow up question but do you plan on riding with a seatbag or whatever similar thing you use? I am just thinking if you flat out on 84 with no extra tube, you are a long way from home.

I'll be racing with a pump and seatbag. I'm pretty certain I won't be able to catch back on if I flat, but at least I won't have to walk back to my car.

4B here as well. JourneyLightly and I will be in Team Integrate/FFBC kit. UD and parity, we should work together :)

I'll be in SugarCRM/LGBRC kit. I think there is no one else from my club racing 4B.

I'll be rocking my schools kit, UCI. Although if today's ride and yesterdays power test is any indication don't think I will be able to help anyone. heh.

UD

I'll be home in the middle of the course with a car with a bike rack, spare tubes, bike pump, so if anybody is anticipating being desperate for help tomorrow morning, feel free to PM me for my address and/or home phone # (although note that cell phone coverage is spotty at best in the area).

I'll be thar, 4 bees

4B race; i'll be the one on the old, celeste, steel, skinny-tubed bianchi.

Race seems to be going well so far, saw a bunch on our dog walk this morning, now I am watching the rest from the office window. Road is a bit damp but not too bad. :thumb:

My head wasn't in it today. I wasn't having fun, couldn't motivate myself to push it. Very disconcerting. I called it quits early. Still feeling pretty bummed out on riding my bike right now. Not really sure where this has come from, but I think some time off is in order.

Bummed that this came upon me during such a great race on a great day. Oh well.

Hey Ryan (sp). You and me both. Oh well, next time.

At least you guys made it to the race. :(

At least you guys made it to the race. :(

What happened?

What happened?

There is a free front bumper, slightly damaged, for a transam on 84... :(

UD

There is a free front bumper, slightly damaged, for a transam on 84... :(

Sorry to hear that. :(

There is a free front bumper, slightly damaged, for a transam on 84... :(

UD

Oh man, that sucks. That road was *really* slick this morning, with hardly any visibility in some spots. I'm glad it wasn't like that for the race.

2 crashes in the 5s on Stage Road descent.

One almost got me.

The guy behind me had his head down and wasn't paying attention (I was told this shortly after by a rider who saw the whole thing go down). He rode straight into the back of me!! :eek:

The rear of my bike briefly became entangled with his and put me into a skid. I counter-steered and was able to keep it upright and somehow get loose from his rig!:thumb:

He went down. I kept going. I chased down to the corner of Stage and 84, and thankfully saw that I was still in the lead group :D

Later on I saw that my rear skewer must have been what his bike caught because it was rotated 90 degrees from what it was before :notamused:

I finished with the lead group, somewhere between 10th-15th (I guess)

I had the go-pro cam mounted, but at some point it powered down, because all the videos I thought I shot are not there... only one 6-sec clip of nothing exciting. :(

PS- The front group of the 5s were killing it today. We were catching other categories left and right.

2 crashes in the 5s on Stage Road descent.

One almost got me.

The guy behind me had his head down and wasn't paying attention (I was told this shortly after by a rider who saw the whole thing go down). He rode straight into the back of me!! :eek:

The rear of my bike briefly became entangled with his and put me into a skid. I counter-steered and was able to keep it upright and somehow get loose from his rig!:thumb:

He went down. I kept going. I chased down to the corner of Stage and 84, and thankfully saw that I was still in the lead group :D

Later on I saw that my rear skewer must have been what his bike caught because it was rotated 90 degrees from what it was before :notamused:

I finished with the lead group, somewhere between 10th-15th (I guess)

I had the go-pro cam mounted, but at some point it powered down, because all the videos I thought I shot are not there... only one 6-sec clip of nothing exciting. :(

Nice job staying upright, and congrats on the strong finish.

I raced in the 4-B group and went OTB on the final climb. Before that, I'd gone OTF briefly on 84, but nobody joined me, and I didn't last long on my own. :lol: Fun race. It's a beautiful course.

PS- The front group of the 5s were killing it today. We were catching other categories left and right.

Good job dude. Was it cold down there? We considered riding down to Haskins to cheer for you, but thought it would be too wet/cold to be fun descending Alpine.

I finished with the lead group, somewhere between 10th-15th (I guess)


Nice! :thumb:

Reading this thread, and knowing a couple buddies in this race, has really fired me up to do another road race. Hmmm....

Good job dude. Was it cold down there? We considered riding down to Haskins to cheer for you, but thought it would be too wet/cold to be fun descending Alpine.

The road was damp but it was pretty nice out otherwise.

Great course and a fun race. I pre-rode it last Tuesday and I swear those gravel patches weren't there on the Stage Rd. descent. That was quite an obstacle course between the gravel, oncoming firetruck and CHP!

I lost contact with the lead group the first climb up Haskins. Steve (daxiang) drilled it on the descent and we almost caught up but our chase group just didn't have the snuff to catch back on. They were still in sight on the second Stage Rd. climb when the 4b group caught up to us (I was in the 4a's). As we let them pass I noticed a more than a few from our field hitching a ride :rolleyes:. (whatever........... enjoy going from 40th place to 30th place)

Steve got me on Haskins on the final climb. It's fun racing with him and we've been in a few chasing groups together (I got him on the final climb at Wente). It'll be good practice for next year when hopefully they turn into breakaway's :).

Only one crash in our group in the feedzone. Somebody blew a tire and it sounded like chaos behind me. Not sure what happened.

I ended up winning the 4b's. It was a super-fun race despite some sketchiness on the serpentine descents... staying near the front was definitely key in avoiding the ol' accordion effect.

Yeah I was lucky, I just ended up with a small cut and what looks like a brush burn from his tire I guess.


The brush burn kinda stings, but could have been 1000000x worse.

When the guy hit me, it was like slo-mo. I was thinking about how I was going to fall, what was going to be injured, etc...

When I kept it up, I was like WHOA.... uh.... cool!

Good work staying upright Marco! Congratulations CRbrown for the win!

I was the lead moto for the 5s. Two guys got off the front on the first lap on 84 and stayed away for half a lap or so. Another guy went off on 84 on the second lap but never had more than 15 seconds. He sure was suffering for it.

The gravel and dampness made for really exciting descending on a motorcycle.

I ended up winning the 4b's. It was a super-fun race despite some sketchiness on the serpentine descents... staying near the front was definitely key in avoiding the ol' accordion effect.

Congratulations! I don't recognize you from your avatar photo. What kit were you wearing today?

I was wearing an old Sierra Nevada team jersey (gold/red/green)

Yes, I remember you. I think you wished me good luck at the start of the race. I was in white/red/black Integrate/FFBC kit.

The guy that got second seemed a little bitter after the race. It sounds like you might have surprised him at the end. Good stuff!

Pictures (from Ruth):

Henry

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3314/3623755784_9c76d3f6fa_o.jpg

Me at the finish

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3373/3623574983_afb2e6f141_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3391/3622935365_03a7fa9af1_o.jpg

Good job guys. It was a fun race while it lasted for me. I was feeling tired already on the second Stage Rd climb of the first lap. I dropped back briefly but caught the main group by the we got to 84. The cruise up 84 felt okay but not stellar. Once we hit Hawk Hill I went off-the-back. Over the top, I pushed it on the descent to try to catch back on but the spinning after the effort of the climb made my left quad start cramping. I managed to catch back up to Arexjay and we both called it a day when we got back to the registration area.

I definitely learned a new lesson today and look forward to next year.

It was a fun race and I came in 18th. On the first lap as previously mentioned two guys went off road off the second descent. I put in a short lived attack at the bottom of Haskins but was caught and I got a bit gapped going over Haskins and I had to descend like mad, one of the the turns there was a guy who had crashed with this bike in the middle of the road. Once off the descent we formed a chase group and caught the field after passing many shelled riders from other fields and the pro 1/2 women's field. Another guy crashed off the second climb on stage, but he seemed to recover quickly. Going up Haskins the last time was hard and I tried to stay with the group but got gapped with about 1k to go and finished 18th. Good job to everyone who raced and congrats to crbrown.

It was a fun race and I came in 18th. On the first lap as previously mentioned two guys went off road off the second descent. I put in a short lived attack at the bottom of Haskins but was caught and I got a bit gapped going over Haskins and I had to descend like mad, one of the the turns there was a guy who had crashed with this bike in the middle of the road. Once off the descent we formed a chase group and caught the field after passing many shelled riders from other fields and the pro 1/2 women's field. Another guy crashed off the second climb on stage, but he seemed to recover quickly. Going up Haskins the last time was hard and I tried to stay with the group but got gapped with about 1k to go and finished 18th. Good job to everyone who raced and congrats to crbrown.

Hey parity, we must have been in the same chase group. What kit were you wearing?

I was in a SugarCRM (red/white) kit. My club is the Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club.

I had a lot of fun but not as good a result as I would have liked. I got gapped a little on the second descent from stage partly b/c I suck and then there was the fire truck and that rider that went down as described above. I tried to chase back with a small group up 84, which was a good experience as I have never ridden in a paceline before, but we never seemed to make it even though we were gaining. I was riding second wheel and realized that the group blew up and then was all alone until I caught up to someone on hawkins hill and we rode up together. I was thinking of calling it quits before the hill but decided to finish it out kn owing I would be kicking myself for days later. I didnt bring enough food and the second lap was torture with my legs cramping. I rode some up 84 with a group of stragglers and then could not keep up with them for the final ascent. I pretty much crawled through the finish but I finished nonetheless. It was a lot of fun even if I wasnt really competitive.

Meh... still no results.

Nice! :thumb:

Reading this thread, and knowing a couple buddies in this race, has really fired me up to do another road race. Hmmm....

There is Patterson coming up.

There is Patterson coming up.

It's in August, a bit longer then "coming up". :)

It's in August, a bit longer then "coming up". :)

true... but I have so much going on the rest of June and early July... that it seems soon enough for me :lol:

There is Patterson coming up.

4 upcoming RR"s on the radar. Leesville Gap is on 7/3, Patterson on 8/9, Dunnigan Hills 8/15 and Winters on 8/29. 3 out of 4 are less than an hour drive from here. I'll be happy if I can race at least two of them....

Anyone seen results from the race yet?