Originally Posted by Racer Ex

Chico Stage Race 45+ 1/2/3:

2 teammates. One team has 4 guys another has 8, and another has 5. Should be interesting. Trying some new strategies to deal with my allergies.

Saturday's road race was a 47 mile course with some rollers, several short climbs, and one longish climb. Plus 4 miles of gravel. The hammer was down, averaged around 26.5 MPH At point we were hitting 30+ on the gravel. For power buffs it was 10 minutes at 310w 90 minutes into the race. This broke the field up a bit. I had been in 5 breaks to that point, and probably did too much work. Thought I was flatting, but it turned out to be a broken rear spoke. My teammate (World TT Champ) got a few seconds up the road with three other guys, what was left of our group sprinted it out. Cramped a bit and came in 9th overall. Teammate finished 8th.

Covered in dust. Went and sat in a snow melt fed river after. Three guys were down there standing in the river smoking a joint. Cat 4's are amusing.

Sunday TT, 10 mile flat course. Blowing 10-20 at 90 degrees on two legs, headwind on the other. Make good wheel choice: take 3rd. TT Champ beat me, along with one of the guys in his break group. Move up to 3rd on GC. Other teammate took 4th, moves up to 4th on GC. Still down a bit on power and HR.

Sunday Crit: 8-10 or somewhere around there. Mostly tried to stay safe which included missing a skateboard a drunk idiot let roll across the course, a crash, and a cone that got knocked right in front of me. Held serve.

Team takes 1, 3(me), and 4 on GC. That was pretty reflective of who was the strongest and fastest this weekend.

Two hectic days to clean up the bike, fix a bad tire, and get ready for Sea Otter.