People look at my toothpick body and say, “you must be a climber.”  I was about 20 years ago and it has not come back. I went into Ross”””””””’’s Epic knowing that my climbing sucks and that whatever pain I was to endure pales in comparison to what Ross has dealt with.  On the flats I didn””””””””t feel that bad. As soon as we started going up I couldn””””””””t establish a comfortable pace. I stayed with a fellow cyclocrosser that I shared the podium with a few times in the Bay Area and I thought he would be a good guy to follow. I faded off his wheel and felt worse and worse. Then I found myself trying to keep up with the lead 55+ guys.  I fell off those wheels and then before the flat section a guy with a triple chainring caught me and then I thought, “Ya, ya, ya, I love to be humbled.”  I think I turned in a worse time than last year.

Sonoma Mtn. Village Crit.  was a great event. The course was a lot of fun and I could suck wheel, do a few “heroic” moves at the front and at least feel/look like a bike racer. In the 45+ race it was brutal.  Attacks beyond belief, way harder that the E4”””””””’’s that I raced later. Paul Diaz of 2 Wheel had a very impressive prime win with a 400m sprint to hold off the other contenders. I went with some moves that looked like potential breaks and just when I was recovering the prime bell rings again and the wheels to watch were 200m up the road. That group quickly reorganized and the winning break went sailing down the road. There were many other break attempts and after a lot of suffering thank god they were brought back. With a few laps to go I had a great position being behind the 1-2-3 Morgan Stanley leadout for the field sprint. I got 7th overall.  If I had any kind of sprint I should have been 1st or 2nd in that situation. But the human pencil can only wind it up so far.  I gotta say once more, every time I race the 45+ 1-4 it is an absolute beating.

I registered for the E4”””””””’’s (which was immediately after the 45+ race) only because I thought Sal and Kevin were racing. I was pretty worked and I even thought about not doing it…”who would know?”  Racing with the E4”””””””’’s is way different than the masters. Guys yelling “inside” drives me absolutely crazy. All it tells me is that someone is taking a line that isn””””””””t there. Greg Schubert made a huge effort for a prime but got nipped at line. For the most part I just sat in and tried to find a good position for the finish. I was trying to figure out why with 5 to go the Colavita guys went to the front and did 3 consecutive laps of huge pulls, causing the field to go single file, only to bunch up with 2 to go. I thought that I was in a great spot but in the final stretch but my legs just didn””””””””t have it. I was thinking “whatever” when during the final 100m I heard some riders having temper tamtums because they got boxed or met some demise.

Now I am ready to rest, do some group rides and get ready for cyclocross season.

Thanks for reading, Royce

Category 4 35+
Placing 4th
Team mates: Royce

Great day to race a bike up a big mountain. Weather was perfect as we left the High School. They batched all the 4”””’’s, 4 35+ and 4/5 45+ men together for the start. We must have started with about 35 or so. Royce told me to stay near the front because guys like to hammer the 6 miles to the hill. He was right and guys were sprinting from the gun and gaps were already starting before we turned left on 128. I followed Royce the whole way except when he was on the front keeping the pace high. We all got the bottom of the climb with out any problems. Pace never really seemed to pick up on the first little rise. That changed after the first pump house and I was just sitting about 5th wheel or so seeing how things would play out. After the road tilted pack up the climbers separated them selves from the rest of the pack. I was sitting in with 3 other guys. At the time I thought it was a cat4 and 2 35+. We each started taking turns on the front. I felt really good until @ mile marker 5 on Pine Flat. I needed to back off a little and save some for the end. A cat 4 rider caught and dropped me below the duck pond and I kept all 4 riders in sight. I hit the guard rail at 31 minutes with another cat4 rider in tow. I got him to work with me through the flat and then did not see him again after the goat herders house when the real pain was about to begin. I took on the last 2 miles with everything I had left and it was not enough to catch the 4 riders in front of me. I looked at my stop watch crossing the line and it was somewhere in the 58 minute range for the climb itself and 1:12ish for the total race time. I thought for sure I had 3rd. Even in the results it said I had 3rd. Comes to be that one of the riders was not in the computer as a 35+ so his time and bib number did not get logged in the right spot. Well they got it figured out and sure enough his correct placing was to be right above mine. I guess I should have signed up in the open 4s. i would have taken 2nd in that field. Oh well I am still happy with the result.

Thanks to Renee and Alexis for helping at the registration table and Heather and Gabe for their course marshaling and shouts of support. Thanks Riviera for the post race food and any one else that supported or raced to help support Ross Dillon and his family

And congrats to Hillary for a very strong 1st place win. I think she would have beat me up the climb with the P.R she set. WOW those Bartel”””’’s are fast up those hills.

Thanks for reading

–
Jeremy Gotelli

11th place in Master 45+ 1-4

I had to do this race as I was born and raised in Monterey and watched my brother and his friends zoom around the same course when I was a kid.  Knowing that the field of “old pros” would be tough, I opted to race with them instead of dragging my family out of bed for an earlier race. I love the  downtown setting and the course is very challenging, not like a boring industrial park . After the start is a slight downhill into a very fun and fast sweeping but almost hairping right hand turn,  into a straightaway tailwind section with some bumps then turn three into an uphill stretch (50 x 23 0r 25) that even when you round turn four you think you are at the top but it”””””””’’s a long false flat into the wind and finish.

Having no teammates was a bummer but I was use to doing the “lone wolf” thing last year. I saw Paul Diaz from 2Wheel before the start and he said that he was cooked from already doing 2 races. I think he got a placing. Anyways, I stayed at the front and found myself at the front a little too much and dragged the pack around a couple of times in bridging up to some small break attempts. I figured it was good to feel some pain but I was worried because there had not been some huge attacks by some of the more noteworthy. Just as I was thinking that the prime bell rang and Rich Jaurez rode away for that to be off by himself for several laps. The pack turned single file for several laps with gaps opened everywhere. I was at my limit and was actually wondering how much longer I could hold on. After a few more laps of torture we caught Jaurez and it did slow down. Some of the San Jose riders were irritating as they would ride aggressively but then fall off wheels through turns.  There were some other attacks but they were easily brought back. The prime bell rang with 3 to go and Jaurez and another rider opened up a huge gap. The pack let them go and just fought for position for the remaining placings. With two to go it was single file and very fast. By how fast it was I was feeling like I would have nothing for the last lap. 1oo meters before turn 3 the guy in front of me overlapped the wheel in front of him and ripped off that guys rear derailleur. Everyong steered hard right or left to avoid what sounded like a crash. I came out of it alright but turning into the hill the gaps had opened and  I just gritted my teeth up the hill.I thought that I would get passed my many people on the straight before the finish but only one guy passed me , much to my suprise.

I was kinda bummed after the race about not placing but I felt better when I saw that every racer who placed higher was a cat 1-3.  Mainly it was really nice to come flying through that sweeping first turn and know that my family was watching. It would be great to have a big group go down next year and do this historic race.

Thanks for reading, Royce