Chris Bowlus, Modesto RR, 35+4/5

I was feeling pretty good going into this race. Had several good weeks of
training and during the last week the legs were feeling great in the race
ride sprints. A flat 55ish mile course suited me fine.

Didn't get out the door as quickly as I had hoped - no time for coffee -
UGH! Got my number and found that they only had 3 porta-potties for
everyone. After a long wait and taking care of business I had the number
pinned and was on the bike with a few minutes to spare. No problem
missing a good warm up since I figured there would be plenty of time for
it during the race.

It was a typical 35+ Cat4/5 road race on the flats - EXTREMELY BORING!!
Fred and I hung out in the back biding our time. On the second of the 6 9-
mile laps some guy in the middle flatted or something but never raised a
hand. I managed to avoid him but someone else veered and almost took Fred
out. I only noticed several miles later when Fred was no where to be
found. I looked back and saw him TTing with another guy. The pack was
moving slow so I waited and we worked together to get back on.

Like all of these races no one was willing to work together to sustain an
attack and every attack was immediately chased down. A few guys launched
solo but they never had a chance. I had 2 chances with a group of 3 and 4
but no one else wanted to work. I don't understand it. If you initiate an
attack and others go with you, don't you want to try and make it work?
Then after the ride all these guys complain about how slow it is, how
nobody works, etc. Well, what were you doing? STUPID!

Rod and Robin had a nice 2 man game going to the front and Robin
attacking with Rod blocking effectively. Unfortunately this left Robin
out solo on his break. Bob Blythe and Brian were also at the front at
various times pushing the pace. DBC represented well.

With 2 laps to go Fred, Robin and I decided that we'd go to the front and
try to get Robin to the finish. At the start of the last lap the pace
slowed and I made my way to the front. I looked around but didn't see any
DBCers (I guess this was a little early). I decided to go ahead and mix
things up so I picked it up to 25-26 mph and held it there. Still no
DBCers around when "melon calves" (you may recall him from last year's
Dunnigan Hills race)pulled through but he was the only one willing to
work. The pace quickly slowed again and I drifted to the back.

With about 2 miles to go I move toward the front again. There was a right
hander before the final left hander about 400 m from the finish. I still
wasn't sure where the other DBCers were but I started hammering anyways.
Pushing it up to 27-28 mph the field went single file. Just as my legs
were going Rod comes pulling through to save me. I grab his wheel long
enough to recover and take another pull. The legs are burning and guys
are coming around on the left - I try to grab a wheel to stay in the
front group but think I'm toast when I see the 1km sign. As a wise man
once said "The sprint comes from somewhere else." I hang on until we hit
the last left hander - a scary turn from good pavement to nasty, skin-
grating chipseal and gravel. I manage to get out of my saddle but there's
not anything left in the tank to really launch a sprint. Brian goes by me
on the left - nice to see - and a Synergy guys nips me at the line - not
so nice to see.

2 Top 10 finishers is nothing to complain about but I think we could do
better on this type of race and with the riders we have. Next time with a
better defined strategy and a little better luck we'll nail it.

Next up Golden State Crit 35+ 3/4 and 45+ 3/4/5 - see ya out there.

Chris