I am not big on writing race reports. I have had to do enough of them for that other form of racing I do that perhaps I am race report fatigued…..or perhaps its simply too hard to prioritize them among work, family, and lets not forget training . I didn’t write one after finishing 10th at Cherry Pie Crit, I didn’t write one after finishing 13th at Land Park – I think mostly because I was disappointed we didn’t win after having 5 dudes leading the last lap. Yet I am compelled to write one after finishing 33rd at Copperopolis. It seems rather counterintuitive that I would be compelled to write something about my worst finishing position this year – so if your asking why – the reason is that I want to express how proud I am of my teammates and what a good thing we have going here on the DBC Masters team! So here goes:
I had a pretty rough week leading up to Copperopolis. Work has been kicking my ass lately and somewhere along the way I picked up a stomach virus. I rode on Wednesday after not being on the bike since Land Park, I intended to ride at least 40 miles at a good clip but 20 miles in I simply couldn’t bear to keep going no matter how bad I wanted to so I cut the ride short to 30mi – I got home and looked at the data 18mph avg @180 watt avg – well off normal. The data doesn’t lie, I felt like crap and it showed. That night I was up basically at midnight in the bathroom for the rest of the night – details not required but suffice it to say it was a less than pleasant evening. More of the same throughout much of the next day, by Friday I was feeling better but had lost ~10 lbs. I played poker Friday night drinking water non-stop to try to hydrate. It probably didn’t even make sense to go to Copperopolis given the week I had but I simply wanted to experience the event and didn’t want to wait another year to do it.
Pat picked me up and we rocked out to the Foo Fighters on the way down. We did a half assed warmup which didn’t bother me too bad knowing road races typically start out a bit on the slower side. In retrospect I should have warmed up more to at least open up the capillaries since I had such a bad training week. We started - I accomplished one of my initial goals which was to be toward the front so that its easier to see all the bumps, holes, etc. and was generally one of the first few wheels from the beginning to beyond the feed zone but not exerting effort just drafting. About a mile into the main climb things got bad. I forgot there were only ~50 riders in my group (by comparison land park was ~75) so when I looked up to see how many people were in front of me I felt like I was toward the back of the pack, but not actually at the back, which of course I was. I wanted to press harder but I was concerned about blowing up so I figured I would stay around 310w and hopefully let the race come back to me – I think this was a mistake? (Those with more experience please comment).
So we get to the top and there are a few stragglers from other teams along with my teammates Fred, Pat Turner, and Lee Millon. I was finding it emotionally difficult to come to terms with being dropped and I really wanted to catch back on so I started to “encourage” those from other teams to work with us. Maybe some of us guys from Davis aren’t great climbers but we sure know how to echelon. The other guys were starting to get on board with our program and we were actually starting to work effectively together. As most of you know this terrain is mostly rollers but you could see the peloton intermittently and we were most certainly gaining on them. I would have to guess that we were about 500-700 yards back and closing fast when the guy in front of me started turning left – I was 3rd wheel head down hammering but I saw the road to the left, sensed his movement, and blindly followed left, as did most behind me. All of a sudden we hear Fred yelling at us – I look up no peloton in sight, turn around Fred never turned; its painfully obvious to me that we turned left prematurely. SHIT!!!! Backtrack, regroup, etc. peloton is now out of sight. At this juncture the wind has left the motivational sails of a few of the non-DBC’ers – perhaps they were being prudent not wanting to burn matches on a lost cause, but we still wanted to try and so we did, in what was ultimately an act of futility.
We hit the last pitch, hit the downhill which was a lot of fun - fat and dumb guys like me can go fast . Between the loss of motivation, the slow downhillers, the quitters, and whatever other excuses our loose affiliation of guys was down to the core 4 DBC Masters that started the initial chase – me, Pat, Fred, and Lee. Lap 2: To be honest, the climb felt a heck of a lot harder the second time – yes that’s the same hill I was shelled off the back on the first time so I must have REALLY been going slow the second lap.
I really just didn’t have anything left - the flashlight was still at home, the batteries had yet to be purchased and I could name every street in Sufferville. But I really just wanted to finish the freaking race, and as a byproduct of that desire I found out how great it can be to have teammates and people your proud to call friends with you. I was miserable – literally. My teammates noticed I was bonking and offered me goo – no thanks I have my own I was just too stupid to realize I needed to eat it, thanks for noticing and telling me what was going on with my own body (I should be able to recognize myself right?)! I was cramping in my calves to the extent I could barely pedal - my teammates showed me how to get rid of them. There were a couple miles where I couldn’t take pulls due to the cramps, but my teammates carried my weight. I ran out of water and my teammates offered me drinks of theirs. I could go on…….
We crossed the line 4 abreast as a symbol of teamwork, camaraderie, and unity – I would like to find a picture of that but I will remember it for a long time regardless. In looking at the results today I noticed this gesture was lost upon the officials who decided that Lee should be a DQ for centerline, which totally sucks. But I don’t think the DQ diminishes what a great team experience Copperopolis was, and I hope Lee feels the same. In what is seemingly an individual sport I am proud to say that we have a very special team guys. Those who know me know I am not a big rah rah rah kumbaya guy especially after a 33rd, but big thanks to Pat, Lee, and Fred.
Copperopolis was a hard fought battle. I believe I should have risked “blowing up” in order to stay with the peloton but I am honestly not sure. Lots of what I know from racing cars applies to racing bikes, some of it doesn’t – I am still ignorant in many areas, I guess that’s why they have cat5. But, I am learning and improving…..
Thanks for reading,
Justin Hall
Justin Hall, Copperopolis 35+ 4/5
Derek Byrne, Copperopolis 35+ 4/5
Here goes,
They combined our 2 groups because the C group was so small. We rolled out at about 63 guys or so. Three of them being Me (Derek), Lorne, and Robin. Essentially, the three of us found ourselves toward the back at out pack just a bit into the first climb past the feed zone. On a flat narrow section, things seem to bottleneck, come to a grinding halt, and guys yelling, "whoa, whoa!" I was sure there was a crash so I dove for the side of the road and clicked one foot out. For a brief moment everything stopped, but then started right up again. No crash. The group took off, and the loss of momentum hurt. We were quickly 50 yards off the back, and falling back further as the pitch increased. I am sure we all would have been dropped regardless, but it would have been nice to have the chance to stay a little closer a little longer.
We agreed ahead of time to basically all get over the first climb at our own pace, and if we were near each other in the flats we would try to regroup. Didn't really work. Lorne and I left Robin, and then Lorne left me. He kindly offered to hang back for me. But I insisted that he race as hard as he could for as long as he could. Through the flats I could see Lorne a few hundred yards ahead, but couldn't catch him until the rollers leading up to the second climb. On the second climb, I left him, and none of us ever saw each other again until the finish.
Robin says he saw us on the list come in around 28, 32, 34, me, Lorne, Robin, respectively though a few minutes apart. I really hope that is the case, cuz I would love a mid pack finish in a race this painful. I/we passed quite a few people, but it was tough to tell what our number range was. We had some 600s and 700s mixed together. I would have guessed somewhere closer to the mid 40s. We'll find out soon enough.
Course definitely lived up to the hype. Some steep pitches! On the first climb I saw 2 guys walking for a moment. Killer descent! The whole way down, I am thinking, "Please don't Hincapie!" In reference to his broken headset in the 2006 Paris/Roubaix. Pavement was awful, but after a while you get used to it. Still, I don't think I need to do this for a couple years.
Seeing as how Lorne, Robin and I spent so much time alone, and yet only finished a few minutes apart, I wonder if we could have been better served to try to wait for each other after that first climb and each successive one? Any ideas guys? At least we would have had the team camaraderie. Maybe next time. Two or three years from now. Good luck to all at Brisbane. I will be in So. Cal at a wedding.
derek
Lee Millon Copperopolis 35+4/5
One of the best race venues we've had so far. Great day to boot! Roads were rough but relatively clean (like it was recently swept). It was rough from the not so level asphalt patches applied to most of the course. It was so bumpy that at one point I started open mouth humming "AHhhhhhhh" which came out as Ahh-Ahh-Ahh-Ahh-Ahh... at the frequency of 100 APS (Ah per second). Several riders thought it was funny enough to join in and we soon had about 7 people doing the AAaaaaah thing. I wonder if we could have churned butter from our water bottles.
I was all set to work for whoever and wherever. The pack rolled out easy enough but the skinny road made it difficult to move up to the front. Several of us got pinched off the back during the climb but were able to put together a strong chase group with Justin H. barking instructions and encouragement to other teams also willing to chase. We were motoring very well and slowly reeling in the lead group when one of the other guys at the front of our chase group took a wrong turn and we ended up in someone's farm yard! We did not immediately realize this mistake. The only reason we turned around was Fred screaming for us to come back to the main road. We all know Fred as one of those few who can scream without raising his voice but this time we heard him clearly HOLLERING. At first I thought he had a mechanical and was letting us know. I was right behind Pat when he applied his brakes and rammed into him with my left hood. Fortunately neither of us swerved and managed to separate without crashing. Sorry Pat! I turned to look back at the yelling at the same instant you were preparing to turn around. I still had no idea we were off route at that point!
That little mistake pretty took us out of the game. The guy who took the wrong turn felt pretty bad and kept apologizing to the group. Someone later commented that it was an ingenious way to block. :-) . Karl later told us that the front pack pretty much sat up after the climb and was just noodling around with no one taking charge. Ouch...
We -- Justin, Patrick, Fred and I -- pretty much rode out the course and picked off a few dropped riders here and there then photo finished in a wall of DBC Orange.
Hope you all had a great Easter!
Lee
Nelson Frink, Copperopolis 45+ 4/5
When I arrived in the quaint hamlet of Milton this morning, my first goal was to switch out of the 35+4/5 to the 45+4/5 race, as I knew my chances of a top ten finish to get team points in the 35's was next to nil. Hal Sloane generously gave me his spot in the B group, and they accepted it at the registration. They ended up adding the 12 riders from the C group to ours, and fellow DBC Master Kevin McSpadden and I pulled out with the group.
Things got challenging quickly, and I held the front group until the steepest section of the main climb. "Scotty, we need more power!" "Sorry Captain, but you're forgetting this isn't a next generation ship we're on."
He was being a bit stubborn today after the three hour ride we took yesterday, but soon enough he kicked in well and we held with the other dropped riders scattered on the hill. I worked with a few other riders back to the main group of 25-30 riders on the flatter section around the top of the course. I held on through the screaming bumpy downhill and back onto the hill on the second lap. I got dropped in the same place, but again worked back on the flats with the help of a few others. By the time we hit the downhill, there were a dozen or so guys, and I was 6th or 7th in the uphill sprint. I mistakenly thought there were no other riders ahead of us, and announced to a few teammates at the end that I was in the top ten. It turned out I was 14th.
Lessons learned: 1. Work on climbing 2. Don't tell people how you placed until you're sure. 3. Don't lock your keys in the car. I sustained a laceration above my eye trying to break into my truck at the end that generated a number of stares and questions from concerned fellow racers, and I wished I could've said it was in a bike crash.
Nelson
Karl Wurzbach, Copperopolis 35+4/5
Team, I had a great time today at the race, and you guys weren't kidding when you said the course was bumpy! I was feeling pretty good through the first lap and we were a pack of 21 riders. The second set of hills I got dropped about a 1/2 mile from the top and could not catch back up. The calves also started cramping pretty badly but recovered after drinking the rest of my bottle and 4 miles later. The lead group was now about 12 riders with a few more stragglers behind. I ended up catching 3 more from our group and felt great once the cramps went away. Really wishing I could have held on to the group towards the end of the climb! (Need more mix training) Anyway, I talked to Robin Rolles and he told me I wasn't listed in the top 15 so I called Velo Promo and asked if they could review the results. He said to email them and they would take a look and see. I had a great time and am looking forward to Wente RR at the end of April with you guys. I'm also on the waiting list for the Martinez Crit.
Take care, Karl