BAR 2007...

Uhh, just noticed BAR/BAT points are actually pretty up-to-date; 'mates at 1,5,15! Go Team!

Master 35+ 4/5 Points
Lic# Name Team Points
1 202515 John Cheetham EMC2/Vellum Cycles 30
2 49703 Kyle Clinton Stanislaus/Merlock Velo 28
3 219415 Eric Hoffmann Fusion Sport USA 28
4 255562 David Stone Central Valley Cycling 22
5 236946 Steven Vickery EMC2/Vellum Cycles 22
6 219614 Nelson Willhite Sierra Express/TONC 22
7 235063 Jeff Albert Unattached 21
8 236825 Craig Steinmaus ZteaM 19
9 219237 Stone Beck Central Valley Cycling 18
10 203517 Thomas Sorbera Delta Velo 18
11 207280 Tomas Ovalle Southern Sierra Cyclists 16
12 240484 Ramon Alarcon San Jose Bicycle Club 15
13 236346 Scott Herring Touchstone Climbing 15
14 231918 Robert McDaniel Webcor/Alto Velo 15
15 236133 Maurice Daroy EMC2/Vellum Cycles 14

2 Points

Yes, indeed - Hanford Crit brought good times and my first 2 points toward my 4 to 3 upgrade ... not in a huge hurry; I mean, what's 18 years as a cat4 if not a learning experience? And me, I like learnin'! In Hanford, I learned the field size is proportional to amount of fun... It took about a year to re-learn what I forgot in 10 years away from the sport and last year was mostly illness-racing so performance was minimal. Now, I feel ready to race. However, the Velo Promo t-shirt still eludes me; Hanford only shirted top 4 and there I was in 5th place.

Gianni has just moved on up and his knowledge, skills and fitness are daunting. I hope I and others can fill in for some of the leadership and assertiveness he provided to both the EMC Sportie squad and the 35+4(5) peloton. He scored his final point in his first race of the day (E4/5), a total of SIX ca$h primes in the two 4/5 races and was only 1/2 lap shy of giving me the leadout of my life in the 35+4/5. Can't blame him after riding 2 races at full tilt; hardly a move went that he wasn't in or marking. Being the stand-up guy he is, bought me & Merkeley a lotta lunch! Cheers Gianni!

Curse of Menlo

Photo credit: MJ Miranda

Ok, seems a lil curse of menlo on my 'mate Dr. A. Last year he had some head-over-heels action and this year, unattached dude with Lynyrd Skynyrd moustache squirrelled-out with 3 laps to go in the E4 race. Those taken out included the good Dr. A. He escaped relatively unharmed, but DNFed, and took another crack at breaking the curse in the 35+3/4 race only to flat out... after Jim V had taken his campy rear wheel.

Back to the Skynyrd-related crash - sorry dude, I know you're hurt bad, and I hope it's not too bad - hope you and any others injured are back at it soon. But based on this photo, seems to be a clear case of operator error. For some reason, dude's got one hand on the TOP of the bar and the other on the DROP. Note the extreme angle he's got on the longest & straightest stretch of a pretty basic crit course (with some jigsaw puzzle pavement and other surface hazards, but really, not a technical course at all). This caused a pretty exotic crash leading Angela to pretty much exclude road racing from the 3 junior Mo's futures. I wouldn't surprised if Mo himself has to do some smooth talking for his next crit as well. Anyway, the bodies piled up & cleared out, but one was on the ground a while leading to 3 laps of 'neutral' time - we were instructed to maintain our position - somehow I ended up at the very back, again. I'd just worked for 5 laps to get into decent position... well, a line-up and restart for a 3 lap finale' after the previous carnage did NOT appeal to my killer instinct. Nevertheless, there was a fatigue factor and lots of the guys who took advantage of my gentle nature during the neutral laps were sluggish off the line and were simply obstacles for me to pass. Did they think they'd really get somewhere (besides in the way?) by passing riders in a time of neutralization? Different than neutralization while being overtaken in a road race, but a similar lack of principle & honor noted. Minus Dr. A, our team result was Mo in 10th place.

Ok, this all relates to the topic of 'upgrading' brought out last week in a few places; at the ol' NCNAracing forum, but also by Gianni at his blog. Gianni asked if we are learning what we are 'supposed to' through cat5 & 4 experiences. As a career cat 4 (so far, but only on and off since about 1990), I started before there was a cat 5. If I may be so bold to critique a requirement I never had to meet (but have exceeded in multiples years ago), it seems with the rapid influx of new riders, the cat 5 to 4 standards might be a bit lax. I mean, 10 mass starts... what about a finish? Is that harder to keep track of? is it because promoters don't always do full results? Or is it truly felt that simply starting 10 races is enough exprience to move up to my coveted cat4 race level? The gifted new riders should be able to make it up the cat system just as fast, but there should be more opportunity for skills development for the more typical racer on the way up.

I know people at every level of the sport can do something stupid when the pressure is on (or off), but how did the Skynyrd guy - and others - get through a cat 5 to 4 'induction' and/or experience upgrade and not get enough bike-handling experience and/or guidance to do the move illustrated above? I dont mean to pick on him - maybe he's more expereinced than me and just had a moment. Damn sure, he had some fitness to be that far up in a pack averaging 26+ mph; heck, of that I'm envious. Especially tough in a pack that kept braking into every turn and sprinting out; yes, more skills to learn for 4s; and yes, I include myself. I spent 30 minutes last week doing right-hand/clockwise cornering in anticipation of this race - are others drilling themselves similarly? Do newer riders even know to do this? Am I talking to myself? If I hire a coach will I earn upgrade points? Would I truly be a 'cat 3'? Do I even want to race cat 3? Couldn't I just enjoy a career of master's sport racing without bone head moves and a pressure to upgrade and upgrade quickly to avoid the 'crash 4' races? Do I go back to triathlon where crashes are rare and self-inflicted?

Anyway, let's think, how can we make the sport better? safer? Ironically, the cat 5 group looked fast & safe (50 guys vs. 100 in any cat might be the main difference there). Yeah, the EB mentor program is great, for those that do it, and early 4s are no different than 5s, although every rider is in some way unique unto themselves. I got great mentoring in the 35+3/4 race later at menlo - they didn't brake in the corners... it was great. Enough ranting for now, time to train.

The Vickerator

More photos from Snelling help tell the story, photo credit Shari Greenspan. Vic at the front, about to cause some pain at start of lap 4... damn, I'm at the back again! At least the field is cut in half.

Vic emerges at the end of race with a sizable gap over... Mo Daroy for 2nd!

Smells like Snelling

Ahh, a full field on a sunny day; this is Field B of 35+4/5 sport racers. Actually, I count about 55 helmets in the shot alone and it's missing the two-man break that lasted til the final lap and also missing a few of my 11 team-mates... I can see myself, far right of the frame back of the mass. Amazing to think how easily I was able to move to the front of this mass. No really, I did spend a lot more time at the front than usual; of course it helps that several teams were afraid of the wind. Did a lot of work, some of it wise, some misplaced, but we got the end result teams dream of - DOUBLE VICTORY!

Steve Vickery threw down a mighty solo effort for the entire final lap catching the breakaway on it's last breaths and Mighty Mo Daroy won the field sprint. You can see Mo at the very front of the pic, just left of center; a spidey mate over each shoulder, Dave left, Richard right. So, we went 1-2 with our biggest guy (209) and smallest guy (maybe 135?). Yes, we had the largest team in the field, but we did last year as well and only managed one top 10 (again, Mighty Mo in only his 2nd RR ever). In true, lovable, Velo Promo fashion, haven't seen full results yet, but I am certain I placed my highest yet in the region (12-15th?). Squeezed in alongside Dave & Richard, we were within CMs of each other and some other sporty. Anyway, I think my best race yet in the geezer chapter of my life. And I'm still in my Base Phase.

Photo credit: Jan Snyder