Norcal IC3 | A Bicycle Club
Race: Tri Valley Velo Criterium presented by PG&E – May 7, 2011
Event: Masters 45+ Category 4 – 34 racers
Course: 0.94 mile clockwise loop; wide turns, good to excellent pavement
Weather: Sunny, windy, about 60 degrees
IC3 Racers: Serge Plasschaert
Other Teams: SJBC and Taleo
Placing: 3rd
Fairly small field of 34 racers showed up to the race. SJBC had the most racers
with 6, followed by Taleo with 5. A few other teams with 2 or 3 riders. My
plan was stay towards the front and keep my nose out of the wind. Based on my
experience in Cat. 4 races, I put my money on a field sprint. On the other
hand, with 2 well represented teams in the field, I wanted to keep my eye on any
breaks that had both SJBC and Taleo folks in it.
From the get-go, SJBC showed they came to play with an immediate attack. The
racer was hoping to get a few takers but nobody showed interest and he let
himself get reeled in quickly. A few more attacks from SJBC and other riders
followed, but nothing stuck. While SJBC was quite active, Taleo showed no
interest at all in getting involved in the action with most SJBC attacks being
countered by the other, smaller teams.
There were are total of 6 prime laps. On the second prime lab, one SJBC rider
gained a gap and stayed off the front for about 6 laps. The group never lost
sight of him though and reeled him in with about 7 laps to go. He did end up
winning 4 primes!
With 6 to go, we had our last prime lap and since I was well positioned, I
decided to get in the mix. Took the lead a little too early and got nabbed at
the line so just missed out. While I lost the prime sprint, I did learn that
come finish time I should not start my spring too early but stay patient!
Final 4 laps were fast with a few more attacks but everything stayed together
coming through the final sweeping corner, where a Velo Club Monterey places a
surprise attack. He was taking a chance by going this early but he had great
acceleration. He had a good gap and I knew that unless he lost significant
power, he stood a good chance of taking the win. I had one rider to my right
and could not immediately go after the attacker. Fortunately, things developed
pretty quickly once the rider was off the front, so that things opened up and I
got a nice sprinting lane. The Velo Club Monterey rider took the win, SJBC took
the number 2 spot and IC3 rounded out the podium!
Christian Cycling-Hammer Nutrition
Serge Plasschaert