Cat 4/5 crew at the 2022 Oakland GP

Race Reports

2024 Race Reports

11 reports

Land Park Crit
Master 35+ Cat 3/4
Sat Mar 16

Tim Snyder • 🥇 1st of 27
Land Park CritMaster 35+ Cat 3/4

Date: Sat, Mar 16, 2024
Teammates: None

Weather: A perfectly calm and sunny 60 degrees

Course: Fast course with one chicane

Plan: Win

What happened:

I've raced this course a few times now and really enjoy it as it's smooth and fast. There is only one technical chicane which can be taken fast as long as you are near the front or else you can get the accordian affect. Usually the winners use this to their advantage. My plan originally wasn't super clear. I wanted to watch for any breaks that might happen or if that failed, judge my legs and attempt an attack at 1.5 laps to go by using the chicane to gain a gap. If I did this, I knew I needed to be smarter than at Cal Aggie where I sat on the front too long pulling the field around to have the snap needed to get away.

Either way, 10 minutes before lining up, my right/rear shifter battery died and left me with one gear. I checked the batteries the night before and it had a green light so don't trust the indicators! No one had a sapre battery and the race was starting so I just lined up anyways hoping I had the right gear.

The race started off slowly with one rider from Monster Racing immediately riding off the front. I've seen him do this before and wasn't concerned so I let him dangle. On lap 2, he's actually got 5 seconds on us already so just before the chicane, another rider makes a big attack to bridge. I'm pretty far back at this point and a few riders jump up including a rider from Terun. I grab his wheel and we moved up to the top few in the pack before the chicane again. In the last corner before the next lap, the rider from Terun goes and I follow and pull through to make it to the now 5 man break. We were moving fast but the rest of the pack chased hard and mostly closed the gap. At this point I was second wheel into the chicane on lap 3 and thinking this race is separating at least. The Terun rider rotates off and then I looked back debating if an attack was worth it and that's when Alex screamed to go. I took the bait and hammered it out of the chicane and we gained significant separation while everyone else fell back. It turned out that this was an optimal time as the field thought it was going to slow down to regroup.

From here, we maintained a 10 second gap up to I think around 25 seconds by rotating pulls. We ended up rotating for all 6 primes to evenly split them 3:3 which was great teamwork and mostly due to Alex paying more attention to them than I was. After 20 minutes or so I figured we had this and started to think about how to go for the win. I had noticed that I was taking the chicane significantly faster than Alex to the point that I needed to let off the pedals entirely if I was in front to get him back on my wheel. My plan was to use this advantage and attack as hard as possible out of the chicane. Unfortunately, I rotated poorly / second guessed myself on how much speed we needed to maintain and ended up second into the chicane. I still ended up attacking but because I was second wheel, he was easily able to get back on. From there we both slowed down and recovered a bit with both of us side by side at this point at the final stretch. I again made the first move for a heads up 1 on 1 sprint a bit further out and he followed for a very close finish by 1/4 of a wheel for a very satisfying finale.

Merced Cirterium
Master 35+ Cat 1/2/3
Sun Mar 3

James Yang • 🥇 1st of 21
Merced CirteriumMaster 35+ Cat 1/2/3

Date: Sun, Mar 3, 2024
Teammates: None

Weather: Headwind on the finishing straight, tailwind on the back section heading toward the court house museum.

Course: 4 corner crit with a muddy / wet chicane feature on the backside.

Plan: Win.

What happened:

Knowing the technicality of this course from doing it a year ago, I knew it would blow up fairly quickly especially on the backside chicane near the courthouse. Gabe let me know to watch out for Mark Tucker (Velo Kings) and Steve Reaney (Cycle Sport). I’m familiar with the palmares from both of them as national champions. Steve has the most experience so I made sure to keep an eye out for any funny business coming from him (US Elite National Crit title). I also noted Jerome Nadel (Thirsty Bear) there as well (another nat champ) so I weary about going to the line against Jerome and Steve.

Name of the game was to mark Mark. Been following the Masters racing scene from a birds eye view and it seems like you have a 80% chance of Mark Tucker creating the winning break of the day, so I made sure I marked every single move he was in. I was confident I can out sprint him, so as long as I’m in the break I had good odds.

Once the racing started I settled in to the pointy end of the pack, and the attacks started coming. I immediately noted that the field was taking the backside chicane a bit more gingerly than what I was used to so I kept note of that. Just like I suspected Velo Kings started to attack and counter. The move that broke the straw on the camels back was the attack and counter from Nick (Velo Kings) followed by Mark Tucker (Velo Kings). I covered Nick, then I knew Mark would launch afterwards and he did on the tailwind section heading towards the chicane. As soon as he went I told him to hit it hard as I knew the pack would splinter in the technical section and we would whittle down the field.

Making the right hander into the finishing straight after Mark and I took a pull and we had the winning break-- Mark Tucker (Velo Kings), Steve Reaney (Cycle Sport), Jerome Nadel (Thirsty Bear), and Don Chapin (Courier). We started to rotate and I noted that Jerome and Steve were taking the weakest pulls, so after we established a gap I started to think about how I can potentially get rid of them and stack the cards more in my favor.

A little over halfway through the race, there was a cash preme and after the right hander on bloc headwind straight Mark Tucker attacks really hard, I get on his wheel and think about sprinting him for the preme, but thought this would be a better opportunity to use this as a launch pad to get rid of the other guys as we had a small gap heading towards the tailwind backside. Don, Steve, and Jerome eventually make it back there and I put in a hard dig on the tailwind section heading to the technical dirt chicane. I continue to pile on the pressure coming out the chicane and into the block headwind and I notice it’s just Don and myself with a couple sec gap to Mark, Steve, and Jerome, (they were playing games) so I tell Don this is our chance.

He’s stoked and motivated to guarantee top 2 so we work together with myself doing the majority of the work. We continue to grow the gap each time through the chicane and I see the moto ref in the distance with the tail end of the field not far behind.

I wanted to make sure I put myself in the best possible odds so right when we were getting close to the field I told Don that I’m getting gassed and I need him to do the last bit to the tail end of the field. He does the last pull we make it right to the field through the chicane section and I used my momentum to move up.

They called 1 lap to go and I made sure to position myself near the front for the best chance of success, but all I cared about is Don. I didn’t see him around so I sprinted within the top 10 of the pack for the dub.

Appreciate the support from all the Dolces at the event. It was fun cheering on our 4/5 squad from the sidelines and putting myself to work for Kevin in the P123 race afterwards.

Huffmaster Hopper
19-29
Sat Feb 24

Zach Cutburth • 🥉 3rd of 27
Huffmaster Hopper19-29

Date: Sat, Feb 24, 2024
Teammates: None

Course:

90mi, 3500’ elevation

Plan:

Coming into the race, I really wanted to podium to stay in GC contention.

Summary:

The starts were staggered by age groups, so we had the U19/20-29/30-39 going off together. The group was strong and had a ton of talent, which made for a great day. I was in a bit of a hole before the race as traveling for 10 hours, I could only get about three hours of sleep, but outside of that, the preparation going into Huffmaster was the best I could have done. We started the race with a solid pace of about 21mph, but no actual moves were made for the first 40 miles. At the start of the first major climb at mile 41, the field stretched out when four strong riders sent a vicious attack, leaving nine other guys and me behind. Once we crested the climb, it was an awesome descent down to aid station one. Here is where my first bottle ejected, which was bad, but I was not too worried as I had a USWE pack and one bottle left. With the rules implemented, we were forced to stop at aid station one to refill bottles for people without hydro packs, so this gave our group some time to rest up for a minute, which became crucial later. We left in a group of ten and went onto some of the best gravel of the day, averaging 18mph and dropping a few riders in the process. At mile 50, I finally finished my USWE pack and was down to one bottle, but at mile 52, on a ripping descent, I lost my second bottle going from gravel to road. This was a pivotal moment for me as I now was without liquids with 40 miles to go. I did not stop and had to use a match to catch up with the group, but luckily, when I caught up, the pacers sat up, so I got a little break. I started cramming any nutrition I had and hoping that the gels' sugar and electrolytes would keep me from popping. The last aid station was at mile 68, and five of the riders decided to stop, but as I was rolling in to get some liquids, the Alto Velo rider whom I was racing against decided not to stop and attack the last climb, so at this point, I made the decision not to stop and roll with him as I was feeling dehydrated but felt I could manage. Once we crested the climb, it was a fantastic switchback descent that went on for about 9 miles. We got to excellent rolling gravel roads at the end of the significant descent (mile 80). I could tell the Alto Velo rider was looking weak and would not take a pull, so I started to throw some attacks and make him work really hard to get to me, and eventually, he began to pull. In the end, five riders caught up at mile 87 due to the slow pace. I sat in for a few minutes but sent a flyer at the last mile with two other guys to make the rest of the group spend energy as I knew I had the legs for a sprint finish and really trusted myself. We came into the last 300 meters as a group of 6-7 riders, where I sent a left-side sprint, won the bunch sprint, and secured 3rd place. It was a tough race, and I took some notes on things to improve, but I was stoked with this result and remained 2nd in GC for the series.

Huffmaster Hopper
30-39
Sat Feb 24

Stuart Watson • 13th of 53
Huffmaster Hopper30-39

Date: Sat, Feb 24, 2024
Teammates: None

Course:

90mi, 3500’ elevation

Summary:

Was pretty happy with my result at the previous Hopper (6th out of 100) - was hoping for something similar in this race, but had been battling some illness and new job stress coming the race, so was trying to focus on being as efficient as possible.

After about 30 miles of road and modest gravel riding, the first selective feature is a 2.5mi climb. I didn't have the top end to stay with the leaders in the group, but kept motoring at/above my own FTP. Dropped plenty of riders, skipped the aid station after the descent and just kept motoring on the dirt between the final two climbs.

Ended up jumping on the wheel of the 3 leaders from the 40+ and 50+ groups, so kept a good average pace up. Eventually was caught by a large chasing group, but was able to shed most of them on the final Huffmaster climb and its technical descent. Ended up working with the TRT crowd from the 40+ and 50+ groups, who were furiously chasing their leaders up the road.

On the final 5mi of dirt, I was able to attack and drop the rest of the group (with 2 riders in my field). Didn't end up reconnecting with what were the 13 from my field up the road, but happy enough with the result, given my fitness level. I should be in a good position for the overall standing with two stages in the series to go.

Cherry Pie Crit
Cat 4/5
Mon Feb 19

Mark Patzer • 🥉 3rd of 22
Cherry Pie CritCat 4/5

Date: Mon, Feb 19, 2024
Teammates: Michael Sianturi (12th)

Course: Parking Lot Loop

Plan:

Stay in the top 10 and go with the break if any.

Weather:

Light rain, Strong wind gusts, Wet/worn pavement

Recap:

This was my first race ever. The technical nature of the course was only compounded by the weather. Going into it the plan was to stay with the top 10 to avoid any chaos out the back and not get yo-yo’ed by surges taking place in the front. The first corner proved that plan was my best bet as two people crashed out.

There were only two good straightaways on the course and both were areas where the front group would surge and I just held onto the wheel of the last guy in the group. That proved to be a mistake because the kid who took first went for a solo breakaway and stuck it. I couldn’t see when he went and would have gone with him. If anything I learned that being too conservative can cost you. On the last lap I still had a lot of strength and didn’t throw my sprint hard enough because I thought I was alone which caused me to lose by half a wheel. Live and learn on that front and ready for the next race!

Pine Flat RR
Master 35+ Cat 3/4
Sun Feb 18

Paul Silvis • 5th of 21
Pine Flat RRMaster 35+ Cat 3/4

Date: Sun, Feb 18, 2024
Teammates: Larry Tiglao (13th)

Course:

Rolling hills with one long climb and a short steep climb to the finish

Plan:

Stay with the front few guys on the main long climb & attack on the steep finish

Weather:

Really nice day with moderate winds

Recap:

This course favors me, but I've been recovering from something this week so I had no idea what to expect. The first half of the race was pretty timid. Florian Schneider made a few moves off the front to see if he could roll away early as he did for the win last year, but we made sure to keep him in sight. Paul Levy, who would eventually win, went off the front and was trading pulls with another rider. The group didn't seem motivated to chase, but it concerned me since we were approaching the main climb. I decided to attack to motivate the group, and I sat up once they caught me. It worked for bringing Paul back, but in hindsight it wasn't the best timing as I put Larry under pressure on the front.The group fractured pretty quickly on the main climb as expected. I was feeling pretty weak and I let a gap open, but fortunately I was able to close it down with one other help from Michele Lisi. Our group of 7 traded pulls & came in to the last climb together. Paul Levy attacked I just didn't have the legs to follow. I sprinted for 4th at the line and lost it by inches. Looking back, I could have had fresher legs if I was more patient to let a few others chase down attacks. Lots of mistakes on this one, and mediocre fitness but I'll take the wide angle podium and a hard-earned $2 bill

Cantua Creek RR
Master 35+ Cat 3/4
Sat Feb 17

Tim Snyder • 🥈 2nd of 27
Cantua Creek RRMaster 35+ Cat 3/4

Date: Sat, Feb 17, 2024
Teammates: Ben Yee (5th)

Course:

Out and back with a rolling uphill finish

Plan:

Look for or initiate a break before the final stretch back, otherwise attack the final climb.

Weather:

Relatively calm first lap. Headwind on the way back for the second lap.

Recap:

After racing this field last year, it seemed like breaks happened more often than not and the field would sit up after 20-25 minutes if it wasn't caught. The plan going into this was to try to get into a break with more than 30 minutes left to race. If that didn't occur, then I'd rest to attack the climb but I didn't want it to come to that as there were several sprinters, some strong riders from last year, and the unknown fitness factor this early in the season. The people I had an eye out for were Florian, Eric, and Glen. Florian I knew could stick in a break and Eric had strong results last year. Glen took BHRR last year through... less than kosher tactics.

Straight out the gate, people started attacking so I stayed up front covering moves. I probably covered more of these than I needed to and possibly to my detriment as nothing was ever serious. Ben stayed rested in the pack. Things settled in by the first turnaround and the group eventually chilled out into a slower pace.

Around the middle on the way back for the second lap, we ended up neutralized and I was itching to get something to happen. Once we were cleared, I rolled back up to the front and eventually did a mini sprint to see if anyone would come with. One guy in a pink jersey grabbed my wheel but he wasn't interested and we both rolled back. Again, I kind of just upped the pace to tempo and rolled off the front not committing to anything and watching my heart rate. The pack actually chased this time and brought me back. This was when Eric made a serious looking counter attack and I grabbed his wheel. We pretty quickly separated and he looked committed so I prepared for the long haul.

After 6-7 minutes, we hit the turnaround and I could see that we had about 12-15 seconds on the peloton. Knowing that this was our move, I dug in with some hard pulls in hopes that the chase would give up. The marshal eventually told us we had 20 seconds which grew to over 40 seconds and I knew we had it.

Unfortunately, around that time my hip flexor started cramping so I mentioned to Eric that I needed to take shorter pulls. With 1km to go, my leg seized up and I couldn't pedal anymore. I let Eric go, massaged my leg, and was able to keep a sub threshold pace which prevented more cramping. I rolled in for an uneventful second place finish.

I'm excited that the plan worked though slightly bummed I didn't get to contest the finish. Huge props to Ben on the field sprint. What a great start to the season!

Ben Yee • 5th of 27
Cantua Creek RRMaster 35+ Cat 3/4

Date: Sat, Feb 17, 2024
Teammates: Tim Snyder (🥈 2nd)

Course:

For our category, the course consisted of two out-and-back laps along a two-lane road with good to excellent pavement. The section of road is mostly straight and flat with some rolling hills near the start/finish. The finish is slightly uphill with a ~2-3% gradient.

Nutrition:

Two 21oz bottles with Skratch Superfuel, ended up only drinking 1.25 bottles, temps were low and intensity really didn’t hit until 3/4th of the way into the race. Took in a one gel as well per hour.

Weather:

  • Headwind: 46% @ 5.3-7.3mph

  • Longest Headwind: 28m 41s

  • Air Speed: 23.7mph

  • Temp: 54.3-54.4°F

  • Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr

Recap:

The field was 27 deep with a bunch of strong cat 3s and only a few teams with 2 riders. The plan was to watch for breaks and go with them if they looked promising.The race started pretty quick off the line, but then settled in with a few mini attacks that were quickly covered for the first out and back. This was my first time racing this course so I was playing things pretty conservatively by staying mid pack as much as possible. Due to the course setup, we had to be neutralized twice through the whole race to let other categories pass by.Tim was pushing up front quite often, looking to go with any break attempts. Once we were released from our second motorbike neutralization, a break started to form, I figured it would be brought back so I just followed mid pack as I was doing all race… I didn’t notice until later that it was Tim up there and he was able to get away along with an Alto Velo rider. At this point, only a 6-8 riders were trying to get organized to take pulls to catch up, which I had to go with just to stay near the front, but it only lasted for ~10 minutes after the U turn.  I just sat in at that point until we got to the finishing climb.With 1k to go there were 8 in the bunch and I started my push, passing 4 by 500m to go and then passing another 2 in the final 200m sprint uphill to take 5th. Not so bad for a season opener, will try for a break away next time around!

Cal Aggie Crit
Master 35+ Cat 1/2/3
Sat Jan 27

Gabe P • 🥈 2nd of 26
Cal Aggie CritMaster 35+ Cat 1/2/3

Date: Sat, Jan 27, 2024
Teammates: Marcus Beltramo (7th)

Event: Cal Aggie Crit 35+123 (combined with 50+123)

Result: 2/24 (3/60, overall)

Weather: No wind or sun, not cold; minimal wind

Course: Mostly non-technical, except for one chicane

Plan: Cover moves, especially Mark Tucker

What happened: Velo Kings repeatedly attacked starting lap one. Mark exchanged going off the front with his VK teammates. Marcus and I took turns covering. We did a good job marking each move, but none turned into anything. The speed was high and the field was large enough that the break was quickly brought back each time. The race was only 40 minutes so around halfway through Marcus advised we quit patrolling the front and begin to position for finale. With a handful of laps to go, Marcus helped move me up. I mostly kept towards the front for the last few laps, and did my best to follow Mark’s wheel whenever possible. On the second to last lap, Mark shot to the front going into final turn and mostly held position at the front for the next lap. By this point I was in top 10ish, so I was fine if he wanted to be at front. I figured others would cover any attack he made. The rider order stayed mostly the same going into chicane, but on the back side before the final pinch, the rider following Mark lost his wheel after an acceleration, and no one else responded to close the widening gap. This allowed Mark to get a good lead going into pinch. I was still 5 to 10th at this point. But seeing that no one was seriously chasing Mark, I made my move and overtook folks going into final pinch. I was forced to open up earlier than I had hoped and wasn’t sure what the gap was behind me as I tried to catch Mark in final drag. I couldn’t quite close it. Right on the line, Dave Koesel came around me. As for learnings, I should have spent more energy to stay closer to Mark’s wheel in the last lap. My sense was that folks would have been able to stay with him in the final five hundred meters, but guess not. If I had been number 4 or 5 going into chicane, I think I would have had a better shot of covering his move. Solid opening race! No podium pics because race organizers used tiny numbers, which caused havoc on timely scoring of race.

Low Gap
19-29
Sat Jan 27

Zach Cutburth • 🥈 2nd of 42
Low Gap19-29

Date: Sat, Jan 27, 2024
Teammates: Myles McGinley (DNP?)

Course:

46mi, 6100’ elevation, a climbers dream

Plan:

Low Gap was my first race ever back in 2023, and I planned not only to do better than last time but also to get up onto the podium.

Summary:

There was a neutral rollout that quickly ended up being an all-out sprint as the Ukiah police escort decided 25mph would be the right lead-out pace. I was pushing the pace and trying to find people with a good idea who were strong and sticking to their wheel. As we approached the first climb, which is roughly 1600’ at 8% grade, my goal was to finish in the 23-25 minute time frame. I crested the top at 23 minutes and set a new PR for power. There was little room for rest as the next climb was coming up within less than 1 minute. The next climb was a 6-minute effort at a similar gradient, and by that point, I was in an established group of seven riders. Descending into the valley is always a wild time with tight switchbacks and slick roads. The valley is where you can make or break the rest of the ride, as people love hammering this section. I was able to ride this section while staying in zone 2, which brought my heart rate down tremendously as I gathered myself for the next big climb of 1400’ and a 6% grade. Right before the first aid station and first sector of gravel, Myles and I attacked the group of seven and established a big gap, bringing only one other rider, which was great for splitting the group up. Getting through this climb was great, and at this point, my nutrition plan and power plan were working, as I had little fatigue and no cramps at all. Approaching the last climb of 1400’ and 8.5% grade, I knew with how I was feeling if I could just push myself to stay at threshold, it would give me a good shot of solidifying my spot and not getting caught by the group behind. As I got to the top of the last climb, I had just enough water/mix to make the decision to skip that last aid station and power home. It was a ripper averaging 30mph+ for most of the descent, and I pushed it to a point not to let up until I crossed the finish line. I finished the race in 2:58 and secured 2nd in the 19-29 group, which was an incredible feeling as it gave me a gauge of where I stand in my age and with some of the legends around the area. There is still so much to improve on, but I am excited to start the season with a bang.

Low Gap
30-39
Sat Jan 27

Stuart Watson • 5th of 96
Low Gap30-39

Date: Sat, Jan 27, 2024
Teammates: None

Course: 46mi, 6100’ elevation

Result: 6/99 (30-39 age group), 3:06 time.

Summary:

This course is defined by two pretty large sustained climbs, the first one paved, the second one on private forest roads. I'm not super competitive on major sustained climbs in races, so tried to just keep it between Z3/threshold for the first climb (these races aren't often won or lost quite as much on these kinds of selections as road races), but was pretty disappointed by how many places I was giving up by the top. Collected a group of us that grew and grew on the descent, then the start of the off-road section, ultimately dropping the slower riders in group and picking up some stronger riders ahead.By the time we started up the off-road climb, tons of people were popping and I was catching and dropping a lot of riders who paced- or ate poorly. The dirt descent was wild - at least 1/3 of it was like a straight up Belgian cross course and tires were slicing through the recently packed waterbars. Kept the rubber-side down all race, no mechanicals, ate well, and eventually caught and dropped a couple more guys on the way to the line.