This year was the first time ever racing at the Berkeley Hills Road Race. The field wasn't too big but there were some really strong riders in it. The first lap was pretty calm with a couple attacks but no one got away from the peloton. After the 2nd climb on the first lap, the field was split in half with the lead group containing all of the strong riders. The second lap was full of attacks but nobody got away. I tried to stay on Alistair's wheel on the climbs because I figured he would attack. On the last climb up to the finish, Bjorn Fox attacked and passed another category that was in the race. I went with him and had to yell at the group in front of me to get out of the way. I caught up to Bjorn and passed him and I knew that I had to keep pedaling as hard as I could to the finish line if I wanted to win the race. It felt like claws were digging into my legs. With about 25 meters to go, I looked back and saw that I had a pretty big gap so I coasted across the finish line for the win and enough points to upgrade to Cat 3.
Since the Panoche Hills Road Race was very far away, my parents decided that it would be better to go down the day before. We drove the course and I noticed that the climbs were not hard enough to attack and get away from the peloton. The next day, we headed to the race. When I got out of the car, it was VERY HOT!!!! Before my race started, someone announced that it was already 100 degrees outside. During the race, I tried to set a good pace on the climbs to make everyone else suffer but that didn't seem to work. After the turn around and the descent, Andrew Lanier from Specialized attacked and got away from the lead group. He had a pretty decent gap. With about 5 miles to go, we caught him and everyone stayed together for the finish. I got myself into a good position for the sprint. At 300 meters to go, the sprint began. I finished 3rd which wasn't too bad since I am not a sprinter.
- Putah Creek Wednesday Night TT
I wanted to try out my awesome Felt B12 TT rig before I did a real race with it. The course was 5 miles out and back with a few corners. I was surprised at how many people showed up for the TT. I think there were over 100 people. I felt like I did a pretty good time trial. My time was 22:53 with an average speed of 26.22 mph.
I went down to San Jose for the Memorial Day Crit so I could try to get a few more points for the NCNCA Junior Points Series. Crits are not my favorite because I get nervous riding in a big pack and I am always worried that I am going to crash or something. I was on the very back of the peloton the whole race and towards the end, I tried to move up a little. I ended up finishing 7th in the 15-16's.
I thought that the Golden State Crit would be a good race to find out what Cat 3 races are like. It looked like there were about 40 people in the race. I got over my fear of riding in the pack. I noticed that the riders in Cat 3 races are a lot more aggressive. Some guys hopped the curbs so they could move up a few positions and they also took crazy lines through the corners. I ended up finishing 25th which I was happy with.
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