Date: March 9, 2002
Event: Monterey Circuit Race
Category: Senior 4/5
Time: ~1h22m
Laps: 12
Place: 3rd!
Field: 80+ racers

I will have to cut to the chase for this report.

I finished 3rd! :’)

Ok, now that I have that over with we can move back to how I ended up placing so well.

This was my first circuit race and I had no experience or knowledge of how to race the event. I gathered up feedback from friends and my coach. “Like a road race criterium” was the most common description. Well, that narrowed it down. I thought about tactics while on the drive down to Monterey. I decided to be passive-aggressive. I would ride without attacking or pulling (passive) but I would stay in the front of the pack and stick with any attacks (aggressive). Actually, this tactic would probably work for most races but I solidified it for this one.

The course is on the old Fort Ord military base. It’s fairly flat with only one steep but short uphill. The biggest factor turned out to be the wind. The good old coastal wind came pouring in by the time our race began. It was blowing over the course in a south to south-easterly direction. The race would drop to a crawl whenever we entered a headwind leg. But, the wind also was our best friend for the fast descent to the start-finish.

When it was almost time to start, I lined up on the front row intent on staying near the front from the beginning. Bang, we were off. And I was instantly 20 riders back! Ok, so the first couple laps are always bit speedy. I knew it was a long race and to I would work myself back into a position I was comfortable with.

As the race progressed there were small attacks here and there. The short steep uphill always turned into a sprint and hammer. I think I heard more chains dropped and gears mashed in that section than any other race I remember. And if someone dropped a chain, you wouldn’t believe the spit and vinegar coming from the mouths of those behind that rider.

Around the 45 minute mark I thought that maybe I might just have to hang on for this race. I didn’t feel that strong. I started thinking stupid negative thoughts. One positive motivation was my Sycip teammate Stephen. He was riding strong and staying right at the front of the pack. I decided I would hang in so that I could do whatever possible to help him out when the time came.

My psyche kept playing games with me until we came around to start the second to last lap. All of the sudden I thought to myself, “I’ve been in this thing the whole time, don’t throw away all that effort now’. So I ran through the course in my head and where the important sections were. I thought about where to be for attacks, where to ride because of the wind, and where I wanted to be for the final lap. The previous 10 laps gave a lot of time to work these out. The pack was getting dicey during the second to last lap. The pace was quickening. Riders were making sketchy moves. The tension was building.

When we dropped down and through the start-finish for the final lap the pack was flying. The sound of 60 plus riders packed together and racing down a road at 30 plus m.p.h. is amazing. The crowd along the road was screaming. I hammered along the left side and moved up towards the front. We buzzed up and around the right hand turn at the end of the stretch and then around the next right hander and into the wind. The pack came to a crawl. Nobody wanted to work on this section. But everyone was watching and waiting for an attack.

It soon came, along the left side, a short distance before the left hand turn at the end. I jumped over and on. The pack joined in. The small hill, descent, and next hill brought the pack together again. We turned right at the top of the hill and headed into the next windy leg. Again, nobody wanted to work so we crawled along. But the pace was a bit faster. I kept fighting the desire to jump. I had to tell myself over and over to draft and wait.

So I waited, rolling along the left side and out of the wind. We were approaching the right hand turn to the descent before the steep short uphill. I knew I had to be at the front for that hill. The pack surged forward and I moved outside and left and moved to the front. I spun hard around the corner and began the descent with only a few riders ahead. The hill quickly approaching, I planned out me line.
I had been trying different gears for this hill the whole race. I found that using my big ring into it and then shifting to my small ring before losing cadence was the best. I hit that hill pedaling hard in my big ring, shooting inside and then up the face. Midway I quickly shifted to the small ring and spun those pedals like a Cuisenart on high. Other riders that stayed in their big rings would catch up and pass me at first. But by the top they were behind me, still mashing their big ring or had lost too much cadence from shifting too late. I was around 8th as I crested the top.

It was now all downhill! A quick hairpin right and then the fast tailwind descent to the finish. We carved around the turn and sprinted out of the corner. The lead group of riders settled into tucks and bombed down the hill. I also tucked and stopped pedaling. I found I could easily stay up and sometimes pass riders here without pedaling. So I did and conserved my energy.

I kept my eyes out for other riders trying to surge to the front. But the pack was strung out and it wasn’t going to bunch up. The bottom of the descent was coming up really fast. Then we would hit the 300 yard stretch to the finish. I moved myself farther forward and to the left side. Everyone was getting ready to hammer.

With a blast we dropped onto the final stretch. Everyone is now pedaling, hammering, but not yet sprinting all out. The finish looks a mile away. It was too soon to jump. I’m looking for a good position. Staying tight on a wheel. Then the jump happens. A rider just ahead jumps! I react instantly and surge up and onto his wheel. We are off the front! I’m digging hard and hammering. I realize that there is nobody beside me. Only the one rider ahead! I glance up quickly to see where the finish line is. Oh crap it’s still 50 yards away. In sprinting units, that’s a mile away. My legs are beginning to burn. I’m in second place if I can hold this. Maybe I can catch the leader? Then I hear the sound of another bike, its wheels whirring away, coming up on my right side.

No! I’m not going to let that happen. I drop my head and dig in for all I’ve got. The bike is moving up closer and closer and the finish line is heading faster and faster towards us. In a blur I see the finish line and I lunge the bike forward and over the line.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

The race is over and I feel success! I turned my negative thoughts around and pulled out a great finish.

Afterwards, I check the results and find that I have been given third. Slightly surprised since I had thought I had beat the other rider by a hair. We laugh about how close it was and go over and check with the official. He says “Of all the people that would come over to question their result, you two are the most justified’. He goes on to say that it came down to a judgment call on his part. It was so close and because his camera doesn’t take enough photos per second, he had to call it one way or the other.

I am extremely happy with my finish. And, I had a great time circuit racing.

I would like to thank my Sycip teammates and my coach Harvey Nitz for their support and help.

Cheers!