Zachary Hilton
Placing: 61
Elite Cat 4’s (5 Laps)
Snelling, CA
2 Teammates
Field Size: 93
Weather: 57degrees
avg. Sunny. Wind not really a factor.
Start Time: 8:20am
Total Time: 3hr 06min
Average Speed: 20.1MPH,
Top Speed 35.4 MPH
Average HR: 158 Max HR: 185
Elevation Ascent: 2389
Ft.
It’s about a 2 hour drive
for me to get out to Snelling, CA. Well worth the drive however.
This is a great course, and lots of racers show up. It’s been my opening
season road race for the past 2 years. Last year I had a 12:20pm (35+5’s)
start and it was WINDY!! This time I opted for the E4’s with an 8:20am
start, and time for me to be at home in the afternoon with the family.
E4’s meant 1 extra lap, but I wanted to miles. Weather was perfect,
sunny, and winds not a factor during my race. I raced my Zip 404
Tubular’s and let a little air out of them than normal for the bumpy
sections. (Thanks Todd Manley for the tip!) The road was not as bad
as I remembered from last year, but definitely some rough areas. There
was a feed zone but I opted to just carry 2 large water bottles (Thanks Todd
Munk for that tip!) The feed zone with my group was way too packed
anyways, and there were several crashes just so some could try and grab a
bottle.
My goals were to stay
with the lead pack and finish in the pack. I didn't want to get
boxed in before any turn. Tried to stay up front as much as I could.
Last year I got popped off the back on lap2/4 on Los Cerritos Rd. I rode
lap 3 by myself, and then bailed out to the car.
This was my largest
group of riders in a race so far with 93. I lined up mid pack. I
only got a 15 minute warm up on the road. Race started off with a neutral
roll out to the course. Lots of stopping and going and bumping wheels but
no crashes on
the way out. Once the race started it was at a moderate pace for the
first lap. I stayed protected and never got boxed inside. I took a
little extra wind but this allowed me to move up prior to the turns.
After every turn there were huge accelerations. This shredded the field
apart each time. The lead guy would go through the turn maybe 7 seconds
before, but that acceleration after the turn would put the leaders so far up
the road. By lap 2 we had reduced the pack to 60-70. It was getting
harder to move up in the pack on the flat sections. I was able to move up
during the little climbs throughout the course. I think it was lap 3 when
we came through the feed zone and someone crashed into the ditch while trying
to get a bottle and a few went down. Lap 5 was when the pace started to
kick my butt. I was off the back when we turned onto Los Cerritos Rd for
the last time. I was with 3 other riders and we tried to latch back on
but couldn't. We could see a crash at around 1k to go and that
slowed things down a bit. We finished about a minute back from the pack.
All in all I
accomplished what I set out to do. No mechanical issues, plenty of
fluid, and training felt right where I want to be right now. I pushed
myself a lot harder and farther than I did last year at Snelling. This is
still the beginning of the season. I only got a 15 min warm up on
the road. Normally I try to get a 35-40 min. That extra warm up
might have worked to my advantage to be able to match that final acceleration
on Los Cerritos.
My next race is Sea
Otter April 19-20. I’ll
be doing the Circuit Race and Road Race 35+4’s.
Thanks for reading!
Thank to SJBC Racing and Concept
Cyclery in Morgan Hill!
