Zachary Hilton
Chico Stage Race #1 RR 35+ 3/4's
Chico, CA
Place: 25
Field: 39
Teammates: None
Weather: 59 little wind, no rain, sun
Start Time: 2:25 pm
Total Time: 02:01:00
Power: 205 W avg, 666 W max, 200 W NP
Average Speed: 21.19 MPH, Top Speed 42.41 MPH
Average HR: 171 Max HR: 190
Elevation Ascent: 1,578 ft
I'm riding a 2015
Specialized Tarmac with Ultegra 6800 11 speed group set with a
53/39 11/28 for this race. I am racing with my Mavic Kysrium SL's and Open Pave 25mm tires. I don't have a pair of carbon clinchers and there is a 4 mile dirt gravel road that we are crossing around mile 11. I arrived early and warmed up on the trainer for around 50 minutes. I carried two bottles of
Hammer Nutrition with me. No need for a feed this race. I am racing without teammates and Pen Velo has 7 guys. I do have some friends in my field though, that's always helpful!
The race started with a neutral roll out and center line rule was in effect throughout the race. We reached the feed zone which was used of the earlier races and the race was on. We went up and over a some rollers with no issues. The road was packed and no one could move around each other. I had to get up front before the gravel at mile 11. Around mile 4 we hit a rough patch of road and one rider blew a tire. Two other riders within a few minutes each had flat tires too group was quiet about spotting cars and potholes. I was sitting in the middle of the pack and the speed was tamable. Everyone was waiting to see what this gravel was going to look like. We were also getting some good wind gusts now. I was able to move up to around about a mile before the gravel. The road widened on the right and riders were taking advantage of this and a few of us moved up. In a combined 3/4 field there are huge variances of riders capabilities. I found two riders from Pen Velo that I race with and marked them as who I wanted to stay with. One was stronger than me and would allow me to honestly gauge my performance. Rolling up to the gravel with a sweeping right turn was the biggest unknown moment for me! We hit the gravel and I found a wheel and a good line to follow. I stayed on the right side, and away from the sides and corners. They were deep in gravel. From the cars that had passed through we some good areas to ride. We accelerated up the first hill, and I stayed seated. The feeling was that we were riding on water. You always feel like you are going to fall, but you don't. Keeping a good steady cadence and seated was the best move for me. Some were able to stand up and push it, but I wasn't ready for that yet.
We used the entire gravel road as we road through the rollers and turns. Around mile two we hit a small hill where I couldn't spin fast enough to stay with the front group and began to slip back. I wasn't alone either. The front group of around 20 was up the road and Pen Velo's James Rainbow came around me fast. I wasn't going to let him get far. On the last section there is a fast descent and as I came across the wash boarded ground I swear my bike was airborne and my back wheel was slipping. I thought I was going down and I tried to find a line to follow. I was leading us down this hill because I made it to the top first, and as I struggled to find a line I didn't care who was around me. We were finally free of the gravel and back on smooth road. We collected up some more riders and we now had 12 of us together. We still had 26 miles to go. This is point in the race where I wanted my carbon RaceRim wheels. Pen Velo had two including James Rainbow, and another team had two (their jerseys made it so has to know who they were, way to many sponsors and no team name stood out). The rest of us were solo. We all worked well in a pace line. Some weren't taking their turn up front and we all called them out on it. A big group like this won't drag anyone up to the front. Even Pen Velo who has guys up in the front group were working with us. We had no time checks and couldn't see the front group anymore. There was no giving up in this group however and in a stage race it's about time. There were a few unsuccessful attacks from my group. Just guys trying to test everyone. With three miles to go 3 guys went off the front when our pace line for some reason just stopped!!!! I was too far back and we let them go. Hoping that they wouldn't get too far away from us. We still had 9 in our field and we all collected again to work to catch. Each time however when one guy would get on the front he would slow down because his teammate was up the road. Me and two others agreed to attack and bridge to the group of 3. It was a hard effort that exhausted me. I kept my head down and never turned back. We each took 10 second pulls and caught the group. I turned around and we had a one minute lead. I was stoked that it worked and I was going to beat James. He's been a strong competitor and kudos to him! The finish is a series of uphill rollers that benefit me. I passed up two on the way to the finish. We had finished 5 minutes behind the leaders. I was actually stoked that we were five minutes back. I've been in other races that kicked my but and I would finish 10-12 minutes behind the leaders. No cramping and I had enough Hammer fluids and food. No mechanical too! I rolled back to the finish with James.
I used two bottles of
Hammer Heed , an Oatmeal/Apple Hammer Bar, Race Caps Supreme, and two Hammer gels. Tomorrow morning is the Crit in downtown Chico. I've never been able to compete in a Criterium without getting pulled. They are not my style of racing, but I'm here to advance my skills! Time to recover with Hammer Nutrition's Recoverite and get a good night sleep.
Thanks for reading!
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