Zachary Hilton
Chico Stage Race #1 Paskensa Hills Road Race
Category 35+ 3/4's
Chico Stage Race #1 Paskensa Hills Road Race
Category 35+ 3/4's
Corning, CA
Place: 26
Field: 40
Teammates: None
Place: 26
Field: 40
Teammates: None
Weather: 49 cloudy, cold
Start Time: 08:15:00
Start Time: 08:15:00
Total Time: 01:58:00
Power: 246 W avg, 738 W max, 228 W NP
Power: 246 W avg, 738 W max, 228 W NP
Average Speed: 22.1 MPH, Top Speed 37.5 MPH
Average HR: 168 Max HR: 185
Elevation Ascent: 1,283
Elevation Ascent: 1,283
I'm riding a 2015 Specialized S-Works Tarmac with Ultegra 6800 53/39 11 speed group set with an 11/28 for this race. I have a pair for Race Rim Alloy 31's that are perfect for this race. I am running 25mm Open Pave tires for this race in the gravel. I follow Hammer Nutrition's Steve Born on many pre-race strategies. Since this race started so early I started the morning off by sleeping in, coffee, and some hammer gels during the warm-up. I packed two more Hammer gels, a Hammer Bar Oatmeal Apple, and one Race Cap Supreme to eat at the two hour mark with my bar. The Hammer Gels were used at the start, and at 01:30:00.
My goals for this race is stay with the pack until the finish. We are a combined 35+ 3/4 group. Be smart and continue to learn how to read the race. This course is fast, and positioning is key. Something else that's key is making sure your bike is mechanically sound. That means all cages and bolts secured. Some of the stretches in this road will test it all! There is not a lot of long climbs in this race, so I am going to need to always find a wheel and keep moving forward in the pack. The gravel section is always the place where we separate. That will come at mile 11. I'm racing solo this year.
I got a 30 minutes warm up on the rollers and felt good. We arrived yesterday so I got a good nights sleep in a hotel room. Buckhorn Recreation is a 1 hour drive away from Chico area. Beautiful rolling valley with cattle, buffalo, and open space. The course features some rough sections at mile 4, gravel around mile 11 with some brutal pavement just prior to that. The gravel will last for around 4 miles and has some small rollers, and bigger rollers.
We started the race off neutral until we all got to the main road. We had 40 in our group. Pen Velo was the biggest team with 9, then Berkeley Bike Club, and Victory Velo. In our group were some strong 3's and 4's. Pen Velo has someone that finished 4th last year and BBC along with Victory Velo has some top 10's in Snelling RR. Lot's of chatter in the group about when the gravel was coming! The center line is enforced throughout the race. There is some wiggle room on that during the gravel....actually all bets are off as you approach the gravel. We used the entire road. Two riders had flats during the first 4 miles. SAG is right behind us but they usually don't catch back on and use the cars in my group. I stayed in the top 10 until we reach the section before the gravel when everyone from behind saw the ref moto speed ahead into the gravel. He would pick up the lead group later. The whole road was being swarmed by racers! Bottles and road pieces were flying all over the place right before we reached the gravel. It was hard to find a good line and wheel to follow at this point. I dropped back to maybe 15th on the right turn into the gravel. Next year I need to be up front! Note to self. The gravel feels like you are surfing on water. I look up and see the back wheel of many racers just swishing back and forth as we push up the first roller. I find a wheel and drill it hard. We were using the whole road. It's hard to describe what happened in the next 4 miles. Basically we are all over the road and I'm constantly trying to ride the bike safely and aggressively at the same time. I'd find a line to stay with and then someone would slow it up. I'd then jump out into the car tire tracks and try to find another. The top 11 riders were still just smashing ahead. I couldn't stay on their wheels any longer as we reach the biggest climb of the gravel. I slowly drifted back with a few others. We were over half way through the gravel and this is the farthest I've stayed with the lead pack in the gravel. I'm hoping others will get popped off and we can regroup as we return to some good roads. I finish the gravel section 2 minutes behind the leaders. I had 4 others around me and we started to work together well. We caught 8 other riders and formed a great working group of 12! We had 26 more miles to reach the finish and you couldn't tell any of us that we weren't going to catch the leaders! The pace line was tamable for me. I was taking on some extra hard pulls with a few that wouldn't let up after they pulled to the right. That was annoying and I sat off some pulls to stay away from these two riders. No one attacked this group. We worked well together until we reached the right turn onto Black Butte Rd when a few attacked from behind and only 6 of us could follow it. I burned more matches trying to stay with these guys. At 3K to go I couldn't hold on any longer and just got into a great TT position and finished 2 minutes behind those guys. I'm 5 min off the leader. Tough race, but I felt awesome. Stoked to get all these PR's in this competitive group. Front group of 11 held together, second group of 7 was 2 minutes behind them, and my group of 12 reduced to 6 worked together until 3K togo. Sitting 26th after today. Two bottles of Hammer Heed was just right.
I got a 30 minutes warm up on the rollers and felt good. We arrived yesterday so I got a good nights sleep in a hotel room. Buckhorn Recreation is a 1 hour drive away from Chico area. Beautiful rolling valley with cattle, buffalo, and open space. The course features some rough sections at mile 4, gravel around mile 11 with some brutal pavement just prior to that. The gravel will last for around 4 miles and has some small rollers, and bigger rollers.
We started the race off neutral until we all got to the main road. We had 40 in our group. Pen Velo was the biggest team with 9, then Berkeley Bike Club, and Victory Velo. In our group were some strong 3's and 4's. Pen Velo has someone that finished 4th last year and BBC along with Victory Velo has some top 10's in Snelling RR. Lot's of chatter in the group about when the gravel was coming! The center line is enforced throughout the race. There is some wiggle room on that during the gravel....actually all bets are off as you approach the gravel. We used the entire road. Two riders had flats during the first 4 miles. SAG is right behind us but they usually don't catch back on and use the cars in my group. I stayed in the top 10 until we reach the section before the gravel when everyone from behind saw the ref moto speed ahead into the gravel. He would pick up the lead group later. The whole road was being swarmed by racers! Bottles and road pieces were flying all over the place right before we reached the gravel. It was hard to find a good line and wheel to follow at this point. I dropped back to maybe 15th on the right turn into the gravel. Next year I need to be up front! Note to self. The gravel feels like you are surfing on water. I look up and see the back wheel of many racers just swishing back and forth as we push up the first roller. I find a wheel and drill it hard. We were using the whole road. It's hard to describe what happened in the next 4 miles. Basically we are all over the road and I'm constantly trying to ride the bike safely and aggressively at the same time. I'd find a line to stay with and then someone would slow it up. I'd then jump out into the car tire tracks and try to find another. The top 11 riders were still just smashing ahead. I couldn't stay on their wheels any longer as we reach the biggest climb of the gravel. I slowly drifted back with a few others. We were over half way through the gravel and this is the farthest I've stayed with the lead pack in the gravel. I'm hoping others will get popped off and we can regroup as we return to some good roads. I finish the gravel section 2 minutes behind the leaders. I had 4 others around me and we started to work together well. We caught 8 other riders and formed a great working group of 12! We had 26 more miles to reach the finish and you couldn't tell any of us that we weren't going to catch the leaders! The pace line was tamable for me. I was taking on some extra hard pulls with a few that wouldn't let up after they pulled to the right. That was annoying and I sat off some pulls to stay away from these two riders. No one attacked this group. We worked well together until we reached the right turn onto Black Butte Rd when a few attacked from behind and only 6 of us could follow it. I burned more matches trying to stay with these guys. At 3K to go I couldn't hold on any longer and just got into a great TT position and finished 2 minutes behind those guys. I'm 5 min off the leader. Tough race, but I felt awesome. Stoked to get all these PR's in this competitive group. Front group of 11 held together, second group of 7 was 2 minutes behind them, and my group of 12 reduced to 6 worked together until 3K togo. Sitting 26th after today. Two bottles of Hammer Heed was just right.
I learned a lot in this race. My overall power is higher than last years race. I also didn't taper down before this race. That is something new for me. I need to try hard to be up front as we get into the gravel next year. It's hard to get there but I really want to see what happens if I get there first and drift back if needed. Maybe an attack off the front before we get there? I'm also stoked that I had no mechanicals. The right wheels, tires, and nutrition was spot on!
Time to recover with Hammer Nutrition's Recoverite and get a good night sleep. Don't forget to recover during your sleep and take some Hammer Whey to boost that HGH. I've also added Hammer Nutrition's Chromate, and Super Antioxidant to the recovery mix. Both have great recovery ingredients! Heading to Sierra Nevada Brewery tonight!
Next race will be Chico Stage Race Crit in the morning!
Thanks for reading!
Thanks to Hammer Nutrition!
Thanks to SJBC Race Team!
