2009 November 22, CCCX #5, Manzanita Park

CTL: 117
TSB: 11
The knee I hurt a few years ago while running started bothering me right away after I ran down the hill at yesterday's cross race, it turns out I am in a lot of luck because today's cross race course is one hundred percent rideable by mortals such as myself, there's one short steep, rooted hill that is doable if one has momentum so I will not have to subject myself to much running today. A bit of elevation change for a cross race but it's a long gentle slope up and down, up and down so laps will be long.

Decent size field for CCCX, I still get in back because the hill will sort things out. I see Surf City winner Josh and Justin ahead of me and work up to their wheels, which turns out to be seventh. Kind of surprise myself and am able to hang on to Justin's wheel, Josh leaves us behind on the grass section before the hill. The second time up the hill I have to bridge up to Justin and almost blow and spend a little too long on his wheel, should have tried passing earlier, but waited until he got a feed on the downhill and slowed a bit and passed just to avoid braking on the downhill, then I took one of the downhill hairpins too fast and crashed, and got back up and chased back on.

Was getting close enough to think about passing him back on the last lap when I crashed again at almost the same spot, doh. Left myself less than half a lap to catch back up so just tried to lay it all out there and caught one rider who passed me when I crashed and falling a bike length short of passing Justin at the line.

I must be much weaker at running/remounting/dismounting than everyone else, cause this and the first Surf City race with only one dismount are the only races I've been really competitive at this year. Need to work on those weaknesses more or just do the races with the minimum amount of running...

cccx5c from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

Decent normalized power for once in a cross race, still about 20% short of what I can do on an equivalent length climb.

T: 32:50
C: 86
S: 21.8
H: 183
Pavg: 198
Pnorm: 242

2009 November 21 - Cow Palace Cross

TSS: 5.4
CTL: 117
Finally come into a race a little rested, mostly because yesterday it was windy and the roads were wet.

Interesting course, finally get to ride in some local mud this season, little BMX style bumps seemed unnecessary outdoors. First lap there was a big traffic jam at the top of the descent so I just ran it but my knee was complaining about the one little stint of downhill running for the rest of the weekend.

Never really felt like I was racing after spending so much time on the first lap waiting for traffic to clear up on the descent, had trouble going hard for an extended period except while running up the stairs and riding the finish hill.

On subsequent laps I had a bit of trouble with the descent because I had gotten used to mounting and not clipping in and one really wanted to be clipped in with both feet on the descent, but at least managed to not crash. Went with 25 PSI in the rear which was great for traction, just felt like I flatted every lap, will go higher tomorrow.



Cleaned up a bit around the house and found ye old heart rate strap for the PowerTap so heart rate data for this race. Let's one measure something of what one is doing off the bike. Managed to go harder today than last race, though it didn't feel that hard, mostly due to the normalized power algorithm weighting 30+ second efforts so a few of those will pump up the normalized power.

T: 40:44
C: 81
H: 181
S: 15.8
Pavg: 139
Pnorm: 190

2009 November 14 Pilarcitos BASPS Cyclocross Sierra Point, 35+B

TSB:-7
CTL:117
Took a couple easy days prior to this race but still kind of negative on TSB from a long Wednesday ride. May try to shift into just moderate length days every day instead of a couple of super long days per week.

Short course on one large suburban block on the waterfront in Brisbane. A little bit of elevation gain thanks to creative of a few domes of earth about seven or eight feet high.

Did the 35+ B's this time because not really having fun in the back with a field size of 140 last race in the C's. Smaller field on a tight course, just made it easier for me to move backwards! Today I felt like I went out hard for half a lap and faded for the next 6.5 laps. Left a lot of room for improvement in a couple of corners, sometimes got too content to follow wheels instead of passing, also, noticed a lot of people accelerate much faster than me on the remount, stuff to work on for the next race.

The camera mount on the helmet has a little too much play, probably need to use the adhesive backing to keep it in one place - the motion makes this video carsickness inducing -


On the plus side, went a little harder than I did at the last cross race.
T: 38:01
S: 20.0
C: 86
Pavg: 160
Pnorm: 180

2009 November 1, Surf City #3, Watsonville C

CTL: 110
TSB: 7
guestimated numbers due to no data yesterday

I was so sore and stiff from Saturday's crash I would not have raced on Sunday had I not already preregistered. On the other hand some days you feel like crud but have an amazing day on the bike so who knows what's going to happen.

The course was changed up on Sunday, a little more running and technical with the short hill having a shorter, downhill off camber entry today and the short, steep ride/run up leading into it. Didn't feel better after a couple of laps scouting the course but it looked like fun and I was already here.

No call up today but managed to get in pretty much the same position on the start line. Justin from Godspeed crashed really hard on the little hill and was sprawled across the bottom - kind of disconcerting to say the least. Briefly considered stopping to check him out but then he moved his legs and said something so I kept going. Lost contact with the lead riders at that point, but would have happened anyways without the accident.

I did remember the video camera and it worked for the first half of the race:

First half of 2009 Surf City #3 Watsonville Cyclocross C race November 1 from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

The second half of the race I faded back, just unable to keep up the pace.

Thought I went hard the whole time, but it just felt really hard to me, or maybe the unmeasured part that was running was a lot harder on me than the cycling part, because I can do the Pnorm below for all day, not just 40 minutes.

Pavg:156
Pnorm:175
T:39:02
C:90
S:19.8kph

2009 October 31, Surf City #2, Watsonville, C Race

TSB: 6
CTL: 112

Every once in a while waiting at the starting line of a race, one can hear the pfssst sound of a deflating inner tube. Today it was my turn with Mike our race starter telling us we had one minute to go. Resigned myself to trying to convince the registration folks to let me change my race category to B when Mike Valencia and Steve DeLong both offered me a wheel. Since Matthew might need his rear spare during the race, I accepted Steve's wheel. We got the wheel changed in less than a minute and the C field graciously let me back into the start grid where I was on the second row. The winner of the Soquel race, Steve, and someone else took off through the finish area when I remembered I had a bike set up for nine speed with a ten speed rear wheel. I could only get it to stay in the 12, the middle one - 18?, and the 25. What seemed to work best for me with a flattish course with one set of barriers and some wide open straightaways was the 44/12. Managed to stay close to the front set of riders until I took a right hander on the hardpack through the horse stalls a little too fast and hit the ground really hard.

Most of the damage was to me and I was able to hop back on the bike and try to catch back up. It was sort of like racing on a single speed, but I would have chosen a smaller gear for a single speed race! Could not keep up the accelerations after a lap and managed a mid pack finish. Post race my legs were extremely sore from the big gear grinding and the crash.

A fun race in spite of the equipment trouble and crash.

No data since I wasn't using a Powertap rear, and no video because I didn't carry the camera, forgot to charge the batteries.

2009 October 25, Pilarcitos #2, Coyote Point, Category C

CTL: 116
TSB: -6
Sand will have to do until we get some mud or snow, making an angel

Racing with 135 other crossers really doesn't feel like racing. The main opportunities for passing came in the first minute and a half of uphill, and the rest of the course was very twisty and slightly rolling so not much separation happening, I think I only saw maybe twenty other riders the whole race, first when I passed them in the first 90 seconds and then when they all passed me back over the course of the rest of the race. I suppose I could race more aggressively and fight for position, but for me that would be kind of an overly serious tactic for a category C race when not a whole lot is at stake. Still could improve on the pacing on the flatter sections.

Touched the camera on the next to last lap to make sure it was pointed in the right direction and managed to turn it off...maybe the first ten minutes is interesting to see what one lap looked like.

2009 Pilarcitos Cyclocross #2 Coyote Point, BASPS October 25 C race from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

T: 41:40
S: 15.1
C: 83
D: 10.5 km
Pavg: 157
Pnorm: 199

2009 October 11, Surf City #1, Soquel High School

CTL: 115
TSB: -3
This week cut my Saturday pre-race ride down to fifty easy miles so let's see if it has any effect on the race.

I don't know why but today's race has a much smaller turnout of 30 versus the 100 plus at the Pilarcitos 2009 debut. It's a shame because the Soquel High School course could handle a much larger field with longer wide stretches and more passing opportunities.

Slot in on the second row of four instead of fifth row of ten. This makes a huge difference because one can actually go as hard as one wants to go instead of having to wait for the opportunity to move up and then have three guys fighting for one foot of trail.

Make it halfway through the first lap with the first group of five riders, which is kind of surreal for me since I don't think that's ever happened. The juniors that started thirty seconds behind us start passing us within three minutes! The elastic between me and the front group snaps at the end of the lap as Lee passes me and I can't hang onto the top six. I am able to maintain this position for the rest of the race. Lee unfortunately flats and has to DNF and another rider in front of me blows with two to go and I move up to fourth and stay there, with Dwayne starting to close the gap from just behind on the last set of hairpin turns but running out of course to catch me so I get fourth. I think that's the highest placing I've ever gotten in a cross race with more than four people.

T: 35:42
D: 11.2 km
S: 18.9
C: 75
Pavg: 178
Pnorm: 210

2009 October 4 Pilarcitos CX #1, McLaren Park

CTL: 115
TSB: -9
This time I bring a video camera, but brought the wrong memory card, no matter because finishing mid pack is probably not that interesting to watch.
Brought only the mountain bike this year after racing it last year on the cross bike and fully realizing the limits of my bike handling skills or lack thereof...
My preparation is similiar to a Morgan, Lee, and a few others, we all did Levi's Gran Fondo less than 24 hours earlier. Surprisingly this has no effect on my result - last year I ended up sprinting against Brian Brooks for our placing and we repeat it this year, with him reversing the order of last year, finishing a place ahead of me this time with me in 55th / 107.


T: 47:18
S: 17.0
D: 13.4 km
C: 78
Pavg: 158
Pnorm: 203

2009 September 27, CCCX #2, Fort Ord Day Camp

CTL: 113
TSB: 17

Have a good 90 seconds of racing when I am close to the lead racers at the start of the race



then the camera starts pointing down and my fortunes go with it as I crash and take a divot out of my leg. Am able to finish the race mid pack but have trouble walking for a week.


On the plus side I mostly survived my first 2009-2010 cross race, still need to work on pacing...

T: 39:13
D: 13.1 km
S: 20.2
C: 78
Pavg: 162
Pnorm: 197

2009 September 20, Chico Downtown Criterium

CTL: 114
TSB: 19

If I'm going to drive 200 miles, I'm going to stay an extra day to try a race I've never done before... It's a flat L, the course is different from prior years due to construction with a very short final straight so position in the last corner is pretty much everything. The main difficulty today is the heat, it's pretty oppressive after ten AM. Next time I need to bring an ice chest to sit in...

Was originally going to do the 4/5 and the 35+ 4/5 race, but my teammate Mark emailed me and asked if I was in Chico so I switched to the 3/4 and 35+ 3/4/5 races so I could race with someone, always more fun with someone you know.


Skipping the 4/5 race turns out to be a stroke of good fortune since half the field is crashed out and DNF's. This also delays the rest of the AM races and shortens our 3/4 race by fifteen minutes.

I am just going to try to help out where I can, Mark is already pretty good at positioning himself and sprinting so my primary help to him was probably over when I rented a hotel room!

The race is pretty hard from the gun and we drop quite a few folks, almost half the field. It's strung out for most of the race. There's a lull towards the end and I see Mark sitting around tenth instead of his usual fourth or fifth so I move up towards the front to up the pace a bit and he moves up to, it turns out the rest of the race will have no more lulls. In fact I am last in the pack at about 20th and we go so fast into the final turn I ease up because there's no point in sprinting and it's much faster than I would have considered going into it! But it's all worth it as Mark get's second, he said he entered the last turn in second and sort of boxed himself in against the rider in first and could not accelerate until it was too late.



T: 34:47
D: 24.8 km
S: 42.7
C: 92
Pavg: 202
Pnorm: 219



We have a long three or four hours until our second race. I probably spent too much time outside because I felt exhausted by the time we started. This race felt much harder than the first and Mark confirmed this but the data shows it as about the same or a little easier so the heat took a toll on both of us. Three riders escape mid race. I feel miserable and consider quitting but will soon find out what miserable is. Didn't realize the riders were off the front until it was too late.

We drop almost half the field in this race, too. Lap cards come out and I just hang on for dear life at the back of the pack. One disadvantage to being lower on the bike than most of the riders is that one's view is limited when a larger rider is directly in front of you. This lesson is served up when I have about one second of braking time when the rider in front of me swerves abruptly to avoid an accident and I brake hard but am unable to stop in time and hit Gino who has stopped for a rider who crashed in front of him. I guess that's what I get for making fun of people who run into the back of me at full speed...On the plus side this gives Gino a genuine reason to get a free lap since I can vouch for him. I am not too badly hurt, it does take four weeks for my elbow to fully heal, but I join Gino near the start finish for my free lap and we rejoin with six to go.

After a few laps we catch Todd Manley who was off the front in the break, leaving two others still off. I counter with three laps to go. At first I just accelerated to get to the front and up the pace but no one responded so instead of braking I just kept going, at least someone else would have to chase me and Mark would get a free ride. Unfortunately I only lasted two laps so the pack gobbled me up but Mark did great again in the finale and got third for his second podium on the day.




T: 40:45
D: 26.8 km
S: 39.4
C: 86
Pavg: 184
Pnorm: 209

2009 September 19, Henleyville Road Race, 35+ 4/5 A

CTL: 114
TSB: 26

Takes five hours to get to here if one leaves at 6PM on a Friday evening so next time leaving at either 4PM or 8PM to see if traffic is any better...

I am here to help others out so I just need to carry water bottles and offer my wheels up. Kind of fun to not have too much responsibility. The center line rule is somewhat strictly enforced, from what I remember, lots of people went over, but from the results only my teammates got relegated. Since the course is not very challenging and only three to four riders fit across a lane the pace is glacially slow even with sixty plus riders. At one point someone flats and I think it's our sprinter so I turn around and go back to help out but it's not so I have to turn back around make up a minute gap or so, and the pack is going so slow I am able to close it easily.

Based on what has happened in the first two laps, I think one will have to go to the front as early as possible since we only get to use the full width of the road with one kilometer to go. I start moving up when I heard someone say one kilometer to go. It turns out they were lying, so we had a lot farther to go but I end up at the front. Since I am not here for my own placing I bide my time near the front. When I can see we have about one kilometer to go I get a bit worried because none of my teammates are near me and I really don't want to lead anyone else out, so I start fading backwards to try and get close to a teammate. The field gets to about 500 meters to go and I am around 20th and still no teammates so I have to fall back on plan B and start getting position back and sprinting but only manage twelfth.

The race ended up being so easy I wished I had just lead the field out for the last lap to get a good work out...the normalized power for 2.5 hours ending up being lower than the typical flat criterium average power.

T: 2:30:20
D: 87.4 km
S: 34.8 km
Pavg: 129
Pnorm: 171

2009 September 13 Folsom Cyclebration Two Bridges Circuit Race

CTL: 119
TSB: 14

For the last race of the omnium the top riders get callups, and so does the lantern rouge - proof -

There will be a race within the race, the three omnium riders are just going to watch each other, and today's larger field will make today's race more interesting - a lot of these riders should be fresh from not having race the prior two days and there are a couple of interesting hairpin turns and a nice hill to boot.

I am lucky enough to have three teammates today. Very early in the race disaster strikes the lead omnium rider as he gets entangled in the fencing in one of the hairpins and has to quit. I take a look around the reduced field and realized the second place rider is nowhere to be seen so I tell my teammates to relax and we can go for the win instead of just placing me higher than the other two omnium riders.

Peter spends about 80% of the race off the front in a long breakaway. Sam is initially close to him but can't close the gap and comes back to the pack. One lap after Peter is off, the second place rider in the omnium Rich shows up! It turns out we dropped him early and he clawed his way back - at this point I was just drafting Josh and hanging onto the back of the pack - if I could have *and* known I would have worked to make the pack go faster! Try to communicate the new situation to Sam but after the race it turns out he didn't hear me but am still able to use Sam to move up towards the end of the race, and Anthony gives me helpful advice to save some energy.

Anyways, Rich and I spend the rest of the race watching each other, move up and back in tandem. Peter gets brought back with one to go. I position myself near the front on the hill near the second bridge and Peter has one last burst to take us to the front but this leaves the steep part of the hill and I tire a bit and get swarmed. Fortunately for me, Rich only makes it a couple of riders ahead of me by the bottom of the hill/hairpin and I am able to sprint past him and put several other riders between us on the finish straight to get seventh and win the overall for the omnium.

2009 September 13 Folsom Cyclebration Two Bridges Circuit Race, 35+ 4/5 B from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

T: 32:38
C: 100
S: 39.6
Pavg: 187
Pnorm: 224

2009 September 12 Folsom Cyclebration Challenge Criterium 35+ 4/5 B

CTL: 119
TSB: 20

It turns out that only three of us from the time trial are racing the criterium today. The other two riders got first and second in the time trial so I am about ten points behind. Half of the primes are for omnium points and the other half are for cash and prizes, and of course only the three of us planning on doing all three events are interested in the omnium points. I have a huge advantage literally and figuratively in that Peter shows up to do this crit and a later crit, we take turns leading each other out for primes, and Peter takes one solo and we end up winning all of them. The field is pretty small at twenty three so it's pretty easy to change position, I thought I had enough in me to lead out the last lap and a quarter (just to keep things reasonably safe) but only lasted a quarter lap, faded, then followed Anthony to move up a bit and thought I had beat the other two contenders for the omnium when I got pipped at the line by the first place finisher from yesterday for ninth and ended up tenth with the second place tt rider, Rich, finishing in eleventh. Oh well, I still made up ground on both riders to make things close



T:40:46
S:40.2
C:83
Pavg:196
Pnorm:261

2009 September 11 Folsom Cyclebration Time Trial

TSB: 20
CTL: 119

Wasn't trying to peak for this but feel sick on both Wednesday and Thursday and don't ride much, a little less fitness on race day but should be fresh but feeling like I have a cold or allergy attack. If I had not paid for the omnium and the hotel would definitely be staying home, but here goes...

Only my second time trial of the year, first was Madera where I was feeling kind of sick and was, and today, where I feel a little under the weather again.

The course is on a widish bike path, with three small overpasses and the overpass turnaround as the main difficulties.

I shouldn't expect much, was aiming to at least get close to my 20 minute power for the whole event, taking into account racing adrenaline. Manage to do this for the outbound leg and totally blow up on the inbound leg. On the way back I can barely open my mouth because of the heat and lack of moisture, at one point it gets so dried out it's stuck close.

At least I know how I can make myself look like Tyrone Biggums.

T: 25:17
S: 39.5
C: 83
Pavg: 261
Pnorm: 265
Postive split the course with power, not a good sign since there was a slight headwind on the way back for the earlier riders.

Outbound:
Pavg: 276

Inbound:
Pavg: 246

2009 Sept 7 Giro di San Francisco

CTL: 120
TSB: 1
Strictly by the numbers I should be in great shape for this race but I feel pretty sick. But I preregistered so off to the city I go.

Or I should say I thought I preregistered. When I get home, the race registrations for today's crits are still in my shopping cart from three months ago...

Show up and get the last open spot in the 35+ 4/5 race and waitlist myself for the E4 race. The race is pretty easy so I wait for the last couple of laps to move up. While I am passing one rider, he accelerates, and when he moves to the inside on a turn I make the mistake of drafting too closely and not anticipating his next move which is to swerve out of the apex, from watching the video he boxed himself in a small area next to the curb and when he swerved out I got pushed to the outside and slowed and this was enough change for the rider behind me to run right into me. I still think I could have done well except at this point I was dragging a riderless bike behind me in my rear wheel. Pretty frustrating, sick and still in it till one and a half laps to go. Oh well.




T: 40:46
S: 40.3
C: 100
Pavg: 180
Pnorm: 216




Wait patiently at registration area for the waiting list to get called up and I don't have high hopes as I am 17th. But I get the last number! This gives me about two minutes to warmup, or in reality, about quarter of the race. There is a big crash halfway through, I bridge solo from behind the crash. This turns out to be a waste since they are unsure about when they can get the injured riders off the course, our race is stopped and restarted. Two riders off the front before the crash get a little bit bigger lead, but no matter, probably wouldn't have changed things much. With two laps to go help move Jay up a bit from the back but maybe a little too early? Anyways we are top ten going into the next to last corner when there is another accident in the middle of the corner, I touch the brakes and start sliding right towards the riders, should have just aimed for the hole shot, and have to slow considerably to avoid becoming a crash victim. At least I got close to finishing.



T: 43:05
S: 40.3
C: 99
Pavg: 183
Pnorm: 228

2009 Sept 4 Hellyer Friday Night Race

TSB: 17
CTL: 122

I should feel pretty good according to the numbers but I think I am getting a cold or allergies are acting up because when we start racing, can't do anything except sit in and wait for the finales, and totally blow during the last race.
3/4 Scratch Race

2009 sept 4 hellyer 34 points race front view from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

2009 sept 4 hellyer 34 points race front view from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

T: 10:33
S: 41.8 kph
Pavg: 254
Pnorm: 311
C: 98


Do five laps of the P123 scratch race for fun.
T: 2:00
Pavg: 289
C: 107
S: 46

3/4 Points race

Sept 4 2009 Hellyer Friday Night 34 Points race rear view from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

2009 sept 4 hellyer 34 points race front view from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

T: 12:56
S: 41.5
C: 97
Pavg: 257
Pnorm: 291

Do five laps of the P123 points race for fun.
T: 2:36
Pavg: 259
S: 42.4
C: 98

Miss and Out

2009 sept 4 hellyer 34 points race front view from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

T: 2:44
Pavg: 334
C: 93
S: 39.6

2009 August 30 Vacaville Gran Prix 35+ 4/5

CTL: 125
TSB: -2

Feel decent after a long day in the sun yesterday at Winters, but takes a long time to get comfortable. Two riders get off early. I lost track of them so I asked around and people said they got caught so I didn't worry. Huge mistake. Late in the race I could hear the announcer talking about their lead. Racing for third at this point, and the teammates of one of the riders are sitting on the front dutifully doing tempo so I start trying to up the pace, too little too late. At least keep it safer than it was, saved too much at the end on the hill, should have surged again once I caught the leaders of the pack, instead got swarmed on the descent, ended up tenth in field sprint.

2009 Vacaville Gran Prix 35+ 4/5 from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

T: 45:23
S: 38.4
C: 101
Pavg: 187
Pnorm: 234
D: 29.1 km

2009 August 29 Winters Road Race 30+

TSB: 11
CTL: 124

My role is to attack and see if anything sticks, carry bottles for others, and regroup after the hill. When we signed up there were only twenty in the field and half were teammates but at the start the field is full with the addition of some representation from Safeway/Morgan Stanley and many others so someone who does well today will earn their t-shirt.

Peter goes off first, and gets such a big gap, no one even bothers to nibble. So when Josh goes and comes back, I surge multiple times and take a few riders with me, but nothing sticks. Then we hit the rollers and I just hang on for the ride. Pick up a fourth, neutral bottle in the feedzone from Lei but then hand it back to him because my pockets are full. The only difficulty on the course is the one constant grade on the final hill and when a few teammates are off the pace I wait for them and we start time trialing on the flat section. Unfortunately one is having wheel hit his brake pad so he has to give up after about 30 minutes, right when our field comes into view. For the next section I trade pulls with Lei and another rider until we get within 200 meters and I can't keep up. Lei gets almost to the group at the feedzone when he flats, and the rider he was with flats as well. Then I catch Jay who is working on his second flat. There is a very bad pattern starting here...

Luckily Mark's SO Amy volunteers to hand up water in the feed zone, on the second (and third laps for the really hard men), it's really nice to have something cold.

At this point there is no chance for me to catch up and help anybody so I give my fourth still full bottle to Jon after the hill so someone finishing the third lap will have some liquids, and roll to the finish where I catch Mark who gave up his wheel to Roger who flatted. Roger finishes the day in style by winning the field sprint for second.

T: 2:19:58
S: 30.2
D: 70.7 km
C: 84
Pavg: 149
Pnorm: 183

2009 August 22 - San Ardo Road Race 35+ 4 A

TSS: 5
CTL: 122

Come into this race with a lot of pressure, lots of folks know I won this last year so I am not counting on the same tactics working. Many teammates this year, too. Not as big a team presence as in the past so I think this works against us, folks race pretty negatively overall, and we finish about five minutes slower than last year when I attacked like mad in the first half and got dropped in the second half.

As the race progresses, start to lose more and more teammates to flats and mechanicals, but we still manage a good leadout to control the pace for the last few miles. We get to the bridge that is a minor choke point and we get swarmed a little but I think I should have been more patient, and not gone with the early moves - maybe too many people watched my video of last year and were going to try to imitate it. One of the riders I am watching is Michael, who has had a great 2009 season, and when he jumps I respond immediately. Erik S. and Mike S. are there, too.

Surprisingly to me and Michael, he fades after about twenty seconds and when we catch him, Mike S. and Erik S. go again. We have not yet even gotten to the underpass, and this is really not where I want to go, but I don't want to give up without a fight. In retrospect I should have let someone else chase them down. But I surge again. Mike S. fades. I crawl back onto Erik's wheel, then before we reach the corner, he surges, and I have trouble getting on his wheel. In the back of my head I am thinking, wow, Erik is going to win. But as soon as we reach the corner, riders start passing me until finally it's me and Erik staggering across the line for tenth and eleventh place. This is disappointing for me because I feel like I let my teammates down.

2009 San Ardo Road Race 35+ 4A finish from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

T: 3:09:12
S: 35.7
C: 92
D: 112.8 km
Pavg: 128
Pnorm: 182

August 15 Dunnigan Hills Road Race 35+4/5 A

CTL: 121
TSB: 8.5

Today I am to just relax and sit in and come out to play at the end. It's helpful to have the teammates to make that easy! Many attacks go repeatedly in the gently rolling hills until finally one sticks with a teammate, which takes off a lot of performance pressure because he is guaranteed a podium spot for finishing.

Now all I have to do is wait for the end game. Still seven Davis riders in what is left of the pack and they hammer on the rollers before the final flat sections. It's fun going this fast, though I should have taken it easier and not followed each acceleration so closely, and just let gravity do most of the work. The final straightway doesn't got exactly as planned, got a lot of help, but used up the leadout too early. Then I misjudged the distance to the finish from the final corner. Entered the turn in fourth position, got passed by one rider, then the two riders directly in front of me were so big I did not notice the gap had gotten quite large to the other two riders. This would not have been a problem except for the fact that the final straight of 200+ meters was up an overpass and down, and I noticed this on the downhill and my advantage against these much larger riders was behind me on the uphill... Salvaged what I could and got third in the field sprint. The last overpass is so close to the finish line I should have just gone with every single attack at that point, hesitated and relied on using the draft too much. Also, with a 50 front chain ring need an 11 for the 40+mph downhill sprint since I don't practice sprints over 120 rpm.

The last fifteen minutes of the race -

2009 Dunnigan Hills Road Race 35+ 4/5 A, main field finish from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

T: 2:01:18
D: 68.4 km
S: 33.8 kph
C: 93
Pavg: 154
Pnorm: 196

2009 Patterson Pass Road Race 35+ 4/5 A

CTL: 122
TSB: 1

My third time doing this race, and got better results each time, hoping for a charm the third time, too.


Just was not to be, made a lot of mistakes. First off, conditions were harder for me than in past years, and I needed to bring a lot more hydration and neglected this during the race, might have gotten dehydrated while staging. Next, went with the surges up Patterson Pass. That was probably the silliest because the leaders went over the top in about the same time as they have the past two years when I was with the group. This time I got popped off with about one or two kilometers to go. When I got dropped and could see the pack of twenty five up the road, resolved to catch on or blow, and settled into a rhythm, concentrating intently on the white line. A little too intently as I didn't look far up the road and when the white painted line turned into a four inch curb I veered off into the deep gravel on the right. The smart thing to do at this point would have been to stop and just get back on the road but of course, I didn't do this, I tried to bunny hop from the gravel, over the curb, back into the road and I didn't clear it and took a tumble at five miles per hour. Doh. Duanefrom VC Monterey kindly asked if I was OK, mostly just embarrassed and set to work with Duane and another rider to try and catch folks after the descent.

Then, after we caught one rider, I felt a thump, thump for a short time from my front tire, almost stopped but when my tire stayed inflated I kept going. Then I could have sworn the same thing happened on the rear.

Did not put two and two together at this point, but my legs started feeling like lead going through the parking area and almost quit but I was only a few minutes back after one lap.

Then I totally blew the second time up Patterson and could not even hold tempo the rest of the race. By Midway I could feel my front and rear tires getting squishy. Now I just wanted to finish upright. Thankfully Anthony came along from a different field and shared some extra water with me. Then to add insult to injury, my left inner quad cramped on the last hill and I stopped to massage it out, got started again, and was thinking I could finish by just pedaling my right leg and then my right leg cramped. A few more minutes passed before I could get started again, and barely finish the race on two tires with only about ten PSI each,thanks to a couple of goathead thorns.



T: 2:41:53
S: 26.6
C:: 82
Pavg: 155
Pnorm: 195
D: 71.9 km

2009 Timpani Criterium E4

CTL: 122
TSB: -9

The four corner industrial park course with two long and wide front and back stretch and shorter, narrower straights between turns one and two and bewteen turns three and four.

Very big field. I'm supposed to sit in and help out at the end. This goes well except for a few unfortunate accidents along the way, including one which requires an ambulance so we neutralize for a few laps and finally have the officals stop and restart us for the last nine laps. Everyone on the team is still in it. At one point I mistake Darren for Josh and offer to help him move up, oops, at least I helped a teammate! Then with 1.5 laps to go, the rider I was there to help out has to stop for a crash but I miss this and have to improvise. I can see a train of teammates on the front about four rows ahead so just sit back and watch. Then they get swarmed and it's a bit chaotic - at this point I just want to finish upright and am closer to the front than the back so just start moving up.

With two turns to go, Eddie from SJBC goes for it. The last part of the race is just foobar because I can see I have to ride the brakes but can't move up because it's rider to rider around me, so we have a little more chaos to top off the day as one rider clips a pedal and the rider behind him start tumbling across the road in the corner. I have to tap the brakes and start steering away - this is enough to separate the front eighteen from us that are caught behind the accident and that's the race. Start sprinting just to get back up to speed and finish the race.

2009 Fort Ord Road Race 35+ 4/5

CTL: 124
TSB: 1

A little less fitness and am coming in about three kilos heavier versus 2008. Oddly, I end up with almost same final result. I would do anything to have that fitness again, well anything except eat and drink less and train more. I kid. A little.

Temps are very cool due to overcast skies, and even a little fog/rain. The course is a little bit different than previous years, instead of one out and back there are now two out and backs, the first out and back is more of a circle and back, and the second doesn't go almost to the end ( guess the whole road wasn't available ) but the one three to four minute hill is still the main defining feature.

Last year blew up on the one big climb, and was able to go pretty hard each time on the climb, not so much on the other parts. This year, tried to meter out the effort on the climb, and about about fifteen guys rode away very gradually. Then it was Ernie, Mike, some other guy and I, ten seconds back of the pack and figured we wold catch them no problem after the top, but Ernie and the other guy killed it on the undulating section before the finish and bridged up, and I could only watch. Worked with Mike and TT'ed and we got within 50 meters after Mike took a long pull and I didn't want to jump and leave Mike behind so I tried to TT both of us up and could not do it, so close. We ended up losing about 30 seconds for each 10.5 mile lap so with two turn arounds, we could see the group for about twenty five miles of chasing which was a very tiny carrot. We only catch one of the about fifteen riders in front of us, Ernie, who despite a thirty pound weight advantage stayed with the group longer than Mike or I. We end up going into match sprint mode for the finish with Ernie leading us out for fun.
.
T: 1:57:28
C: 92
S: 30.3
Pavg: 182
Pnorm: 226
D: 59.5 km

2009 July 18 Watsonville Criterium

CTL: 117
TSB: 2

Gave myself an extra hour to get hour for traffic and needed two so got there with only fifteen minutes to spare. There's a theme running here that I need to break, since there were no bathrooms or portapotties for the first couple of hours I had to race with a full bladder...

No warmup meant I felt like dropping out after ten minutes but forced myself to stay in there - it always feels harder than it really is. I can see Josh and Mitch well positioned at the front near the man child from VOS, barely hanging onto the back of the field, a couple of times I am behind someone who is dropped and have to bridge back up and that almost breaks me but the pack goes slow enough in the technical sections that I can catch up again.

Finally with two laps to go try to move up to help and am thwarted by being almost last to begin with, luckily some gaps open up on the last lap so I can move up, almost get to the front and hesitate - should I just lead it out and hope the teammates can get over or what, and the time I spend thinking uses up the window of opportunity and we are on the finish stretch before I can do anything else and just sprint in for a 15th or so.


Rear camera malfunction so only the front view.

2009 July 18 Watsonville Criterium E4 from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

T: 40:42
D: 26.2
S: 38.5
C: 111
Pavg: 189
Pnorm: 218

2009 San Rafael Twilight Criterium E4

CTL: 117
TSB: 5
Gave myself an extra hour to travel to San Rafael through San Francisco traffic and it turned out to be not enough, started worrying a little bit when I had thirty minutes to show up at the race and was still on the Golden Gate Bridge. With five minutes to spare, change into the cycling clothes, and get to the course, Josh helpfully pins the number on so I don't have to do it during the race and my warmup consists of the first twenty minutes of the race where I get to consider the sin of not warming up and struggle to hang in the pack. The course is the same one used for the *daytime* San Rafael Crit, a long, slightly uphill drag for the start /finish, a short hill (the steepest section of the course) between turns one and two, a long, slightly downhill drag between turns two and three and a short hill between turns three and four to the finish straight.

I try to help our designated sprinter move up in spite of struggling to hang on while wheelsucking most of rest of the time. We get to three to go and I see a teammate closer to the front and move up to join him. With two to go I am on his wheel and then when there is a surge on the backside, I let it go, but others close the gap by the turn. On the last ascent of the steep hill I pedal as fast as I can but am somewhat disappointed to find myself only keeping even with the ten to eleven riders around me. Do not have anything left in the legs after this and roll in for somewhere around tenth to twelfth.

On the plus side this is the hardest I've gone in a crit since I got sick in February so slowly getting back in the groove of racing.

2009 San Rafael Criterium E4 front view from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

T: 38:39
S: 40.7
C: 109
Pavg: 196
Pnorm: 237

2009 San Luis Obispo Criterium

CTL: 117
TSB: 9

This course is in downtown San Luis Obispo. It passes through the brick *sidewalk* in front of the Mission there. It's wide so it's not too bad but there are some short brick walls on either side that tend to push riders in the gutter back to the center. Besides the sidewalk section there is a short, one block hill from turn one to turn two, a little more rise to the sidewalk, then a long gradual rise after the sidewalk to turn three, a very short straight, then turn four.

I am here to help my teammate, but I have a lot of trouble doing this - he is on the front of the field for most of the race! Not sure how to help. :) The course gives me difficulty in that I move up a few spots on the long gradual hill but lose them right back on the descent/finish straight. I try to minimize the amount of work I am doing to advance but I end up moving up one steps forward/one step back the whole race and staying about twentieth out of seventy - the twenty guys in front of me have the same plan and are as strong as I am or stronger. When it becomes apparent on the last lap and a half I am not going to move up from twentieth or so I ease up to reload for the next race.





T: 43:19
S: 41.3
D: 29.9 km
C: 106
Pavg: 186
Pnorm: 207



For this race our team plan is to just stay safe since my teammate won a prime and placed in the first race (weekend mission accomplished) and even at the front of the field it was sometimes dangerous. I just sit in tenth to twentieth wheel. I didn't think it was possible but there were more close calls in this race than the first, and I'm only responsible for a few of them. :) Towards the end I think I might be close enough to the front to help out so when there is a lull in the pace with two to go I make a move to the front. Go a little too hard and find myself off the front, and figure I might as well go for it. There is a determined chase behind me, normally I could go this hard for about two laps of this course but looking back is can be fatal to motivation in these circumstances...so I am caught near the sidewalk section. My teammate counters. I hesitated and figured, he should do well, and ease up but I should have gone with the people who chased after him because he was really fatigued from being on the front in *two* races and faded before the finish. Gotta always be on your toes and react and not overthink in these situations.

2009 July 5 San Luis Obispo Criterium 30+ 4/5 from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

T: 40:13
S: 40.8
C: 106
D: 27.4 km
Pavg: 181
Pnorm: 215

2009 San Luis Obispo Road Race

CTL: 118
TSB: 8

Plateauing at February fitness, hard to get it up where it was with work and the racing all the time business.

This race is on a military installation. There is one short climb of significance, and only one lane of the road is open for the riders for the flattish part leading up to it.

Previewing the course indicate the climb is not exactly what is described in the flyer or the online profile at the race web site and the first time up confirms that the climb might only be 6% but it comes in a stair step fashion so some parts are much steeper. The narrowness of the roads makes for a lot of contact/close calls in a large field. Since I am near the front the first time up, it is pretty easy to hang in and sag climb, and still we drop about a third to half the field. This is kind of surprising because I only went at the equivalent of 4:30 pace up Mt Eden for 4:00 and this is not as hard as we usually do the *first* climb up Stage Road at the Pescadero Road Race where very few riders get dropped. We have the full 1.5 lanes for the descent, it seems a bit hairy due to the size of the pack that is left, and one 90 degree turn at the base of the first long, steep section, and the trip back to the start of the climb is uneventful.

Since I am at the back on the climb, I have to be more attentive and when a gap opens up in front of me, I panic a bit and go a little too hard to get back on, was just too hard for a short time but it's enough to force me to ease up on the last part of the climb. Consider chasing the pack down but some crashes on the descent by riders ahead of me discourages that and I pack it in at the end of the second lap to save something for tomorrows criterium.

June 28 - Burlingame Criterium

TSB: 8
CTL: 117

Feel so much better today, but when I get to the race and get ready, realize I forgot the jersey at home! Luckily Michael H. has a *spare* so he lets me borrow it, and I don't have to pull a snokrashe and race in my t-shirt.

We have so many riders in this race that I am assigned to keep the pace up so the front of the pack is safe for our sprinter so I trade off pulls for as long as I can go or as it turns out about half the race. This is much harder than just sitting in but more fun and I am highly likely to be successful. :)
rear view
front view
E4
T:40:02
D: 27.8
S: 41.5
C: 98
Pavg 199
pnorm: 233


35+ 4
Pretty much the same plan for the next race for me, we do not have a neutral first lap though, and some folks are confused about this, so when I get my usual quick start, and don't see anyone behind me, keep going for two laps, when the pack starts to get interested I ease up and get back in the routine of trying to get off the front again.

View from the front

2009 Burlingame Criterium 35+ 4 rear view from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

T: 40:14
D: 27.8
S: 41.3
C: 93
Pavg: 187
Pnorm: 214

June 27 - Benicia Criterium

CTL: 116
TSB: 8

I thought I might have a bad day on the bike because after standing around for six hours at the Hellyer AVC my legs and back were still sore in the morning and only got four hours of sleep. Was looking forward to the post race snooze. The course is a figure eight with a lot of small undulations, maybe at most ten to twenty feet over the course of a block with the finish on a long uphill drag.

E4
Hang out midpack, feels like I am struggling. Half way through the race there is an accident and a gap opens up in front of me. I know some folks behind me so I pull to get us close to the pack and am really not feeling good at all and just quit. The data shows the race was not that hard. Hmmm...


T:19:46
D:12.45km
S:37.7 kph
C:101
Pavg: 202
Pnorm: 225


35+ 3/4
I feel a little better during this race. When I try to move up the legs are not responding so I am not going to be able to help anybody out. I can just hang in the back just to finish but since I am racing tomorrow, don't need to just finish for the sake of finishing and pull out again...


T:22:42
D:14.4
S:38.1
C:104
Pavg:179
Pnorm:216

2009 June 19 Hellyer Friday Night Racing

CTL: 117
TSB: 3

Three or four of the really strong juniors are not in the 3/4 field tonight, one has upgraded to 2 and the others are saving themselves for Nevada City and the USA Cycling junior camp later this weekend, still the field is pretty big at fifteen to twenty.


3/4 20 Lap Scratch Race
T: 9:03
S: 44.5
C: 104
Pavg: 270
Pnorm: 299
This is a little different without the kids - a lot less attacking so the field stays intact until almost the end AFAIK. I set tempo for a bit, then Rick counters and almost gets away but we bring him and the others back. At one point I am behind Shawn and we are getting dropped and I am wondering what happened, he got a bug in his unshielded eye and can't see anything for a bit! Then Rick does a leadout and causes a slight separation, I react too late and can only manage a fifth.

No rear view, didn't turn it on.

3/4 30 Lap 6x5 Points Race
T:14:11
S: 43.6
C: 102
Pavg: 268
Pnorm: 297
On the plus side I didn't get lapped! Scored a few points, was pretty conservative after getting dropped the last two times, maybe could have gone for more points, not enough points to score.

2009 June 19 Friday Night Hellyer 3/4 Points Race Front View from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

2009 June 199 34 points race rear view from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

Did five laps of the 123 Points race at the suggestion of Eric Petersen, this was a pretty good idea just to keep warm. It was really easy sitting in but I didn't want to burn any matches just to sit in back of the field
T: 2:07
Pavg: 259
C: 105
S: 44.9


3/4 Miss and Out
I use the simplest strategy which is stay on the front as long as possible but I only last a lap before the Neal, the strongest rider in the field, takes over. Then I am boxed in by Rick for most of the rest of the race, which sort of turns out OK. At one point he let's up and I attack (maybe too hard) but Neil reels me back in, and I am behind him and boxed in by Rick again! I keep waiting for an opening and for a few seconds I look back and there's an opening where Rick is ahead of me and Erik is off of my hip but I hesitate and Erik moves forward and I am boxed in again(!) so finish fifth - mostly by following Neal for all but three laps.
T: 7:46
S: 41.5
C: 96
Pavg: 282
Pnorm: 311

2009 June 13 Pescadero Road Race

CTL: 116
TSB: 11

Not quite the same shape as last year and five pounds heavier but had some different goals of helping some folks get through the first couple of climbs. That mostly worked and I didn't have to finish the race but felt kind of oddly fresh after the first climb on Stage so I continued. We had dense fog and a little rain on the first lap. From the data it looks like we went easier than we had in past years on both of the two hills on Stage. Then I just sat in. Takes a lot of pressure off in some ways to have goals that don't involve finishing!

When we hit Haskins we didn't go that hard either, though I was huffing and puffing. The guy next to me had never ridden it before and asked while we were going up "Is this it?" - I think if he thought it was easy, he should be able to win. :) We were in one pretty big clumpy group and I should have gone to the front to make things safer but got lazy and didn't think to have a secondary goal at the start. Then there was an accident near the McDonald Park entrance so I stopped to help out. Dan had his derailleur hanger bent so Mitch bent it back but it skipped all the time then they told me to continue without them. I just went tempo to the top and they caught me at the base and we TT'ed to the start where Dan dropped out and I tried to pull as much as possible before I had to ease up on Stage. The sun started shining so I decided to enjoy the last lap for fun, not really racing at all.

T: 2:33:38
S: 29.3
C: 91
Pavg: 176
Pnorm: 214
D: 75.3 km

2009 June 7 Two Wheel Criterium ( I guess we can have a tricycle and unicycle version...)

TSB: 7
CTL: 115

Signed up for this race because it's new and wanted to see the course. The name of the office park - Sonoma Mountain Village - portends a mountain top setting but it's more like Mountain View, the mountains are right there on the horizon. The course though is not the usual office park criterium fair, lots of undulations in the road, none long enough to cause any difficulty, and somewhat narrow twists and turns (for a sixty plus rider field of newbs).

The 35+ 4/5 race has a big field. I want to move up but am a bit scared by the riding habits of some of the riders ahead of me, not that I am perfect - see yesterday. There are so many close calls that I get out of the mode of racing and into survival mode and just finish with the pack.

S: 41.7
C: 98
pavg: 166
pnorm: 184
T: 38.24


e4
After not feeling notall that tired from the first race, decide to at last work a little bit to get a better workout, sprinting legs not back from yesterday's efforts. Am able to work to the front - it seems a little safer but we have one crash where there were only a bunch of close calls in the masters' race. Not feeling the mojo so only sprint enough at the end to finish in front of Lloyd. :)

Here's one lap for those who were not there (that junior is really strong as was near the front until the end):



T: 38:10
D: 26.8
S: 42
pavg 181
pnorm 212
C: 102

2009 June 6 ICCC Dash for Cash

TSB: 7
CTL: 115
Took it a little too easy on Thursday and Friday due to lack of sleep.

Trying to work on team tactics today, first race, trying to go for primes or lead out for primes. Lead out Reed for one, but I died before turn four, need to go a little longer or start a little later, or not go that hard at the start?


Next one I just happened to be near the front when there was a prime, Peter told me to go for it so I did, just sixth or seventh. Then Peter led me out, and did a much better job for me than I did for Reed. Unfortunately I made a few mistakes. Not following closely enough as Mark advised before the race. I also was not pedaling in the corners. Still getting confidence back after striking a pedal at Brisbane, need to forget about that and pedal through most corners, just not sprint through the corner... Ended up burning a lot of matches to stay close and came up a little short. Dang.

Also I totally blew after that effort, tried to keep going, but couldn't finish, sorry about blocking the course there everybody!
T: 26:43
pavg: 203
pnorm: 245
D: 18.75km
S: 42 kph
C: 100


For the second race I was supposed to attack a little later but I screwed up here after ten minutes:

and couldn't get back with the group - made the mistake of pausing when I caught some stragglers and should have kept on going. I guess on the bright side I didn't sign up to do the time trial tomorrow since I could not do it today.

T: 17:19
pavg: 198
pnrom: 227
C: 99
S: 37.1
D: 10.8 km

2009 May 25 Memorial Day Criterium

CTL: 115
TSB: -6

If my legs felt sore yesterday before the two hilly crits, naturally they feel a little worse for the wear today. Since I don't have much hope for a good result, want to work on spinning in the races today since I have a bad habit of using too big a gear and mashing. In that regard the E4 race is a smashing success.

e4
t: 37.24
s: 42.5
c: 106
pavg: 158
pnrom: 176 - it was easy but it sure didn't feel easy
d: 26.6km

one lap of the course for the two of you out there who haven't seen it





35/45+ 3/4 race
This race is a little harder, I actually stuck my nose into the wind a few times, and it's a little more strung out, even with a lot more riders in this field. No team takes control so the last few laps are chaotic with every one trying to get into a sweet spot location of close to but not on the front. A few times the field goes curb to curb over four lanes and am not feeling the the ability to move all the way to the front so resign myself to sitting in back. There is a mishap on the first corner of the bell lap, one rider goes down and I stop to avoid hitting him and immediately pull of the course so just in case that guy who hit me last time in the back is here so doesn't get a second chance! :)

t: 38:58
S: 40.9
d: 26.6km
pavg: 163
pnorm: 196
c: 101

2009 May 24 Auburn Criterium

CTL: 111
TSB: 4
Should be an OK day for me to race according to PMC but my legs are still sore from track racing on Friday night. This is a new race in Auburn which is about half an hour east of Sacramento. The course has a long slightly uphill drag to start/finish line that continues uphill after the finish with a steep section that lasts about twenty seconds, sort of like the start of the finish straight at Santa Cruz before it crests and leads to a 90 degree right that is narrow due to other lane being open to traffic, this goes under a railway crossing and immediately after the crossing (about 150 feet from the last turn) it turns 90 degrees right again (narrow initially then wide) with a long headwind and slightly uphill section until one reaches the top of the course which goes over the railroad tracks on a bridge a right turn onto the bridge, and 50 feet later a right turn onto the gradual sweeping left hand turn down to the hay bale lined left 90 degree turn. It was slower than I thought as I only reached about 32 mph into this turn. Then after a block there was a 90 degree right and another 90 degree right back onto the home stretch. Enough words:



The race goes with what is called a neutral lap so that everyone can view the course once with the moto ref at the front. We are not supposed to pass the moto, it's sort of like a keirin fight for position. My legs are not cooperating at all so I just sit on the back and it's strung out single file when we get the whistle for the rolling race start. My race is pretty much over on this first lap. I am getting gapped by the railway underpass, and after the two right turns come across the aftermath of a couple of riders sprawled on the ground, both talking so they are OK, and see a small gap to the field ahead on the long back stretch. Try to catch on, blow, and after a few laps chase for the rest of the race, get lapped once. Since our field is only about thirty five, the officials are nice and let us finish the race.

t: 36:19
pnorm: 239 - this is close to just doing Montebello at threshold for me - the part where I got dropped wasn't that hard ( i.e. I went harder for longer at the track on Friday )
pavg: 181
d: 18.4 km
c 97
s: 30.3


On the positive side, I stayed attentive during the start and was on the moto's wheel or close to it for the neutral lap, but the steep section of the hill got the better of me on the first lap, and I went straight to the back of the pack. I was with the group for one lap which was a minor improvement, until we got to the steep section and I could not do it a second time at race pace. Luckily(?) the officials had mercy and let us stragglers finish even though the original field size was around fifty.

One of the course marshals told me I would go faster if I shut my mouth, the additional wind resistance from riding around with my mouth wide open is probably slowing me down! The loud breathing is a dead giveaway whenever I am catching up to people, too. I considered quitting both races early but I could hear people yelling my name or possibly a similarly named competitor and would have felt worse if I quit and someone was cheering for me, can't let the spectators down.

2009 Auburn Criterium 35+ 4/5 from Steven Woo on Vimeo.

t: 35.17
pnrom 238
pavg 182
d: 18.3 km
c: 98
s: 31.1

I want to try this race again, but I will have to skip the Friday track if I want to do well, even with one full day of rest my legs are not the same.