World Wide Woo: 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.