09 May 2010

May 1 Sonora Road Race

CTL: 110
TSB: 5

Had trouble sleeping and breathing in Sonora, apparently I'm allergic to air that isn't full of smog. Didn't clear up by morning but the weather and course are nice so one might as well race.

The course is as Chief Ref Paula puts it, like Copperopolis, without the smooth parts. It's not flat but not mountainous, more rolling hills, with one small hill about 450 meters long and 80 meters high that reduced some folks to paperboying or walking by the final lap and a sort of uphill rolling finish past the winery that lasts less than ten minutes.

I think we only had twelve starters in our group. We stayed intact for the first lap as folks got familiar with the new for 2010 course. After we passed the finish line a second time, a couple of riders got dropped, then I got dropped, too. Was able to work with the riders to bring the group within about 100 meters on the steep hill but I couldn't close the gap, though the Metromint rider tried to bridge up, but over the next three laps he came back to us after cramping. At one point I dropped a bottle, let the Bicycles Plus racer I was riding with go up the road, and after I recovered my bottle it took me two laps to catch him. So we weren't really working all that well together behind the pack, we each seemed to have different strengths on the course. :) I think I eeked out a top ten or third or fourth from last...

T: 2:39:30
S: 26.8
C: 86
H: 170
Pavg: 163
Pnorm: 206
2010 sonora rr

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