EVENT Tour of the Gila, Stage 4 Downtown Silver City Criterium CATEGORY Cat 1/2 DATE 5/5/2012 AUTHOR Jacob Berkman TEAMMATES None COURSE DESCRIPTION "Raced on a 1.04 mile, four-corner rectangle with about 80 feet of climbing per lap most of it on slight rises between turns 2 and 3. The road surface is fair to poor in some spots. Roads are fairly wide, especially the downhill, high-speed fourth corner. There is a high-speed descent to turn 4." -- http://www.podiuminsight.com/2012/05/01/tour-of-the-gila-cheat-sheet/ "Course hazards include rough pavement and errant pedestrians." -- race bible Finish is on a slight uphill, hooray! Also it looked like they repaved a few of the corners and the pavement was pretty good. The climb was a little bumpy so it was probably better to push through it seated. 30 laps. http://app.strava.com/segments/649588 PREVIOUS RESULTS None WEATHER Sunny, hot, dry, and breezy. Mostly headwinds b/t turns 1 & 2, swirly winds on the start/finish straight. GOALS Survive. PLAN Just sit in. RESULT Finished w/ main field. RACE SUMMARY This turned out to be a manageable crit, despite my fears. The first climb wasn't bad, and you could pretty much do the second rise before turn 3 with the momentum from the descent. People typically chilled after the start/finish, and after the first turn into the headwind. You could usually move up or take a drink here (I typically stuck to the latter). The last turn was usually taken at a pretty mellow pace, too, as you typically had to brake a little going into it. That's pretty much how it went, as I anxiously watched the laps count down. I think there were a few small breaks of 1 or two but nothing serious. With about 8 or 9 to go, I decided to move up a bit on the climb. The road's pretty wide, so there was lots of room if you wanted to drill it up the side. I wouldn't say I drilled it, but I definitely moved up. Then, going into turn 4, I saw one of the course volunteers running with her flag in the air, and coming around the corner there wre riders everywhere. I'd been taking the inside line all day and managed to avoid everything and catch back on to the smaller group. Riders jumped back in over the next 2 or 3 laps and I drifted back. The pace was still reasonable as we counted down the last few laps. Finished at the back of the pack, and managed to avoild the lone rider on the ground at the finish line. TAKEAWAYS - None NUMBERS Distance: 52.9km Time: 1:12:17 (Unofficial) Elevation Gain: 439m Avg Speed: 43.9km/h Max Speed: 61.1km/h Avg HR: 156bpm Max HR: 170bpm Suffer Score: 59 http://app.strava.com/rides/7931574 //j

EVENT Tour of the Gila, Stage 3 Dan Potts Memorial Tyrone Individual Time Trial CATEGORY Cat 1/2 DATE 5/4/2012 AUTHOR Jacob Berkman TEAMMATES None COURSE DESCRIPTION "Riders face two climbs in an out and back 16.15-mile course and 1,188 feet (362 m) of climbing. The course consists of all ascent or descent with very little flat ground." -- http://www.podiuminsight.com/2012/05/01/tour-of-the-gila-cheat-sheet/ http://app.strava.com/segments/648817 PREVIOUS RESULTS None WEATHER Sunny, warm, dry & windy. GOALS Just don't crash. PLAN While I don't feel like my fitness or bike fit have been as good this year, one thing I've been improving on in time trials is reading the course and pacing planning. This course splits itself into three sections: the initial climb, the rollers to the turnaround & back to the main climb, and then the descent to the finish. You want to go as hard as possible up the main climb, recover a bit on the first descent, then continue to push it on the climbs and recover on the descents. I was aiming for about 14 minutes to the top of the climb. RESULT 18th @ 0h 3' 9" GC: 29th @ 0h 22' 26" (I think 9th Cat 2) RACE SUMMARY Got in a long warmup, but not necessarily intense. I didn't get a very good sense for how the legs were going to feel, so I was a bit apprehensive. While preriding the course on Tuesday, it was so hot and dry that I planned on disgracing my TT bike with a bottle & cage. I was hoping to make it to after the top of the climb to take a drink, but my throat was screaming for water after only a couple of minutes. I may have gone out a little too hard. It was a long, straight climb, so you could see 3 or 4 guys ahead of you. My 30s man had caught his, so that was a good early carrot. I passed him after about 10 minutes, so I thought I was doing pretty well. I had stayed in the 55t up to this point, but dropped down into the 42t just before a little false flat with 1 or 2k to the summit. I tried to push it to the top and went over a bit over 14 minutes, so still a decent time. I had gone pretty hard up the climb so I took it easy on this descent. I can only go so fast and it was a bit gusty, too, but I needed to save something for the upcoming rollers. Coming up over the 2nd roller I passed Johnny Moskowitz (Fremont Bank), who started 90s before me. I thought he'd started earlier, and had gotten more time on him, but oh well. I hit the turnaround a little before him. I couldn't stay in the 55t on the last roller, but when I neared the top, I didn't get a clean shift back into the big ring. Fortunately I didn't drop my chain (I don't know if the chain catcher helped here or not), but I lost a little momentum going over the top. It was a great relief to finally hit the descent, because it literally was all downhill from there. I alternated between pedalling and tucking, but I couldn't put out nearly as much power at that speed as I can while climbing. A 60x11 would probably be better for this course. My friend Ken Gallardo (IronDataThirstyBearCycling.com), who was leading the Masters A race, came in around 38:30, so as the last few Ks went by I was trying to beat that time. I came up a little short, with an official time of 38:50, nearly three and a half minutes slower than the fastest time of the day. I had nearly reached my LCT a few times during the ride, so I was pretty happy with the effort. We were ready before results were, but on the way back to the house I got DQ'd. TAKEAWAYS - My percieved effort was way higher than my HR ended up being (I don't have HR displayed while I race) - I blame the altitude. - Kris Lunning (Marc Pro - Strava) is the current 30-34 national TT champ and he was just over a minute in front of me. So I need to figure out how to make up a minute between now and districts (if they have 30-34 and he races). - I was also only a minute out of the top-ten, which isn't so bad. - I think my pacing strategy was good, but maybe I still went just a little too hard at the start and couldn't maintain that pace for the rest of the climb. (According to Strava) I was neck-and-neck with Ken over the first four minutes, but he gained 20 seconds or so over the next 10. I was only 10 seconds behind at the top on the way back, but he's a bit heavier than I am so he gained 10-15 seconds on the final descent. - I wish I was faster. NUMBERS Distance: 26.2km Time: 38:55 Elevation Gain: 374m Avg Speed: 40.4km/h Max Speed: 75.2km/h Avg Power: 249W Avg HR: 165bpm Max HR: 172bpm Suffer Score: 52 http://app.strava.com/activities/7876817 // j

EVENT Tour of the Gila Stage 2 Fort Bayard Inner Loop Road Race CATEGORY Cat 1/2 DATE 5/3/2012 AUTHOR Jacob Berkman TEAMMATES None COURSE DESCRIPTION "77.9 mile and 5854 feet of climbing for the [Cat 1/2 Men], starting and ending at Fort Bayard. The course not only includes three climbs but the 3-mile Wild Mesa (or Sapillo) descent, a very technical 1000+ feet drop with numerous sharp corners, hairpins and two switchbacks. The descent is one of the most dangerous areas in the Tour of the Gila." -- http://www.podiuminsight.com/2012/05/01/tour-of-the-gila-cheat-sheet/ PREVIOUS RESULTS None WEATHER Sunny & hot again, some winds but not too bad, but at least there was a little shade here and there today. GOALS Make the time cut! PLAN Just don't get dropped. RESULT 36th @ 0h 2' 10" GC: 33rd @ 0h 19' 37" RACE SUMMARY Felt like I was on the rivet all day. After a pretty mellow twenty minutes on US 180 we turned onto NM 15 (sorry, I don't know how to convert highways to metric) and the climbing started. Early into the climb, a Garmin junior apparently dropped his chain, and on his way off the road clipped my front wheel. I managed to keep it upright despite not having much experience dealing with such shenanigans. I guess 20 or so guys behind him weren't so lucky, because guys at the front had just started hitting the gas, and it was pretty much on for the next hour. Yesterday's pack positioning was not repeated today, and I was almost always near (or off) the back. I moved up where I could, but my legs didn't feel strong today and I had trouble keeping up on the climbs. It was a little touch-and-go on the first descent, but managed to catch back on after chasing for too long. Not a good time to lose contact with the group as there was still a long way to the finish. I skipped the feed as my bottles were both still about half-full (or half-empty) and tried to move up a little instead. Then we hit the "very technical" descent. I was going ok until I took a bad line on one of the corners and then it took a few turns to remember how to corner again. Made it down with all my skin but got gapped a little, and had to chase on with another guy. A guy was soloing just off the front, and they didn't go hard until just after we caught back on. Guys were trying to get off the front and I think there were 3 or 4 guys, and then a larger chase group. I said to Johnny Moskowitz (Fremont Bank) that we probably wanted to be in that group... lots of other guys were thinking the same thing and that group was reeled back in. We were flying down this long gentle descent, I think Simple Green were at the front keeping the break in check. We hit a couple of crosswind sections and things were stretched out but fortunately we turned into a headwind and sitting in was pretty comfortable. If only the race was all downhill from there... We had "one" more climb to do, and I was struggling to hang on. We hit the feed zone and I grabbed a gatorade and water and was feeling ok, but was still struggling. With 1k to the KOM line it flattened out, and I caught back on, but there were still a few short climbs left. One too many, in fact, as I couldn't stay on and with about 7k to go lost contact with the group. Couldn't catch them and finally with 1k to go a group of three caught me. One Marc Pro - Strava guy jumped from the group but the other two were toast. I finished a few seconds behind him, I think a couple of minutes behind the main field. But a break might have stayed a minute or two ahead of them. This course doesn't look too bad on paper but it was a tough day for sure. At a crossroads between never wanting to ride a bicycle again and being totally stoked for the TT tomorrow. TAKEAWAYS - ... NUMBERS Distance: 124.8km Time: 3:22:25 (Unofficial) Elevation Gain: 1658m Avg Speed: 37km/h Max Speed: 74.3km/h Avg HR: 153bpm Max HR: 183bpm Suffer Score: 192 (EXTREME!!) http://app.strava.com/activities/7819625 // j

EVENT Tour of the Gila Stage 1: Silver City - Mogollon Road Race CATEGORY Cat 1/2 DATE 5/2/2012 AUTHOR Jacob Berkman TEAMMATES None COURSE DESCRIPTION "Point-to-point road race with a final 5.5-mile climb on a very narrow alpine road with rough road pitching up with grades of 19% at some points. Men do 92 miles (148km) with 4,252 feet (1,296m) of climbing, while women race 73.1 miles (117.6km) with 3,669 feet (1,118m) of climbing." -- http://www.podiuminsight.com/2012/05/01/tour-of-the-gila-cheat-sheet/ The course basically follows highway 180 for 70 miles and then climbs to the middle of nowhere, with a couple of times through a feed zone loop to give us some cross winds and rollers to play with. http://app.strava.com/segments/648154 (full finishing climb incl/ false flats) PREVIOUS RESULTS None WEATHER Sunny, no shade, mostly in the low-to-mid 30Cs. Some wind at times but not as bad as in previous years, or so I've heard. GOALS 1. Make the time cut 2. Top-25? PLAN Hang on until the climb, and hope I don't get asphyxiated. RESULT 37th @ 0h 17' 54" RACE SUMMARY So last week I'm heading over to the Putah Creek Smack Down with Ken Gallardo (IronDataThirstyBearCycling.com) and I ask him if he's excited about Wente. "Actually, I'm more excited about Gila next week." "Oh, you're doing that? Do you have room for +1?" "Yeah, I think we do..." Fortunately, I don't have much going on during the week, so here I am, doing a five-day, five-stage race at altitude, on no preparation (other than being on a giant, season-long peak). In previous years, they've had a P/1 and a Cat 2 field here, but the P/1 race has been upgraded to some sort of UCI race, so now I have to still race with Cat 1s (although no Kenda, Bissell, or Strawberries like at Merco). It's too bad, because I think I'd do pretty well if it was just Cat 2s. But whatever, hopefully I'll grab a little fitness for Berkeley Hills... We had a PRO 10am start, so I could sleep in and just roll over from the house at which we're staying. I actually line up early at the front for a change, but during the neutral roll-out I lose a few spots. The pace was refreshingly mellow once the whistle blew; I expected some attacks from the gun. But they wait a little while, but soon a group of 11 or so have 2 minutes... 6 minutes... 8 minutes... The teams with numbers all have a rider or two in the break, and it doesn't really make sense for us lone wolves to chase, so that's how it goes. I pretty much stick to the gutter, in order to avoid cross winds, and somehow manage to spend the bulk of the race nearish the front (or, at least never *at* the back). The front is patrolled by Marc Pro - Strava and... LaGrange or some other team. There are a few surges over the rollers and a couple of guys try to bridge in ones or twos. Occasionally the wind turns more cross and people are put into the gutter but it's a nice gutter for the most part, aside from the occasional snake that attempts to cross the street. ("Why did the snake cross the road?" "I dunno, but it didn't make it." sad.) In the feed zone loops I manage to snag bottles (water, then Gatorade) but nearly have to come to a stand-still, as they have about half the people handing out neutral bottles as they need. Guys with loved ones giving them hand-ups had it a bit easier. Plus I got stuck behind some juniors, and they simply don't have the gearing to chase back on on downhills. But we catch back on and over time I manage to move up. So I was just riding along and all of a sudden the wheel of the dude next to me is making all sorts of evil sounds; i think he punctured, and then was riding up on the lip b/t the shoulder and road. Carbon doesn't grip pavement well, and he pretty much just slides out, just as guys ahead are picking it up (I think it was on a hill). I didn't have time to look back but I heard he took out like 15 guys. We finally hit the third feed zone, which is only a few ks from the climb. I have a few sips of water left so I skip the feed and use it as a chance to move up. We turn and hit the climb, and I get a little gapped, but the leaders aren't really pulling away. We hit the false flat (or maybe it's a true flat?) and there's a decent little cross wind hitting us. The pack has slowed down, and are all pretty much left-of-center; I'm basically the only one (I can see at least) on the right of center, slowly reeling them in. I make contact and move up just a little before the final climb, but can't hang on here either. The final climb is about 5k, and it's pretty rough. Hot, no shade, fairly steep (39x25 was a little rough but not bad) but at least there's a tailwind. I can feel the altitude... it feels like I have to take two breaths for every breath I'd need back home, but everyone else is suffering, too, and I manage to catch a few people who've really popped. Didn't have a sprint in me at the finish... Overall, I'm pretty happy with how I rode the race. It would have been better had I made the break, but then again I don't know if I had 4 hours of breakaway in me (even sharing with 10 other guys). There's still a lot of racing (and climbing!) left this week, so hopefully I'll recover well and start adjusting to the altitude. TAKEAWAYS - While shopping for groceries yesterday, some locals were actually supportive of us, wishing us good luck and to have a good race. A good early impression on me for sure. - At one point I was trying to breathe only through my nose, because maybe i lose less moisture that way? NUMBERS (incl. neutral section) Distance: 152.2km Time: 4:10:51 Elevation Gain: 1665m Avg Speed: 36.4km/h Max Speed: 78km/h Avg HR: 146bpm Max HR: 179bpm Suffer Score: 198 (EXTREME!!!) Gearing: 53/39x11-25 10s Number of flies ingested: 0 (at least 2 fewer than at Wente) http://app.strava.com/rides/7767203 // j