Hanford Criterium

(Posted By Justin Fraga)

Riders: Randy Bramblett, Clint Rogers, JD Bergman, Aaron Cox, Justin Fraga

The Hanford crit always offers a relatively large purse in the Pro/1/2 event, so we expected at least some upper tier riders to show up. Walking back from the registration tent I noticed a Pinarello Prince parked in the Cal Giant parking area and new it had to belong to Ben Jaques-Maynes. Clint, Randy and I got dressed and rode through some of the surrounding streets to warm up. We passed a Symmetrics rider but weren't sure who it was. Turned out to be Svein Tuft, the guy who rolled away for a solo victory in the US Pro Road Race Championships last season.

So now we were up against a full Cal Giant roster (Andy JM and the like), BJM, and Svein Tuft. Dave McCook was also there without team mates.

The race began and immediately I knew we were in for some work. Tuft started attacking 2 laps in. While the pace was very fast, the race wasn't stressful since everyone should have known who to watch-- the only thing we had to do was go with AJM, BJM, and Svein, no matter what. Well we screwed that up pretty bad and BPG watched as those exact 3 riders rolled away. There went the race. Ken Hansen from Giant also went with them and the 4 were not seen again.

I was highly frustrated and started launching angry attacks. Giant was doing what Giant does: blocking, sitting, generally getting in the way. They wouldn't let anyone go. Mike Hernandez (VOS) and Joel Robertson (Sierra Pacific) joined in and the 3 of us decided we were either going to get away or go down in flames. Either option was better than sitting in and getting lapped to us. We attacked furiously... Hernandez yelled over the wind: "Just keep hitting them! They'll give up eventually!" He turned out to be right. Randy told me he was going to work hard and would sit for the sprint once we hit 10 laps to go... he moved up and started pulling the race-- at one point Randy and I went off the front in what probably looked like a pointless attack, but Joel & Mike quickly jumped up to us. Dirk Copeland from Giant covered the move and Randy moved back and let a gap form. That was our chance and I put my head down and took a monster pull. Joel and Mike followed with the same effort. Behind us I saw the bridge attempts disintegrate and I knew we finally had it.

We had completed 3/4 of the race. Copeland saw the lead break closing in on the pack when we came through the center of the "figure 8" in the course and decided it was safe to work with us. The four of us took smooth, strong pulls and quickly sunk 30 seconds into the field. With 2 to go and the main field lapped by Svein's break, we were the last 4 riders on the course (since the main field lost a lap and had already sprinted). Hernandez and Robertson are both iron-willed riders who can attack until their lungs bleed, but they aren't good sprinters and I knew Copeland was the wheel to follow. As we rounding the final turn he jumped to the inside, and as I tried to follow I stuck a pedal in the gutter, knocking my bike in the air and almost taking out Robertson and Hernandez entirely. I held it upright but my chain had fallen to my climbing ring. I didn't have time to shift back up so I dumped into my 11 tooth and sprinted, cross chained. I managed to spin past Hernandez and come in behind Copeland for 6th place.

Later Randy told me the field sprint was incredibly hectic, with Ken Hansen taking the win in a massive run up, and Tuft coming in 3rd. Randy either took 9th or 10th, which means he either won or nearly won the field sprint, even though the guys in the break managed to come in ahead of everyone else.

1: Ken Hansen
2: BJM?
3: Svein Tuft
4: AJM?
5: Dirk Copeland
6: Justin Fraga (BPG)
7: Mike Hernandez
8: Joel Robertson
9?10? Randy Bramblett (BPG)
(not sure how the other guys finished)

-Justin

Copperopolis

(Posted By Dylan Clark)

I got caught in heavy rush hour traffic driving through downtown
Milton, so i barely made it to the start on time. About eighty Cat 3s
started the race, and we just cruised.
about a mile or two from where we left we rolled through the feed
zone. Id like to say that i appreciate the fact that Steele was in the
feedzone all day long helping everyone out, which was way cool.
the first lap was quite uneventful, as everyone was just getting a
feel for the course.
As Lap two came around things heated up a little, mostly over the
first climb. we all ascended a little quicker than the previous lap,
and only about ten people were shelled off the back. I met up with Matt
Willinger out in the flats that very same lap. He helped me quite a bit
with positioning advice for this course, which i kept in mind until the
finish line.
as lap three rolled around the climb went faster, and i was
feeling fueled up thanks to all the goods provided by steele and my
father. this time around the group was all but cut in half after the
climb over the hills. A break went that i think barely anyone saw, so
at this point there were two off the front, leading a pack of about
thirty. No one was doing anything about the situation, which actually
really annoyed me. there was a feeling of contentment among the pack. i
wasnt exactly diggin' the scene so i decided to try to escape.
Earlier in the race the first climb didnt really seem tough enough
to do any damage on, hopwever after about sixty miles the situation
changed. Approaching the feed zone on the last lap i made damn sure i
was top ten so i didnt get all bunched up at the bottom of the climb.
as i went to the opposite side of the road that i had been visiting all
day, i saw Matt Willinger with a bottle for me, which tasted pretty
good at this point.
as soon as the elevation started to head up, my gear ratios did
to, as i jumped out of the saddle and tried to get out of there. A few
came with me but fell back after a few minutes. after i got onto the
flats i got a split time of 45 seconds from the motorcycle. I heard the
break ahead of me was quite a ways ahead, so i just concentrated on not
getting caught.
I hit the back straightaway and recieved an updated split time of
1:45. inspired, i just kept giving it. Upon approaching the final
climb, i heard that a had 2:30 on the pack. I made it up the climb
fairly quickly, and began the off-road bumpy assault down to the
finish. Hot and tired, i rolled throught for third place at
Copperopolis.

Land Park

(Posted By Dylan Clark)

Cat 3 rolled at about 3 P.M. in Sacramento so i actually got to
sleep past 5 A.M. on race day. My plan was pretty simple, just stay top
15 and keep out of the wind.
On about the third lap i was sitting on the back of a wheel and
plowed right through a hole in the course, and immediatley felt a
wobble in my rear carbon wheel, which i knew was not at all strong to
begin with. as i feathered my brakes i could hear the bubble of clear
coat pass through my pads. i wont lie this concerned me just a little.
I had some trouble at first, i had never really ridden in a crit
with rolling corners like the ones that can be found in Land Park.One
thing that helped however, was the fact that I was able to spot Etienne
every time i passed him. I wasnt allowed to use a radio so we had to
play it oldschool. He yelled helpful hints throughout the race which i
appreciated very much. Thanks man!
About halfway throught the race a few breaks tried to go but
nothing really stuck, with about five to go the pace heated a little as
expected, so i started concentrating on not getting sucked back
unexpectedley.
On the second to last lap I set up behind a guy i know from up
here in Auburn, and sat on his wheel until the final straight.
I came throught the last corner in about eighth position, and
cruised for a few meters, as soon as it felt right i charged to the
side of the street and gunned it. i made it around a few people and
looked up the road and saw two guys quite a ways up. at this point i
knew i positioned myself poorly, But thanks to that Sac town pull i
reeled in second place!

Land Park

(Posted By Randy Bramblett)

Where: Sac
Field of about 60+ Pro1/2
Who: Me, Fraga, Clint, JD, Tamel

Well- Im very happy to take my first win of the year and also the team's first. Im not usually a huge fan of this race or course... but who is right? Regardless a lotta people showed partly because of the sunny skies that day. I have to say that my training and patience is starting to slowly pay off. Those brutal port rides wit Justin and Jamiel help... A LOT. I would say EVERYONE on the team should try and make it if they can. This can be a great teamwork building arena for us. Its at 7:30pm Oakland Port. We usually meet at the SF 16th/Mission Bart at 6:30pm to depart. Ok Back to business- Big thanks to J Fraga for riding at the front the ENTIRE race which helped along with the wind to keep any breaks from forming ... We all agreed to be aggressive and and try and establish a break .. myself included... I spent several laps early on trying to form a break or bridge to a break.... but it was clear with 7 to go a field sprint was in effect .... about a 45 sec recovery was all I needed ... Would have been nice to see ALL the BPG Riders keeping things faster but its a wide course so I got right in front the last lap with ease and big thanks to JD for a killer attack with 500meters to go that caused a chase in front of me sitting 4 th wheel going into the last 200m and I just had a straight shot and waited till last 50 meters to come around James Badia (Webcor) and with a hard bike trow won by literally... a centimeter. It was for the most part a great Team race with some aggression behind it. Just the beginning. We gotta put our strengths together , especially these local races like this one.


Randy

Menlo Park Grand Prix

(Posted By Dylan Clark)

I Made the drive down to my 1:00 race that very same morning, and
arrived to blue skies and no wind. About 75 people showed up in my
catergory overall.

the first ten laps or so brought a few failed breakaway attempts, and
everything ran smoothly for a while. There were a few webcor guys
that were clearly interested in controlling the latter part of the
race. with eight to go a webcor rider shot off the front in the back
straight. i looked around me and noticed two or three of his
teammates in the top fifteen of the field. i decided to jump and pull
him in about a lap later, with help from only one other rider whos
name i dont know.

there were a few textbook anticipation laps before the bells rang.
the finishing straight was a bit long so i was planning on being
about seventh wheel out of the final corner, but unfortunately things
didnt go that way. on the back straight i saw what i thought was the
final surge before the sprint, however when i got going the riders in
front of me slowed down tremendously upon entering the second from
last corner. i was completely boxed in and thought i was finished.
somewhere in the short distance between the last two corners i just
threw my elbows and forced my way out, causing a few skids... but
hey, they were where i needed to be.

out of the last corner i was sitting about 12th and swung wide, and
got around a few guys. the top seven was now spread out across the
road pretty well, so i hooked up on the back of a webcor rider at the
far left side of the street. at about 30 meters to go i gunned it for
the gutter and clipped the guy at the line, nearly running into the
finishing structure.

my next race is the Land Park crit, followed by the road race in
Zamora the next day, hopefully ill see a few of you guys up there!

Merco Road Race

(Posted By Matt Willinger)

Yo, Sounds like the 2's field was rough. I know how negative the racing can be there P/1/2 is much more fun, I'm looking forward to it. Glad you are all ok for the most part.
I was nervous before my race. Mclane is always difficult for me, crosswinds and being guttered for 120 miles are definitely not my strong points. Also there was a lot of hype about how hard it would be, the big teams are intimidating. Randy and I agreed that the race was for training and we just wanted to finish, it being Randy's first P/1 road race and I having never actually finished it. But even with the big guys there it began totally civilized and no real attacks were started until the second lap, except for our boy Andy/Jesse who launched his trademark 'way to early' attack. It was hilarious to see him take the first dig against a field like that, props to the Mendonca! Anyway, when the attacks did start it was totally random. There was no wind so nothing was hard enough to break legs it was just a roll of the dice as to who would get up the road. I went with a few moves but they were all broke back. I had just come back one finally went. If we had a couple more guys we would definitly have had someone in there. Once it was gone I tried to bridge with a symetrics guy and a couple others rode up but they brought the field with them and then it was over.

Great training though. Thanks for all you guys who came out to watch us ride around in circles, Etienne, Steele, Martin, I drank 6 bottles and wouldn't have finished without you. Next up, results. Matt