Elite & Masters State Road Race Championships
By Dan Vinson
This year, the weekend of June 17-18, 2006 was reserved for Vandenberg - Masters and Elite SCNCA Road Race Championships. The 36 mile Pt. Sal course consisted of a 28 mile out an back section with rolling climbs, followed by a nearly flat 8 mile "airport loop." The toughest climbs were a 3 mile rolling climb on the return after the turn-around and then the one mile feed zone climb just before entering the airport loop. After 2 laps (for Masters) and 3 laps (for Elites) we had a 1.3 mile finishing leg which was a short and gradual incline up to the finish line.
SCNCA Masters 30+ Road Race Championships (74 miles):
For this championship race, we didn't have the largest field, but the competition was still tough. Many riders in the field were also racing with the Elites the following day. So, Saturday was much more than a "warm-up" race prior to the main event on Sunday. The racing started early with my teammate, Josh Horowitz (Kahala LaGrange) rolling off the front of the field. Soon thereafter, Anthony Morrow (Socalcycling.com) and Brian Keate (Taylor Made/24 Hr Fitness) attacked, bridged up, and formed a three man breakaway. They quickly extended their advantage to 3 minutes as our group noodled along at a comfortable pace. I had our two Cat. 4 30+ LaGrange riders on the front setting tempo out to the turn-around. By the time we hit the main climb after the turn-around, the advantage was 4 minutes 10 seconds. At that point, Dirk Copeland (Cal Giant/Village Peddler) drilled it on the climb and shredded the field. By the time we hit the feed zone, we only had 9 riders left in the "field," more of a chase group now, with three riders 3 minutes 30 seconds up the road.
Maybe I shouldn't be mentioning it, but what the heck. About this point in the race, for the first time ever in my short cycling career, I started experiencing "gastro-intestinal distress". Also known (if you watch the Tour and hear Phil Ligget describe why a rider pulled out of a race) as a "stomach virus," a "bad stomach" or "digestive problems". We all know it as . . . yes. . . diarrhea. At some points I felt fine, but at others I wanted to pull out of the race. But since I had a teammate up the road and a free ride sitting on (well, maybe not free but more like a first class ticket at coach fare), I had to stay in as long as possible to get a good finish. Luckily, it wasn't so bad and I continued.
Since we had teammates up the road, Chris DeMarchi (Socalcycling.com) and I sat on the group while the other 7 riders rotated, chasing the three man break. The advantage slowly began to fall as we completed the first lap and began our second. As we approached the turn-around, we were informed by the moto that the Socalcycling guy had been dropped up ahead. At that point, a relatively fresh DeMarchi (after yelling an expletive) went to the front and helped the chase. By the turn-around, the now two man break had about 2 minutes advantage. A while later, on the longest climb, Horowitz dropped Keate and was now a solo rider off the front.
The rotation in the chase continued over the climbs and the attacks started on the feed zone climb, just prior to the final airport loop. Horowitz had about 45 seconds as we entered the loop. Cal Giant had two riders in the break - Copeland and Mike Telega. They attacked and countered each move while Karl Bordine (Labor Power) and I tried to cover as many moves as possible. Bordine went with me on several occasions while I got across to a threatening move. It was non-stop action for the remainder of the race. With about 5-6 miles to go, Horowitz, after being off the front for nearly 70 miles, was caught.
Our group broke apart and came back together several times over the last few miles of the race. With a mile to go another rider and I attacked. It was countered by Bordine, Copeland and DeMarchi. I bridged across just in time for a final attack which popped DeMarchi. The sprint opened up and it was Copeland who dove to the inside with Bordine trying to come around on the right. I was right on Copeland, but pinned up against the center line and unable to come around in either direction. The final results: 1st - Dirk Copeland (Cal Giant/Village Peddler); 2nd - Karl Bordine (Labor Power); 3rd - Dan Vinson (Kahala LaGrange); 4th - Chris DeMarchi (Socalcycling.com); 5th - James Miller; 6th - Josh Horowitz (Kahala LaGrange).
SCNCA Elite (Pro 1, 2) Road Race Championships (109 miles): This race started out fast with several riders looking to make the inevitable early break that just might stay away to the finish. In the first miles of the race, a 5 man break established itself including Kahala LaGrange riders Harrison Tripp and John Tzinsberg, Christian Valenzuela (Monex), Rigo Meza (Coates Cyclery), and a rider from Cal Giant/Village Peddler. As we cruised over the rolling hills, the quintet consistently extended their advantage. Kahala LaGrange had a full eight man squad, so we wanted to be in the early breakaway as well as in any chases. Once the breakaway stabilized, Kahala LaGrange riders went to the front and sat on any chasers. Valenzuela drove the break and apparently caused the other riders to suffer on the climbs. By the end of the first of three laps, Tzinsberg fell off the pace and came back to the field, but the break had obtained a maximum advantage of nearly 6 minutes. Soon thereafter, early in lap 2, the Cal Giant rider flatted leaving only 3 riders - Valenzuela, Tripp, and Meza, in the breakaway.
The pace quickened with riders from different teams, including SDBC, going to the front and putting in big pulls to bring back the break. Half way through lap 2, the break had about 3 minutes on the field. The climbs caused many to suffer and several gaps opened up as the speed increased. By the time we got to the feed zone, the size of the field had been reduced. We flew around the airport loop with Cal Giant on the front putting in some hard efforts to bring back the breakaway. By this point, attacks were anticipated. Thurlow Rogers (Sonace) was also up there putting in some monster efforts until his chain broke and fell off his bike. I conserved as much as possible to prepare for the final lap. As we completed lap two, the 3 man break only had 1 minute and 30 seconds over the chasing peleton.
As we started lap 3, 75 miles into the race, the real attacks began. I got into a move with about eight other riders and we opened up a gap. I had a teammate with me and another still up the road, so I rotated through but tried not to burn many matches. We stayed away for about 5 miles but several strong riders, including Chris Walker (Labor Power), bridged up to us. A few moments later the field had caught us and we were all together again. On the way to the turn-around, we rapidly closed in on the original 3-man breakaway, and caught them about 80 miles into the race (29 miles to go). Walker put in some monster attacks and the field strung out a couple times. Again, about six or seven of us got a gap on the field and immediately began working to increase our lead. A short while later, a few riders bridged up to us and we had a solid 11 man breakaway including: Dario Falquier (Webcor), Ruben Meza (Coates Cyclery), Pat Caro (Team Helens), Keith Miller (GS Lombardi Sports), Brent Prenzlow (Celo Pacific), Karl Bordine (Labor Power), Manny Suarez (Monex), James Doyle and Peter Anderson (Hi-Tech Bikes), Dirk Copeland (Cal Giant/Village Peddler), and Dan Vinson (Kahala LaGrange).
Our group drilled it to the turn-around and flew back over the rollers. For the most part we had a pretty good rotation going and increased our advantage. As we approached the climbs the lead moto/ref told us, "we were gone" and we assumed we had a huge gap since we didn't see anybody close behind. We went tempo up the climb but definitely could have went faster. I thought about attacking but it would have been suicide going alone with about 9 miles of flat roads and wind just before the finish. Our group stayed together. We hit the feed zone climb and Suarez attacked. The pace quickened as we chased and there were a few riders who suffered to stay on. We crested the final climb of the day and brought back Suarez. Now, with 100 miles down and 9 miles to go, there were constant attacks, counters, and ample suffering.
With 6 miles to go James Doyle (Hi-Tech) and I attacked and got a gap on the break. I drove it pretty hard and increased our lead to about 10 seconds. After glancing back, we saw a couple riders were bridging to us. With 3 miles to go, Copeland, Anderson, and Suarez caught us. Doyle popped off the back. Four of us were left at the front. Anderson drilled it on the flats, while I missed a few rotations and desperately tried to recover from my earlier effort. We had a decent gap, but they were chasing hard, not far behind. With a mile to go, we slowed a little, but kept the pace steady. We hit 1 Kilometer to go and started the gradual incline to the finish. Anderson went to the front and did one last hard pull just to make sure we stayed away. Suarez then attacked with me on his wheel. He peeled off and then began losing ground. Finally, Copeland and I both went and pulled away from Anderson and Suarez. Copeland got the jump, however, and was able to come around to take the inside lane away from me. I then had no choice but to go to the right and kicked one last time, but ended up about a half bike off the pace.
Final results: 1st - Dirk Copeland (Cal Giant/Villange Peddler); 2nd - Dan Vinson (Kahala LaGrange); 3rd - Peter Anderson (Hi-Tech Bikes/5 Star Fish); 4th - Manny Suarez (Monex); 5th - Karl Bordine (Labor Power); 6th - Brent Prenzlow (Celo Pacific).
Both races were exciting, action packed, slugfests on bikes! I can't wait to do it again next year. Until the next race. . .
Dan Vinson
