We left that group of 4, which contained the 2 juniors in there because we suddenly realized that we had no idea how many cat 3's were in the main field anymore. It was a VERY windy and fast race!

I am curious what the process was the come up with the results. As I was watching the race, there was the core group, which seemed to be around 20 people. There was a small chase group, containing Daniel Tisdell and others. This group was lapped and integrated into the main group and a couple of riders from the now caught chase group went out the back again. I see that Daniel came in 3rd in the 3s. Zachary also may have survived. Were the other nine Cat. 3 places given to the riders that were the most recently removed from the course?

Having a continuous line of riders around the course brings back memories of the stories about the 1976 US. Olympic road race trials. Someone though it would be a good idea to put something like 400 riders on your typical Crit course as a way to select riders for the 76 Olympic road race. At least there were a couple of crits in the series of events used in the Olympic trials that year if I remember correctly.

Good news! That means we only need 200 riders to create a continuous line around the course.

According to the results there were 48 Cat 3s that started and 50 Ct 2s that started so only less than 100 total starters.

Did we really have 120 racers at the start? Somehow it seemed like less. In any case, I learned a lot and I really admire those folks that fought hard and stayed with the lead group.

As we all know, winds can be really decisive and a smart team can use windy conditions to their advantage. I *thought* I knew that but after yesterday this lesson is kinda burnt in, if you know what I mean. ;-)

I don't know if there is truth to the rumor that the BPG/RHVilla folks specifically and purposefully sacrificed riders by letting gaps open in order to help there best contenders. If they did, I say brilliant! It sure worked. After 20 minutes of racing I was out of the race, along with many others, wondering what the heck just happened.

Oh, did anyone notice how those JRs worked together in their chase group? Amazing. Not to cast aspersions but my little chase group wanted to ride the windy finishing stretch along the left hand side of the road giving no protection to our fellow chasers. Those JRs were smart and I learned something about team work watching them.

The wind did pick up considerably during the day. Just standing on the start line I could feel the gusts blowing across us. It was a hard course, and for the most part, there really weren't too many places to move up once you drifted back through the pack - either the road was too narrow, or you were in a section where the wind was wreaking havoc.

The wind had the entire pack single file against the barricades in the start/finish straightaway more often than not. The u-turn also added another challenge to the mix.

From my view (as a Cat 3), my take on the course was this. Start/Finish straightaway - guttered and strung out, fighting the wind. First right turn - straight into a headwind. Second right turn - try to recover but also needing to up the pace to maintain position. U turn - try to take a good line and hope that nobody tries to squeeze the inside line, then accelerate like hell. Chicane-like left turn - try to hit the gas to maximize the brief tailwind section. Final right turn - look for a wheel to draft off of.

Rinse, repeat.

Sounds a bit like Martinez this year. At Martinez it was probably a combination of the course, the rain, being an early season race and having some Tour of CA riders in the race. At Martinez we actually were telling riders to stay in the race since we wanted to make sure we have at least as many finishers as prize places.

I'm sure the wind played a role in things on Sunday also since ti sounds like the wind was worse on Sun compared to Sat.

I'm glad I decided to do 35+ as well. I rode the first 2 laps in last place and even with just 57 starters it was not the place to be.

If you could get to the front the course was great.

Sounds like that race is a candidate for seeding like Snake Alley back in Iowa.

Or maybe a field limit due to course limitations.

-R

Wow. I feel lucky that I dedicated the first 10 minutes of the 35+ 1/2/3 race to getting from last off the line to the front of the field... 57 starters felt a little tight on that course, but 120?! It's rough when your whole race is made or broken by starting position.

But now we know: we need 240 riders to make a continuous snake of bikes around that course... .