thanks for the info.

mhernandez
Safeway/GA Comm

I wanted to make sure everyone is aware of a few details of the Bariani Road Race SGW is putting on this year. For anyone who has wondered if it is really happening, the posting of the race flyer should answer those questions. We are still waiting on permits from Yolo County, so there is always the possibility that we will not get the permit, but since UC Davis got permits for this course for the weekend of February 25, there is no reason to think that our permit application will not be granted.

We are not putting on a neutral feed. It will be March, not July, and the lengths of some of the fields are shorter than the Mako race 2 years ago. The feed zone will not be in on the hill, from what I understand.

Also, start/finish is different than the Mako race. The start/finish will be on a small roller just outside of the Bariani facility, which is about a half mile from the turn onto the frontage road that was used for the start/finish 2 years ago. It is a couple hundred yards from a turn. The turn, combined with the KOM point a couple of miles prior, should mean things are pretty well strung out by the finish. KOM is being used to encourage riders to go hard up the hill each time, with the idea that it will help make sure things get strung out by the finish and there isn't a group of 50 sprinting for the win.

I think you will find that the pavement is better than you recall. I raced Zamora 2 years ago, and when we road the course last fall, the roads were in much better shape than I remembered. These are country roads, of course, so they aren't brand new subdivision smooth, but they are in very reasonable shape.

Tripp Goldsberry
SGW

SWoo wrote:Anonymous posts tend to have low credibility.

Bingo

I love the GUEST feature :roll:

Sign up, log in and say what you want, I'll respect that. :twisted:

I raced Zamora two years ago, and really liked it. I did well, and loved the terain, so made it an A priority race last year...but then it got cancelled.
:(

Feedzone was not good, and it took place on a non-weekend, which kind'a sucked for the teammates unable to get off. But that was then.

The good stuff for those who haven't done it: scenery. Slightly rough sections add character to any race. This course is SAFE (please don't dis' a course when it's the riders that smack wheels or overreact). A very relaxed race. There are no funny corners or anything requiring advanced skills. Even the sprint is slightly uphill, making it a safe ending. Actually, the cat5 I took to this RR did it as his first RR, and he thought it was fine. And yes, the little hills hurt a lot at race pace, but we caught back on every time--sort'a like a redneck Ronde Von Brisbeen. Thanks, SGW for picking it up!

phong

Thanks for the info, guys. Even if it isn't much of a hill, props to SGW for using the KOM idea. Always nice to see promoters trying something different.

peterpen wrote:Looks like this is indeed a go - kudos to SGW for putting on a road race instead of yet another crit.
here's a link to the flyer:
http://sacgw0.tripod.com/pg2006/06RaceAnn.pdf

note that there will be no neutral feed, but since it's now held in March and no more than 60 miles, two bottles should suffice.

Can anyone tell me more about the one hill? Apparently there will be a KOM prize?!

I did this race 2 years ago as a 5. The hill is kind of like half Camino Alto, and not much more then that. It's a strange place for a KOM I suppose, but a few people did go for this as I remember and the decisive break (3 people) in the 5s formed on this hill on lap 2 and stayed away for the rest of the race, or 30 more miles. It's a really fun race despite the fact that we were roasting under 105 degree temps and I had no water for the last two laps.

For someone who rides regularly in the Bay Area, this is probably not a very big hill. Of course at race pace it's a different story for difficulty. If I am reading my data correctly in the particular race we were previously discussing, it took about three and half minutes to get to the top in the group with a minimum speed of 11 mph at the steepest portion on the first lap with everyone still in there.

Looks like this is indeed a go - kudos to SGW for putting on a road race instead of yet another crit.
here's a link to the flyer:
http://sacgw0.tripod.com/pg2006/06RaceAnn.pdf

note that there will be no neutral feed, but since it's now held in March and no more than 60 miles, two bottles should suffice.

Can anyone tell me more about the one hill? Apparently there will be a KOM prize?!

Thanks Diskzero and SGW for the positive feedback on my earlier posts regarding some past problems with this race. I am certain with SGW organizing this event it will be far better in many ways. I may even race it also possibly!

I ride for SGW and have been marginally involved in the preperation for this race. However it looks like I'm the only guy on the team that reads this forum so you'll have to settle for my slightly uninformed reply.

We have been looking at doing the Zamora course since a teamate of ours bought property out there for his olive oil company, Bariani Olive Oil (some of you may have won a bottle as a prime prize...good stuff). His facility, which is just off the course, will provide us with a great place to set up registration/staging/podium presentation, etc.

As for road conditions, we have been looking at this carefully with rider safety being our cheif concern. Half of the course is on rough, but not horrible farmroads. The other half is on smooth roads with a bit more traffic. Honestly, the fast traffic is more of a safety concern for us than the road surface and may limit field sizes.

I'm glad to hear input about the feed zone location. All I remember is being promised a neutral feed at the race 2 years ago only to find that the h2o had run out by our second time through. I believe it was 105 degrees that day...Fun. I'll share the concerns about the feed zone with our race director, but as you may know that's a relatively flat fast course with few oportunities to provide a truly safe and mellow feed zone. It often depends on the mood of the field as they pass through.

I believe the race 2 years ago was put on by Mako and it was the first year working with that course. My recolection is that they did a good job and probably ran into some of the same problems that any club sees when putting on a race (especially a road race).

Thanks for the input. It is what helps us tweek things and make our races better from year to year. Keep your eyes open for more info on this race. I'm sure we'll put something out soon.

Oops. Previous "Guest" post from me. Clicking the auto login button is a good idea too.

Guest,

Please continue to post honest race reports. Every one has a diffferent perspective and it is good to know about them. If you want to give a a race a C because of bad roads, slow race results and late start times, that is fine with me. Most races are probably a C given those parameters, but that is the way it is.

It woudln't hurt if you create a login or use the same name when posting. It will add some personality to what you are contributing.

Anonymous posts tend to have low credibility.

Your criticism was not specific except about the temperature and the road condition. Now you bring up new complaints - limited placing and feedzone not in the right place.

Feedzone, I'd agree with you. I think there was an issue with the road being too narrow without much shoulder at the best point (crest of the hill) where they were judging the KOM prize.

I didn't realize the promoters were responsible for the crashes, too. Was Zamora the only race with you entered with crashes in 2004? IIRC the worst crash was because someone insisted on the second lap on riding on the shoulder on the approach to the hill which we all could see on the first lap was made of a deep layer of gravel. The inevitable washout of his front wheel caused a chain reaction crash.

The race organizers are not responsible for how deep the results go nor how long it takes results to get posted. That is mostly the officiating crew. If the camera works they can usually get everybody. If it doesn't or they don't have a camera, they try to make sure to get the top placings.

In 2004 at Zamora they had free nutrition after the race, unadvertised neutral water/feed, free pastries at registration.

The Zamora race was not perfectly run and the course was not perfect, what race is?

I've preregistered for races and had to wait in line for an hour in the preregistered line, finished races with electronic chip timing and not been placed, and that's just Sea Otter for two years in a row...

I've also had a few bad experiences at Velopromo races but I've also had tons of good experiences. As Arnold says, "I'll be back".

I related my generally negative experiences and impressions of this race two years ago in this forum as a "public service". The feedzone was totally inadequate and misplaced, the results took an extremely long time to post (longer than any other race I have done) and then only went 10 deep in our event (although many more than that finished). Overall, having done many Velo Promo races and not being a big fan of that outfit either to be honest, I would say Zamora was on a much lower level. If you disagree, fine. If I am correct, SGW is putting on this event this time (not the previous organizer). My recollection is that SGW is a first class team and puts on great events. Zamora may be a great race this year. I mentioned the road conditions and crashes so that others can be prepared, ride cautiously etc. I have nothing to gain from this.

So, I appeal to the people who "sliently" read this board to weigh it here on this basic issue about this forum. Do you want to read honest critiques of racers with past experiences ***even if negative*** or do you want a forum where any negative comments or observations are dismissed as whining, complaining, misleading and out of place? Do we racers want a "code of silence" culture or do we want to promote and encourage freedom of expression and opinion?

farm wrote:I want to do this race this year, how does the road surface compare to the Leesville RR, which for me was the roughest I have ever done. It was like potholes, sand, gravel, dirt & bumps, from the 5 mile mark to about the 40 mile mark. Please someone remind me why we love to do this!!
OH yea I forgot the hill & the 100' + temp. :D
It's definitely better than Leesville - that's too easy! It's been a while but IIRC the roads were better than Copperopolis (I've never thought Copperopolis was very bad compared to Tunitas Creek). Conditions may have changed, buyer beware, etc. yada yada yada.
edit: I looked at my racing data and there is one long section that is rough but it's too long to stay standing at six or seven miles.

I want to do this race this year, how does the road surface compare to the Leesville RR, which for me was the roughest I have ever done. It was like potholes, sand, gravel, dirt & bumps, from the 5 mile mark to about the 40 mile mark. Please someone remind me why we love to do this!!
OH yea I forgot the hill & the 100' + temp. :D

diskzero wrote:The "A" events are the ones where the roads are freshly paved and closed, full neutral support even for Cat. 4/5s, neutral feeds every lap, moderate temperatures and an easy pace so you don't get sweaty, Port-a-Potties that smell like fresh roses and are cleaned every 30 minutes and a $5 entry fee. Oh, and I get to win too.
That's hilarious! I think we need more events like that.....but then, would we have as much fun???

The "A" events are the ones where the roads are freshly paved and closed, full neutral support even for Cat. 4/5s, neutral feeds every lap, moderate temperatures and an easy pace so you don't get sweaty, Port-a-Potties that smell like fresh roses and are cleaned every 30 minutes and a $5 entry fee. Oh, and I get to win too.

re: "C" event,

I was in the same race, in the same class and I witnessed both accidents from behind and in all fairness to the race organizers it was put together as well as any Velopromo event. Not sure what you are complaining about - the temperature in the central valley in the summer time or the fact that the rough roads disclosed in the race flyer were rough roads?

FYI for those who have not raced this course before. I did it two years ago (last year was cancelled) in 35+ 4/5. The race was run in mid-Summer at high noon -- it should be more pleasant in March. It was a fairly fast 11/12 mile type loop with one fairly minor hill about 1 or 1.5 miles from the end which saw some action on the last lap. There were at least two crashes, one bad in my race. Also the road was quite rough and I got blisters and sore wrists from it so if you have good padded gloves I would recommend those and/or a softer set of wheels if those are available. Overall, I would rate the race two years ago as a "C" event at best. I hope with new management it will be more pleasant!

Any more word on this race? anyone know if it will be the same course as in past editions?
I emailed the SGW website peeps, but no response...

Awesome - Thanks Casey!

SGW is in the process of getting the race permit for the event so I'd say there is a good chance of the race happening.