Finally A Really Hard Race
One day last week, my dad crashed on his way home from work. He managed to break his jaw, forcing him to stay home during our weekend racing trip, which he insisted we do without him. So on Friday we left him with the blender and headed off. Our first stop was the Warnerville Time Trial course, which my brother would be racing on the following day. We prerode it on Friday and found it to be windy with plenty of rollers.
After our ride we drove to our accommodations in beautiful Manteca. We ate at a nice brewery/restaurant downtown with live music. On Saturday we headed back to the course for Alex’s race after a Starbucks pastry-run. As usual he put out a great ride with a smoking 53:33.0 to land him sixth place in the 3s. We headed back to the hotel with plenty of time left in the day. Alex forgot his bathing suit, so we settled on relaxing in the room. After we were all relaxed-out, we went to the movie theater to see The Hangover, which, for some reason, was still playing. I didn’t have huge expectations beforehand, but I thought it was a pretty funny movie. Then we struggled to find another appetizing-looking restaurant in Manteca and went to a pizzeria.
On Sunday we said goodbye to Manteca and left for the Patterson Pass Road Race. I knew that I wouldn’t do so hot in the Pro/1/2s, but I was looking forward to the race nevertheless because brutal races like that are definitely my favorite. I started with a full stomach from the previous night’s pizza and therefore ate nothing during the race. Nutrition is certainly a weak point of mine. The first time up the pass wasn’t too bad, but I had trouble keeping up the rest of the first lap because I was spinning out whenever we weren’t climbing. The second time up the climb was much harder for me than the first, so I got shelled.
At that point my excitement for brutal races had waned a little, but I was still determined to finish the three remaining laps. On the second-to-last lap I was lucky to get caught by A.J. from my team and Phil Mooney, a fellow Davisite. Both had had flat troubles, and Phil was even in a position to do really well. So I rode with them for a lap and then did the last lap (slowly) on my own. After 90 miles I was relieved to see the finish line. Cody even waited to see me cross it.
The race might’ve been long, hot, and hilly, but I don’t regret doing it at all, especially since I finished when so many other riders in my field didn’t.
