Other teammates: Gonzalo, Bill, Mike, John L, Rory
Class/Cat: M45+ cat 4
Finishing place: 27/48
Berkeley Hills was the 2nd race for me for this season. I felt like I’m in better shape at this point in the season than last year so I was hoping to stay with field. There were about 50 starters in the 45+ cat 4 group including Gonzalo. The race starts with a 2 mile promenade out to the course and then a gradual downhill run to the first right turn and the first of several short power climbs. Basically, everyone seemed to have the same idea of how to ride this race, conserve energy on the flatter portions and go hard on all the climbs, burn everyone’s legs out and let the best win on the final climb. There may have been a few trying to go off the front but no one managed to get more than 10s up the road before they were reeled in within a few miles of the next climb. The first time up the bears (Baby, Mama, & Papa) I was working hard but was able to keep my place in the pack. I thought I was in the middle but I kept hearing the motorcycle not far behind. Gonzalo was having troubles with the climbs and was getting gapped on every climb. I didn’t think I was going to see him until the end of the race, but he would chase and catch back on just before the next climb, get gapped and chase again. He was in for a long morning!
The 2nd lap was more of the same and the bears were OK and I had no trouble staying with the pack through the S/F line. The 3rd lap the racing started in ernest and the speed picked up on the flatter sections. When we started the bears again the pace was a notch higher on the climb. At the top of Baby bear, I was gapped by about 25 feet to the end of the pack. It may as well have been 250ft at that point. I gave it everything I had on the decent and worked with another rider. We charged up Momma Bear with the pack dangling just in front, but again at the top of Momma bear, we had about a 40ft gap and could not close before the decent. I was gassed but went as hard as I could, even drafting passing cars to try and gain a few more feet but to no avail. When I stared the final climb to the finish, the pack was about 15s ahead. My finishing place, 27/48. Gonzalo finished about 5 minutes later but he was chasing almost the entire race! After downloading the garmin stats and comparing to last year, this race was ridden 1.5 mph faster and I was riding the climbs at about 1.8mph faster than last year. Lessons learned from this race: loose two more pounds, do more hill intervals.