Group A Winner :: Daniel Lam
ITT:
After the Giro di San Franciso I hadn't been riding a ton, it was a long season & I was feeling pretty toasted. I rode about every 3 days and did a couple longer rides (2-3 hours) in the last 4 weeks. I went into this wanting to improve on my time of 17:47 from last year. I don't have a TT bike so I had basically the same setup as last year - road bike with mini clip ons & regular helmet. This year I had deeper carbon wheels and I wore a skinsuit, I'm sure the wheels helped, who knows about the skinsuit. I don't really race TTs so I don't have any specific TT strategy or numbers to hit. I just tried to go hard from the start and not blow up towards the end since the finish is uphill. I felt pretty good out there and looking at my clock coming up towards the final roller I thought I might have a shot at breaking 17 minutes but boy that is a long straightaway. I finished at 17:14 which was an improvement over last year and was good for 5th on the day. TBS Racing teammate Mike Holt of TBS was on fire as usual and took first blazing to a new course record 16:05 or something ridiculous like that. Made sure to do a good cooldown to flush the junk out of the legs for the evening's crit.
Crit:
Had a good lunch of spaghetti & meatballs, tried to take an afternoon nap but with family & football I got in about 5 minutes. Ended up watching the rest of the Michigan/Wisconsin game, what a comeback. Got to the crit course with plenty of time to get in a good warm-up but as usual spent too much time chatting so there was no warm-up. The 4th place guy on GC wasn't racing so I moved up a spot into 4th. Mike Holt, Raffi Jillzian & Brian Heneghan were ahead of me. The TBS Racing team plan was for Mike to chill, Bob White, Kelly Higgins, & I would cover breaks & look for time bonuses. There were 2 time bonus primes, I think they were 15-10-5. The finish was 30-20-10. I wanted to go for all of these. Race started, there were around 30 guys in the As. My legs felt pretty good and except for a few accelerations I just hung around waiting for the prime bell to ring. For the first one I attacked early on the straightaway before the final corner. There was some headwind there so it took a bit of an effort. I took a peek back to see if anyone was on my wheel but I was alone. I maintained my speed to the corner, coasted through it and caught my breath, then started sprinting. I took another peek back and saw I had a good lead so I was able to ease up a bit before the line.
I chilled for the next 2 laps to recover. A few laps later a small group got off the front with Daryl Spano. They had 20-30 seconds on us. Then we got the bell for prime #2. I didn't want them to snag the bonuses so I attacked through the finish straight hoping to bridge up. I took a peek and I hadn't gotten a gap but I could see the group ahead was slowing & I was pretty sure we'd catch them. After turn 2 I attacked again but couldn't get a gap. Around turn 3 & I was worried I had used too much energy since I was hurting. I think at this point we caught the group ahead. Then Erick Balfus and Brian Heneghan came around me, Erick was leading out Brian for the sprint. I got on Brian's wheel and we were around turn 4. Erick gave Brian a perfect leadout and I was unable to come around him but nabbed 2nd.
The next few laps were pretty relaxed, but eventually a group of 4 or 5 got away with Daryl. Bob bridged up to make sure TBS was represented. I think a lap or 2 later Erick also bridged up and that was the winning move. They stayed away & Bob took the sprint for the victory & the 30 second bonus, Erick was 2nd I think and both moved up in GC.
Road Race:
Going into the RR Mike had a 26 second lead on Brian Heneghan. Raffi was at 32 sec, I was at 44, Bob & Erick were at 46. Time bonuses were big - top of the Wall each lap was 30-15-5, finish was 60-45-30-15. I was hoping I could nab a few bonuses & move up to 2nd while trying to protect Mike's lead. So right from the gun Heneghan attacked. We wanted to keep him in check so Bob, Kelly Higgins, & I took up the chase. If he was 1st over the Wall he'd be the leader on the road. We kept him pretty close and as we made the right off Oak Glen onto Llagas I thought we could see him maybe 15 sec ahead. There were a couple non-racers ahead and I saw a red blur go right instead of left & I wondered if that was him. After the left the road gets twisty there & it's easy to get out of sight so I couldn't be sure, but his teammate Erick, who had been deftly blocking our chase efforts said he had made a wrong turn. I thought where he had turned was essentially a driveway so I thought he would quickly figure out his mistake & chase back on. Unfortunately he didn't & that was the last we saw of him. The first trip up the Wall I knew I didn't have the legs to try for the prime since I had done a lot of work chasing. I did my best to maintain contact and watched Mike put in a big acceleration to nab the prime. I think Erick was 2nd and that moved him into 3rd ahead of me by 13 sec. I struggled over the top about 10 sec back. I made sure to get back on quick over the top since Mike & I had talked about pushing it over the top the first lap hopefully to drop some guys. When I caught back I went right to the front & kept it rolling. We kept the pace high until the neutralized zone & the "boardwalk". As we started up the rise towards the finish line I looked around & there were maybe 12 guys left. Unfortunately for TBS we had dropped Kelly & Bob. Though with Heneghan gone & Mike taking the 30 sec bonus, it was a good first lap.
Starting the 2nd lap I sat in for a bit to recover as I burned a few matches that first lap. After the turn onto Oak Glen one rider went up the road & Daryl bridged up. The 2 quickly built up a lead & we were content to let them go since they weren't a threat at this point - if they took the 30-15 at the Wall so be it. We kept a steady pace at the front. The 2nd time up the wall Daryl & the other rider were first over the top. Erick & Daniel Farinha sprinted it out for the 5 seconds. They gapped us going over the top & kept it rolling. They had around 10 -15 seconds on us and we made sure to keep it close. Coming into the finish rise we caught them. We could see Daryl & the other rider ahead and we were reeling them in. Starting our final lap, we caught them shortly after we passed the parking lot. I figured my best chance to move up in GC was to try a solo move and be the first over the Wall to get the 30 sec. I thought a good place to attack was the gradual rise before the descent & right hander onto Oak Glen. A bit before this section, Daryl attacked & I got on his wheel. The group was on us pretty quickly and then the pace slowed. We were on the gradual rise and I attacked and got a gap. I told myself to just keep it rolling until the downhill where I could recover a bit. I took a peek back to see if anyone was chasing and Erick had bridged up. We started working and got a good rotation going, we were moving. We made the turn onto Sycamore and started the climb, I didn't know how much I had left in my legs & I remembered Erick had sprinted it out the last time up. I kept a steady pace and accelerated when I could see the top. I couldn't hear Erick behind me & I came over the top first. I eased up to recover a bit, expecting Erick to be right there but I had gapped him. I realized I was going to have to solo it in but I almost didn't make it. I was blasting down the descent & a blue minivan either didn't see me or misjudged my speed because he pulled out right in front of me. I slammed on the brakes and swerved right around the van and into the driveway. I lost a lot of speed and I figured then that Erick was going to catch me. I looked back & I still had a good lead so I kept it rolling. Once I made the left towards the boardwalk I took a peek, didn't see him and was able to hold it to the line. I didn't expect to overtake Mike - I was hoping to move into 2nd, but with the time bonuses I was surprised that I ended up 1st overall. Thanks again to SJBC & all the volunteers for putting on such a great event.
-Dan
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ITT:
After the Giro di San Franciso I hadn't been riding a ton, it was a long season & I was feeling pretty toasted. I rode about every 3 days and did a couple longer rides (2-3 hours) in the last 4 weeks. I went into this wanting to improve on my time of 17:47 from last year. I don't have a TT bike so I had basically the same setup as last year - road bike with mini clip ons & regular helmet. This year I had deeper carbon wheels and I wore a skinsuit, I'm sure the wheels helped, who knows about the skinsuit. I don't really race TTs so I don't have any specific TT strategy or numbers to hit. I just tried to go hard from the start and not blow up towards the end since the finish is uphill. I felt pretty good out there and looking at my clock coming up towards the final roller I thought I might have a shot at breaking 17 minutes but boy that is a long straightaway. I finished at 17:14 which was an improvement over last year and was good for 5th on the day. TBS Racing teammate Mike Holt of TBS was on fire as usual and took first blazing to a new course record 16:05 or something ridiculous like that. Made sure to do a good cooldown to flush the junk out of the legs for the evening's crit.
Crit:
Had a good lunch of spaghetti & meatballs, tried to take an afternoon nap but with family & football I got in about 5 minutes. Ended up watching the rest of the Michigan/Wisconsin game, what a comeback. Got to the crit course with plenty of time to get in a good warm-up but as usual spent too much time chatting so there was no warm-up. The 4th place guy on GC wasn't racing so I moved up a spot into 4th. Mike Holt, Raffi Jillzian & Brian Heneghan were ahead of me. The TBS Racing team plan was for Mike to chill, Bob White, Kelly Higgins, & I would cover breaks & look for time bonuses. There were 2 time bonus primes, I think they were 15-10-5. The finish was 30-20-10. I wanted to go for all of these. Race started, there were around 30 guys in the As. My legs felt pretty good and except for a few accelerations I just hung around waiting for the prime bell to ring. For the first one I attacked early on the straightaway before the final corner. There was some headwind there so it took a bit of an effort. I took a peek back to see if anyone was on my wheel but I was alone. I maintained my speed to the corner, coasted through it and caught my breath, then started sprinting. I took another peek back and saw I had a good lead so I was able to ease up a bit before the line.
I chilled for the next 2 laps to recover. A few laps later a small group got off the front with Daryl Spano. They had 20-30 seconds on us. Then we got the bell for prime #2. I didn't want them to snag the bonuses so I attacked through the finish straight hoping to bridge up. I took a peek and I hadn't gotten a gap but I could see the group ahead was slowing & I was pretty sure we'd catch them. After turn 2 I attacked again but couldn't get a gap. Around turn 3 & I was worried I had used too much energy since I was hurting. I think at this point we caught the group ahead. Then Erick Balfus and Brian Heneghan came around me, Erick was leading out Brian for the sprint. I got on Brian's wheel and we were around turn 4. Erick gave Brian a perfect leadout and I was unable to come around him but nabbed 2nd.
The next few laps were pretty relaxed, but eventually a group of 4 or 5 got away with Daryl. Bob bridged up to make sure TBS was represented. I think a lap or 2 later Erick also bridged up and that was the winning move. They stayed away & Bob took the sprint for the victory & the 30 second bonus, Erick was 2nd I think and both moved up in GC.
Road Race:
Going into the RR Mike had a 26 second lead on Brian Heneghan. Raffi was at 32 sec, I was at 44, Bob & Erick were at 46. Time bonuses were big - top of the Wall each lap was 30-15-5, finish was 60-45-30-15. I was hoping I could nab a few bonuses & move up to 2nd while trying to protect Mike's lead. So right from the gun Heneghan attacked. We wanted to keep him in check so Bob, Kelly Higgins, & I took up the chase. If he was 1st over the Wall he'd be the leader on the road. We kept him pretty close and as we made the right off Oak Glen onto Llagas I thought we could see him maybe 15 sec ahead. There were a couple non-racers ahead and I saw a red blur go right instead of left & I wondered if that was him. After the left the road gets twisty there & it's easy to get out of sight so I couldn't be sure, but his teammate Erick, who had been deftly blocking our chase efforts said he had made a wrong turn. I thought where he had turned was essentially a driveway so I thought he would quickly figure out his mistake & chase back on. Unfortunately he didn't & that was the last we saw of him. The first trip up the Wall I knew I didn't have the legs to try for the prime since I had done a lot of work chasing. I did my best to maintain contact and watched Mike put in a big acceleration to nab the prime. I think Erick was 2nd and that moved him into 3rd ahead of me by 13 sec. I struggled over the top about 10 sec back. I made sure to get back on quick over the top since Mike & I had talked about pushing it over the top the first lap hopefully to drop some guys. When I caught back I went right to the front & kept it rolling. We kept the pace high until the neutralized zone & the "boardwalk". As we started up the rise towards the finish line I looked around & there were maybe 12 guys left. Unfortunately for TBS we had dropped Kelly & Bob. Though with Heneghan gone & Mike taking the 30 sec bonus, it was a good first lap.
Starting the 2nd lap I sat in for a bit to recover as I burned a few matches that first lap. After the turn onto Oak Glen one rider went up the road & Daryl bridged up. The 2 quickly built up a lead & we were content to let them go since they weren't a threat at this point - if they took the 30-15 at the Wall so be it. We kept a steady pace at the front. The 2nd time up the wall Daryl & the other rider were first over the top. Erick & Daniel Farinha sprinted it out for the 5 seconds. They gapped us going over the top & kept it rolling. They had around 10 -15 seconds on us and we made sure to keep it close. Coming into the finish rise we caught them. We could see Daryl & the other rider ahead and we were reeling them in. Starting our final lap, we caught them shortly after we passed the parking lot. I figured my best chance to move up in GC was to try a solo move and be the first over the Wall to get the 30 sec. I thought a good place to attack was the gradual rise before the descent & right hander onto Oak Glen. A bit before this section, Daryl attacked & I got on his wheel. The group was on us pretty quickly and then the pace slowed. We were on the gradual rise and I attacked and got a gap. I told myself to just keep it rolling until the downhill where I could recover a bit. I took a peek back to see if anyone was chasing and Erick had bridged up. We started working and got a good rotation going, we were moving. We made the turn onto Sycamore and started the climb, I didn't know how much I had left in my legs & I remembered Erick had sprinted it out the last time up. I kept a steady pace and accelerated when I could see the top. I couldn't hear Erick behind me & I came over the top first. I eased up to recover a bit, expecting Erick to be right there but I had gapped him. I realized I was going to have to solo it in but I almost didn't make it. I was blasting down the descent & a blue minivan either didn't see me or misjudged my speed because he pulled out right in front of me. I slammed on the brakes and swerved right around the van and into the driveway. I lost a lot of speed and I figured then that Erick was going to catch me. I looked back & I still had a good lead so I kept it rolling. Once I made the left towards the boardwalk I took a peek, didn't see him and was able to hold it to the line. I didn't expect to overtake Mike - I was hoping to move into 2nd, but with the time bonuses I was surprised that I ended up 1st overall. Thanks again to SJBC & all the volunteers for putting on such a great event.
-Dan
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Group B Winner :: Allen Wulczynski
This was my second Vuelta de San Jose race and this one happened to be on my 46th birthday. Going into this race my goal was to work for the other SJBC riders and try to improve on my race tactics. Not only did I PR in the ITT, but I received an unexpected Birthday gift; winning (with the hard work and excellent racing of all the other SJBC riders) the overall B Category.
Day One - ITT
Time trials are usually my weakest event, so I was happy to see I improved my previous time by 1 minute, but I was still 1:07 behind the hard charging Jonathan Racine, who pulled out the fastest ITT for the B group.
The weather was perfect for the ITT, cool air and sunny skies. I tried to keep an even pace throughout the Time trial and have a smooth finish. After the race my legs were a little tired and I wondered how it was going to have an effect on my riding in the Crit later that day.
Day One - Crit.
When the morning results where posted it was clear that SJBC was going to be going up against some strong riders and a great TBS team. Before the crit started Derrick Hemmingway, Ed Webb, John Hostetter and I talked about possible strategies to improve one of our teammates in the standings. Since Derrick is a strong sprinter and a wily crit racer, the rest of us took on the role of helping in the effort to get Derrick the win. Jonathan, Ed and John did an outstanding job setting the pace and chasing down any attacks.
For the first prime Ed, Derrick and I, in that order, were able to grab the top three time bonuses.
Coming into the last three laps the pace picked up a bit and Jodi Birrell, Scott Lewis, Earl Baker and Faron Ryan, who all raced an outstanding crit looked poised for a victory. On the last lap my thought was to stay left on the second to last stretch going into the final, because the inside seemed to be crowded in the previous 15 laps.
Many of the other racers seemed to be thinking the same strategy; because on that last lap this is where they set up themselves. As we approached the final turn Derrick Hemmingway saw an opening on the inside and took off and built up a 20m lead against the other riders trying to chase him down and pulled off an impressive win. This moved him up to be in contention for the overall the next day. I was able to come away with a 4th place finish also improving my time.
Day Two - Road Race
On day two - the 32 mile road race, the top 10 riders where less than a minute behind the current leader Jonathan Racine, and seven SJBC riders held those spots with the rest of the field not far behind. With the time bonuses, the overall was still wide open.
The pre-race strategy was that we were going to try to work for Jonathan, Derrick, John or the impressive junior Gento Kusano. With Jonathan graciously displacing himself from contender to domestique, the focus shifted to Gento, with the other teammates sitting in the wings if the dynamics of the race changed.
We planned on trying to send three riders ahead on the first lap to take the KOM bonuses and then throw in multiple attacks on the second lap, with the last one hopefully staying away.
Our race started 10 minutes behind the A group. Right from the start Team TBS sent Earl Baker off the front to try to take the first KOM bonus points away from us. Two of our younger riders went with him.
Jonathan set the pace and Derrick, John and Alan Weatherall kept a watchful eye on the rest or the field, marking any other rider breakaways. Ed, Gento and I were waiting for the right time to make our first attack. When we did Gento took off first and then Ed and I, but Jodi Birrell, Scott Lewis and Faron Ryan where right there as we attacked all the way to the wall. I crested the wall 3rd to earn some bonus points. After the wall we were down to four SJBC riders’ four TBS riders and a loan Cal rider, Kenneth Parnow. The pace slowed way down as we finished the first lap. Our attacks started up again as Ed Webb and another SJBC rider went off the front. After that attack Jonathan came flying by, setting up an attack with a pursuing Derrick Hemmingway, John Hostetler and Alan Weatherall. Kenneth was one of the riders that went with Jonathan and was still up the road about 400m after that attack was caught by the peleton.
I set out on the next attack and was able to separate myself from the peleton by 400m as I caught up to Kenneth. We both worked together to increase our lead on the rest of the field. Back in the peleton, Gento, Derrick, John, Ed, Alan and Jonathan where working their butts off blocking and fighting off counter attacks.
I had mixed feelings as I approached the Wall for the last KOM bonus points. My goal for this series was to help one of my teammates to get the win. But without the use of radios to know what was going on behind me I continued on to secure the top KOM bonus points and the bonus for crossing the finish line first, preventing any other team from earning them.
I consider this a team victory rather than an individual one. Thanks to all the great SJBC riders and Kenneth Parnow, who was very instrumental in the outcome of this race.
Also, thank you to all the volunteers who did a great job putting on this event. One other note: All the juniors raced great!
--- Allen Wulczynski
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This was my second Vuelta de San Jose race and this one happened to be on my 46th birthday. Going into this race my goal was to work for the other SJBC riders and try to improve on my race tactics. Not only did I PR in the ITT, but I received an unexpected Birthday gift; winning (with the hard work and excellent racing of all the other SJBC riders) the overall B Category.
Day One - ITT
Time trials are usually my weakest event, so I was happy to see I improved my previous time by 1 minute, but I was still 1:07 behind the hard charging Jonathan Racine, who pulled out the fastest ITT for the B group.
The weather was perfect for the ITT, cool air and sunny skies. I tried to keep an even pace throughout the Time trial and have a smooth finish. After the race my legs were a little tired and I wondered how it was going to have an effect on my riding in the Crit later that day.
Day One - Crit.
When the morning results where posted it was clear that SJBC was going to be going up against some strong riders and a great TBS team. Before the crit started Derrick Hemmingway, Ed Webb, John Hostetter and I talked about possible strategies to improve one of our teammates in the standings. Since Derrick is a strong sprinter and a wily crit racer, the rest of us took on the role of helping in the effort to get Derrick the win. Jonathan, Ed and John did an outstanding job setting the pace and chasing down any attacks.
For the first prime Ed, Derrick and I, in that order, were able to grab the top three time bonuses.
Coming into the last three laps the pace picked up a bit and Jodi Birrell, Scott Lewis, Earl Baker and Faron Ryan, who all raced an outstanding crit looked poised for a victory. On the last lap my thought was to stay left on the second to last stretch going into the final, because the inside seemed to be crowded in the previous 15 laps.
Many of the other racers seemed to be thinking the same strategy; because on that last lap this is where they set up themselves. As we approached the final turn Derrick Hemmingway saw an opening on the inside and took off and built up a 20m lead against the other riders trying to chase him down and pulled off an impressive win. This moved him up to be in contention for the overall the next day. I was able to come away with a 4th place finish also improving my time.
Day Two - Road Race
On day two - the 32 mile road race, the top 10 riders where less than a minute behind the current leader Jonathan Racine, and seven SJBC riders held those spots with the rest of the field not far behind. With the time bonuses, the overall was still wide open.
The pre-race strategy was that we were going to try to work for Jonathan, Derrick, John or the impressive junior Gento Kusano. With Jonathan graciously displacing himself from contender to domestique, the focus shifted to Gento, with the other teammates sitting in the wings if the dynamics of the race changed.
We planned on trying to send three riders ahead on the first lap to take the KOM bonuses and then throw in multiple attacks on the second lap, with the last one hopefully staying away.
Our race started 10 minutes behind the A group. Right from the start Team TBS sent Earl Baker off the front to try to take the first KOM bonus points away from us. Two of our younger riders went with him.
Jonathan set the pace and Derrick, John and Alan Weatherall kept a watchful eye on the rest or the field, marking any other rider breakaways. Ed, Gento and I were waiting for the right time to make our first attack. When we did Gento took off first and then Ed and I, but Jodi Birrell, Scott Lewis and Faron Ryan where right there as we attacked all the way to the wall. I crested the wall 3rd to earn some bonus points. After the wall we were down to four SJBC riders’ four TBS riders and a loan Cal rider, Kenneth Parnow. The pace slowed way down as we finished the first lap. Our attacks started up again as Ed Webb and another SJBC rider went off the front. After that attack Jonathan came flying by, setting up an attack with a pursuing Derrick Hemmingway, John Hostetler and Alan Weatherall. Kenneth was one of the riders that went with Jonathan and was still up the road about 400m after that attack was caught by the peleton.
I set out on the next attack and was able to separate myself from the peleton by 400m as I caught up to Kenneth. We both worked together to increase our lead on the rest of the field. Back in the peleton, Gento, Derrick, John, Ed, Alan and Jonathan where working their butts off blocking and fighting off counter attacks.
I had mixed feelings as I approached the Wall for the last KOM bonus points. My goal for this series was to help one of my teammates to get the win. But without the use of radios to know what was going on behind me I continued on to secure the top KOM bonus points and the bonus for crossing the finish line first, preventing any other team from earning them.
I consider this a team victory rather than an individual one. Thanks to all the great SJBC riders and Kenneth Parnow, who was very instrumental in the outcome of this race.
Also, thank you to all the volunteers who did a great job putting on this event. One other note: All the juniors raced great!
--- Allen Wulczynski
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