Cascadia Crit Series: Fremont RACE REPORT

[race report from from our new upstart in seattle, eric cockrell.  who by the way we are all very proud of him representing the b+ colors in the northwest and his first outing in a crit.]

The course was super fast (less than 1k), wide and had 3 corners, one of them being a nasty u turn. There was a crash at that turn on every lap, and it was definitely on everyones mind everytime we came around. This totally could have been becasue it was a 4/5 race, but from what i heard, there were still a lot of bails in the womens, and the 1/2/3's. I took as much advice as I could retain through the butterflys. I showed up early (didn't pre reg) and warmed up on the course to get comfortable, I even started dead center very front with no trouble clipping in after the whistle. stayed pretty hydrated, but could have drank more during.

40 minute race, field of 75, and I was able to hold the 6th wheel for the first 15 or so minutes (missing the primes by inches, SO FRUSTRATING), then I really started to have trouble maintaining my speed out of the corners...slowly dropping back. I eventually found myself in a small group of 7 or 8, and nobody wanted to work together to catch up. One of the guys in our group was yelling at everyone trying to get a pace line going and it seemed like him and I were the only ones that cared at that point, and it showed. We started to make some progress on bridging the already too large of a gap when we were dropped out with about 6 laps left.

Overall, pleased for my first crit. I expect to do much better on Saturday, .8miles, 4 corners (one of them downhill) lots of brick, rain, and loud drunks.

VIA Polar:

Time- 29:46.0

AvgHR- 174bpm

MaxHR- 183bpm

Kcal- 575

Dist- 11.4miles

Avg Spd- 23mph

Max Spd- 29.1mph

ONTARIO 1

[wes nielson, aka capt'n: ontario race report]

Yesterday I contended in 2 races at Ontario, 30+ 4/5 and the 4/5. Both races were pretty uneventful. So I’ll start with the excuses. I have been pretty sick for the past 3 days leading up to the races, and have just returned from a vacation that had nothing to do with cycling and everything to do with eating and drinking.

In the 30+ 4/5 race I stayed in front for the majority of the race but my legs felt so sluggish and cob-webbed from not riding for a few days. With 2 to go I was sitting about 20th and knew it was now or never so I jumped outside the group to make a move to the front 10. Just as I did so the group slowed down and I slang-shot right to the front of the pack. “Fuck” I was thinking I was in no position to pull the group this late in the race but had no choice and figured it was a training race so I put my head down and drilled it on the false flat leading into the last 2 turns of the 7 turn course. After my pull I sat up when the surge came around me and latched onto the back of the group. I made one more move to the front during the last lap but again realized my legs and burning lungs from my cold were not going to allow me to contest the sprint so I just sat in and coasted in at the back of the pack. No biggie and really not a bad race for my first race of the season and feeling like complete shit.

Race 2 the 4/5 race I was accompanied by John. We had a good warm up and I could tell my legs were going to feel way better this race. At the gun I took off to take a short pull to wake my legs up (my signature move) and noticed I gaped the field. So I sat up and took 7th wheel or so. John and I were in contact for the majority of the race only to be separated every now and than but always finding each other again. My legs felt a lot better and therefore was able to race way more aggressive. I took a couple of pulls and maintained a position in the top 10 for most of the race except when I go boxed in and shuffled to the back from a surge that came up the side. When this happened John and I simply sat in the back for a lap while we coasted and recovered. With 4 to go I told John we need to get to the front. So I booked it and got in the top 20 and then jumped again 2 turns later in the head wind section to go to top 10. “Perfect” I am thinking sitting 10th wheel with 3 to go all I have to do is hold position and go with any surge that comes around. With one to go I was still in position and thats when it happened, some asshole crossed 3 lanes to chop my wheel in turn 5 causing me to have no other choice but to brake and loose 20 positions. At this point I had absolutely no momentum so I simply sat up and cruised in with the back of the pack. I was pissed and call the mother F’r out. I went looking for him on the warm down lap. I didn’t find him but found 2 of his teammates (SDBC) and asked if they were the ones I yelled at, they said no, I told them the story and they admitted they were sure they knew who it was. I told them tell him to cut that shit out and learn how to race safe or next time Ill put my bike up his ass.

Anyways, first two are done and although they are not the results I shot for I am happy with my second race. I was in good position the whole race and had the legs and lungs to finish top ten if it wasn’t for that SDBC shit head. Oh well that’s racing as much as I would hate to admit it.

John had a great race and was riding real strong. He pulled the group with me on his wheel with 3 to go which kept us in perfect position. Ill let him tell his story though. Sorry for the shitty and long race report my cold is still causing me to feel spacey in the head. Oh and sorry for the shitty results, at least in the first race I never crossed the finish line so they wouldn’t log me a 60th place! haha.

I’ll be at Long Beach next week and hopefully redeem myself.

EXTRA EXTRA, read all about it

first win of 2010
sean neilson ripped the field at the red trolley crit in san diego this past sunday [7 feb 2010] and took the first win of the season for team becher+. we are all on cloud 9.

not only did sean rip it up on sunday in the crit, he mounted a superb campaign on saturday at the epic boulevard road race, coming in 8th after a long cold, wet effort.  any top 10 finish at boulevard is a huge achievement.

the team is looking forward to giving sean and others more support in the coming months, so look for more wins and plenty of top 10 finishes, as this is finally our year to dominate. our whole team this year is full of depth, strength, courage, discipline and all out desire by everyone to work for the team and attack the field, good results will only follow.

i have a few more posts coming, as we have had our first team camp a few weeks ago, which was a huge success and other team news. we would of course like to thank our sponsors for helping to make sean's win possible, becher+, enervit, bobo's hamburgers, masi, midnight oil creative, iMartin, and greg jarrett. we would also like to thank all of those companies that give us support, especially louis garneau.

[sean's race reports]

boulevard road race

Today was the boulevard road race and someone ordered a lot of rain.

The day was filled with rain and cold. The highest temp I saw all day was 46 degrees. The course begins with a fair climb that leads into a long shallow descent then climbs back up to the start. Climbs are average 5 to 6% grade. We did roughly 50 miles, 2 laps.

100 people strarted in the rain and cold. But once we were rolling the temp wasn’t such an issue as the body heat rose. With the centerline rule in effect and a full field I knew position was most important. I got a good start and was never outside the top 10. The first half lap was fairly easy with a tempo pace. After that first half lap though legs and lungs were burning. Being at 4000 feet the air was thin. A group of us began to ride away from the group, about 15 of us. The pace was high and I was sucking air on the climb. I was shelled and in pain.

The rain didn’t let up and the chase began as I was beginning to feel better. I chased for a bit and caught up to a group of 4 guys and worked with them trading pulls and trying to close down the gap. On the last big climb I was feeling good and went to take my pull and just kept pulling until I realized I had some how ridden the whole group off my wheel leaving me to cross the line alone. Ended up 8th, unfortunately out of points and money.

Boulevard Road Race  (Rank 2.0)
Category 4
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	270784	Brian Wilson	Moment Cycle Sport	28
2	256517	Henry Valenzuela lll	PAA / RE/MAX	22
3	294285	Marco Menchaca	TriSports Cycling/Eclipse Racing	20
4	269508	Nick Gillock	Herbalife LaGrange	18
5	292387	Brien Miller	Unattached	16
6	295278	Roman Gama	Citrus Valley Velo	14
7	288624	Jonathan Hornbeck	Team Ranchos	12
8	288949	Sean Neilson	Team Becher+	10
9	272524	Taylor Vaccari	Coates Cyclery Racing Team	8
10	20386	Jay LaRiviere	Peninsula Cycle Club	6

red trolley crit

Red Trolley Crit. Today was the exact opposite to yesterday. Nice blue skies with some clouds and a bit of wind.

The course is super fun with turns 1 and 2 flat and turn 3 being a fast sweeper downhill and a bit tighter but fast and fun! After turn 4 is a big ring climb that flattens to the start/finish line. Front straight had a bit of a head/cross wind and between 1 and 2 a cross wind. Rest of the course was tailwind and fast.

After yesterday having a good night relaxing and resting I felt good. From the start pace was high and the group was dropping riders every lap. I would consistently keep myself at the front being protected on the headwind and using the tailwind to my advantage to move forward. With about 20 minutes left I and another fella gave it a go and attacked the group on the climb. We would last for 1 lap as the group wasn’t going to let us go. So I would just make sure I wouldn’t let myself get swarmed and as soon as it would begin to get crowded at the front I would get up and push the pace a bit to keep position. Halfway through last lap attacks started to come so I pushed to keep with front group. Went so fast through last corner I drifted a bit before opening up a sprint on the climb probably about 8th wheel back. I went wide while everybody was wrestling for inside line and just put my head down and butt up. I was able to hold pace and come accross the line arms in the air and a loud ‘yeah!’

I couldn’t be any happier to deliever the first win of many for Team Becher+ in 2010!

WIND

today was a good 60 miles, in beautiful sunny +75 degree LA weather. that was until we hit the far north east corner of the valley coming out of sylmar. the wind kicked up and gusts were blowing at over+40mph. it seemed like more than that, but none of us got blown over today. which i am sure made my orthopedic surgeon happy, not to mention me.

team news
the new year brought our first top 10 finishes of the 2010 season with a 6th place by patrick piccolo and an 8th by benjamin barry in the san bruno hill climb. way to go guys, that is one b_tch of a climb and all your preseason work is already starting to pay off.

race report
[san bruno hill climb / patrick piccolo]
Bright and early this morning was the first race of the Northern California season, the epic 3.5 mile straight up San Bruno Hill Climb. Thankfully the race started at 10 am and is a 10 min. drive from the city, so I was able to get a little of sleep beforehand. That however, that didn’t seem to help me feel ready or at all well. Though the race is short, its pretty steep and fast. Ben and I had a good start and perhaps went a little too hard at first, but then again the higher up you go the steeper it gets so its hard to tell. The last 100m are the worst and I just didn’t have the legs (or the stomach as it turns out) that i needed. I ended up doing it 17 min. 55 sec. which was good enough for 6th. Ben came in about 20 seconds later for 8th. Aside from the fact that I felt like death for the few seconds before I puked up my banana just after the finish, I would have to say I was feeling good and had a good time. Ben was mad that I talked him in to doing it.

weekend race reports [4 - 5 july 2009]

[Davis Crit report]
Full Field, L shaped course.
Good and fast sustained pace. Had a bad start, it took a few laps to move to the front where I wanted to be. Sat up there fine until the pace grew towards the end. My legs were fried from Leesville the day before and mentally I don’t think I had much business being there. 20 guys or so got pulled from falling off the back and there was a good crash half way through which Ryan narrowly avoided. He finished about 10th (?) and I was somewhere behind him in the middle.
Lots of fun, not much suffering involved relative to the day before.
10 races done, I should move up to CAT 4’s here soon, time for cross season!!
[benjamin barry]

[Leesville Gap Road Race Report]
Leesville is hell, but hell is not nearly as bad when 15 degrees cooler and properly prepared. (although being prepared still isn’t good enough, as you will here later) First want to give a shout out to John and Sage because they were able to show up and race, john shook off a shift to make it and Sage came out and raced his first road race ever, although he is a natural and races in “A”s during cross season, so the most seasoned racer among us.

Leesville is one large 62 mile loop, that starts in farm land, climbs 1500 feet to drop you into a valley, then climb out and back to farm land for the longest 15 mile homestretch ever.
The race started with a mile neutral start, which pretty lasted the first 10 miles as we approached the climb. But once we the road pitched up a little, the road when it wasn’t dirt was worse, Pot holes and bumps and lumps. After the required shouting at each other bike handling skills the group settled into the approach. No real moves as we constantly passed downed riders fixing flats or clutching shattered carbon rims. Sage’s front dérailleur malfunctioned and first one dropped off but made it back to the pack in time for the climb.
Then the climb which is about 6-7% for 5km, This was the big test. Becher was riding in the front as the climb started, but we got strung out as the rest of the peloton did. Me and Kris were up in front, with rest of crew not far behind. Half way up I am starting to over cook and Kris flats, (second to drop) so I know I need to keep with the leaders cause I am the only one repping “LG” at the front. When we crest the hill, it is myself and 4 other guys. who form up quick and start cruising and we never look back.
Kris has fixed the flat in record time, and joins up briefly with Ben, they split ben going to get Sage and then power it, and Kris charging forward. Ben has his work cut out, trying to keep his fellow cyclo crosser from trouble.
Kris and John join briefly, before parting ways and both powering it home.
Meanwhile in my group, we have dropped 1 kid and established that 1 other was not going to work, but was going to hard to drop. Once we got to the flat that what we eventually did. At that point it was me and two other guys, one got 3rd in Copperopolis and the other is a pro mountain biker. However we took a wrong turn and the non worker is able to re-attach, and stay attached till the end. We sprinted but I was just out of gas, and had already pushed through cramping to just make it there. I ended up in 4th, which I feel good about.
Kris ended up around 9th
John was a few back
Ben and Sage were a few back from that maybe 18th

Felt good, ready for some more racing.
[ryan drobek]

WEEKEND RACE REPORTS 23 -24 MAY 2009

Kristopher Tjernell

Team Becher + NorCal edition had back to back races this weekend, one in Folsom, the other in Auburn.

folsom crit was super fast around a business park course that had great pavement, easy turns, and zero elevation gain/loss. I again was rediculous and ended up pulling half the time at the front; of course blowing up on last lap and not contesting the sprint. Super fun though! Ben ended strong (around 15th?), and Ryan unfortunately had a mechanical and had to drop out midway through. Crappy, ‘cause this was HIS RACE.

Auburn crit was totally different: started on a 200m hill, had a slight uphill backside, then knarly downhill with three sketchy turns into the straight-away up to the start/finish. Last two laps around I decided to turn it up a notch, and it was clear only a few riders were still feeling strong. last lap, on the uphill, some guy gassed it…I caught his wheel with about 6 or 7 others on mine. group slowed on the backside stretch, so I hammered and got a 20m gap going into the downhill/turny section. I came out of the last turn fast, out of saddle sprinting, and actually, somehow, my lord, won. Apparently I had a look of complete distaste on my face as I crossed the finish line…all I remember is an intense interest in vomiting. It was a super hard course with solid competition for sure. Good job to all the Becher + bros, who, by the way, all mobbed up in our new team car, all four rigs strapped to the roof rack, pro-style. -kris

wes nielson

Don’t hold your breath… I’m going to spoil the ending right now. DNF! The second crit I ever quit. Hey that rhymes! To sum it up I am completed over trained and burnt-out. I got in a very early break (that became 4 riders) 3 laps into the race that stayed away for about 6-7 laps. I could feel the sting in my legs during and after every turn I took at the front and new early on this was NOT my day. It was the first race all season that I wasn’t strong enough to hold the exact position I wanted. This coupled with the fact that Barry Wolfe is the most dangerous crash infested race of the calendar made for a horrifying day. With 5 to go I decided it was now or never so fromDFL I charged to the top 6-8 towing a rider with me who wasn’t smart enough to fold back into the peloton before turn 2 and totally chopped my wheel sending me to ride into the off camber gutter. Luckily my bike handling skills were good enough to pull off the turn. Immediately following this maneuver I pulled out of the race. Knowing I didn’t have what it took to once again charge to the front, even if I did I didn’t have the legs to hold off the stronger riders. So instead of taking my chances at getting top 20 something in the crash fiesta that was sure to be the final 4 laps I decided to go home in one piece. Oh by the way did I mention there was 4-5 crashes in our race!! I hate that course and hereby vow to never ever race there again! PS Thanks to the 5 Becher + club/team members that came out to view the race. Sorry to not put on a better show for you but at least I was in that first break. Oh and I got a prime while in it, I won a tub of Prolong electrolyte energy drink mix! COOL!

benjamin barry

Field of 48, the course was almost a complete circle with only two very easy right turns. Because of the nature of the course the pace was fairly fast and sustained the whole time. I found Ryan on the second lap and he told me he had a mechanical issue and was a lap down he dropped out slightly afterward due to this. I knew my legs were burnt and tried to stay away from the front most of the race. I did see Kris and another rider on a break and tried to bridge the gap but once I had I realized I had brought another six riders with me. We were only able to maintain the gap for another half a lap until we got reeled in. I sat back and recovered while watching Kris take massive pulls and attempt a few more breaks. When the finish came I tried to turn on the gas but didn’t have much left (HR at 200bpm!), I finished somewhere in the middle and I believe Kris was feeling the effects of his massive pulls while he rolled through closer to the back. Disappointing day, tomorrow should be either better or substantially worse.

jacob margolis

Hey guys, I’m back with a little race report following yesterdays suffering. Well, the course profile was, 4500 ft in 20 miles to the top of Hamilton, then 43 more miles to finish in livermore with about 1800 more feet of climbing. It was gnarly to say the least. Went too hard in the beginning, as they attacked in the first half mile, as that’s when the climbing starts. I should have sat up and spun a bit more, but I was hoping that they would let up a little bit. They didn’t. I was pretty dead after the first part of the climb, which is 7 miles. After that you go down hill then back up right away to do 13 miles up hill to the top and over hamilton. After hamilton you go down for 6 miles, then climb again, doing more rollers. After mile 32, there are just rollers, and 1 more big climb, and I dropped everybody I was riding with on that one. It sucks, because I thought I would be able to keep up on the climb, but without warming up, going to hard in the beginning, and not pacing myself like I should have, I blew apart and sucked it up. I had one friend say go as hard as you can until the top of the first climb, but alas he is a pro, and thus has no problem doing such. My other friend told me to pace myself… oh well. I cramped up at about mile 40, as I had been drinking gatorade, and trying to consume as much as possible, with gels and 1 clif bar, but it wasn’t enough. I went through about 5 bottles the whole time. They were awesome bottle zones, and the people who organized the race did a great job. We got brand new bottles instead of mono infested recycled ones. After the climb, where I dropped many of my cohorts and passed others I picked up one guy and we hit it as hard as we could, and picked up another guy. It was with these two fellows that I finished with. They were nice guys and we had a good time in a rotating pace line. I sprinted with them at the end and completely cramped up! Anyway, I had a good time, as it was a beautiful 3:20:00 from San Jose to Livermore. I wish I had some teammates, because I imagine that you climby types would have loved this! I loved it regardless of suffering and can’t wait to race next weekend. The best part of the day though was going to the taqueria joint where they didn’t speak english and I had to employ my two years of highschool spanish to order myself a delicious chicken burrito. I love cycling.