Saturday was the Cat's Hill Classic, which is probably my favorite race in California. Its a 75 minute crit on treacherously bad pavement with a brutal 23% climb and a descent into the final turn that would make the Cyclone feel like a maglev train. I love the race for its ludicrous course, but also for its long history. Every year they inscribe the trophy with the winner's name and there have been some pretty impressive winners. I came devastatingly close to winning two years ago, but Victor Rapinski and (now teammate) Tyler Dibble blew fearlessly past me on the final descent. Last year I felt like I had the legs to go the distance until I was crashed out with 10 to go which smashed up my chances of winning and parts of my body. It was novel in that I had never had road rash in my armpit before.
This year I did not feel particularly strong or overwhelmingly confident. What I did feel was a burning, near feverish desire to win that had me so worked up I was shaking before the start. I don't usually get that way, but it was so bad that in lieu of a good warmup I opted to just sit for a few minutes and try to calm myself down.
I don't know what to say about the race itself. I wasn't keeping count, but we must have smashed ourselves up that wall more than 30 times. Having a strong team really takes the pressure off. Unlike years past when I would be constantly on edge about missing moves or wasting energy following too many attacks I was able to sit pretty most of the race. Patrick Briggs rode out of his gourd on Saturday, attacking on the first lap and not really slowing down the whole race. All my teammates were on and I never felt worried that Yahoo! Cycling would miss a move. With ten to go Briggs initiated a move that ended up swelling to eight or ten guys including Phil Mooney and some of the real threats in the race. Those guys worked it, making sure they did just enough work to keep things moving while saving it for the finale.
I was back in the pack sitting near the front until I missed a shift with three to go and thought my race was over. I got stuck in the big ring and was so bogged down that I went from 2nd wheel to 20th and almost had to get off the bike and run it over the crest of the hill. I thought I had lost my race there. We caught the break on the last lap and again I got stuck in my big ring. I was frantic and my internal monologue was a string of words that I can't write here. I was somewhere around 13th across the top of the course, waaayyyyyy too far back, but I went for it anyway, attacking down the hill with everything I had. I managed to get through the turn first out of the group and carry that speed past a lone rider and on to one of the most aesthetically ugly, yet satisfying victories of my career. Chris Stastny, an impetuous young pup riding for Cal Giant, came far too close wrecking my day. He's strong as an ox and he gets wilier every race. He's awesome, and he's going to win races this year.
Here's a side by side of the 2008 and 2010 Cat's Hill Podiums. Its nice to be the guy holding the trophy, but it really makes me miss my flowing mane...
On the ladies side Jasmin "Jazzy" Hurikino took out the women's P/1/2 race in style, smashing it downhill and holding it from the final corner to the line against strong sprinter Lauren Hecht. In fact, I should thank Jazzy not just for being an inspirational rock star, but for showing me the winning tactics. Rounding out the women's podium was Anne Fulton. That's a monster ride for her and I have to concur with Rand Miller who claimed this was the best podium he'd ever seen. Hernandez has a few pics and a nice writeup on his NorCal Cycling News blog.
Feeling like I had a new lease on life I went out Sunday to the Joseph Mendes Criterium. The race could not have been more different from Cat's Hill with almost no technical features and buttery smooth pavement. Again my teammates were strong and after 25 minutes of doomed attacks I got off the front with my teammate Brian Bosch, the human freight train, and Kevin Metcalfe of Specialized and we never saw the field again. Bosch let me take out the win and he slammed home for second, while Briggs jumped out of a chase group to grab 4th. All in all, two pretty successful racs
There are two last little things to clear up. First, I tweeted that I was 2 for 2. I'm actually more like 2 for 30 this year. I am, however, 2 for 2 since Nair-ing my arms. Booyah! Secondly, I shouldn't complain about some piddling, crash-related setbacks. Some riders deal with much, much worse.
