Turlock Road Race, E4 report
The E4's hit up the first annual Turlock Road Race in strong numbers with eight more than capable riders including: Ryan Alvey, Parker Childress, Dave Grundman, Carson Jeffres, Ryan O'dell, Tobin Richardson, Jeff Weaver and me. We weren't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a great course (could have possibly used a few steeper hills) with great weather and stiff competition from Rio Strada, WebCor, and others.
Alvey was by far the most aggressive rider with 5+ attempts to go off the front, and when he wasn't in a break, Carson, Weaver, Odell and others crushed it at the front, and covered breaks. Twenty miles in, while riding near the front I got a "phantom flat" and thought my back tire was flat for sure. I raised my hand (even though I knew there was no follow vehicle) and stopped only to find out my tire was fine - how does that happen? Big Dave Grundman, noticed my stopping, as I quickly remounted my bike he dropped back to help me get back in the group (he was our “A” rider by the way). We caught on quickly and raced on.
As Cat 4's love to do, any small break was quickly closed down and it came to a field sprint. Even though Dave was our A guy, I found myself positioned behind him and figured if I couldn't help, I should at least find his wheel, considering he always picks his way through a sprint on a consistent basis. HOWEVER, approaching the 1K to go sign it seemed we were thoroughly boxed in. Then somehow, someway, my favorite wheel to draft off of found himself blowing up the left side of the field. That's right, Jeff
Weaver was pulling up the left side at a rate that didn't allow the competition to hold his wheel. I knew the Weaver train was one not to be missed, so I found the strength to hop on while he pulled me up to the top 5 riders. As I saw the 200m sign around the corner I yelled for him to pull right - however, in the heat of battle I never managed to say, “JEFF pull right!” so he kept his line as he should since it could have been anyone yelling at him. Passing the 200m I managed to come around Jeff, it was a phenomenal lead out and I was now in a perfect position to put everything I had into a sprint.
A few riders jumped off in front of me and formed a gap, but I was holding off the rest of the field. At about 50m in I was clearly running out of steam, and a few more guys were sure to catch me at the line. Out of nowhere I received a small "push" from behind. I was completely confused for half a second, but it gave me the second wind I needed to regain my momentum and do a bike-throw for 3rd place, my first podium as a Cat 4
But wait, there's more...
The push was from Dave, remember this is our “A” rider that clearly had the power for a podium finish or possibly a win, but sacrificed that to help a teammate gain a few extra upgrade points and some glory. As the title suggests, pushing/touching is inappropriate in the world of bike racing... I'm not sure if the race officials spotted the move, or if the competition complained, but Dave and I were relegated from 3rd and 6th back to 7th and 8th (out of the prizes but still received a few upgrade points - Dave's final points needed to upgrade to 3's by the way). I thought about arguing
with the official but quickly accepted the fact that it was what it was, and they got it right in the end. Overall, it was a great day of racing and I wouldn't change the way things went. It was a very well-run race and I recommend everyone add it to their calendar next season. The E4's are learning to ride well with each other and it's been fantastic to see everybody work for everybody else on a regular basis. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and a "clean" podium finish soon.
