Modesto Men's Cat 3 Road Race May 15th, 2011

This was my first race in a field with 1s and 2s. The 3s were being picked separately but we all ride together. It ended up being about 50 riders with a 20/30 split between 3s and 1/2s. Before the race I was wondering how different it would be. On the ride down with Mike Gonzales, he pointed some things out from his previous races with 1/2s. There are a lot of attacks and a lot of surges before things settle down. 

Mike was spot on, early attacks and a fast pace. The tempo of the race is completely different from my previous races, except the 35+1/2/3 race at Land Park last year. Early in the first lap Mike G. bridged up to a break in the cross headwind. Unfortunately the field wasn't willing to let this break go and they were brought back. Two or three miles out from the start finish in the first lap, I followed a few riders to the front and one guy attacked to bridge to a small break. I followed his wheel and we crossed to the break bringing another guy across. We had a group of about 7 and started working together. The field again was not happy with letting us go, so just past the start finish the break fell apart and we were swallowed up. Going into a break with these guys is tough. I was happy to float back in the field and start recovering.

The first 3 laps were fast with the field strung out most of the time. Average speed was high (25-27 mph). During the 3rd lap a group of 8 or so got away and it was sticking. On lap 4 riding south into the cross headwind the field was guttered. This caused a bit of splintering of the field with two groups being the result. A large field in front and a smaller group back. Mike C and I were relegated to the small group. Unfortunately, Mike G was caught the crosswind and didn't make it back into our group.

I was having a bit of difficulty in this group. Mostly I was sitting in to keep my nose out of the wind and not blow up. I did take a pulls here and there and it hurt. Holding strong in the group paid off because toward the end of lap five we finally caught the main field. For laps 6 and 7 the pace was finally mellow and gave me a time to recover. During lap 7 I wanted a good position going into the crosshead wind so I wouldn't be guttered. I ended up in the rotation at the front and pacing the field to the turn before the cross headwind. This hurt and my quads started cramping. The rest of the lap was spent managing my cramps and recovering so that I could get as close as I could to the finish with the main field. I was expecting to get spit out the back on the last lap heading into the crosswind.

After telling Mike C that my legs were cramping and getting some good encouragement, I set to recovering for the finish. I was able to sit in and recover. I was able to make it through the crosswind with the group and I knew I could make it to the finish with the group. The last few miles saw a few attacks but mostly everyone was willing to sit until the finish. I decided that at 1.5 miles out moving up get me in good position for the finish. I did find that the moving around in the field wasn't extremely difficult even with the fast pace. Headed down the second to last straight away, I followed some wheels moving up in the pack and stayed on their wheels through the last turn. The last straightaway was just under a mile out and the pace quickened. We were moving along just over 30 mph. When the sprint started my legs wouldn't respond and I did all I could to maintain position. 

In the end the pace was high and the surges were thick. I don't know my overall finish in the 1/2/3 but I probably beat a few 1s and 2s. With the 3s being picked separately, I was very happy with my placing, 9th. All in all it was a great race and to finally break the top 10 in cat 3 was a great feeling. I do wish I had that little extra something such that I could have lead Mike out. Maybe with a little more training.