Winters Road Race August 27, 2011 Men’s Cat 4 45+
What a day. My car wouldn't go into reverse so I let it coast out of the driveway. Then I found out it wouldn't go into 1st, 3rd, 5th or reverse so that leaves 2nd and 4th to get to Winters from Davis. Now to be honest I have other cars but my stuff was already loaded in the 1974 BMW turd brown Bavaria. I made it in with no more problems, registered, warmed up and was sitting on the start staging area when Jeff Slaton pointed out a goat head in my rear tire. Pull it out with a “Psss,” race over to the turd mobile and quickly change the tube and back to the start in time for my race.
I probably shouldn't admit it but my goal for this race was to not get dropped and finish with the pack. Unfortunately, I have a history of getting dropped in the hills more than I care to admit for example, Pescadero, Patterson Pass and Wente. However, Fast Freddie has been drilling it into my head for a long time now that I just need to turn myself inside out for 10-15 seconds to stay attached and then I will be able to recover. He even said something to that effect at the team meeting, not specifically to me but to everyone, you can recover.
- Craig Dinger hanging with the group on the Cantelow descent
So off we go, I start at the back but slowly move up to try to get close to Jeff Slaton and Tim Roberts. Tim was out front pushing the pace a lot with Jeff taking his turn too. I actually felt good and was staying towards the front 1/3 to 1/2 of the pack. The first time up Cantelow went remarkably smooth and I only had to remember Fred's admonitions a couple of times during the first lap. Jeff saved my backside again on the second trip up Cantelow. I was on his wheel and hadn't been paying enough attention to what was going on up ahead and around me. Jeff really ramped up the tempo just after the feed zone and I hung on for dear life as we passed ~15 racers to put us back towards the front. I was remembering Freddie a lot during this time. I just started to cramp as we crested the top with Tim, Jeff, 2 other racers then me. I think there were some others from our group just ahead of Tim but I couldn't be sure.
- Craig making his move at the finish.
We were neutralized on Putah Creek for the cat 3's to go by, no sooner did they pass then sat up so we ended up trading places one more time. This time one of the cat 3's used the opportunity to mix in with us and jump back into his group at the front but between him and the moto-ref most of us were trapped watching the lucky 10 or so head off in front. Fortunately, that didn't last long and we were all back together. It was a very odd finish with lots of slowing and surging. I was doing my best to find a way to move up picking off 1 or 2 places here and there. I got lucky very close to the finish when the middle opened up just long enough for me to squirt through and go like a madman up to 6th place. This was definitely my best race and highest finish so far. Hopefully, a sign of things to come in the future.
The Wheelworks ride and Napa rides with Kevin McSpadden, Jim Sharp, and a host of others have helped improve my fitness. Thanks to everyone for the encouragement, especially Fred and Kevin.
Craig
[Editor’s note: Winters stellar performance was indeed a sign of things to come as Craig out sprinted the field to 1st place in the Sept 24, 2011 Henleyville 54-mile Road Race. Congratulations Craig!]
