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GROUP A
WINNER - DAVE ROSSOW
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The San Jose Bike Club's Vuelta de San Jose consists
of three stages over two days. The first stage is
a short, 7 mile individual prologue time trial out
and back on Cañada Road. Stage two is a flat,
one mile, four corner criterium. To wrap it up,
there is a 50 mile road race encircling Uvas reservior
for three laps. The weather for all stages was dry
and unseasonably cool, which was ideal for racing,
though maybe a touch too cool. The A group field
had about 20 riders of mixed categories, of which
I was the only Alto Velo rider.
TIME TRIAL
First up was the Stage One ITT. The only time trials
I've ever done have been straight up hill so I never
had a need for a "funny" bike. I was glad
to see there were others like me riding a standard
road bike with no aerobars. The general consensus
at the start was that Mike Holt was the odds on
favorite and he did not disappoint, laying down
an awesome time that was within twenty seconds from
the course record! The rest of us were unable to
break the 18 minute barrier, leaving Mike with an
ominous lead of well over a full minute. At the
end of the prologue I found myself in a respectable
4th place, 1'15" behind.
CRITERIUM
Stage Two was 20 laps of 1 mile, with time bonus
awards for the top three finishers, as well as 10
second awards for each winner of three sprint laps.
The crit started out fast, with lots of attacks
and counter attacks. All of the attacks kept things
really interesting, and the high speed kept things
safe with no crashes. Despite all the attacks, the
top 3 GC guys (Mike Holt, Raffi Jilizian, and Kelly
Higgins) were keeping to the front and not letting
any breaks get to far up the road. At one point
early on though, a small break had started to get
away, but Mike Holt put in a long and impressive
solo effort to reign them back. It was disappointing
when they got caught, as we were all enjoying the
ride. I had initially considered trying to go for
a few of the time bonuses, but they were all hotly
contested and I was never able to get into position
for a decent sprint attempt. After the second prime
I decided I'd be better off sitting in and getting
a pack finish, saving myself for the road race.
That gave me a chance to better survey the field
to see who I should watch for in the road race.
Daryl Spano seemed to be riding strong and aggressive.
He always seemed to be around the front when the
pace would pick up. I figured he'd be someone to
watch for and try to get into a break with in the
road race. At the end of the crit, despite all the
time bonuses I didn't get, I was still in fourth
overall having lost only 10 seconds in the GC. Raffi
and Kelly changed places with Raffi now in 3rd.
ROAD RACE
Trying to devise a strategy for Stage 3 cost me
some sleep. I was sitting in fourth place, almost
90 seconds behind the GC leader, Mike Holt. There
were KOM time bonuses available for each lap plus
finishing bonuses. Being neither the strongest climber
nor the strongest sprinter, I figured my only chance
was in a break, but it had to be the right makeup
of riders. I didn't think the top GC guys would
let a break go so I had resigned myself to trying
to move up at least into 3rd.
The ride started brisk, most likely due to the veterans
not wanting the A group to get caught by the B group
this year. Early on there was an interesting tactic
employed by a savy veteran. One rider went OTF,
then once just out of sight, he got off the bike
and tried to hide until the field passed, presumably
to rejoin at the back while the leaders in front
continued chasing a ghost. It nearly worked as I
believe only 1 rider noticed him crouched down nearly
out of view along the side the road.
Things proceeded at a moderate pace with a few short
lived attacks, but nothing close to sticking. I
planned to sit-in the first lap to get to know the
course and let guys tire a bit on the first KOM,
which Raffi took to move back into 2nd place, on
the road. On the second lap, the pace started to
get really slow. I decided I'd go ahead and pull
to keep the pace high, maybe tire some guys out,
and wait for any breaks with good potential. That
might not have been the best strategy, but I was
feeling impatient. I thought if I could tire some
guys out they'd be less inclined to chase a break
that I might get into. After pulling for half a
lap there was finally a solo getaway that was quickly
chased down by single rider. The makeup didn't look
right for a long break, so I decided to pick up
the pace and pull them back to keep them from taking
the KOM bonus. Once I caught them, I realized nobody
had come with me. The field was letting us slip
away!
The 3 of us started working together and opened
a gap of at least 30-40 seconds before reaching
the base of the KOM "wall" where I attacked
to grab the time bonus. Once over the top I realized
that if I sat up to wait for the other two, we'd
surely be caught by the field, so I took off solo.
I thought I could extend the gap while the field
regrouped after the climb, but I also expected there
would be a chase led by Raffi and Kelly, with Daryl
likely to be involved as well. It was a longshot
gamble as there were still around 20 miles to go,
but it was my best chance to move up in the GC.
I started hammering, all the while expecting to
look over my shoulder and see a line of riders bearing
down on me. To my surprise I made it around to the
"wall" again without any sign of the chase.
I knew once over the top I had enough bonus time
to take over 2nd place on the road, Now, could I
hold it, and with the finish only a few more miles
further, I also had a shot at the top spot if I
could hold a gap of at least 30 seconds. I continued
to ride hard despite burning quads, crossing the
line with roughly a 40 second gap. As I had suspected,
Daryl Spano had a strong ride and grabbed 2nd, followed
immediately by Mike Holt. Once all the dust had
settled and the bonuses sorted out, I had ammassed
a 16 second lead in the GC.
FINISH
The guys who put this event together did a great
job keeping things organized, on time, and getting
results available very quickly for all riders in
both groups. They did a great job. Very impressive
as well was that they had quality prizes for all
riders from top to bottom in both groups, plus KOM
prizes too. The prize stock was deeper than any
USAC event, and all good stuff too. Kudos to the
organizers! |
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GROUP B
WINNER - BRIAN McKIE
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Day One.
ITT.
We started out with a 7.5 mile individual time trial held on and out and back loop on Canada road. The weather was cool and cloudy but luckily not much wind. My brother and I arrived and got checked in, neither one of us was too eager to get warmed up (probably the chilly weather) but we did manage to get in a quick warm-up before the riders meeting. Bruce (my Brother) was to go off a minute and a half ahead of me, so I knew that I wouldn’t be catching him. We were both riding standard road bikes without aero bars. I felt pretty good on the way out and just tried watching my heart rate and not lose too much time. I turned in a time that was 4th best. Ed smoked us all, then the Farinha boys (Daniel and Joe) and me about 30 seconds back. Bruce was about 20 seconds further back. Overall I couldn’t complain, this being my first race in 3 years.
Crit.
Bruce and I went back to my house to get a bite to eat and rest up before the crit. However my 3 year old daughter and my hyper-active Chocolate lab put and end to any rest. On the way over to the course we decided that I would try to go for the sprint bonuses, and then see how things played out. The race started off with an attack by a couple of juniors. The course was a typical 4 corner crit, 16 laps. The back side was super windy that was where most of the attacks were brought back. Bruce did a lot of work to keep the pace high and chase back the small groups that attacked. I tried a solo break but once I got into the wind on the back side of the course I knew I didn’t want to go it alone. Bruce took off on a flyer and thought he’d go the first sprint bonus, but he was a lap too early. I waited in the group till the last corner then took off and was able to take the first sprint. There were a couple of more attacks before the second sprint but Bruce and I had them covered, we stayed near the front and kept the pace high. For the second sprint I started my sprint a bit too late and wasn’t able to come around a flying Tony Borba, so I missed the second sprint, so it was all coming down to the final sprint. I thought I had everyone covered, but I didn’t realize that Scott Lewis has a good kick too. We both split a fading Alan Weatherall with Scott taking the win and second for me with Alan hanging on to 3rd. Bruce and I didn’t know the results but I figured that with the sprint bonus and the finish bonus I had the overall lead by 4 seconds. Bruce and his family and I with mine all headed to Hobees for dinner. I had looked for the results on line but didn’t see them before I went to bed, so I figured I would just see in the am.
Day Two.
Roadrace.
I woke at six to take the previously mentioned hyper lab out for his morning walk. I have to admit I was feeling pretty sore as Oscar dragged me around the neighborhood. I turned my cell phone on and there was a voice mail from Bruce he said “Dude you got the lead by 4 seconds I am on my way down. Wait for me.” Suddenly I didn’t feel quite so bad. Bruce arrived and we loaded bikes and gear into my truck and off to Uvas reservoir for 2 laps of a 16 mile circuit. As we were getting ready I notice Scott, Jonathan and Allan were having a chat. Bruce wasn’t going to race the roadrace but since I had the lead he knew he had to give me a hand. Right from the start the pace was forced by a couple of the juniors and Bruce was up to there to keep an eye on things. Neither one of us had ridden the course so we stayed near the front to stay out of trouble. I was watching Scott because I thought he would be the most dangerous, especially with Alan and Jonathan riding with him. The first time up the wall Alan had taken off near the bottom I tagged onto his rear wheel and as he started to fade I went by him, only to have first Daniel then Doug Schaller blow by me. Doug had taken the KOM which was good for me because Daniel was pretty close on time to me. Actually Daniel was the leader on the road by 1 second with his second place on the first KOM. So now I had to watch out for someone else. As we came across the start finish the first lap we had gapped off Doug, Jonathan, Bruce, Ed, and a couple of others. Scott and I started a good pace line, but with Jonathan pulling they came back to us. As we made the turn to come back around the dam, Jonathan went to the front followed by Alan and then Scott tucked in behind them. I sat on Scott’s wheel keeping an eye on him. Bruce came up and asked if I wanted him to try and break it up, but with the three amigos setting the tempo I told him to save his energy. Hitting the wall for the second time Daniel took off, and when no one else reacted I took off after him. I went clear and then looked back to see Doug coming. I rolled over the top for the KOM bonus, and then pedaled as fast as I could, hopping to stretch my advantage. On the descent Doug, Scott, Daniel, and Tony bridged up to me. Since Ed wasn’t with us I thought that if I led Scott out and he won and I took second I would still take the overall. I road up next to Scott and said I would lead him out. Scott told me to go at the left hand bend, so that’s what I did. I started the sprint and Scott came by followed to my horror by Ed. Luckily for me the Kom bonus and the 3rd place was enough to secure the overall.
It was a great weekend of racing I met some great people (and competitors) and the volunteers that helped out did and awesome job. A big thanks to the SJBC crew and to my brother Bruce for riding out of his skin for me, and also to Scott, Jonathan, Alan, Joe, Daniel, Doug, Tony, Andrew and the McIntire’s for making it a whole lotta fun.
Brian
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| VUELTA
de SAN JOSE - PREVIOUS WINNERS |
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Year |
riders |
Group A |
Group B |
Group C |
| 2006 |
37 |
Dave
Rossow |
Brian
McKie |
- |
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57 |
Sebe Ziesler |
Jonathon Sinclair |
Scott Lewis |
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72 |
Alan Armstong |
Steve Dakin |
Matthew Larson |
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38 |
Mike Holt |
Ron Buckley |
- |
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33 |
David Stockwell |
Alex Blease |
- |
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37 |
Daniel Smith |
Greg Raub |
- |
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? |
Richard Del Valle |
- |
- |
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24 |
Matt Dubberley |
Mike Vella |
- |
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11 |
Jon Sek |
Stephan Aducci |
- |
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10 |
Jackson Stewart |
- |
- |
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