Pescadero is all about the hills

by Jon Ardell
I love the Pescadero road race. Its twisty, rolling terrain sports some awesome views as well as sick descents, and the 4 substantial hills are long enough to drop many of the strong riders that may not be the strongest climbers off the back of the pack, making it a race of attrition more than anything else.

I felt great all day.

I had hoped to race the Elite 3 category to get some revenge on some of those that bested me at Hamilton plus I believe the teams are less organized than in the Master 1-3 Cat but alas, the 3 Cat was full so I went w/the old Pros. I must say I really enjoyed the classiness and friendliness of these Pro racers, everyone communicates without any of the rancor and stress of the less established classes, and I really appreciated just being able to hang with them all morning...

Other than the first lap where I lost touch briefly with the lead pack on the descent when I cautiously went around a nasty crash I felt I did a really good job staying tucked in with the leaders when they surged.

I would characterize the day as a series of surges followed by a relaxation of the pace by the 2 lead teams- Maguire/Spine and Specialized. I know that riders were able to come back after being dropped- sometimes more than once in the case of my buddy Gabe, but the toll that takes on the legs make it impossible to do this and still be a factor in the end.

As it turns out even after riding a strategically near flawless race I still didn't have what it took to go with the big boys on the last hill, which I guess is a little discouraging but I'm looking at it as a glass half full- inspired to train just a little harder. The teams also knew exactly what they were doing, ratcheting up the pace on the lead up to that final hill which itself is about 2 miles long. They essentially did a long lead out for their top climbers that put me in a deficit before we even got to the hill, and all I could do was watch from the back of the 25 strong Peloton as those leaders were sprung off the front at an amazing clip. Blink and they were gone and it was clear they weren't coming back!

In hindsight I should have fought harder to get closer to the front prior to that last climb, and marking Chris Phipps would have been smart because it was clear all day that he was being saved by the Maguire team as their man. It likely wouldn't have mattered too much- after 80 miles on the bike I am simply unable to climb at 30 miles an hour! Instead I paced myself up that last 2 miles Downieville style- without regard to those around me! I managed to get past about half the pack for a decent 13th finish. Better than last year, and next year I'll have an even better idea of what I'll need to do.