EVENT
Mike's Bikes Cat's Hill Classic

CATEGORY
35+ 1/2/3 (together with 45+ 1/2/3)

DATE
May 2nd 2015

TEAMMATES
Adams
Allen
Cox
Funke
Hobbs
Pizzica
Ryan

GOALS
Get the 'W'

PLAN
Have a few guys make some early attacks to put some pressure on other riders and teams, have one or two others attack with 15-20mins to go, and then if it all came back together then organize and lead out Cox for the W in the 35+ and Funke in the 45+.

RACE SUMMARY
The day started off right. Hobbs, aka 'the donkey', rolled up to my house right on time in a stylin' new Toyota Sienna (part of Mike's Bikes new fleet of vehicles). My kids helped pack up my stuff (ok, Hobbs did some work too), gave me high fives and waved bye as we rolled away, with our Specialized Venges glistening in the sun on the roof, ready to go to battle. Oli and Dylan (my friend/guy I coach/photographer for the day) hopped in at Sausalito and next thing we know we're rolling up to Mike's Bikes Los Gatos. First person we see is El Prez, Matt Adams, waving us into our VIP parking spot. Now we're talkin'...no messing around. And we are even on time! Bikes off the van, front Zipp wheels on and ready to roll (oh, they roll so smooth), water bottles topped off with Osmo Pre-load and Active Hydration, and Pro Bar nutrition down the hatch. Guys register, get suited up (almost everybody ;-)) and we get together for our team meeting. A quick review of the plan and it's "MBFY".

The announcer calls our race to the start line and we are all ready to go.

B-A-N-G.....the start gun goes off and we are racing! I wasn't sure what to expect with regards to the pace of the race, especially the main aspect of this course, the 23% 'Wall', of which we'd do approximately 18 times. All I knew is that it was going to hurt the legs and lungs more than once, and most definitely the last time up it.
On cue, two or three laps in, Oli put in an acceleration and got some space and was off the front. He kept the pace high and forced some of our competitors to do some work to bring him back. I was happy to see our guys close to the front, ready to hop on any free rides up to Oli. He got brought back and we were all together. 

Not long after, Dave popped off the front, again resulting in others working to bring him back. Unfortunately not too long after this, Oli was forced into the curb on the 'Wall', had to unclip and then run to the top and get back on his bike. He chased and was able to get back to the main group, but not before burning some important matches.
Racing continued at a good clip, with some hard accelerations at the top of the Wall. I recall one occasion where two Specialized riders (I believe it was Cottel and Buckley) put in a really good dig and strung out the field and at least twice where Chris Phipps was able to get off the front. The good news is TMB riders were riding strong and smart at the front. Matt, Chris and Josh were covering everything. This definitely took the pressure off myself, Cox and Funke, who were saving our energy for the end if it came down to a leadout and sprint.

Fast forward....we rolled through the start/finish line and the lap card showed 2 to go. Chris and Matt were rotating on the front, with me close behind, Cox battling Stanko for my wheel, and Funke slotted in behind watching the action and fending for his spot. Next thing I know, Dave shows up as planned and moves to the front and takes us to where he's supposed to. My memory is a little vague here, maybe due to the lack of oxygen and lactic acid building up, but an attack or two occurs at this point....possibly/likely, insert Chris Phipps name here. The good news for us is Matt and Chris are on it. As we approach the final turn, I know that Cox, the guy I'm to lead out for the win on the next lap, isn't on my wheel. Instead it's Stanko. I for one would rather have him in front of me so I decide to play a little poker and let a gap open up to Matt and Chris. The gap grows fairly quickly. To my delight, Stanko decides to come by me and close it down. I jump on his wheel, with Scott and Funke in tow. 
Ding...ding...ding...the bell rings for the last lap. Matts take us around turn 1 and 2. He moves over and....it's Donkey Time! Hobbs keeps the pace high all the way to turn 3 and then happily moves right and let's the fire works go off. Stanko leads us up the wall and attacks hard 2/3rd of the way up. From behind I hear Matt say 'Go...go...go!'. I dig deep, roll up over the top, along the false flats and down into the shaded tree section, hoping Cox is on my wheel. Thankfully I was able to close down the gap to Stanko, but I don't sense Cox right on me. It's no time to let any gaps open  go so I work hard to stay on the 'Stanimal' back wheel. We roll across the top section and take the second last turn. At this point I have a quick flash back of my first time doing this race in the P12 field. I rounded this corner, further back than I wanted, and was able to move right and sprint by quite a few guys. This time I only had one rider ahead of me so I jumped out of the saddle, moved right and sprinted by Stanko. I round the final turn, having visions of him coming past on the inside, so put my head down and think to myself 'this really hurts...but don't give up. Keep spinning those legs as fast and hard as you can'.

The finish line couldn't come soon enough. I could see his front wheel under my arm pit, but the white finish line thankfully came first. And Cox was able to nab 3rd place. Not a bad day...TMB 1st and 3rd in the 35+ and Funke in 4th in the 45+.

Thanks to all our sponsors for giving us the best products in the business: Mikes Bikes, Equator Coffees and Teas, Toyota, Specialized, Capo Cycling Apparel, Violich Farms, Smith Optics, Osmo Nutrition, Zipp, SRAM and Pro Bar. 

Dana