Snelling Race Report

By Melanie Wong

Snelling has always been one of those races on my “hit list” - a classic NorCal course with power climbs, windy false flats and a kicker uphill finish. I’ve been lucky enough to be within the top spots for the past couple years, so I knew the course favored my punchy riding style. However, unlike past years, I didn’t really want to go into the race with an overly formal plan. Chatting casually in the parking with Amy, we had pretty general goals: be active, race hard, conserve when appropriate and be ready to set-up the sprint if it came down to it.

This year the small women’s field had two dominant teams (5 from JL Velo and 4 from Cyclesport Specialized) along with two strong unattached riders. On lap one Sarabeth Liebert (Cyclesport Specialized), rolled away from the field while JL was tempoing at the front. Since it was so early in the race, I wasn’t overly concerned with this escapee, but as the gap widened with no response from JL Velo I became more and more nervous. The Snelling course has many turns in it. Once a rider gets “out of sight, out of mind” it can be hard to bring them back. Halfway through lap 2, with Sarabeth 1 minute up the road, I started to put in small attacks to elevate the pace. Amy countered my attacks and Megan Ruble (Cyclesport Specialized) did the same to try and break away from the field. Bit by bit we pulled back Sarabeth and by the start of lap 3, the group was together, minus 3 JL Velo riders who were dropped.

With the first signs of strain starting to show in the field, Amy threw down laps 3 and 4. When she wasn’t sharing the pacemaking with the Cyclesport Specialized riders, she was attacking the roller hills. All her hard work meant that I could sit in, recover and conserve as much energy as possible. I only countered or attacked when the composition of riders or the terrain made it particularly beneficial. By the end of lap 4 we had dropped two more riders from Cyclesport Specialized, and the remaining members of the field were preparing for the sprint.

Heading into the final, long “L” stretch stretch before the finish, riders were jockeying for position.  We knew I needed to be top 4 going into the final right hand turn, so Amy worked with Megan to keep the pace up, while I sat snugly 3rd wheel. In the final 200m before the turn, Eleanor Velez (Unattached) emerged from the left side of the group to pass Amy and be the first into the turn, taking the outside line. I jumped with her and used the inside line to my advantage to bridge up to her quickly. As I approached her rear wheel, I kicked hard and attacked through her then sprinted the rest of the way to the line.

I can’t say thanks enough to Amy for her incredible amounts of work - it was truly a team effort that out-manned and out-gunned we were still able to pull off the win and finish with sweaty faces, sore muscles, and big smiles.

2nd for Markelz from the Break - Snelling Road Race 2018

by Todd Markelz

Team: Dave Allen, Rob Amatelli, Sam Bennett, Scott Cox, Todd Markelz, Craig Roemer, Oli Ryan, Matthew Sloan

Everyone always looks forward to Snelling. In many ways it feels like the official kick-off to the road racing season in northern California. With a strong squad of eight starting, TMB had lots of cards to play in either a breakaway situation or a full field sprint.

The morning of the race was cold. My Garmin read 35 degrees on the starting line and most of the field was bundled up to race in full leg warmers. There was one notable exception though. Rob is not “most of the field” and he wouldn’t be caught dead covering up his glistening guns no matter what mother nature threw at him. After a shivering neutral roll out we arrived at the 12 mile loop that our field would complete a total of five times.

As soon as the moto-ref pulled off attacks started to fly. A thinly veiled attempt just to get warm? Perhaps. Riffelmacher from Olympic Club was active as were a number of Pete’s and Thirsty Bear riders. The first lap was defined by persistent attempts by various sets of riders to form the early break. Per the pre-race plan TMB was all over the front of the race ensuring representation in each and every move. It was an excellent piece of team racing and on numerous occasions I found myself chasing down a move only to get reeled back by the field, only to see another attack fly, and smiling as a teammate shot past me to cover it.

Late into the first lap a 10-or-so man break formed containing our own Rob along with other contenders such as Riffelmacher. Their gap grew as the rest of the field relaxed but it didn’t stretch very far. Always insight, the breakaway sat out front for the better part of a full lap but eventually fell apart and was reabsorbed. There was a relative calm as the race crossed the finish line and headed out onto lap 4.

After the right hand turn onto Keyes Rd, the long straight shot heading west on the course, the wind had started to pick up blowing in from the south. The field began to stretch and I was sitting about mid-pack when I saw a streak of blue pass me on the right. It was Claudio of Thirsty Bear and he was accelerating in an attack. I jumped onto his wheel and we shot off the front of the field. Knowing Claudio is strong on the flats and would be willing to collaborate to establish a break I quickly pulled through and kept the pressure on. After three or four rotations we started to get company as the field felt the danger of this late race move. Cottell made the bridge, along with Evans, Coble, and a few others. The group settled around 8 strong and everyone started working with the exception of Evans who was content to just sit on.

Lap 4 flew by and our lead over the field grew to about a minute and a half. We crossed the finish line to begin the fifth and final lap and I was pretty confident that the break would stick to the end. After turning on to Keyes Road for the last time Evans put in a surprise attack from the back of the break which definitely didn’t go over well given the amount of work he was not doing for the previous full lap. Coble chased him down and order was restored. Heading into the final 5km several members of the break were starting to fade and it was clear a further selection was imminent. On the hill after the bridge I got to the front and started to lift the pace. This strung out the break and tailed a couple of people off the back. I kept the pace high around the right hand bend and into the two rollers that are effectively the final bumps before the finish. Still on the front I started to accelerate again when I hear yelling followed by the crashing of carbon on asphalt. Apparently Coble jumped from the back of the break to come up alongside me. In the process, a rider attempted to grab his wheel but collided with another and a crash ensued taking out several others. Coble and I pressed on without looking back and Evans was able to avoid the tangle and chase back up to us. The three of us rode into the finale still about a minute clear of the field.

We turned onto Figmond Ave (aka the crappy part of the course) and the games begin. Coble is doing most of the work on the front, I start taking half pulls, and Evans continues to sit on. Coble starts getting nervous and continues to look back. Eventually he’s telling me that the field is coming and we need to keep riding or we won’t make it. Given the field contained our sprinter for the day, Sam, I wasn’t overly concerned with getting caught so I continued light pulls in an effort to save up enough to try and best Coble and Evans in the sprint. But Coble was determined to stay away and he worked just hard enough to ensure that outcome. Coble led through the final corner, I was in second wheel, and Evans was behind me. There was a crash from another field on the right side of the road in the final stretch and a race ref was waving us to be cautious which ruled out a surprise early jump. While clearing the crash I eased up and Coble rolled alongside my right. As soon as we started the small climb to the line I opened up my sprint with Coble accelerating along side me. He quickly pulled ahead and I got onto his wheel. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough to pull around him and crossed the line in 2nd. The fast chasing field was a mere 30 seconds back and Sam completely smashed everyone to take 4th. 

Of course winning is always better but I left the day satisfied. I felt great throughout the race and that is a good indication for the rest of the season ahead! The team also rode super strong all day, especially in the early stages of the race. Everyone was aggressive yet smart at the same time. Although I was the one who was lucky enough to end up in the race winning move, had that move failed I’m confident that a teammate would have been there to force the next one!

Team Camp 2018!

I was particularly excited about this team camp, for a couple reasons.  It was going to be in Santa Cruz, my hometown and best city for cycling (in the world?!), our team roster boasted 11 of my favorite cycling friends, and the weather was going to be perfect.

Friday night we all showed up at the host house with bikes spilling out of cars and hugs and chatter all around.   Amy opened up the Equator box and handed around our Equator beanies and bags of fresh coffee.  I handed out the team t-shirts and broke open the box of Gu product for the weekend.  It was the ultimate cyclist partay.  Even the two host house kittens made friends and cautiously investigated the noisy living room.  

Saturday dawned clear and COLD.  After a huge breakfast by our own Melanie (oatmeal, and bacon and scrambled eggs, and baked cinnamon apples!!!) complete with the requisite Equator French presses, we went through the typical layers on and layers off and finally rolled down the hill into the redwood trees and backroads.

Team camp doubled as kitty camp

Today’s ride was an iconic 55 mile Santa Cruz classic; Eureka Canyon.   The loop did not disappoint.  After warming up through the trees, and meandering out through town, we hit Corralitos and the base of Eureka with smiles and miles of snacks to go. Some people smashed up the hill, and some rode casually to take in the views, but by the time we rounded up at the top of Soquel-San Jose Rd, everyone had logged a decent leg beating at some point or another.  Lunch was equally epic and dinner soon followed.  We tried to go mini-golfing but the Boardwalk had rented the golf course out to a “private event”.

Always time for mid-ride selfies

Day 2 was intended to be a team day, with a flat route to facilitate rotating and team work.  After our team picture in our beanies and tees, we took the scenic route past East Cliff, to take in the ocean breeze and views of Monterey, before heading to the flatlands of South County.  Along San Andreas, we hammered out a team time trial, staggering two teams to add an element of racing.  At the turn around point, it was time to head home, as the miles of smiles was taking a toll.  Rolling back smoothly, we climbed the brutal 4 minute, 15% hill to the host house, and collapsed around the table for a late lunch. 

Beach day!

2018 Grasshopper Adventure Series: Old Caz

The first Grasshopper of the series, Old Caz is always a mighty wake-up call that the season of bikes has officially begun. This wake-up call isn't of the gentle iPhone alarm variety though. No, for me it's usually more like a punch in the gut or a bucket of cold water straight to the face. "AMY, it's time to get serious," it yells. "Pfft," I scoff, "notice my lack of fitness, these knobby tires I'm riding and this goofy grin on my face. Clearly serious isn't my plan. Plus, JANUARY."

This year Jennifer, Sara and I joined 680 of our closest friends for the 20th anniversary of this "race," which always attracts some serious hitters on the men's and women's side. Sara was rocking her FS MTB, and asked about a Camelbak (her chill factor was sky high). Jen has a Stigmata that matches mine, but she probably rides it as much as I do. At least we all looked really good!

Climb, descend (keep your mouth closed), group up with some others, climb, descend, shove in some food, climb, refill bottles, descend, slosh across the creek, climb, roll for a bit, climb, DONE. See, wasn't that easy? Well yes and no. I couldn't help but be awed by the gorgeous day we got to enjoy. The area around Occidental is just insanely beautiful and every time I'm up there I'm thankful we get to ride around like kids in such a great area. The race itself forces you to go into the red from the gun, right up the Coleman climb, so nothing about it is particularly easy. This was my first year riding my Santa Cruz Stigmata CC, though, and it definitely made a difference. Plus I've been riding dirt a little bit more than usual, so I was a *wee bit* faster downhill this year (don't laugh). 

For me, Old Caz is all about the experience: seeing a bunch of friends at reg and on the start line, riding a stunning course, laughing at my own misadventures and those of others, getting really dirty, embracing the punch to the gut. The season of bikes is officially here my friends, and I couldn't be happier! See you at Chileno...