July Racing (Cascade, Nats and some Crits)

Heading into July, there was much fun to be had at some crits, a road race or two and a time trial whose winner get some fancy jersey).

In rough summary, July had some good racing and training with solid miles and some intensity had at some crits. Nate learned that doing long-ish miles and crits back to back doesn't give you good legs, or a tireless back, but had fun racing the San Rafael Crit at the end of a long-ish fun ride and the Lodi Crit the next day, though he pulled out because of back pains about an hour into the race. Definitely core work is a key component of any cyclists training regimen, and one that deserves more attention by Nate.

Later in the month, despite 3 riders being taken from the pre-reg list because of computer and/or human error, only Nate and Stefano Barberi (composite rider from Colorad0) were able to ride the Cascade Cycling Classic. The race had a great course with excellent competition, but the heat took it's toll on Nate, who rode most of the race trying to get into breaks and finishing in the middle of the pack. Still, the experience was good.

More importantly, Steve O'Mara, Lucas and Joe Binder contested the Cat 2 edition of the race. They raced strongly and showed themselves very capable, but unfortunately the cards weren't stacked in their favor, as they came away with some similarly middle-of-the-pack results. No doubt they will learn and come back stronger to future stage races.

Nationals was difficult, with a hot, hilly RR course that took a lot of hard work if you wanted to get in a break. It would have been better to ride conservatively, because Nate overcooked himself racing for a break finish and pulled out after 4 laps, as his break was getting caught. He was able to re-hydrate and ride hard the next day to finish 4th in the time trial, which was a pleasant improvement over the 10th place finish of 2008. For a heavy climber, Nate showed some improvement in his TT abilities in 2009, both at Hood and Nationals.

The highlight of the 2 weeks of riding, for Nate, was the time he spent hanging out with his team and the time spent with his girlfriend, who came up for the first week of the two spent in Oregon. It wasn't bad to take 4th in the National Time Trial, though.

Pescadero, Nevada City and Mt Diablo

The weeks after Hood were fun and marked by some good racing.

The Pescadero RR saw almost the entire team turn out for the tough 100 mile hilly course. With plenty of strong riders in the field, a break did not get away until 30 or 40 miles into the race. The gap was kept down for a while, but the hard first lap of the race seemed to have deadened people's legs. By the finish, the 3 man group stayed away by a small margin... Nate finished fourth, almost catching the 3rd place finisher from the break on the final climb. Justin rode well to 6th, Jim was 9th and both Binders in the low teens. Everyone rode hard and aggressively. No doubt one of the strongest all-around showings by the team. (Note the photo of the key moment when Jim attacked forcefully to take the highly contested mid-race prime!)

Nevada City was an event that Justin and Nate were both fortunate enough to race. With Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, and a handful of other pros showing up to the famous race, it was sure to be good. A couple of laps in, Lance, Levi and Ben J-M pulled away on the climb and eventually lapped the chasing group of a dozen or so by about 1:15 into the race. Lance attacked again and Nate followed briefly, but couldn't hold the pace set by the 7 time Tour winner. Eventually, Nate and Justin finished well in the teens, with Armstrong taking the win. Presumably Lance was in shape a few weeks before starting the Tour, where he finished on the podium.

The Mt Diablo Time Trial was a blast. Warm weather and a nice ride out to the course made for a fun time with Jim, Justin and Nate heading for some top finishes. Everyone rode well on the very windy day. The times were slow, but good times were had by all. Nate had the fastest time of the day, Justin 2nd and Jim 7th (not bad for someone who claims that extended climbing is not his best strength).

Mt Hood Cycling Classic

Going out to the first major stage race of the year was exciting. The whole team was in good form and looking forward to a week's vacation of fun racing up in Oregon. At the height of summer daylight hours, it would get light by 6 in the morning and stay light until 10 in the evening. The weather threatened rain a few times, but kept us dry throughout the week.

The race ran its course... prologue, road race, time trial, road race and crit. Plenty of miles, a good bit of climbing, a ton of wind on the TT course and some solid riding made the week enjoyable. Nate in the top 10 a few times throughout the race, getting 5th in the TT and 7th overall. Justin finished in the top 10 on the mountain top finishing road stage on day 4, behind some very strong men. Everyone rode well and finished strongly, except for the unfortunate loss of Shawn, who reacted badly to the day 1 prologue and had breathing problems on the first road stage, from which he pulled out. (Apparently they had crop dusted the day before the race and some riders' asthmatic conditions weren't helped by the pesticides in the air).

Mt Hamilton RR 2009

Starting off in cool weather we climbed up the hour-long incline up Mt Hamilton with Paul Mach attacking early to repeat his win of 2008. Knowing his strategy, Nate immediately went to the front to help set a strong tempo up the climb as soon as Paul went.

Justin rode strongly in the front group as Nate fell back a bit over the top of the climb, still recovering from a fever earlier in the week.

Justin went on to finish well into the top 10 with the rest of the team riding strongly in the tough race a bit farther back in the standings. Luckily, Justin's strong riding made the work worth while, and perhaps in better health the race might turn out with a ZteaM win next year.

Panoche Valley Road Race

100° temperatures greeted Luca, Jim and I (Justin) at the start line of Panoche Valley Road Race- and it was only 9:30! Instead of doing a proper warm-up on the bike, I just stood in the sun for a few minutes.

The race was 67 miles with 3500’ of climbing. We began in earnest with attacks within the first two miles. Fabrice Dubost (Webcor) and Luca managed to get away from the group and quickly gained thirty seconds. As we reached the first set of rollers, Andrew Talansky (Amore-Vita-McDonald's) and I broke away to bridge with the two riders up the road. At the top of the pass, we caught Luca who had separated. The three of us worked together for the next ten minutes until we reached Dubost. For the next 10 miles, the four of us took equal turns pulling. After the turn-around we climbed up and over a steep but short roller. As we crested, Luca could not quite maintain the pace and dropped off.

On the return climb up to the pass, I attempted to ride away from the other two, hoping to drop at least one of my break mates. However, neither rider took the bait and rather than attempt to ride solo to the finish, I drifted back to rejoin our 3 man break.

As we hit the three hour mark in the saddle, the heat was really starting to take its toll. Although there were feed zones with neutral water stationed every twenty miles, it was not nearly enough to replenish the water I needed to drink and dump on myself to stay cool. My legs burned, my head burned, even my feet felt like they were on fire. With 10k to go, I ran out of water. It was going to be a long hot slog to the finish.

At the 1K to go mark, the cat and mouse game began. We dawdled for 800m, no one obliging to take the lead. Finally, with 200m to go, both Dubost and I jumped. We went wheel to wheel to the line. Fortunately, even in my heat altered state, I had the sense to throw my bike and take the win by no more than 6 inches. Luca courageously rode by himself to the finish to take 4th place.

Meet the Team: Jim Wingert

Height: 5'9''/175cm
Weight: 155lbs/70kg
Years racing: 3
Strengths: time trialing, climbing
What I want to improve: climbing

Favorite/top results:
3rd – San Dimas Stage Race (Cat 2)
3rd – San Diego Cyclo-Vets Omnium (P/1/2)
2nd – Berkeley Bicycle Club TTT
6th – Stage 2 (TT), Madera Stage Race (P/1/2)
4th – Esparto TT (P/1/2)
1st – Wente Vineyards RR (Cat 3)
1st – 2007 WCCC Conference Criterium (Men’s B)

Goals for 2009:
Get faster.

Sporting background: a little bit of high school track/cross country
Hobbies: music appreciation
Favorite post-ride food: honey and yogurt, mixed 1-to-1
Favorite x-power: regeneration
Favorite grand tour: Giro d'Italia
Favorite riding or racing memory: Crushing it with the Mooney Express at the Berkeley TTT.
Worst cycling habit: blowing myself up
How and why did you start racing? I lived an unhealthy lifestyle in college and my buddy Pat encouraged me to buy a bike senior year.
What will you do when you stop riding? It’s anyone’s guess

Berkeley Hills Road Race

Sunday, May 10

Team: Justin, Nate, Shawn, Luca, Ed, Steve, Jim

The rolling 19-mile loop in Orinda, CA, is familiar territory and frequent training ground for many of the ZteaM riders. Having won the race in 2008, Nate was marked by many of the other teams, and his aggressive racing and hard tempo-setting distracted many of the teams from chasing down an early break that included Justin, Shawn and Jim... half of the team in a group of 15 or so (not bad!)

Knowing that Justin was one of the stronger climbers in the field, ZteaM rode a canny race, allowing the break to gain 4 minutes on the field by the second of five laps. Protected by Shawn and Jim's excellent work in the break, Justin was well set up to make a go for it with an attack on the final climb, as per the original plan. It was only too bad that Kelly Benefits' Scott Zwizanski was a force to be reckoned with and surprised the break with a winning attack with 20 minutes to go. Justin finished high in 7th, Nate attacked the remnants of the field for 11th, and Ed and Shawn finished strong in a race that left half of the field by the sidelines.