Mt. Hamilton RR
https://www.sportsbaseonline.com/Item.aspx?id=2397Mt. Hamilton Road Race
By Anny Henry
Date: May 25, 2008
Race: Mt. Hamilton Road Race
Category: Women Elite P/1/2
Distance: 62 miles
Filed Size: 40
Teammates: None in my field ~ Mariko and Alexis in the Cat 4
Place: 14th
There is only one way to describe Mt. Hamilton – intense – you’re either climbing at an unbelievable pace or flying down some pretty hairy descents. Either way you’re on the edge of cracking or crashing in what is a really tough race.
This was my first time to race from the base of the main climb so I decided to pre-ride the course on Friday and I knew it was going to hurt. Mt Hamilton is one of the few point-to-point races in the district. From the base of the climb to the observatory is 19 miles and over 4500 feet of climbing with a very long technical decent followed by a rolling approach to another short climb after Isabel Creek and followed by yet another climb and technical decent for an additional 1500 plus feet of climbing for a total elevation gain of over 6000 feet. You can’t win the race on the main climb since there is another 44 miles of racing but you can sure loose it…in fact you have to be patient and consistent on all the climbs and aggressive and smart on all the descents or this course will spit you out the back so fast you’ll never know what hit you.
I had plans again to ride with the best-of-the-best in our area and they all showed up with a few exceptions and the Jazz Apple pro team was there in force as well. I was thinking my fitness would most likely have a good boost from Kern the weekend before…of course many of these girls were at Mt Hood so they too had a boost of fitness and it showed in the first 5 minutes.
We roll out and right away we start to climb and it is hard, really hard, with lots of huffing and puffing from everyone and the pace is just unsustainable. I am fully in the red and know it so even before the middle of the main climb I decide to let the group go and ride the rest at my own pace. This was really hard to do but I knew by not having a little patience here would mean a big crack for me later. So I let the main group of about 20 to 25 girls roll away and I proceeded to climb the rest of the way with one of the Jazz Apple girls who was really a lot of fun to ride with as we swapped pulls and made it hard for each other. We caught a few girls who popped on the main climb and passed a few others on the decent and started to form a real chase group of about 8 or 10. Several had girls in the front group so they were just sitting on and Molly Van Howling from Metromint did a huge amount of work. By the time we make it to the last climb I’ve now left my Jazz Apple partner as we caught one of her teamies and they decided to ride together the rest of the way. I still had illusions of catching the front group and really pushed hard on the final climb and descent all the way through the finish. I ended up 14th and 2-3 minutes off of the leaders.
My thoughts during the race ran from “I’m now going to take a break until August!” to “if I only had 30 more watts?” to “are we there yet?”…you might say it was a love - hate kind of day….ouch. The defining moment of the race was on the main climb and deciding to climb at my own pace. It was a moment of patience I don’t often have in a race but I would have popped a few minutes after and it wouldn’t have been pretty. I did feel really comfortable today, confident, sure I was in the right place and in the end I was satisfied and am sure my time to ride with the front group is coming.
Thanks for reading.
Anny
Race Reports
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
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| - US Pro Criterium Championships | 2004-08-22 |
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| - TransAlp Challenge | 2004-07-17 - 2004-07-27 |
| - Superweek | 2004-07-09 - 2004-07-25 |
| - Wine Country Criterium | 2004-06-13 |
| - Fremont Criterium | 2004-06-12 |
| - ICCC Dash for Cash | 2004-06-05 |
| - California Outdoor Sports Championships | 2004-05-14 - 2004-05-16 |
| - Sea Otter | 2004-04-14 - 2004-04-17 |
| - Pilarcitos Stage Race | 2004-03-27 - 2004-03-28 |
| - McLane Pacific Foothills Road Race | 2004-03-14 |
| - McLane Pacific Downtown Grand Prix | 2004-03-13 |
| - Land Park Criterium | 2004-03-06 |
| - Apple Pie Criterium | 2004-02-07 |