Going fast & having fun

Written by: Craig Zimmerman

San Ardo 50+ – three of us lined up from the 805 Racing Team, Chris Hahn, Mike Penta and me.  The course is a 22 mile lap with one moderate climb to the finish line and some pretty rough surfaces along the way.  We do 3 laps for a total of 66 miles.

Before the start the talk of the group of about 40 of us was Chris’ Stars and Stripes jersey.  It looked awesome but made him a marked man.  He told me he would be active in the first half of the race with breaks and I should save my energy for the second half of the race.  We knew the two guys to watch, both from Phinney and Chris also said the Cycle Sport guys could roll.

It was really helpful having Chris in the race with me as he can read the race so well.  He was in multiple different breaks in the first half of the race and I could just sit in and save energy.  The sure enough with about 25 miles to go in a moment of inattention on my behalf, one of the Phinney guys got up the road solo.  Me and one of the Cycle Sport guys went after him and unfortunately the other Phinney guy tagged along.

So there was a solo guy off the front and then I was in a break of three, with two of us working and one sitting on.  I put everything into it knowing Chris and Mike would handle the chasing peloton.

Admittedly I was the strongest of the three in the break so every once in a while the Phinney guy would help but he monitored us so we never got too close to his teammate.  With about 2 miles to go we were clear and the Phinney guy, out of guilt, said he would lead us out so we could contest the sprint for 2nd.  With about 500 meters to go I launched my sprint and went clear for 2nd place.  As you can see by the podium, all the players Chris said to watch were there.

In summary, it was great having Chris’ race knowledge and Mike’s efforts.  This is definitely a race on my calendar for next year.