Snelling RR & Merced Crit ‘04
by Allan Farrow

Dylan, Eric, Rich, and William decided it was my turn to have a go at the win on Saturday and put together a solid plan to make it happen. I was to instigate or get into the right break and then go like hell. If it all came back together before the end then no worries - we had the two best sprinters in the race who would be fresh for the finish. William was looking very good at the front keeping the early breaks in check, working only enough to keep things from getting out of hand, until he flatted out early in the race.

Bummer. So we criused for a bit until the group started getting that nervous feel to it and I moved to the front to be safe. Right at the beginning of lap three(?) another team lit it up, strung it out, and cracked the field wide open. Rich had the misfortune to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and couldn't get to anyone strong enough to help him bridge.

I screwed up a bit, missed the tail of the break, and had to chase with another guy for about 3/4 of a lap before we got on it. Shortly thereafter two guys slipped away and I was too cooked and too out-numbered to chase it back. Imagine my joy when Eric also bridges to the break, goes straight to the front, and does the nasty job of dragging the rest of us up to the escapees (with a little help from East-Side velo). Bad-Ass! Even cooler is when, after a few failed attempts on my part to get away, I look back to tell Eric I'm a bit overdone and there is Dylan grinning at me like the cheshire cat. Way cool 'cause Eric has spent himself doing my dirty work and I know I don't have the legs to win this day.

Less cool is the part where Dylan flats in the last 3 miles, Eric finally hits the wall after putting in one of the most inspired rides I've seen in a while, and I get put into the dirt in the sprint and can do no better than 10th. $#@!*&^!!!

Merced Criterium
Sunday's crit is Eric's to do with as he will and, again, Dylan has the solid tactics - with only 4 guys we won't chase a lot of breaks and will wait for the classic lead-out to set up Erics sprint. The course turned out to be relatively safe and dry despite the morning drizzle and I was happy to see Rich quickly roll off the front to do a little early race maintenance. I follwed a couple of half-hearted moves just to open my legs up, feeling confident I could handle the early work load and still do my lead-out job. I was a bit shocked to suddenly find myself sitting on a break of 10-15 guys and a gap of 30 seconds. So now all I have to do is sit in the whole race and let everyone call me names while the teams that missed the break chase it down and give Eric, Dylan, and Rich a free ride. But with 5 to go it becomes clear that its not coming back together and I'll need to use my very fresh legs to sprint. Coming out of the last turn in 4th place I stand up to kick for the line and pull out of my pedal! Dammit! All I can do is an extremely dissapointing 8th.

On the positive side, its early in the season and everyone is riding very well; a little fine-tuning and it's all going to come together. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season and hope everyone else is as well.

May 5, 2004 - Fresno Report
by Forrest Koenig

This last weekend will go down as one of my most favorite race weekends because SOLANO Ave Cyclery Racing Team went down to our chief rivals kitchen and stole their pot roast! It was a team wide kick_ss.

First Stop: Santa Nella, Velo Promo's Flattest Race
Rich describes road racing as playing right field. Now that I know that he played the hot corner of third base, the right field description is really insulting. This race was hot, flat, and boring. Some team had to mix things up and it was Solano to do it. Rich merely rolls off the front for our first break away. As he is reeled in, I counter. A McGuire rider, someone else who smelled kinda funky, and the pipehitter from CVC-Fresno's cycling team--who soloed at Sea Otter to win the road race from a billion miles out, join me.

25 odd miles later we were caught due to the inability of McGuire and the other guy to carry their own weight. The lesson I learned was: Follow that dude from CVC. Several miles after I came in, Allan opened a can o'pain and attempted an 18-mile solo-to-win effort. Unfortunately, Dr Farrow's PhD was in Mathematics, not arithmetic! He needed 22 miles to win. Allan would have picked up the most aggressive rider award. That was truly a painful effort. Dylan countered with a kilo to the line and started to hallucinate about winning. Had there been a moto with camera, Solano would have had an abundance airtime due to the percentage of the race with one of us off in breakaway land. So coming into the line Eric and Rich were looking good for the finish.

I swore to Rich that my previous effort tapped me. As the sprint developed, Rich leads out for Eric but gets pinched right, I dive left into the clear left lane for the sprint. Eric follows a wheel or two behind me. As riders faded in the long sprint, the group seemed to come to a stop and even though I started the sprint way too late and nearly in the back of the pelaton. I shot up the left side for third. Or so I thought. Despite the fact that there was no previous discussion about the centerline rule, no previous enforcement of the centerline rule, and in years past no centerline rule, I was relegated to 7th (first out of the money placing) for the centerline violation. Eric who was right behind me suffers the same fate taking 9th. Rich "benefited" from the disaster and was promoted to 5th. In summary, 3 top tens and lots o' imaginary airtime.

Next Stop: My Old Man's Place
My dad lives in Fresno and hosted the Solano bunch. We arrive just in time watch the derby. A game of whiffleball proved that Eric, Rich and I played ball in school and Allan & Dylan didn't. Allan comes through with the hit of the day. Eric exchanges a lemon from my dad's tree with yellow ball and Allan smoked it splatting citrus bits for miles. The VCR played Mario's 2002 World's multiple times after a huge pasta feast. Life was good in the central valley.

Next Stop: The Tower District Criterium M123
Eric, Rich, and Dylan successfully talked Allan into doing the Masters' 123 race. Good thing, Allan made a break stick that includes 3 Morgan Stanley racers and some other dead wood. Dylan had lectured us on why it was important to have two Solano guys in any threatening group. Dylan looks and sees that Allan's group IS threatening. Dylan grasping his leadership duties in the moment of truth drops the BFH and closes a decent gap in one strong effort. Meanwhile Rich and Eric save themselves for the E3 race by hanging in the back of the main field watching the Morgan Stanley guys shut down the chase by blocking through the 180. I had my work cut out for me. I am hanging in street clothes on the coffee shop patio sip'n an ice-cold beverage.

I'd yelled every time I saw Allan take a big old pull for the break. Dylan rests comfortably in tow. Rich and Eric just hanging one group back. When the bell finally sounded, Dylan attacks on the backstretch. The group shatters. Dylan holds onto fourth! In a 1,2 RACE!!!! Eric steps up to the plate a wins the field sprint! Solano shows up and makes their presence felt.

And they felt it good, next stop: The Tower District Criterium E3
We had some goals going into the weekend: Have fun. Score lots of BAT and BAR points. Laugh at Allan. Come up with some race purse for beer money on the drive home. And Win. And frankly, after the m123 race, 4 out of 5 normally would have been okay and most everyone could have been happy for the drive home. But why not sweep it and take everything we came for?!?!

During the open course warm-up I chatted with the CVC pipehitter who won the Sea Otter RR. I learned his name, Jon, and I apologized for not being able to carry more weight in the day before's break. I told him to watch for Allan. He was the one who could make a break stick. This course was destined for a break away. The 180 shut everyone except the lead riders down to a stand still forcing a sprint out of the turn every lap.

Hmmm Beeeeeer [Rich and Dylan]
Rich, who has been suffering from "the runs" and had more than his fair share of 107 degree port-o-potty turned port-o-sauna, went from pale blue green to burning red when the $75 prime lap bell rung. Then Dylan snaked two $20 primes. Money was rolling! When all the primes were taken, 4 of 6 were in the Clif Bar Truck rolling home in the Bay Area. Tires, Wine, Cash, Helmets.

The Attack Machine [Allan]
With 45 minutes to go, Allan opens up a gap and takes the Webcor with him. Jon, of CVC, THE man that I want to watch, heeds my earlier advice and jumps to bridge. That was my clue, and I bolted in chase. Allan pulls off and Webcor sits up. I yell to Allan to go again because this group has the quality to make it stick. HWG still doesn't pull through. I do. Then a few other CVC guys who made it too do some work. I see that after the 180 we only had a 2 second gap. [Is that a gap?] I want this thing to work so I put my head down and force the issue. Only Jon from CVC can answer and thus the selection.

The Old Lady in the Fast Lane [Eric]
As I flew through the 180 I'd look to oncoming pelaton and exchange smiles with Eric as he basically put his foot down, came to a complete stop, and looked both ways as he lead the group though the field. CVC pitched in too. As Jon notes in his race report. Even better? There were a couple of crashes in the 180. Hey, it wasn't Solano so anything to slow down the field. Right?

Yelling for the Lap Counter [Me]
So after 30 minutes of equally trading pulls, CVC starts to cry uncle. I plead with him to stay on and plead with the ref to show me that magical 5 laps to go. Every time I'd see a blank lap counter I'd say, "Okay, I'll see 5 next time." Now I am taking 3/4 lap pulls and Jon is still slowing. He pulls 3 more times in the last 5 laps. I ditch him on the section before the backstretch and really pour on the speed so I'll be perfectly free and clear. Arms up with an excited yell, I take my hometown crit! YAHOO.

Next Stop: The Mammoth Orange [The BFO]
An icon on Hwy 99. Double Bacon Cheese Burger never tasted so good.

August 1st, 2004 - Santa Clara - Timpani Criterium
by Todd Paoletti

Sunday was podium-er-riffic for the 3s squad! For the first time in our 3 year history (we think) we put two guys on podium. Since I'm the shortest, the other guys were gracious enough to let me have the top step. Thanks guys. Rich, who wanted to be sure to win some mini Clif bars, got on the third step.

It was a beautifully scripted race. We truly owned it. Almost from the gun, Allan was off the front stretching everyone's legs and from there on out it was totally animated. I watched the whole 60 mins play out from my laz-e-boy in the middle of the pack. We had 2 or 3 guys on the front at all times controlling everything. Nobody went anywhere without our permission. For a nanosecond a couple guys went up the road without us. The whole pack was looking around at us to chase it down, so Dylan shrugged his shoulders and nailed them back within 1/2 a lap. That was it. Everything else was ours. Eric, Doran, Dylan, Allan, Rich, Forrest...then Forrest, Rich, Allan, Dylan, Doran and Eric. All Solano, all the time. We were in 3 or 4 breaks including a fairly substantial 6-ish man break near the end that looked like it might stick. We had 2 guys in it and so someone decided that was unfair and pulled it back.

With 3 to go Forrest, Dylan, Rich and I were, as planned, up in the front. (Unlike last year though, I didn't panic until the last lap. I've come a long way in that regard!) From there it was lead-out train time. Good, old-fashioned Solano-goes-to-front-and-kills-it. For the last 2 laps Forrest and Dylan patrolled the front and within the final lap after turn two Forrest opened it up which lined the field out instantly. I had been sitting in and coasting for the entire race so this was a shock to my system, but I just tucked in behind the old faithful "Gun Room" sweet spot on Rich's ass and kept the faith.

Dylan took over on the back stretch and killed it for another 300 meters taking us around turn 3. It was really lined out now and as we rounded turn 3 Rich and I were sitting a few spots back at 8th or 9th. Now I panicked a bit, yelling "RICH-YOU-HAVE-TO-GO-RIGHT-NOW".

Rich went.

Within 50 meters, we went from 8th and 9th to 4th and 5th, which is a lot of places to jump in such a short distance right before the final turn. We went into the finish straight and in all my anticipation I found myself overgeared, but still fresh. So I just pounded away for what seemed like a month and I finally got my 11 spinning with 50 meters to go, taking it by a wheel. Rich hung in there for 3rd.

Huge, guys. Huge. You made it easy.

Cat’s Hill ‘04
by Todd Paoletti

Yep, it was hard again. Something about that darn hill. Going up it over and over and over and over with 95 other guys.

This year's 3's race was jerky. A few teams lit it up in the earlier and middle laps which made it hard. Several breaks tried to get away, which meant for a lot of jumping and chasing at the front.

I was checking the lap cards much too early this year. They were like a mirage. When I saw a blurry 5 to go, just 2 laps in I knew it was going to be a long day.
And it was. As the bell rang on the last lap I thought I saw another mirage as we hammered through the start/finish. Jeff and Dylan powered to the front and took the pace up. I thought, "wow, how great would it be if those two blurry images were really Jeff and Dylan and not another hallucination."

Turns out it was really them! Thanks guys! It was confirmed by the announcer yelling something about "teams on the front..."

So I snapped out of it.

Jeff and Dylan hammered to the bottom of the hill, just as we planned, putting me a great position. I think they stopped on the hill and told the rest of the field to sit up. That helped too. I went up the hill in 4th/5th. I had planned to attack at this point -- at the crest of the hill -- to go to the front and lead it out since the final sprint is short from the last corner. The finishing results usually get played out on the back side before the decent so that's where I tried to make it happen.

Unfortunately it just didn't. Two Village Peddler riders did what I had intended to do and they did it well. They laid it down at the top of the hill and got a slight 10 meters they didn't give up. I jockeyed on the decent, went into the sprint sitting 5th and ended up with 6th. Guess what I won - Clif Shot! Mmmmm.

So, alas a long race report w/ no podium shots. Oh well. There's always next week.
And thanks to Alec and Aaron who came down or stayed to cheer.

Santa Rosa Twilight #1

Todd, Jerry, Rita and I headed up to the first, Santa Rosa Twilight of the 2004 season. We all did the second race (I think Jerry raced three times last night...which was many as one man can do in one night!) Todd and I both snagged a prime a piece and then I went on a very long, two-up suicidal breakaway to soften up our opponents. Ouch!

We were swallowed up inside the bell lap after turn one...I could almost hear Todd's evil laugh as he flashed by...When I saw him exit the final turn in second with a 20-30 meter gap on the field...he started to cackle maniacally and proceeded to put on a wicked, sprinting clinic for the Santa Rosa faithful! Ask him what he won! You may want to go to Santa Rosa too! Jerry, Rita and I all partied like a bunch of Giovanni Lombardi look-alikes and basked in Todd's radiant glory! And Rita was awesome! And you thought you couldn't hang with the boys, Rita...she even beat a mess of 'em!

The final race of the night was the always fast and painful 1,2,3-eeeeeeee race...It was furious from the gun with lots of breaks and chasing...mostly by Team Clovis, The Rocknasium Cat. 1 group, and my new favorite competitor Team Dewars...yummmmm! Todd and I stayed in it and even contributed to some pulling...yep, you heard it here first, I TOOK A PULL!

It ended up coming down to a field sprint, and I managed to limp my poor, cramping body over the line for 7th. It felt good to see a former pro, and a mess of Cat 1 studs in front of me...Go Solano!

Patterson RR ‘04
by Doran Mori

No podium. Got 4th. Allan and William joined in on the fun.

The weather wasn't as hot as last year due to the return of the usual windy conditions. Major headwind over the pass and a kick ass tailwind on Altamont. 51mph pedaling in my 53x12!

From the start 3 guys slowly roll out of sight of the group. One of which is the evil italian AV guy Luca who was messing up the break Allan and I were in at Timpani. He wasn't even wearing his team kit.

Near the top of the pass Josh Snead of Village Peddler starts to pull away from the group. I follow and away we go with me whining it's too early to be going. With some good sales talk from Josh we start working together to catch the 3 guys up ahead. A little ways later on Altamount AltoVelo-Randy bridges up to us. After the race someone said we had a 7 minute gap on pack after the first lap.

Going up the pass a second time Chris Crawford (blue jersey--Forrest almost bridged with him at Leesville) bridges up to us telling us that Allan and Allan (AV/Solano) are trying to bridge up. But no one would wait being that we hadn't caught the initial trio. I thought for a moment about going back to pull Allan up but it didn't seem possible that I could and the other AV guy wasn't willing either. Sorry Allan. I'll do better at Winters, plus I'm going to need you.

We caught the rest of the group by the time we got to Altamont the second time. Now there was six of us. Luca wasn't doing any work and thus wasn't making any friends. We crawled up the pass for the third time with everybody saying they were cramping. Luca rode slowly away from the group. We were collectively thinking he couldn't ride away from us by himself. Turned out to be a mistake. Never saw him again. In retrospect, if I knew he was that strong I would of dropped the group on the climb and bridged up to him while I could still see him. Chris got dropped on the Flynn climb with an inner thigh cramp. Randy gets dropped over the top of the hill but chases back on and then attacks us on Altamont.

Josh and I reel him back in. I tell him not to jump so hard when he pulls thru. Not really, but I was thinking it.

Within the last mile Josh attacks. I hesitate, then follow. Randy's toast. I'm thinking 3rd would be nice. I reel Josh back in. We're both thinking we're catching Luca but it turns out to be another straggler. Josh yells at me to go because Randy is catching back up to us. I come thru first out of the turn on to the finish straight with a small gap. So I stand to sprint but my legs have nothing. I shift to an easier gear thinking I'm in too big of gear. Nope that doesn't help. Maybe I need a bigger gear. Nope that doesn't work either. I'm done. The line didn't seem this far away in the previous laps. I give up hearing the noise of the real sprint. Josh and Randy sprint around me. Josh gets second. I won't have to worry about him for since he'll probably upgrade now.

Got my 4th place and my t-shirt. Allan and William thanks for sticking around and watching me finish.

Suisun ‘04

Nice ride at Patterson Doran. That's slick. I'm looking forward to riding Winter's with you roadies - at least part of Winter's anyway.

Nice riding by Jeff yesterday at Suisun, beginning with a crazy strong solo break attempt in the 3's that, sadly, eventually got caught. Didn't seem to phase him though as he finished 4th when it was all said and done. Pretty amazing all-around effort by Mr Wyatt. Todd went so hard to set the speed on the final laps that he threw up on his bike. That's cool. Throwing up on the bike's pretty neat, huh Todd?

I think both Rich and Jeff won primes as well, so all in all we did ok, considering the pile-up on the last lap changed the game significantly for a few of us. When I breath it hurts, but I think I feel better than I did last night, so that's promising. Somehow the bike I'm borrowing survived. Eric made it through the wreckage and thought he had a reasonable shot at a good finish until a Webcor guy in front of him decided to put himself into the curb for no good reason and Eric had to hit the brakes.

Suisun's so exciting.

The M1/2/3 race was fast, but pretty smooth. I started in the back as I wasn't sure I'd be staying in to the finish and that was probably a mistake as there was still some accordion motion and at the speed we were going it hurt pretty good. I looked up to see that far up at the front of the field there was Jeff driving the pace. Wow. When we do upgrade I have a hunch Jeff can carry the team on his own ridiculously strong efforts. That was rad Jeff!

After the racing, the strange strawberry/banana smoothie things were pretty tasty.

University RR
by Doran Mori

I survived. Barely. Got 6th. Most if not all of the good climbers were there. Our massacre didn't occur till about 5 to go when the 3 strongest guys opened a gap going up the hill. I bridged up to them about half way up the hill. When Dave Bracket who won last week's race at Winters sets the hardest pace I've had to follow all year to the top of the hill. After that effort I think I had about 10% life force left. Now there's 4 of us. After hanging on for the next few laps and pulling through on the descent I was pretty much a lifeless husk and I couldn't hide this fact from the others. I cracked with 2 laps to go. Once you get dropped you're not getting back on and the descent changes from a nice way to recover from your last maximal effort to a never ending world of pain. Now my best chance would be to somehow survive in limbo and come in 4th. Unfortunately 2 guys were able to catch me and come around me as I was heading up the hill to the finish. After the race it took me about 20 minutes to stop panting like a dog and absorb the massive amounts liquids I had just ingested.

Fremont & Santa Rosa Downtown Crits ‘04

25 BAT Points to the Cause!

Freemont-probably the easiest race in memory. The crit presented 4 corners, wide open, fifty plus guys, all of which seemed to stick their nose in the wind for unnecessary periods. My office in the back of the pack of the peloton was comfy and calm. I'll skip to the critical part of the race. 0.75 laps to go I position myself 3rd on a moving train which begins to slow starting the tell-tale sign of pinching and bulging of a non-Solano controlled race. Forced between two evils, I chose to lead through the second to last corner over getting totally swarmed. I soft pedaled and looked over both shoulders as I led the group to the last turn. Some guy jumped on the inside and leads through the turn, I follow a Morgan Stanley racer who covered the surge. MS ended up with the win, I have to accept 2nd.

It'd a been nice to have more camo out there. I'd take the win and only a small portion of the purse over having NO ONE to split the second place winnings with anytime!

Santa Rosa 2/3

Simply the hardest race I can remember. Yesterday was hot, and I was hung over bad! Most Camo wearers were on their second or third race. My old teammate Sean from CRC asks what we have planned. I laugh, "Survive?" Those who donned Camo included: Eric, Alan, Billy Bob, Doran, and me. The course involved a funky double turn which almost bit me in the first fifteen minutes. I got sandwiched between some guy's handle bars in my hip to the right and shoulder leaning into some guy on my left. I unlock shoulders only to have those bars in my hip socket push further. Hockey checks are always a good way to get welcomed to the twos. Fifteen minutes later, I scrape a pedal, launch the bike sideways, roll a tire on the landing, and "surf" the carbon fibre rim until the curb arrests my progress.

That Ksryium deal is sounding sweet right now. I run 3/4 of a lap back to the pit where the out pouring of technical help was NON-existent. I let a few choice words fly as I pant and change the wheel.

Think-make sure the brakes don't rub, make sure the chain is on, GO! Just in time. Alan is yelling encouragement as the group flies by. I flop around like toilet paper suck on the end. I am only a hundred or so guys back, and the run spent me.

I take a good 15 minutes to recover. Pain sucked. Up the road goes 15 guys.

That'll stick. I have got to get there. I call on everything and make the break. And again, I dangle like tp flopping at the end. It seems at this point anyone with the intention of winning, panics and jumps across too. One by one the break swells to 30. A thirty man break is a race in itself-hell it had more guys than the Dinuba crit. The last lap two guys broke up the road. One chases than another. I go then hesitate. The race situation is 2 guys up than three of us equally spaced then the field. I chose to wait for the field and battle for the sprint which will surely sallow the lambs up front. As I soft pedal, the field stops and reads War and Peace aloud before they join me. What a mistake! With no team gunning it--ie Solano the lambs survive the slaughter and win! I ease into the well rested field and duke out a 4th or 5th in the field sprint. I actually don't know. The race was picked separately and two of the lambs were cat 3- which explains why the cat 2 infested field did not chase. So I pick up 3rd in the Cat 3's and 12 more bat points. Sweet.

Track District Championships ‘04
by Forrest Koenig

This weekend marked one of my favorite on the racing calender, the track championships. This year unlike others, almost every event was crammed into one weekend. For those of you who have never raced on a velodrome, imagine racing in a great big toilet bowl. Events get shorter and faster, even 4000 meters is considered an endurance event.

I raced the Masters Team Sprint, the Masters 1 kilometer time trial, and the Elite and Masters Match Sprints.

The quick and dirty is:

2nd in the Masters Team Sprint: This event has three riders. All three start. One pulls one lap and then pulls out, the second pulls the next lap and then pulls out, and last poor sole has to ride all three laps. I rode the anchor lap with Mike Audley of Morgan Stanley and Dan McDonough of Galaxy Granola. The three of us won this event last year, but a Larry Nolan, Peter Allen and Warren Gissert bested us. I'd imagine that there are several Solano riders that I love to race this team event with.

2nd Masters Kilo.

This is a straight forward time trial. It hurts really bad cuz all of your power output for the minute plus duration is from your lactate system. OUCH.

5th Elite (Open-Pro12345) Match Sprints. Seeded by a flying 200m TT. Then "matched" tournament bracket style mano y mano for two laps. only the last few 100 meters are remotely exciting. I seeded fifth and took fifth. An aside, two of my competitors-though several years older--had world championship rainbow on their shirt sleeves. [Rodamaker and Fillerup]

1st Master 30-35 Match Sprints. First as in District Champ. First as in Dylan, milk this for as much sponsorship mojo that you can. First as in Charlie should hang that jersey in his shop. I am pretty psyched, and I know that one of the fastest match sprinters around, Giovanni Rey, turns 30 next year so this may be my last.

Blue camo hunts the bear!

Documentum ‘04
by Dylan Seguin

Yesterday was fun. Great race by all. That was a blast. Odds are we got the BAT with the top-ten finishes of Rich, Jeff & Eric - never really know, though, as far as the BAT points go, so whatever happens I hope we all feel very good about our efforts. One of the big goals this season was to get as many folks upgrade points for the 2's as possible, and we did a pretty good job with that. For '05 we'll have 5 riders racing as 2's and a few more riders knocking on the door for their upgrades. That's cool.

Todd and I raced our first P/1/2 race yesterday. We came away from the race with some confidence inspiring results. I slipped into the top-ten with 9th after spending far too long in a break, and then

Todd fared well in the bunch sprint nabbing 13th. Can't complain about those results. I was pooped, but it was fun, and I'm already excited about racing with you guys in '05.

That's the scoopio for now. It's been a great season. You goofy bastards rock.