Sea Otter Road Race - Apr. 16, 2005
by Doran Mori

The dynamic duo of William and I leave Berkeley once again at the crack of 5am. My warmup basically consists of the ride from the parked car in the paddock area to the start line on the race track. To my delight and probably others the race start is neutralized until we get onto the course loop. Once on the course we hit the "Wall" immediately. The last time I did this course this hill treated me pretty well and the same held true this year. I move over to the left and go right up to the front without a problem. It's almost as if I can't stop my legs.

For the next six laps, people drop chains, people get dropped and I stay attentive. I go up the road a few times but never really very far. Sometimes just to test my legs. Other times to keep the pace up for a little while. Hopefully softening up the pack for the finish. On one lap I thought a pair of riders might slip away since the pack seemed pretty lazy. I moved to bridge across hoping the pack would bring the pair back and they did.

The last 2 laps I sat in and watched for anything that might go up the road. We stayed pretty much together with an occasional 2 person break hovering 5-20 seconds in front of us.

On the last lap things slowed down in preparation for the finish climb back up to Laguna Seca. There's a small climb and then a descent before you turn right on to the finish climb. No one was off the front as we started the descent so I didn't have to worry about trying to catch somebody on the climb. One guy tried to get a gap but was caught before we even got to the turn. The size of the pack was about 30 as we turned onto the climb. The climb started very mellow as I was still pushing the big ring at the bottom. The mantra I was repeating to myself was to just climb at my own pace. Not to go too hard and blow up essentially. I kept my own tempo and was moving up. Luca was setting the pace at the front. The pack looked like it was starting to fall apart so I took over and upped the pace some more. A little while later the climb levels out a bit and I glanced back only to see many riders lined up on my wheel. Have a made a huge mistake by setting tempo? Is everybody waiting for the right time to come sprinting around me? I back off a little. Need to recover. Don't wanna blow up. I hear a rider moving up the gutter on my right. He's giving a good standing attack. I jump immediately on his wheel. Standing and shifting furiously. He's setting the pace now. At some point we go past the 1k to go sign. A little ways later he attacks again. I'm maxed out and cannot follow. Another rider goes by. Cannot stand. Just have to sit and grind away. Now I see the 200m to go sign. The road turns to the left and there's some bushes obscuring what I hope is the finish line. Because if it's not there, oh boy, I'm going to be mad. Second place guy is starting to crack and he's coming back towards me. But then he stands up and gives his last effort and goes away. I'm still grinding. Then I realize I haven't heard much bike noise behind me lately. I give a quick glance back to see if anybody's going to snipe me at the line. I've got about a 10 second gap to the next guy. Rolled in for third place. Got my picture taken on the podium and was given a medal by a podium mom. Not exactly a podium girl but it's a start.