Weekend at Wente

The Wente Road Race has never been one of my favorites... perhaps it is because of the haunting memories of a last lap bonk when I'd climbed that mean finishing hill so slowly that AWfoSho walked beside me giving me some much needed encouragement (read: a hand on my back), or maybe it is because we've rarely won there... until last weekend.

Wente is the course where Bryan Larson and Davitamon, then riding for SGW, figured out how to make AWfoSho go long in the sprint; Wente is the course where El Gigante has suffered through some chest constricting asthma attacks, Wente is the course where we've blown tactics in a grand way...

But that all changed this past weekend where it was AMD that screwed the pooch, tactically speaking. In the 15/16 race Charlie Avis and Davis Bentley had Laundry isolated in the break... for some unknown reason they failed to attack him repeatedly until one of them got away. Instead, they trusted their climbing legs and Laundry made them pay, beating them handily in the finale up Altamont Pass. Glad to see that we aren't the only ones who occasionally fail tactically. Seems we have a little streak going now in the 15/16 category at Wente with Laundry adding to Davitamon's win last year.

AWfoSho and Davitamon did their laps in the prosey race in search of some form... 4 times up the hill was enough for Davitamon, AWfoSho called it quits after climbing the hill for the fifth time...

PtotheArker earns the hang in there award... He rode most of the 17/18 race alone, but he finished. Takes a strong head to do that...

Sunday dawned bright and early in a reverse of Saturday. AWfoSho was first off on Saturday in the RR, El Gigante was next to last, making for a long day for me in the feed zone. On Sunday, El Gigante started early enough that I had the pleasure of watching the first race; and AWfoSho was last which allowed me to watch every race.

Same basic thing, with the exception of the pro women, re-enacted over and over again at increasingly faster speeds as the day wore on... a few attempts at breaks followed by a bunch sprint. El Gigante, the Staz, and AWfoSho all put a few more miles in the bank for June and July with not much exciting to report... a second in the 15/16 race for El Gigante, and a finish in the prosey race for AWfoSho were their best efforts.

I did get to watch Daniel Holloway come up just short of beating the Berry Boy's lead-out for Devon Vigus in the fast guys race whcih made me think a little...

two, three, and four years ago I watched Holloway, Riggs, and Switters rip junior races to shreds. They'd attack and attack and attack. Then their attacks would be followed up by Joe Iannerelli, Thor, or Tyler Gough... Riggs, Holloway, and Switters all have contracts now and are being paid to ride their bikes. racing has definitely changed this year... AWfoSho or Davitamon or TK will throw down an attack, but nobody else is willing to follow through on it... seems like nobody but the DBCJRT boys are willing to stick their nose in the wind and take a risk. Everybody is following wheels. Funny thing is that Riggs, Holloway, and Switters didn't get their rides following wheels. If you want to be a bike racer, you have to race your bike!!!