I woke up this morning at around 3:15am to pack the car for the 3 hour trip out to coalinga for the cantua creek road race. I left the house and topped off the tank with gas – it had begun. the trek out to 580, and eventually highway 5 for miles and miles. the air was brisk and cool, as I drove through the various farm land I began to notice the amount of cars on the road way. I hadn’t been on highway 5 since the patterson road race, and even then, the vast amount of nothingness seemed to stretch on forever. big rigs kept their speeds at around 55, but as I grew more bored, I began to draft and overtake them as if I were on a bike. granted, I wasn’t flying by them, since I had cruise control on, but it was enough to keep my mind occupied for a while. the weather continued to clear up as I headed south, and as the exit numbers ticked down to 337, my nerves started to catch up. focus, focus, eyes on the road, almost there.
after 3 hours of driving in pitch black, I arrived at the race. an official pointed me towards a parking spot about 200ft away from the registration booth. I snagged one of the last spots in the area, all the cars behind me had to drive a ways to park their cars. I jumped out of the car, making sure I had my race license on me so that I could check in. it was about 7:15am, and the line was already starting to creep around the tents. luckily, since I was already pre-registered, the line was pretty fast. I headed back towards the car to pin my number, and get prepped for the race. with a deep breath and a long look at the remaining gear in my car, I left in search of the start line. groups would be staggered ever 5 minutes, but the race was running about 20 minutes behind schedule, so tim and I decided to get warmed up along the road. it’d be a 52 mile race in total, 2 laps of 26 miles.
we lined up in our group. gabe (mashsf) rolled up and we chatted for a bit while the other groups ahead of us started. after long while, our race finally started. the first section of roadway was relatively downhill, but after a short ways, it flattened out to a pancake and stayed that way until the turn-around point, 13 miles out. guys in the group were riding all over the place, and within minutes, I found myself in the back, with tim by my side. we decided that it’d be best to just chill out, and left the race unfold. no one was going to establish a break, not this early on, and definitely not on a straight, flat section of road. granted, there were 2 overpasses that cut across highway 5, but they were brief. a couple miles in, someone called out “PUDDLE!”, motioning for riders to move to the left. a rider on the outside of the road grabbed his brakes in an attempt to avoid the water, and nearly skidded out of control, but somehow, stayed upright, and flew into the dirt section parallel to the road we were all riding on. a close call that could’ve definitely taken out a handful of guys…
we rode on. the group was still together at the turn-around point, 13 miles out. still rather disorganized and chaotic all the way to the last mile or so, when the uphill grades began. the group broke apart into several sections of riders as the climb towards the start/finish line came close. gabe fell behind, while tim and I managed to catch wheels right as the front of the group started to turn around. we timed it perfectly, and caught the tail-end of the group. 6 or 7 riders dropped on the climb, and formed a small chase group behind us, but they seemed miles away. we were motoring down the hill, keeping a wicked pace all the way through to the flat section. the group was pacing much faster, but it was STILL disorganized. no one was pulling in the front, and our group slowed to a crawl. I made my way to the front and tried to get a pace line going – it’d be horrible if the chase group caught us, we had so much time on them. after a couple minutes, the group was in full swing – the pace line was in full affect, we were jetting through the countryside.
halfway out to the turn-around point, I heard a scuffle and a crash – quickly looking back, I thought I saw 1 or 2 guys involved, off the road, but they didn’t seem too injured. we soldiered on. the accidents and close calls were heavy on my mind. tim and I were silent as we passed each other in the pace line. I’m sure we were both thinking the same thing: just hang in there, we just have to make it to the finish, rubber side down! we turned around once more, and started heading back towards the line. several minutes in, we spotted the chase group. one of the riders yelled out to us, “hey, wait up!” as a joke. hope they made it back safe. we motored on, and the pace line jerked haphazardly as riders shifted about, tired from their pulls in the wind. the second overpass was upon us. a single man break off the front of the group, a UC davis rider in an orange kit. the group held back, and the rider gained a little bit more every second. I yelled out for the pace to increase, for us not to let him get away. everyone in the front seemed to be toasted, or feigning it, and I ended up hustling to the front to shut him down.
then the hills came. riders were all over the place now, the pace line was shattered. the davis rider was back with us now, but an uphill sprint was inevitable. everyone was behind me, I slowed up to let them get along side me, so I wouldn’t be surprised attacked near the finish. 200m to go. a rider off the left side came out, picking up the pace. I jumped behind him, not much left in the tank but digging deep. he yelled out, “I’ll sprint with you to the line!”. I motioned for him to hit it, but knew I wouldn’t have it in me to do much more. we passed the race official, and he flagged us towards the finish line. tim crept up from my side and passed me, right at the line! perfectly timed on his part, a job well done, and place deserved for playing it smart. I ended up 3rd out of the bunch, satisfied with my second road race.
tim playing it cool.
the long, long drive home. it took me a bit longer than 3 hours to get back, the weather turned from decent, to bad, to horrible. as I approached dublin, the rain picked up heavily. visibility was limited, and the mist coming off car tires blanketed everyone in a wall of white. then near oakland, I witnessed the worst accident I’ve ever seen. we were all going 55-60mph, on a highway that’s usually filled with cars going 70+. everyone was being careful, and that was good. I was in the second to the right lane when a blue honda s2000 inched forward in the lane next to me, towards a mini van. then he started to hydroplane. his car veered across the carpool lane (luckily there were no cars there), and the front of his car dived towards the median. a gut-wrenching smash. a surge of adrenaline pulsed through my chest, my eyes widened and my hands started to sweat on the wheel as the car spun back into traffic into two more empty lanes, inches away from other cars, my car included. the driver steered the car back towards the median and slowed to a stop (as far as I could see in my rear view). it was a bad accident, but could’ve been much, MUCH worse if the car hit any other vehicles in the lanes. the car was carrying a fair amount of speed when it started to hydroplane. it took a while for my heart rate to drop, and I kept thinking about how close I was to that person. it could’ve been me, or any other car out here on the road.
all the cars on the road that witnessed the crash were keeping the pace at a smooth 55mph. we were all in our cars thinking the same thing: holy SH*T. I hit traffic on the bay bridge, but made it home, safe and sound. whew.
congrats to kevin for placing 3rd and naveen for winning in cat4! good seeing everyone out today (joseph, too!), hope everyone kept their cool (in the race, and on the drive home).
