Race Report: 2022 Patterson Pass Road Race Cat 3
Race: 2022 Patterson Pass Road Race Cat 3
Date: August 7th, 2022
AVRT racers: Conor Austin, Flo Costa, Grant Miller, Nico Sandi
Top Result: Grant Miller - 3/31
Course: A 23 mile loop with two climbs and a rolling, fast descent to a slight uphill drag to the finishing line. The main climb averages 6%, but has a steep 10% pitch followed by an 11% finish where the group can blow apart.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7600040860
Nutrition: Bottles with 70g of carbs, 1 package of Cliff Blocks, 250mg caffeine
Race Report: Patterson Pass is usually a race for the climbers, but this year a strong headwind on the main climb completely changed the dynamics of the race. The field was also very large with 31 cat 3 riders. Our plan going into the race was to try and keep our team together through the first two laps and then use our numbers to blow the race apart on the third lap. Unfortunately, our plan pretty quickly went out the window when Conor hit a pothole on the first climb and had to drop out 15 minutes into the race.
The first climb of the race featured an extremely strong headwind and it was very easy to make it over the climb in the pack. The wind started shifting to crosswind as we reached the top of the climb, but for the most part it was easy to stay sheltered in the large field. As we hit the steep 11% finish, a few riders started to attack but we let them go as the field was still large and it would be easy to catch them on the descent. A few riders started to attack on the climb up Flynn and the backside, but Flo was able to cover most of the moves. A group of two or three managed to break away on the backside so going into the second lap our team and one other rider paced the field to keep them close. The section of the course on Midway road, including the finishing climb, had an extremely strong crosswind which made it easy to gutter the field while we paced to bring back the break.
As we started the climb for the second time we reconnected with the riders up the road. The wind had dropped a bit so the pace was slightly faster, but it still was easy to make it over the climb by staying in the group. No one really attacked on the climb of Patterson or Flynn except for one solo Fat Cake rider who we were glad to let roll away. In hindsight, it would’ve made sense for one of us to stay on their wheel just to incentivize the field to chase.
Going into the third lap, Flo got to the front and upped the pace. He led us out into the feed zone, where the climb started to pitch up. From there our plan was to try and get other riders to work with us to blow up the field. Nico took a hard pull and then Donald from SJBC followed through. Nathan Martin, a strong rider who eventually won, attacked into a crosswind section but the field just let him dangle with the steep 10% and 11% pitches coming up. As we went into the first steep pitch I put in an attack and seemed to be close to breaking away, but the extremely strong headwind caused me to hold back as it seemed like I was dragging the field up the climb. The whole group recovered going into the last 11% pitch and I tried to stay sheltered, but a strong crosswind managed to push me off the road into the gravel. After coming to a complete stop I had to reaccelerate to catch onto the group and managed to make my way back to the front but had to burn a big match to do so and the climb was nearly over. I also felt like my front tire had lost some pressure and might be flat, despite running tubeless. Later it turned out that my tire was fine.
Coming out of the descent the group slowed and I put in a big attack on Flynn Road. Two riders managed to follow me and one was clearly on their limit. I looked back and saw Nathan bridging up with Nico on his wheel. When they reached us we continued the hard pace until the last steep pitch on Flynn. Here I made a big mistake by not counter-attacking when the pace slowed. Towards the top, Nico was dangling off the front and I yelled at him to go. He accelerated slightly and no one followed. For the next 15 minutes Nico maintained a 15-20 second gap and the field worked to chase him so I got to sit in. Going through the one “tricky” turn on the course, the rider in front of me took an awful line and almost ran off the road. I passed him and realized I had a gap to the chasers, so put in one effort to see if me and another rider could join with Nico and roll to the finish. After the pull it was clear we would get caught so I sat up and waited for the remaining field (7-8 riders) to catch us. I took an awful line on the turn onto Altamount and had to do a really hard 2 minute effort to catch back on. Unfortunately that was right when the group caught Nico and I was too cooked to counter-attack. With about 5 minutes left in the race Nico put in another attack and two other riders joined him. This forced the remaining riders to chase.
The finishing stretch on Midway had a huge crosswind and our group slowed to almost a stop, spread across the road. I told Nico that I would try to lead him out since he had a better snap than me for an uphill finish. We were blocked in by a row of riders in front of us and I was concerned we wouldn’t be able to get past them. At around 300 to go, Keegan snapped and I immediately went with him to get away from the blocking riders. He started to burn out at 150 to go and I passed him, but then immediately got passed by Nathan. The last 150 meters seemed to take forever and I got passed by another rider, but managed to hold on for 3rd place. The final sprint was close to a one minute effort and I probably would have benefited by being more patient and using other riders to get me up to speed.
Overall I think our team executed tactics in the race really well. We were clearly in control of the race and able to make the field work when we wanted to. If I had done a better job of handling my bike on the last lap, I would’ve been in a better position to counter-attack off Nico’s great moves.