Author Archive for @sachoben

It was the US Cup #6 in San Diego at Lake Morena. The course was one 30 km loop with 660 m of climbing.

It was the slowest race start ever! I always get bored drafting so I moved in front and did my fair share of pulling the pack. At 15:15 I grab the wheel of Matt in 2nd place (series leader) for the long climb. The first downhill section starts at 20:12, I’m in 3rd following 2nd. Then at 24:34 we make contact with Josh in 1st place. There’s a lead change at 27:00 and we ride together for a while. I get dropped a little bit then make contact again with 2nd at 45:00 in the hike-a-bike section. I lost him again in the next downhill and never made contact again.  I got 3rd place in 1:28:10, 3 min behind the lead and 1 min behind 2nd place. Getting closer!

Course Map: http://app.strava.com/segments/1212810

Podium!! I got 3rd place today at the US Cup race #5 in Sycamore Canyon. It is my first ever Cat 2 podium so I’m feeling kinda stoked. But the day didn’t start so well for me with a major crash in practice session. I had to start the race bleeding which isn’t ideal. The heat was the big factor today. There was no shade at all, except for maybe 1 sec when a vulture would fly above your head waiting for you to bonk. I’ve heard a few racers got heatstroke/dehydrated and it was the first time I had to yield to an ambulance while racing. My strategy of preparing for dehydration by going to the desert at Coachella drinking a ton of beer worked perfectly!

Course Map: http://app.strava.com/segments/3935360