2002 SF Grand Prix Race Report

2002 SF Grand Prix Race Report

by Ted Huang

How does one exactly describe the most bad-ass, amazing race in the United States? At least that is my biased conclusion, based on an incredible experience both years. I competed in last year's edition of the Grand Prix and thought that was simply amazing. If it could be possible, I thought the crowds were larger and even louder this year. We raced as the U.S. National Team and with help from USA Cycling and our own club members, even had Webcor emblazoned down the sides and front. Our team plan was relatively simple. We designated Patrick H. and Jason to pair up, in order to go for the KoM prize. Briggs and Mattis were supposed to cover early moves as well. Darren was paired up with Hagenlocher, and myself with Drake. Hagenlocher and myself were to be saved as "finishers" if possible.

Somehow we were called as the first team to line up. There is nothing like lining up in the front row and having some rather-large security type person yell, "Move over, you're in Lance's spot." Wow! I think we've hit the big time folks. The stars were immediately called up after us and I was directly behind George Hincapie and Ekimov. I was careful not to overlap wheels, as you never know how erratic these Euro pros can be.

At the gun, the pace was brisk (maybe 25-30mph), but then the attacks came fast and furious. I never saw speeds below 30mph during the 3 criterium laps on the Embarcadero and saw 36mph on the straightaways. So much for a mellow beginning. I immediately began drifting back through the pack and stayed mid-pack going into the first Fillmore climb. The climb itself wasn't so hard. I just had to dodge riders clipping out or coming backwards. Speaking of riders stopping on the hill, I think Darren clipped out twice on Fillmore and had to chase back on.That is very impressive to say the least.

Apparently Patrick crested Fillmore 3rd on the first lap, after sprinting up its entire length. What a stud! After that things got dicey as breaks coalesced and the pack speed never slowed. I think the first lap average might have been 28mph or something ridiculous. While James, Jason, and the Patricks were up front covering breaks, I was enjoying myself, hanging in and trying to move up whenever possible. Greg and I found each other and he helped me move up numerous times at quite an expense to himself. Several laps went by as the pack sped along at a rapid clip. For me the climb wasn't so bad, although I could feel the my legs hurt incrementally more each time up Fillmore. Taylor wasn't so bad, as it only had one 24% block pitch.

By lap 4, the pack had thinned considerably and despite a crash and aggressive riding, Patrick Heaney was still riding strongly. I think James came off in one of the next laps, at the same time as Greg, but clawed his way back to me, and instantly towed me to the front before climb 5 up Fillmore. This definitely helped, but signaled James' death knell. Greg had expended huge amounts of energy the previous lap keeping me out of the wind on the Marina section, and then the race went ballistic up Fillmore. When you're close to threshold going into Fillmore, there is virtually no chance of staying on during the Broadway descent, and I think that was where Greg didn't quite make it. As for other teammates, Tracy made 4 laps, and Breakwell perhaps 2 fewer.

What most astounded me, even though I had experienced it last year, was the crowd noise on the hills. It was absolutely deafening and created his tunnel of noise that almost helped me focus on the task of climbing those hills. Karen Brems was stationed atop Taylor and I caught her eye on one lap, attempting to tell her I was enjoying her cheering.

More laps went by, and I survived multiple "crunch times" up Fillmore to be in a group of 40ish at the finish of lap 8. Darren made it through this final crunch and proceeded to help me move up on the ensuing laps. For a guy who only trains less than 10hrs per week, he was absolutely astounding...always near the front. Unfortunately, I wasn't so confident of my pack skills and never was higher than top 30 going into Fillmore. On lap 8, the remnants of the peloton split into two and I was caught arrears. I jumped on a Wolhberg attack between Fillmore and Taylor, struggling vainly to pull through. We were brought back and I managed to bridge across on Taylor, but most of the pack did as well. As I did that, a group of 7 moved off the front, including Lance, Eki, Charles Dionne, and a few other riders. After some sporadic attacking, the main group appeared to give up. I tried my hand at attacking in order to form a bridging group. At one point I followed an attack up Broadway, was caught, only to be countered by Kevin Livingston and two Saturn riders. With two laps to go, I followed a John Lieswyn attack, but was too spent to be of much use to him. We were brought back. Apparently the pack didn't want us sneaking off without them. But then Lieswyn attacked again, and this time stayed off. Going up Taylor the last time, I started the climb at the front and rode hard tempo. I had a few bike lengths to spare at the top of the climb and sprinted with a Mercury rider over the top. Someone must have sat up, because we instantly had a gap. We both pushed this to our advantage, and just managed to hold off the pack, passing a struggling Navigators rider 100 meters from the line.

Interestingly enough, my legs didn't hurt all that much during the race. I think I found my ideal race course and feel ever-so-fortunate to be a part of this spectacular event.

I have to thank Andy Ball for making this possible, and Frank Scioscia who guided me through all of the obstacles we had to overcome in our quest to be included in the Grand Prix. I'm sure I left out lots of pertinent details, but our team is headed off for Univest tomorrow, and I have to get some sleep.