# Spectrum Ride



## goose127 (Jun 9, 2004)

I did the spectrum ride for the first time this past Saturday. A great day weather wise. I knew what I was getting in to or should I say getting dropped from. Certainly a good experience and something to learn from. For someone who is considering trying some Cat 5 races this year, how does this pace compare to a Cat 5 race? I hope it is a tad slower...


----------



## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

goose127 said:


> I did the spectrum ride for the first time this past Saturday. A great day weather wise. I knew what I was getting in to or should I say getting dropped from. Certainly a good experience and something to learn from. For someone who is considering trying some Cat 5 races this year, how does this pace compare to a Cat 5 race? I hope it is a tad slower...


Where exactly did you get dropped? There are about 5 popular exit points.

The pace varies depending on whether the Cat 1 guys show up or not. Eric Wohlberg and Dylan Casey were regulars last year (pros).

I would say the pace is about Cat 5, Cat 4 usually.

francois


----------



## goose127 (Jun 9, 2004)

I lost it at the top of alpine road as it turned onto portolla road. I got caught behind some slower riders going up the hill on Arestradero that left me at the back of the pack. I had to do too much work to hang on and got dropped. There were about 5 or six of us who got together which turned into about 12-15. I think we took a short cut somewhere because we were rejoined with the pack about half way out on Canada. I rode the rest of the way with the group out and back to Sunnyvale.


----------



## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

goose127 said:


> I lost it at the top of alpine road as it turned onto portolla road. I got caught behind some slower riders going up the hill on Arestradero that left me at the back of the pack. I had to do too much work to hang on and got dropped. There were about 5 or six of us who got together which turned into about 12-15. I think we took a short cut somewhere because we were rejoined with the pack about half way out on Canada. I rode the rest of the way with the group out and back to Sunnyvale.



Ok cool info. I'll post an elevation and heart rate chart I put up here last year. Looks like you got spit out at exit point number 2 and had trouble with exit point number 1. 
Exit point 1: Arastadero road on the climb under the trees
Exit point 2: Alpine road before the stop sign to turn right to Portola
Exit point 3: Highway 84 rollers
Exit point 4: the maze on manuella
etc, etc, etc.

On my map below, that point is at around Mile marker 12. When a gap of about 20 yards opens up and the rider in front of you, it is over. There's no catching the group, even if you have help. So, you cannot allow gaps to open. 5 yards... 10 yards... you have to learn to fight. Also, it is rare that you yourself will get dropped by yourself. Usually, it is the rider in front of you or a few riders that breaks off. You have to pass them all and close the gap. The real key is you have to ride near the front in key moments. If you sense the rider(s) in front of you is weakening, you have to pass them.

Basically, look at all my heartrate spikes in the red zone. Very difficult sections.

I got dropped on each one of the exit points I described... many times. It took me about 20 tries before I completed the whole ride. The good news is I got incredibly motivated by the beating and I became a better rider.

So make it a motivator. It is a free 'race' and it's key if you want to do well even in a Cat 5 race. The spectrum, specially in the summer is a special ride. My data showed an average of 22.58 (with stops) on a 49 mile ride with 1800 feet of climbing. Then when you want an even bigger challenge, there's the Valley Ride!

francois
(I'm a sport level mtber, top quarter, Cat 5 road... cat 4 if it's hilly.)


----------



## goose127 (Jun 9, 2004)

Yea i knew I needed to be closer to the front or you get nailed with the accordian affect, which is just what happened. For the entire ride I averaged about 21 MPH with the stoplights, not suprising. I just was suprised how hard the entire group pushed on the short hills and rollers. My main focus is mountain bike racing (sport mid pack to top quarter) but I like the tactics of the road racing. What Cat 5 races have you done in the past, any suggestions?


----------



## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

goose127 said:


> Yea i knew I needed to be closer to the front or you get nailed with the accordian affect, which is just what happened. For the entire ride I averaged about 21 MPH with the stoplights, not suprising. I just was suprised how hard the entire group pushed on the short hills and rollers. My main focus is mountain bike racing (sport mid pack to top quarter) but I like the tactics of the road racing. What Cat 5 races have you done in the past, any suggestions?


Hey, we have very similar backgrounds with mountain bikes as the base fitness.

I've done Sea Otter and Pescadero Stage road races. Both of these are awesome, hilly races. I really recommend Sea Otter this year. Time is short but you can train hard for it. Last year, I did Cat 4/5 and got dropped halfway. I finished 40th out of 100. 

The best part is I do the road race on Friday and then the singlespeed mtb race on Sunday. I'm trying to start a dual-sport trend.

In norcal road racing, there is a race every week. They're listed here: http://www.ncnca.org/road/ But don't do a race yet. I would suggest you finish Spectrum first. It not only makes you strong, but also makes you comfortable riding in a tight pack.

I'll be at Spectrum next week btw. I'll wear the race roadbikereview jersey.

francois


----------



## The Human G-Nome (Aug 26, 2002)

francois said:


> Hey, we have very similar backgrounds with mountain bikes as the base fitness.
> 
> I've done Sea Otter and Pescadero Stage road races. Both of these are awesome, hilly races. I really recommend Sea Otter this year. Time is short but you can train hard for it. Last year, I did Cat 4/5 and got dropped halfway. I finished 40th out of 100.
> 
> ...


Hey guys.. if either of you are interested in riding for team this year then let me know. We're based out of SF, but we have riders in South Bay and East Bay as well. We're especially looking for some Cat5s since most of our Cat5s from last season cated up already. [email protected]


----------



## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

The Human G-Nome said:


> Hey guys.. if either of you are interested in riding for team this year then let me know. We're based out of SF, but we have riders in South Bay and East Bay as well. We're especially looking for some Cat5s since most of our Cat5s from last season cated up already. [email protected]


Thank you for the offer. I don't race enough and also, I'm leaving myself open for Team Roadbikereview! There's a lot of ideas floating around and I think I'll get it started this year.

francois


----------



## The Human G-Nome (Aug 26, 2002)

francois said:


> Thank you for the offer. I don't race enough and also, I'm leaving myself open for Team Roadbikereview! There's a lot of ideas floating around and I think I'll get it started this year.
> 
> francois


Cool, that would be awesome! I hope you guys manage to get it off the ground. If you ever need any help or pointers then drop me a line because i'm a wealth of knowledge in that area. See ya on the road.


----------



## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

Goose127, I was at Spectrum today. It was hard. Folks seem to be at full speed already so early in the season.

If it's any consolation, I heard a few people talking about last week's ride. They said it was an an absolute bruiser. Eric Wohlberg showed up and pushed the pace. He's the local badass and even placed 18th in the Athens Olympics time trial.

On another note, The spectrum was about 100 riders and we saw about 5 different groups with more than 30 riders. Plus there were a few hundred more riders enjoying the day around the Portola and Canada. I think this area is becoming the mecca of road riding.

francois


----------



## jumpstumper (Aug 17, 2004)

francois said:


> Goose127, I was at Spectrum today. It was hard. Folks seem to be at full speed already so early in the season.
> 
> If it's any consolation, I heard a few people talking about last week's ride. They said it was an an absolute bruiser. Eric Wohlberg showed up and pushed the pace. He's the local badass and even placed 18th in the Athens Olympics time trial.
> 
> ...


Yeah it is, I think I passed about 1000 riders on foothill Saturday morning! Crazy...


----------



## goose127 (Jun 9, 2004)

francois said:


> Goose127, I was at Spectrum today. It was hard. Folks seem to be at full speed already so early in the season.
> 
> If it's any consolation, I heard a few people talking about last week's ride. They said it was an an absolute bruiser. Eric Wohlberg showed up and pushed the pace. He's the local badass and even placed 18th in the Athens Olympics time trial.
> 
> ...


I did not make it out threre yesterday. I am glad to hear that some of the big dogs showed up last week and that it was not one of the slower weeks. I will probably do it again next Saturday as this has become a new challenge. 

Another event I would suggest is the San Jose Bike Club Winter series. It is almost over, but they do it ever yerar and have events such as road races, time trials, hill climbs, crits etc. They do a good job, have multiple levels and it is pretty low key and good training.

Let me know what your plans are with the Road Bike Review Team! I would enjoy getting into something like that on the ground floor. I live in Sunnyvale so I am obviously local and would love to help out.


----------



## travis200 (Oct 29, 2002)

Thanks for putting a nice plug for mySan Jose bicycle team. Sadly I don't participate in the Winter series as I am still in my base miles mode. I did the Spectrum ride 1st time this year and was hovering at the back of the pack most of the ride with a couple of brief sessions where I was OTB. But managed to regroup thankfully. I love that ride as well as the Valley ride. SJBC also does weekly crit races in south San jose during the summer they are broke into 3 groups depending on your speed those are a blast.


----------

