San Dimas Hills Road Race

Last Saturday I won my first 3s race at San Dimas 1 day before my birthday. They team worked great. We ended the week 5th and 8th. The full is below

The RR was Saturday. We rode well and stayed near the front. Daniel won a Hot Lap for a time bonus and Andrew was in some early attacks but nothing stuck. After the second Hot Lap I rolled off the front and rode a half lap before I was caught. On the KOM climb Torey drilled it each lap and almost dropped me. With 2 laps to go we were neutralized by the 2s and then the pros. This gave me a chance to recover.

On the final lap 2 riders had a small gap. I followed a Ritte rider who won a race I did in Las Vegas. He brought me to the break. I talked to him, encouraging him to keep going. He pulled me to the break. We immediately dropped one rider and a BH rider wasn't working. I told Ritte to keep going and I gapped the BH rider. He was Verbally upset when I gapped him. I passed Ritte and kept going. I was alone for a while, during which another rider bridged to the break. When the caught me we were now 4 and worked well together. On a quick chicane BH's rear wheel slid out and he almost lost control. The new rider left us on the climb. I gambled and followed Ritte's wheel. He brought me to close to the line, but a rider from the pack attacked and passed us. I chased him down and did a bike throw. I won by a few pixels.

This was my first win in an elite field and just a day before my birthday.

Thanks to all my teammates who helped control the race.

San Dimas

Does anyone have a spare chain catcher?

San Dimas stage race was defined by a simple dropped chain. First stage was a simple uphill time trial, which I spent deep in the pain cave. 4 miles up Glendora Mountain was plenty hard, but I finished 59th out of 118, not bad for my third race of the year. The rest of the team finished in a similar time.

Photo from the Glendora Mountain Road Blog

It's really hot in LA, especially for an Oregonian used to 50 degrees and cloudy, 80's and direct sun is quite a bit different. Going into the road race the team's goal was for me to get into a break and win some King of the Mountain Points and the Jersey, but the best laid plans mean nothing during a race. Eamon Lucas, James LaBerge and I all carried out the plan for the first couple laps of the race. We stayed at the front, I claimed third in a KOM sprint, we all attacked, we all were brought back, oh and I dropped my chain on the base of the KOM climb. Welcome to the pain cave. I went from top 30 to the back, jumping off my bike, throwing the chain back on, climbing on the bike, and chasing like a madman to regain contact. However luck was not on my side; that lap was a sprint lap, so the group charged down the hill, and sped to the hot lap sprint. Meanwhile, I put my head down and chased by myself for a lap. Then I caught some other riders off the back, and we grouped up to chase together.

Now remember the heat. People started to pop; I started to break. On the 5th lap of chasing my body gave up. I couldn't drink enough water. I couldn't handle heat. I was broken. I started dry heaving, but there was nothing there. I feeblely finished. 17 minutes down, but still I finished. Unfortunately, not inside the time cut. I guess there is a first time for everything.

The next day was a crit, one that I had traveled 2000 miles to end up spectating. While this was not the choice situation, I had to live with it. Luckily James and Eamon created something worth watching. Those two controlled the Cat 2 race. Eamon gave a great lead out, and James claimed second place, while Eamon captured fourth place. I wish I could have raced so badly. It sucks to watch a race you should be part of, especially over something as dumb as a little dropped chain.

As much as I lament on my misfortune, the weekend was really fun. Spending time with the team is tons of fun. Doing dumb stuff like jumping in the pool in full kit after a hard race never gets old. Road trips where giggling passes the miles are always great. Riding an amazing Specialized Tarmac SL2 never hurts either.

Related, story my teammate Marcus Smith won the Cat 3 road race, in a fantastic two up sprint with the pack charging behind them.

Christmas in March!!

Thank you to NCCF and all of our sponsors! It feels like Christmas all over again(shoes, helmet, glasses, jacket, hat, shirt, and BIKE!) I am so proud to be wearing the big "S" and representing our team every weekend. This is my first chance to ride with one of the top jr. teams and I am enjoying every minute of it.

This weekend was my first time racing at the Merco crit and road race. In the jr crit our team lead out James, I was so thrilled to see my teammate win so I raised my hands in victory as I crossed the finish line. Today was the road race and I raced against jrs. that were twice my size. During the first lap the San Jose guys were attacking on the rollers but Chris, Jack, and I were able to cover them all. As we approached the 2nd lap there was a big attack from Matthew Koenig which I followed. This attack left us with 5 in the lead group which grew to over a minute and a half (according to the lead moto). As we approached the final hill I knew I didn't have much left in my legs but suffered through it because I didn't want to get caught by the chasing group. In the sprint I got 5th place against those older jrs. Overall, I had lots of FUN!