After racing in the Dominican Republic I flew directly out to San Diego to enjoy some good weather, good training, and get used to the dry heat and stoplights of California. A little bit of rest the first week allowed me to enjoy some time with old friends in San Diego as well as a brief visit from my Mom and Sister who were on Spring Break. My parents bought there first house in San Diego and have always loved it, so it was great to check out...BUT...the riding near where I was staying wasn't so great. Stoplights, Stop signs, and cars for days. I am used to the infinite back roads of the East Coast and was losing it trying to figure out how I was gong to get my intervals in. Instead I decided to head to Palm Desert where my grandparents live. It was a lot hotter, lacked the beautiful ocean, but came with roads I could do my intervals on, a great 5 hour loop through a National Forest and up to 6000ft., and my grandma's cooking. All in all a great lead-up to San Dimas and Redlands, the first big races in the US.
Stage 1 - Hill Climb TT <-click on title for Strava link
After a month of training and no racing it was good to be back with the guys in San Dimas. We settled in to our host house, checked out the TT course, and got ready for the race. For the most part San Dimas was about opening up the legs and getting used to racing again. Of course the team isn't looking to come away with nothing, but the big goal was Redlands the following week. We wanted San Dimas to set us up well for that race and open the legs. The 1st stage is where the race is won and lost. It's a 6.8km (5.3%) uphill time trial on twisty Glendora Mountain Road (left). It's definitely not the perfect prologue for me being a little on the heavier side. Shorter prologue TT's have been tricky for me and 15 minute power is finicky. It's hard to keep that pointy end really sharp all year round. The TT did provide a good test on relatively fresh legs for once to see how I could go against the other guys in US. I rode better than expected and placed 18th, 1:10 down, which I still can't believe. The power was really good, but the time just wasn't the fast. I guess the kg's got in the way. Unfortunately, the rest of the guys didn't have a good day. Just hard to not race and then hit 15 minutes like that, you have to have some race juice in the legs, but that's what San Dimas is for. Still, it's tough to stay positive and no one likes a bad race but Redlands will be a different story for sure.
Stage 2 - Circuit Race
The next stage was shortened due to a nasty crash in the race before ours. After 1 lap of the course I could see why. Between sketchy riders, cones lining the center line, iffy descents, and a questionable center line rule, it always seemed like bad things were inches a way. I know there were a few bad crashes but fortunately I stayed out of them. The course set up led to a fairly uninteresting race. With a tailwind down the big slight downhill straightaway into the finish and then a stiff headwind on the shallow climb up the back side it was hard to get away. In the group it was 200W, out of the group 400W. There was one more climb "Heckler Hill", but a huge descent and 2, 90 degree turns leading into the base meant it was pretty strung out, so even if you attacked and got away, likely no one would go with and you'd get brought back on the tailwind section. Eventually the race leaders, Jamis, took over and a group of 3 got away, but never got far.
With 1.5 laps to go my teammate Thomas smashed the climb causing gaps and chaos in the entire field, shedding a few sprinters, and leaving Jamis scrambling to gain control. As the final lap wrapped up we set up for Evan to have a go at the field sprint. He positioned well and got over Heckler Hill in contact, a little far back, but with plenty of time to move forward. I collected him after another punchy climb with 3km to go. As soon as I found him I wanted to get him to the front but he was hurting from the stiff pace on the climbs and asked me to ease off, I eased off but kept moving forward a little bit. 10s later I looked back and he was gone. After taking a longer look back and almost crashing I went back to search for him. I didn't find him until I noticed him sitting on Chris's wheel toward the front. Good, but now I needed to get over there and help, but he was on the right side of the group and I was on the left. I came up and over the top of the leadout trains to try and sneak over, but as I did the sprinters began to open up with 700m to go (tailwind). Chris helped Evan enough and set him up on a good wheel but the long sprint with a tailwind allowed the winner to stay away even after going so early and Evan ended up 5th.
I was mad I didn't help Evan more. I think we could have done just a little bit better if I could have been there to provide a little more help and positioning, but, at the same time we learned some more. Evan wasn't supposed to be our main sprinter when the year started (the Jure issue) and is still slotting in to the role. Meanwhile I'm learning the ins and outs of the leadout and doing my best to help him out. I really needed him to scream at me to ease back further 3km from the line. He used so much energy getting over the hard climbs with the group he needed more rest, so even though I eased off, it wasn't easy enough. A mistake on my end to recognize how tired he was and a brief hesitation and lack of confidence from him caused the snap. It's only our 3rd leadout and its getting closer. Evan has the ability to win that field sprint, I know it, he just has to get into the sprinter attitude and the team has to work to set up the leadout better. It'll come and I know we'll get it right and get Evan a good win before the year is over. We're close, but we need to be buttery smooth to change 3rd-5th into 1st. It'll come.
Stage 3 - Old Town Grand Prix Criterium
The final day concludes the race with an L-shaped crit in downtown San Dimas. The racing was fairly standard crit racing with Jamis controlling the back half of the race pretty well. The entire time was a battle for position in every corner and every straightaway. Honestly, it wasn't a battle I was winning often. It seemed wherever I went I lost spots, inside, outside, in the middle. I clawed my way back up on the uphill and downhill straights. I'm not happy with how I rode and still have a lot to learn to be a better crit racer. I spent so much of the race getting up to Evan, supporting him for 2 corners, and then fading as I got pinched and boxed, then moving back up and repeating the process. Even when we had 4 guys together we would break up within a couple corners, usually my fault. The sketchy riding took it's toll and Evan was without my help in the finale as I battled hard to move up as the laps dwindled down but as the pace increased it got harder and harder. Chris did a great job helping pull back the break, but without teammates to help position him, Evan ended up 10th. It was the most disappointing day for me, I know the legs are there to ride, but the skill still needs some refining. It was my first crit of the year so it'll get better form here. I don't like leaving Evan out to dry. Of all the races this was the biggest bust for me. I was around a lot, but never very helpful.
In the end I finished up 12th, first rider for the team, a solid result, but nothing special. I'm definitely looking for more as we head in to Redlands.
In the end I finished up 12th, first rider for the team, a solid result, but nothing special. I'm definitely looking for more as we head in to Redlands.
When all was said and done San Dimas served as an eye opener to SoCal racing and a great way to get some race efforts in before the first Pro US stage race of the year at the Redlands Bicycle Classic. Everyone was feeling better by the end of the weekend and a couple rest days will get us primed and ready to go. The racing in Redlands starts on Wednesday and should provide some good hard racing that suits everyone on the team better. Looking forward for the first real test of the year.
Stage 1: Circuit Race - 60 miles
Stage 2: RR - 90 miles - Oak Glen Finishing Climb
Stage 3: TT - 7.1 miles
Stage 4: Downtown Criterium - 90 minutes
Stage 5: Sunset Road Race - 94 miles
You can catch the action from stages 1-3 on tape delay and stages 4 and 5 live on cyclingtips.com.
Keep those pedals spinning,
BSlow
Stage 1: Circuit Race - 60 miles
Stage 2: RR - 90 miles - Oak Glen Finishing Climb
Stage 3: TT - 7.1 miles
Stage 4: Downtown Criterium - 90 minutes
Stage 5: Sunset Road Race - 94 miles
You can catch the action from stages 1-3 on tape delay and stages 4 and 5 live on cyclingtips.com.
Keep those pedals spinning,
BSlow