San Dimas Stage Race

The race was very tough with a full Pro 1 field of 140. Practically every domestic pro team had a full squad. I didn't have a whole lot of expectations for the race, because I knew by looking at the start list that I was going to be in survival mode. The weekend started off pretty well. The first stage was a 4 mile time trial with about 1,000 ft. of climbing. I was happy with my time of 14:29 and 63rd place. The road race was a little bit tougher. First off I want to thank Mark Fennell for feeding me during the race, it was a huge benefit and I really appreciate it. The course was a 7 mile loop with about 500 feet of climbing per lap and we did 12 laps. The elevation was disbursed thru out the lap with one major climb of a couple hundred feet(that is a complete guess I'm not good about estimating elevation gain). The key was to be in good position for the climb, because it was very narrow for 140 guys. The first 8 laps were ok for me, I mean it was super fast, but I was surviving. On the 9th lap Toyota put alot of there guys on the front and blew up the race! I was caught towards the back and got gapped and could never get back on. I ended up in a group of 5 and we chased very hard. I thought that we were going to get back on, but we never did. My group ended up being the last group to make the time cut. I ended up in 90 something place and like 9 minutes down. I was pretty disappointed with getting dropped, I mean the course was a power course, which isn't great for me, but I still thought that I would finish with the peloton. The only positive thing I could tell myself was "least I made the time cut and I can race tomorrow". I knew I didn't have much of a chance in the crit, but I figured it would be a 90 minute motor pace session. I did feel a little bit better when I rolled up to the line and could count less then 10 amateurs left. The crit was fast, we averaged 28 mph. I rode towards the back most of the time and just tried to stay out of trouble and get home in one piece! I did move up a little bit and made it to about the middle of the pack, but as I was moving up the thought came to my mind "what are you going to do when you get to the front?" It's hard to attack when your going 34 mph down the front straight! I drifted back where there was less battling and rode in. I think I ended up 93rd in the overall. Not exactly the result I was looking for, but I learned alot and got some good fitness out of it. All give it another go in Martinez and Santa Cruz this weekend!

Vince