Thursday, MAR 22 - Prologue - The Sun Individual Time Trial
The course was an uphill 5 km. It started with a very short downhill, then it went up, more up, and then way up to the finish - about 700 feet of total climbing, 400 in the last 3 km.

I was spared from having to die trying. My orders were to save legs for the rest of the race days. The logic was it would be an incredible feat to crack the top half, let alone the top 20, so rather than use up a bunch of energy in the TT, simply go out, push it but not break it, and call it a day.

I just love following orders. I tried but didn't strain until the last 2 km. There, it's go hard or fall over. I was out of the saddle and making ugly faces to the finish. Oh, and I only got passed by three riders, all of whom made me look like a Yugo on the Autobahn.

Result: 183rd of 190 starters. My time: 12:44.91. Winning time: 9:29.16 (Svein Tuft, Symmetrics).

Friday, MAR 23 - Redlands Ford Roace Race to Oak Glen
156 km (97.3 miles) of speed. I was absolutely frightened by the race bible that showed three columns of estimated speeds and times for certain points like feed zones along the route. In the fastest (30 mph) column, it showed us finishing the race in 3 hours, 14 minutes. The race wasn't that fast but it was still fast.

After rolling out from the start, our first interesting event was at a railroad crossing just a mile or two out. As the field approached, the lights of the crossing lit up and the crossing arms began to lower. The race was a rolling closure, so cyclists were on both sides of the road. Many on the right side of the road, including me, made it past the tracks just before the arms lowered. Nearly everyone on the left got blocked, as did much of the field behind. The officials in the lead car took notice and quick action, neutralizing the field just past the tracks until the train passed, the arms raised, and everyone was back together. No one was taken out by the train, though I did hear stories of people scrambling to get off the tracks. The train came pretty quickly after the arms came down, so it's pretty lucky for everyone.

The first KOM was 8 miles into the race and as expected, there was a rush to get there. I managed to stay near the front for the first climb and handled it well but did slip back some as we quickly went over the top and then rushed on to the first Sprint hot spot on the downhill (mile 14).

Winding around Lake Perris, it got very fast and lined out. I got gapped out but didn't panick, knowing there were still lot of riders behind me. Several stepped up to close the gap and it was back together after another mile. The pace let up some but would kick up again several more times. At one point, it was single file and I was giving every ounce of energy I had just to hang on. Between the speed and the wind, I was just moments away from blowing but was lucky that the rest of the field had enough and eased up.

Between the first and second feed zones, some of our guys were getting hungry so I took up the task of going back to the team car for grub. Our vehicle was 20th in line and it felt like forever for me to get back. Justin Beope (our Director) and Scott Crosby (team co-owner) handed over a bunch of food and bottles and I stuffed them into my pockets. Then I had to work my way all the way back up to the field, which was still going at a good clip. I made quick work of getting past the first few cars, then struggled to move a few more. Justin called over the radio for someone to come back and help me up and I managed to hop some more cars forward. Karl scooted back and helped me make it the rest of the way. Then I handed off to feed the troops. Mockingly, the field slowed up after I'd gotten back on. Time to eat.

It was calm for some miles as we approached the first big climb of the day, Lambs Canyon. About a mile out, however, there was a pile-up. I was just behind it and managed to hit someone or something with my right knee. I clicked out and avoided falling over or onto the pile. But, I went from being comfortably in the top half of the pack to now being 20 or 30 spots further back and with a throbbing sore right knee.

The pace up Lambs Canyon was brisk. I found myself falling back as we covered 500 feet in two miles. I was off the back by half-way up. I'd like to blame my sore knee but it wasn't that sore, I just wasn't fast enough. All my teammates were up the road, still in the battle, except for Peter. At least he had the excuse of having been off the front for several miles and at one point he and another rider were over a minute up the road. They got caught just before the climb and were now paying the price.

I crested the climb with about seven other riders. We descended into Beaumont and knew there was really no chance of catching the field. Instead, we put our energy into working together, now racing against the clock, trying to make the time cut of 10% of the winner's time. The group grew by a few as we picked up riders along the way. We kept it together over the second KOM and to the beginning of the final climb, Oak Glen.

The turn onto Oak Glen represented about 6 miles and 2,000 feet of climbing to go. Our group splintered and I was off the front of it with a BMC rider. He set pace and I struggled to match it but eventually couldn't keep up. I looked back and saw no one and was on my own for the last few miles.

At 3 km to go, there was still 700 feet of climbing and I was all geared out in my 23, wishing for my 25. Still, I kept a good, steady spin and was confident I would be able to roll in under the time cut. The suffering was relieved a little more when I crossed the 2 km and 1 km to go signs.

Just under 1 km to go, I could see a Toyota-United rider up the road. I decided to give myself a small challenge and hope for a personal victory by trying to catch and beat whoever it was to the finish. At 500 m to go, I saw it was Ivan Dominguez. I joked to the spectators around a turn, "I can't let Ivan beat me up a climb," and got a nice, encouraging laugh and cheers. "Go get him!" they shouted, so I got out of the saddle and did.

I sprinted past Ivan before the line (something that sounds far more impressive when you don't know it was an uphill finish and we were both well off pace). I didn't look at the official clock but my own computer showed 4 hours, 28 minutes. In the parking lot, my teammates relayed the winning time and their own finishing times and it seemed I would be ahead of the time cut and racing the next day. I also figured it didn't hurt to finish in front of Ivan because he was the green jersey (sprint) leader and surely they wouldn't time cut him. If anything, they'd extend the cut to make sure he was in, and that would include me.

I checked the results in the early evening and was incredibly disappointed. The winning time was 4:05:04 by Scott Moninger (BMC). My time was 4:30:10. The time cut was 10%, which works out to +24:30, or a cut time of 4:29:34. I was 36 seconds too late. I was the first of 16 persons and 179 finishers cut.

I phoned Justin and his first words were, "I know." But we were optimistic that the cut would be extended. I went to bed expecting to race on Saturday but when I heard from Justin in the morning, it was no go. The officials, despite several calls from several teams, stuck to the strict 10% cut and the results stood. Both Ivan and I and everyone else behind (including my teammate Peter) were out.

And so, my Redlands Bicycle Classic ended after just two days out of four. It was especially hard knowing it was by just 36 seconds, seconds I believe I could have made up if I'd known it was that close while out on the road.

The rest of the team carried on. Matt Johnson, riding with us for the first time this year, was our best in the TT, was 32nd in the road race, 18th in the crit, and sat 33 in GC going into Sunday. After a 43rd in Sunday's road race, Matt finished 36 in GC. Brandon Gritters, Chris DeMarchi, Dan Vinson, Karl Bordine, and Nate Deibler all made it to Sunday.

-adm
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Yesterday was tough and took its toll on us. Karl was in an early break with Chris Walker and another guy or two and picked up a 5 second time bonus. But the break was caught not too long after. A crash along the stretch of the course that goes over a dam next to the lake really messed things up. Kayle Leogrande got tied up with another rider and went down, taking some other guys, including our man, Nate Deibler, with him. I was just behind the crash on the narrow road and had to come to a complete stop before working my way around.

The chase was on. Over the climb and down the start finish stretch, those of us separated worked hard to get back on. I had Dan Vinson with me and didn't know who else. On the start finish stretch, I took a big pull to help the cause and saw there were two groups up the road, the main one we were chasing after and a break of about a dozen guys who'd gotten away further up. It felt like and now appeared there was an attack when the crash occurred. After the right turn into the wind, it was single file but we caught back on before getting back into the park.

I recovered and was feeling better as we closed in on the last two laps. Coming up the Canon climb on two-to-go, I was spinning up, moving towards the front, when all of a sudden my left quad cramped. It was completely locked and I couldn't pedal. I clicked out my other foot and rolled to a stop. The pack had no sympathy and kept rolling. With the assistance of a course marshall, I got off my bike and sat on the ground in pain. I drank more water and massaged the area and after a few minutes, the muscle released. I massage a little while longer and then said, "I've gotta go."

The course marshall helped me back onto my bike. I tenderly pedaled to the top of the climb, trying not to invoke another cramp lock. My muscle didn't. I time trialed the last lap fast but not on the edge since I didn't want to cramp again. I crossed the finish line 8:58 behind the winning group and about 2-3 minutes behind the rest of the field.

Lots of guys were off the back, too, or simply didn't finish, so despite my terrible road race day, I moved up from 77 to 62 on GC. After the drop-outs and time cut, only 73 racers remain.

-adm
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I am a very low man on the totem pole for Pro/1 starters. I'm the second starter, going off at 3:00:30 PM. Last year's winning time was 13:25.27 by Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United). My time last year in the 2s was 17:11.28. That time would have put me in 110th place in the Pro/1 last year out of 119 starters; it was only good for 67th in my category. Yuck. This year I expect to get in at least a minute faster (about 92nd place in last year's Pro/1) and would be thrilled with shaving two minutes. A 15:11 would have been good for 37th in the Pro/1 last year.

-adm
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Today, CyclingNews.com has a story about the Redlands Classic. It mentions the race will have "one of the strongest fields in North American cycling" and our team and some of our riders get a nice shout-out, too. Read it »

Also in the news is our very own Karl Bordine's super-great finish of 10th overall at the Central Valley Classic NRC race this past weekend. VeloNews article »

Photo by Bob McCall

And, while Karl was up making news in Fresno, the rest of us had a great time at the Tour de Murrieta, a two-day omnium stage race. Team 5 Star Fish won both the criterium on Saturday (Chris DeMarchi) and the road race on Sunday (Brandon Gritters). Our only flaw was letting a road race break slip away with some contenders like Thurlow Rogers and Chris Walker and without our GC man, Chris. We tried to bring the break back but got absolutely no help from the other teams (several of which had no one in the break). The break also had some people who were very determined to stay away, and so it did. Brandon won the stage but because it was an omnium, Chris (who finished 15th in the stage) dropped to 4th overall. Brandon, with no points the day before, jumped up to 13th overall. I managed a 15th in the crit and 21st in the road race, locking me into 17th overall and putting me in the money (GC paid 20 deep) for the first time this season.

I'm glad to say I didn't crash out like last year's Tour de Murrieta but I did have more than my share of mechanical issues. In the crit on Saturday, I had a flat front tire very early on, something like four or five laps in. I was able to pit, got a wheel from SRAM neutral support (gracias!), took a free lap, and jumped right back in, with the only negative effect being I had to work my way to the front of the field again. On Sunday, also in one of the early laps (it was a road race using a 4 mile circuit), someone pointed out to me I had a broken spoke in my rear wheel. I had heard noise but thought it was someone else's bike. I'm pretty sure I cursed, looked back for the SRAM neutral support car, drifted back, and called into the radio to let my team know my situation. The wheel change was a bit slow because the SRAM guy was working solo; he was both driving and running out as support. I called out to him "Shimano 10" but he'd accidentally grabbed the wrong wheel, had to hussle back to the car, and then got me going with the right one. I used the SRAM car to my advantage but still had to chase solo for an entire lap to get back on. The field was still fresh and fast and I had to put my head down and really give a hard effort. Luckily, when I passed the start/finish, our director, Justin Beope, radioed to the team I was chasing to get back on and needed help. Brandon came to the back and helped me close the last 100 meters to the back of the pack. I sat there for several minutes down the road, catching my breath and seeing stars.

-adm
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Weight and Body Fat - Ongoing Shows my morning and evening weight and body fat numbers on a composite chart.

Weight - 7 Day Average - Year-Over-Year Shows my weight, averaged over 7 days, and charted by year for comparison.

Body Fat % - 7 Day Average - Year-Over-Year Shows my body fat %, averaged over 7 days, and charted by year for comparison.

I'm still 10 lbs. over my target climber body weight of 132 lbs. but I've made some progress and am glad to see the lines are pushing down.

-adm
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Criterium
Gil did the 2's race (he needs just a few more points to upgrade) and was looking really good coming to the end. However, he was the victim of a nasty pile-up before turn three and ended up with a deep facial laceration that required him to go to the hospital for care. We thought he'd receive stitches but he ended up getting the medical equivalent of Krazy Glue to close the wound. The cut, just below his left eye, got pretty swollen and looked ugly but Gil remained in relatively good spirits except for having to deal with a long wait and the doctor who nearly glued his eye shut at the hospital.

The pro race was the most challenging crit I've ever done. It was 150 people going way, way fast. The inflatable arch that was in the chicane last year wasn't there this year, so there was more room and it wasn't as dangerous. But, the street dots and reflectors were a challenge and they seemed to be right in the otherwise perfect line around each corner. They were likely the cause of a crash that knocked out a few riders including one from HealthNet who jumped up with a very pain-filled face and whom we later saw riding in a wheelchair.

Early on I was probably 2/3 of the way back and just trying to survive. I wasn't gaining spots and was trying very hard not to lose any. About mid-way I felt my legs coming around but not enough to be a very active participant. Karl got us some mic time by going to the front and nabbing a $100 prime. The rest of the team (Paul, Dan, Chris, Peter, Nate) was mixed throughout; everyone trying hard to move up and help Karl but finding it incredibly difficult.

Towards the end I was feeling even better and started to move up. At 9 to go I was nearing the top 20 and was still making ground. Coming around turn 3, I was following Nate and there was a gap to the right. When we went, I hit a large lip of pavement into the gutter. My water bottle popped out of the cage and somehow lodged itself between my seat tube and rear wheel. My wheel locked and I skidded and swerved for 30+ meters. I looked like I was auditioning for "Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift." I was able to keep in control and straight and came to a stop along the gutter, but not before the tire burned through and the tube popped. Everyone behind me did a good job of avoiding me and going around. I jumped off the bike, dislodged the bottle, and cut through the vendor pavilion to get to the pit.

I made it to the pit with enough time to get a wheel change and prepare to get back in. I got a good push but I ended up getting in near the back of the pack. It was miserable there. I was working harder than any time in the race and started to get gapped. I fell off pace three laps later. With no reason to continue, I exited the course and became a spectator.

Coming out of turn four, approaching the start/finish for the last lap, there was another crash. This one ended up claiming two of our riders, Chris and Paul, three guys from Rock Racing, and it also separated the field to put Dan, and Karl out of contention. Nate avoided the crash but it slowed him so that he had virtually no chance of contesting for the win.

Nate ended up with our best finish of the day, 24th. In the crash, Paul was hit pretty hard in the back and side by someone from behind and Chris got launched but landed on David Clinger (Rock Racing), cushioning him. Paul was in a lot of pain but was able to get up after a few minutes, though we was very sore after dinner. Chris came away nearly unscathed.

Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United) took the win followed by Ricardo Escuela (SuccessfulLiving.com) and Dan Schmatz (BMC).

Full race results are here.

-adm
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I get to go play with the big boys in this weekend's NRC races in Merced. The Merco Credit Union Cycling Classic (formerl;y the McLane-Pacific Cycling Classic) is always one of my favorites. The Downtown Grand Prix is right down town (duh!) and in front of the court house. It has this chicane bottleneck that's pretty challenging. It makes it terrible to be anywhere but in the top 20. We'll do 50 laps/40 miles of it tomorrow.

On Sunday, we get to pound out 120 miles in the Foothills Road Race. If there's wind, it will make an echelon into the gutter and the edges of the road are pretty broken up. Nate says I can't finish an hour behind the field like at Boulevard. We'll see.

-adm
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