We settled down in Redlands on Tuesday with our traditional host for this race, Jean. The team has been staying with her for 4 or 5 years and she does a great job for us. We did the shopping and she did the cooking including two or three loaves of fresh bread every day. Her house is only 10 blocks from downtown where all the races started this weekend so we did not have to worry about any two-hour commutes like we endured last week between Malibu and San Dimas.
The racing kicked off with a five kilometer uphill time trial. It wasn’t just straight uphill like last week. The first part was only slightly uphill and then the penultimate kilometer was very steep. The idea was to save energy for the hard part. I thought I was doing alright until I was about halfway up the steep section and then I cracked pretty bad. Some of the other guys had the same sort of problem and we didn’t end up with anybody in the top ten. Trent was best placed on the team and Nathan O’Neil of Healthnet took the win.
We went into the criterium hoping to get in some breaks and give Healthnet some trouble. The average speed turned out to be very high and the only significant breakaway got a scant 10 seconds up the road with Phil and a few other riders. Trent attacked like a madman, but couldn’t get away although he came away with a few lap primes. The race ended in a bunch sprint and just when I was starting to get excited about the finish my seat came loose and pitched forward. I couldn’t pedal normally while seated and was unable to contest the sprint. Trent held his ground at the front for 10th.
The circuit race on Sunday was held on a very hilly loop. We started in town with a couple hot laps on the criterium circuit and then climbed a couple miles to a ridge above town where the circuit went up and down for 12 laps. It was a race of attrition that saw scores of riders falling off the pace every lap. Phil, in his typically aggressive style, forced his way into the break AGAIN. The break initially included 10 riders and stayed away until the final lap of the circuit. Back in the pack the rest of us concentrated on hanging on up the climb.
Healthnet rode tempo but came under fire from attacks nearly every time up the hill. Trent gave them hell by going up the road on his own when nobody had the strength to counter-attack on the second to last lap. Unfortunately Healthnet held strong to bring back Trent and the remaining breakaways to keep the bunch together for a sprint with the remaining 30 riders back in town on the criterium circuit. Trent got 4th!! I botched one of the last corners and had a disappointing sprint for 11th although it was one of my best rides in over a year to hang on to the front group in such a difficult race. It was a great confidence booster.
Everyone on the team is going home for a break for the next two weeks.
Next stop: Tour de Georgia.

1 Comment so far

1. Tim on January 22, 2007 12:40 pm

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