[stage 2] on to the road race

[getting ready to roll, of course that laugh must be because i am crazy and i know what i am about to suffer through, dig those purty LG shoes, all white and bling]

was there a weather change, well, not really. but it did rain saturday morning before we got back out to mountains east of san diego. the course for the road race followed the hollowed roads of the 'boulevard road race' held in feburary and is always a hard race. the course for the omnium started at the golden acorn casino and winds its way down to highway 94 for a good descent and some rollers to climb, than a right on la posta and up a wall over the railroad tracks to the hills we go, up some good steadily increasing climbs and a right on old highway 80 and up the mountain to the finish.


[at the start line, telling jokes]


[off we go, let the suffering begin]

we started under patchy clouds, high humity and about 92F, but it did seem cooler than the day before. i made my way to the front and put myself behind the lead rider [he looked like someone i knew, so i had talked to him before the race and it turns out that he was a cat 1 rider that started over after 10 years and his name is james, hum sounds familiar]. i hate being in the middle or rear of the pack going down descents as my MASI gran-criterium with american classic 30mm carbon wheels likes to eat descents for breakfast, as in it is fast, way faster than me, i just hold on and let her go. so james [yes i know, weird] lead the bunch up the first few inclines and celo-pacific comes up and leads up over the wall and we make our first right onto 94, with me in about 4th position before the descent really starts down 94. james decides that he has had enough of the slow pace by team celo-pacific and bolts off the front. i take a quick look around and see celo-pacific ether napping or they don't care to up the pace, so i bridge to james and we are now bombing down the rollers, we are joined by a healthnet rider and the 3 of us are off to the races, this went on for about what seemed like +5 mins or so, and then the peloton finally absorbed us. i think it was still celo-pacific driving the peloton and they boxed myself and the healthnet rider in. they slowed us down to 23mph, that did not set well with my masi, and she got in behind the revolving celo-boys and i launched past them and told the healtnet rider to stick to my ass and we would have another go at it. i launched so fast by the time i turned around at 30mph +, no one was behind me. so it took very little for me to decide that this was it and i went for it. i was on my solo attack for about 20 - 25min. i dedicated my attack to margaret [tim's wife] who is attacking something in her own right, all my best to you margaret and to a speedy successful treatment, we kicked some arse today] the peloton finally started working and caught me, but not before i lead them up the first climb. my day was made, i was smiling from ear to sweaty ear as i heard guys behind me at the top of the first climb say 'i'm done'. i did my job and thinned the herd and we went about the rest of the 22 mile loop [we did 2 loops of the course]. like i said before with no team to support today, i was free to be an agitator and have some fun, and let me tell you, it was a blast, it was worth all the hours of training and sacrifice [no ice cream]. for about 30 mins i was my hero jens voigt and you can't erase that type of smile. i lead a group up the old highway 80 climb, catching as many riders as we could. i was working with a team swami rider up the climb and told him that we should work together on the next lap.


[leading the group up to the finish / feed zone]

i pass the finish / feed zone, crabbed a bottle from the soigneur and started the loop all over again. when i got to the top of the feed zone incline and turned down towards the casino, i look around to regroup with the swami rider and once again no one was behind me. so i was off to the races again alone and bombing down 94 to la posta. the weather changed from the old highway 80 climb [98F+] to the humid 94 rollers and i swear it had rained before i got there again. so i started to swallow up more riders and suffered through the first two climbs as i ran out of water and took all the hammer gel i had and before the old highway 80 climb i took a swig of my GO-juice [enervite]. lucky for me i had brought some E-CAPs electrolyte tablets with me, as i was popping them left and right all day. they really saved me from leg cramps in the sweltering heat. i suffered up the old highway 80 with no fluids and finish at the back of the main pack. all in all a great day of racing, and i had so much fun working the pack and attacking. i love bike racing.....


[oh the tears of joy as i cross the finish line]


[i was one thirsty team becher+ rider, and yes that is salt from my sweat on my jersey]

first a very special thanks to josephine for suffering in her own right in the sun all morning just to hand me a bottle of water, thanks to TIM at MASI for the best bike ever made, thanks to the crew at iMartin for all the work on the bike, thanks to jessica at LG for the great gear support [and making a helmet that fits my big head], thanks to the team and especially greg for being my training partner. brave soldier for the 'friction zone' and first aid kits. thanks to our great sponsors, bobo's hamburgers and dave jarrett. one day i hope to make gerry proud with one good sprint...