Dear Club,
Well, Day numero uno here at the Redlands Bicycle Classic. This race is arguably one of the most hotly contested pro races here in the states every year. This is second year LRC has fielded a team in the Pro stage race so that pretty freakin' awesome. Many thanks to all of you for your well wishes and support!
I'm not the race report writer that Sandy or Turbo are, but I'm gonna give Day 1 a shot here...Turbo and I will tag team the race reports throughout the weekend.
The cast for Redlands:
Ryan "Turbo" Barrett - our team manager for this race, ex-Pro, father of a new daughter Haley, and 100% quality brutha
Marc "can't give myself a nickname, its against the rules" Yap - Me, your 2nd most faithful scrivener
Dave Harward - UT rider who rides for Canyon Cycles...a total hardman
Jesse Gordon - UT rider who rides for PC Cycling Academy...a young gun, but not THE YOUNG GUN...that's our Jesse Westergard
Jason VanMarle - CA rider who is good buds with Turbo
Nate Loyal - CA rider that I met at Valley of the Sun and am really diggin' b/c he's so freakin' hilarious...plus he's HUGE like Turbo
Alex Moore - CA rider who is part of the new PC Cycling Academy...ex XC runner turned rider
Dan Holt - CA rider who was at the right place at the right time to ride composite for us
So as you can see we are a real composite team this year. We originally were planning to have Allan Butler and Gardie Jackson on board but a number of circumstances conspired agains their joining us for the race this year. AB and G-Love - WISH YOU WERE HERE. I definitely was looking forward to having you two with. Turbo misses you too!
A little background first: The Elite team decided at our team camp this year that Redlands was going to be one of the few Pro races we were going to target. We got in last year so stood a real decent chance to get our application to race accepted this year. Thanks to Turbo's awesome work as our team manager for this race we were in like Flynn (what was Flynn in anyways...and who is Flynn?).
We spent the morning today chilling out at perhaps the best race host housing available at Redlands. The folks who opened their home to us this year are good friends of Gardie's and they put Gardie and Sandy up last year for TT nats. Their home is up in the foothills above Redlands, CA and for those of you OC fans out there, it is just like being there! They have beautiful home, stone and tile everywhere and a hot tub that is so large it takes 45 minutes to warm up! Plus, the hot tub opens up and spills over the edge into the great beyond of a beautiful vista of lush green hills surrounding this community. Top notch. Thanks G-love! As your faithful team scrivener Sandros says...to the races!
Today's stage: Stage 1 Mt Roubidoux Prologue TT
Just over 3 miles of pure pain. I thought I was going to cut loose with the runs half way up my stomach felt so bad...I felt better near the top and am happy to say that I was perfectly regular tonight. I digress. The course starts out at the base of this small mountain that rises from the valley floor in Riverside, CA and winds its way to the summit. Very technical course, lots of turns and plenty of climbing. Pretty much a 10 minute all out effort...glad I was doing those 10-minute intervals a couple weeks ago! Today the temps were awesome...70s it had to be (I don't really know)...but SUPER windy. When we pre-rode the TT course a couple hours before our start times we were being blown up it, but as it winds it way up, there were place where you come around a corner and get pummelled by a wall of wind. Running it at race speed was even more hairy...
Our start times were all staggered but I think we were all off within an hour of each other. I went somewhere in the middle of all of us. It was pretty darn cool to get called up to the starting ramp today. For many years I always thought that doing this race was beyond me, something I'd never be in shape at this time of the year to have a chance to even finish. With this year's edition being only 4 days long, I was able to get away from being a working stiff for just enough time to take on this personal race demon. I hope I survive.
I started out fine, not too hard. Turbo told me not to blow myself in the first flatter part of the course and to save something for the climb, so I did and after getting beyond the first several minutes of shear misery I actually fell into a 'comfortable' rythme...not a fast one...but OK. I didn't catch my 30 second guy and I didn't get caught, so things could definitely have been worse. My legs were alright but not fantastic. I finished somewhere around 10:30 for the course. I think the fastest time was under 9 minutes. Unreal...that's the difference between a pro and little amatuer like me. One of our guys, Dave, did it in his TT bike and rode a sub 10 minute time...awesome. Another one of our riders, Jason, also an ex-Pro like Turbo, smoked it too at about 9:30. The rest of us finished respectably, not too worried about going for the kill today...the next few days are going to be the real treats. One thing - that wind was crazy. I didn't get blown around too badly, but Turbo said he was getting hammered and nearly blown off the course. Hooray for being a little guy!
60 seconds after I was done, I felt as though I'd just eaten a bowl of dirt. I was coughing like crazy, but so were all 150 of the other guys that sucked dust all the way up today...a bunch of hackers. Feeling better now after drinking a ton of water, putting down some food, and capping the evening off with a small glass of Cab Sauv. Not too bad for Day 1...tomorrow is the monster. If I can just hang on tomorrow until the base of the final climb, I think I'll make the time cut. If its as windy tomorrow as it was today, its going to be about as fun as...well, it just won't be fun.
Stay tuned, Turbo's on for tomorrow's race report which will be a real treat...Oak Glenn...105 miles in and of itself aren't bad. It's the fact that its 105 miles at Redlands...
Thanks for reading and THANK YOU ALL for you enthusiasm and support!
Your 2nd most faithful scrivener,
Marc