After 7,000 miles of driving all over the country I can finally take a minute to relax with a cup of coffee, pour-over of course, and the view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains urging me to summit on my bike. Along the way my team took on and won a stage race in Georgia and a 103 mile gravel/swamp road race in deep-south Louisiana. I kept heading west, eating alligator in Lafayette, LA, drinking $8 coffee in Austin, TX, and staying at my very first RV park in New Mexico. I rode my bike through National Parks, hiked a small part of the Grand Canyon, slept at gas stations and parking lots, and eventually found myself putting my toes into the Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara, CA. The Redlands Bicycle Classic was the intended destination to finish chapter one of my first year as a pro. My approach is simple this year, go for it and stop for everything.
The San Dimas Stage Race was a final tune-up before the Redlands Classic and I was quickly assured there that my fitness was solid. I finished third overall behind reigning Elite National Road Race Champion, Emerson Oronte and former Movistar rider, Gregory Brenes. I should probably mention that both Adrian Costa and Phil Gaimon both withdrew from the race while ahead of me in General Classification, but I’ll take what I can get.
The Redlands Classic has been the kick-off for the National Racing Calendar for a few years now. As an east coast racer I always found it hard to match the form that those living on the best coast ride into by the time this race comes around. The Redlands Classic might as well be a mid-season race for the California teams. With my mobile lifestyle, the RV afforded me more time to acclimate and despite having a horrific history with Redlands, I knew it would be better this time around.
Going into the race, you could have called the top 5 for GC before it started. With Phil Gaimon and Chris Horner debating who the race should eventually be named after, Michael Woods coming off amazing results with Optum’s early season European campaign, and Gavin Mannion and Gregory Brenes both trying to rebrand themselves after stints with teams that have raced at the highest level, it wasn’t hard to make an educated guess on who to keep an eye out for.
Spoiler alert: The riders mentioned held five of the top seven General Classification results after it was all said and done, but not without a few surprise along the way.
Stage 1: Highland Circuit Race
The first stage was more about what you didn’t see. Whether you were racing or just trying to follow along with spotty reports on twitter feeds, you didn’t see a caravan, because there wasn’t one. If you had a mechanical or a flat tire your ambition for finishing high up in the overall was gone day 1, and a lot of talented riders experienced this fate.
Beside that it was a typical circuit race with a break getting away and then getting reeled in for a final sprint that was sealed off by Sebastian Haedo…another former World Tour rider and brother of J.J. Haedo, former winner of a stage in the Vuelta a Espana.
What you might have missed was young rider Brendan Rhim soloing away from the breakaway and almost catching everyone off-guard in the finale. What looked like a calculated lap error by a chasing team with a sprint across the line with one to go, might have been the only reason Rhim’s efforts were vanquished with a little less drama. Don’t worry though, he’d get another shot and finished the weekend in the green Points Jersey.
Stage 2: Big Bear Lake TT
I sent out a tweet before this stage stating, “Going into a TT is like an interview for a dream job. You have to prove yourself & so much is riding on YOU being prepared and nailing it.” Low and behold some guys showed up taking full advantage of the opportunity while others just weren’t ready or meeting the minimum requirements for the job. Tom Zirbel won the TT as anticipated in any time trial on American tarmac. Ryan Roth was the real winner on the stage, finishing quick enough and not missing the time gap Zirbel received the day before, to pull on the yellow jersey going into Stage 3.
Stage 3: Yucaipa to Oak Glenn RR
Beyond the normal race recap, this is the stage I believed offered me the most promise of winning or at least stating my presence as one of the top domestic riders. When I heard Chris Horner tell a reporter that he hadn’t ridden the final climb up to Oak Glenn, I knew he wasn’t going to win. I knew it was going to be a twenty minute power climb, and I was confident that if I made it to the relenting flat section with 1.5 kilometers to go, I’d have a real shot at the stage.
We were only a couple minutes into the climb and the field was shattered after a very nervous and unrelenting 5 laps around the circuit in Yucaipa, CA. That circuit was up, or down, and you had to be more mentally strong than physically to make it into the final six mile climb. The Optum team was still three guys strong, setting a pace that would soon whittle us down to a 10 rider selection. I was in my own world having noticed my front skewer had come undone at some point prior.
The pace was hard, but steady, and as I re-evaluated the situation, I only saw two guys ahead of me in the General Classification. This was it. The pace increased and I got out of the saddle for the first time with only two kilometers to go, knowing I just needed to stick with them for 500 meters, catch my breath, and take my shot. But that really was it.
When I stood up my wheel bounced around my skewer just enough to start rubbing the brakes and when it didn’t resolve itself right away, I admit, I freaked out. I don’t know why I didn’t just quickly try to tighten it, or why I called for neutral support, or why I didn’t call for support sooner going up the climb. It all happens so fast and your memory of what happened is distorted by the memory of what could have, should have, would have happened.
It would have been pretty cool to watch Phil Gaimon put his hands up at Oak Glenn rather than chasing through the riders and team cars to limit my losses. But that’s racing. And that statement is what 200 riders in the peloton tell themselves and anyone willing to listen after every race, every time, no matter where or how they finished. That’s racing.
Stage 4: Downtown Redlands Criterium
All anyone wanted to talk about after this race was whether the officials got it wrong. It, being a decision to pull a number of riders after an untimely crash with six laps to go. Guys finishing 120th were complaining that the 10-15 riders who were caught up in the crash should have been cut from the race, forced to re-enter at four laps to go, or just dust off and jump back in immediately and potentially lose time.
I’m just going to say that myself and the other riders who had to deal with road rash, a fence, or getting a bike wheel smashed into their knee while sitting in the top twenty, poised to finish with a great result, are the ones who got the raw deal. I’m a competitor, and criterium or 200km road race, I want a shot at the finish. All the riders I saw involved, rushed to the pit, were ready to be re-introduced, but the officials made a call and we were pulled with the promise of a “same-time” field finish.
I guess I should be happy when time gaps only left us with 11 seconds lost on the stage, but I’m not. I know myself and a few others involved were hoping for time bonuses or just a solid result.
One rider in particular, Robin Carpenter, had to watch as his green Points Jersey was taken away. Brendan Rhim took the victory that day escaping just ahead from a breakaway yet again in the finale just seconds ahead of the field. That breakaway wouldn’t have stayed without the crash happening. But that’s racing.
Stage 5: Sunset Hill RR
This is one of the hardest races in the country when the race is wide open. Fortunately for most racers in the field, the race leader, Phil Gaimon, had a big enough time gap and arguably the strongest team in the country to make the pace of the race hard enough to secure the jersey, but not hard enough to demolish everyone’s dreams of finishing in the closing circuits downtown.
I’ve watched this race absolutely disintegrate and only a small group of riders make it to the closing circuits. This year over 40 riders entered the final circuits together. I don’t know if I’m the only rider to get confused about where finishing time on the stage ended, but I attacked over and over on the downhill with a number of other riders thinking final time was decided before entering the circuits. It wasn’t, so hopefully I got some TV time for my efforts.
The stage was won by Haedo striking again with Travis McCabe and Dion Smith rounding out the podium. I came through 12th at same-time and 11th overall in GC. The other notable perpetrators in that top 7 final GC I mentioned earlier were Adam de Vos and Adrien Costa. They are young kids that if you didn’t know before, you have no excuse going forward. Oh yeah, Adrien is only 17 years old.
There’s so much that goes into a race and so many experiences had by everyone, whether it’s slamming into a team car, winning a stage, or just being able to finish that final day with the front group. We all come away with something different, something that stands out individually more than an overall general feeling, but that’s racing. I found out my six years of sliding across the pavement, riding up snow-covered gravel mountains in the winter, missing weddings and parties, traveling to any race I could find each weekend, winning and losing, and constantly trying to prove something was merely a decision and circumstance away from breaking down the front door to my biggest result ever. Luckily, there’s Joe Martin Stage Race this weekend.
Ride on,
Rugg
P.S. This isn’t going to be just about the races. I’ll try not to sound like a reporter, but I wanted to keep it simple to start. The time in between races, my story and the stories of others around me, and the journey along the way is what I’m hoping will stick out this year. The results and racing are just the summation of all the parts that make being a traveling cyclist so rewarding.
Ron Callahan is the chief cook and bottlewasher at Bike World News, doing everything from website design to bike reviews.