Eve of the Race

Lots of home court action tomorrow and I am taking a day off from work to watch. It has nothing to do with basketball and all about cycling. Time trial. Mountain stage, and 790 riders. What's not to like?

The opening time trial of the San Dimas Stage Race (SDSR) begins 9:00 am. Its a full day of non stop action with riders staged 30 seconds apart until 4:30 pm. They climb a 3.8 mile segment of Glendora Mountain Road. The start list contains many dedicated souls. Of course the eye catching pro names are Tyler Hamilton - Rock Racing, Ben Day - Toyota-United, Ivan Dominguez - Toyota-United, Oscar Sevilla Rivera - Rock Racing, Tom Zirbel - Bissel, and Tony Cruz - BMC Pro Cycling Team.

The start of the ride is in the canyon where the moisture level is high and the temperature is 10 degrees cooler from the stream. But once you make the first switch back and travel upward the sun sears down on the exposed flesh. It doesn't take long to feel the heat if the sky is clear.