My ride

It's been quite some time since I have ridden Wednesday evening. So it was absolute heaven to be there pedaling not caring an ounce what my performance was. The joy of being outside, the warm weather 87F and sunshine. Great to catch up with two familiars Ron and Matt along the road. Wasn't it Thanksgiving just a moment ago? Ron was fit, fine and a bit more retired. Matt enjoyed the ride after a two week hiatus.

SDSR photos

These brave souls wrote to Bill and requested their photos.

Ryan



Nate one of the early riders endured the rain. 6th place Cat 5 Men @ 17:49.31.



Pascal 15:00.33



Ryan H. 7th place in the Cat 4 Men. 16:14.42



Terence 16:35.52



Chris made me laugh and provided the most unique moment of the race. 17:45.36

San Dimas Stage Race 2011 Photos

Here were two heros out of hundreds of riders I captured riding up GMR during the 2011 San Dimas Stage Race. Michael and Ryan launched in that early 9 am hour. The Category 5 men had the worst conditions of the day. Rain streamed down in their faces, hitting the road then splashed back up by their wheels as they pushed hard up the hill. I sat in my red poncho sitting on a small tripod of a seat with my camera encased in its own rain hoodie.




Everyone was happy when the rain stopped and the sun warmed up and dried off the road. Doug had better weather conditions. I treasured the comments of all the riders who said thank you as I cheered and captured their moment on the hill.




Bill and I took over 5,000 photos. Request a photo from Bill by sending him your name, bib number and color of your racing kit. It's free. More than likely we caught you on one or more days of the race. More to come.

Highway 39 to Crystal Lake

News from Steve P. indicates that Highway 39 is finally open to Crystal Lake! Opening Hwy 39 has been a long overdue event that folks should know about. Steve shares

I’m a fan of GMR and your blog and wanted to let you know the gate at the top of the 39 is now open. Supposedly it’s been open for a couple days and you can take it all the way to Crystal Lake. At Crystal Lake there is a little café where we stopped to warm up with hot coco and chili. We talked to the owner about the café which was built in 1932. Inside the café there’s a lot of newspaper articles from the 1950’s about Crystal Lake, kind of like going back in time. Also, the owner said the gate had been closed about 9 years.

I’ve attached 2 pictures. The first is of our motorcycles pretty much at the top of the 39. The second is of a map to Crystal Lake, which was part of an article framed in the café.

Thanks Steve for the big tip! I and many others appreciate the info!

SDSR in review

It has been an epic three days for the riders and the volunteers of the SCVelo San Dimas Stage Race. Todays race course looped around Old Town San Dimas for a fast paced criterium. An outdoor track delinated with fencing, course marshals, and start/finish line. Plenty of opportunities to see the riders pass by multiple times. The early morning rain left a slick road for the first groups of Juniors and Category V men. The Juniors a bit too eager to set a furious pace set out a tempo which proved costly in the first crash of the day in the first lap of their rounds. So many tales of battles within the group to find one's spot in a rolling microcasm of the world on wheels.

Its not a bicycle race unless the riders come close enough to run over your toes. Check this as complete for SDSR 2011. Hearing the roar of the peoloton of cyclists passing by at great speeds. Check. Jumping into residental shrubs and lawns to avoid peloton-human crashes. Again completed. Dust flying up in your eyes as they pedal furiously up the road. Yes, completed. The force of a micro breeze strong enough to sway your body from the speeding velos. Check, completed. Exhausted after three days of walking, standing, sitting, photographing, writing, talking, photographing (yes, can't stress it enough). Completed.

Lots of photos. Send me an email. Better yet, send an email to Bill Media Coordinator of the San Dimas Stage Race to request a photo. Include your Name, Last Name, bib number and describe the colors of your kit.

SDSR 2011 - Stage 3

Stage 3 of the San Dimas Stage Race - Old Town Criterium

SDSR day three. Setting up the course. Its 6:41 annd volunteers of SC Velo fence off the street in prep for the final stage of the San Dimas Stage Race Criterium in Old Town.

SDSR 2011 - Stage 2

Stage 2 of the San Dimas Stage Race.

Participants of all ages poured their souls into their cycles over a seven mile rolling course around Bonelli Park in San Dimas. Epic battles played out between man, machine and wind. One on one in breakaway riders, or the struggle of individuals to keep up with leaders over grueling miles and equipment failures. At times groups blended together as strong, faster riders caught up, or slower riders were absorbed into the surging pelotons. Fans along the road cheered for everyone, fast, slow and middle of the pack. Their need to feed those riders with hope and energy evoked a variety of responses from riders. Men's Pro rider Anibal Borrajo of Jamis Sutter Home Pro Cycling came in with a time of 3:24:03 followed by Cole House and Frances Mancebo both of the Realcyclist.com Pro Cycling Team over the 84 mile course.

Exhaustion is now setting in for myself, being out on the course for nine and ten hours back to back. Today's ten miles of walking and 1200 pictures (that's about 8 gigabytes of info) need to be slept off. here are a few moments of the day. The wheel support photo stole the show.

The second stage of the

The second stage of the San Dimas Stage race is on the first three groups are out on the courae.

Amber Neben and Ben Day 1st in SDSR

Amber Neben takes first place in the Glendora Mountain Road time trial of the opening day of the San Dimas stage race with 15:09.58, 12 seconds ahead of team mate
Amanda Miller at 15:21.87.

Ben Day of Kenda presented by GearGrinder takes first place in the Professional Men's Category with 12:48.74 -- 13 seconds lead over Matt Cooke of Team Exergy 13:02.58.




The true heros of the day rode at 9 am in the rain. I have a few photos to go through over 1800.

2011 San Dimas Stage Race, March 25, 26, & 27, Preview

San Dimas, California - The dates for the San Dimas Stage Race (SDSR) are almost here. The SDSR is a premier race which attracts top flight riders and teams in all categories and provides great entertainment for spectators of all ages. Now in its 12th year, the race is hosted by Southern California Velo (SC Velo), supported by terrific sponsors, and staffed by dedicated volunteers led by Race Director Al Wiscovitch.

The race consists of three exciting stages in three great venues:

* A challenging Time Trial up Glendora Mountain Road (GMR) on March 25th,
sponsored by Chaffey Auto Body.

* A grueling classic Road Race around Bonelli Park on March 26th,
sponsored by San Dimas Community Hospital.

* A fast and furious Criterium around downtown San Dimas on March 27st,
sponsored by Incycle bike stores and Cannondale bikes.



All three stages offer great opportunities for riders to excel and for cycling fans to see exciting pro and amateur racing up close. If you can only attend one day, come on Sunday and enjoy our Beer Garden and Expo along with the race. There are no admission fees for watching the races.

Registration is complete with over 890 riders signed up. Many world class professional teams and riders are on the roster. Talented riders from around the country and beyond have signed up in large numbers in all categories from Pro to Juniors, including three San Dimas Pro champions from the race’s early years. From 2000, Jamie Paolinetti will be racing in the Masters 35+ group for the SKLZ p/b Pista Palace team and Amber Neben will be riding for HTC-Highroad in the Women’s Pro/Cat 1-2-3 group. From 2001, Chris Walker is signed up in the Masters 35+ group for Team Coastal Tree Care – SGBC . All of the fields are strong and the riders are anxious to kick off their racing seasons with exceptional performances.

Men’s Pro/Cat 1 is completely filled and has a waiting list. 2009 and 2010 overall champion, Ben Day is back riding for Kenda p/b Geargrinder, as is the 2006 champion Heath Blackgrove who is riding with Elbowz Racing. They will be facing a lot of competition from an outstanding field of strong riders as they attempt to repeat their wins.




The Men’s Pro/Cat 1 teams represented by one or more riders are:

BikeReg.com/Cannondale
BISSELL Pro Cycling
Byrne Invent
California Giant/Specialized
CashCall Mortgage
Colavita New Mexico
Elbowz Racing
Form Fitness
Full Circle Sports
Hagens Berman Cycling
Herbalife LaGrange
Jamis Sutter Home Pro Cycling Team
Jelly Belly P/B Kenda Cycling Team
Kelly Benefit Strategies/LSV
Kenda p/b Geargrinder
Landis - Trek
Marc Pro - Strava
Monster Media SC VELO
NEBS
NOW MS Society
O2 Modern Fitness/Maynards
Pure Black Racing
Realcyclist.com Pro Cycling Team
RideClean p/b PatentIt.com
SKLZ p/b Pista Palace
So. Cal Cycling.com
Swami's cycling
Team Clif Bar
Team Exergy
Team Rio Grande
US Military Cycling
Wonderful Pistachios Pro Cycling Team
Yahoo! Cycling Team

Women’s Pro/Cat 1-2-3 is also filled with a large field of great riders, including two previous SDSR Women's Pro Champions, 2006 San Dimas champion and Olympic Gold medalist Kristin Armstrong racing with Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12 , and 2000 champion Amber Neben racing with HTC-Highroad. Colavita/Forno d’Asolo Pro Cycling brings 2010 NRC Champion and 2011 New Zealand National Road Champion, Cath Cheatley who finished third in the race last year; the team also brings Canadian National Criterium Champion Leah Kirchmann.

The Women’s Pro/Cat 1-2-3 teams represented by one or more riders are:

Acqua al 2/SDBC
Black Mountain Bicycles
Cal Pacific Export Racing Team
CalCoast Bicycles San Diego
Colavita/Outback Steakhouse Las Vegas
Colavita/Forno d'Asolo
Crumpton Cycles
Cyfac
Danbury Audi
Herbalife LaGrange
HTC-Highroad Women
Keller Rohrback Cycling Team
Kenda p/b Geargrinder
Metromint Cycling & Project Rwanda
Michael David Winery Cycling Team
Missing Link Coaching Systems/Specialized
Missing Link/3rd Rail
NOW-MS Society
Peanut Butter & Co.TWENTY12
P-K Express/HNZ Strategic.com
Platinum Performance
Primal Treads
Primal/MapMyRide
RED Racing
Rouse Bicycles
SC Velo-Empower Coaching
Team Cycles Brixton
Team Dude Girl/Colnago p/b IE Bikes
Team Juvederm-Specialized
Team Redlands
TIBCO/ To The Top
Vanderkitten-Focus
Webcor/Alto Velo
Wells Fargo Racing Team
Wheelworks Racing




For more information about the race please go to www.scvelo.com. Also, become a fan of the race on FaceBook.com and follow it on Twitter.com - just search for San Dimas Stage Race.

Road under Rain

Rain. Seems like all day.

Sunday Walk on the Road

For those who love the feel of gym equipment beneath their feet yet still yearn for the challenges of the outdoors here is the device for you, the Elliptigo.



This gentleman did a double lap up the mountain and enjoys the workout.


If you happened to be out on the road on Sunday there were a pair of photographers snapping pictures. Call it a pre-race warm up for us.Email your description and we'll look through the photos and share it with you.

Attacking on the ascent. Excellent form.



The lure of the San Dimas Stage Race lured this Vegas native to our road.



High times, popping a wheelie.

GMR to the Shed 03.12.2011

Some days were harder to predict the weather conditions than others. The stats on Glendora Weather showed the temperatures bouncing from the coldest day of 55.8F on March 7th to the warmest day of 72.6F on March 10th. A roller coaster of highs and lows. The moist low cloud cover quickly blanketed the valley and rolled up over the hills. A silent tsunami of water vapor shiveringly cool. Deceptive to how long it would last and if the sun would break through at 3000 feet. Hard decisions were made whether I would be burning alive if I dressed for winter, or freezing extremities if I dressed for spring sun. Solution: Light base layers. Warmer outer layers. Brought warmth. Could remove pieces if I over heated.

Adobovelo.com was out en mass today. After last week's Fargo Street challenge. William the winner at 62 or 67 ascents, Ken at second place and Jess at third place with 55 ascents. Darn good climbing.

Rosalee caught me and I kept up with her for a couple of miles. It was good to have her push me into a higher cadence, a higher pace for the time trial. Fortunately for me it was her third day in a row, on her heavier bike with a trailer rack bursting with goodies. From the bottom of Monroe to the windy tunnel about 2.5 miles she energized my ride.

Met Erick near Newman's. Riding strong for his first month back to cycling. He had a couple of friends in tow. I chatted with them for mere moments. Spent from the initial push with Rosalee. Always good to discover its a small world when its one way up on the road.

Single speed Ron coming back from his bone spur incident, We had much to bond over. Soles, stretching and the lack of training. He commiserated greatly about not riding over the holidays. There is exercise after plantar fasciitis.


Joe and Mel


Met Bill, Joe and Mel at the shed just as I headed down. Always nice to meet readership. Joe and Eric hitched up for the L'tape du Tour on May 7th.

Still foggy on the bone chilling descent. I could have brought the toe cover

Saturday with the Greasers

Fry Daddy caught up with me on the last push to the shed, that 8 percent out of the seat climb where every push on your pedal is memorable. The Greasers logged a 58 mile day enjoying the warmth of the sun and a dry road.

Glendora Ridge Road

Ray found a hole in the storm on Saturday Feb 26, 2011. He rode to Cow Canyon Saddle and confirmed that Glendora Ridge Road was closed. Ray has alot more grit than most. Check out his other escapades.

SDSR Juniors Category Expanded

San Dimas. California (March 3, 2011) The San Dimas Stage Race (SDSR), now in its 12th running on March 25-27, has expanded its Juniors category to include 15 and 16 year old riders along with the 17 and 18 year old riders. The two groups will race together, but be scored separately. Both groups will be awarded cash prizes at the conclusion of the last day of racing. A bonus for the Junior racers is their races are part of USA Cycling’s Lance Armstrong Junior Race Series (LAJRS) and they also qualify for SoCal Cup points.

SC Velo, host club for the SDSR, is committed to expanding the opportunities for Junior racers, as evidenced by its active and very successful Juniors racing team and its involvement with the Southern California Nevada Cycling Association's (SCNCA) Junior Camp.

Please visit scvelo.com for more information about the race, registration, and lodging. Registration is currently open at Bikereg.com and spots are still available.

SDSR related links:

SC Velo info: SC Velo
SDSR info: SDSR Info
SDSR registration: SDSR registration
Lance Armstrong Junior Race Series – USA Cycling: Lance Armstrong Juniors
SoCalCup: SoCal Cup