Good week for riding. This week was my inaugural ride on Wednesday evening. Immediately my legs felt out of position, awkward. Yes, I told them we are going for a ride and it glorious.
Saturday morning the clouds enshrouded the ridge line. No excuses, legs we are going on a ride.
While I know every curve and crack in the road, every corner seemed to
be the same contrasted with the grey sky. My legs asked "Are we there
yet?" Silly legs. Of course not.
A string of runners trekked up the hill. I met up with Herb and Alyce comrades of Mr. Beanz out for a spin. It was good to touch base.
The Riverside Bicycle Club were on the road and made for great company. Bart Black cruised past before the stone wall. Deanna had a good clip. Brian Sable and Bill Stapleton dovetailed me from before Newman's to the shed. Bill had an excellent cadence and the right tempo, amazingly it was his first time on the road. We had a beautiful peak of Baldy in the rare moment of sun riding up to the shed. Wow it looked good.
I dallied at the shed too long nearly half an hour then headed out to the Experimental Forest. The moment I got on Glendora Ridge Road, I had the hairs on the back of my neck say turn around. Nope, onward we go legs. Like an ancient sailor venturing into new territory, "There be dragons!" They were small, furry and squirrel sized. They were hunting me in packs of eight. Running around and twittering. They seemed down right, well squirrely. "Hehehehe, you dash in front of the cyclist." they taunted each other. "I double dog dare you!"
It was slow as visibility was low. Glendora Ridge Rode was eerily quiet in the grey solitude. Determined I plowed on. The wind blew stronger along the ridge. No excuses, keep going. I was glad for the dry base layer. The windbreaker and warm cap. I did miss my Gore jacket.
The visibility on the return trip was limited to five feet. The glasses were fogged with moisture and did not help. Droplets formed on the helmet and dripped off. So the ride back was slow until the first saddle where the visibility was clear and the clouds higher in the sky. Good to be on familiar territory where I can see where I am going. The ride completed. Not too much wet. So a good ride in deed.
Bill has compiled this roundup of the SDSR 2012:
San Dimas, California (March 20, 2012) - The 13th edition of the San Dimas Stage Race was an epic event. Not
only did the riders have to contend with challenging courses and strong
competitors, they also had to battle some weather extremes that would
daunt the heartiest of cyclists. Months
of preparation by race organizers and riders alike culminated in a
whirlwind of activity as the race unfolded over three gray and often wet
days. Glendora Mountain Road,
the lanes of Bonelli Park, and the streets of downtown San Dimas were
filled with color and excitement as almost 900 riders took to the roads,
singly in the Time Trial and in large groups in the Road Race and the
Criterium.
The
Time Trail up Glendora Mountain Road kicked off the race. Starting at
8:00 AM a rider was launched every 30 seconds all day long on a solitary
quest for the best time up a steep and twisting 3.8 mile course. The
day was overcast and chilly, but thankfully, dry. Phil Gaimon, riding
for Kenda/5hr Energy p/b Geargrinder, won the Men’s Pro/Cat 1 category
and Kristin Armstrong, riding for Exergy Twenty12, won the Women’s
Pro/Cat 1-2-3 category.
Saturday's Road Race around Bonelli Park was done under heavy clouds, frequent rain and erratic winds. The
Bonelli Park race course is 7 miles of rolling and curving roads. The
race day was broken into three major time segments with several groups,
which had their starting times spaced a few minutes apart, racing in
each segment. At any given time there were between 200-300 riders on the
course braving terrible weather conditions in their quest for victory,
or for many, just to finish. Joseph Schmalz, riding for ELBOWZ Racing,
took the stage win in the Men’s Pro/Cat 1 and Kristin Armstrong won the
stage in the Women’s Pro/Cat 1-2-3. Andy
Jacques-Maynes, riding for Kenda/5hr Energy p/b Geargrinder, and
Kristin Armstrong were at the top of the GC in their respective
categories at the end of the day.
The weather for the Criterium on Sunday was very cool and cloudy. The
course, still wet from some early morning rain, was slippery.
Nevertheless, speed was the order of the day as the riders raced around
the 6 corners of the 1.2 mile course. Eric Young, riding for BISSELL Pro
Cycling, claimed the stage victory in the Men’s Pro/Cat 1 and Ina Yoko
Teutenberg, riding for Team Specialized lululemon, was the winner in the
Women’s Pro/Cat 1-2-3. Andy
Jacques-Maynes and Kristin Armstrong held onto their GC leads to become
the overall winners of the race in their respective categories.
An
added attraction on Sunday was the Kids Race, in which kids from
toddlers to 12 year olds raced on parts of the Criterium course. The kids were divided into three groups for the race, toddlers to 5, 6 to 9, and 10 to 12. Under the watchful eyes of family and friends, the kids gave everyone a preview of the upcoming generation of bike racers. In this race every rider was a winner.
Our
thanks to the hard working members of the organizing committee and to
the many volunteers that helped on the race days as well as to the
sponsors that supported the race with funds and other valuable resources
and to the USA Cycling Officials that had to deal with many weather
related issues during the race. It took all of you to make this event a success!
We
also wish to recognize and thank the many media representatives that
helped to promote, cover, and report on the races. For the first time,
portions of the race were available for via live streaming video.
uRide.tv, working with SC Velo, provided streaming video coverage of
portions of all three stages. The videos were available at uRide.tv
and were viewed in more than 30 countries. Video clips will be
available for 1 year following the race. There are many stories and
pictures on the Internet about this year's SDSR, links to some of them
are given below.
SDSR Media and Blog Links:
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
SoCalCycling.com
CyclingNews.com
Road Bike Action Magazine
GlendoraMtnRoad.com
Stage 1
Stage 1
Claremont Cyclist Blog
Team Specialized Racing Blog
Team Winded
Team Exergy
Kenda 5 Hr Energy p/b Geargrinder
Santa Cruz Outdoor Sports Blog
SDSR Photographers, Photo galleries and Videos:
Kenneth Hill (Club Photographer)
Danny Munson
Matt Hawkesworth
uRide.tv (Streamed the event Live all three days to over 30 countries)
Michael Roe PelotonReport.com
