One Down...

Hi All! Well, yesterday wrapped up my first "A" race of the season, the Cyclo-Vets Omnium. It's a 3-day stage race, beginning with a TT down on Fiesta Island Friday, followed by a RR at the Boulevard course on Saturday, then concluding with a crit in Mira Mesa on Sunday. I raced the first two events this year, as I'm still holding strong on not racing crits anymore.

I had two PR's so to speak for the event, running a 19:05:20 in the TT for an 11th place finish, beating my previous best time by 12 seconds. Yesterday's road race went extremely well, although I didn't get the win I was hoping for, I raced it as planned, there were just a few other guys out there who happened to have better legs then me that day. I stayed up front through the backside of the course, the descent, not giving up my spot, telling myself that I need to be in the top ten riders when the group reached the beginning of the climb. I was sitting in ninth spot when we did! To make a long story short, the race ended up with a break away of five guys up the road, followed by eight of us chasing, and the peloton somewhere behind us. We worked well together, trying to close the gap between us and the leaders, but two minutes proved to be too much. I had to out sprint another rider at the end to grab 9th place for the day.

Next up, the De Vlees Huis Ronde Road Race in Bakersfield on the 18th. A 30-mile course we'll be going around twice, the longest race on the calendar this season. That should be good for me, as I tend to ride stronger the longer a race goes.

Back to the Omnium...my friend and training partner Mark Palmer, finished in 2nd place in the 50+ category in the TT Friday, then went on to WIN yesterday's RR!!! Excellent job Mark!!! Hope he throws it down in today's crit and wraps up 1st place in the GC. It's good to know I'm training with the right people! Hope ya'll are good out there. Until next time...