Redlands Classic

Redlands Classic would be my second race with H&R Block Pro Cycling. The five-day stage race would push this team of 7 to their limits. Most of the crew had been broken in at San Dimas a week and a half before. However, for Bailey this would be his first test. The weather was looking good, the legs were turning well, it was going to be a good hard week.

For myself the week started off stressfully. I got sick on Saturday and only had until Wednesday to get better before the racing began. I got out for a little ride on Tuesday but besides that I would be starting Redlands cold. It would prove to be a little test racing on antibiotics.

Crit - Stage 4

The first stage would prove to be harder than I thought. The 250m wall took a gnarly bite out of my legs each lap. The rest of the course was fast and exciting. I was sliding backwards near the end until my terrible positioning started to work against me. Without my punch on the climb the rest of the course was spent chasing and closing gaps. On the last lap there was no more holding the wheel, I got popped out the back with a few others. We rolled around and made it up the wall once more to finish. Stage one was complete and H&R Block’s Adam DeVos was sitting top 10 GC.

My First Road Crash - Doing Alright

For the second day we made a little trip up to Big Bear Mountain. Well, it was quite a trip up to 8400 feet. We raced the Individual Time Trial just under 7000 feet on a tight course. The TT would prove to be a challenge for many since it was at altitude. Most of the team was told to take it easy and save our legs for the wild day that would be stage 3. I was thankful for this since day one proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated and I was still trying to get over being sick.

Getting in a good warm up before stage 5

Stage 3 was the going to be a big boy. It was the Oak Glen day. We would ride the 20 km circuit five times before turning up Oak Glen road and finishing with a 9km climb. My job was to help Adam stay near the front before the turn up the climb. The circuit proved to be difficult with a long dragging climb and some nifty descents. I was feeling pretty decent today, but covering moves and trying to make breakaways happen was starting to take its toll on my legs. Coming around on the last lap it was time to shine. The boys of H&R Block moved up to the front showing off their sweat covered Norco Tactics. It was a little drag race up the climb on the circuit the last time. Most teams had trains of some sort lined up to position their top GC contenders. I lasted as long as I could until the pace picked up once more. My legs had had enough and couldn’t turn over. I cracked. I was shot out the back of the group very quickly. I would then join the other dropped riders and cruise to the top. We needed to still ride fast enough to make the time cut. It was a day of pain. I had to urge my legs each pedal stroke to just make it up the climb. Decent day at the office I must say.

Crits are chaos

The day of speed was to come on the fourth day. This was the day of the downtown Redlands crit. I enjoy crits because they are fast, lots of corners and serve mountain bikers pretty well. From the start I knew this was going to be a fast and dangerous one. There were over 150 races starting on a 1-mile circuit and a total of 9 corners. This was going to be an interesting race. There were lots of attacks in the first couple minutes however the pace was so high it didn't seem like anything was going to stick. The pace began to let up just a little bit and I realized the breakaway was going to go soon. I moved to the front, followed some wheels and before I knew it I was in a group of 6 with 10m over the pack. We just made it clear but with the help of the corners we extended that gap and established a lead. It was now time to settle in for the next hour of racing. Out of the group of 6 we had some very strong veterans and some younger guys. I was able to test out everyone with some of the intermediate sprints and cash primes. In total I won $500 in cash primes. However, when it really came down to it, I was lacking in the intermediate sprints. This would prove unfortunate, as those points could’ve boosted my overall standing in the point general classification. With about 7 laps remaining in the race the pack was chasing hard. We were all getting really tired and a small, but deadly, mistake was made. I rounded turn one, having to change my line slightly as the rider in front of me shifted left slightly, this caused my to hit the small reflector on the road. Unexpectedly and very quickly I was on the ground. My front wheel had skipped out and I lost a lot of skin off of my arm and leg. The bike had no significant damage so I jumped up quickly and made my way to the pits for my free lap. Making it there just in time to get back in with the breakaway and I was back in the race with 5 laps to go. The pack was breathing down our necks and it was getting heated. Coming up to the finish it was important to keep the pressure on but also get in the right position and conserve. I made a tactical error and didn't attack into turn 7. I was going to wait until the sprint coming out of turn 9, however, the chicane of turns 7, 8 and 9 proved that a strong rider could lead the whole thing out and still take the win. With this, fatigue and the pain of my road rash, I ended up getting 5^th. The pack finished just behind us. It was unreal that we stayed away. Next up was getting the tarmac brushed out of my arm and then sleeping on my left side only.

Bailey and I get way too into animated discussions

The last stage was going to be insanely hard. In addition I only got about 5 hours of sleep from the road rash waking me up. Getting fresh wrapping from medical at the start I would be hitting it hard from the gun. The stage started and finished with laps of the previous nights’ crit course. The thing was that there were sprint points at the start/finish on the first two laps. With the amount of points I had made from being in the breakaway on stage 4, I could potentially move up to a podium position with these two laps. I had to get going from the gun. We would hit two short crit laps with points on the line and then turn and climb over 10km to the sunset loop. We would do 12 laps of this sunset loop before descending back down to the crit again, finishing off with 5 laps on the crit loop. I missed the first sprint only getting 1 point, however I won the second one and claimed 7 points. This would not be enough to move me up to a podium spot for GC, I would remain in 4^th only three points behind 3^rd. The rest of the race would be painful. My legs were not there. My body was sore and my skin stinging. I lasted 5 of the 12 laps before dropping out and getting a pro-rated time.

Cracked on Stage 5

Overall, I was not super pleased with my performance on the last day, however, considering the situation I am quite pleased with the way I raced. Overcoming my first road crash will be a big one. I am looking forward to the next time I touch the road bike with H&R Block Pro Cycling at Joe Martin Stage Race. It is a good one and I can't wait to rip it up.