UCI LA at the Greek

Day 1 in the books out here in LA. It didn't quite go the way I had hoped, but I will get to that.

Last night was an uneventful trip, for me at least. Allen had a bit more stress. traffic and a late arrival almost delayed the Ridley's their Westbound trip, but in the end all was well and he arrived at the La Qunita a few hours ahead of me. I arrived at Frontier baggage to no bike. 45 minutes, still no bike. They had put it with the cargo, it was found, but it took an hour and a half longer than it should have. Despite a bit of a delay, I was in bed by 12:30.

Up this morning and ready to race, Allen and I headed out to find the place. Griffith Park is huge and after a bit of unintentional sightseeing we found the venue and registered.

The course was interesting. Without much room to work with, the course designers managed a twisting, dry, at times very rough course that was between 5:30 and 6 min long. We staged in a random lottery, me in the middle of the field and Allen in the last row with the 4th from last call up. Luckily, there was a substantial straight uphill section for us to move up. By the first turn I was in 15th or so and by the
3rd or 4th turn Allen was by me and racing to the front. He chopped me a bit in the process and we had a nice little mid race chat. Apologetic and polite as always he moved towards the front. After the first set of barriers I was still in the top 20 and some of the people in front of me were going to be in trouble soon, but on the next fast downhill I hit a rut, hard. I heard a snap and the bike stopped. The hoods had both let go and the cable pulled the brakes closed. I stopped and tried to pull them back up, but it was very hard to release the brakes. Minutes later, yes minutes, I was back at it, but way off the back.

Now this is not luck, this is poor riding. Too rough and not enough finesse is the story of my cycling life, but I know it and I have been getting better, unfortunately not today. I cranked it up and avoided being lapped for 3 or 4 laps. I even rolled up on a few guys. Unfortunately I got pulled on a day when I normally could have avoided it and ended up 37th. My highest UCI finish ever, but I am hoping for more tomorrow.

Allen was on it though. He moved through the field well and by the time I was pulled he was up to 8th. He picked off two more in the next 2 laps and was hovering :20 seconds from 3rd, 4th and 5th. It was too bad for the last row call up as he was riding well, but the gap was sealed and Allen finished a strong 6th. Adam Craig and his serious technical skills took the win ahead of Trebon. Craig was skidding those loose turns like a man possessed and had a sizable gap by the finish.

Another day tomorrow. We will see what the day and the course hold.