Stage 1:
It was a true pleasure to be back at Redlands Bicycle Classic. Generally speaking, when the teams compete this early in the season, most of us are flying in after a cold winter of training. This year, we were fortunate to have timing on our side, and as such, our Californian team camp began two weeks before the race, allowing us to acclimate to the heat.
Stage one is the classic Highland Circuit: 20 laps of a fast and technical loop through residential streets, with a sharp kick to the line at the finish. It was a hot day, as it usually tends to be for this stage, and there was a general sense of nervous excitement as we completed our easy spin to the course. Our objectives for the stage were twofold: on one hand, we wanted to stay safe and avoid the inevitable first lap crash, and on the other, the team was determined to work for my chances in the finish. An entire team working to help you, in a race environment, is always an honour that comes with pressure.
As soon as the flag dropped, all that pre-race nervous excitement tuned into concentration. The early goings in races of this size are generally nervous affairs, while the peloton adjusts to itself. The team did a superb job during this phase, staying out of trouble, near the front. Amiel Flett-Brown helped to keep me in a good position, and on numerous occasions I was able to relax on his wheel as he expertly navigated his way forward.
As the race progressed into the final few laps, I was lucky to be able to rely on Al Murison to put me in a good position on the final lap. He made a huge move on the downhill portion, and overtook most of the peloton, leaving me in the top ten wheels by the bottom. As we wound our way through the residential part of the lap, I realised that we were in an excellent position. As we approached the final corner, Al found himself boxed in on the inside by the lead-out of another team swinging off; I pursued the other side of the road and found myself in the wind. This is where things started going wrong.
Fighting the wind on my left, and another athlete on my right, we charged towards the final ramp to the line… As the gradient changed, I sensed a rider in my periphery to my left, and I opened my sprint. For a few fleeting moments I felt the glorious sensation of having open air to my face. It took not ten seconds to realise my mistake – I had gone far too early. As the slope tapered off, those that had been reserving their sprint opened, and I was left limping to the line.
In the end, I learned a valuable lesson on timing. The team executed our aims perfectly, and it was my own errors in the final that cost us, perhaps, a better result. Needless to say, I think we all felt encouraged by our ability to execute a plan to a high degree of success, and we were determined to take that confidence forwards into stage two.
Stage 2:
Stage 2 was the Yucaipa Road Race stage, a tough 145km course with six laps, including a 6km climb each lap, before a final mountain top finish to Oak Glen. Without a time trial beforehand, GC was tight and therefore the team knew a break would be given a short leash. On the plus side, there were two intermediate sprints for the first time in the race and therefore the Sprint Jersey was a possibility, along with a considerable number of King of the Mountain points.
Ahead of the stage our plan was simple: to race aggressively, make our mark on the race, put guys in the move, and - if the opportunity presented itself - to gain points in either the King of the Mountain sprints or intermediate sprints.
From the gun, it was clear many other teams had the same idea. My previous experience of this stage was the break being allowed to break free with “relative” ease. This time round proved not so easy. Multiple groups formed and reformed with Red Truck riders jumping into multiple breaks. The pace was hot as we entered the first climb with a promising move, including Dan having a small gap on the field, but unfortunately it came back together. By the top of the climb on the first lap I’d forced myself into a front group of seven, however, again some of the larger teams were simply interested in marking the move without contributing, and therefore over the top we were once again caught.
Two riders escaped over the top, with the bunch finally seemingly content to let them go. On the descent our man Cole attacked, bringing a couple of other riders with him. One or two more proceeded to jump across. After around 5k, I also bridged following a brief solo chase to make a group of five. Cole, along with another local rider for the Tag Race team Ethan Pauly, drove our group until we reached the bottom of the climb for the second time, at which point they swung off leaving myself with two other riders bridging to the two riders who had escaped on the previous lap. We chased for a further 20-30k before finally making contact, who had not wanted to be caught to maximize their intermediate sprint points haul from the day. Once together, the real hard work began as we looked to maximize our advantage from the chasing peloton.
As expected, our leash was kept comparatively close at around two minutes for most of the day. Following a 30 minute intermission with two laps remaining (where the race was stopped due to marshaling/safety concerns) we attempted to ride full gas to maintain our lead before the final climb. On the penultimate lap, five became four as a breakaway companion was dropped and approaching the final climb we became three. The catch was made on the final lap climb prior to Oak Glen. Kaler Marshall managed to stay away until the top of the climb to maximize his haul in the KoM points classification. I was grateful to teammate Amiel for passing a Coke to me as I drifted back through the peloton before taking it as easy as I could in the grupetto for the final few kilometers up Oak Glen, trying to save as much energy for the coming stages as possible.
Overall it was a fantastic day to get the Red Truck jersey out front at a race of this caliber.
Stage 3:
When we reached the “hump-day” of this stage race, I think a lot of us were feeling quite taxed. Whether it was the bifurcated race the day prior, or the heat accumulation that our bodies were dealing with over the past two days of intensive racing in extreme heat, we were all looking forward to having the day over with. We spent the morning supporting the women’s race as our start wasn’t until 12:37 pm with Dan being the first one down the start ramp for us.
After a few blistering times set by the women’s team, we were all pretty excited for what was to come. Having done some recon, analysis of the race profile, wind speed and direction, we were all coming in with some pretty fast time goals. Our warmups were imperfect, as we were nestled up towards the neck of Route 66 and the I-15 with very little road-space to use, but thankfully, out of the kindness of some fellow Canadian racers, we were lent a few trainers to warm-up on. Having run through the jig several times in the hours leading up to the race, there was very little stress leading up to the line. After smashing two gels and loading the system with 350 mg of caffeine, it was time to go.
Immediately off the start-ramp, you were down the hill into a brutal head wind with gusts coming from all sides. Points of the outbound effort consisted of spinning out at 65kph - a perfect opportunity to take a bit of power off and conserve speed. By the turnaround, there was a glimmer of my 30-second man, and I came out of the bend knowing that I had put in a decent effort to make my time-goal for the out.
Contrary to what we thought would be the case, it felt as if the wind had somehow shifted, or at least was gusting and turning itself into a headwind for the daunting uphill journey back… This wasn’t my day, something wasn’t quite right, I thought I had carbed up enough, but the legs just felt empty. Pushing to the line, I crossed a minute past what my time-goal was, bleeding out time quite significantly on the return. Good enough for a top 50 on the day, and nothing to be ashamed of considering the effort and lack of legs.
Stage 4:
With the Redlands Criterium starting in the afternoon and following the day of the time trial, the legs were thankful for some “recovery”. Before the race, the group linked up for an easy course recon and coffee spin to help open the legs and shake the nerves. Our plan for the day was to stay safe, make a timecut for the final stage, and send it for a prime (money for the first rider to cross the start/finish line) if you’re in the right spot and the legs feel like going for it.
Before long, the men's group was kitted up at the start line, soaking in the atmosphere set by the cheering crowd, loud music, and race announcers. The team was focused and hopeful for a strong start. We knew from our pre-race debrief that the first battle for position was an important one, due to how fast and technical the course was.
At the sound of the gun, the group of 140 riders powered their way down the course to the first hairpin turn. Unfortunately, a rider in front of me had a painfully slow clip in, so I began my race fighting in the back 3rd of the pack. The course had nine corners, which, combined with the criterium prowess of Legion LA, made for a challenging race to move up in. Being towards the back of the pack, I was burning matches to hang on. Each lap I could hear our team cheering on the Red Truck team – that always adds a little extra fuel to keep digging. The group could feel when the race announcers were giving out primes as gaps were opening up left and right after the last corner before the finish.
While it was difficult to tell where the rest of the team was, I was grateful to eventually find my teammate, Amiel, in the sea of riders. His smooth and silky nature gave the opportunity for us to glide through the corners, move our way up the group, and maintain a decent position, at least for a portion of the race. The course was fast and technical, and thankfully, due to how strung out the race was, there were minimal crashes. After 90 minutes of survival-mode racing, the crit was over and we each punched our entry cards for access to the final stage of Redlands. While the team had no results to write home about, we each had our own respective battles and race experiences to grow from, and we were all stoked to be heading into the final stage together.
Stage 5:
Stage five: the infamous Sunset Road Race and possibly the hardest stage of the race. After four days of racing our legs felt a bit tired but still ready to go at the start. It was a hot day too, the start of the race was not until 2pm, and by this time the temperatures were holding mid to high thirties, ouch. The course itself is not something to disregard either.
We start with a few fast laps of the downtown crit course and then head out a long steady climb to the hills above Redlands and the infamous Sunset loop. Now I was wondering why they call it “Sunset” and after doing Redlands five times now, I’ve finally come to realize that it's because it's a good vista point to watch the sunset as it looks out along the San Bernardino Valley, which is great except this means that there are lots of hills!
The climb to the circuits is long and then once on the circuits we were tasked with doing twelve laps of a steep and rolling climb. In traditional Redlands form, the first lap up the climb was a KOM points lap. So let's say the first lap was pretty hard, I think I basically just went as hard as I could the whole time up it. I ended up coming on and off the lead group a few times and then coming off for good with two laps to go, whilst still finishing.
Personal highlight of the day was watching my team managers cheer me on in the feed zone at the top of the climb. Although they were also kinda laughing at my pain faces, they were absolutely awesome. I was so shattered after the stage that I had to walk back up the small hill to my host house. I got in the door and fell down on the ground. My teammate Amiel, who I am very happy I had helping me, had to bring me Electrolyte water (thank you so much @Skratchlabs) and Ice to cool me off as I was overheating... I puked once, was shaking, dizzy, and couldn't slow down my breathing. After about ten minutes I started to feel better. Thank you so much to Amiel for taking care of me. I guess I found out what happens when I push myself over the edge. And that’s a wrap with the Redlands Bicycle Classic, one of the hardest stage races in North America.
Host Housing
It's been a few years now since we've been on a trip with host housing. Speaking for myself (Amiel) and Kyle, we had a very warm and welcoming home take us in with Craig and Michelle and their dog Lucy. The organizers at the Redlands bicycle classic poured their hearts into getting us under good roofs this year, as a few of us can attest to, having had an early mishap that found us looking to find a home last minute. The team at Redlands were quick to find us a home who had hosted many of the best visiting teams in previous years. Their hospitality helped us optimize our racing experience and created an island for our team outside of the racing bubble to come home to and relax after each stage. We could not be more grateful to the organizers and hosts at this year's 2022 Redlands Bicycle Classic.
