Race Report: San Dimas Stage Race - Stage 2: San Dimas Hospital Road Race

UPDATE: 12th in GC at 41 seconds. I can still win this! Race data is online at Plus 3 Network. Check it out - you can raise money for charity by just riding your bike. Seriously. It's great.

Racing in the Cat 2 field is very different from racing with the pros, or with the local P123 field. The former is completely team dominated, whereas the latter has such a wide range of talent that the field splits quickly. The Cat 2 field today was much closer in age, experience, and strength than some other fields. I think I did well, but could have done better.

My goal for the race was to win every single "hot spot" sprint. These sprints, on laps 3, 5, and 7, were worth 10, 6, or 3 seconds in the GC. Being 42 seconds back, those seconds are very precious! I did not want to contend KOM as I'm no climber. The conditions were hot and sunny, with some shifting winds.

After the first sprint, I learned that I should do a better job of being toward the front if I was going to contend these. I won the second sprint, and placed third in the final sprint, winning me 13 seconds. If nothing changed, I'm now 17th in the GC. The correct strategy was to attack the KOM climb, blast downhill, and hold the lead to the line.

I made a serious error in waiting for the pack after the last sprint, with one to go. The pack was tired and dehydrated after two hours. The winner soloed off the front and gained a ton of time. Had I not waited for the pack, I could have held off the pack, gained 20 seconds, and won. The pack finish was disappointing.