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I’m on the right side of the screen and beat out the 3rd place guy by a few inches.

Yesterday was the four year anniversary of my 1st road race. Four years ago at Devil’s Punchbowl, I rode away from the field and won! But USAC official, Jack Vincent, relegated me to last place because I failed the roll out. At the time I had no idea what junior gears were…
Anyway, that is the story of my first road race. I still stay in contact with Jack and he has helped me tremendously thoughtout my cycling career. We even met up at Sea Otter last week.
Yesterday at Devil’s Punchbowl, I had a solid ride. As always the first climb starts out easy, but by the top some people are getting dropped and almost everybody is in pain. I rolled off the front at the top of the climb and tucked all the way down. I then road the next 63 miles solo and out of sight from the field. Just as I was going into the last lap, what was left of the field caught me. Louis Meintjes, one of my teammates, overtook me and road the last lap solo (at one point 2:40 ahead of the field) for the win.
I road with the front part of the field, four including me, for the last lap. I attacked with about 1K to go, but couldn’t break away. Just before the finish, two remaining riders got a gap on me and started playing games for the sprint. I caught them and had enough time to move around them to take second!

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I spend a lot of time training, traveling, racing, and working at Bear Valley Bikes. Almost everything I do is for my racing career in some aspect. It’s a time consuming sport that requires a lot of dedication, so you’d think that every chance I got I would escape from the world of cycling, not true. I love the support that I get from friends, family, and the community of Big Bear Lake and getting support is about promoting the sport and all of those involved, not just myself. I worked the Bear Valley Bikes booth on Tuesday at the Big Bear Cycling Association’s Open House and Expo at Nottinghams Restaurant. (For a free dinner!) It was a great event with information available on riding the roads and trails of Big Bear, the Big Bear Cycling Association’s schedule of events and activities, including things such as educational programs, rider development, and group and community rides. The Amgen Tour of California and the Tour de Big Bear also had tents set up with info and swag. Big Bear is an excellent place to cycle and biking should be an integral part of our community and tourism. I’m glad I could be there and I hope the biking community continues to grow here. If you would like to know more about Bear Valley Bikes, or the Big Bear Cycling Association and becoming a member, check out my sponsor page and click on their websites. Comment on this post if you would like a “Share the Road” sticker for your car!

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Life on the road is always interesting with Jos Le Roux. We did our laundry in the sink while at Sea Otter. This is a video of Jos improvising “tumble dry only” instructions. We will be traveling to Devil’s Punchbowl in Pearblossom, CA this Saturday, and then we will be back on the road the following week for Tour of the Gila in Silver City, New Mexico, May 2-6.

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Sea Otter weekend did not go as well as I had planned after stage 1, but it wasn’t a failure either. In stage 4, the circuit race, I busted out early to win the first sprint points. Once I had those, no one in the field could catch me and I secured the green jersey! Working hard to win the points burnt me out and I fell off the back of the peloton. Team leader, Andy Jacques-Maynes, of Kenda/5 Hour Energy, got a flat and two of his team members stayed with him. After falling off, I joined them and they let me rest. When I got my second wind, I helped pull them back on. Andy Jacques-Maynes won GC. Simple Green teammate, Louis Meintjes, won the KOM (King of the Mountain) jersey and finished 5th in the GC. Despite not placing as well as I could have, finishing 27th in the GC, I definitely got some recognition from the Pro field and made a few great friends.

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Today was about as big a let down as yesterday. The limit screw was off on my rear derailleur allowing my chain to overshift into the frame. Lost a lot of time fixing it and getting back up to speed. But, now I have nothing to lose. All out tomorrow! Still leading in the points.

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The guys at the Smith tent hooked me up with a brand new set of shades! My last pair were lost to the road yesterday. It’s companies like Smith that make quality products and love supporting athletes, sports, and the outdoors that I love having the opportunity to promote.

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Today was rough. A 69 mile course divided up into 8 laps. In the first lap the rider directly in front of me ran off the the road, then fell back into the road. He took a couple of riders down with him. I was lucky enough to have a little time to break, unclip and jump over the guys on the ground, but didn’t have enough time to get my bike out of the way, so another rider used it to break his fall, bending my front wheel. It took a considerable amount of time to get sorted with a new wheel and back on the road. I then chased solo, for the most part, for the next 3 laps. Nobody was really chomping at the bit to help me get back on. After some major effort, I did get back on. I sat out of the wind, drank and ate as much as I could, but when it came down to the last lap, I no longer had the legs. I dropped at the start of the last lap. Losing just over 6 minutes to the leader. I will go into the time trial tomorrow sitting at 27th in the GC, a very disheartening position after such a great ride yesterday. However, I will maintain the green sprint point jersey. Fellow teammate, Louis Meintjes, will wear the climber’s jersey and is sitting at 5th in the GC. Personally, not a great second day, but the weekend is far from over and Simple Green Bike Religion has three riders in the top 15. All I have to say is good thing the TT tomorrow is later in the day, I need to rest.

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Don’t like waiting until I get home, showered, fed, and relaxed before hearing about the day’s race results? Follow me on Twitter for quick updates before and immediately after races.

Follow @Connor511

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Photo credit © Dave McElwaine/trailwatch.net

Today started early, getting up at 5:30 is not my most favorite thing. But we got to the race with plenty of time to pick up our numbers and get things sorted. Stage one of the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California is a 60 minute crit on a section of the Laguna Seca Raceway. The race started out fast and aggressive with many early attacks and counters. I felt aggressive and followed a few wheels. Within 15 minutes of the start of the race, I was off the front with Andy Jacques-Maynes and Morgan Schmitt. We worked together for the next 45 minutes. Andy took first, I finished second, and Morgan third with almost a minute and a half on the rest of the field. A good start, especially considering I go into the next three days as the overall points leader. I took first in three out of the four sprints and third in the other giving me 16 sprint points for the day. It was a strong race all around and I can’t wait for the next stage. For complete results: http://www.seaotterclassic.com/raceresults/index.cfm/2012.htm

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I mentioned that I have three South Africans living with me. We are staying at my grandparent’s “Little Red Cabin” in Big Bear to train full time at altitude. (Thank you to my grandparents for hooking us up with such a great situation!) We call our new pad The Little South Africa Training Camp. Jos LeRoux is a fellow teammate from Simple Green Bike Religion, as is Louis Meintjes. Christiaan Kriek came to America in January and started on the Simple Green team, but has just signed a contract with the American Continental Team Jelly Belly P/B Kenda. We live together to train, but being together has also given us the chance to connect with fans. We are working with the Big Bear Cycling Association and Paul Zamoyta, local school district member and personal sponsor, to hold assemblies at the five schools in the Bear Valley School District. We have held assemblies at North Shore Elementary, Big Bear Elementary, and Baldwin Lane Elementary, all of which have been great successes. Our primary function is to introduce and promote the Amgen Tour of California which comes through Big Bear during stage six of eight. However, we are also there to intrigue young children and promote the sport of cycling in general. Paul asks us key questions about cycling including, “Why do cyclist shave their legs?” It is our job to answer truthfully, “Because it makes us look sexy” -Christiaan. The students laugh and learn about our awesome sponsors, kits, bikes, races, and training schedules. For some weird reason, all the students like Christiaan’s sponsor the best! It’s been a great time and I hope that we see some true cycle fans born from this!

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KBHR: ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES HIGHLIGHT CYCLING AND THE RETURN OF THE AMGEN TOUR OF CALIFORNIA