We are finally home after a busy weekend of driving and racing. We were planning to leave early on Saturday, however Koko broke a canine tooth Friday night when he got snagged on the seam of my cargo shorts. We had to wait until the vet's office opened to call. Vet told us we should bring him in soon but not necessarily that day, so we continued with the plan. Made it to Fontana just before 4 PM after having the worst dining experience at a Mexican restaurant outside of Indio.
After taking care of registration I went to pre-ride the course. I knew the course was different but I was really surprised with how steep and difficult the initial climb was. I loved it, because I knew I could do better than many people on that section. The technical descend was also fun. After two laps we went back to the hotel and got changed, met Norma's cousing Eddy and his wife for dinner then it was time to bed.
With a 2:15 PM start I had plenty of time for breakfast. Denny's was just around the corner, so we had some "serious" meal and went back to the hotel to chill.
We made it to the venue around 12:30 so I could start my warm-up. The vibe in the venue was really cool. Scott Tedro and everyone else helping to put this series together have done a great job. The stunt motorcycle show was going in while I was sitting on the trainer which made it difficult to ignore but at the same time it got my mind away from the race ahead.
Not sure what my call-up would be I headed to the staging area as soon as they called up the first rider. Quickly the starting line got fuller and fuller with riders lined up 9-wide.
Still waiting to be called up
Ten full rows had been filled and my name hadn't been called, eventually there was a little over a handful of us left in the staging area when I heard my name. I only had to move forward a few yard to take my spot, then the annuncer says there was 1-minute to the start. I looked back and there was only one row of guys behind me and about 11 in front.
I got a little nervous thinking about the upcoming chaos of funneling 114 riders into the course while navigating around three tight turns.
Then at 2:15 PM, off we went. How was the start? This video should give you a good idea. Watch for my red and black Adrenaline jersey going by on the inside about 9 seconds into it.
I made it through the first two turns without a hitch and moved a few spots then I got boxed in on the third one and had to get off my bike just to keep moving forward. I quickly remounted and moved up a few more spots before having to dismount again on the first short, steep, loose climb. Passed a few more people while running and remounted. I settled behind the next group of guys in hopes of recovering before the really steep climb then 6 guys went by us. I then realized how hard you have to race at this level.
The rest of the first lap continued like that. I rode as hard as I could, yet anytime I let off the gas, even for just a moment, one or two riders went by. I went down twice on this lap trying not to run over other guys that had crashed in front of me. Lap two went about the same, however riders were spread out a little more and I kept moving forward. Todd Wells passed me after his mechanical. We both were running with our bikes at the top of the climb. I tried staying with him but lost him on the downhill.
Marty was out on the course as usual, providing some needed encouragement. I started to enjoy the race on lap three and felt a lot stronger. I also got more comfortable on the descends. As I started my 4th lap I must have crossed into what I called the "mediocrety threshold." All the big names were ahead yet I couldn't see anyone behind me. On this lap I only passed three guys. On the last lap, I was just focusing on keeping a steady pace and make it to the finish without any incidents. I managed to pass one other rider, but aside from him I rode mostly by myself the whole lap, which I thought was unusual. For a second I thought I was the last rider not getting pulled, but a few seconds after crossing the line I saw a few more riders come in.
After a quick spin to cool off, I went back to the car to change and pack. On the way out we discovered the car had a flat tire. Thankfully there was an Auto Zone across the street. We bought a can of Fix-a-Flat and a Large Pizza at the restaurant next door and went back to the hotel.We drove back to Phoenix on Monday. Except for some strong winds, the drive was uneventfull. Then in the afternoon I took Koko to the vet. I looks like he'll need to have the rest of the broken tooth removed as well as two others. Who would have thought! What's next...braces!!!
We may also do put him through "another" procedure at the same time but don't tell him. I don't think he'll like the idea.
Thanks to all for your e-mails and text messages. It was nice to know that I had people rooting for me.
Jeff
This race was particularly hard because I and three other guys broke off the front less than 12 miles into a 64 mile race. My adventure companions were Bryce from Bicycle House and Mark from BC Canada. We got away on the second climb after the first KOM which I won, eventhough there was not prize for it. The rest of the way until the turn around point was either downhill or flat with a strong head wind. I had to work really hard everytime I pulled through. The three of us worked really well. We even passed the Cat 3s and didn't stop cooperating until we made it to the last big climb where we went every man for himself. Mark was the first one to drop back. Bryce and I kept going but I was already hurting. I tried to look confortable but I was out of water from the bottom of the hill. 1/4 mile from the KOM, Bryce just up'd the pace enough for me to loose contact. He didn't attack, he just slowly rode away and I couldn't do anything. My quads and hip flexors were cramping up as I summited but I still had about 6 miles of rolling hills before the finish. I managed to hold on to second place thanks to all the work done by teammates Mark Bunz and Judah Cain back in the pack blocking and disrupting any attemps to organize a chase. Thanks for the help guys!
I finally put it together on Wednesday, then I spent most of Thursday night hanging all the goodies I got for my Fireline. Thanks to Jay Robinson and the folks at HammerHead Bicycles for helping me getting the bike looking like a fine piece of racing machinery. 
Unfortunately, my wrenching skills were not up to par for this race. I was really looking forward to doing well, but my handlebars came loose less than a mile from the start when I was sitting on second. I stopped to tighten them and got passed by everyone. I worked really hard to catch the tail end of the group by the end of the 25 min lap. Then on the second lap both tires starting to loose air (probably I didn't seat them well), so I reached for my CO2 just to realize I didn't have a nozzle with me. I stopped and got help from a Marathon rider to get my tires inflated enought to finish the race. I went on to pass a bunch of guys and finish in 8th. 
The course was awesome and really suited me but it just didn't happen.
A rolling course with quite a few turns. I bridged up to a break that stayed out for the whole race and got second at the crit and bonus sprint. 
After the race, we hung out and watched the other races then went back to my brother-in-law's place for some carne asada. 
Sunday was the road race. Two laps of a mostly flat 28 mile course. Jarrod and Patrick did an awesome job keeping me safe in front of the peloton, protected from the wind, however we misstimed when to go to the front and pick up the pace to try and get the bonus points. I ended up going with another guy with about a mile to go and ended up getting caught 200 meters from the line. Being over 8 points down, I figure I would let Jarrod and Patrick do their own race and defend my second place on my own. We had just started the second lap when Jarrod almost got taken out on the first corner. Shortly before the feedzone, Patrick went on a break with two other guys and they ended up staying out. I wasted a lot of energy chasing the leader when I knew I was going to beat him. Eventually I let him go, but later I had to work hard to chase the multiple attacks from the guys sitting on 3rd and 4th. We became the chase group along with 6 other guys, unfortunately I let off the gas a little too early coming into the line and got 13th which pushed me back to 4th overall just 2 point away from 2nd. 
Oh well...it was a good race.
Results got all screwed up so we waited for ever then went back to Yuma for food Burgers-n-Beers and a little drive around then a quick stop to see the family, then drove home.