March 23, 2005 This past weekend in San Dimas did not go exactly as planned, to put it mildly. Everyone on the team was looking forward to the race because of the promise of finally reaching some hills. Kevin Cunningham (one of the team owners) was also eager to see his boys perform and had called me the other day saying, “I couldn’t help noticing that you were eighth last year and Eric was second”. It seemed as though we would be able to organize something like that again in 2005.

Disaster struck on day 1 however in the form of two jackknifed trucks on the I-10 freeway. Apparently, three freeways converging into one freeway, which has been reduced to one lane, in a city of ten million give or take, is simply too much for the overworked roadways to handle. We gave ourselves an hour and a half to drive 30km and did not make it in time for Andrew “Pinner” Pinfold and I to make our TT starts. Jeremy Storie, our manager, talked to the promoter on the way to the race and we were told that Pinner and I could start last so all was not lost. We were told to go up to the commissaire and check in and it would get worked out. So Andrew and I rode up to the start and the commissaire said, “Okay, you guys ready?” We looked at her a bit puzzled and then she said that we were starting right now. Our times began about 20 and 30 minutes ago. They simply weren’t having any of this “start last” business so I told the commissaire I’d have to go back and get out of my sandals first. Pinner waited for me and we rode up the hill, in the rain, side by side. The battle for Lantern Rouge was on. The good news was that Marsh Cooper made his start by 30 seconds with a 50 metre warm up and the other boys had a solid 10 or 15 minutes to prep.

One thing I’ve learned about Eric Wohlberg so far is that he rides really well when he’s angry. I think what ticked him off the most about the TT was that he had spent about 3 hours getting his bike dialed in for the race. Eric was a shoe-in for a top-five I think and obviously, his lack of warm-up hurt him for sure. So when Eric’s mad, look out. He took off for most of the day in the road race and picked up 40 seconds in time bonuses to regain his rightful place in the top 10. Pinner flatted on the last lap, so Cory filled in as team sprinter and grabbed fifth on the day. Svein Tuft however, only made it about 3km into the 162km race before flatting. I quickly saw my opportunity to take control of the Lanterne Rouge and waited for him, and waited, and waited. Finally Svein came up over the feed zone hill over a minute later and we began to chase. We gave’er all day, picking up a few stragglers along the way. Despite our tempo, we would lose 17 minutes. But I would gain the Lanterne Rouge from Pinner by no more than a minute at best. Surely there would be fabulous prizes like in the Tour no?

Eric grabbed the points jersey for his efforts as well so we decided to try and get someone in a break during the criterium and scoop up the points. I was the lucky one to make it in the move. Everyone seemed to have a tonne of power while my legs screamed from the effort of the previous day. We took 40 seconds from the bunch very quickly and it seemed the break would stick. But Endeavor decided to bring the move back with 20 minutes to go and another bunch sprint was in the cards. With two laps to go, a sizeable crash occurred that took Pinner and Svein out of contention. After ensuring Pinner was alright, I was somewhat relieved to hear he wasn’t riding and taking my Lantern Rouge back. Eric wound up sixth overall, but unfortunately, Gord Fraser snatched away his points jersey in the final sprint. Funny thing though, I didn’t get a Lanterne Rouge jersey. And I can only assume my fabulous prizes are in the mail?

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