March 28, 2003 (Hackettstown, NJ) – Friday's 7.7-mile stage-2 of the Solano Bicycle Classic was billed as a road race, but was far from it, in that 4.5-miles of it was up Mix Canyon Road, a narrow twisting mountain road that contained an average 22% slope in the final mile. Course designer, Tim Jones (Tim and his wife Jaime are hosting several members of the Navigators squad) was proud to see the pro riders suffer up the 12% lower section before confronting the uppermost “Death Zone” as the local riders know it. They'll be talking about this one for a long time to come. It's not very often that you see riders of this caliber using 26 and 29 tooth cogs, triple chain rings, or running with their bikes up a hill.

As expected, Jonathan Vaughters (Prime Alliance) and an on-form Chris Horner (Saturn) were the top climbers of the day, finishing together with Vaughters taking the “sprint.” In 3rd was Matt DeCanio (Prime Alliance). For the Navigators men-in-blue it was a day of small changes. Glen Mitchell lost a few places on G.C. while Burke Swindlehurst moved up a few spots. Tomorrow's downtown Fairfield criterium will certainly be a barnburner as the non-climbers get to race in earnest.

Results:
1) Jonathan Vaughters (Prime Alliance)
2) Chris Horner (Saturn)
3) Matt Decanio (Prime Alliance)

Overall Standings:
1) Chris Horner 4:20.13
2) Jonathan Vaughters @ 1:22
3) Ben Brooks @ 2:58

Navigators Riders:
9) Glen Mitchell @ 3:58
12) Burke Swindlehurst @ 4:14
29) Justin Spinelli
63) Ryan Guay
95) Marty Nothstein @ 6:49