Chico Stage Race Report

John Steggall rides away from the break to win the road race.”<br /> Photo by Anthony Ferretti---http://www.flickr.com/photos/futureprocyclist/

In terms of strategy for the road race, two teams (Safeway & Bicycle Plus) had 6 guys and several others had 3. If a break went with both the big teams, we had to be in it. True to form, the attacks started within the first minute. Nothing serious developed until about 8 miles when a 2 man break representing both big teams went off, so I bridged up. They were not serious and it came back quickly. I stayed at the front and went with each successive counter attack. On about the 5th one I was with 3 guys who seemed semi-serious. Presently, two other small groups bridged and we had 9, representing most of the teams. This was going to stick. The guys knew this and once we had a big gap, the group was not entirely motivated. Back in the pack, Wink was shadowing attempts to organize a chase. Despite the break's lackadaisical efforts, we had about 2 minutes on the pack as we approached the 4 mile gravel stretch (~38 miles in).

Entering the gravel, some guys seemed tentative and others were flagging. I jumped lanes with two others and we started pulling away. About a mile into the gravel, I turned and asked if they could take a pull. They mumbled a lame excuse so I jumped lanes a few times to shake them, got a gap, and put the hammer down. After the gravel, I had ~400 meters on the pair and couldn't see the rest, so I hammered it home. Meanwhile, when Wink's group saw Bubba's teammate sidelined with a puncture a few miles before the gravel, Bubba dropped the hammer, pulling them much of the last 8 or 9 miles to the finish. After time bonuses, I had 35 seconds on 2nd, 54 seconds on 3rd/4th, and over 2 minutes on everyone else. Wink came in 11th, almost 3 minutes down. Now, to defend...

There are some strong TT'ers in our group so I had to lay down a fast time. Luckily, Darin Salk had lent me his Cervello P2, helping me to pull a 4th place, only losing 13 & 14 seconds to 2nd & 3rd place. The cool part was that the Winkster put in a monster effort, winning the TT, bringing himself up to 4th in the general classification. Amazingly, the guy sitting in 2nd on GC missed his TT start, putting himself out of contention.

Scott Wienker rides in the break at the criterium.&quot;<br /> Photo by Anthony Ferretti---http://www.flickr.com/photos/futureprocyclist/

For the criterium, Safeway would have to get their top GC guys in a break that would lap the field. This was not as farfetched as one might think. Our fears were eased when the Bicycles Plus guys, with a guy sitting in 2nd on GC, told us that they planned to keep things together. But, after about 15 minutes, the nightmare scenario formed -- a break with 3 of Safeway's top guys, plus Bubba. It was brutal, but I managed to bridge across. When the Safeway guys saw me, it became apparent that they were shifting to Plan B, i.e., just win the crit. True to their word, Bicycles Plus brought our break back after about 5 laps. Wink immediately went to the front and jumped into the counter attack. This break stuck. It was perfect because Safeway's top GC guys missed this break and Wink was able to make up more time on them and move up to 3rd on GC!

John Steggall &amp; Scott Wienker finish 1st &amp; 3rd in the Chico Stage Race, 45+1/2/3 category&quot; <br /> Photo used with permission of McConnell Photography--http://www.bobmcconnell.net

So, in the end -- DBC with a win in the road race & TT, 4th in the TT, 5th in the crit, and 1st & 3rd in the GC. Happy days!