San Dimas Stage Race

San Dimas race report

Aliya Traficante

Although I did not race for the Davis Race team at San Dimas, I still thought I would give you guys a quick write up, this being a very exciting experience for me.

I guest rode for Folsom Bike/Cervelo, which actually has some former and current Davis residents. I have raced against these ladies at Norcal races for a couple of years now and I was so happy that they wanted me to race with them for San Dimas. I could not think of a better team of ladies to experience this race with. They were very supportive and welcoming to me, which made the weekend all the better.

The first stage is an uphill time trial, just over 4 miles with about a 5% grade average. The road is twisty with several switch backs. The beginning is somewhat covered with trees, but as you come upon 3 kilometers to go, you ride along a ridge and it becomes windy. I felt wonderful during the first part, of course; it seemed like I was staying conservative, not spending myself early, had a great rhythm, but then I came to the 3k mark, and it was a whole different story. I suffered that last 3k, but was able to put my head down and finish with a decent time. The field size was 105 women and I came in the 80 something range, but hey, I was not last! I have to say, as I rode down to the start, and I saw all of these pro ladies from Tibco, Specialized-Lululemon, and Optum riding up that hill probably as fast as I was descending, I felt so happy and honored to race with them that, heck, I almost felt like I won that hill climb!

The following day was the road race, and what was going to be 8 laps and 56 miles on the bike, was reduced to 7 laps and 49 miles due to a delay. A substantial earthquake the previous night caused concern, and the officials had to check the course. Honestly, that wait was the worst thing in the world. It felt like suspense building up when watching a horror movie, and I just wanted to race to lessen my nervousness. After an hour past the actual start time, we were off.  The San Dimas road race course is very challenging. It has a steep hill a few miles before the finish, many twists and turns, and is complete with road furniture. I was on edge the whole first lap, dodging the traffic islands in a field of 105 was not exactly the highlight of the race. About a mile before the climb, I barely missed a large crash taking out 5-7 riders, and causing a gap in the peloton. Although I did not have to slow down much, I still had to chase back on for a little and was able to catch the group right before we went into the climb.

I was gapped right before the top, and for the next 2 laps chased aggressively with a group of 10 or so women. We had the lead group in sight for a majority of the time, but the energy of the group slowly began to fizzle and we lost sight of them. I felt horrible; every part of my body was aching. Luckily, I had two other teammates with me in that group and with their support and encouragement I was able to finish. During the race I was worried that we would not make the time cut, but it turns out that we did, and all of the hard work felt extremely rewarding. Also, I found out later that I was the only category 3 to make the time cut to the final stage.

I was very happy going into the criterium, and there is not much more to say, except it was the most aggressive and fast race I have competed in. This weekend reminded me of all of the steps I have taken in cycling, from moving from a cat 4 to a cat 3 and racing my first local pro 1/2/3 races. I remember how challenging all those steps were. Last weekend felt like another step, and it was also very challenging; but with hard work, being able to rise to that intensity of racing seems very attainable. It excites me, and I cannot wait for the next time to race at that level.