Digger wins the one day classic

By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Today was hot but that didn’t stop the faithful from showing up for a classic ride, the LaLadera 38. By 8:30 the qualifiers for the classic had assembled and the favorites had been picked. Digger was the long shot with the betting going off at 9 to 2. Quicksilver was the climber and she was drawing a 2 to 1 bet with El Cid getting rookie money at 3 to 1. Not to be over confident but I was even money as the betting window closed. We started down Gilmore and headed for Acacia with me in the back and El Cid leading the way. He moved us onto Acacia and down t Kirby for the turn South and the ride to Cypress. Digger was trailing but looked suspiciously like he was conserving energy for a later move.

As we got to the railroad tracks I noticed everyone was taking this ride serious. Sure there were points to be gained for this classic but there were bragging rights as well. I had been hammered time after time by Quicksilver just waiting to drop me like a bad habit on a hill. El Cid is almost as young and my good dress shoes and has twice the energy. Digger has been riding better each ride for the last two weeks but I still counted him as a long shot. No my plan was to do like Contador did in the Giro and get enough points on the rest of the field to be able to just cover their moves till the end of the ride. We made our way through the housing tract on Cypress and ended up turning onto Johnston and then Sanderson to get this ride moving and the points rolling. We made it over Stetson and headed for Mustang at a reasonable pace with no one showing their hand. Looking back as we got by Mustang I thought everyone had on a poker face.

As we turned onto Domenigoni the game was on and I led the group over the rise and part way to warren before giving the lead to El Cid. As I dropped back to take my place at the back of the pace line Digger fell back and let me in. At first I thought it was a sign of weakness but later learned it was a trick that would come back to bit me later. I though El Cid was making a rookie mistake by pulling well past the dry wash before giving the lead to Quicksilver. The pace moved up and mile an hour or two as we were led to Winchester and got stopped by the light. Once we were back on our way Quicksilver turned the lead over to me well before Leon and I thought I was in a bad position heading to the saddle. To be honest I thought I would get attacked by Quicksilver if I tried to ride El Cid and the rest of the group off of my wheel. But my heart rate was good and I felt strong so I stayed in front and waited till we were half way up the saddle to stand and make a run for it. Quicksilver and Digger decided not to fight for the climbing points but El Cid was having none of it and chased me up the hill. He pulled out of the draft just a little too early and managed to get a wheel on me causing me to up-shift and stand again to get that wheel back and a few feet more. I realized I wasn’t dealing with a rookie I was dealing with a cyclist that wanted the points. We dropped off of the saddle and headed for Carl’s to finish stage one of the Laladera classic. I should have guessed the ride wasn’t going to get easier because Quicksilver took over at the freeway and pulled us all the way to Carl’s and a equipment inspection. We were cleared after a computer battery replacement and started back out onto Newport and west to get to Normandy and then LaLadera.

As far as I was concerned I was leading this classic by a few seconds and we were close to half way through. I was keeping my eye on El Cid in case there was another burst of speed from him and I didn’t plan on letting Quicksilver get a chance to make a break away. I wasn’t at all suspicious when Digger led us down Honeyrun and again headed north towards McCall with Quicksilver in tow. El Cid and I rounded the corner shortly after Quicksilver and Digger and managed to pull up next to them at Murrieta. Still I was clueless to the danger my lead was in when Digger led us to the freeway and then was leading as we rolled by the Valero and headed for Hospital Hill. The whole group was together at the dreaded stop light on Hillpointe. I got ready for an attack as we started up Hospital Hill and sure enough Quicksliver decided to latch onto my wheel and follow me. I powered up and everyone let me go so I thought the climbing points were in the bag and I would have a few more seconds lead. As I started onto the false flat I looked back and thought Quicksilver was far enough back that I could cruise to the top. How mistaken can one rider be? Quicksilver waited till I wasn’t looking and went into a full sprint that I only noticed at the last minute. I managed to hold her off but I only got the points for being first as she finished on my wheel and got the same time as me. I dropped down to Menifee and waited at inspection for the finish of stage two. The race committee decided to parade us through the park and by the lake before coming out onto Lindenburger.

I was still rather clueless about my chances of coming home with the winners Jersey because I thought I had fought off two attacks in stage one and stage two and didn’t see any threat between Lindenburger and the end of stage three at Winchester Farms. We headed east on Simpson and I led the way to Leon before turning and taking us to the Dump road. Here the surprise should have been exposed because for the second time today Digger pulled away from us and created a gap that we had to work together to close on him. Quicksliver, El Cid and I formed a pace line representing a three man pace line and chased Digger all the way to the top of the rise before the D V V flag sprint. I couldn’t Shake Quicksilver so I didn’t gain on her and we came back together towards the end of the Dump road. Digger jumped out again and finished stage 3 about ten seconds in front of us. To my surprise he might have been behind in points but he was about even in time with me. After tech inspection at Winchester and Stowe we rehydrated and headed east on Stowe towards California. Once again we had to chase Digger almost all the way to Stowe, except El Cid and I caught him at the last rise before California and made the turn towards Stetson first leaving Quicksilver and Digger well behind us. I worked with El Cid till we got to Warren and I took over pulling duty. By the airport Quicksilver and Digger had closed on us by the airport. I got us to Cawston and we turned to ride through Industrial to get over to Sanderson.

We jockeyed for position and get out to Johnston and Sanderson. As we got to the light Digger sprinted to Sanderson catching the green but leaving the red for the rest of us to face. We waited through a long red before heading north and chasing hard to Lowes with Quicksilver doing most of the work. We rolled around the back of Lowes and I took over on Acacia and chased hard towards Kirby. Digger made the light and we didn’t so effectively he was now in the lead on time. He turned onto Gilmore and made it to Florida first accepting the win as the rest of the Peloton, all three of us pulled up in surprise and his victory. The long shot came in first and was awarded the Bat-man jersey to represent his accomplishment. Never underestimate the underdog.