Wow, it's been a busy month! The CashCall Mortgage boys have been all over the place racing our bikes, seemingly nonstop! Since my last journal four weeks ago, we have raced in Murrieta, San Dimas, Redlands, Ontario, and Albany, New York, and I've spent half the month on the road. It's been a grind, but that's what this sport is. You have to love it and be passionate about cycling to be able to handle the rigorous schedule. With so much racing going on, training has been put on hold a little bit. No more six hour rides (for now). Instead, I have been focusing on maintaining my fitness and making sure I am well rested for each race. That means shorter, easier rides with occasional spurts of intensity.

Tour de Murrieta- The first multi-day race in southern California is the Tour de Murrieta. Our team went out there with multiple riders capable of winning the three-day omnium. I really wanted to do well, so even though time-trialing isn't my strong suit, I crushed it and wound up in 5th place. Devan Dunn and Dave Santos took first and second, which was awesome! Those guys are super fast in the time trial; so even though I was bummed I didn't get onto the podium, I was stoked to be within 10 seconds of their time.

We went into the crit the next day ready to defend our first leader's jersey. Devan had the honor of wearing the jersey for CashCall Mortgage. However, at the end of the day, a late breakaway containing Stefano Barberi, Brian McCulloch, and Dave Santos went the distance. Stefano won the race, and Dave took the leader's jersey! I'd say that's a job well done.

The final day of racing was the circuit race. We had to defend our lead again, and ride the front the whole race. I had never done this before, but I managed to ride really strong all the way to the finish. It was certainly a different experience to control the race like we did. There was a bit of a scare when Dave got caught in a crash, but the whole team stopped and paced him back to the field. In the finish, I was responsible for leading out Dave. I got on the front with just over 1km to go, and took him to 400 meters. Dave sprinted for 5th place, and secured the GC win in the process! It felt really good to do all that work and get the win, so even though this had been a goal race of mine, I walked away from it happy with the result. Congrats Dave!

San Dimas Stage Race- Just a few days later we were back racing, this time at the San Dimas Stage Race. All the guys were pretty excited about the race, and we were even more excited about the new rider on our team, Michael Weicht. Michael is a super strong rider who just came to the US from Germany. Our team was much stronger with the addition of Michael, so the team went into the race with high hopes, but unfortunately luck wasn't on our side.

For starters, I flatted in the time trial–not fun! The road race at San Dimas is a brutal one; and 40 degree weather with wind, rain, and hail just made the race even more challenging. We lost Devan and Dave to a crash, and Stefano had to pull out of the race due to illness. In the finish, the only ones left were Anthony Canevari, Brian, Michael and I. We hit the final climb in good position, but after 90 miles in the cold, I just didn't have the legs. I was suffering to try and stay with the leaders, but gaps opened up and I wasn't able to close them down in the final 2km.

The last day was the crit in downtown San Dimas. A breakaway with Michael and Anthony stayed away for the majority of the race, and nearly stole the show. They were brought back with one lap to go. I had been sitting in the field, but I guess I was just having an off day, because I didn't have the legs in the finish. The sprint was absolutely crazy and chaotic, and I ended up 10th with Anthony finishing 8th.

Redlands Cycling Classic- The team got to go home and get just three days of rest before starting the Redlands Cycling Classic. It is the first NRC race of the season, so all the best riders in the US show up for it.

I was super motivated for the first road race. This was a race that I had been focusing on since November when I started my winter training. My goal was to get over the final climb with the lead group, and then sprint for the win. During the race I was super focused, and made sure I was in the right spot at all times. Going into the last climb, I was sitting on the race leader, Phil Gaimon's wheel. Perfect. The climb was tough and when Francisco Mancebo attacked, I was put in the hurt box right away, but I hung in there and made it over with an elite group of 30 guys. From this point on, it was a speedy downhill run-in to the finish. A group of 20 more riders caught us with just 5km to go. Michael was in that group, and immediately came to help Stefano and me get ready for the sprint. Things started to get really crazy though, and Stefano got caught behind a big crash. Michael and I tried to get together in the final 500 meters, but we lost some positions and I ended up finishing 11th on the stage. I had mixed emotions about that result. I was happy that I made it over the climb in the front group, but disappointed in my tactics during the sprint (here's a look at the Training Peaks race file). 

The rest of the race had kind of the same theme, that being, committing tiny mistakes that had huge consequences. The crit was a battle to stay in the front the entire race. I fell back a little too far and wasn't able to move back up enough to contest the sprint, and ended up finishing 15th. The infamous Sunset Road Race was another battle of positioning. I made the front group again, this time with about 40 riders. I was hanging in there with the leaders until it started to rain. I grabbed a rain jacket and while putting it on, attacks started flying. I had drifted to the back and I kept having to close gaps in front of me. When we hit the climb, I had nothing left and wasn't able to hold on when Mancebo was attacking the race leader. It was a bummer watching the field pull away from me. I knew I had the legs to be there, but another mistake had cost me.

Easter Sunday Grand Prix- After a much needed weekend off, all the guys got together and raced the Easter Sunday GP out in Ontario. This course is always unpredictable, as it favors breakaways and field sprints. We did a lot of attacking and I ended up in one good move for a few laps with Anthony, but the other teams didn't like the fact that CashCall Mortgage had two sprinters in the break (I don't blame them), and promptly brought us back. Once we were on lap cards, our guys set up the lead out train. Michael, Stefano, Brian and Dave did a great job of riding the front taking us to the last corner. I knew Justin Williams was on my wheel, and I started sprinting as hard as I could. At 100 meters, he shot past me like a rocket and took the win! I ended up coming in 4th. Justin was stoked to win again, as was the rest of the team. It was a great team effort so I think all the guys were happy with the result.

Tour of the Battenkill- A big race on our calendar was Tour of the Battenkill. It is our first UCI race ever–sweet! Brian, Stefano, Devan, Dave, and I flew out to Albany, New York to do the "hardest one day race in America." We got the chance to recon the course, and the dirt roads combined with the steep climbs made it seem like the race was going to live up to its name. Come race day, we were ready to ride hard and really surprise some people. The race started off fast and furious, as just 5 miles in, there was a narrow covered bridge that was a major choke-point. If you weren't in the front 30 guys going through–have fun chasing back on for the next few miles. Luckily, I made it through just fine, as did the rest of the team. We hit the dirt sections soon after, and that's when things really started to get crazy. The peloton was riding full speed through the dirt/gravel and guys were getting flat tires left and right. At one point, I saw five guys from the Kenda team all get flats at the same time.What bad luck! Gaps were opening up as the leaders twisted the throttle on the harder sections, and the dust getting kicked up was ridiculous. Everyone was covered in it, and yes, we were breathing that stuff in. It wasn't pleasant, but you just had to fight through it.

Pre-riding the demanding Tour of Battenkill course proved invaluable in the team's success. 

My race took a turn for the worse when I was caught sitting too far back in the field on a critical climb in the dirt. The dirt was really soft, and it caused riders to get bogged down and crash into one another. I got caught behind all this and had no choice but to get off my bike a run up the rest of the climb, cyclocross style! At that point, there were already gaps forming and I initially wasn't able to reconnect with the field. After a little over an hour of suffering like crazy with a group of riders, I made it back to the field. I was so relieved to be back. Brian let me know Devan was up the road in the breakaway. I was pretty exhausted, so I just sat in and conserved my energy until the finish. Stefano helped me out and took me to the front with 1km to go, and I sprinted as best I could. My legs were absolutely fried, and starting to cramp, but I knew I had to push through it. I ended up 29th (take a look at the Training Peaks file from the race). Later, I found out Devan ended up 13th after flatting out of the breakaway. What a bummer! Devan was riding great, so it's unfortunate that happened. But at the end of the day, all the guys had a great time and we were pretty thrilled to be able to compete in a UCI race!! 

All in all, we have had a tough past four weeks. I had a lot of ups and downs, but that's all a part of the game. Some days you have it, others you don't, but you have to keep going and no matter what, and not look back. I am super focused on the next big NRC race, Joe Martin Stage Race in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The course looks tough, but I am ready to ride hard and turn some heads!

Follow Lee and the rest of the CashCall Mortgage Cycling Team at cashcallcycling.com or on their Facebook page.