2011 San Dimas Stage Race Recap

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2011 San Dimas Stage Race Recap

Glendora Mountain Road, the lanes of Bonelli Park, and the streets of downtown San Dimas are once again quiet, but for three days in March they hummed with excitement and color as 900+ riders competed in 12th edition of the San Dimas Stage Race. Months of preparation by race organizers and riders alike culminated in a whirlwind of activity as the riders took to the roads, singly in the Time Trial and in large groups in the Road Race and the Criterium.

The Time Trial up Glendora Mountain Road kicked off the race. Starting at 9:00 AM a rider was launched every 30 seconds all day long on a solitary quest for the best time up a steep and twisting 3.8 mile course. The first few riders set off in a light and chilly rain. Later riders experienced periods of sun, overcast, and some erratic winds. Ben Day won the Mens Pro/Cat 1 category and Amber Neben won the Womens Pro/Cat 1-2-3 category.

Saturday's Road Race around Bonelli Park was done under partially cloudy skies with some periods of bright sunshine. The race course around Bonelli Park is 7 miles of rolling and curving roads. The race day was broken into three major time segments with three groups racing in each segment. The three groups with each segment had starting times spaced a few minutes apart, so at any given time there were between 200-300 riders on the course. Anibal Borrajo took the stage win in the Mens Pro/Cat 1 and Heather Logan-Sprenger won the stage in the Womens Pro/Cat 1-2-3. Ben Day and Amber Neben stayed at the top of the GC in their respective categories.

The weather for the Criterium on Sunday was cool and cloudy with periods of sunshine. The course, still wet from some early morning rain, was slippery and there were a few crashes early on. Nevertheless, speed was the order of the day as the riders raced around the 6 corners of the 1.2 mile course. Ricky Escelua claimed the stage victory in the Mens Pro/Cat 1 and Chloe Hosking was the winner in the Womens Pro/Cat 1-2-3. Ben Day and Amber Neben held onto their GC leads to become the overall winners of the race in their respective categories.

An added attraction on Sunday was the Kids Race, in which kids from toddlers to 12 year olds raced on parts of the Criterium course. The kids were divided into three groups for the race, toddlers to 5, 6 to 9, and 10 to 12. Under the watchful eyes of family and friends, the kids gave everyone a preview of the upcoming generation of bike racers. In this race every rider was a winner.

Our thanks to the hard working members of the organizing committee and to the many volunteers that helped on the race days as well as to the sponsors that supported the race with funds and other valuable resources.

We also wish to recognize and thank the many media representatives that helped to promote, cover, and report on the races. There are many stories and pictures on the Internet about the SDSR, links to some of them are given below.

Cycling Web Sites and Blogs: