I had planned on staying out in California for the Indio and Ojai Criteriums. I felt pretty good after the Redlands Stage. I met up with a friend Tom Schuler (ex-7-11 Pro Rider/Pro National Road Champ., manager Team Timex and Colovita Men and Women’s Pro Teams) on Monday and Tuesday. He was getting in a serious stack of miles riding from Manhattan Beach in LA to San Diego and back a couple time. I had nearly a 100 miles on Tuesday, but when I got back to San Diego, my throat was killing me. Next thing I know, I’m blowing brown and green gunk out. I hung low until Friday, hoping that I could get it under control.

Laying low, I saw that Brad Huff got 3rd in the World Track Championships. I knew he was pretty fast, but that was really a good result. He said that he did the whole thing with a bad cold. So, Friday, I went ahead and paid $55 to enter Indio the next afternoon. I woke up Saturday morning, barely able to breath, so I jumped in the car and did a 24 hour all nighter back to Kansas. (Huff, you owe me $55 for giving the impression that riding sick was going to work out.)

I got back to central Kansas early Sunday morning, after 1650 miles of driving and stopped by the start of the Bazaar Road Race. It’s the first real road race of the season. It is the site of the first bicycle race I ever entered. Back then it was called Cassidy Road Race. I was an intermidiate, 14 years old. The wind was only blowing 15-20, so it was pretty calm by Bazaar standards. My team had 3 guys there and they did the normal gutter riding after the turn around and finished 1-2-3 which was expected. Adam Mills won his first road event of the season, he’d won the last cross race of the season in January. Bill and Shad got 2nd and 3rd.

My brother, Kris, shelled the Master’s and did his normal time trial thing for the majority of the race. He’s won Bazaar lots of times, both in the Elite 1-2 Race and Master’s. Catherine Walberg, from Topeka, won the women’s race by a mile also.

It was a good day because of the light winds and the lack of smoke. Normally, the hillsides are all burning and the air is pretty bad. Sunday, they were only burning on the East side of the road and the wind was blowing from the West. I’ll post some burning photos below, it is crazy.

So now, I’m taking antibiotics and hoping to come around for Sea Otter in two weeks. I’m planning on doing the road and MTB events there on the weekend. It sure is a drag being sick when it’s so nice out.