Danny Summerhill, Redlands road raceOur 19-year-old rider Danny Summerhill (left) definitely deserves a big shout out for hanging tough yesterday and finishing 11th in one of the hardest road races in the US. Nearly half the field dropped out, so it was not an easy ride.

The race got off to a very nervous and dangerous start with at least three crashes. The first few laps were pretty aggressive, but with a headwind up the climb, nobody was able to open up much of a gap. After three laps, the pace started slowing down and Chann had us attack.

I took a spill just four laps in, but the rest of the guys continued to try and break things up. Peter was in a promising breakaway that lasted for a bit. Then Tom drew out the real contenders with an attack on the last lap. But ultimately, everything was reeled back in. By finishing in the front group, Peter (below) managed to preserve his GC gap and move up to 10th overall.

Peter Stetina, Redlands road raceSo though Redlands was finished, our day wasn’t done. Tom and I still had another two hours of training to get in afterwards to prepare for the longer stages at Tour de Georgia and the across the pond. We misjudged the amount of daylight we had left and ended up riding for the last 30 minutes in the dark.

With the team car following behind us and lighting the way, it was kind of fun. We found our way back on some of the same roads we had raced on. But they looked nothing like they did a few hours earlier with cones and corner marshals guiding us on our way

Also, a huge congrats to Martijn on his excellent ride at Flanders!

That’s it for now. Next stop…Georgia!

Slipstream road race results
1. Alejandro Borrajo 3:25′26″

11. Danny Summerhill mt
17. Tom Danielson mt
22. Peter Stetina mt
43. Kirk Carlsen +4′43″
50. Walker Savidge +12′21″
58. Blake Caldwell +16′21

Slipstream final GC
1. Santiago Botero 8:22′43″

10. Peter Stetina +1′50″
13. Tom Danielson +1′53″
34. Danny Summerhill +6′23″
47. Kirk Carlsen +14′20″
55. Blake Caldwell +20′22″
62. Walker Savidge +25′21″