Instead of dwelling too much on my less than ideal ride at Redlands, I think I’d like to throw down a few positive words on how impressive the AZ teams were over the weekend.

Starting with the men’s field, there would be no stick shaking toward the stacked 200 man starting list for Redlands. Nor could you talk down the difficulty of its 4 stages. So when I see the familiar faces of the Rideclean and WM teams, grimacing in pain each day after successfully crossing the line, I can only say that there are some strong and talented individuals coming out of this state.

The same goes for the lone local women’s team Specialized D4w. These normally smiling beautiful faces, were turned to faces of pure focus and often times pain, not unlike any other woman in the field. All in effort to hold their own against the likes of world class team Columbia and highly regarded national/international teams.

Redlands, being one of the hardest stage races you will see in the United States, did not disappoint for ’09. Neither did our teams. So if you happen to see these riders out on the road, don’t be afraid to commend them on a job well done. Because after battling the strong winds, stacked fields, crashes and leg sapping climbs, these riders deserve it!

As for myself, I’m looking forward to the racing coming up, starting with the UofA Crit and Tumacacori this weekend. Then its back to putting the nose to the stone for La Vuelta de Bisbee and Tour of the Gila Stage Race. The season is only beginning!

- Ron