El Dorado Inline Challenge #3 Long Beach, CA - Sept. 29, 2002

The pace was relatively slow for the first lap or two. This avoided any crashes that usually occur right off the starting line. In fact, Scott Wolf (Safe), feeling confident, started in the very back. Most of the time the pack was two to three pacelines wide on the two-lane road.

Then the pace picked up big time. On the second or third lap, five or six skaters from Team Safe and Team Hyper sprinted past the rest of the field on the inside. They quickly formed a sizeable gap by the next turn. The field was broken up into several chase packs. For the most part, each pack got further apart throughout the race.

In the end, Phillip Mullin (Safe) took the win. Although the first two laps were relatively slow, the super-high pace on the remaining laps resulted in a new course record of 32:45. Troy Atwell (Safe) and Kevin Puhlman finished second and third, respectively.

Heather Elliot (Hyper) finished first among the women, but was the third racer to cross the line overall. Kimberlee Butler came in second, with Aimee Printzen third in the competitive field.

SDSE attendance was a little less than usual due to the unpredictable weather and other factors, but still six members strong. Representing the club were AJ, Gordon, Howard, Ivan, Joe, and Wendy.

The 2002 series finale, worth 150% towards the series point total, will be Sunday, October 27.

Howard
SDSE-IR