Crystal Springs 50k San Mateo, CA - July 6, 2003

Canada Road is closed every Sunday and is popular among cyclists. It is a smooth two-lane road with moderately rolling hills. The race course is an out-and-back on a portion of this road. Two laps is around 15k. Seven laps is around 50k.

The Bay area lived up to its reputation for cold summers. It was foggy and blustery, with temperatures only in the upper 50s for the 7:15am start. Around 40 skaters participated in the event, less than usual due to the holiday weekend.

The mass start was safe and at a moderate pace. However, packs started to form early as the faster skaters attempted to separate from the rest before the first downhill. Before the first turn-around, that lead pack was down to six skaters.

Returning on lap one, I somehow formed a gap from the pack when taking a pull. I decided to maintain that gap as long as I could. The skaters in the pack took their time to catch me, knowing that it would be difficult for any skater to maintain a lead the entire race on this windy day. They eventually caught me on lap three.

On one of the long, moderate uphills on the return of lap four, Dana Eads pressed on at a moderate pace. The first attempted break dropped a couple competitors, including me. At this point the lead pack was down to four skaters: Dana Eads, Uel Archuletta, Kimon Papahadjopoulos, and Kimberly Perkins.

This relatively unexciting group of skaters kept together for the remainder of the race. On the return of the last lap, Dana Eads continued to push the pace, causing skaters to drop off one by one. In the final sprint, Uel Archulette was successful in taking the win, followed by Dana Eads in second and Kimon Papahadjopoulos, third. Kimberly Perkins was the clear winner among the women, finishing in that pack.

SDSE's Gordon Pfeifer also participated in the 50k. Finishing times were much longer than usual due to the windy conditions.

There was also a 15k race, which was two out-and-back laps along Canada Road. There were relatively few skaters in the 15k, but among them was SDSE's Alice Eads.

Thanks to D. Miles of CORA for producing the only inline road racing events in the Bay Area. The next event in the Dan Burger Series will be Sunday, August 10. It will also be held on Canada Road in San Mateo.

Howard
SDSE-IR