2019 San Dimas Stage Race, Stage Three Circuit Race: No Lite!

"No Lite. Squawk." No, while it would have been quite easy to bring raven back into the post for the third and final stage of this years' SDSR, I will leave him out of it, and avoid subjecting you to another of him at the same time. And anyway it is completely unnecessary, as the racer, far off the back with no hope of reconnecting, and about to be pulled from the race, did not even give Curtis's Lite beer hand-up a moments thought. "No Lite" indeed. You know, a lot of the photos I have posted this year have been of the fun and games variety that take place alongside the competition, there have even been numerous showing the racers participating in those extracurricular activities. This might lead people unfamiliar with the sport to think it is somehow less than serious sport. That is not what you should take from it; instead you should realize that there is enough room for both - the serious competition and the fun and games. It is what happens when the barriers between the field of sport and viewing area, between the player and spectator are removed. Few other sports afford the same opportunity, and is one of the little things that makes bicycle racing so unique.

So now, with the closing of the race, the 20th edition of it, it is time to recognize all the people whose efforts are directed toward making it all happen. Many of the folks are the same year-after-year, while others come and go. You know, planning for the race is almost a year-long process; I am quite sure that ideas for improving this or that, dealing with one exigency or another (such as a truck driving onto the course and knocking the start / finish scaffolding askew) were spinning through a few heads just as fast as some of the wheels out on the course. While I feel everyone should be recognized by name for their roles, I also feel that might be a near impossible task considering the sheer number of volunteers involved. Instead I will have to settle for a big hearty "THANK YOU" to everyone whose efforts continue to make this one of the best race weekends around. Thanks also to the various cities and agencies involved, without whose permitting approval and logistical support, the three-day event could not happen.

The San Dimas Stage Race, and its predecessor, the Pomona Valley Stage Race, has a tradition of bringing together many of the best racers from both local and national levels; riders have even come from overseas for the caliber of competition to be found here. "Big names" may not always show up, and numbers may fluctuate from year to year (where did all the Pro/1/2 women racers go this year?), but the level of competition has never been in doubt.

Some of you I will see over the next few days, at local rides and such, for the rest of you, see you next year. So I grossly overestimated how long it would take to finish up the photo work for the stage three album; instead of mid-week, it is done now and contains a selection of 144 photos. As usual for all albums, there are far more photos not selected for the album, so if you do not see who or what you were looking for just let me know and I will see what I can find.

The Stage Three placings:

Junior 15-16: 1st Luke Feuerhelm (Above and Beyond Cancer Juniors), 2nd Myles Walker (El Grupo Cycling), 3rd Colby Simmons (Summit National Team)

Junior 17-18: 1st Gianni Lamperti (LUX / Sideshow), 2nd Lucas Bourgoyne (Elevate / KHS), 3rd Tyler Reynolds (Above and Beyond Cancer Juniors)

Men Cat 4/5: 1st Jorge Lemus (Serious Cycling), 2nd Cheyne Parrott (Freakshow Aloha Cycling Team), 3rd Ethan Doherty (unatt)

Masters 45+: 1st Bart Clifford (JL Velo Factory Team), 2nd Espen Kateraas (Hit Squad Racing), 3rd Victor Ayala (Velo Club La Grange

Masters 55+: 1st Lawrence Nolan (CAL-NATs Racing), 2nd Emilio Cervantes (949 Racing), 3rd Jeff Konsmo (Hot Wheels Factory Team)

Women Cat 3: 1st Cassidy Hickey (Twenty20), 2nd Petra Schmidtmann (LUX / Sideshow), 3rd Avry Howes (SC Velo)

Women Cat 4/5: 1st Courtney Sullivan (Eliel Factory Team), 2nd Marissa Platt (San Diego Bicycle Club), 3rd Mayra Hernandez (unatt)

Masters 35+ (Cat 1/2/3): 1st Rahsaan Bahati (Bahati Foundation / Methods to Winning), 2nd Charon Smith (Methods to Winning Elite Masters), 3rd Rigoberto Meza Flores (Stage 2 Cyclery / Primal

Men Cat 2: 1st Dominique Mayho (VT Construction), 2nd Grand Simonds (DEAN Factory Racing), 3rd Ruben Saatjian (San Diego Bicycle Club)

Women Pro/Cat1/2: 1st Holly Breck, 2nd Emily Georgeson, 3rd Charity Chia (DNA CBS Race Team)

Men Pro/Cat1: 1st James Piccoli (Elevate -KHS Pro Cycling), 2nd Victorio Rodriguez (Elevate - KHS Pro Cycling, 3rd Cory Williams (Legion of Los Angeles)

G.C. results:

Masters Men 35+ G.C.: 1st Hector Rangel (Stone House P&S Racing), 2nd David Salomon (Stone House P&S Racing), 3rd Philip Tinstman (Monster Media Racing)

Women Cat 4/5 G.C.: 1st Courtney Sullivan, 2nd Marissa Platt, 3rd Mayra Hernandez

Women Cat 4/5 Sprint: 1st Courtney Sullivan, 2nd Mayra Hernandez, 3rd Mia Aseltine

Women Cat 4/5 QOM: 1st Courtney Sullivan, 2nd Marissa Platt, 3rd Mayra Hernandez

WomenCat 3 G.C.: 1st Cassidy Hickey, 2nd Paige Handy, 3rd Georgeta Ungureanu

Women Cat 3 Sprint: 1st Cassidy Hickey, 2nd Paige Handy, 3rd Avry Howes

Women Cat 3 QOM: 1st Cassidy Hickey, 2nd Paige Handy, 3rd Georgeta Ungureanu

Masters Men 55+ G.C.: 1st Jeff Konsmo, 2nd Emilio Cervantes, 3rd Greg Leibert (Big Orange Cycling)

Masters 55+ Sprint: 1st Emilio Cervantes, 2nd Lawrence Nolan, 3rd Jeff Konsmo

Masters 55+ KOM: 1st Jeff Konsmo, 2nd Todd Parks, 3rd Greg Leibert

Masters Men 45+ G.C.: 1st Eric Bierman (Ninety7), 2nd Attila Fruttus (Big Orange Cycling), 3rd Greg Seyranian (Big Orange Cycling)

Masters 45+ Sprint: 1st Espen Kateraas, 2nd Jonathan Sebat, 3rd Bart Clifford

Masters 45+ KOM: 1st Espen Kateraas, 2nd Attila Fruttus, 3rd Eric Bierman

Men Cat 2 G.C.: 1st Jason Pedersen (Team Simple Green), 2nd Brandon Nied (TrainerRoad), 3rd Grant Simonds
Men Cat 2 Sprint: 1st Dominique Mayho, 2nd Grant Simonds, 3rd Jason Pedersen
Men Cat 2 KOM: 1st Brandon Nied, 2nd Erick Herrera, 3rd Jason Pedersen

Women Pro/1/2 G.C.: 1st Holly Breck, 2nd Emma Grant, 3rd Emily Georgeson
Women Pro/1/2 Sprint: 1st Holly Breck, 2nd Emma Grant, 3rd Emily Georgeson
Women Pro/1/2 QOM: 1st Holly Breck, 2nd Emma Grant, 3rd Caitlin Conyers

Men Pro/1 G.C.: 1st James Piccoli, 2nd Ulises Castillo Soto, 3rd Sam Boardman (Wildlife Generation)
Men Pro/1 Sprint: 1st Ulise Castillo Soto, 2nd Cory Williams, 3rd James Piccoli
Men Pro/1 KOM: 1st Alexander Amiri (Hewdog Racing), 2nd Ulise Castillo Soto, 3rd Cory Williams