Quite an Introduction

 Recently I related being in the shop (Competitive Edge) for some new part maintenance on the mtb. Frank, who manages the SoCalCycling.com team was wrenching on one of the team bikes, while the rider who was to be the recipient of said team bike busied himself with some other matters. There was some general conversation mostly, or entirely, centered around cycling. When I heard that the SoCalCycling.com team had an Irish rider with them for part of this season and, indeed, was the first rider from the Emerald Isle to compete with the team, I confidently stated "wait, that's not true. There was another rider a few years back." Frank was equally confident, affirming that though there had been some riders from other counties, this was the first from Ireland. 

"That can't be, I interviewed him a few years ago. Here, let me prove it," I said. Not faltering the least bit with my assertion I quickly searched and brought up the interview on my phone and... Ohhhhhhhh boy, there was the blog post interview, there was the photograph of Daniel Clifford, there was the sentence in the interview saying he would be racing with... Full Circle Cycling. Was that embarrassing? You betcha!

Anyway, this Irish racer, Conn McDunphy, in his first major race with the SoCalCycling.com team, captured the title at last weekend's San Luis Rey Road Race (which also served as the California State Road Race Championship). The San Luis Rey race has long been one of the jewels of Southern California road racing and a definite target for many regional racers. 

photo, and brief story "McDunphy Starts US Pro Racing Stint with Win in California State Champs" at Sticky Bottle

The five day Redlands Bicycle Classic begins this Wednesday. You can cheer on McDunphy and the rest of the SoCalCycling.com team on any of the days following and all the way through to Sunday.