Diaries #3: A Redlands Podium, and a Sea Otter Extravaganza

The curtain starts to close on the first US Block...

May 01, 2024

It has been a busy couple of weeks.

I’m writing this on a plane between LA and Atlanta. [Ed, sorry we’re working on a two-week back date on Substack, sorry]. I’m sitting in a cramped middle seat typing away. I’ve spent the last couple of hours planning some logistics for Rebellion, and now it’s catching up on some writing.

Our destination is Speedweek, the final race block of my first US trip of the year.

–

The last you heard from me was after BWR Utah, and just before the Redlands stage race. These past fifteen days have been carnage. Where do I even begin?

I didn’t know what to expect from my road form going into Redlands. I’d raced gravel all Spring, and while I knew that I was in good form; gravel and road are two very different disciplines.

It was a relief to meet up with the other five Ribble Rebellion boys who had flown in. While I race for myself on the Gravel, I race for Ribble Rebellion on the road. Every time I meet up with the team I have a little smile - we put a lot of work into getting this team off the ground, and seeing it in action will always bring a hint of pride.

We had a pretty simple strategy at Redlands: win a stage, do a good GC. It didn’t matter who, what or when.

Stage 1 was our best chance. Cole Davis has never lost on that circuit and we were confident going into it. Cole puncturing out of the race on Lap 1 immediately put an end to that. Plan B, Jim Brown. Jim also had a mechanical. Plan C, Matt Bostock. Matt went 8th, not bad, but certainly not what we came for.

Stage 2 was unknown. A new stage to Redlands, it finished at 2750m of altitude up at Onyx Summit, a climb which lasted some 50km. The goal was to put me up there on the GC. We knew I was riding well, but we had no idea how I’d go at that altitude. What we didn’t expect, was win the stage.

It was raced strangely. The stage scared people. Nobody was willing to attack, I had good legs but I was scared that an attack at this altitude would cause me to immediately drop myself. There were maybe thirty of us left with 4km to go. I checked my shoulder and to my surprise, Cole is still in the group. I’m not doing him dirty, he expected to be dropped long before.

The climbers started attacking - doing that horrible start-stop sprinting thing which cracks me. With each surge, I’d slowly time-trial my way back to them. I was racing with GC on my mind, but it inadvertently set Cole up perfectly.

I don’t know anybody better at punchy 1km finishes than Cole Davis. He’s World Class. With 1km to go, he launches from the back. Everyone is surprised. I’m excited, is he going to hold on?

I see him post-up. I’m sitting at the back of the GC group of fifteen. I’m celebrating. Did we win the mountain stage? What? How?

Winning yourself is cool and it’s nice when a teammate wins. But, having one of your closest friends win on the team that you helped to create, on a team that you signed him to. Now, that’s something special. It’s not a huge race, but for as long as I live I’ll remember the feeling of Cole crossing the line. At that moment, I’m the happiest man in California - all the work we’d done behind the scenes was worth it.

After Onyx, not only did we have a stage win in our pocket, but we also had me in the Top 10 on GC going into time-trial day. I’d ridden my TT bike less than five times over winter. I knew I was on good form, but just being able to hop onto the bike and perform - was that realistic?

I felt magic. I cocked up some of the corners as I only reconned the course on my Gravel bike (both the TT and Road bike were in for repair when I reconned). I maybe went out a little bit too easily, but I nailed the final half of the course. I crossed the line with the second fastest time by a few milliseconds. Tyler Stites was last off - the guy who won Redlands overall the last two years - he put 15 seconds into me. I finish 3rd.

I was disappointed not to win, and to lose that much time, but credit to Tyler. That was some ride. Tyler keeps the Yellow Jersey, I move up to 2nd on GC - some 35-seconds back. There’s a story here about being stuck in doping control for 2hrs later becuase I couldn’t pee, but I’ll save that for another day.

The fourth stage brought the city centre crit. A two-minute circuit with some 170 riders. I was petrified. I had two jobs: Don’t lose any time on GC, don’t crash. The second one is much easier said than done.

I hated the crit and was counting down the laps. We reach 10 to go and there’s light at the end of the Tunnel. We cross the line with 9 to go and there’s a huge crash right in front of me. Two of my teammates go down, I lock up both brakes and somehow come to a stop just before it. I didn’t crash, success - but now there’s been a split and the whole “don’t lose time on GC” thing is at risk.

I chase full gas, even though in hindsight I should’ve just taken a lap out - I’m still getting my head around US Crit rules. I come around the final corner, still chasing and I’m thankful to see the race be neutralised. Cole and Jim are up and relatively unscathed.

After five minutes of sitting on the start line, the commissaries put 10 to go back on the board. Everyone knew the rest of this race was going to be a survival mission. The race restarts, it’s fast. First corner, safe. Second corner, safe. Third corner, HUGE crash. Fourth corner, safe. Fifth corner, crash. I avoid everything, through a healthy mix of luck and judgement. I cross the line safe.

At the front of the race, the boys are in operation to win the stage. This was our best chance on paper. We finish 4th, 7th and 9th. There’s a joke to be had there, all-in-all we’re disappointed not to win, but it’s a bloody good showing. I’m still sitting 2nd in GC, Tyler has taken a few bonus seconds.

The final stage of Redlands tackles the infamous Sunset Circuit. There’s not a metre of flat, it’s all up or down. It’s fast, it’s technical, it’s tough. It also starts raining on the start line to make things nicer.

We’re in two minds as to whether to attack for yellow or settle for the podium. On the first lap, we cock-up and don’t get the bonus seconds pushing me to third on GC. We played over every scenario, but Stites and his Project Echelon team were just too strong. They were on everything, it was impressive to watch.

Cole Davis is our MVP, keeping my in position all day and closes gaps when they need to. There’s a few moments that we think we have Tyler isolated, but he’s just too strong.

A stage win, 3rd on GC, another stage podium and in the Top 10 everyday. That’s not a bad week for the team. Especially a team with a rider-manager and no extra support.

We go out for drinks to celebrate that evening. I’m content. A little annoyed to lose 2nd place, but ultimately the podium is great. Sometimes you’ve got to stepback and be happy. Tyler was a stronger than me this week. The strongest rider on the strongest team. The best rider in the US not to be on a ProTeam. I hope he gets an opportunity in Europe, he’s a class act and deserves it.

For me, it feels like it’s the end to a rough couple of years. In the past month, I’ve won a Gravel race, been up at the front of all the big races and podiumed Redlands. I’m smiling as I write this.

There are so many other stories from Redlands. We stayed with amazing hosts. The night we won the stage, we all sat on their driveway under the stars, sitting in camp chairs and listening to music. It’s chill, it’s happy.

I could talk about doing a stage race as a rider-manager. Fighting a GC battle and then coming back each evening to do the next day’s schedule, make bottles, and do grocery shops. It’s fair to say that I miss having a DS and helpers when racing the road.

–

Redlands was followed by a mini “holiday”. Maggie flew in from the Nations Cup in Milton and we had a few days with her family on the beach. I was a serious stress head and got in trouble for working and not being on the beach.

We stayed in Dana Point, and the time I did go to the beach was very much needed. We road-tripped up the coast to Sea Otter. I had a few meetings planned, and also a gravel race to compete in, but my brain was slowly going into relax mode.

I rode the 150km from Calabasas to Santa Barbara while Maggie drove, and then we finished the drive the next day. Santa Barbara has my heart, we may have only spent 15 hours there but it’s spectacular. Bar Boulder, it’s the only place that I’ve been in the US and thought, “Yeah, I would happily live here.”

We arrived at Sea Otter late, thanks to a nice morning of coffee-ing in Santa Barbara and an underestimation of how far the drive was going to be. The race started at 7:30 am on Saturday, we arrived at 4 pm on Friday. A 35-minute course recon, a quick trip to sign on and it was time to check in to the AirBnB.

Sea Otter was incredible. It’s way more than just a bike show. I often get bored of shows like this very quickly, Sea Otter I did not. There were tens of thousands of people, and every discipline of racing you can imagine.

I lined up in the Gravel race. Not to sound soft, but I really couldn’t suffer. I don’t know if it was the post-Redlands hangover, the 5hr ride on Thursday or the long travel day on Friday. The start was bonkers, three guys got clear and I didn’t have the legs to follow. I sat in Group 2 and plodded around, racing for 4th place. The Aussie Champ, Connor Sens, took a flyer with an hour to go. We all joked it was a suicide attack and we’d be seeing him soon - we didn’t see him again.

I finished 6th on the day. Not a bad result, but boy I didn’t have the legs.

The afternoon at Sea Otter was fun. Everyone is there, so it’s a great opportunities to meet up with old friends, put faces to names you’ve only ever seen via email and just check out some cool stuff in the industry.

Sunday, it was back up to LA as Mags was flying back to Girona on Monday evening. A chill day on Tuesday called my name and then it’s a travel day as I write this on Wednesday.

–

I’m looking forward to getting home. I’m writing this on Day 45 on the road, it has been a long block. I’m happy, I’m content. I couldn’t have wished for more from this block. I feel like I’m finally putting out performances that I’ve always been capable of, but getting the results on the board is so satisfying, and so relieving.

It has been a mentally exhausting block. I’ve changed beds, on average, every three days. I’ve been running a whole race team in Ribble Rebellion and the million headaches that come with that. I’ve been running my own Project TAG race logistics, I’ve been working with my freelance clients and I’ve been racing too.

I’m a touch scared that I’m going to burn myself out. I’ve been in the form of my life, but I’ve not had a mental break for what feels like forever, and I’m looking forward to sleeping in my bed and walking downstairs to use my coffee machine in the morning. I’m looking forward to the mundane things like going to my favourite cafe, and to getting back to doing some structured training where I can hit the lap button for some intervals.

Above all, I’m happy. I’m coming out of this block full of confidence that I can build on this not just this season, but going forward too. My goal for this year was to start and become a name towards the top of the US scene, I feel that’s beginning to happen.

Now, just to survive four nights of criterium craziness.

Trip Stats So Far:

Days on the Road: 45
Beds Slept In: 14
States Visited: 8
Race Days: 9
Good Cafes: 5

Next Races:

April 25th-28th: Speedweek, Georgia - Road
May 4th: Traka 200, Girona, Gravel
May 18th: Gralloch UCI, Scotland - Gravel

Joe Laverick

Discussion about this post