April 6, 2005 - 2 Wins for Dietrich

Wong, Dietrich, and Timmerman Take the Podium at the Superior Road Race, April 2nd

In the midst of a sprint training trip out west, three Fiordifrutta riders made the trip to Superior Arizona for this hilly 62 mile out and back road race. It was decided that Timmerman was to go for the first KOM. Two miles in, a group of six were going off the front which Timmerman missed because he later said his vision was obscured by a pack of riders. Anyhow, Wong jumped away with the move. As the climb approached at mile 10, Wong and Ryan Blickem found themselves in a two man break after the other riders wanted to go back to the pack.

After 20 miles out front the two were caught by a chase group containing Timmerman. This front group was soon caught by the field after Landis/Trek put in a good chase. Dietrich started throwing down some furious counter attacks but he was clearly a very marked man. Then Blickem got a gap and Wong covered it. Expecting other riders would follow, the two found themselves out front again facing another 25 miles back. After some thought Wong decided it was good training and went for it.

Surprisingly no real chase efforts were formed and the two got a big gap. After the final climb there were 4 miles of flat to the finish. Wong and Blickem were unable to get rid of each other earlier on, so it looked like a sprint would take place. Wong handily lost due to cramping leg muscles. The other boys managed to decimate the entire field on the final climb and hammer the final flats to finish well ahead. All in all it was a good day out with a 2nd, 3rd and 4th. The boys recovered from the tough day with food from a Mexican street vendor.

Dietrich Wins Superior Collegiate Criterium, April 3rd

This was the SWCCC crit championships so I was set on winning. I won this race last year so I felt that it was a good crit course for me because of the difficulty of the course with the climbs. After the 3rd lap there was a points prime and with the field intact I sprinted for it, managed to keep a little gap and decided to roll with it. I ended up staying away solo for the victory.

Dietrich Wins Superior Pro/1/2 Criterium, April 3rd

Timmerman and I got ready to take on the Pro/1/2 race which was the last event of the day. We were both a little tired from the road race the day before and I had just finished the collegiate race. I told Timmerman we should just follow moves and not start them since there were only two of us.

After about 2 laps we changed our game plan and decided to go on the attack. I realized everyone was attacking on the climb so I attacked on the corner before the downhill stretch hoping no one would expect it. It worked and I got a gap, I managed to get the gap to over a minute while Timmerman was working over the rest of the field. In the end, I stayed away for the victory after 52 minutes off the front, while Timmerman got a group of 4 off near the end and smoked them in the sprint for second, all in all a great weekend for the Fiordifruttans.