Sunny San Marcos was the host of the San Marcos Circuit Race. It had been a few years since I have done this race, but it was nice to see big fields and good weather. It was also good to see some old faces on the sidelines watching the race.
It’s always fun to do a course that is a little more challenging than your local business park crit. The venue is great as it is next to a small mall and runs around the Cal State University San Marcos.
The 45 + race had old schoolers throwing down for 45 minutes with a few attacks going early. A break of four riders finally got together and stayed away until the finish with about 20 seconds on the field that dangled in front of the pack for most of the race and then just opened space towards the last few laps. Alan Flores (Spy Blue) rode a smart race and outwitted Cynergy teammates Steve Klasna and David Worthington, as well as Doug Pomeranz (UC Cyclery/ JW Floors).
The Women’s Race saw two small women’s field doing the race on the same course at the time. Within a few laps, riders were scattered all over the place and the women that stood out were Amber Gaffney (SC Velo) and Joy McCulloch (Helen’s Cyclery) who formed a two woman break. These two riders worked well together and finally lapped the field with their teammates slowing any opposing chases. Once in the field, Amber made the move to break free from Joy and opened space with every lap and was able to hold off Joy for the win. Joy charged hard to maintain her second place position.
The final event for the day was the Pro 1/2 race which saw some fast and furious speeds that put the hurt on many riders. Riders from CashCall Mortgage were in every break as they had the most riders of any team. This forced the other teams to chase, which caused the field to be strung out for most of the race. Stage 17 Racing and SC Velo did the bulk of the work to try to bring back any breaks.
At the halfway point, Devan Dunn and CashCall teammate Michael Weicht escaped the field to finish first and second with a hard charging field that saw Taylor Vaccari (SC Velo) sprint in for third to round out the podium.
The San Marcos Circuit Race was a great race and venue.
By Frank Sarate, SoCalCycling.com
