Vic's Espresso/ Peerless 55ers Solidify BAT Lead!

June 26 and 27 brought 3 members of the Vic's Espresso/ Peerless 55 team to Laramie, Wyoming for the Dead Dog Classic Stage Race. Paul Mack, Dean Sandoval, and Bill Simmons all made the trip to take part in Saturday's 55 mile road race and Sunday's criterium and time trial.

The road race consisted of over 3500 feet of climbing up to a 10,000 foot elevation in the Snowy Range. The descent brought the racers back to the start in the mountain town of Albany with an uphill finish. The 55ers were paired with the 45ers, which made for a fast pace once the climbing began. Dean eventually lost contact with the leaders which included rivals Bill Kellagher and Kim Workman, but managed to be the 3rd 55er at the summit turnaround. Paul and Bill S. drifted back as well, but managed to be at the turnaround a couple of minutes after Dean. Aided by a group of 45ers, Bill K. and Kim W. made time on the rest of the 55ers, while Dean worked with fellow-competitor, Steve Matous and another 45er, to limit the damage. At the finish it was Kellagher and Workman, then 3 minutes down , Matous and Sandoval. A couple of minutes later Bill S. and Paul came in for 6th and 7th place.

Sunday morning's criterium saw Paul and Bill S. set a furious pace to set-up a pre-arranged attempt for Bill K. and Dean to get away on the classic, downtown, 6-corner course in Laramie. When this didn't go, our Bill S. pulled away with Bill K., later to joined by Mike Myers. They established a half minute gap with Myers taking the win and our Bill taking 2nd. Dean and Paul were part of the field sprint a few seconds later.

Early afternoon took us to the mountains east of Laramie for the 10 mile time trial at over 8,000 feet. The out and back course is slightly downhill out and windy both ways. Our legs proved worthy as all 3 Vic's guys maintained or improved on GC. Dean won the TT, Paul took 7th, and Bill S. came in 12th.

The final GC had 3 top 10 finishers for Vic's Espresso/ Peerless!: Dean 3rd, Paul 6th, and Bill 7th! Our 1st place BAT lead is a whopping 112 points!