Yezin - Cat 5 - I felt surprisingly good and I stuck towards the back singing "walking in a winter wonderland" for the first 10 laps, then started to move up. I got up in the pack just in the nick of time as some riders collided at the start/finish line and took out a total of at least 8 riders behind me. The clean up crew got them out of the way before we came back around, but it split up Rio Strada pretty badly with only me being in front of the crash. I hovered around the front of the pack for the rest of the race, and for some reason got pushed up front and led all of lap 7 or so. I pulled out of that and back into the draft after that lap, and was actually positioned pretty well. I was coming in tight on the last turn into the straightaway to march up the line for the last lap when two guys tangled wheels and caused a crash. The guy in front got away with some broken spokes and a warped wheel, but the guy behind him went down. Luckily, the outside line wasn't slowed down... but I was on the inside. I watched at least ten riders pass me as I got my pace back up, but my momentum was destroyed and I wasn't able to do much passing for the rest of the race. I ended up somewhere around 20th. Great race though, and a lot of fun.

Brian - Masters 45+ -Legs felt great the whole race, likely due to the warm conditions at 9:00 am. I felt good and rode at the front, saving it for the sprint or to cover any late race break. But as nothing got away and the pack stayed together the bumping and fighting for position in the last few laps was challenging. The hairy legged rider in the pack, swerving across the pack to find the non-existent way up the field bumped me hard in the next to last corner and it was all I could do to not hit someone else or the pavement. That hard fought position I had was gone in flash as the last corner came into view and I could see Julien sprinting at the front. Thats my racing 'luck'!

Julien - I got 6th in Masters 45+ and I got 13th in 35+ 1,2,3's. Hot...very hot! I thought it would take the legs out of some of the 35+ guys. Race was very fast and 35+ had several of the fastest laps of the day. Only did two races because I was hot.

John - Cat 5 - I finished. Leesville is touted as the Paris-Roubiax of California. And, its name should send shivers down your neck, thru your spine, into your lats, echoing thru your back, blasting into your quads and palms, and reverberating in your shoes for an enjoyable race experience. It was nice to see a big Rio Strada prescence at Leesville. The first climb at mile 10 separated the climbers from the flat landers. I watched the mountain goats ride away. I rode practically alone for the remainder of the race. I watched several groups fly by. But, my legs were toast and I couldn't latch on. In summary, I finished.

Mike V - Cat 4 B group - This year the weather was as good as can be for Leesville. Not very hot and light wind for the 40 guys. The lead to the hill was brisk but everyone stayed together. On the hill it blew apart. I was able to crest within a minute of the lead group with three other guys. Our chase goup expanded to about 7 or 8 guys. But, nobody wanted to catch the leaders, except for me. Everytime I tried to pick up the pace to
25-27 mph they would let me ride off the front. I knew I couldn't bridge alone, so I asked around to see if anyone else felt good, but most of the group looked whooped. A Sierra Nevada guy and I dropped the group on the second climb, but he didn't want to leave the group with me, so I decided to wait with the other 7 guys and
try to attack. I attempted a couple attacks, but they chased me down easily because there was a head wind. We sprinted for 15th place or somewhere like that. Overall, I thought the chase pace was way too slow. But I wasn't strong enough to break away alone.

Tyson - Cat 5 - I had four goals: 1) finish 2) no flats 3) not to cramp 4) not to get past by any females (they started 40 minutes after we did) The first 9 miles were wonderful, road was flat and we kept a consistant pace of 19 miles per hour. Then we crossed hwy 120 and the road turned nasty.The first hill was upon us and that's when some people started to ride like we were still on level ground. I saw a rider wearing rainbow bike pants.. I told myself that as long as I beat him, everything wil be ok. I think I lasted the first two miles of the hill and then 90 percent of the group dropped me. When I got to the top of the first hill, a rider who had a flat tire told me that the group was about 4 minutes ahead of me and it was all downhill from here. Also with me was the front of the 30-34 age group that started five minutes behind me. I latched on to them and we were flying. I hung with them for about 5 miles and then another hill. As I waived goodbye to them, I could see yet another group coming up on me. It was the 35-39 group. Thankfully I was at the top of the hill so I latched on to them I was able to hang on to them until the 41 mile mark, also the feed station. As I was riding up to the feed station, I noticed my rear tire was almost flat. I changed the tire in about 3 minutes thanks to the co2 cartridge. I put the rear tire on and then moticed that my front tire was almost flat as well. It took another 3 minutes.At the 47 mile mark my rear tire blew. That's right three flat tires. I fixed it and then I just wanted to finish. I just kept looking back waiting for the women to pass me. Finally I finished.

Aaron - Cat 5 - Why did I go get a vasectomy last week when all I had to do was ride Leesville Gap- My God that was ridiculous. Before the start- John Metzger told me what to expect and he didn't lie- about the pace, road conditions, and suffering that I was about to embark on. Everything was fine for me at least until we crossed Hwy 120- and then the road turned nastyt and started to elevate and the pace went up a notch. So I pretty much climbed alone at my own pace and picked off a few stragglers who fell off the pack early. The funny thing is once you summit you have to realize that you have to climb out of the valley you're descending into and that is about as disheartening as watching the lead group literally run away from your wheel. In the valley I started getting passed by other groups of elite racers who started AFTER me - I didn't even have the legs to stick on their wheels nor did I feel worthy- finally after the feed zone (great idea, by the way, because I went through 4 bottles of water) I managed to hook-up with another rider from another category- and we traded pulls until we were caught by 4 fast moving "Thunder Gods". I sucked on their wheel and pulled a few times until the famous 1 1 /2 miles of gravel and they went super fast through it while I just went through it- Anyway I survived and managed to pick off a few more guys along the way.