Chris in California

Sunday, November 3, 2013
"Out in California”

Ballymoney cyclist Chris Beattie (Ballymena Road Club, Chain Reaction Cycles) recently travelled to Northern California to compete in Levi Leipheimer’s King Ridge Grand Fondo held in Santa Rosa on  5th October.  With over 1600 competitors in the longest event of the day taking in 102 miles and almost 9000 feet of climbing it was a brutal day in 28oC temperature with some even hotter competition being present including Andrew Talansky the Tour de France top ten finisher in 2013 from Garmin Sharp.  Chris initially had finished with the fasted time over the course in the initial results but finally was deemed to be 2nd after some alterations to the results the following week despite the electronic chip timing!  Chris who specializes in long distance events relished the hot conditions putting in this season’s best result against a top class field in California.  Having worked his way through the field after the mass start and making contact with the front group before hitting the first climb of the day, King Ridge Road, Chris gaining crucial time from the outset.  It was then a case of maintaining position along the iconic highway 1 until the final infamous climb of Coleman Valley road before the fast flat run to the finish through the beautiful Vineyards in Sanoma County.

Chris spent 10 days based in San Francisco (staying with family) working on climbing and endurance training for the 2014 season with World Ultra Cup competitor Robert Morris and Above Category Racing and is looking forward to next year's events already!