Support Victor Riquelme...

Some of you may know, others not, that Wonderful Pistachios team member, Victor Riquelme, crashed during the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix, this past Sunday. The shoulder injury he sustained as a result, requires surgery to heal properly. A fund has been established to help cover the cost of the surgery, and as of this hour, some three days following the crash, the fund is about 36% of meeting its goal. If you can help out, pay it forward here.

The Men: 2011 Redlands Bicycle Classic Prologue...

Funny thing about taking photos at events like this - even though you are close enough to the action to feel the draft off riders racing by, you still sometimes miss what is right in front of you. WTH do I mean? Today I saw Alexi Grewal race by, and I saw Raul Alcala race by. But at the same time, I did not really see them. Usually when I take photos I am focused on overall composition, making sure everything I want to be seen fits within the frame, and rarely narrow that focus to someone's face. Now, I followed the careers of both these men back in the day, so looking back through the photos, I can recognize them, so it is really only thanks to the camera that I can say, yes I saw Alexi and Raul, and many others race by. 

Victor Riquelme, of Wonderful Pistachios.

The tatoos under his eyes are pretty wild.

Raul Alcala, riding with Herbalife/LaGrange this weekend.

Alexi Grewal, riding for Swami's this weekend.

Rahsaan Bahati

The day's racing was definitely worth the little trip. There was just a small, but enthusiastic crowd cheering everyone up the last few hills of the course. I expect the racing over the next three days will be even more exciting. Oh, I almost forgot, Francisco Mancebo won the day, with a time of 9:39, Ben Jacques-Maynes, second at 9:40, Chris Baldwin, third at 9:42, Andy Jacques-Maynes, fourth at 9:48, and Luis Amaran took fifth at 9:49.

Slideshow for the men's prologue is here. Again, if you want to see them in the order that they came up the hill, click reverse order when the show pops up.

Wonderful Pistachios...

and many other fast people at the Rose Bowl this evening. Getting some quality training in during the few days between the end of the San Dimas Stage Race last weekend, and the beginning of the Redlands Classic on Thursday.

Victor Riquelme

Just for the hell of it, I brought out an old Team Xtreme jersey to wear tonight. It never fails that someone will remember me because of it, or it will catch the attention of a team member from those years. Tonight was no exception, hey Kent. And I could swear I have seen Marco rolling around in the opposite direction.

For those who don't follow domestic professional cycling, Wonderful Pistachios is a pro Continental level cycling team, based out of Santa Rosa, California.