April 7 , 2008

The Successful Living Pro Cycling Team kicked off the first NRC race of the season at the Redlands Cycling Classic this past week.
 Despite some bad luck the team earned a top 20 GC result in a field that finished only 89 of 194 starters.

Team veteran, Curtis Gunn got himself into a 4-man breakaway midpoint into the 90 minute race. What is arguably the hardest criterium of
the year with a challenging 7 turn, 1 mile course with no place to rest, the foursome worked efficiently to gain a significant gap on the field.
The break was able to build nearly a minute until the field realized time was running out with ten laps to go. Two corners before the finish
stretch, Shawn Milne (Team Type 1) clipped a pedal and took down both himself and Gunn.  Milne suffered a broken thumb while Gunn
was lucky to walk away nothing broken but with serious road rash.  Jeff Louder (Team BMC) outsprinted Luis Amaran (Colavita/Sutter
Home) in the final sprint for the win.

The final stage on the Sunset Loop saw new team member Brad White highlight his abilities as a first year professional.  After initiating the
first break of the day White hung tough while the field whittled down to an elite group of thirty riders.  “I was happy with my performance and
more importantly to earn the team valuable NRC points,” said White. “I really didn’t know what to expect since this was my first NRC race
and most of my racing last year was out of the country.”

“Overall, I’m extremely happy with the team’s performance,” commented Team Director Steve Hegg. “Once we get running on all cylinders
with Charles Dionne and Ricardo Escuela in several weeks, you will see us on the podium.”  

Next stop is the team’s hometown race Garrett Lemire Memorial Grand Prix in Ojai, California (www.glmgp.com)