Morgan Stanley Smith Barney/Specialized Racing

Chasing Lance and Levi at the Nevada City Classic

Lyman Sets Best Time, Takes State TT Champ Title

Phenom Chris Lyman, racing in the Masters 40-44 division, set the best time of the day at the 2009 Northern California/Nevada Time Trial Championships, held  on 14 June in Sattley, NV. The course and altitude favored the locals but Chris dominated the race, finishing over half a minute ahead of Pro rider Paul Mach, and minutes ahead of competitors in his class. He finished the 40km course in a time of 49 minutes and 35.2 seconds.

Teammates Thomas Coulter and John Ford hit with a 1-2 punch in the Masters 45-44 class, and  Brian Fessenden and Paul Chuck rode to victory in the  Tandem Elite class.

Here's Chris's race report:

"The Northern Cal / Northern Nevada District championship was my first 40k TT, and the distance, combined with Sattley’s elevation of 5,000 ft, left a few question marks on pacing. Luckily Hutch straightened that out and put it all to rest with advice to “just smash it.”

With Jeff Angermann and Craig Roemer in my age group, I needed to be on it. The elite open field had its share of heavy hitters too: Paul Mach/Bissell; Phil Mooney from the reigning UC Davis national champion TTT squad; James Mattis, the national elite road race champion; Jesse Moore (my coach) and former teammate Josh Rennie among others.  It was stacking up to be a fast day. 

The weather was about perfect for the distance: sunny, low-60s at the start, light cross winds. The scenery around Sattley is also spectacular, with the course traveling through a beautiful wide-open alpine valley.

I started out a little too hot and paid the price within 10k but stayed on the gas to the turn and held up as best I could for the 20k return trip. After finishing, Buckley and I went for a spin and when we returned, results were posted. Needless to say I was shocked to have not only won the men 40-44 field but also post the fastest overall time of the day.

Upon arriving home I found my dogs were generally unimpressed with that morning’s effort. Taking solace in the fact that not much impresses them beyond food and chew bones, I did enjoy a nice bottle of bubbly with the wife as a brief celebration prior to setting sights on masters nationals. "