As the Masters 35+ category got its competition underway Friday, Spence grabbed the lead with a sizzling performance in the opening 15-mile time trial. His time of 32 minutes and 36 seconds was 51 seconds better than second-placed Michael Larsen of Bend Bike ‘N Sport.

Making Spence’s victory even more remarkable than his 27.6 mph average and 2:24 margin of victory over third place was the fact that he believes he could have gone even faster.

“I was spinning out all the way back,” Spence said. “I definitely could have used a bigger front chain ring.”

Spence (pictured at right) had little time to celebrate his win, though. Hours later, he and teammates Mark Brackenbury and Marco Vasquez, who placed eighth and 14th, respectively in the time trial, were lining up for the Desert Orthopedics/Rebound Physical Therapy Downtown Criterium.

Wearing the race leader’s yellow jersey, Spence was an easy target, as attack after attack raged on the front for nearly the entire 45-minute race. But each time a breakaway threatened to go up the road, Brackenbury and Vasquez were there to help bring it back.

“I could work all day for Chris in situations like that,” Vasquez said afterwards. “We want to make sure he holds onto the jersey.”

In the end, Spence finished comfortably in the pack to retain his stronghold on the race heading into Saturday’s 80-mile Pacific Power Cascade Lakes Road Race.

The success Ian Gray and Matt Landen enjoyed in the opening pair of road race stages wasn’t as prevalent Friday morning. Landen rode to a respectable 48th place spot, 3:55 back of winner Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance Pro Cycling) while Gray (pictured below getting ready to start) called his 73rd place “disappointing.”

That result dropped Gray 10 spots in the overall standings – from 17th to 27th – while Landen held onto his 45th place overall. Former Team Kaos rider Jarred Berger (whose mother is pictured above with Vasquez at the time trial) rode to a 16th-place finish in the time trial, best of anyone on his Team Einstein's squad.

The evening criterium, which was run in front of a boisterious crowd of more than 10,000, was a fast-from-the-gun affair that saw a nearly race-long breakaway of Oregon natives Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net presented by Maxxis) and Ryan Trebon (Kodak Gallery.com-Sierra Nevada). Gray and Landen rode within the pack until it splintered in the final laps of the 90-minute race.

Gray’s 71st place finish, 46 seconds behind winner Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United Pro Cycling), puts him in 29th place heading into Saturday’s 92-mile road race that finishes with a five-kilometer climb to Sunrise Lodge (elevation: 6,400 feet). Landen is well within reach of his goal to place in the top 50 overall, sitting comfortably in 44th place.

Team Kaos is also represented at the National Race Calendar event in the Cat. III field, with Matt Pavlovich finishing 35th in the morning time trial and 25th in the criterium.