Agoura cyclist on California tour
Ivan Dominguez's journey took him from Cuba to the Golden State
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

Ivan Dominguez

It seems that Agoura resident Ivan Dominguez has taken a liking to California. He enjoys it so much hat this week he wants to see the entire state.

The 30yearold ToyotaUnited cyclist is competing in the AMGEN Tour of California race that began in San Francisco and ends in Long Beach this Sunday.

Before leaving for Northern California late last week, Dominguez said he was looking forward to the race after only competing in half of it last year.

"This race is the big one," Dominguez said. "A lot of times you will be in a race and some of the teams won't be in as good as shape as others because they have been racing a lot. Not this one; everybody is fresh in this one and wants to do well."

The Tour of California race began in downtown San Francisco with a climb up Telegraph Hill and into the downtown streets.

From there the race will visit 12 host cities, including Sausalito, Santa Rosa, Sacramento, Stockton, San Jose, Seaside, San Luis Obispo, Solvang, Santa Barbara and Santa Clarita, before finally ending in Long Beach.

In the end, the race will cover a little more than 650 miles.

To train for the event, Dominguez said he has been riding for about three to six hours a day a few times every week.

"I usually ride about 70 to 130 miles during the days I train," Dominguez said. "The Tour of California has a steep hill climb in the beginning, so I have been doing a lot of hill riding in my training."

Dominguez first got into cycling at the age of 13 while living in Cuba. While Dominguez was traveling to the United States in 1998 for the Goodwill Games with the rest of the Cuban National Cycling Team, Dominguez decided to defect to the United States.

Dominguez didn't know anyone in the United States except his uncle and could not speak English. However, his bold move paid off in 2001 when he was offered a spot on the Saturn Professional Cycling Team.

"I wasn't really nervous when I was asked to join the Saturn team because I already knew some of the guys from racing against them," Dominguez said. "The coach just wanted to see how I would fit in with the other guys."

Dominguez fit in perfectly with the team, winning 20 races in his first two years, including a win over Lance Armstrong in the 2002 New York City Championships.

By the end of 2003, Saturn was the No. 1 team, but a year later Dominguez would change teams and race for the Colavita Olive Oil Cycling Team. In 2005, he switched teams again to the Health Net Maxxix team before eventually ending up with ToyotaUnited in 2006.

Dominguez said the changes haven't been too hard on him.

"When you switch teams you aren't just getting new teammates, you're getting new equipment, too," Dominguez said.

"So you have to get used to a new bike, and sometimes that takes a while. Sometimes it can take up to three months for a rider to get back to normal after switching teams, but it only took me about two or three weeks when I made the switch to ToyotaUnited."

Since the last change, Dominguez has finished in first place in the Walterboro Criterium and the Greenwood Criterium. Now he is hoping he can add the Tour of California to that list.

"Winning is the best part of racing," Dominguez said. "It is the easiest way to give back to your teammates. We are always cheering each other on, but this is the best way to make them happy."

Although winning is great, Dominguez loves the journey of the race as well.

"A lot of racers get very frustrated if they don't win," Dominguez said. "I don't really get too frustrated; I just try to move on and prepare for the next race. I guess I enjoy my races a little more that way."

While Dominguez is planning to ride fast this week, he's also hoping that his U.S. citizenship can be granted to him even faster. Without being a current U.S. citizen, Dominguez is unable to qualify for the Olympic trials or the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Still, he remains confident that he'll be able to make a trip to the Far East as part of the United States team.

"I'd like to compete in the games; that would be a great honor, of course," Dominguez said. "I have heard that citizenship for people from Cuba takes a quicker amount of time, so hopefully it will be done in time for me to compete."

You can see Dominguez finish his Tour of California race this Sunday in Long Beach near Alamitos Avenue and West Beach Boulevard. For more information on the race, visit www.amgentourofcalifornia.com.