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Monday, July 27, 2009

MTB National Championships

It may not have happened on the "road" but team rider Jafer Beizer showed that roadies can rock the dirt as well. The mountain bike national championships were held in Granby, Colorado (7/18-19). Guest riding for Athen's based Terrapin racing, Jafer took 2nd in the Cat 1 19-29 cross country race and first in the short track event. It looks like all the crits this year have finally paid off for the new short track national champ.

Tour of the Sun Valley (7/10-12)

Another successful weekend of racing in Ohio brought the entire team together for the first time this season. Due to injuries and work schedules, the team has not been able to send the entire squad to one race. The Tour of the Sun Valley was 4 stages long for a total of 3 days in the Youngstown area starting on July 10.
Stage 1
The first stage was a mostly flat rectangular course around a wine vineyard that was 5.6 miles in length. The tour didn't start out as we planned with our highest placed rider, Oscar, in 5th place followed by Jafer in 8th(five seconds back)then Joey in 9th (eight seconds behind).

Stage 2
Later in the evening the team prepped for the crit by discussing team strategy and race tactics. It was a very interesting but fun course, with 8 turns in about a mile. The largest team in the race Panther, (had about 8 guys)kept attacking the field, which made it a very active race. Add in the race primes and it was a pretty hard 90 minute race. There were countless breaks but Panther seemed content to chase down their own guys so we took advantage their pulling. Towards the end of the race a break was finally able to establish a sustainable gap and held it to the finish. Joey timed his sprint perfectly taking first followed by Oscar, Thomas, and Anthony (3rd, 5th, and 6th, respectively). Jafer and Mike ensured that Thomas and Anthony stayed protected by setting a fast tempo on the front of the field.

Stage 3
The 66 mile road race started bright and early the following morning. The course was rolling with one sustained climb leading to the KOM. As expected the race started off fast with many attacks mostly from the Panther team. With about 5 miles before the first KOM, Jafer followed an attack, catching him just before the base of the KOM. Jafer played it easy and set a steady pace waiting for a time split from the chasing field. With valuable omnium points at stake for the overall the team wanted to gain as many as possible. Once Jafer saw the Panther team setting tempo on the climb he decided to attack which would set up Joey and Oscar if he was caught before the line. He ended up staying ahead with Oscar nabbing the second place points. After the KOM the field came back together for about 20 minutes until the next flurry attacks started. Jafer was the only Jittery Joe rider to bridge across to the established 7 man break, which gained over a two minute advantage on the field. The break was able to stay away until the end with Jafer grabbing more first place KOM points and the win. Anthony rode away from the field taking 9th followed by Joey then Thomas.

Stage 4
The final stage was another 90 minute downtown crit on a very fast and open course. Going into the fourth stage the team was well placed in the overall with Jafer in yellow, followed by Joey and Oscar all in the top 5. It was another day of nonstop attacks and breaks. Once again Joey and Oscar escaped in the right mix (at literally the same time Jafer's chain broke forcing him into the pits to get the spare bike). After the confusion of the new bike wore off, Jafer realized that the break was coming back easily. After many unsuccessful attempts to bridge Thomas talked some sense into him and told him to take it easy b/c the break wasn't coming back. Anthony, Thomas, and Mike did a great job setting tempo in the closing laps to keep everything together as did Oscar for Joey. Joey ended up winning the stage followed by Oscar in 3rd. After four stages the team had 4 riders in the top 10; Joey in 1st, Jafer in 3rd, Oscar in 5th, Anthony in 10th.

Overall it was a great weekend all around. We found some cool restaurants, enjoyed some great racing, and saw some great scenery. The race was well organized and professionally run, we will want to come back next year.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Speed Week Photos



Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Jittery Joe's is Heading to Nature Valley!!

Jittery Joe’s pb Kudzu.com earns top invitations.

The young Jittery Joe’s U25 pb Kudzu.com team earned its first national recognition this week as they were awarded a prestigious invitation to the Nature Valley Grand Prix(NVGP) Stage Race in Minnesota, June 10th-14th. The NVGP is a 5 day, 6 stage race that is the highest ranked stage race on the U.S. National Racing calendar and will feature only the top international professional and amateur teams. Team director Larson stated, “This event is great because it gives us an opportunity to show that we have some of the top young talent in the country that is capable of competing alongside the top professional riders. We will surely be keying on the best young rider prize, as well as any top stage results we can manage.” This invite comes on the heels of the team’s great performances in the USACrits Speedweek, and the Collegiate National Cycling Championships in Ft. Collins, CO. Additionally, the team earned and invitation and will compete in the amateur Tour of Ohio, June 16th-21st.

Jittery Joe’s was also extended an invitation to compete in the Women’s Liberty Classic in Philadelphia, PA on June 7th. Riding with the one woman wrecking crew that is Rebecca Larson will be top drawer guest riders, Laura Van Gilder and Kristin Lasasso. Team director Dan Larson comments, “We are looking forward to still making a big impression for Jittery Joe’s at the country’s premier one day road race. It will be great to have some serious firepower to work with thanks to the addition of Laura and Lasasso.” Other guest riders for Jittery Joe’s at the event will be Trish Cohen from Tampa, FL; multi-time masters national champion Tracy Tolson; and womens Giro d’Italia veteran Angela Connaughton of Gainesville, FL.

Collegiate Nationals Recap 5/10

Jittery Joe’s riders top college championships.

Joey Rosskopf and Thomas Brown took their show on the road once again and bested the country’s top collegiate cyclists. Earning a total of 5 medals and a national championship jersey at the championships, the pair represented their universities in the Division II National Road Championships Road Race and Criterium. Joey earned 2nd in the Road Race and 5th in the Criterium, while Thomas earned a hard fought 10th in the Road Race, and won the field sprint in the Criterium for another podium position (3rd). After tallying all of the individual race scores, Rosskopf cleared up his near miss in the Road Race with a clear national championship title in the overall competition, and Thomas’ consistency earned him an impressive 4th place overall.

SpeedWeek Report by Joey

On April 25th the USA Crits Speedweek kicked off with the Athens Twilight Criterium, and for the next nine days the team competed in seven criteriums throughout the Southeast. Speedweek consists of numerous “big money” criteriums, each in a different city, on a variety of courses ranging from your basic four-corner, flat crit to more complicated circuits including hills, tight corners, and some REALLY dark sections of road. Besides competing with the few pro riders that show up to some local races from time to time, this series was the team’s first real taste of the professional peloton this season. After a week in hotel rooms and driving between Georgia, and North & South Carolina, the team ended the week with some very impressive results.

Rebecca rode with incredible consistency, only once placing out of the top seven. Her results for the week included three 5th place finishes and 4th overall. Aside from the results which speak for themselves, the really impressive part is that Rebecca managed to notch such high results all by herself. She was without teammates but still held her own against massive leadouts from Colavita, Team Type One, and Team Tibco among other teams that brought full squads.

The boys didn’t shape up too bad either. Thomas and Joey competed in every race, Jafer and Dan made it to five, only skipping Tuesday and Thursday, and Anthony made his return to racing on Friday, after a couple weeks off with a broken wrist. Between the five who raced, by the end of the week the team had racked up nine top 20’s, three of which were top 10 finishes. For the efforts all week long, Thomas ended up a strong 17th overall by the end, and Joey took 7th overall and won the Best Young Rider (U25) competition.

While Anthony’s return to racing was definitely something to celebrate, it didn’t last long. The poor guy fell victim to one of the numerous crashes that happened in the final event on Sunday, May 3rd in Sandy Springs, GA and broke his collar bone. The team is devastated to have yet another injury keeping us from all being able to race together. He is scheduled for surgery Thursday, May 14; updates will follow.

USA Crits Speed Week Recap

The Jittery Joe’s crew had a mix of positive and negative outcomes after more than a week of competition across SC, NC and Georgia. Ultimately, the positives outweighed the negatives, as the team emerged with the best young rider prize, 7th and 17th overall, as well as emerging as the 8th best team overall. This was the team’s first big challenge against national level competition, so the going was tough. Joey opened the team accounts on Friday night (4/24) while competing in the Grid Qualifications for the Twilight Criterium. Qualifying for the finals against all of the top professionals, he rose to the challenge for the final round, charging back from an early deficit to take 2nd place behind Team Ouch’s John Murphy. The ensuing days featured a blur of laps and sprints with the clear highlights being Joey’s 10th place finish in Beaufort, SC; 8th place in Spartanburg, SC; and a gritty 4th place in a rainy showdown in Dilworth, NC. . Thomas proved impressively consistent and tough as well, finishing in the top 20 of nearly all of the events. Jafer earned a place in Dilworth and provided steadfast support. Anthony made his first return back to competition with his freshly healing broken wrist. Unfortunatley, Anthony’s return was short lived, as in the closing laps of the final race, he fell victim to a high speed crash that launched him through the air to land with a shattered collarbone. Additionally, Mike Niemi, who had been absent from competition for illness had just begun to train again when he suffered a broken collarbone during the week totaling the team’s third collarbone for the season!

Back on the positive side, Rebecca continued her solo crusade on behalf of the Jittery Joe’s crew in the women’s events. She singlehandedly faced off against several full women’s teams, and after finishing top 10 in all of the events, including a win in the Dilworth Criterium, earned 4th place in the series overall. Thanks to her consistent performances in the events, Rebecca moved up into the top spot of the USACycling criterium rankings.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

South Carolina Low County Velo / Pivotal Fitness Weekend 4/18-19

This weekend Dan, Jafer, Thomas, and Rebecca headed to Charlestown, South Carolina for another weekend of crit racing. Anthony came along to help support the team and to sell coffee, as his wrist is still recovering from last weeks crash. Saturday’s course was in a small planned community in Mount Pleasant. It was a “scenic yet technical course” as there were multiple turns, a roundabout, and a small brick section towards the end of the lap. The race was aggressive, but with little results as none of the teams worked together or used their numbers. The group seemed content to chase anyone brave enough to attack only to sit-up after the catch. However, with five laps to go, a few riders went up the road but was reduced to just one rider after Jafer pulled the riders back. The lone rider was still ahead with a five second lead on the final lap. Jafer took another hard pull on the last lap in an effort to bring the lone rider back but the other teams were of no help. Dan then helped to keep Thomas at the front of the peloton for the remainder of the lap. Thomas slightly miscalculated his line with two turns to go, sending him over the rough brick section of the turn. This resulted in him popping out of both pedals at high speed but was able to stay upright. Despite this setback, he still placed second in the sprint behind Jelly Belly’s Jonny Clarke for 3rd place. In the women’s event, Rebecca dominated the field by riding away solo. Early on she split the field by herself and then rode away with another rider. After a few laps she dropped her breakaway companion and held off the chasing field for a well deserved win.

Sunday’s race was a straight forward course, as it was essentially a large oval with only one real corner. Because of the simple and fast course, no breaks were able to gain more than a few seconds. With 5 laps to go, Jafer, Dan, and Thomas began moving up to the front of the field. They quickly took control of the race with a little more than two laps to go, keeping the pace high enough to prevent attacks. The trio was still setting the pace on the final lap and Jafer took a massive pull down the backside of the course. As Jafer pulled off, Thad Dulin tried to control the front but Dan jumped on his wheel while Thomas stayed protected behind him. Coming around the last corner with about 500m to go, Dan took over and began the sprint. With 300m to go, Thomas powered around to easily take the win by several bike lengths in the long straightaway sprint. Rebecca also raced with the men and represented the team in several moves while getting some good speed work in to prepare for next week’s Twilight event.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Hoover Crit (4/4/09)

The taste of victory continues to be sweet. Racing in Hoover, AL, the Jittery Joe’s U25 p/b Kudzu.com boys proved that they really have themselves dialed in as a unit for the local pro-am races. Even without the largest team in the race, the guys showed that it was really quality that mattered, as they worked together to come away with the win and more. A straightforward 60 minute criterium with a small hill on the start/finish straight allowed the guys to take turns, methodically attacking, until the elastic finally snapped. After a 14 rider selection broke away (including Anthony, Oscar, Thomas, and Dan) from the main pack, “Beno” (Anthony Bennett) escaped out of the break with Atlanta’s Tony Scott. As Oscar and Thomas patrolled the front group, the main field was eventually lapped by the break, with Anthony and Tony still ahead of the field. While still helping to race for primes, Jafer lead Thomas out for one the prime. With his burst, Thomas was not only able to take the prime, but was also able to continue forward alone, eventually making contact with the two leaders. After arriving on the final lap, he was able to jump through and lead out the sprint. Only Beno was able to come by him and the team sealed a dominant 1-2 finish. To cap off the day, Jafer kicked it again, to lead Oscar out for the field sprint (5th). A still proud director (Dan) had a front row seat and finished 7th.

Not to jinx things, but the season could not have started much better. To date the team has: 4 wins (by 3 different riders), five 2nd place finishes, a few additional podium appearances, and no race worse than 5th!

On tap for the next two weeks: the team will essentially be resting and doing some final preparation for their first big challenge of the season, the Tour of the Battenkill in upstate NY. In the meantime they will be racing on the Dick Lane Velodrome in Atlanta for the next two Wednesday nights. If you are in the area stop by to say hello and watch the action! Buy some coffee while you are there too!

Tour de Tuscaloosa (3/28-29)

This weekends race in Tuscaloosa could be put down as a big success for the almost full team minus Mikey. Saturday consisted of what was supposed to be 45min +3laps which eventually became 30mins+5laps. The race started fast with lots of attacks in the first 3 laps on a criterium course which was a bit dark in parts, which made it a very nervous first few laps. This eventually resulted in the race winning move, which consisted of 3 riders, one of which was Joey. This made it an easy race tactically for us, where the rest of the team followed moves and let the break gain a 45 sec gap, a gap which never came back. Joey eventually out powered the break to take the win. Meanwhile in the bunch Jafer (double flatted) and Dan unfortunately fell victim to a pothole, which made Oscar take a 2 lap leadout effort for Thomas and Anthony, whom managed 4th and 5th respectively.

The road race was an undulating course made up of 7, 10mile laps with one major hill in it. As the race started, all the riders were feeling the cold but not for long as the first of many attacks began going up the road. Our tactic was simple, have someone in the breaks the entire day, the first major break to stay away was Oscar, who went solo for a lap before being caught by a chase group of 4 riders. Shortly after Jafer and another rider bridged, which looked dangerous as they had a good break of nearly 1 minute and were out of sight. The break was brought back to the field with about 30miles to go, due to a lack of cooperation.

This opened the door for another wave of attacks which resulted in Joey going solo with 25 miles to go and he quickly opened up a gap of a minute. Three riders chased after Joey but only managed to close slightly on his lead as he soldiered on to hold nearly a minute over them. With less than two laps to go, Anthony went off the front with 3 others and caught the 3 riders ahead to make a 7 man chase group, with Joey still holding just under a minute gap, with the bunch 45secs back.

Last time up the hill Joey still held the same margin and was all but guaranteed his 2nd victory in as many days. Anthony’s chase group began to break apart from the myriad attacks and he managed to follow taking them down to a bunch of 4. On the final lap Jafer followed a move that went up the road and Thomas bridged shortly after with a small chase group. On the last hill Jafer rode away from his chase bunch and managed to hold his gap to the line.

Joey went on to take the victory with a minute to spare, Anthony took the 4up sprint to take 2nd place and Jafer rode strong to catch the remains of the chase group to finish 9th and Thomas barely missed out on the money coming in 12th.

Overall it was a great effort, everybody contributed to dominate the final results for the weekend.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Only three riders, Anthony, Jafer, and Oscar, represented the team at Union City as Dan & Rebecca traveled to Florida to race, both Joey and Thomas raced collegiate, and Mike was sick. They knew it would be a hard race to control as there were a few strong teams with 6 plus riders. Saturday morning took everyone by surprise as the temperature stayed low in the forties. To add fuel to the fire we didn’t get a proper warmup, as getting to the race took a little longer than expected.

With Anthony off first at 8:49 am, we pulled up to the parking shortly after 8, which was a little too close for comfort! The time trial course was a rolling 10 mile out and back course, on South Fulton Parkway, a wide and smooth four lane divided road. Oscar got things rolling for the team by placing 2nd, only one second behind former Jittery Joe’s rider Thad Dulin. Jafer finished 11th with Anthony five seconds back in 13th.

Luckily, the crit wasn’t until 7:30 which gave us plenty of time to drive home, eat, and relax. After brunch we sacked out on the couch and watched tv for a little while before settling for Batman: The Dark Night, on dvd. After the movie ended we had a nice lunch at a burrito shop and headed back to Union City for the 30 lap crit. The crit was aggressive but the team did a great job of controlling breaks and grabbing point bonuses. Jafer led Anthony out for two point bonuses getting a first and second place bonus and Oscar even grabbed a third place bonus for the overall. On the final lap the field strung out and things got a little hectic but Anthony managed to salvage the crit with a 5th place finish.



It was another early morning with a start time of 8:30 and a short road race distance of 68 miles. The race was a rolling two lap lollipop course. The race was pretty aggressive with Anthony, Jafer, and Oscar all putting in attacks/counter-attacks . The largest team in the race was Mygogenesis as they had nearly 10 riders. On the last lap a dangerous move went up the road with two Myogenesis riders, a Hincapie rider, a Priority Health rider, and a couple more. Shortly after, a small chase group formed when Jafer tried to bridge to the break but it was disorganized at best. Only a few riders would work with Jafer even though they were closing in on the break and riding away from the peloton. As the chase disintegrated, the break moved further up the road as the chase group was absorbed back into the peloton. WIth only a few riders willing to chase Jafer spent the next 30 minutes riding on the front to pull the break back within reach. With about 5 miles to go the break was caught which gave the team a chance to rest. Shortly, after the break was absorbed the next wave of attacks came lasting until the finish. In the final few kilometers Jafer moved up behind the Myogeneis train with Antony on his wheel, giving them both great positioning.

Unfortunately, with less than a kilometer to go, the motorbike official cut Jafer off in a turn causing them to bump at nearly 30 miles an hour. Luckily, Jafer kept it upright but it caused a little confusion in the peloton and Jafer was not able to get his momentum back. Once again, Anthony saved the day with a 2nd place sprint finish just behind Thad Dulin, who jumped with about 700 meters out. Anthony ended up 4th overall with Oscar right behind in 7th.

Albany Race Weekend=Big Success (3/7-8/09)

The team (Anthony, Dan, Oscar, Thomas) were greeted with warm weather in the south Georgia town of Albany. The weekend started off the a short twisty time trail through downtown Albany. It went well for Oscar as he took 3rd with both Anthony and Thomas in the top ten. Unfortunately, Dan suffered a flat tire but was still able to finish.

After a few hours of down time the team tackled the criterium. The crit course overlapped some of the time trial course so everyone knew what to expect. Everyone was very active getting time bonuses along with being in nearly every attack. In the final few laps the field was all together but was stringing out as the pace ramped up. Anthony and Thomas moved to the front of the field with one lap to go, as others were also fighting for position. Thomas ended up riding in the wind the entire last lap in order to stay right at the front. Coming into the last corner, Thomas attacked and held on for the win while Anthony easily took third on the line.

The road race started early, with Dan and Oscar making the main break of the day. They spent the next 60 miles off the front in a group of six and were busy absorbing the time bonsues. With about twenty miles to go, the break was brought back back a hard chasing field. Thomas made sure to follow any counter attacks that followed, while Anthony had a bit of confusion about the brakes on the his new Garneau bike. He was used to the ‘Austrailian’ version of brakes—i.e.. reversed brakes—because of this he miscalculated a corner and went down. A solo rider slipped away in the closing miles while the pack stalled out. Thomas ended up second in the field sprint for 4th place. With the time bonus he moved to 3rd overall for the weekend, while Oscar ended up 6th.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Flat out @ the Snake Creek Gap Time Trial # 3

This weekend was by far the best weather this year and possibly the history of the Snake Creek Gap Time Trial series. The course was dry and hardpack, beyond immaculate, as nearly all riders set a new personal record at the 3rd Snake Creek Gap of 2009. Luckily, Jafer's new training plan is working, as he has learned to pace himself better. He started on the first wave of the 34 miler, with Thomas Turner, Sam Koerber, Marshall Hance, and Timothy Carson, who were all in the open money category. Sam attacked literally off the line and separated himself from the chase group. About 20 minutes in Jafer lost contact with Thomas, Marshall, and Timothy, but was able to keep them within eye sight for a few more miles. He knew that he was riding above his limit and needed to back off or else he was going to blow up. Even though he lost contact, his hope remained that he would be able to reel them back in even though he hadn't seen them in about 20 minutes. At the halfway point, Jafer passed Marshall, but was quickly passed back on the long climb and lost sight of him once more. A little mad but not discouraged, Jafer kept his steady pace, eventually closing the gap and passing Marshall at the next pit stop area with about 6 miles to go.
It was a tough battle as Marshall would get close then fall out of sight which spurred Jafer further. Then, literally out of nowhere, Jafer rode up on Tim with a few miles to go. Both riders were pretty tired and nearly all finesse was gone as they plowed through the rockiest sections of the course. Gone were the smooth lines and light riding from earlier, as both riders made mistakes through the rocks. Meanwhile, Marshall was still charging and caught them with about 1 mile to go. Shortly after Jafer and Marshall, passed Tim about a couple minutes before the radio tower and the end of single track. Jafer was only able to enjoy his lead for about 30seconds then his rear tire blew out on the rocks, as well as his hopes for a top finishing time. Unsure of what to do, he ran the bike, rode the bike with the flat, then finally decided to pull over and fix the flat so he didn't destroy the rim. He only had about one minute left in the single track then literally everything else was down hill. It was very disheartening to have a blowout that close to the finish! It was a fairly fast change as he lost only 6 minutes on the other two riders, for an official finishing time of 2:57:12 but his unofficial real time should have been 2:51:18 for the 34 miles. Jafer would have loved the opportunity to show the mountain bikers how a roadie throws down in a sprint...until next year!

Here are a few pictures from a creek crossing, pictures 338-341 are Jafer.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

First race weekend starts with a blast...

It's that time of year again, now that racing season is upon us the posts should start flowing steady until fall. The first team race of the year started under epic conditions and reduced field sizes. The first race was on February 28th, in Dacula, Ga, a small but growing town in Gwinnett county. Only about 25 pro/1/2 riders started the race under cloudy skies with a fear of rain. When the field is so small the race always tends to be super aggressive with nonstop attacks. Oscar was the first rider on the team to test his legs as he established a strong breakaway with about 5 other riders. The break looked like it would stick but with about 4 laps to go on the 9 lap race it was brought back. Shortly, after Jafer covered a move by a Jet-Fuel rider, Bryson Bowers, and the two quickly established a healthy lead, at one point they were a minute and five seconds up the road. With only a few laps to go the duo managed to keep the pace high to ward off the peloton, however, former Jittery Joe's rider Tim Henry, was able to bridge to Jafer and Bryson solo. Shortly after Tim caught the break he muscled on through gapping Jafer and his breakaway partner on the final climb and was able to hold his gap to the line. With Tim up the road and the peolton nipping at their heels, Jafer outsprinted Bryson taking 2nd place while Thomas nearly took the field sprint behind Emile Abraham, for fifth place.

Sunday's race in Winder (outside of Athens) was epic to say the least. With the first threat of snow this year, the race started under a light drizzle in the low 30s. Only 11 riders started the race and because of the weather conditions the race was cut to 5 laps or about 35 miles. Like the previous race, attacks started after the gun, mostly out of the need to keep warm! Jafer once again found himself in good position when he followed a move by Frank Travieso, which outflanked Tim Henry. As the weather conditions worsened, so did the race as the number of laps was reduced to 3. There was so much water on the road that it turned to slush as the temperature fell with the snow. Coming out of the final turn Jafer hoped to outfox Frank but was caught on the line, finishing in 2nd once again. After the two races, Jafer is also leading the points competition in the Georgia Cycling Gran Prix series.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Blowing Out the Cob Webs @ the Snake Creek Gap Time Trial # 2

It's been five weeks since the last Snake Creek Gap mountain bike time trial in Dalton, GA. During that time Jafer has had plenty of time to train and work his way back into shape. Today was the best weekend in recent memory as the mercury rose to near 70 degrees with clear, sunny skies. While Jafer was busy tearing up the single track in Dalton, Oscar and Joey were tearing up the roads in Athens at the Winter Bike League's 130 mile Toccoa World Cup on their brand new Louis Garneau road bikes.

Last month, Jafer struggled to post a 3:17:00 with the 34 mile trail as he had just started training. However, this month he shaved about 16 minutes off his previous time to finish with an official time of 3:01:17 (split time 1:20 at mile 17, 1:41:17 for second 17 miles). The second 17 miles is more technical and requires a little more finesse to avoid flat tires and a trip over the handle bars, which Jafer lacks since he doesn't get to ride/race his mountain bike very often. The race course is one of the most fun point to point races around with switch backs, fire roads, fast descents, short steep climbs, rock gardens, and long sustained climbs. Today was also the first race that Jafer has used his Ipod in a race for a little bit of extra motivation, which really paid off. One of the best things about the event is the snack food table at the end of the race complete with chili, cookies, fig newtons, pretzels, and the local homemade mega cookie (chocolate chips, oatmeal, cranberries, etc). (photos courtesy of J Burnette)
The trail conditions were near perfect allowing Thomas Turner to blaze to an official time of 2:46:25. Other notables were Sam Koerber @ 2:46:49, Harlan Price @ 2:52:20, and Timothy Carson @ 2:56:06 who all rode the 34 miler.

Jittery Joe's Merges with Kudzu.com

As seen on CyclingNews.com
The Jittery Joe's team announced Friday that it would join forces with the Kudzu.com under-25 team for the 2009 season. The Jittery Joe's team had stepped away from professional status for this year, and is now refocusing its efforts on developing talent in the southeast US region.

The merger creates the Jittery Joe's p/b Kudzu.com U25 Cycling Team, which will bring in Dan Larson as a team director. Kudzu.com riders Jafer Beizer, Thomas Brown, Oscar Clark and Joey Rosskopf will return, and will be joined by Mike Niemi, former US junior national time trial champion and Anthony Bennett, former Australian junior national scratch race champion.

Micah Rice, who built the Jittery Joe's Cycling team from the ground up commented, "While it is always hard to take a step back, I think we have put together a really strong and reputable program for 2009. Jittery Joe's will always have a strong presence in the cycling community."

The Jittery Joe's p/b Kudzu.com U25 Cycling Team Riders: Jafer Beizer, Anthony Bennett, Thomas Brown, Oscar Clark, Mike Niemi, Joey Rosskopf. Team Director: Dan Larson with additional team support provided by Jeremy Hutchison-Krupat and Micah Rice.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Early season power profiles

In the first partial team ride of the year a few things are clear; everyone is psyched about the 2009 season, fitness is fluid, and headwinds suck. If you rode on Thursday in Georgia then you might recall how windy it was, some gusts nearly took us out! Thomas, Oscar, and Joey met Jafer at the horse park in Conyers for a 4+ hour ride through parts of Covington, Social Circle, and Mansfield. The route was mostly rolling country back roads with the occasional dirt/gravel road thrown in for fun. Below are the powertap files for Thomas, Jafer, and Oscar for the first 3.5 hours of the ride.

Thomas


Jafer


Oscar

2009 Snake Creek Gap TT #1

On January 3rd, Jafer set out on the first of three mountain bike time trails on the Pinhoti trail system in Dalton, GA. The time trial is 34 miles long across some of the most technical trials in north Georgia (only the last 6 or so miles is really technical). Rain clouds, mist, and fog greeted all of the 200 plus racers to make for a very unique race.

The race is point to point, so all of the racers and their bikes are bussed out to the start and then we race back to the finish. The last time Jafer had spent a significant amount of time on his bike was way back in October at the Oktoberfest race, so shifting (and fitness) was significantly impaired from gunky cables and housing (from all the mud and corrosion). Since his shifting was less than stellar, he relied heavily on his granny gear to make it up the climbs. He finished in 3:17:52 with hopes of dropping at least 10 minutes by next month. It's amazing how fickle fitness can be, he didn't feel like he was riding hard but still managed to post a decent time, likely due to his new 29er. The route has some awesome descents, short steep technical climbs, rolling terrain, and a couple of creek crossings, but most importantly is a very fun trail to race.

Some of the bigger names attending the race were Thomas Turner and Harlan Price, both seasoned pros. Jafer was able to talk to Harlan after the race and found out that he had doubled flatted and still posted a 3:03:50. The winning time was set by Thomas in 2:57:58 but was slower than the fastest time of last year, 2:50:06, as set by Thomas, due to trail conditions.

Oktober fest 8 hour mtb race, Oscar's cross campaign, and the 2009 season!

It's been a while since the blog has been updated, actually it's been too long. First, we are looking forward to another great year of racing after a successful season. Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of last season was winning two back to back stages at the Fitchburg Longsjo stage race, a stellar performance by the entire team at the Tour of Atlanta, surviving Super Week, and a myriad of podium finishes throughout the year. Second, we hope to build upon the success of last year as the team will undergo many changes in the next few months. We will undergo a name change, add a few more riders, and expand our ambitions for this season. Check back for more team updates!

Jafer concluded his 2008 season with the final stop of the National Ultra-Endurance mountain bike series at Fisher Farm Park in North Carolina. After a couple of days of steady rain the course was saturated and was a peanut butter like consistency which made for a long 8 hours! Jafer started out well holding Tinker Juarez's wheel for the first half lap, until he lost contact with the front group due to sliding out on the slippery course. For the remainder of the race he tried to keep positive after losing a large chunk of time and just rode for fun, finishing 7th in the 8 hour race. He fared better in Sunday's time trial finishing in first only a second ahead and then took second place in the mountainbike cross race.


Oscar stayed on the attack for the entire Georgia Cross Series, eventually winning the overall series. On his way he won three of the eight races, was second three times, and placed third twice! He also finished 11th at the Collegiate cross nats and 24th in the U-23 cross nats.

What's fast, growing, and everywhere?

What exactly is Kudzu? Well, if you are from the south you'd probably say that it grows everywhere on everything and is nearly impossible to stop (just like our team). For those of you that haven't had the pleasure of experiencing kudzu, this literally happened overnight.

http://evidencebasedonly.blogspot.com/2008/05/kudzu-root-hangover-remedies-are.html

The plant is native to Southern Japan and China but was brought to the Southern United States to help prevent soil erosion and has continued to grow almost exponentially. For a full kudzu history lesson click here .

Now that you know so much about Kudzu and the south, you can appreciate Kudzu.com, an online business directory that incorporates customer reviews. It is part of the Cox Enterprises family and title sponsor of the Atlanta based Kudzu.com U23 team. So the next time you are searching for a local business give Kudzu.com a try!

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