Blue Island Graph

This is an excel file from my powertap from yesterdays race. It shows the speed for the race. Max speed was about 35 mph and average was 28.5 mph. I did not contest the sprint which is obvious by the graph. I did not use my powertap wheel because my race wheel is much lighter. I might ride the powertap wheel soon. Since there are no big teams here the pace fell in the final few laps which makes it much more dangerous. As the peleton bunches up the likely hood of clipping wheels increases!

Off to a fast start

Tonights course was a perfect start to kick off our campaign for the next couple of weeks, as it was FAST but not hard. The course had two very long straights, about 6 blocks long while the corners were only a block. The hardest part of the race was dodging the countless holes, cracked pavement, sewer grates, and road grime. As we expected the straights kept us at a constant 30-32 mph, while it slowed a bit in the four corners. That was probably the fastest 62 miles this year, as we did each lap in about 2 minutes, with the total race time around 2 hours. Our average was 28.5 mph but since the course was wide it made it easy to sit in and coast along, even when the field was single file front to back. Joey and Thomas led our team finishing somewhere around the top 25 riders while Jafer and Oscar were about mid-pack. In the final 3 laps the field was pretty sketchy as it stretched more than 15 wide through the corners when only about 10 riders should have gone through. After the race Jafer talked to and even posed with some very nice spectators that came out to watch the race; they even cheered for the team during the race. Thanks for the support, hopefully we will see you at the next few races!

After the race we headed to Walgreens for a few cold drinks. Oscar got some weird strawberry kiwi drink that he didn't like, Thomas got an orange flavored drink that had 29 grams of carbs per 8oz (very respectable post-race drink), Jafer got a liter of real orange juice (26 grams of carbs per 8oz), and Joey got the Tiger edition Gatorade with a meager 14 grams of carbs per 8oz. Then we headed across the street for some awesome double wrapped burritos from Chipotle then back to our respective hosts homes for some much needed showers!

Ready or not...stage 2 begins today

Even though Thomas and Oscar did a great job driving, we didn't manage to beat Google's estimated time of 11.5 hours (even though we did technically gain an hour when we moved time zones). Our travel time included the 3 gas stops and food stop we made, along with the countless toll stops, so our actual travel time was less than 11 hours for the 700 something miles.

We arrived around 6 pm to our new temporary home in the Chicago area, where Joey was waiting for us. He had the luxury of a relatively short plane ride from Atlanta, as he was returning from his college orientation (he flew home from Boston last week after we finished Fitchburg). We actually have two host homes, Jafer and Joey are together and Thomas and Oscar are a few blocks down the road in another host home. We would like to thank them for their generosity and hospitality! After becoming acquainted with the hosts, we headed out and rode to stage 1 in Beverly Hills, where we watched a few laps. Then we headed on to scoop out today's race course in Blue Island, a very flat and open course. We expect a constant speed in the 30s for the course, as the corners are very open and shouldn't cause a bunch-up.

After the ride we headed out to a great Italian restaurant with Jafer and Joey's host family. Thomas even challenged our host's son to an eat off but was out gunned and resorted to a to go box. Once dinner was over we headed to the grocery store so we can prepare the rest of our meals. We got the essentials like last time nothing that special. Luckily, there is an Xbox 360 in the basement where Jafer and Joey are staying to keep them entertained all night long, as they take turns playing Grand Theft Auto 4.

CHI Town Bound

Tomorrow (its actually only a handful of hours from now) at 6am we head to Blue Island, Illinois, to our new temporary host home. We begin racing on Saturday at the International Cycling Classic known as Superweek, but it should be more like Superweeks. We expect some fast racing but hopefully after completing the USA Crits Speed Week it should be a walk in the park! Google says it should take about 11.5 hours, but with Thomas behind the wheel anything is possible! Hopefully, we will be entertained by another great book on tape, can't wait!

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Fitchburg Longsjo Report: Stage 2

7/4/08 - Stage 2
The 92 mile road race was pretty hard to say the least and even saw Thomas out climb Jafer, a historic feat in itself. The road race consisted of 8 large laps then turned into a ski resort for the final 2K finish climb that gained 1,000 vertical feet, with some pretty steep sections. Since Oscar was the GC guy, Jafer was in charge of covering all of the early moves while Oscar and Thomas kept calm in the pack. In the first few laps there was a myriad of attacks that slowly wore on Jafer as he covered them. Every time up the feed zone climb the pack stretched thin as the incline became steeper all the way up.

Jafer utilized Thomas' patented "Florida Fade", everytime up it to try and conserve some energy. The Florida fade means to be in the top 15 or so at the base of the climb and then slowly fade backwards as everyone else is riding hard. By the time you crest you are at the back of the pack or slightly behind. Luckily, there was a nice decent following the feedzone so with a good tuck you could easily catch back on.

With about 4 laps to go a few riders gained a three minute lead on the pack, but the entire Metlife team came to the front and pulled the gap down to a minute.

On the final lap Jafer knew that he would be hard pressed to make it over the feedzone climb with the pack and his chances of finishing with the pack would be even smaller. So he did what naturally occurred to him, attack, and don't look back. Luckily, he caught a rider that had been dropped from the break and they worked together to make it over the feedzone climb. He made it 3/4th of the way over, then the pack caught him and it wasn't hard to catch back on the downhill. Once again he went to the front to try and help Oscar but told Thomas that he would have to do most of the work for Oscar. As the peloton began the final 2K climb to finish the pace rose then rose some more. Jafer was shelled with under 2K to go and slowly inched his way to the top, to tired to even stand on his bike as both Oscar and Thomas flew up the mountain. In the 6 or so years, that Thomas and Jafer have been racing with each other Thomas has never beaten Jafer up a single climb much less one this difficult! Frankly, Jafer was relieved that it was up to Thomas to keep Oscar protected as long as he could and thats just what he did. Oscar rode to a well deserved 14th place, followed by Thomas in 31st, then Jafer in 64th.

Fitchburg Longsjo Report: Stage 1

I finally sat down to write the time trial and road race report because we are about to start racing again on Saturday.

Here are some pictures of what Thomas' car looks like when loaded. Count the bikes on the roof, pretty impressive!



7/3/08 - Stage 1 time trial
Yesterday, we went to the grocery store to load up on the typical bike racer food, pasta, bread, cereal, bananas, marshmallow fluff, Nutella, and peanut butter. Jafer almost had a panic attack as the selection for grits was even smaller than what was available back in Pennsylvania, limited to only one small box of grits! For some reason nobody seemed to get a good nights sleep the night before the start of the race, maybe it was the prerace jitters or the moon, whatever it was it left its mark. Luckily, thats nothing that good coffee can't fix as we all loaded up on it. After breakfast we packed the car up which is a spectacle in itself. For those of you that don't know us here is a brief summary.

Thomas is a master packer, he usually has everything ready the night before, so he is always the first ready. Oscar can't sit still very long, especially anytime he hears the word race. His packing skills are pretty good but he has been known to leave shoes, numbers, etc at home. Joey and Jafer are a different story, as they are always battling not to be the last one out of the door. So while Joey and Jafer are still struggling to make it out of the door, Thomas and Oscar are waiting around rushing them and even resort to herding them out of the door so they can't go back for something else.

We finally left the house and headed to the course. Once there, we had about two hours to kill before the start of the race, but the time always seems to slip by and we end up in a rush to get to the line. Everybody got about an hour warm-up, which was very important for an uphill time trial. The course seemed a bit easier today but it still burned the legs the entire way up. Oscar smoked the course setting the fastest pace on the team in 14th place only 51 seconds off the fastest time. Joey should have been next around 30th place but had a prerace mishap. As all cyclists know the prerace jitters are pretty strong especially before a time trial, so Joey went into the woods. Unfortunately, no officials said anything to him or tried to stop him as he tried to politely relieve himself in the woods. We didn't find out until after the race (about 8pm)that he had been DISQUALIFIED, a very harsh decision. Usually, they will fine the rider or give them the last place time but they would not budge! Jafer was next in 44th followed by Thomas in 80th place. Oscar was now officially our GC guy, so it was important that he have a good result in the road race.

'Could'zu B-2-B?

We awoke to a great chocolate chip banana pancake breakfast courtesy of Joey and hot coffee provided by Jeremy. After finishing breakfast, we loaded the car and made the short drive to the crit course in downtown Fitchburg. Yesterday's weather was the warmest day of the race, with the temperature in the high 80s. Once we found a suitable parking space, we proceeded to sign in for the stage then went back to the car to change. Before we head off to warmup we made sure we had everything we needed: gels check, water check, radios check, legs check.

The 28 lap crit started hard with multiple attacks with Oscar doing the majority of covering. He rode off the front in a small break for a few laps as the field tried to bring him back. After Oscar's break came back he worked overtime as he stayed at the front ready to cover the next move. Meanwhile, Thomas was riding it smart in the back of the pack doing as little as he could. Jafer was somewhere between Oscar and Thomas, as he moved up and back to help Oscar out.

With about 7 laps to go a dangerous break of 4 riders went up the road and gained about 8 seconds on the field. With nobody else willing to chase Oscar went straight to the front and buried himself for the next few laps to pull it back as Jafer dropped back to start brining Thomas up. At three laps to go the race came back together with the Kudzu boys setting the pace on the front. Oscar, Jafer, and Thomas were in the top 5 ready to setup Thomas for the win. With two laps to go Jafer did everything he could to protect Thomas as the peloton tried swarming. On the final lap Jafer took over the lead with Thomas fighting for his wheel. Over the radio Jeremy's voice crackled, "Thomas it's your wheel! You own it, so take it". After a short battle for Jafer's wheel Thomas successfully nudged the other rider out, as Jafer kept the pace steady at nearly 35 mph for the entire last lap. With the field strung out single file Thomas didn't hesitate to yell at Jafer to keep the pace high, "GO,GO,GO, DON'T STOP, !&@#ing GO!". A few riders tried to pass before the 2nd to last turn but Jafer swung wide and dug a little deeper taking the corner at breakneck speed. After hitting a ripple in the pavement, he went from the very inside of the turn to nearly hitting the hay bales on the opposite side, sliding the entire way. Luckily, Thomas didn't go down and was first wheel out of the last turn with 400 meters to the line. As Jafer drifted back he yelled over the radio, " GO, GO, GO, you got this, GOOOO!". A few seconds later he heard the race announcer confirm his suspicion, Thomas Brown of Decatur, GA riding for "Could-zu" (apparently they pronounce 'Kud' as could) had won back to back stages in the Fitchburg Longsjo Stage Race. Everybody was excited as the team executed perfect teamwork to dominate the two sprint finishes. Look for us next week at Superweek, as we try to do the same!

We want to thank our host Brant Hornberger for his hospitality, his friends for providing us an awesome dinner, and T.J. Winalski and his wonderful family for support, food, and the awesome pictures below. For the full gallery go to:

Fitchburg Crit