This Fall, Oscar will be race a full Cyclocross season, mainly focusing on the Georgia Series but also trying to hit a few UCI races and the National Championships in December. The Georgia series kicked off in the mountains of Dahlonega. The course consisted of the usual 'cross distractions' along with some slick gravel roads and a jump-able log. Oscar took the 'hole shot' off the line and soon was in a lead group of three containing Rob Giannini of the Athens based Loco's team and mountain bike professional Thomas Turner (Outspokin). Mid race Oscar took a digger hopping the log and lost contact with the group. He quickly recovered to catch Giannini but never made it back to Turner and rode in for 2nd.
The second race of the series changed scenery and went to the beach in Savannah. The course was nearly dead flat, started and finished on a small town "dirt track" car racing oval, and included a serious mud pit and an intimidating "fly-over." The course provided little to initially split up the field, so for the first few laps a group of around seven riders stayed together. Mid race a selection in the mud left only Oscar, Nate Sibly (Specialized) and Ryan Leech (Visit PA) to battle for the win. Once it was only Oscar and Nate in the lead group, a last lap attack barely delivered Oscar to the line first for the win.
With the two podium performances Oscar is now the leader of the season long points standings and looks to defend the title in Conyers.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Sitting in with Thomas "Crash" Brown
So the end of my season was not what I expected. After crashing while training at the velodrome just three days before leaving for collegiate track nationals, I quickly realized my season was over. This realization was confirmed by the Orthopaedist's recommendation for surgery. About ten days after the crash, in order for the swelling to go down, I went in for surgery. They essentially took a twelve centimeter titanium plate and fastened it to my collarbone using sever screws. I remember getting quite angry with the anesthesiologist because he didn't understand how you could ride a bike on a banked track, but this was while he was giving me the magic potion to put me to sleep.
After a week of my mother feeding me narcotics for the pain and laying in bed watching TV, I started to feel better. I then started physical therapy after ten days. Since then I've been going to my PT twice a week, and a week ago I got back on the bike, which was four weeks after surgery. So I am essentially better, though my strength is not there-- at least that's what my PT says...though I think it really wasn't there before.
After a week of my mother feeding me narcotics for the pain and laying in bed watching TV, I started to feel better. I then started physical therapy after ten days. Since then I've been going to my PT twice a week, and a week ago I got back on the bike, which was four weeks after surgery. So I am essentially better, though my strength is not there-- at least that's what my PT says...though I think it really wasn't there before.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Dirty Spokes 6 hour @ Conyers
It was another great weekend (10.11.2008) of mountain bike racing for Jafer at his hometown course, the Georgia International Horse Park, site of the inaugural (1996) Olympic mountain bike race. With 300 registered riders for the final race of the Dirty Spokes endurance series, a great race was guaranteed. He competed in the solo expert category for the 6 hour race as preparation for his final endurance race of the year, a solo 8 hour race on October 25th in Davidson, NC.
Jafer was fortunate to have the support of his girlfriend and many others that assisted with feeds throughout the race. He even visited the neutral support provided by Addictive Cycles, to have his chain lubed and seat readjusted after it titled on the trail. All in all, it was another smooth race, thanks to frequent feeds and of course good luck.
The trail was perfect for a roadie, as it had plenty of field riding and rolling power sections. Jafer even had a career best of posting the fastest lap time, something he had yet to accomplish. After completing 9 laps of the 8.3 mile circuit, in a time of 6 hours 6 minutes and 57 seconds, he cruised in for the win, nearly 7 minutes ahead of second place. For complete race results click here
Jafer was fortunate to have the support of his girlfriend and many others that assisted with feeds throughout the race. He even visited the neutral support provided by Addictive Cycles, to have his chain lubed and seat readjusted after it titled on the trail. All in all, it was another smooth race, thanks to frequent feeds and of course good luck.
The trail was perfect for a roadie, as it had plenty of field riding and rolling power sections. Jafer even had a career best of posting the fastest lap time, something he had yet to accomplish. After completing 9 laps of the 8.3 mile circuit, in a time of 6 hours 6 minutes and 57 seconds, he cruised in for the win, nearly 7 minutes ahead of second place. For complete race results click here
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Black Bear Rampage MTB Race
On Saturday the 27th of September, Jafer and one of his friends made the trek north to Ducktown, TN for the Black Bear Rampage, a 44 mile mountain bike race at the Ocoee Whitewater Center (site of the 96' Olympics). 
After setting up camp at the Thunder Rock campground, they quickly geared up to hit the trail when the first misfortune happened. Jafer was tightening his shoe straps and the plastic cinch piece broke rendering his left shoe useless.
They awoke to a moderate temperature in the low 60s and promptly rekindled the fire to heat the pre-made pancake breakfast. Thankfully, the campground was about a mile from the start so after breakfast they packed the car and headed out. After changing, they headed to the start line where the disarray started. The line up consisted of someone saying, wave one (pro/semi-pro) to the line and then ten seconds later saying go, with no grouping of the riders into age groups. Jafer was in the second wave (expert) that started 30 seconds behind. He didn't know if he was racing against the entire expert field or if the field would be broken down into age groups, so he sprinted off the line leaving his field behind.
With less than ten miles remaining, Jafer switched it into high gear and tried to keep the pace steady to the finish. Since there were no neutral feeds at the 3 sag stations he was forced to push on without stopping to refill his bottles. He was able to carry one large bottle on his bike and a smaller bottle in his jersey pocket, which was just short of what he needed.
After 2 hours 55 minutes and 12 seconds he crossed the line for first place, 3 minutes and 7 seconds ahead of the second placed expert rider. It turned out to be a good weekend even though the race wasn't that organized and the entry fee was excessive. In short the trail made the race, not the organizers.
After setting up camp at the Thunder Rock campground, they quickly geared up to hit the trail when the first misfortune happened. Jafer was tightening his shoe straps and the plastic cinch piece broke rendering his left shoe useless. Luckily, he had some weed-eater line in his Jeep and after a few creative attempts, found an appropriate solution to his dilemma; albeit a little Jafer rigged (he had to think outside of his usual arsenal of tools: super glue, jb weld, and tape) it held for the entire ride, a very good sign for the race.After the ride they scrambled to prepare dinner over the campfire. The menu consisted of hearty vension burritos, complete with onions, tomatoes, rice, and cheese. After a filling dinner they turned in for the night since the race was scheduled to start at 8:30 the next morning.
They awoke to a moderate temperature in the low 60s and promptly rekindled the fire to heat the pre-made pancake breakfast. Thankfully, the campground was about a mile from the start so after breakfast they packed the car and headed out. After changing, they headed to the start line where the disarray started. The line up consisted of someone saying, wave one (pro/semi-pro) to the line and then ten seconds later saying go, with no grouping of the riders into age groups. Jafer was in the second wave (expert) that started 30 seconds behind. He didn't know if he was racing against the entire expert field or if the field would be broken down into age groups, so he sprinted off the line leaving his field behind.
The first three miles of the race was on Tennessee highway 68, so he locked his fork out and caught up to the pro field in front and entered the single track in 4th place. For the next hour and a half he stayed in 3rd to 4th place, with only 5 riders in his leading group. Up to this point he had seen a bear run across the trail, two riders in front of him crash, one rider get a flat tire, and a trail marker that had fallen down causing his group to stop and argue about which way to turn.At about the halfway point his group hit the first major climb which split the leading group even further. Jafer moved into second place overall (1st in his field) and tried to reel in the rider in front but wasn't able to make contact. For the next 22 miles, he maintained his lead over the riders behind him. At one point he had to stop and wait for the rider behind him to catch up to ask him for directions. To his dismay a chair stood in the trail which split into a Y, which meant Jafer had a 50/50 chance of going the right direction. Luckily, the other rider decided that they should go to the right which was the correct choice (Jafer was going to go left).
With less than ten miles remaining, Jafer switched it into high gear and tried to keep the pace steady to the finish. Since there were no neutral feeds at the 3 sag stations he was forced to push on without stopping to refill his bottles. He was able to carry one large bottle on his bike and a smaller bottle in his jersey pocket, which was just short of what he needed.
In the last half hour he ran out of water and steam, as he was on the verge of cramping, but he kept on to the finish. When he emerged out of the single track to the final one K climb to the finish, he was disheartened to see another rider sprint out of the trail about 15 seconds after him. Unbeknown to him, it was a rider in wave one and posed no threat but he was determined to hold his place to the line.
After 2 hours 55 minutes and 12 seconds he crossed the line for first place, 3 minutes and 7 seconds ahead of the second placed expert rider. It turned out to be a good weekend even though the race wasn't that organized and the entry fee was excessive. In short the trail made the race, not the organizers.
Dauset Trails 6 hr mtb race
On September 20th, 2008, Jafer completed his first solo 6 hour mountain bike race this season at Dauset Trails in Jackson, GA. After a few down weeks following nationals, he didn't know what to expect fitness wise. The longest ride he had done in the lead-up to the race was a 3 hour ride a couple weeks prior to the race.
After, basically sitting on Jeff's wheel for the majority of the race, Jafer didn't feel right trying to out sprint him at the finish, so he backed off a little bit on the final lap (he also didn't want to make it inside of the time cut, which meant he would have to ride another lap). After 7 grueling laps, Jafer finished in second place in a very tight race.
He felt that the most sportsman like gesture he could make was to take second, since he was not able to ride away from Jeff and had to sit on his wheel. It was the most contested race he has ever completed on his mountain bike and even though he didn't take the win he was happy with the fight. If only Jafer had finished his cornbread breakfast he could have won.
However, the course was perfect for a 6 hour race, fast, smooth, and rolling with no major climbs. He faced a very determined competitor, Jeff Clayton, who dueled it out the entire race.Jafer had faster pit stops every lap which allowed him to regain the lead for the beginning of every lap but he was always caught by Jeff, before the finish line. Some laps it would take only a few minutes, others took twenty minutes, but Jeff always resumed the pace setting responsibility.
After, basically sitting on Jeff's wheel for the majority of the race, Jafer didn't feel right trying to out sprint him at the finish, so he backed off a little bit on the final lap (he also didn't want to make it inside of the time cut, which meant he would have to ride another lap). After 7 grueling laps, Jafer finished in second place in a very tight race.
He felt that the most sportsman like gesture he could make was to take second, since he was not able to ride away from Jeff and had to sit on his wheel. It was the most contested race he has ever completed on his mountain bike and even though he didn't take the win he was happy with the fight. If only Jafer had finished his cornbread breakfast he could have won.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Festival of Speed at Dick Lane (9/20/08)
The Kudzu duo of Joey and Oscar skin-suited up for Saturday’s Dick Lane Velodrome Festival of Speed, which was the final track event of the season. The pair was fresh off of a trip from collegiate track nationals held in
The night started with a few 5 lap scratch heats (5 lap race to the finish) which qualified riders into the night’s handicap finals and keirin finals. With both Kudzu riders in the same heat, getting one qualified for the later races was a must. Oscar went straight to work with an early attack to stretch the field and kept the pace high to deliver Joey the win.
Since Joey advanced to the finals, the game plan was to keep him high in the overall standings by winning as many points in the remaining races as possible. The next event was a 60 lap points race, with point sprints every 5 laps. Oscar spent time covering moves from the field and chasing down strong attacks from a Fiordifrutta rider. Meanwhile, Joey was able to grab enough points in the sprints to take second in the race behind multiple time masters national champ Kenny Williams.
The trend continued through the night, as Oscar kept the field together while Joey light up the sprints. Joey place second in the 20 lap scratch event behind masters world and elite national kilo champ Steve Hill. Next on the bill, was the fastest and scariest race known on the track, the keirin, an exciting race where about 10 riders are brought up to speed, paced behind a motorcycle, and dropped off at one and a half laps to go, for an all out sprint. Positioning is key in the keirin, a full contact event, and Joey showed his true colors as an all around bike racer by fighting off some good headbutts and pushes from the big Joe Eldridge of Team Type 1, to hold onto his spot and place third in the 40+ mph event.
The only slip up of the night from the Kudzu duo came in the miss-n-out (an elimination race where the last rider of every lap is out) when a few miscommunications under the roar of the large crowd saw Joey out early. Oscar renewed the team’s hope by beating two time Giro di Italia finisher Trent Wilson for second place behind Kenny Williams.
The final event, the madison (teams of two compete in a sort of ‘tag team’ points race, complete with tummy turning high speed hand slings to exchange riders) was the only thing stopping them from a nearly perfect night. The first exchange was bungled by trying not to crash in the chaos of 10 teams exchanging at once. Consequently, the two lost about half a lap on the hard charging Jittery Joe’s duo. After about 15 laps of crisp exchanges and full tilt riding, the Kudzu boys caught the front of the detonated race which was controlled by Jittery Joes.
Everyone else was a lap down on the two dominate teams of the night. After missing the first few sprints, the pressure was building as the sprints were close, none closer than the mid-race $500 ‘crowd prime’ where Jittery Joe’s pro Tim Henry narrowly edged out Oscar by the width of his front tire.Joey and Oscar kept tough, holding on through the insanity to end up second in the race. After a dramatic finale and successful night of racing, Joey finished second overall in the omnium with Oscar close behind in fourth.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Collegiate track nationals (Colorado, Springs)
Bad luck can't keep the team's spirit down. Last Friday, during a training session at the Dick Lane Velodrome in East Point (Atlanta), Georgia, Thomas Brown suffered a major setback for collegiate track nationals. Thomas and Oscar were practicing their pursuit efforts when the mishap occurred. Thomas was leading with Oscar on his wheel, when Thomas went up track and miscalculated Oscar's whereabouts. When Thomas came down track, he clipped Oscar's rear wheel, immediately slamming him to the apron. He sustained a broken collar bone (in 3 places) and multiple lacerations on his left side, thwarting his hopes and psyche for the next few weeks.
However, Oscar was able to turn the bad fortune around with an undaunted 4th place in the 3K pursuit with a time of 3:33.724, just shy of the winner's time of 3:30.381. Joey rode a stellar race placing 6th with a time of 3:34.938. Today was day one of the 3 day track event, so expect some more big results from the Team Kudzu riders. Thomas is preparing to undergo surgery next Tuesday at the Emory Sports Clinic in Atlanta.
However, Oscar was able to turn the bad fortune around with an undaunted 4th place in the 3K pursuit with a time of 3:33.724, just shy of the winner's time of 3:30.381. Joey rode a stellar race placing 6th with a time of 3:34.938. Today was day one of the 3 day track event, so expect some more big results from the Team Kudzu riders. Thomas is preparing to undergo surgery next Tuesday at the Emory Sports Clinic in Atlanta.
Friday, September 5, 2008
The COX MS 150 bike ride is coming up!!!!!! 9/13-14/08
From the Cox website:
What is the Bike MS: Cox Atlanta Ride?
What is the Bike MS: Cox Atlanta Ride?
Formerly known as the Cox MS 150 Atlanta Challenge, the Bike MS: Cox Atlanta Ride is taking place on September 13-14, 2008. Endorsed by ardent cyclists and novices alike, the tour offers a two-day fundraising ride through the beautiful surrounding countryside of Callaway Gardens and Pine Mountain, Georgia, a short distance from Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson Airport, with spectacular views and historic towns along the way. Georgia's Two-Day Cycling Tradition, Bike MS: Cox Atlanta Ride is a non-profit sporting event celebrating its 22nd year in the fight against multiple sclerosis benefiting the National MS Society–Georgia Chapter.
The ride is reaching new heights in an effort to better the lives of all Georgians living with MS. By joining hundreds of riders, participants will be making a profound difference in the lives of people living with MS who are served by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society-Georgia Chapter. The Bike MS: Cox Atlanta Ride is one of two rides hosted by the National MS Society-Georgia Chapter and together will raise more than $1.4 million for client programs and research in 2008. The Bike MS: Cox Atlanta Ride and its sister tour, the Bike MS: Georgia Power Savannah Ride held in the spring, are regarded by cycling enthusiasts as premier rides in Georgia with experienced management, well-coordinated routes, and special attention to riders' safety, comfort and enjoyment.
Proceeds from the tour will help support various programs that aid the 8,500 Georgians with MS and their families in all 159 counties of Georgia. The Bike MS: Cox Atlanta Ride also joins thousands of cyclists nationwide in raising $77 million in an effort to fund research and local client programs. By joining the movement and riding in the Bike MS: Cox Atlanta Ride, you have the power to create a world free of MS.
Atlanta Crit and US 100K Race Recaps
Atlanta Criterium Series
On Friday afternoon, Oscar and Thomas found themselves with nothing to do, eventually deciding to spend the evening at a small local race. After the short drive north to Kennesaw (which was lengthened by stop and go traffic) the duo registered and suited up. Since it was Friday evening the attendance of riders was low (about 15). Shortly after the race started, a group of riders took off with neither of the Kudzu boys represented. The break quickly came back as Oscar began setting up for the counter attack with one other rider. The duo eventually lapped the field with 2 laps to go. Meanwhile, Thomas was busy watching everyone else in the field. In the last few kilometers to the finish, there was a slight miscommunication between the two. As a result the other rider beat Oscar for first and Thomas swept the field sprint for third. After the race Thomas and Oscar celebrated by buying some 'racing' candy.
US 100K Classic (NRC circuit race)
With an early morning race start at 7:15am, it was an early morning wake up call. As Oscar and Thomas drove to the race, little was said as they were both still half asleep. With over 140 starters from numerous professional teams, the race was expected to be fast but manageable. The 100K Classic, is an interesting race because of the finish, which is a 50mph plus downhill sprint. With such a large peloton it made for an easy ride in the field as breaking away was nearly impossible. Coming into the finish, the two boys were in near perfect position except when Oscar got to the front a little to early and was forced back. Meanwhile, Thomas was busy fighting for the wheels of the major sprinters from: Healthnet, Jelly Belly, and Kelly Benefits. At 2 kilometers to go, Thomas stuck to Frank Travieso’s (Toshiba-Santo) wheel thinking he would setup for the win. However, Travieso stalled causing Thomas to rethink his plan. After some last minute maneuvering, he was able to salvage the race with a 28th place sprint, approximately less than ten meters behind the winner Bernard Van Ulden of Jelly Belly pro-cycling. Oscar rolled across the line for 52nd.
On Friday afternoon, Oscar and Thomas found themselves with nothing to do, eventually deciding to spend the evening at a small local race. After the short drive north to Kennesaw (which was lengthened by stop and go traffic) the duo registered and suited up. Since it was Friday evening the attendance of riders was low (about 15). Shortly after the race started, a group of riders took off with neither of the Kudzu boys represented. The break quickly came back as Oscar began setting up for the counter attack with one other rider. The duo eventually lapped the field with 2 laps to go. Meanwhile, Thomas was busy watching everyone else in the field. In the last few kilometers to the finish, there was a slight miscommunication between the two. As a result the other rider beat Oscar for first and Thomas swept the field sprint for third. After the race Thomas and Oscar celebrated by buying some 'racing' candy.
US 100K Classic (NRC circuit race)
With an early morning race start at 7:15am, it was an early morning wake up call. As Oscar and Thomas drove to the race, little was said as they were both still half asleep. With over 140 starters from numerous professional teams, the race was expected to be fast but manageable. The 100K Classic, is an interesting race because of the finish, which is a 50mph plus downhill sprint. With such a large peloton it made for an easy ride in the field as breaking away was nearly impossible. Coming into the finish, the two boys were in near perfect position except when Oscar got to the front a little to early and was forced back. Meanwhile, Thomas was busy fighting for the wheels of the major sprinters from: Healthnet, Jelly Belly, and Kelly Benefits. At 2 kilometers to go, Thomas stuck to Frank Travieso’s (Toshiba-Santo) wheel thinking he would setup for the win. However, Travieso stalled causing Thomas to rethink his plan. After some last minute maneuvering, he was able to salvage the race with a 28th place sprint, approximately less than ten meters behind the winner Bernard Van Ulden of Jelly Belly pro-cycling. Oscar rolled across the line for 52nd.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Georgia on my mind....
Today the team is headed back home to Georgia, where we will resume our (somewhat) normal lives, as school is starting and summer is winding down. The outlook for the rest of the season is somewhat unknown, after months of traveling and racing we're not sure how many more races we will tackle this season. The race count for the season is around 50 days of racing and the number seems to get bigger every year.
If you could use one word to describe the road race it would be, sweltering, two words would be red-hot (one word) and ambiguous, as USA cycling failed to elaborate on the 3 minute rule in effect. On the start line they stated that any riders falling out of a 3 minute window would be pulled from the race because they couldn't block traffic for that long. One, why do you hold a road race in such a densely populated area, two, if there was a solo break with a 3 minute lead does that mean he wins by default? Three, most people assumed that the 3 minute window applied to dropped riders not chase groups, which was not clear at the start. Groups of 20 plus riders were pulled on the fourth lap because they were just outside of the 3 minute window, only 13 of the 100+ riders finished!
The race was six laps for a total of 120 miles on rolling terrain with more than 1,000 feet of climbing per lap. The race started off with a two man break that was quickly reeled back in. On the second lap a break went up the road with some of the race favorites along with Jafer as he tried to hold on. He was hoping his legs would come around but became gapped off during an attack and drifted back to the first chase group of about 8 riders. For the next lap and a half he tried to hang tough but eventually fell off the pace during an attack when the chase group caught the lead group and drifted back to the shattered peloton with a few other riders and that's basically how the race unfolded. Most of the remaining riders behind the break were pulled as the peloton was more than 3 minutes down.
If you could use one word to describe the road race it would be, sweltering, two words would be red-hot (one word) and ambiguous, as USA cycling failed to elaborate on the 3 minute rule in effect. On the start line they stated that any riders falling out of a 3 minute window would be pulled from the race because they couldn't block traffic for that long. One, why do you hold a road race in such a densely populated area, two, if there was a solo break with a 3 minute lead does that mean he wins by default? Three, most people assumed that the 3 minute window applied to dropped riders not chase groups, which was not clear at the start. Groups of 20 plus riders were pulled on the fourth lap because they were just outside of the 3 minute window, only 13 of the 100+ riders finished!
The race was six laps for a total of 120 miles on rolling terrain with more than 1,000 feet of climbing per lap. The race started off with a two man break that was quickly reeled back in. On the second lap a break went up the road with some of the race favorites along with Jafer as he tried to hold on. He was hoping his legs would come around but became gapped off during an attack and drifted back to the first chase group of about 8 riders. For the next lap and a half he tried to hang tough but eventually fell off the pace during an attack when the chase group caught the lead group and drifted back to the shattered peloton with a few other riders and that's basically how the race unfolded. Most of the remaining riders behind the break were pulled as the peloton was more than 3 minutes down.
Thomas suffered a flat and with no wheel truck was forced to abandon after 60 miles, Jafer was blown and abandoned after 65 miles, Oscar and Joey were pulled after 80 miles for falling outside of the 3 minute window. The race was so hot that we finished nearly an entire bottle before leaving the feedzone. The ideal situation would have been to drink 4 bottles a lap but we can only carry two at a time, as we didn't want to carry the extra weight in our jerseys. After the race, we were caked white with salt lines like we've never seen before. Our helmets straps were nearly completely white along with our faces as a nice salty crust covered our body.The U23 crit in Anaheim, CA was not exactly what you would call national championship material, as it was entirely in the Los Angeles Angels parking lot; which as you can imagine was extremely flat, hot, and fast (but not that hard)! What do I mean by fast but not hard? Well, the course was so wide that the peloton was usually 10-15 riders wide, which made it very easy to sit in at 30 mph and the turns were wide open. Joey fared the best on the team taking a well deserved 12th while Thomas took 20th (Oscar and Jafer rolled in a little further back after a last lap crash separated the field).
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Oscar and Joey weren't the only fast things on the course
The 33K course was a challenge as expected, with fast times in the mid forties. Hopefully, results will be posted soon on the USA cycling website. In the mean time enjoy some pictures from the tt start and about 5K to go. We even saw a nice red Ferrai on the course.
Oscar finished 23rd 4.53 minutes down and Joey finished in 36th place 6.31 minutes down on the winning time of 44.28 minutes of Peter Stetina (Garmin-Chipolte). For complete U23 results see Cycling News
A picture of Jafer and Ken Rosskopf at the time trial finish in the OC Register
What goes up, must come down
Enjoy the pain that Jafer felt trying to hold his camera while riding up the steep hill
Joey and Jafer bombing down the descent in excess of 40 mph.
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Joey and Jafer bombing down the descent in excess of 40 mph.
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Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Every things bigger in the west
After a few days of riding in the desert we have concluded that everything is actually bigger in the west. The roads are wider, the terrain is more open and spread out, the wind can be nonstop, and the short inclines seem to hurt more. Yesterday, we rode what we thought what was the U23 road course. From the information we had via the handy USA cycling website, including the map on the blog from a few days ago, we rode the entire course only to find out today that it is not the REAL course. Gone are the tough decisive climbs that you would want in a national championship race. The distance has also changed to about 115 miles but the course should actually suit us better than the original course. The old course had one super steep climb that would have blown the race apart followed by a fun technical descent. The new course will be six laps, with 1,050 feet of climbing per 20 mile lap. What Thomas does best, bombing down the twisty descent.
We also previewed the time trial course today, which promises to be a challenge. The 33K course has 1,287 feet of climbing that will shake times up a bit. We expect some times will dip into the mid 40 minute range and we are shooting for a solid 50 minute ride but anything could happen come race day.
Riding more than just roads...
The flight to LA was a long one to say the least. We all had an early morning as we got to the airport around 7:30 am for the 9:40 flight. Its a good thing because we probably spent 45 minutes trying to get all of the bags checked in and if you think that you normally have a hard time with the ticket people then imagine what happens when you have three bike boxes to check along with three 'over-sized' bags according to their measurements.
When we finally arrived at our gate, the 4.5 hour flight began boarding within 20 minutes. Fast forward to the LAX airport where we left behind the heat and humidity of Hot Atlanta, to be welcomed by the cool west coast air. Joey's dad flew in earlier that morning so he could pickup the rental and we quickly rendezvoused with him and headed to our 'as close as you can almost get' ocean side apartment. It didn't take long to get our feet wet!
.Thomas looking cool.
Trying to body surf.
Joey stealing pods from mysterious plant.
After many additional fees and confusion, the haze finally lifted and we began our journey through security. We even talked to one of the screeners because he saw our cool blue team shirts and asked where we were headed. He told us that he used to ride back in the day and even had a Bianchi that he raced. FYI, if you ride the train in the airport, look for a picture of CSC rider David Zabriskie at concourse C, possibly from the 96 Olympics(?).
When we finally arrived at our gate, the 4.5 hour flight began boarding within 20 minutes. Fast forward to the LAX airport where we left behind the heat and humidity of Hot Atlanta, to be welcomed by the cool west coast air. Joey's dad flew in earlier that morning so he could pickup the rental and we quickly rendezvoused with him and headed to our 'as close as you can almost get' ocean side apartment. It didn't take long to get our feet wet!
.Thomas looking cool.
Trying to body surf.
Joey stealing pods from mysterious plant.
Friday, August 1, 2008
California Dreamin
Not much has happened since we got back into Atlanta. Joey was 11th and Oscar was 14th in the Gwinnett Bike Fest road race on July 26th. Other than that everybody has been resting from our summer racing campaign on the hopes of riding into a good result at U23 nationals.
On Wednesday August 6th, Joey and Oscar will try to ride the time trial of their life in the U23 tt, which is an impressive 35 K (Thomas and Jafer decided to save it for the crit and road race).
On Thursday August 7th, we will race the U23 crit which might be broken down into heats if there are too many riders. Having heats makes the race much safer because it reduces the peleton but it also makes it more nerve racking since you have to make sure you make it to the final round.
On Saturday August 9th, we will race the U23 road race in heats (if needed) for a distance of 55 K. The final road race will be on Sunday which is a distance of 166 K or 103 miles.
Our flight leaves tomorrow morning around 9:40 am and we should arrive in Los Angeles around 11 am.
Looks like California should be fun (we promise to wear our helmets)!
On Wednesday August 6th, Joey and Oscar will try to ride the time trial of their life in the U23 tt, which is an impressive 35 K (Thomas and Jafer decided to save it for the crit and road race).
On Thursday August 7th, we will race the U23 crit which might be broken down into heats if there are too many riders. Having heats makes the race much safer because it reduces the peleton but it also makes it more nerve racking since you have to make sure you make it to the final round.
On Saturday August 9th, we will race the U23 road race in heats (if needed) for a distance of 55 K. The final road race will be on Sunday which is a distance of 166 K or 103 miles.
Our flight leaves tomorrow morning around 9:40 am and we should arrive in Los Angeles around 11 am.
Looks like California should be fun (we promise to wear our helmets)!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Road Atlanta and Gwinnett Bike Fest
On Thursday afternoon, Jafer reassembled his road bike after unpacking it from the tattered and beaten bike box, courtesy of FedEx. Luckily, nothing was broken or fell out of the box (he knew from prior experience that there would be holes in the box by the time it reached its destination) as everything was in a bag. The box weighed in at a hefty 61 pounds, a good 20 pounds heavier than a normal bike shipment, as he stuffed a soft suitcase in the box so he wouldn't have to check luggage on Wednesday's flight home.
Jafer's dad used to take him to watch car races at Road Atlanta so he was excited about the opportunity to race on it. The course ran in the opposite direction that it is normally raced which meant that there was a steep hill about 1k from the start/finish. The hill was pretty decisive as most of the attacks occurred there splitting the race apart. Unfortunately, Jafer wasn't feeling the best for the first few laps and sat in hoping that his legs would come around. By the time that he got the green light a move of about 20 riders was up the road (there was an initial break then riders kept bridging in groups). With about 5 laps to go, Jafer attacked up the steep hill riding away from the remaining peloton without looking back. A few minutes later he was joined by Toshiba-Santo rider Frank Travieso and Darren Comer of PaceSetter Steel Service. For the next 4 laps they worked to bridge the gap ahead of them and came very close to bridging (if there were a couple more laps they would have made it). The pace was so high that Darren pulled off with 2 laps to go. Jafer finished a disappointing 24th place but remains hopeful about his chances at nationals. Tomorrow, Joey will try his luck in the 100K road race, a distance he is very familiar with as all the Super Week races were 100K.
Jafer's dad used to take him to watch car races at Road Atlanta so he was excited about the opportunity to race on it. The course ran in the opposite direction that it is normally raced which meant that there was a steep hill about 1k from the start/finish. The hill was pretty decisive as most of the attacks occurred there splitting the race apart. Unfortunately, Jafer wasn't feeling the best for the first few laps and sat in hoping that his legs would come around. By the time that he got the green light a move of about 20 riders was up the road (there was an initial break then riders kept bridging in groups). With about 5 laps to go, Jafer attacked up the steep hill riding away from the remaining peloton without looking back. A few minutes later he was joined by Toshiba-Santo rider Frank Travieso and Darren Comer of PaceSetter Steel Service. For the next 4 laps they worked to bridge the gap ahead of them and came very close to bridging (if there were a couple more laps they would have made it). The pace was so high that Darren pulled off with 2 laps to go. Jafer finished a disappointing 24th place but remains hopeful about his chances at nationals. Tomorrow, Joey will try his luck in the 100K road race, a distance he is very familiar with as all the Super Week races were 100K.
Home at LAST
Thursday morning, we woke up bright and early (5:30 am) to start the home stretch back to Atlanta. This leg of the trip lasted around 13 hours including all the bathroom and gas stops we made. Weighed down as it was, the car was not getting near the gas mileage as it normally did....but Joey was kinda ok with that because it meant we got to stop more which he always enjoys. Having half of the back seat and sitting with all our pillows and sheets, Thomas made a nest and passed out for most of the ride, after putting in the first couple of hours at the wheel. We arrived home at a pretty decent time (around 7:30 pm) which gave Joey plenty of time to go out and catch up with his friends. We've driven a total of 27 hours in the last 3 days....it was good to be home! (we can't get too settled in, because we leave to go to California for nationals on August 2nd.)
Holy Hill (7/21) and Holy *&@# Thats a lot of driving
This was our last day of racing, and, honestly, we probably could have done without it. Oscar and Joey started the race which was shortened to 68 miles instead of 90 after the start was delayed. Oscar dropped out about half way through, after putting in a couple of good attacks, and Joey didn't have much of an impressive finish either. There were a couple big rollers on the course and we just never really felt good going over them.... or anywhere else on the course for that matter. It actually kind of felt like our brakes were rubbing the whole race (they weren't actually, but that's how sluggish we felt). At the finish Joey didn't really have room to sprint anywhere either because it just got so swarmed and crowded. He came across the line around 35th or 40th.
Joey's cousin, Logan Biggs,who is going to school in Milwaukee came to watch the race. He drove his motorcycle out to the course and then followed us home to hang out for a while. He salvaged the day when he invited us to go over to his girlfriend's loft to play some video games, eat, and just hang out for the night. Joey was really happy to spend some time with him.
Wednesday morning, while Oscar and Thomas slept in longer than Joey had ever seen them, he went to get coffee and prepared pancakes for the 3 of them. Soon after we woke up, we got straight to work packing the Volvo. We had to ship 2 boxes of random stuff home (in addition to the TT bikes we sent to CA) so that we would have enough room in the car for everything, but it was still an incredibly tight squeeze. If it weren't for Thomas' master packing skills, there's no way everything would have fit. The car was absolutely stuffed to the brim (remember that we brought 2 cars up here in the first place, and the only difference now was that Jafer had already headed home with his bags).
Joey's cousin, Logan Biggs,who is going to school in Milwaukee came to watch the race. He drove his motorcycle out to the course and then followed us home to hang out for a while. He salvaged the day when he invited us to go over to his girlfriend's loft to play some video games, eat, and just hang out for the night. Joey was really happy to spend some time with him.
On Tuesday morning we woke up at 4:30 am and started our 13 hour drive back to Kutztown. We thought leaving by 5 would at least get us through Chicago before the morning rush hour hit, but we had no such luck. Before we knew it we were rolling slow in traffic at like 6 am! The hold up wasn't too bad however, and as we made our way across the states we probably spent close to $30 on tolls on our 14 hour trek. Arriving in Kutztown that evening, it was nice to be back in that familiar house that we had called home for the first half of the summer.
On Wednesday, we spent much of the day packing up and planning how we're going to fit everything in the car for tomorrow's drive home. We packed up 2 TT bikes in a box, 5 wheels in another box, and some other random stuff to ship home since we won't have room in the car to carry everything (we had 2 cars to bring it all up here).
Wednesday morning, while Oscar and Thomas slept in longer than Joey had ever seen them, he went to get coffee and prepared pancakes for the 3 of them. Soon after we woke up, we got straight to work packing the Volvo. We had to ship 2 boxes of random stuff home (in addition to the TT bikes we sent to CA) so that we would have enough room in the car for everything, but it was still an incredibly tight squeeze. If it weren't for Thomas' master packing skills, there's no way everything would have fit. The car was absolutely stuffed to the brim (remember that we brought 2 cars up here in the first place, and the only difference now was that Jafer had already headed home with his bags).
Evanston (7/20/08)
For Sunday's criterium we headed back down to the Chicago area to the suburb of Evanston, IL. There was a huge showing for Sunday's race in both fans and riders. Evanston had one of the largest field of the series; add a couple tight turns to the mix with nearly a dozen poorly situated man-hole covers that made for a pretty sketchy race.
The second stoppage of the race occurred after a wreck with 5 or 6 laps to go. After a long 20 min intermission we were back on the road and they had bumped the lap counter up to 10 laps to go, so they would have time to finish handing out primes. Joey was feeling really good in the closing laps and was able to fight and maintain his position near the front. He passed a few people in the sprint but not as many as he would have liked to. The next day, when we looked at results, Joey was not listed..... maybe because he finished on the opposite side of the road that the camera was on and possibly blocked by other riders. Unfortunately, most of the checks had already been handed out and there wasn't much we could do about the mishap.
Thomas was feeling pretty worn out from all the racing and didn't finish Evanston, and Oscar was in good form towards the end but just never really made it up to the front to contest the sprint or attack.
The race was stopped twice because of bad crashes (situations where the rider(s) does not get up right away and then nobody wants him to move until the ambulance gets there...so he just lays in the street); the first time we stopped for 15-20 min with 16 laps to go, which was fine with Joey because he had just gotten caught from going off the front trying (unsuccessfully) to get a prime, so it allowed him time to recover.When that crash happened, with 17 to go, Oscar was on Joey's wheel who was on the wheel of the guy that wrecked. Basically, the rider took the corner too wide and might have been blinded by the bright setting sun and ended up running into the outside curb/barrier. That sent his bike flying up and back out onto the road right in front of Joey! Joey ducked to avoid him and swerved to avoid the back half of his bike which was at eye level in front of him with both Oscar and Joey escaping alive.
The second stoppage of the race occurred after a wreck with 5 or 6 laps to go. After a long 20 min intermission we were back on the road and they had bumped the lap counter up to 10 laps to go, so they would have time to finish handing out primes. Joey was feeling really good in the closing laps and was able to fight and maintain his position near the front. He passed a few people in the sprint but not as many as he would have liked to. The next day, when we looked at results, Joey was not listed..... maybe because he finished on the opposite side of the road that the camera was on and possibly blocked by other riders. Unfortunately, most of the checks had already been handed out and there wasn't much we could do about the mishap.
Thomas was feeling pretty worn out from all the racing and didn't finish Evanston, and Oscar was in good form towards the end but just never really made it up to the front to contest the sprint or attack.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Rest = Fun
We all took another rest day today which turned out to be a good choice cause it was a nasty, wet day anyway. Instead of racing we took the opportunity to go check out Lake Michigan which is pretty close by.
While we were out we also stopped at this awesome bakery and picked up two homemade loaves of bread which we've been devouring ever since.
We've also come to realize how lucky we've been with host housing. We've stayed at 3 host houses in a row and every time we've been treated to our own living area in the basement of the host's house. In Chicago, the Joslyns could not have been a single bit more helpful or enjoyable to be around then they were; and this time we even have our own mini fridge and big flat screen T.V. in the basement! Everyone is so nice to host and put up with cyclists like us.
Down by the lake it was super foggy and made for a really cool, peaceful setting as we skipped rocks, played on the shore, and climbed out on some barrier boulders. Joey brought his towel cause his mind was set on swimming but as soon as he touched the water he decided otherwise. It was as cold as an ice bath, and almost the second he submerged his foot it went numb....he decided to pass on the swimming!
While we were out we also stopped at this awesome bakery and picked up two homemade loaves of bread which we've been devouring ever since.
We've also come to realize how lucky we've been with host housing. We've stayed at 3 host houses in a row and every time we've been treated to our own living area in the basement of the host's house. In Chicago, the Joslyns could not have been a single bit more helpful or enjoyable to be around then they were; and this time we even have our own mini fridge and big flat screen T.V. in the basement! Everyone is so nice to host and put up with cyclists like us.
Rippin in Ripon, WI
With a big pancake/waffle lunch sitting heavy in our stomachs, we piled into the car a little after 3 pm and headed to the town of Ripon, WI for Friday's race. We knew we had 80-something miles ahead of us to get to the race and had planned to leave at 2:30, but the lunch Joey prepared ran a little longer than expected...but no biggie, we'd still arrive like an hour and a half before our 6 pm start time (we thought).
We got to Ripon at exactly 4:45 expecting hear the starters gun unload, as soon as we pulled up, but luckily the women's race was still in progress. We've never been happier to see a race running late. Oscar decided to take the day off, so he ran over to registration to check in and pick up wrist bands for Thomas and Joey, as they whipped on their clothes, pumped tires, mixed drinks and made it to the start line in about 15 min. The course had hills on 3 of the 4 straightaways so it was terribly hard to start the race with no warm up. Actually, it was worse than terrible; I immediately started doing Oscars famously funny "pain cave dance," but this time it was no joke.
The first 45 min was the most Joey has ever struggled in the early going of a race. First of all, he started at the back of the group which meant there was a huge acceleration out of each corner and up the hills. His stomach cramped almost immediately simply because he'd just finished stuffing his face with waffles just 2 hours prior to the start, and in addition, his legs felt pretty stiff and not "opened up" from taking that rest day the day before. Totally out of breath and suffering, he started taking the corners really sloppily, and that only added to the pain inflicted by having to sprint out of the corners even harder. Other riders that he had been so much better than in previous stages were coming flying by him on the hills and he was doing all he could just to hold on to the back, sitting almost last wheel. Only 2 laps into the race he was ready to slam on the brakes, drop out, and head home. A thousand things started swarming through Joey's head "I'll probably feel better tomorrow, I don't have to finish today," "why am I doing this to myself?" "what's wrong with me!?!" He thought he couldn't finish the race, so now it was just a question of how long he wanted to torture himself.
It usually takes us a while into a race to warm up, but we never thought we'd pull out of this one. Then, between like 70 and 65 laps to go (it was a 100 lap race) we just started feeling better and better with every lap and our attitude changed. It came as somewhat of a surprise and relief to us when we finally got the feeling that we were going to be able to make it. Instead of dancing with pain, we started dancing with ease up the hills each lap. Then, with 20 laps to go, it started raining..... 3 of the 4 corners of the course were downhill and fast. The race had already blown apart with only about 30 riders remaining; as soon as it started raining, riders started dropping like flies. Not "getting dropped" but sliding out and falling almost every lap. Most of these guys got back in however, and by the finish it seemed like about half the field show cased bloody, skinned up hips. Joey is pleased to say that he went yet another day retaining all his skin.
While making sure to take the corners carefully was a good thing in the closing, rainy laps of the race, it hurt a little bit on the very last lap (by then the roads were nearly dry again). Joey was feeling decent and if he hadn't been a little too cautious around a couple of the last turns, he would have been able to jump past a few people on the hills, but didn't. He pretty much just held position on the last lap and was able to keep anyone from passing him in the sprint. He ended up placing around 15th in the bunch.
So around 3:45, while we were on the road, Oscar picks up this piece of paper in the back seat, looks at it for a minute, looks up at us and goes, "You know the race starts at 4:45 right?" In the front seat, all Thomas and Joey could say was "uuuuuuuuuuuhhhhh." We looked at our directions and an atlas and figured we still had around 50 miles to go....and about an hour before the race starts, "Well, we're almost half way there, lets just try to make it." Instead of driving 60 mph and stopping to get coffee as Joey had requested, we started pushing the speed limit a bit and the only stop we made was when we pulled over for 30 seconds because Oscar swore he was about to pee all over the back seat.
We got to Ripon at exactly 4:45 expecting hear the starters gun unload, as soon as we pulled up, but luckily the women's race was still in progress. We've never been happier to see a race running late. Oscar decided to take the day off, so he ran over to registration to check in and pick up wrist bands for Thomas and Joey, as they whipped on their clothes, pumped tires, mixed drinks and made it to the start line in about 15 min. The course had hills on 3 of the 4 straightaways so it was terribly hard to start the race with no warm up. Actually, it was worse than terrible; I immediately started doing Oscars famously funny "pain cave dance," but this time it was no joke.
The first 45 min was the most Joey has ever struggled in the early going of a race. First of all, he started at the back of the group which meant there was a huge acceleration out of each corner and up the hills. His stomach cramped almost immediately simply because he'd just finished stuffing his face with waffles just 2 hours prior to the start, and in addition, his legs felt pretty stiff and not "opened up" from taking that rest day the day before. Totally out of breath and suffering, he started taking the corners really sloppily, and that only added to the pain inflicted by having to sprint out of the corners even harder. Other riders that he had been so much better than in previous stages were coming flying by him on the hills and he was doing all he could just to hold on to the back, sitting almost last wheel. Only 2 laps into the race he was ready to slam on the brakes, drop out, and head home. A thousand things started swarming through Joey's head "I'll probably feel better tomorrow, I don't have to finish today," "why am I doing this to myself?" "what's wrong with me!?!" He thought he couldn't finish the race, so now it was just a question of how long he wanted to torture himself.
It usually takes us a while into a race to warm up, but we never thought we'd pull out of this one. Then, between like 70 and 65 laps to go (it was a 100 lap race) we just started feeling better and better with every lap and our attitude changed. It came as somewhat of a surprise and relief to us when we finally got the feeling that we were going to be able to make it. Instead of dancing with pain, we started dancing with ease up the hills each lap. Then, with 20 laps to go, it started raining..... 3 of the 4 corners of the course were downhill and fast. The race had already blown apart with only about 30 riders remaining; as soon as it started raining, riders started dropping like flies. Not "getting dropped" but sliding out and falling almost every lap. Most of these guys got back in however, and by the finish it seemed like about half the field show cased bloody, skinned up hips. Joey is pleased to say that he went yet another day retaining all his skin.
While making sure to take the corners carefully was a good thing in the closing, rainy laps of the race, it hurt a little bit on the very last lap (by then the roads were nearly dry again). Joey was feeling decent and if he hadn't been a little too cautious around a couple of the last turns, he would have been able to jump past a few people on the hills, but didn't. He pretty much just held position on the last lap and was able to keep anyone from passing him in the sprint. He ended up placing around 15th in the bunch.
Sure Would Be Nice (Shorewood)
Thursday morning Oscar, Thomas and Joey loaded up the Volvo and headed North to Milwaukee where the second week of Super "Week" was to take place. Jafer departed the night before to spend a couple days in downtown Chicago with his cousin and then a couple more on a farm with his grandparents and uncles. We won't see him again until we get back to Atlanta (we're gonna be back sometime in the last few days of July), so he gets to skip out on the 25 hours of driving we have to get from here to Kutztown and then back to Atlanta......lucky!
After settling in a bit at our new host house, about 2 hours from Chicago, we headed down the road to Shorewood for the kiddies to race (Joey decided to take the day off). Joey almost got swept up and convinced to race by just being around all the race hub bub, but he thought better of it and decided to stick to the plan and take a rest day. Instead, he took off for a nice easy spin along the coast of Lake Michigan, mouth agape at how incredibly huge some of the lake front mansions were. I'm not sure how people can afford such huge houses on such pricey land, but it must nice to live on the water like that.
After riding Joey returned to the course just as the boys' race was starting and, after occupying a Starbucks bathroom for too long to fill up bottles and a jug, headed around to the backside of the course to feed Oscar and Thomas. There was a huge field, and they were absolutely flying and super strung out each time they came through. After being helped to the front by the OC with about 3 laps to go, Thomas was sitting in a really good spot with 1 lap to go but said some really sketchy stuff happened on the last lap. Both boys rolled across the line outside of the top 30. With Kelly Benefits on the front chasing a break down for the entire race, it looked like a pretty unrelentingly fast race.
After settling in a bit at our new host house, about 2 hours from Chicago, we headed down the road to Shorewood for the kiddies to race (Joey decided to take the day off). Joey almost got swept up and convinced to race by just being around all the race hub bub, but he thought better of it and decided to stick to the plan and take a rest day. Instead, he took off for a nice easy spin along the coast of Lake Michigan, mouth agape at how incredibly huge some of the lake front mansions were. I'm not sure how people can afford such huge houses on such pricey land, but it must nice to live on the water like that.
After riding Joey returned to the course just as the boys' race was starting and, after occupying a Starbucks bathroom for too long to fill up bottles and a jug, headed around to the backside of the course to feed Oscar and Thomas. There was a huge field, and they were absolutely flying and super strung out each time they came through. After being helped to the front by the OC with about 3 laps to go, Thomas was sitting in a really good spot with 1 lap to go but said some really sketchy stuff happened on the last lap. Both boys rolled across the line outside of the top 30. With Kelly Benefits on the front chasing a break down for the entire race, it looked like a pretty unrelentingly fast race.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Highway Robbery
Well maybe not but still, $5 for a bike box that they were going to throw away. What happened to the local bike shop atmosphere? I might just ship it back and return it when I'm done or exchange it for a better one.
The road ahead....(and behind)
Today the team heads to Milwaukee, WI for the Humboldt Park crit without Jafer, as he is taking the week off to visit family in the Chicago area and will return to racing at the Gwinnett Bike Fest on July 24th in Georgia. Stay tuned in for results and race reports from the rest of the Super Week Pro Tour.
Jafer and Joey would also like to thank the Joslyn family for their generous hospitality and support for the past week. Without host homes, many teams couldn't afford to race Super Week or any multiday stage race, so if you have a race in your area consider hosting a team. Thanks again.
Below are 2 galleries from Bensenville. If you like any of the pictures feel free to email me and I will send you the original file or you can take them from the web but please credit the source. Thanks, Team Kudzu.com
Day one
Day two
Jafer and Joey would also like to thank the Joslyn family for their generous hospitality and support for the past week. Without host homes, many teams couldn't afford to race Super Week or any multiday stage race, so if you have a race in your area consider hosting a team. Thanks again.
Below are 2 galleries from Bensenville. If you like any of the pictures feel free to email me and I will send you the original file or you can take them from the web but please credit the source. Thanks, Team Kudzu.com
Day one
Day two
Bensenville Power Files
Bensenville Day 1. Raw data graph.
Graph has been smoothed to show averages.
Table of the power file.
Bensenville Day 2 showing speed and heart rate for the first hour.
Graph has been smoothed to show averages.
Table of the power file.
Bensenville Day 2 showing speed and heart rate for the first hour.
Bensenville Double
On Tuesday and Wednesday we raced in Bensenville, IL on a rather peculiar course that saw the field shred on both accounts. Thomas decided to take the day off for the first race and Oscar took the day off for the second day in Bensenville. The slightest gap on this course could spell disaster, as the pace stayed high on the long straights and especially out of the turns.
On day one, an 8 man break tore off the front early in the race eventually lapping the field. Oscar and Joey sensed that another break was inevitable as they both stayed near the front, ready to pounce if given the chance. After Joey made a few attempts to escape, Oscar countered bridging up the road solo to small group of four riders. Their gap steadily grew over the peloton as the earlier break caught and lapped the field causing the pace to back off as they now desperately tried to lap the peloton as well.
Meanwhile, Joey rode smart and stayed out of trouble in the field saving energy for the next day. Another break of about 7 riders eventually broke out of the peloton, in hot pursuit of Oscar's group catching them with less than 10 laps to go. Oscar rode a great race eventually finishing in 19th, on a very fast sprint to the line that saw Rock Racing's Rahsaan Bahati take the win but loose the sprint jersey to Jittery Joes.
The second day was even faster as Rock Racing received reinforcements with a plan to dominate the field and take back the sprint jersey from Jittery Joes. It started off hard but got even faster as the peloton stretched single file, snaking across the course. Gaps began opening everywhere as riders pulled out of the race unable to hold the pace any further. When a rider in front of you pulls off at 30 mph it makes it very difficult to close the gap, thus it usually means you are in a spot of bother. You chase for laps at a time and by the time you regain contact you watch as the gap reopens because another rider pulled out! This happened to both Thomas and Jafer within the first hour of the race as countless riders withdrew from the race. The race was drastically reduced with more than a third of the field on the side of the road less than an hour in and even less riders remained in the finish.
Once again Joey rode at the front conserving energy and staying attentive for any breaks. Amazingly, one Columbian national team rider on his way to the Beijing Olympics soloed off the front of the race and was slowly reeled in by the field. One of his teammates was patiently waiting in the pack for the catch as he shot out of the field with about 25 laps to go holding it to the line! He almost lapped the field solo winning by about 40 seconds (more than half a lap). Joey was swarmed on the last lap as the sprinters started setting up for second place and held strong with a 28th place.
On day one, an 8 man break tore off the front early in the race eventually lapping the field. Oscar and Joey sensed that another break was inevitable as they both stayed near the front, ready to pounce if given the chance. After Joey made a few attempts to escape, Oscar countered bridging up the road solo to small group of four riders. Their gap steadily grew over the peloton as the earlier break caught and lapped the field causing the pace to back off as they now desperately tried to lap the peloton as well.
Meanwhile, Joey rode smart and stayed out of trouble in the field saving energy for the next day. Another break of about 7 riders eventually broke out of the peloton, in hot pursuit of Oscar's group catching them with less than 10 laps to go. Oscar rode a great race eventually finishing in 19th, on a very fast sprint to the line that saw Rock Racing's Rahsaan Bahati take the win but loose the sprint jersey to Jittery Joes.
The second day was even faster as Rock Racing received reinforcements with a plan to dominate the field and take back the sprint jersey from Jittery Joes. It started off hard but got even faster as the peloton stretched single file, snaking across the course. Gaps began opening everywhere as riders pulled out of the race unable to hold the pace any further. When a rider in front of you pulls off at 30 mph it makes it very difficult to close the gap, thus it usually means you are in a spot of bother. You chase for laps at a time and by the time you regain contact you watch as the gap reopens because another rider pulled out! This happened to both Thomas and Jafer within the first hour of the race as countless riders withdrew from the race. The race was drastically reduced with more than a third of the field on the side of the road less than an hour in and even less riders remained in the finish.
Once again Joey rode at the front conserving energy and staying attentive for any breaks. Amazingly, one Columbian national team rider on his way to the Beijing Olympics soloed off the front of the race and was slowly reeled in by the field. One of his teammates was patiently waiting in the pack for the catch as he shot out of the field with about 25 laps to go holding it to the line! He almost lapped the field solo winning by about 40 seconds (more than half a lap). Joey was swarmed on the last lap as the sprinters started setting up for second place and held strong with a 28th place.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Richton Park Blitzkrieg
Another great day of racing in Chicagoland, as the temperature was mild and the pace was hot for another 100k of bike racing. A few new faces showed up to the race including a few Team Type 1, Texas Roadhouse,Locos, and the return of the Kelly Benefits riders. Rock Racing was still in control of the race, as they had both the red (sprint)and yellow (overall leader) jerseys sitting on the shoulders of Rahsaan Bahati and Sterling Magnell, respectively.
The race started off faster than a blitzkrieg,as we averaged 412 watts for the first 15 minutes. After settling into a steady rhythm we began to become more comfortable in the peloton as we acclimated to the course. Unfortunately, Oscar suffered from a flat tire and he was questioning his gear, as a mysterious creak appeared before the race. The pace is so high that there is no room to question yourself or your equipment because once you start second guessing things, your race is nearly over. Just backing off a fraction in the corners can spell disaster as the small gap quickly multiplies in the straights. After a few laps of yo-yoing even the best riders can suffer defeat. He was not able to shake his worries and consequently had to pull out of the race, the last thing he wanted to do.
Before the race Jafer had to visit the Sram service pit a consequent of yesterday's slid out. He didn't know it but the rider that fell into him had severely torqued his rear wheel and it took about 10 minutes to true the wheel. When he got back to the car he put on a new Panaracer Stradius Extreme tire and tube on the rear. It is truly amazing what a difference a new tire can make in the corners! Instead of sliding out, he regained total confidence in his cornering abilities. For most of the race Thomas and Jafer rode near each other towards the back end of the field while Joey was very attentive at the front. Jafer kept trying to move up as he felt really good but everytime he tried the pack seemed to swarm, preventing him from advancing. Finally, he had a chance to get up to the front when the field was single file and hoped to try and get in a break. He made a few hard pulls/attacks hoping that he could get a gap with a few riders to no avail. After his daring effort he quickly suffered the consequences as the pace drastically picked up a few moments later as the field was reeling in a serious breakaway. After a few laps of floating back, he found himself at the tail end of the field in danger of getting caught behind gapped riders. With 25 laps to go he became gapped after the riders in front pulled the plug on their race but he continued to chase eventually pulling out with 20 laps to go.
Meanwhile, Thomas was making his way towards the front where Joey was actively covering moves. An 8 man break went up the road eventually lapping the field before the closing laps. The pace once again picked up in the last 3 laps as the teams were starting to setup for the win. Thomas and Joey seemed to be holding good position but in the final sprint became caught behind other riders, finishing slightly out of the top 30.
The first 15 minutes of the race:
The race until I dropped out. Notice the large peak towards the end and then drop in power, thats where I got in trouble!
Power tap ridden by Jafer
Monday, July 14, 2008
FLAT Out in Olympia Park
How do we even begin to describe yesterdays race? For starters, it was probably the world's shortest crit course measuring about 0.45 of a mile, well shorter than the posted course of 0.6 of a mile. Picture a small neighborhood construction zone complete with piles of building supplies stacked inches from the course, unprotected (no padding) street signs and fire hydrants, and an unfinished road with curbs on both sides that sat nearly 2 inches higher than the road (try hitting the lip at 30mph, not pretty). Now you can begin to understand the dilemma we faced as we debated if we should even race.
Why such a big ruckus? With over 100 riders on such a short precarious course, the danger of crashing increased almost exponentially as the field would stretch over most of the course when single file. After much debate within the team we decided to start the race which was shortened to 80 laps, while many riders played it safe and went home. As expected the race started off fast as everyone was nervous and wanted to try to lap the field in a break. The race was one big undulation after undulation as some riders would break off keeping the pace high and then slowing when they were caught. The most dangerous part of the course was leading into turn 3 which had a strong tail-wind keeping the speed high throughout the turn as everyone leaned hard into the sharpest bend of the course.
Keep in mind what the thought of hitting the lip of the curb can do to the pack, as everyone was nervous about crashing. Countless wrecks occurred here as everyone battled for the wheel in front, only to run out of real estate. It was in this turn that Jafer nearly wiped out as he leaned hard into the turn carrying a little too much speed. Luckily, as he began his slid, he clipped his pedal on the road pushing him into the rider behind of him who provided enough support as he bounced off of him, regaining control of his bike. Unfortunately, the rider he hit went down hard but was not injured badly and rejoined the race. Less than a minute later Jafer's rear tire blew out with a loud bang in turn two causing him to head to the Sram service pit, where he received a new rear wheel and rejoined the race the following lap. Earlier in the race Joey had to make a visit to the pit as he suffered a rear flat while Thomas had his own race mishap, spending more than a few laps in the pit.
With 16 laps to go, the race was neutralized as a Virgin Blue (Aussie team) rider hit the ground HARD in turn 3, forcing the officials to make the call. With no ambulance on site the race was on pause for at least 15 minutes, waiting for the ambulance to arrive and transport the rider to the hospital (no word on his condition yet). Not sure how many riders went down during the race but we saw at least four wrecks all in turn 3. The race finally restarted but the pace didn't fully return as there was a 4 man break more than half a lap ahead (the break happened before the race was neutralized so they were allowed the same time gap during the restart). Thomas once again showed his crit riding prowess placing about 10th in the field sprint, followed by Joey inside the top 25, with Oscar and Jafer midpackish.
The race organizers held a riders meeting discussing various options with a very ambiguous tone, as no one seemed to agree. Our options were laid bare before us: 1) Have two heats, 2)Have one race and anybody that didn't want to race could get a full refund, 3)Split the race into Pro/1 and 2 heats, 4) Cancel the race and go home. We were in full support with a pro/1 and 2 heat and we thought we had enough backing but it was quickly vetoed after much debate with the majority of votes gravitating to option 2.
Why such a big ruckus? With over 100 riders on such a short precarious course, the danger of crashing increased almost exponentially as the field would stretch over most of the course when single file. After much debate within the team we decided to start the race which was shortened to 80 laps, while many riders played it safe and went home. As expected the race started off fast as everyone was nervous and wanted to try to lap the field in a break. The race was one big undulation after undulation as some riders would break off keeping the pace high and then slowing when they were caught. The most dangerous part of the course was leading into turn 3 which had a strong tail-wind keeping the speed high throughout the turn as everyone leaned hard into the sharpest bend of the course.
Keep in mind what the thought of hitting the lip of the curb can do to the pack, as everyone was nervous about crashing. Countless wrecks occurred here as everyone battled for the wheel in front, only to run out of real estate. It was in this turn that Jafer nearly wiped out as he leaned hard into the turn carrying a little too much speed. Luckily, as he began his slid, he clipped his pedal on the road pushing him into the rider behind of him who provided enough support as he bounced off of him, regaining control of his bike. Unfortunately, the rider he hit went down hard but was not injured badly and rejoined the race. Less than a minute later Jafer's rear tire blew out with a loud bang in turn two causing him to head to the Sram service pit, where he received a new rear wheel and rejoined the race the following lap. Earlier in the race Joey had to make a visit to the pit as he suffered a rear flat while Thomas had his own race mishap, spending more than a few laps in the pit.
With 16 laps to go, the race was neutralized as a Virgin Blue (Aussie team) rider hit the ground HARD in turn 3, forcing the officials to make the call. With no ambulance on site the race was on pause for at least 15 minutes, waiting for the ambulance to arrive and transport the rider to the hospital (no word on his condition yet). Not sure how many riders went down during the race but we saw at least four wrecks all in turn 3. The race finally restarted but the pace didn't fully return as there was a 4 man break more than half a lap ahead (the break happened before the race was neutralized so they were allowed the same time gap during the restart). Thomas once again showed his crit riding prowess placing about 10th in the field sprint, followed by Joey inside the top 25, with Oscar and Jafer midpackish.
Olympia Park Crit Powertap Files
This graph has not been scaled and shows all the data points.
Max power= 1039 watts / Average Power with no zeros= 361 Watts
Max Heart-rate= 190 bpm / Average Heart-rate= 175 bpm
Max Speed= 36 mph / Average Speed= 26.6 mph
This graph is scaled down to give a better idea of the average power output.
Powertap ridden by Jafer. Jafer suffered a rear flat 45 mins into the race, thus changing to a non-powertap wheel.
Max power= 1039 watts / Average Power with no zeros= 361 Watts
Max Heart-rate= 190 bpm / Average Heart-rate= 175 bpm
Max Speed= 36 mph / Average Speed= 26.6 mph
This graph is scaled down to give a better idea of the average power output.
Powertap ridden by Jafer. Jafer suffered a rear flat 45 mins into the race, thus changing to a non-powertap wheel.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
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!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
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!
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.
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.
Friday, July 11, 2008
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
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.
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.
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.
Monday, July 7, 2008
'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:
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:
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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.htmlThe 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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