(From the editor – Wes Douglas, Stuart Lamp, Paul Tower, and Brian Toone competed in the Cuba Meridian Challenge August 21-22. This is the great write-up of the race given by Wes.)

2010 Cuba-Meridian Road Race – Wes Douglas – Tria Cycling p/b DonohooAuto & Infinity-Med-I-Spa

Last year I attacked from the gun and ended up in a two-man break for just short of 60 miles. My break away partner popped halfway though and I just didn’t quite make it to the finish – Got caught 500m from the finish. I did not want this to happen again however, I did want to go early again but hopefully with a little more help and team representation in the break. As Stuart said, “whether or not Wes knows it yet, he’s still going to attack early”.

A mile or two in some attacks began and eventually I saw one forming that looked pretty good, at least as team representation went. It was a four-man break with Tim Carbonneau, John McLauchlin (Marx & Bensdorf), Andrew? (Herring Gas) and myself. We had a good gap from the field but it was small (about 30-40 sec) and for quite a while it wasn’t growing. I did my best to drive the break and motivate the other 3 guys to keep pushing it because I knew my teammates (Paul Tower, Brian Toone & Stuart Lamp) would do everything they could to block for us and hopefully so would the other two big teams (Herring Gas & Marx Bensdorf) with break representation. On the steepest kicker we almost dropped Andrew (Herring Gas) so I fell back a little to help get him back up to the break. My thought was it was too early to loose Herring’s rider because the break was only about a minute from the field and if they saw him coming back they might start attacking to shut the remaining three of us down. After this I suggested we all just keep a good tempo on the hills, bomb the down hills and hammer the flats. After getting Andrew back on the break he was only able to roll through and soon even that ended, leaving him to float on the back. About 18miles in John (Marx & Bensdorf), said he had to sit on which was really depressing for me to hear because essentially this left Tim and I to do most of the work. I really didn’t want all this effort to have been for nothing and I didn’t want a repeat of last year’s disaster. For a second I considered just sitting up and letting the field catch us but then I decided, to hell with it, and to give it everything to drive the break as long as I could…maybe…. just maybe we would make it.

Going into the second lap and the first time thought the feed zone I saw that Gavin Lansden (BBC) had been allowed to slip off the front of the field and he was bridging. I was really glad to see him coming because for a while now only Tim and I were working. John and Andrew would have worked if they could have but they were just done. Once Gavin linked up we were really able to pick up the pace but then Andrew finally had to call it quits. We now had about 5 min on the field and about 2-2:40min from a 4 man chase group. At first the chase wasn’t gaining on us but about on the backside of the second lap I finally had to take a break and sit on some and our average really dropped. Going into the last lap the chase was still 2:40 back but in the feed zone I had some issues with getting a bottle and had to come to almost a stop to get one. I think John turned off the course at this point. It was now down to Gavin, Tim and I. The 4 man chase was only about 40 sec back and it wasn’t long before we saw them coming. I started sitting on and trying to recover a little for the attacks I knew would come. We were caught just before the steepest kicker hill (which was something I was hoping we could avoid). The chase was made up of Pat Allison (Ion-United Health), Brian Toone (Tria Cycling), Woody Boudreaux (Herring Gas) and Travis Sherman (Moontoast guest riding for Bensdorf). Pat attacked halfway up the hill and I had my doubts about being able to respond or maintain contact, I had been feeling twinges in my quads and knew I was very close to completely locking up. Somehow I made it but we lost Travis.

I tried sit in all I could to recover a little before the stair step climb and the left hand turn. I thought I might have one more attack left in me before going into complete survival mode. So when the climb began I hit it and got a big gap. I knew I didn’t have the energy to carry the move all the way to the top and left turn so while I was up there I decided to make use of the moment and do something about twinges in my quads. I unclipped and started stretching them (which if I hadn’t done I don’t think I would have finished the race). This was when Brian attacked and came flying by me, completely clear of the other riders. This looked perfect to me so when Pat, Woody and Tim came by I just jumped on. We were now dropping Gavin. With Brian up the road and putting on some serious time I wasn’t obligated to do a thing, that was up to Pat and Woody to do. For the rest of the 3rd lap I sat in all I could sometimes pulling though, sometimes not. We did drop Gavin so here I was again in a break of 4 with my teammate up the road and out of sight.

I really just wanted this to all be over. Making the right turn off the course and on the home stretch our pace started to drop with anticipation of the sprint. It was painfully slow as Pat and Ryan watch each other to see who would make a move. There was no chance of the field catching us so we just came to a crawl and this allowed Gavin to catch back on. Being a non-sprinter and having been driving a break all day my odds a doing well in this situation did not look good at all. I gave it a shot but completely locked up and watched the Pat, Woody, Tim and Gavin cross the line before me. All in all, a much better result than last year. 6th place still beats getting swarmed by the field with 500m to go. Brian had placed 3rd in the crit the night before so his 1st in the road race gave him the Omnium. I had just held on in the crit and didn’t place but the 6th place result in the race gave me 10th in the Omnium, Paul had place 5th in the crit and with a 7th place finish in the road race he finished 4th in the Omnium, Stuart placed 10th in the road race & 11th for the Omnium. All in all a great race for Tria Cycling.

– Wes Douglas

(Check out Brian’s write-up with heartrate data here: http://toonecycling.wordpress.com/2010/08/22/2010-meridian-cuba-omnium-race-report/)

(From the editor – Lennie Moon completed the epic Leadville 100 mountain bike race this past Saturday, and I’ve posted his race report below. Epic!!!)

I got a whopping 3.5hrs of sleep the night the before and arrived at the start line at 5:30, laid my bike down and went back to the car because it was about 36degrees outside. The race started with the shotgun blast an hour later. It was an awesome sight being in the middle of 1300 riders headed out 6th street with Mt Massive in the background. I had on a thin base, arm and knee warmers, jersey and my wind jacket for the start but I was shivering. It was about 5mi downhill and then dirt before we started the St Kevins climb. It was all I could do to stay on my bike with all the other riders around me falling off and pushing. People were just in the way. I ended up warming up there so I wasn’t cold for long. Following St Kevins is a long fast descent on the road. This is a good time to take care of nutrition so I downed a cliff bar and drank a bunch of Heed.

Next up is the climb of Sugarloaf which starts on the road for a mile of so, then a right turn to dirt road for tow or so and then a left switchback to a rocky, rutted jeep trail. The pitch wasn’t too bad, about 6-10% and the pack startes to thin out here so I just climbed at a comfortable pace and marked time. Not sure how long this section is but I guess its a few miles and maybe 1500-2000ft of vertical.

The backside of Sugarloaf is where the danger starts. This is called the Powerline descent and on raceday a rider in front of me fell here and nearly lost his life. He had facial injuries and was losing blood from his temple area. Also another rider collided with him breaking his ribs. Following rider had injuries too (collarbone?) This section is dangerous because its steep downhill and full of ruts. You really have to be smart about picking your line. The bottom of Powerline is famous because the ruts are huge, almost as deep as your wheels. The big problem is the ridges of these ruts dead end and if you don’t pick your line right, or the rider in front doesn’t then you are just bound to fall at a high speed. I was happy I made it through that, another obstacle out of the way.

Following Powerline is a creek crossing that you want to ride around so you don’t ruin your drivetrain followed by a long, flat pavement and dirt section. Obviously, this is were you can get a good paceline going. Freaking mountain bikers have no idea what to do here. I was lucky enough to get behind two different guys at two different times. Both took monster pulls for a long time. I swear I tried to help but they just wanted to pull! We were cooking, 25mph with a tailwind on the flat. I was amazed but each one of them popped themselves and I never saw them again. I swear I tried to help! This section leads to the Pipeline with the first big aid staition. There is a mini Tour de France atmosphere here with cow bells and people on each side of the course cheering you on. It was amazing but I just blew thru as fast as I could.

I guess its about 15mi to the next aid station with the Pipeline area which is pretty flat dirt with a few popper hills. The biggest obstacles here were big holes in the road filled with water. You want to miss them and take care of the drivetrain. Its a good place to eat here too. As well as doing all that I stuck it in the big ring and time trialed through this area. Here is were I felt my first twinge of cramp… Oh crap.

Next a singletrack section and this is an example of how to lose time. This was mostly downhill, just fun single track in a nice big open area. I found myself behind a big dude and a girl who were going real slow. The girl was in front braking for everything. I looked behind and there was a line of about fifteen people, all going slow. Obviously a backup. Finally after about ten minutes she fell and took the dude out with her. Since she was OK, I went around them crit style and rode as hard as I could. I dropped everyone. Not on purpose though, I was just tired of waiting! This section finished and a couple of more ups and downs on dirt roads fed into the Twin Lakes aid station after 40mi and about 3:12 on the clock for me.

If the Powerline is a mini Tour de France for spectators then the Twin Lakes aid station is full on TdF. Everyone is cheering, cowbells, tents, people dressed crazy, you name it. I’m riding moderate to find Kim who is crewing for me. She does a great job refueling me in no time and sets me on my way up the Columbine climb.

I guess Columbine is 10mi long with over 3,000 ft of vertical. It starts tame at about 9% up an open field and then into the aspen trees with switchbacks. The dirt on the frst half is loose but its no problem for climbing. This kind of started hard for me but then I settled in. I also started to tell myself that I couldn’t be content with the pace the riders in front of me were setting. After I began feeling well I began passing lots of people. You can’t attack here because there is no AIR and you won’t recover. Any big effort comes at a price so you have to stay steady. Typical for me was to get on someones wheel, ride there for a bit and then just lift the pace for a little while. Then I would settle, work on the next rider, and do this all over. I passed a lot of people on Columbine. Every now and then I would feel a twinge of cramp. Crap, not even halfway!

1/3 up Columbine came one of the coolest parts of the race. I heard “riders” and saw Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (JHK) and Levi barreling down the hill. Everyone cheered them on and in a flash they were gone. Next, pro after pro came barreling down the hill and they were cheering us on as we were climbing. I loved it. This continues all the way to the top. You bave to be careful to stay on the right side because you don’t want to take them out!

Once you get out of the treeline Columbine really kicks up. There are parts where I saw 19% on my Garmin. During training on Monday, I cleared 95% of the mountain but that was with fresh legs. After 40mi no civilian can get up that mountain without pushing. So, that is what you see, you look up into the sky and all you see on the switchbacks is people pushing there bikes all the way to the top. It seems like forever but guess what? If you push you can get 2mph, if you ride you can get 2.5mph! Big deal! This knowledge would help me manage my cramping later.

After you reach the top of Columbine there is a 100ft downhill in about 500yds to the turnaround. I found out in training that if you stop at the turnaround and linger then your legs cool down and its a major effort to climb back up that 100ft. In the race I didn’t stop, I climbed back up the rise and then stopped, took a leak in the wide open and ate a cliff bar so I could digest on the way back down.

The Columbine descent is a monster. At the top think a little wider than the bump trail, wide open above treeline, a lot steeper and a long line of people still pushing up on the left side. I came down the mountain as fast as I could. The only thing slowing me down was riders in front and I was trying to pass them. I didn’t know I could descend a mtn bike so fast. Once I got into the trees I didn’t slow down either. Pedal on the straights, break for the switchback, lay it over, straighten, pedal again, repeat. I was flying and having a blast. At the bottom I found Kim at the Twin Lakes aid station, refueled and got on my way. 60mi down. I’m gonna make it!!!

It was here that I ran into my first real problems. I guess it was 6+hrs, I began cramping a bit more and I started having a quezzy stomach. I started to bonk a bit too. Problem was I was I having trouble eating too. I would bite off some cliff bar and I couldn’t swallow. It tool a lot of water to dissolve a bite of cliff bar and get it down. I was eating cliff blocks too but I would put one in my mouth, chew,and it would just sit there. I tried to drink my Heed and it would make me feel more quezzy. All I did was just hold the rider in front of me in check and kept pedaling. Also, now my little chainring bolts were starting to loosen. I could tell by the noise and the tinkling sound down there. Should I stop? Heck no.

Back to the Powerline aid station, TdF light again. Saw Tracy Mckay and he gives a word of encouragement, thanks! Find Kim and refuel. I told her I had a bad hour and she tells me I’m making good time. Really? Here is what saved my stomach. I had packed bananas with her and I was able to get a half down. I settled down immediately and was on my way. 25mi to go.

Back to the flat section, headwind now but I’m lucky to find a group and six of us try to start a rotating pace line. About three of us know what we’re doing… Freaking mtn bikers. Two of us were teaching this super strong girl how to paceline. She would get to the front and just drive away but then stay there. Finally she got it. 14mph mtn bike paceline into a 15knot headwind. I was getting tired. Powerline climb coming up, I’m cramping and I’m happy because I know I’ll be able to push and stretch my legs out.

The return up Powerline is steep. Probably 30% of the field can clean it with fresh legs. With 80mi legs only the super elite can clean it. I was warned to be mentally prepared for it to take forever and it did. After about 1/4 mi straight up it crests a bit and you can ride but after a while you have to push again. I see people try to ride while I’m pushing and they aren’t getting away from me. I can push just as fast. What the heck, I can’t cramp while I push and I’m stretching my legs.

Finally thats over and its time for the descent of Sugarloaf. Not too steep but rocky and fast. I kill it descending as fast as I can and not worryng about the risks until I catch up to two guys going a bit slower. There’s nowhere to pass so I just hang til that switchback where it turns to dirt. I pass those guys there and burry it down the dirt road, big ring as fast as I can go.

Wow up St Kevins on the road, and I’ve got nothing. People are passing me back. I think its different people though. Then I settle in. Someone says 2.5mi uphill to the mini aid station and I’m going 4.5mph. This is gonna take forever. Finally, I hit the aid station and I grab a dixie cup of Coke. Its still uphill on dirt for a while though. I begin to wonder if I’m gonna make 10hrs. Finally, I reach the top of St Kevins and start down. Remember how steep and rocky it was? I’m only on the brakes enough to check my speed but I’m flying down the mtn. I catch up to this old guy who passed me up the mtn but he’s going pretty fast so I just follow his line. As we reach the bottom I hear something crack on his bike and he endo’s at about 20mph. I stopped right beside him and asked him if he’s OK and he was shaken but he says yes so I continue.

5mi to go and my watch says I still may be able to make 10hrs. Slight downhill, tailwind, 29er, big ring, little cog, after 9hrs 45min I’m flying at 25mph trying to make it home. I can’t believe the power I’m making. Where’d this come from? I pass Lee for the last time and tell him if he had gears he could have rolled a 9! I’m actually happy because I know he can’t get me back without gears and I know he is the only Alabama competition.

The last obstacle is called the Boulevard. Its about 6% climb and rocky for the first 500yds before it starts to smooth out. Its about 500ft up vertical back into town and I go from flying at 20mph to crawling at 6mph and I’m cramping big time. Why did I roll the flat so hard? Oh well, I settle in, 10hrs goes by but who cares. Its a left then a right, crest the hill and you can see the buildings of 6th and Harrison come into view. People are in there driveway cheering you on. You see the banner and the red carpet. I’ve been waiting for a year for this when I fell in love with this event and saw others come home. Now its me! I roll slow over the carpen so I can savour it. Then I try to pop a wheelie and CRAMP and almost fall off my bike!

Here’s a quote from Dave Wiens during the award ceremony. “Leadville’s not about who wins or finish times or anything like that. Leadville’s about a start and finish at 6th and Harrison and a day in Hell.”

Guys, I hope some of you decide to do this sometime. It was so much fun!

People’s Community Bank Omnium June 5 and 6th

Johnson City, TN

June 5^th:

RR (the Roan Groan) – 30mile race up Roan Mountain the last 8 miles at an average of 7% (1st place Wcat 1-4)

The Roan Groan is an infamous climbers race that lived up to its reputation.  I have to admit being a little nervous since I have been dubbed a “climber” among the women’s field since the 2009 Highland Rim RR and this would be a true test of that title.  The women’s field consisted of Cat 1-4, with some serious power in Team Belladium and Nashville Cyclist.  Living up to our reputation, the women lined up and paraded out for the first ten miles.  There is nothing more frustrating than to sit on the front and drive a hard pace only to be stranded on the front.  The first hill began to break up the pack.  We dropped off some of the Cat4s.  Marilyn Senz from Asheville Fitness went on hard on the downhill and even harder up the next climb dropping off the rest of the weight from the group leaving about 8 people.  We began rotating the paceline to get some time on the rest of the field until we turned onto HWY 143 which began the climbing.  There were still a few individuals hanging on the back while a few of us worked so after some hard pulls, the thinning began.  Parri Gilbride, a powerhouse from Team Belladium, pulled up next to me and told me to trade off with her on the front to drop the rest of the field.  We traded pulls from the base until Parri told me that we were alone.  I sat up took a quick look and no one was behind us.  Fixated on the straggling men in front of us and the beautiful scenery, we climbed the next 8 (7%) miles together alternating positions.  At the 1K mark, I was concerned that I wouldn’t have enough to keep her off until after we rounded the corner and it leveled out some especially since she can out sprint me 99% of the time.  As we came around the corner, I stood up and started the sprint in, I could hear her get up to chase me and knowing she was on my left side I moved left to force her to go around me on the right.  The strategy worked and I won.

TT (Watauga Orthopedics Trial) – 2.7 mi; 2.75 laps around Boar Industrial Park  (4th place W cat1-4)

Not much to say.  The course was rolling with a long uphill on the backside.  It was hot and muggy and my legs felt like they weighed as much as one of Paul’s calves.  I made a mistake with my gearing on the long hill which slowed my time and ended u p with 4^th for the TT.  Not bad considering I didn’t have a TT bike, skinsuit, or deep dish wheels like some.  Parri placed right in front of me so we were tied for the omnium.

June 6^th – The Tennessee State Championship Criterium (9th place cat 1-4)

Originally there weren’t many women signed up for the Omnium but they allowed “day of” entry for the crit since it was for the state title.  We ended up with 35 women: team Kenda, Missy Petty, a few additional Cat1/2s that I didn’t know that were all fresh and ready to ride.  I had previewed the course earlier in the day and it seemed like a relatively open course.  I was taking the laps before we began and ran straight into the barriers blocking the road which had previously been open.  The course had been changed back to the original 8 corners, narrow  “s” turn, slight uphill and one sketchy corner.  The size and strength of the field made me nervous but the extra cornersI almost made me wet my shammy.  We started and I missed the jump because I couldn’t get clipped in fast enough.  I spent the next three laps playing catch up to the front field.  When I finally caught on, I settled in to get a feel for the race.  On the next lap, I jumped on the hill and ended up on the front.  I dropped back into the field staying in the top 6.  With five laps to go there had not been any serious attacks so on the next hill, I attacked again, bouncing a little on the sketchy corner.  I stayed on the front through the straight and then dropped back a little again.  With a little over a lap to go, I attacked the hill again almost laying it down on the corner but I sat my backend down on the saddle and regained control , Missy yelled at me to keep going that we had the gap but after almost crashing, it took a second to get back up to speed.  Last lap and I was playing recovery to get back up to the front.  I wasn’t as worried about winning as trying to keep my place in the omnium (tied for first with Parri).  With the mass sprint for the finish, Parri finished in front of me but I still managed second for the omnium.

Anyway, that’s it….  for this race….

How did I get here?

While most of the team headed up to River Gorge for the BMW Omnium, I headed over to Georgia to try to retake the lead in the Georgia Cycling Gran Prix series. Alas, I fought hard, but it wasn’t to be. Still with another podium finish in yesterday’s road race, I am happy to have finished 2nd place overall for the 11 weekend race series. Today’s circuit race was canceled because of a nasty thunderstorm with lots of cloud-to-ground lightning. Even though I wasn’t able to win the series, I was very happy with how it was organized and how it gave me and our team a goal for something to fight for all season long! Here’s a picture that Kristine got of the podium yesterday.

GCGP Summer Finale RR Podium Pro 1-2, (L-R) Brian Toone, Joey Rosskopf, Oscar Clark

Wes leading the road race breakaway

Mike Lackey keeping the pack under control

Quite an exciting weekend with a big “W” for Mike Lackey winning the Cat 3 bonus on Sunday and taking the overall Cat 3 omnium for the weekend. The organizers combined the 1/2/3 field but split the payouts and omnium for the Cat 3 race. So Mike in addition to winning the Cat 3’s was able to work along with Wes, Darryl, and Stuart to help me to 3rd place on Saturday, 3rd on Sunday, and 3rd in the overall for the 1/2 race. Terry and Sammy raced the masters race with Terry taking the crit win and overall 45+ omnium win.

Here’s how it all played out in the 1/2/3 races:

Saturday Criterium, 65 minutes scheduled (62 minutes actual)

This race got off to a fast start with Stuart hitting out on an early break on the first lap that lasted for a couple laps. Darryl, Wes, Mike, and Sammy were all active covering moves and getting into a few breakaways each time something was reeled in. My opportunity to try a move came 15 minutes into the race, when I attacked going into the quick right-left-right series of turns. Three riders responded immediately and we had a small group of four rolling. Soon more riders bridged up including a couple more Herring Gas riders (bringing their total to 4 riders in the break), Eric Murphy (Myogenesis), Paul Tower (warp9bikes.com), and Ben Gabardi (Hot Tubes). As soon as I realized my situation, I did not want to work with the break. Unfortunately, Herring Gas had enough riders in the break to not only help it stay away but also launch riders off the front of the break. To avoid having to cover or bridge to the small mini-moves that kept on forming, I decided it was best just to roll through at a slower speed whenever I made it to the front in the rotation. So that was the status quo for the next 40 minutes.

I felt great when they flashed “3 laps to go”. Eric was pretty aggressive and tried to get away a couple times. His attacks whittled our break down to just four riders going into the last lap. Brian Rizk (Precision Racing) attacked first going up the hill in the middle of the quick right-left-right. I covered and found myself in second position going into the last corner. I decided to hit out before the corner. I had a bit of a gap coming out of the corner and with a tailwind sprint, I thought I could hold it – but Eric and Bain Foote (Herring) were both able to come around me so I ended up third.

Sunday Road Race, 65 miles
Today’s road race went off really well for us with Mike getting the Cat 3 win. Nickole and Cindy were there to help us in the feedzone. We all communicated well. We put the right man in the break. We sprinted decently — but for all of that we ended up losing the 1/2 race in the last mile. About 250 meters into the race, Wes said that he wanted to attack. I said go for it, and away he went. This attack was covered, but then Darryl counter attacked immediately and was away for a while. When Darryl got brought back, Wes must have been feeling very spritely because he attacked a second time, and we didn’t see him again until 64 miles later.

Clark Butcher (Herring Gas) covered the move from Wes, and the two of them had a steady gap of 2.5 minutes for most of the race including all the way to halfway through the last lap when they still had a 2.5 minute lead. Myogenesis was content to defend Eric’s GC placing, and Eric was happy he didn’t have to cover a bunch of attacks. Warp9 was content to ride a steady tempo keeping the break within remote striking distance, but ultimately it was the late race attacks by Herring that ramped up the pace enough to bring back Wes and Clark with less than 1 mile to go. Paul Tower (warp9bikes.com) launched a strong counterattack covered by Pat Allison and Bain. This got brought back quickly because there wasn’t enough cohesion amongst the three of them. Once they were caught, Paul launched another attack that nobody covered this time. Bain attacked from just over 500 meters and again nobody was covering so I did a short bridge to him, started my sprint at 300 meters and ended up getting passed by Eric Murphy on the line. Paul held on for the win by just a few meters which also meant he overtook me in the GC so I had to settle for 3rd in the race and 3rd overall for the weekend. Still – kudos to Paul for such a strong late race attack. Also, Wes proved that he is a beast of a bike rider driving a break for 64 miles – I believe this is his third race-long break of the year, and all of them have helped lead to wins or high finishes for somebody else on the team … it’s definitely going to be his time to win soon!!!

Dahlonega Road Race

5/31/2009

Wes Douglas

I did this race “mountain bike style” by driving over on Saturday after work and arriving at the Montaluce Winery Dahlonega road race start location around 1AM….Slept right there in the car.  Before the start I took at quick look at the hill leading into the S/F line. It was something of a stair stepping climb…not too long but brutal with about a 18-20% grade starting out (with no momentum) then a second kick of about 13-15% and then a more gradual 8% or so to the top and the Start/Finish.  We were going go have to climb this after each lap.  Immediately after the neutral start the attacks began.  Nothing on this course seemed to be flat….It all seemed to be either up or down and what I would call a bit of a meat grinder for me.  There were a few small breaks and a few flyers on the first lap but the pace was killing me because we would go super slow and then all out….Off and On…Off and On. 

After the first lap and climb to the S/F and the following climbs I was getting a little worried about even finishing this race….I did not feel good at all.  I decided I needed to put an end to this stop and go business, if I could.  To that end, I waited until we were back on the main road where the terrain would allow me to use power and maintain some momentum.  Previously a Pacesetter rider had been allowed to go solo off the front and was still out there.  Once my heart rate and the pace had finally settled down I decided to give it a shot and made the attack hoping I could get away with another rider or two.  I slipped off pretty easily and was quickly joined by Myogenesis Adam Ray.  Looking back I saw this was going to work….at least for a while….and after a few minutes we had joined the Pacesetter rider.  The three of us were really working well together but it was obvious that on this day Adam was the faster climber followed by me and then Pacesetter.  I was certain that if we managed to stay away I would end up second. 

After the third lap the Pacesetter rider popped on the S/F climb even though we didn’t want this.  He was trying to hold on and Adam and I though for a second about waiting to see if he could latch back on but decided this would be the wrong decision.  We had to go.  We knew there was a chase but weren’t too sure about how far back they were or who was in it or their numbers.  Adam and I were crushing it now.   He would lead up most the climbs with me being able to hold on and do more work on the rolling sections.  It was getting really hot and with the hard work (my HR was averaging 180 the whole break) we were doing and I was going through a bottle of water every lap.  Halfway though the 4^th lap we got a glimpse of the chase group.  We could see there was a big group but didn’t know for sure who was in it.  I was just praying we could hold them off or that Brian was back there and staying fresh.  Adam and I doubled our efforts and were putting time back on them.  After climb to the S/F there was still no sight of the chase group but Ruth was holding a radio and let me know they were a minute back going into the 5^th and final lap. 

On the second climb I lost a little more ground to Adam but I though I would catch back on when we hit the main road however, just before I did the chase group surprised me as they came by.  I grabbed onto the last wheel and started to recover.  Adam was also caught a few seconds later.   It was a good run but now it as time to change tactics.  Time for me to recover a little if I could!!!  I saw a few stragglers trying to make it up to us but I didn’t want them to make it so the second I felt a little rested I went to the front to drill the pace….It worked…no one else got into the break of ten.  Still, Myogenesis and most of the other riders seemed want to take it pretty slow, rest up and let the Start/Finish hill sprint decide things.  Well at this point I knew I would not be winning that contest and I didn’t want the any other riders to catch and have a chance either…nor did I want the group to rest and have more energy to use against Brian.   To keep this from happening I attacked every time the pace got too slow, going off the front and forcing a chase.  At one point I got way out there and out of sight so these efforts forced the group to chase and not take it nice and easy until the sprint. 

I was pretty much dead and cramping on the hill sprint and came in ninth.  After I rolled though the S/F I saw Brian rolling back towards me signaling a number ONE….Awesome Day!! 

Mens cat3 criterium, 17 or 18 riders in the field.  VeloCity, Cumberland Transit, Mellow Mushroom, BBC, Jittery Joes and a few other were represented.  Jacob and I were the only Tria riders.  The first laps rolled fast with Tim Heard and a Cumberland guy getting off the front for a lap.  This was brought back and another small attack was covered by Jacob.  As we rounded corner #2 going into #3 the field had just made the catch and was sitting up.  I jumped wide and shot through the corner and opened up a gap.  Cumberland Transit and Jason Donaldson of BBC bridged up.  Jacob and BBC controlled the field to let the gap grow.  The three of us worked well together and got over a minute by the finish.  With a lap to go I attacked into the wind between corners 2 and 3 but they were on me.  We came down the back side three wide across the road.  I heard Donaldson rub his brakes and that was the signal to hit the gas.  I went into the last corner hot and put a gap on him that he could not close.  The Cumberland rider was better at the corners but was in bad position.   I got up to 34 mph in the sprint, 26.4 mph average for 20.25 miles.

This is a great course, downtown!  The corners are like fly paper!  Thank you Mayor Langford for repaving!  I hope this race is around next year.

Posted by Brian Toone
March 28-29, 2009
Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Quick summary – criterium
Pro/1/2 – 11th (Brian), Raced hard (Wes and Stuart)
Cat 3 – 2nd (Lennie), 4th (Sammy), Raced hard (Mike and Jacob)

Quick summary – road race
Pro/1/2 – 4th (Brian), Worked very hard (Wes and Stuart)
Cat 3 – 2nd (Sammy), Raced hard (Mike, Lennie, and Jacob)

P/1/2 Criterium
The Pro/1/2 criterium was Saturday and started at 8pm. The temperature had dropped off considerably, and the wind had picked up speed and started to gust in a few different directions on the course. It made for a crazy race with the dark conditions, too. I will definitely admit that I had a lot of fun on the course even with it being crazy. I made the mistake of going with the lap 1 breakaway and the lap 2 breakaway and then when that got caught sliding all the way to back of the pack for several laps. By this point, the winning break of 3 had gotten away and established itself pretty well. Stuart and Wes got to the front a lot and drilled it, but they weren’t getting a lot of help. Other people were constantly attacking, and the pace would slow way down again when the attack would get caught. Going into the last couple laps, I worked my way to close to the front, but could only manage 8th in the field sprint for 11th in the race with the breakaway of three already finished.

P/1/2 Road Race
If the Tour de Tuscaloosa is one of my favorite race weekends, the road race course has to be my favorite course of all the races I do each year. It has a little bit of everything – mostly rolling hills, but one longer climb, a couple flat sections, and even a short downhill switchback section. 7 laps of a 10 mile loop. We started out with the plan (devised on the start line) that Stuart would go with whatever break went off the front early. Sure enough – a break went very early (immediately after the neutral section) and we had it covered. Read the rest of this entry »

This last training race was the hardest one I’ve ever done and Ty and I both thought the final break was the hardest either of us had ever been in.  I may get some of these details wrong because I just couldn’t do much more than ride.  The race began with Ty and Mike out on the front and I was about 15 back keeping an eye on them.  There were several flyers on the first lap that were mostly ignored and rightly so.  I think the real attacking began on lap two after turn one.   This pace was insane.  It seemed to be so fast the field was stretched out in a long line and somewhere around the hill on the back side the string was cut.  Me, Mike Olheiser (Tristar/Warp9), Ty Stanfield (Kenda), Pat Allison (TNT), Eric White (ProVelo), Travis Sherman (Tristar/Warp9), Craig Armstron and Timo Stark made this break and started working really well together. This 8 man break continued until just after the start of the 4^th lap.  I had just finished my pull and had just rotated to the back of the pace line when Mike and Ty attacked all out on the long gradual incline.  Everyone popped and I was caught in the back.  I could see Mike and Ty getting away but I was not going to just sit there and let it go.  I came around the other riders and continued to hammer with everything I had.  I was going to make this bridge or explode trying.  Afterwards Ty said he saw me trying to bridge up and he didn’t think I would be able to make it because the gap was pretty big and they were doing about 30mph.  Hell….I don’t know how I did it either but I got on with them right before turn one.  Previously the average speed of the 8 man break was around 27 but when the three of us started working together I hardly say anything below 30.  Lots of 32-37mph..We work hard and in no time were out of sight and gone.  Our rotations were tight and fast and they needed to be with the winds…We never let up.  On the 5^th lap I saw Ty downshift to his 12 right before the hill on the backside.  Mike was in front of him and I was thinking…Oh crap don’t start this now….Well Ty attacked mike and Mike countered.  Then Ty attacked again and Mike countered and got a good gap on the two of us.  This whole time I had decided to let those two go at it and I would hold Ty’s wheel.  I had no interest in attacking and thought we should keep it together until the climb at the end where both Ty and I would have better odds on Mike.  Ty was thinking he should go ahead and start softening mike up but I really thought that was a huge mistake at that point and it was.  So when mike got that gap Ty tried to wave me by to go bridge it and I was thinking Hell no bro….You got this going and you are going to have to do most of the work to bring it back because I’m not going to sacrifice myself for it.  I told Ty I would work with him but it was too late.  We were on TT terrain and Mike was gone.   From that point Ty and I traded pulls until the hill.  I put in a small attack on the second switchback and Ty held on then countered.  He came past me but didn’t gain more than about 20 meters.  I settled into my rhythm and just held the spacing.  With about ½ k to go I came out of the saddle, bridged the gap, came past Ty and kept going until the finish.  So the finish was Mike, Wes, Ty.  I think I started to blackout at least twice on this race.  I know I was seeing spots on the bridge effort to Mike and Ty and then attacking on the climb. I’m toast.

-Wes Douglas