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/)

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.

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!

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?

Dewayne Minor (DW) and Brandt Van der Gaast were both injured in the bad wreck this past Saturday’s BBL. Brandt broke his collarbone and is back in Auburn healing up. DW is still in the hospital with two broken wrists and a crack acetebulum. Hannah has created a website where you can sign up to take Dewayne and Caitlin a meal to help during the recovery process. Caitlin has been updating us on DW’s progress passed along via Hannah (thanks Caitlin and Hannah) … see the updates below

Latest from Caitlin: 2/11/10 11AM

Dewayne’s mom is going to come down and help us for a couple of weeks. It will be such a blessing.

However we are trying to find a way to fly her down as opposed to having to take a bus (which will be about a 23 hour trip!) I’ve found a flight, but right now, we are not in a position to pay for the ticket. One way is about $200, but if we go ahead and get the round trip ticket for a little over $300. [emphasis added by ed.]

Praying God will show us a way to get her down here. We desperately need her help during the day as they’ve told me they’d “prefer” him not be alone.. and between work and the Bar…well… that’s a challenge. He’s excited that she may be able to come…he never gets to see her.

For everyone who was planning on hanging out with him…he is really looking forward to it!!! Even with his mom there, he’s so social!

Thanks for your prayers.
–
Caitlin

Latest from Caitlin: 2/8/10 10AM

Dewayne is out of surgery & in post-op. No hip surgery as I said earlier, which is great!! They did do his right wrist.
We’ll be up in 8202 [8th floor, UAB Ortho] in a little bit. Probably will not be back to my house until Thursday sometime.
Thank you for everyone’s prayers and offers of help… it all means so very much to me and to DW. I will be in contact as we get closer to see what we need.
Love you all
Caitlin

Earlier from Caitlin: 2/8/10 8AM

Dewayne is in “surgery” now…I just found out he will NOT have to have the hip operated on…unless it weakens. Follow-up scans next week to make sure it is still stable. IE…if he tripped and fell the hip might not fare as well as an non-fractured hip. His right wrist will still need surgery. They are working on his wrist now. We’re looking at another 2-4 hours of surgery right now. It is really good that they’re doing this now. The less general anesthesia the better.
His spirits are OK…. he’s frustrated with himself for not sticking with with the original plan on Saturday which was to ride at the Christy’s. Also, knowing that surgery or not, he’s not going to be able to put any weight on that left leg is going to be really challenging.
Have a few prayer requests if you don’t mind:

1- just for him to heal quickly first of all, so glad that he isn’t hurt worse of course.

2- coming home will be a challenge. We’re in a split level house so we’ve got stairs to get in regardless. We’ll get him set up in the upstairs part.

3- I have the bar exam on Feb. 21-24. I’ll be in Montgomery for that time period. My Dad I believe is going to come stay with him. The same week however, my younger sister is 9 months pregnant. She is due on the 24th! (I know…the irony). So if Meg & Mary Clark, our new niece, need my parents, we’ll have to readjust.

4- please pray for my sanity… I’m really stressed out b/w the bar exam and all this. I am running low on time to study and DW will need lots of attention. We probably will have some home home health help, but I’m really concerned about how to figure this all out, get back to work at some point and get through the bar exam prepared. I really would like to PASS!
Sorry for the length.
Love you all,
Caitlin

Original update from Caitlin: 2/7/10 2PM

Dewayne wrecked his bike on Camp Winny road yesterday (2/6) on the BBL ride. They were in an attack zone … and the rider 2 people in front of him went on the center stripe and went down. Rider right in front of him went down and DW launched himself over the handlebars.

He has 2 broken wrists and a cracked acetebulum. His right wrist will require surgery and the left wrist and left hip are to be determined. He will be in UAB until at least Wednesday we think.

Tomorrow he will go under general anesthesia in the morning and they are going to test out the hip. At this time, MAYBE we’ll be able to get the surgery on his right wrist. If they find out that the hip is cracked enough, they’ll repair that, which entails a fair amount of work.

He will be without use on the right wrist for several weeks, left will heal quicker, but he’s going to be non-weight bearing on his left leg for 3 months (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!)

Rena Stewart is his ortho..thank goodness she’s an athlete!!! Gonna have him good and busy when he can on PT.

Tomorrow may be 20 minutes, 4 hours, or 6 if they have to do the wrist (4) or hip (6).

I will do my best to keep y’all posted.

Thanks so much
Caitlin

Also, I had a last minute family emergency and had to miss the ride so here’s the update/ride recap from two of my teammates who were there … first up, the recap from Jacob –

John won the first AZ out of a sprint, with Jennifer Schuble and Tony behind. I think Brad, who opened up the sprint, may have gotten 4th?

The Camp Winnie AZ was wild. Darryl took off early and the bunch didn’t want to let him go. AL Masters guys pulled and brought it back. As soon as he came back, Miro attacked but didn’t get much of a gap. We crossed the bridge and climbed the last steep double hill, and I lifted the pace at the top to try and trigger a move. Sure enough, Terry jumped out and immediately opened a big gap. Robert (Masters) went after him and I’m not sure if they ever hooked up, but Terry soloed it in. Darryl pulled Robert back, and as soon as he was caught, Gavin attacked. I chased him down and caught him at the base of the final hill, but the pack was closing fast so I didn’t pull through. Brock led out the sprint for Will, who launched midway up. Darryl came around him for 2nd, Will 3rd, me 4th, Brock 5th.

The KOM at Vandiver was Darryl, with Gavin in 2nd, right? I was behind the front group of those 2, Will, Miro, Robert, and Brock. [Editor's note - there was a misunderstanding about whether a regrouping was going to occur before the start of the next attack zone so we are scraping the Mimosa results.]

78 started like last week, with nobody eager to slog it out in the headwind. Finally TD took off and Will went with him. I went for and got the city limits sprint for 3rd; I think Miro was 4th and not sure who for 5th. I was done after that, so not sure how the 78 climb played out. [Editor's note - see Darryl's recap below for the cemetery hill attack zone]

And here is Darryl’s recap:

KOM….I attacked from the start and then Terry attacked with Miro and I just let them hover a while before Gavin started his signature chase. I took his wheel and as he raised the pace and we separated from the group. Gavin tried 3-4 attacks but nothing really stung and I just came by him for the KOM at the turn. Terry was 3rd. That’s when I looked back and Terry was coming hard. We killed it up the train track and all the way to the line [at Mimosa].

I was right after Miro for 5th at the sprint zone on 78. After a quick little dig for Jacob, I sat up and caught my breath for the hill. I came by Will. Gavin had put out a chase so he was cooked for the hill. Greg (not Robert) from AL Masters bridged up to me and then Miro came up too right about the time T was ready to go again, I attacked and T and I rode away with T taking it to the top. Greg was next, then Miro. I don’t know who got 5th.

So please make any corrections and fill in the missing details so I can update the points. Thanks.

Five riders contested this attack zone. With the cold temps, the pace was moderate up until the very end when John Adams launched out taking it ahead of Jennifer Schuble and the other three riders. Somebody please update me with the order for 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Thanks.
TNT
1st – John Adams
2nd – Jennifer Schuble
3rd – Tony Robbins
4th – Katherine Herring
5th – Travis Yost

After the TNT zone, we had about 25 miles of moderate paced, bitterly cold riding before the next action with the first of two “double-doubles”. Darryl started things off at the base of the climb with a strong attack. I attacked to join him, but the two of us couldn’t stay away. Will Hibberts brought us back with a steady hard effort. Then there was a few attacks that each got reeled in and a group of 5 made it to start of the KOM sprint. Pat caught us by surprised with 300 meters to go and held it to the line with me coming in second and then I’m not sure of the order after that … was it Wes, Darryl, Will or Darryl, Wes, Will, or Will, Wes, Darryl or Will, Darryl, Wes? Somebody update me!

Vandiver KOM
1st – Pat Allison
2nd – Brian Toone
3rd – Wes Douglas
4th – Darryl Seelhorst
5th – Will Hibberts

Immediately after the KOM, we started the Mimosa sprint and a group of 4 separated itself down the mountain and onto Mimosa Rd. With 3 Tria riders against Pat, it was attack, counter-attack. But Pat was strong enough to cover each move. Miro Novak kept a steady hard effort and made it up to us. Tria decided to let him roll off the front to force Pat to chase, but after some miscommunication that didn’t work out and it ended up being me leading out the sprint with Darryl able to come off Pat’s wheel to take the sprint. Wes and Miro both came around me and I rolled in for 5th a few seconds later.

Mimosa AZ
1st – Darryl Seelhorst (5+1hbp)
2nd – Pat Allison (4 + 0hbp)
3rd – Wes Douglas (3+ 1hbp)
4th – Miro Novak (2 + 2hbp)
5th – Brian Toone (1 + 0hbp)

For the start of the next “double-double”, it was Tria launching the attacks in this zone. After one or two attacks, Darryl got a good gap and built up a solid lead to take the sprint solo. Jacob Tubbs led out the sprint for second edging out Jim Brock with Pat Allison and me close behind. I launched a counter to try to bridge up to Darryl while Pat was recovering, but Pat was able to jump my wheel so I shut it down to let Darryl push the pace out front to stay away. Pat pushed the pace hard toward the mid part of the climb and caught Darryl by the I-459 bridge. Terry put in an immediate counter attack, but Pat was able to cover. About 10 seconds later, Darryl put in another hard attack – but again Pat was able to cover it. Finally, I launched an immediate counter-attack, and was able to hold it to the line with Pat taking the sprint for second followed by Darryl, Wes, and Terry. Again – I’m not sure about the specific order – somebody please update. Thanks!

Irondale City Limits AZ
1st – Darryl Seelhorst (5 + 1hbp)
2nd – Jacob Tubbs (4 + 2hbp)
3rd – Ed (3 + 2hbp)
4th – Pat Allison (2 + 0hbp)
5th – Brian Toone (1 + 0hbp)

Cemetery Hill AZ
1st – Brian Toone (5 + 0hbp)
2nd – Pat Allison (4 + 0hbp)
3rd – Terry Duran (3 + 0hbp)
4th – Wes Douglas (2 + 1hbp)
5th – Darryl Seelhorst (1 + 1hbp)

I have started updating the points, but I am going to wait until I have gotten more clarification on the order of the finishes before I finish updating the points for today.

1 – DON’T CROSS THE YELLOW LINE … EVER (capitalized for emphasis). We had a few riders crossing the yellow line today. Don’t do it. Just a warning today to EVERYONE, but future infractions will result in immediate punishment.

2 – Deanna fell hard near the Cahaba River bridge on 78 because there was some trash/debris in the road. PLEASE everyone call out a warning if you see something on the road (holes, trash, plastic water bottles, etc) so that this doesn’t happen again. She had to be taken away in an ambulance, so please pray/think/well-wish that she is OK and somebody email me so I can update the group with how she is doing.

The ride today must have been hard because sitting at my computer a few hours after the ride I can’t remember the placings very well at all. So please email me with corrections and fill in the blank so I can update this recap and the points. Thanks!!!

First attack zone – a large group of maybe 15 riders contested this sprint. Omar absolutely crushed the competition when he started the uphill sprint. Taking second was John Adams followed by Jennifer Schuble – beyond that is anybody’s guess as I couldn’t see. Somebody please update me!

Cat 5 / Women TNT Fireworks
1st – Omar Fraser
2nd – John Adams
3rd – Jennifer Schuble
4th – Tony Robbins
5th – Norm Hagan

Camp Winnie was much better this week without the rain. Faster, harder, and strategic all at the same time. So hard in fact I don’t remember much about it except the end. The pace was pretty high so there wasn’t very many long-lived attacks early in the zone. Terry Duran, Jimmy, and Adam were in a late move that got a few seconds on the field. But when the sprint started in earnest we swarmed them with Jim Brock leading it out followed by me followed closely by Mike Powell. I came around Jim as we approached the finish, and Pat Allison inched by me on the right and then Sammy came flying by us both to win it at the line.

Camp Winnie Attack Zone
1st – Sammy Flores
2nd – Pat Allison
3rd – Brian Toone
4th – Mike Powell
5th – Jacob Tubbs

The Sterrett attack zone sneaks up on you pretty quick after the Camp Winnie one so about half the group got caught off guard when a large group including a number of heavy hitters – Will Hibberts, Darryl Seelhorst, Jacob Tubbs, and a bunch of other people rolled up the road. Adam Goldwebber, Gavin, Jimmy, Omar, me and maybe one or two other riders were in the middle. After we made the turn on Hwy 55 there was still a good separation of the three groups, but Omar laid it down hard to finish closing the gap to the front group making it two groups out on the road. Right as we started the sprint at the end, Pat Allison and Sammy finished pulling the second group up to us. Terry got things started with the first attack. Then it bunched up again and Jim Brock and Darryl attacked. I was in perfect position behind Jim and was able to come around him to take the sprint. I believe Darryl was second, followed by Jim and Pat in nearly a dead heat with Terry Duran hanging on for 5th. Somebody please confirm that!

Sterrett Attack Zone
1st – Brian Toone
2nd – Darryl Seelhorst?
3rd -Jim Brock?
4th – Pat Allison?
5th – Joseph Greenway?

This was already a hard ride by this point, but it was only to get even better after the store stop. When we turned onto 25 and approached the base of the climb, a rider surged forward and got a good gap on the group going into the steep part of the climb. Does anybody know what that rider’s name was? We caught him towards the top of the steep bottom part of the climb and Terry put in a hard effort separating himself from the group. I looked around to see if anybody was going to chase. I didn’t see anybody making a move so I shifted into the big chainring waited a second or two and then attacked hard (23mph) so that I didn’t pull anybody up to Terry and yet could still separate myself from the group. It worked and the group split up behind with Gavin surging off the front and a number of people chasing. I was able to stay away to the top, with Gavin closing in near the top for second, and the group behind them coalescing for the KOM sprint for 3rd place. Pat Allison came out on top for that with Darryl and ? coming in for fourth and fifth.

Vandiver KOM
1st – Brian Toone
2nd – Gavin
3rd – Pat Allison
4th – Darryl Seelhorst
5th – Terry Duran

Mike Powell and Joseph Greenway got things started on the last attack zone – easily getting a 20 second gap on the field after their initial attack. We worked on the downhill slowly bringing it back until we crossed the Cahaba River bridge and a small surge saw a group of about 5 separate from the chase and put a few seconds on the group. As we passed the Irondale city limits sign we eased up the pace on the front, but Gavin wasn’t having any of that. He came to front and pushed it hard up the hill bringing back the remains of the front group quickly with only Terry still left in front. Terry was pushing it hard and Gavin ever so slowly clawed it back until we were within 25 meters of Terry with about 300 meters until the line. Jim Brock saw that we weren’t going to catch Terry so he started the sprint. Pat saw Jim start to sprint and started his own sprint. I saw Pat start his sprint and so I started mine and hopped on Pat’s wheel for a few seconds. With 150 meters to go, I pulled out to come around and we were both sprinting as hard as we could side-by-side with neither of us able to pull ahead. Fortunately (for me) I had about 5 pedal strokes more than Pat left in the tank and I was able to just barely pull ahead at the sign. Pat was inches behind for second. Darryl and Jim came in for 3rd and 4th with I believe Terry (???) coming around Gavin for 5th. But for his incredible efforts on the KOM and also for his monster pull all the way up Cemetery Hill, I believe Gavin gets the most aggressive rider of the day award.

Cemetery Hill Attack Zone
1st – Brian Toone
2nd – Pat Allison
3rd – Darryl Seelhorst
4th – Jim Brock
5th – Terry?

13 riders contested the Cat 5 / Women attack zone. I believe the placings were:
1st – Brad McGibboney
2nd – John Adams
3rd – Jennifer Schuble
4th – ?
5th – ?

The rain had picked up pretty good by the start of the Camp Winnie attack zone. Darryl made an initial move closely followed by Jim Brock and me. Then Stuart Lamp came to the front and drilled it hard and eventually got away on his own with Adam Goldwebber. The two of them worked up a pretty good gap, but it started to come down as we came into the final stretch. Then Mike Lackey put in a hard attack followed closely by Ed from Velocity Pro Cycles and Sammy Flores they quickly closed down the gap and Sammy counter attacked – but the remnants of the chasing peloton were close behind and it all came back together at the end with the following order:
1st – Pat Allison
2nd – Terry Duran
3rd – Darryl Seelhorst
4th – Brian Toone
5th – Jacob Tubbs
6th – Mike Lackey

After regrouping at the Vandiver store and rolling out, the general consensus was that it was too cold and everyone was too spread out to contest the Vandiver KOM. But we had enough of a group back together for the cemetery hill attack zone. Terry Duran got things started, but Will Hibberts and Mike Lackey were able to reel him back in. Then it was a pretty fast pace with people rotating all the way into the climb when Wes Douglas put in a strong attack. Terry jumped to close it down and Will Hibberts finished it off as we came close to the line. I came around Will to start the sprint with Pat on my wheel. Pat was just able to come around me at the line to take an elusive sweep of the attack zones. I was 2nd with Terry, Will and Wes behind us.

Hopefully next week’s weather will cooperate with us!

Update from Faris at Homewood Cycle & Fitness for this Saturday 1/16 We have demo road bikes available! If you are a potential buyer and are interested in riding a demo Cervelo S1, S2, RS or a Trek Madone, or a Gary Fisher Cronus (road bike)….let me know. We will be more than happy to set one up for you. Please send me your name, size, height, and phone number to faris@cahabacycles.com. See yall Saturday! Raffle Prizes: Trek hats, Bontrager RXL tires, Gary Fisher hats, Bontrager cycling caps, Cervelo jerseys, socks, and more! – Faris Malki, Cahaba Cycles/Homewood Cycles, faris@cahabacycles.com

Update! Homewood Cycles clothing drive BBL this Saturday The clothing drive BBL is ON for this Saturday leaving from behind HOMEWOOD CYCLES. Please bring any clothes you would like to donate to the start of the ride. Please email me if you have any questions. Thanks!!!

1/2 Coldest BBL ever Surely this was the coldest BBL ever with the thermometer just barely making it back up to the freezing point. Some brave hearty souls endured the cold and were rewarded with points galore! I’ve posted a ride recap and updated the points. Please email me with any mistakes or let me know if anything is missing. Thanks!!!

1/2 This week’s ride details updated I have updated the ride details below, but they are tentative – please check with Darryl, Terry, or Brian before the start of the ride for the finalized details.

12/26 Points posted I posted the points a few days ago for this, but forgot to update the main page. Check out the points available here, and as always please email me with any mistakes or let me know if anything is missing. Thanks!!!

12/26 Yes, we are riding! The tentative ride details are posted below. The points may or may not count depending on how many people make it out to the ride. Please arrive early and pay attention to last minute instructions from Darryl who will be leading the ride solo as Terry and I are both still out of town.

12/19 Finally, some points! We had a great turnout for our first ride where the weather held off for us to count the points! Please look through the points available here, and let me know if there are any mistakes. Please email me with any mistakes or anything that is missing. Thanks!!!

12/19 This week’s ride details posted below. We are going to stick with the same route, the same attack zones, and hopefully this week the weather will cooperate and we’ll be able to finally tally up some points!!!

12/12 Rain, rain go away! With a significant threat of heavy rain and generally miserable conditions, we had to cancel the ride again this past week. The forecast for this week’s ride is 20% rain, so let’s hope it holds off and we can finally kick off the points!

12/6 Brrrrr – 25 riders survive cold BBL. Our postponed BBL went off without a hitch other than it being colder than Saturday at the start. Temps and the speed warmed up as we practiced the attack zones. Check out the full ride recap. I have included the points that people would have earned, but the points didn’t actually count because of the last minute schedule change. This week’s ride will use the SAME route and SAME attack zones, but this time the points will actually count!

12/3 Points system explained. I have posted an explanation of the new points system for this year. Check it out! We’ll also have a brief tutorial before our snowy ride on Saturday!

12/1 Points kick-off this Saturday! The first few weeks have flown by, and now it’s time for the first ride with attack zones. We are trying two new things this year: separate women/cat 5/non-cat attack zones and a new handicapped point system.

11/28 BBL Kelly Creek Cook Springs Ride Recap. Wow – what a great turnout today. The points kick-off is coming up next week. Details and a description of our revised points system will be posted soon. In the meantime, read the ride recap (w/ pics courtesy of Jacob Tubbs) from today’s ride.

11/26 BBL goes high-tech. You can now download a GPX file of the route compatible with the Garmin Edge 705 (and possibly other GPS devices) to give you turn-by-turn directions on your GPS unit during the ride. Check out the map and instructions at the bottom of the Upcoming Ride section below.

11/23 Danny Feldman from LHLM has laid down some serious cash for the overall BBL prize money. Thank you Danny!!! Check out the link to his website in the list of sponsors below. And be sure to thank and do business with these sponsors who help make our winter training series possible.