Time to ride!

Master Cross Worlds Wrap

2012-01-18T21:18:00.002-06:00

Well, that was fun. I've raced my (road) bike in snow before and also sub-freezing temps. But Louisville, Kentucky on Friday the 13th a few days ago was different. Different in that we had frozen ground after that predicted cold-front blew in and dropped temps to the high teens Thursday to Friday night.

So lucky for me and Justin (other rider from TX doing the 30-34 race) we didn't need to worry about getting muddy bikes (since we only brought one CX bike up here)...because all the mud-sections were 90% frozen! Problem is how you ride that stuff. Warming up at 27degree outside temperature (with the wind chill close to single digits) I knew this will be a tough one - coming from sunny & fast terrain. Riding on the grassy section was okay but you had to ride on the very outside just mm from the course-tape to avoid having to ride in the frozen ruts which developed over night (see picture below). The 35-39 AG heats Friday morning were quite "entertaining" as a lot of (experienced) riders hit the deck a few times while making their way over the worst parts of the course. De-icing of the flyover was in full swing when their race was supposed to start at 9am.

Friday morning courtesy of Tim Harris Visuals

I had a descent start in my race and was in the middle of the "pack" of 30ish guys when we hit the dirt. The first few ruts took out a few guys and I found myself quickly somewhere 10-15 positions behind the leader by the time we hit the first ice-ride-through and a sweeping left turn. Not ideal but at least I managed to handle my bike 'til then. For me, I spent too much time dodging icy ruts which were still peanut-butter-like mud the day before. It was awful. Amazing how the leaders rode over that stuff. I had descent legs and was gaining ground and passed a handful of guys on the flats but either was lacking the skillz (?) to ride over the frozen ruts without crashing. I fell once but besides a twisted shifter-lever I was good to go 3 seconds later. Halfway through the race I realized that running the worst part of ice by the flyover was much quicker (and safer) than riding it. But I paid for that a minute later when I wasn't able to ride up the run-up anymore simply because my legs were on fire from running all-out for 10-15seconds. So off the bike again for that little kicker close to the finish.

well...

the Belgie (right) who won already in 2010 won again

After 5 laps and 52minutes of racing I rolled in 15th, nothing stellar and I was hoping for more. But all considered, I can be happy with it. I had good legs, and the bike & rubber worked 100% well. I just lacked that special skill you need in Cyclocross to be at the very front. I lost approximately 70seconds every lap to the Belgie who ended up winning. On a 3.1K lap that's quite a bit in cyclocross.

Again, special THANKS to Sol and Eric at Austin Bikes, Doug Looney of SCOTT, Sean Lambert of ROL Wheels, and Ian, Justin, Paul & Cath at Bicycles Outback for the sponsorship and support this week. Now it's time to shift the focus back on the road and the 2012 season lying ahead. Some old and new things for the coming year and I am excited. Stay tuned for updates.

done!

Master Cross Worlds Day 1 & 2

2012-01-12T15:58:00.002-06:00

I'm out here in Louisville, KY for 3days after I pulled the trigger and registered for my first ever Master's race - the 2012 UCI Master Cyclocross Worlds. I thought I'd never do a Master's race and probably retire before doing some local 40+ race in Texas but since UCI Master's includes 30-year-old's like me I might as well, right? Steve Tilford put it nice when he said to me re: entering my 1st Master's race: "It happens to the best of us." He's right. But he's a so much better CX racer, too ;-)

Wednesday evening forecast: winter!

Anyways, Texas CX races don't compare to what you see up here in the Midwest right now on the Kentucky/Indiana border. It's muddy-messy. It's Thursday afternoon and so far I've ridden 30minutes on the course yesterday (when it was raining), then this morning the Bicycle Outback guys and I rode out on the road for an hour or so and tomorrow is already the 30-34 Men's Final. Comparing to most other age-groups, our "kiddie" group has no "seeding heats" (to determine starting order) since we only got ~35 guys racing so I drew start # 17 out of the bag. 3rd row, on the outside - not great but I also could have drawn # 32 and be OTB.

It snowed during the qualifying heats this early afternoon. We rode at 9am and it was 49F. Now it's 3pm and barely 30F. Forecast is more snow tonight and high teens as a low. Will be an interesting day/race tomorrow. The last (and only) time I did a cyclocross race with rain & mud was probably around 1996 back home in Heidenau, near Dresden. My ride? A old Diamant steel-frame with "maybe" 14-gears. But it had tubulars at least!

Wednesday, 1:30pm: first & last time this rig is so clean...

We're trying to stay warm here and luckily I packed enough clothes for the few days in the cold. Just needed to buy some super-warm and waterproof for the race-site which is a mix of mud, water and just overall a messy place. But that's cross and everyone has to deal with it here. The only thing I didn't bring is a spare/pit-bike and if the mud will be similar tomorrow then those 4 laps will be gnarly without pitting. But oh well, let's see what happens. A lot can happen in 45minutes. The reigning 30-34 World Champ from Belgium is racing tomorrow but besides him and me, that race is pretty much a copy of the US Master Nationals last weekend in "warm" Madison with 99% US riders lined up. Brad Cole raced well there in 5th and he'll be lining up tomorrow, too. I think the cost of coming over to the US, bringing bikes, extra wheels, renting cars, hotels and stuff is just too expensive for more Europeans coming over here. Oh, and there are a few other Texans up here who can do very well: Jimmie Vaughn, Paul "5 races in a row" Bonds, and Ian & Catherine Moore from Waco. There are more, but I already forgot. Looks like more Texans here than at Nationals a week ago.

photo taken by Trudi, with Steve riding on rideable part yesterday. Now it's all mud.

With those extreme conditions the roadie in me is be pretty "unexcited" but still I'm looking forward to race and go all out. I'll try to post some update tomorrow after the race and hopefully some more muddy pics.

Thursday, 3pm: 2 laps in...

Wednesday, 2pm: 30minutes on the course and my tights are "done"

Ian found a sweet spot inside the our downtown Hyatt to wash bikes. Hot water, too!

Thursday, 12pm. there was grass 2 days ago...

Thursday, 1pm: trying to stay warm while heats are going on. Notice: it's snowing

Special THANKS to Sol & Eric at Austin Bikes, Doug Looney of SCOTT, Sean Lambert of ROL Wheels, and Ian at Bicycles Outback for the sponsorship & support this week.

Tulsa & Ft. Worth Cyclocross Weekend

2011-11-21T14:37:00.004-06:00

I went up to DFW last Friday for another fun weekend of CX racing. First, up on I-35 to OKC to pick up former MSU-teammate Greg and then we headed to Broken Arrow, OK for the Ruts 'N Guts Cross race. It's just South of Tulsa and held on a very cool course around a park/church. For the 60minutes we climbed nearly 1000ft - quite a bit for a CX race. It was good seeing some of my Tulsa Tough teammates and catch up. The prize $$$ for this race was big, all of the 20 guys who raced walked away with some change. Joe Schmalz rode away from everyone to claim the $1K first place prize. The never-tired-of-racing Steve Tilford ran 3rd and I was happy to crack the Top10 in 8th place. On-the-road teammate Mat Ankney had to ride really fast so I don't catch him :-)

Nice little video by the promoters of the Tulsa CX Race:

After a long day of racing and driving I made it for the 2nd day of racing in Ft. Worth at Trinity Park. The course was for sure not a "true" cyclocross-specific course but still we had to race our bikes pretty hard to finish where we finished...Paul Bonds was yet again on another level and after riding with him for 30minutes at the front he simply dropped me and I rode the last 3 or 4 laps alone to come in 2nd place. Ouch, that hurt! It's amazing to see guys like Bonds or Tilford kick some major butt and drop guys who are 10-20 years younger like flies.

The only real challenging part of Sunday's CX course in Ft. Worth:

Tour de Gruene TT's

2011-11-07T22:12:00.000-06:00

The last 2 years I missed out on Tour de Gruene because of trips to New Zealand for Tour of Southland and last year to India. So going back to New Braunfels this year was really good. A new ITT with an uphill finish on Canyon Lake Dam was very interesting, and made for a challenging TT. Ian Stanford from HED came down again and after a 3rd place last year he got his win this year with a 19second advantage over my ride for the 16mile TT. The traffic on the course, an awards-ceremony which took way too long (think 2hrs) and a lack of a (previously guaranteed) shuttle service back to the start left a few people unhappy that day - understandably. Luckily I had a ride with some friends but I felt bad for the folks who didn't had friends or family out there and had to ride 16miles back to S/F on their race wheels, when it was nearly dark and getting cold.

Sunday was the 2-person TT - something my athlete Wes Jerman and I have been focusing on. He's a good time trialist, won the Cat 3 State TT and final stage of Tulsa Tough this year. Our "combo" was definitely able to win but in a time trial everything must go right so you can come in first. Warm-up, nutrition, equipment, course, etc..But it all well and according to plan and we were on the right track the whole race. The only challenging part was the wind and slight rain on the back in coming towards Gruene and with the 1080/Super9 - combo I felt the crosswind a bit but we could still go full throttle down HW 306.

Out time just around 58:50 was not record-setting but still a good 2 1/2minutes ahead of second place (Pincus/ Bentley). Fun weekend down in New Braunfels. And I didn't even use the Wurstfest tickets I got from the race and found a week later in my bag. I wonder if they're valid next year?

photo: John Buntz

it was worth waiting close to 2hrs for awards...

Local Austin Crit Series Driveway on Vimeo

2011-10-31T10:33:00.003-05:00

LiveStrong Ride

2011-10-17T10:57:00.000-05:00

85miles through the Hill Country last weekend at the LiveStrong Challenge Ride here in Austin. Great time of the year to ride out to Wimberley, towards Blanco and back up to Drippin' Springs. Not much "racing" going on this year since only ~20 of us did the long route and LA & friends took the "short-cut" for 65miles. Last long ride of the season in the books.

Texas State RR

2011-10-06T08:28:00.003-05:00

Last road race of the year, finally 2 weeks earlier than last year when we still raced 100mile RR in mid-October! Well, as usual, a small P/1 field of maybe 25-30guys (?) made for a tough 4+hrs on the bike in Ft. Hood. Racing solo here in Texas, I jumped with the moves which had the right guys & numbers and that was the case quite a few times. After some re-shuffling it came down to a group of 8 or 9 guys and instead of waiting 'til the very end I decided to go with ~15miles to go. Long way out, but I thought at least I don't have to deal w/ all the sure-to-be-happening attacks/counter-attack's etc. After "the wall" I had a minute gap and things looked fine. But I knew that would be very, very odd if nobody comes up. Sure enough, Brant Speed, G. Skinner and Logan Hutchings came up a few miles later and with maybe 3-4miles to go it was a group of 4.

Logan killed it yet again, and added another 1st place to his Texas results list for 2011. He got me in the sprint and I rolled in second ahead of Brant. With the rules of USA Cycling, Logan got the first place cash but wasn't eligible for the jersey and I got that jersey this year. I would have like to win the race outright but Logan was - again - the strongest in the final dash to the line.

photo: Lee McDaniel

Cotton Patch Omnium

2011-09-19T10:29:00.005-05:00

I haven't been here since in 2009 so with a RR, TT and Crit I was looking forward to some good late-season racing as prep for State RR just a week later. My "wing-man" Jay Blankenship came down from Kansas so we had two Tulsa Tough guys in the mix. The Road Race worked out as usual, after 10 miles an early break goes and makes it to the end. Contrary to 2 years back, I wasn't able to out-sprint my break-away buddies Carlos & Crozzy (who won) but a 3rd was good going into the TT.

The time trial was on a new route, along Highway 69 north of Greenville. A bit too much traffic in my opinion for a safe TT but it was a hard TT with plenty off headwind. I never felt really fast because of the wind and a new saddle I was trying out but still I was able to score the best time of the day and take the lead in Omnium. So I had to make a phone call North to Oklahoma and call-in another wingman for the Crit: Jason Waddell.

A guy who won PLENTY of Crits on his own and raced pro ~10 years ago as a helper for a Criterium? Why not. That's what teamwork is all about. Two weeks ago I was getting him to the front at Gateway-Cup and gave him a good last lap lead-out...now he's riding at the front shutting things down so we make sure we can take home the Omnium win. Classy teammates. I ended up in a break with Carlos & two local PACC guys and third on the day. Plenty enough to win again and between Jay & Jayson we had a nice pay-day/weekend.

(photo: Lee McDaniel Photography)

Déjà Vu in Wichita Falls

2011-09-12T20:59:00.005-05:00

Going back to Wichita Falls was great. I lived there for 5 years and it was awesome to see so many friends from the past and present. The race, Hotter'n Hell 100, went good, too although you always strive for the top spot.

Update: Three different days, three different races, three different podium "scenes"...

Friday Night Crit (photo: Dan Apgar, www.danapgar.com/)

Saturday's Road Race (photo credit: Richard Cleaver, www.pbase.com/rphoto/)

Sheri victorious at Sunday's Crit (photo credit: Scot Montague)

Tricks on two wheels

2011-08-16T14:07:00.002-05:00

Pretty amazing stuff (again) from Scotland by Danny Macaskill!

From the woodshop...

2011-08-02T17:55:00.002-05:00

I was always amazed how much money you can spend on toys for your pets. Especially a cat tree. Petsmart has one for $279...and that's with free shipping! Ouch. So on a Saturday I thought about it and Sunday afternoon I started building one from scratch after a visit to one or two hardware stores.

It went like this, starting at 4pm with some carpet, 2x4's, 90deg angles, screws and carpet/wood glue:

5pm :

6:30pm :

somewhere in between:

around 9pm:

done at 11pm!

A happy cat...

That's MY tree!

having friends over...

Ok, I think I fit in here...

Next to putting things together so it withholds a 10+lb pet (who loves to jump & move!) I had to think a few times how to put the most creative building together so it's a) functional and b) still "exciting" from a cats perspective. From the first looks the cat "accepted" it as a new hangout.

Europe

2011-07-28T00:26:00.001-05:00

We got back from Europe about two weeks ago and I finally found some time to go through some pictures. It was good going "home" to the "Old World". Traveling is so easy these days, and we flew via Atlanta directly into Venice, Italy. With only a backback on your back you can roam around pretty easily in any country. A 5min walk from the airport Exit doors gets you to the ferries or water taxis waiting for passengers to go from mainland Italy to the island Venice. It takes 20min and - Boom -, you're there. We had a nice little place/hotel 5min from San Marcos square and spend a day and a half wandering around the city. I was there in the Spring of 1991 the last time so it was good to be back. Seemed more crowded now, though.

taxi in Venice...

firefighters Venice-style...

Next stop was Florence, just 2hrs South-West by Eurstar, the Italian version of France's TGV or Germany's ICE. Great town and not as crowded as Venice. You have to see Michelangelo's "David", the Uffizi Gallery of Art, and the Ponte Vecchio. If you're into traditional Italian cooking, then go to "Vini e Vecchi Sapori"- a TripAdvisor top-rated, but small, family-owned restaurant in the center of the city. I had "Trippa alla Romana" which translates to cow's stomach". A local delicacy.

Ponte Vecchio

David by Michelangelo

View from the Piazza Michelangelo onto Florence

AirBerlin took us then to Dresden via Duesseldorf. Unfortunately, there's no direct flight between Florence, Italy and the "Florence of Saxony" as what Dresden is called sometimes because of the similarity in architecture and buildings. After a late-night stop at the local Kebab place it was time for some rest.

What Germans love about Turkey....their Kebabs!

The rest of the weekend we mainly visited with my family and also went to my HighSchool reunion which took place conveniently that weekend. It was a small crowd since it was thrown together kind of late but still a lot of fun and it was good catching up with friends I have not seen for years.

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-27T15:53:00.008-05:00

After a little time off it was race-time again this past weekend before heading to Europe for a quick trip "home".

It was another 100+F Thursday but it treated me well and somehow I was able to come up with a decent sprint at the Driveway.

On Saturday, July 2nd, we went back to the Firecracker 100, a Russ-Walker-World Championship-Qualifying RALLY (not race) in Stephenville, TX. I think it was 2005 (?) the last and only time I was there before. Back then, Surfer Nick & a few others showed me how to not lose a rally ride ;-) Russ, Scott S, Thomas, some young 18y/o kid, and me rolled 55miles together and thanks to Hoka Hey Fine Arts of Dublin, TX, I got the coolest trophy ever - a Bronze Boot!

with Louise and Sheri

A day later I did a little Crit South of Dallas promoted by King racing Group and Ginny King. It was probably around 100F again by the time we started (noon?). The field was small and the course featured 0% shade - not ideal conditions for a 90minute circuit race with some good hills. Nonetheless, I found myself in a move with newly crowned 15/16 Junior National Criterium CHampion Danny Parks about 20min into the race. That kid and ride! We just did a 2-man TT and shared equal pulls and a dozen (?) water bottles. The uphill kick to the finish wasn't super steep so you could ride the big ring up and that helped me to sneak away for the win. Otherwise I might have been in trouble the way Danny was riding ;-) Long-time friend and Texas racing icon Chris Powers finished 3rd that day. I hear he bought a Porsche that same week. Fast biker, even faster cars!

Nature Valley Grand Prix is a wrap!

2011-06-27T12:39:00.006-05:00

Last week was fun, looking forward to a week off now. It was great to be part of the NVGP Team and meeting some new and old friends. I had all kind of team directors in the past, different nationalities, ages, etc. but to be honest never a woman, a french woman :-) ! But Marion Cligne t definitely had her stuff together and is a great motivator, coach, athlete, etc.

As a team (Tim, Brandon, Stephen, Alec, Scott & Scott) we had no impressive results and I wasn't able to accomplish what I had in mind but Timothy Rugg, aka Mustache, saved the day for the team with his awesome ride in Sunday's Stillwater Crit which earned him the Most Aggressive Rider Award.

With Tim & Scott after Stillwater. Photo: Lyne Lamoureux

Tulsa Tough > Minnesota, NVGP

2011-06-13T13:02:00.006-05:00

After some racing down in Texas over Memorial Day Weekend we wrapped up Tulsa Tough yesterday. My team had some highs and lows, with a "crashy" Friday night but some good sprints by Jason Waddell to place Top10 twice in a stacked field of 130 guys. Cry Baby Hill was crazy, as usual, or maybe even rowdier and more crowded then the years before.

Party on "Cry Baby Hill". Can you spot the P/1 peloton?

(Photo by Lyne Lamoureux. Check her website for full coverage of the race.)

Now I'm "back" in Minnesota for another edition of the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Like in 2007 I'm racing on the Nature Valley Team, a group of amateurs compiled from across the country. Instead of the composite team of '07 where we had Jonathan Page, Olheiser, me and ? (forgot their names) this team is made up of guys who each won a regional "selection" P/1/2 race. Thanks to my trip to snowy Utah I'm here today and the crew around promoter David LaPorte are already taken good care of us. We have some professionals with great experience as team directors (Michael Engleman for the Ladies and Marion Clignet for the guys).

This will be my fourth time up in Minneapolis/St. Paul for NVGP and even though I'm a bit tired from the last 3 nights of racing I'm already looking forward to a "stinging" Wednesday morning Time Trial by the Smith Ave bridge.

Flashback: Racing for Nature Valley Team back in 2007 with Page & Co.

Teamwork pays off at Joe Martin Stage Race

2011-05-10T12:36:00.004-05:00

The Tulsa Tough team had an amazing weekend at Joe Martin Stage Race. We ended up with 4 wins in 4 stages with 3 different riders in the Cat 1-2 race. It wasn't easy by any means but our group of guys bonded very well together and everyone rode for the team. Jay Blankenship even raced with a L1 separated shoulder he suffered 3 weeks ago at the Matrix Crits. Chris Zenthoefer, one of our main sponsors and "brain" of the team, worked hard in the early part of the road races. Janne Hamalainen, recent Master's winner of Sea Otter Classic Stage Race rode himself inside out for the team. Most Valuable Player award goes to 21-year-old 'kid' Zach Earnest for doing some serious work up Mt. Gaylor and riding himself into the ground for the team in Stage 3's break-away. Will Gault did another lightning fast TT, and hung on for 3rd place GC. Chad Cagle won two stages, and un-retired ex-pro Jason Waddell added some great horsepower to the team and finishing 2nd in Sunday's Crit to make it 1-2 on the day. Mat Ankney rode through a few cramps and always came back to the front leading 2laps non-stop in the final minutes of the Criterium. That's what teamwork is all about and while it was great to be standing on top of the podium, all those guys deserved to be up there with me (not only Will and I).

Looking forward to Tulsa Tough in 4 weeks!

Top 8 GC Joe Martin Stage Race, Cat 1/2

Trip to snowy Utah

2011-04-13T13:34:00.008-05:00

What do you think of when you hear Utah? Great Salt Lake? Mormonism? Olympics? Rocky Mountains? Park City? Sure, all those things came to my mind when me and the wife were heading up North to visit friends in Sandy, UT and race the 2-day, 3-stage Tour of the Depot Stage Race in the greater Salt Lake City area. One thing I was not really thinking of – well, at least not in April - was snow, LOTS of snow. More to that a bit later, though.

Upon arrival to SLC we were treated to some “balmy” 50˚F and we had some spotty sunshine. Later that day, though the winter came back and we were reminded that we are indeed in the Rocky Mountains and snow is always a possibility – even in mid-April. So it was trainer time for 2days. Riding in the basement I felt like I was back home in Germany. We made the best of it, though and headed up to 7000ft. to Park City and checked out the snowboarders & skiers enjoy the fresh white stuff.

ready to race?

Friday night before the race we’re waiting to see if the race get’s canceled or not. It was in the mid-30’s and still snowing strong. A race in those conditions probably would have been called in any other state, but not in Utah! Our race was shortened by 20miles, though - eliminating a snowed in mountain pass in return. Between Sheri, Paul (our host), and I we probably had at least a dozen layers of clothing to stay warm and dry for what was coming up. So I lined up at 9:30am for a 70mile P12 Road Race with about 40 other guys. It was a bit above freezing and still snowing lightly. The local Team Canyon Bicycles had about 10 guys in the race, and Team Exergy from Idaho brought 3 guys down. I followed wheels and tried to ignore the facts that a) I was racing at 5000ft b) it was snowing/sleeting and c) we got 70miles to go. After 15miles a break of 3 was 30seconds up the road and besides a few random deer and cattle crossing the road not much excitement was observed. The Exergy boys finally made a move to bridge to the break and I jumped on with it to make a break of 6 complete. Everyone worked, and we quickly established a one-minute lead. I was happy to actually “race” and stay warm instead of pedaling along in the peloton and getting cold feet. While up in the break, I noticed some more weather characteristics: Snow from the left and right. Water from below. Snow pellets in your face. Even some random sunshine. And back to snow-shower. Eventually, 3 guys got dropped from our move and it was down to one Exergy rider, a Canyon Bicycles guy, and me. I was barely holding on, the two of them drove it. The altitude and cold made my legs hurt pretty badly like I haven’t felt for a while. HR was at 180bpm now for the last 20 or 30minutes. But getting dropped out of the winning break was not an option. 42-year old Dave Harward (Canyon-Bicycles) schooled us at the finish but I held on for 3rd, 17 seconds down. Good for the TT later that day. Sheri finished the 50mile Road Race in 8th place, and was on same time with 5th in GC. She didn’t like the snow at all and I have no idea how she survived that race but very proud that she did. I raced in the rain & wind of New Zealand, at close to 100% humidity in South East Asia, and some pretty rough & chilly rain in Western Europe….but 3hrs in the snow just above freezing tops that all for sure. Thanks to whoever invented surgical latex-free gloves which were like a second layer on my hands.

Road Race finish line view...

BMC all frozen after RR finish

Well, turns out the afternoon TT was canceled, the officials thought time trialing in the snow with some turns and possible ice is not a good idea. Good call! Even so, I was hoping to race the TT since I got Paul to bring up my TT rig from Texas. It (the bike) got so see some mountains, though at least!

Sunday’s final Circuit Race was held in much better conditions. We actually got to see the mountains this time, and the lost sun was back – making it a nice 50˚F again for the 5mile circuit, to be raced 8 times. 250 ft. of elevation per lap wasn’t bad at all. With the time bonuses etc., I was down 26 seconds to first and 10 seconds or so to 2nd GC. With my handmade clue sheet taped to my stem, I was ready for 90minutes of tactics to be played. Attack after attack went and finally Pinkham of Bissell got away with a Canyon-Bicycles rider (they still had 8 guys in the race) while 1st and 2nd GC looked after and at each other. Perfect. 5 laps in, I thought if I wanted to win that thing, I’d better be start doing something. So after a bonus-second sprint with 3 to go (which 1st and 2nd GC went for at 100%) I upped it up a bit and took another Canyon-Bicycles guy (7th GC) with me. Nobody reacted really so I put my head down and kept going. 2 laps to go and we’re about to catch up to the break of two which been out front most of the stage. After sitting on for 1 ½ laps my “armchair-ride” companion decided to attack and tried to bridge solo to the break. Well, that didn’t sit well with me so I digged a bit deeper and after 5minutes I catch him just as he caught the break. The Bissell guy (Pinkham) was still riding well and the two Canyon guys were sitting on, hoping that their GC man would come up eventually. So it was my turn again, pulling for most of the remaining 1 ½ laps and telling Pinkham that he should go for the win since I’m just looking for the GC. He finally made his move with 2 K to go, won, and I crossed the line 10seconds back in 3rd. No reason to celebrate yet, as I had no idea how far back 1st and 2nd GC guys were. They didn’t cross line for another 1:30 minutes so it was finally in the bag.

snow had to be in the podium picture

Thanks to the following people: Paul & Tanna for being a great host in Utah; Jeremy Smith for putting on a great event and despite the conditions keeping his head clear and delivering a fine race weekend; ROL Wheels for giving me a comfortable ride both days on the Carbon 38mm Tubulars.

Ronde von Manda / Ronde von Manor

2011-03-28T13:10:00.001-05:00

Good weekend for Tulsa Tough. Two wins after making the right break both days. Manor: lucky in the sprint coming up on the left side. Manda: windy! Video is the Manda finish:

Thoughts on Arriagada

2011-03-04T13:05:00.000-06:00

Dude who finished 3rd GC, won the KOM, and Queen Stage 5 at the Vuelta Independencia Nacional last week got popped for anabolic steroid at Vuelta a Chile. I wrote a commentary for German cycling news web site radsport-news.com here.

Marco Arriagada

Another cheater, just like all the other guys before. When guys get busted during races I did, too it even pisses me off. Just like Mitch Comardo about 1 1/2years ago. He cheated me and other riders. In Comardo's case, he got 3rd in the ITT and cheated everyone 4th place and lower. He was also part of the winning P/1/2 Team Time Trial team (BikeBarn) at TX State Championships. He got caught shortly after with Tamoxifen, 4-hydroxytamoxifen, Anastrozole, Letrozole and Clomiphene! I finished 4th that year with our team. So him cheating and taking all kind of chemicals cost us a podium spot and my teammates the chance to get a bronze medal for their hard work. It sucks. Those guys should never be allowed in our sport again.

Vuelta Wrap-Up and Pictures

2011-03-04T11:24:00.002-06:00

Stage 6 was split in two parts. A 120K in the morning, and a 10K TT in the afternoon. Pan-flat TT course at the Mirador del Sur park, one 180degree turn-around. I wish I'd had brought my TT bike after all, but would have been another $300 out of the budget. Ended up 10th with some clip-on bars, and a Retro helmet courtesy of Nathaniel. Thanks! Loaned my Front ROL deep-dish wheel to Rob Squire of the U23 National team and he went on to finish 8th and got he got his hand on the U23 Leader jersey with that ride. Congrats!

Stage 7 featured a few hills towards the Western part of the D.R. (Bani etc.) but nothing to challenging. Very windy. A 5-man break was up the road and we missed it. So I tried for some redemption and a Dutch guy and me went clear with 20K to go, chasing the break and staying away from the field. Well, almost. Thanks to the "nice roads" of Bani I flatted my rear tire with 1.5K to go...Dutch guy ended up finishing 6th, and I rode the flat (clincher) to the finish but only to get caught with 300meters to go. On a flat run-in to the finish it shouldn't have been a question about making it, but with two 90degree turns and some nice metal-crossings in those turns it was hard to stay upright on a 0psi clincher. Tubulars would have been good today.

The final day was a pretty challenging actually on a park/urban course in Santo Domingo. Quite a few "kickers" in there and a lot of guys got dropped (and lapped) on that final day. The Colombians won the field sprint (again) and I ended up 14th on the day. Felt good, but not great. 8 days of racing caught up with me.

The next day it was off to Miami for some quick R&R before heading back to Texas later the same day. Pictures from the whole trip below:

Vuelta continued - Stage 5 (Jarabacoa)

2011-03-04T10:53:00.003-06:00

Stage 5 to Jarabacoa was the toughest stage in terms of elevation with 3 KOM's and a finish in the mountain city of Jarabacoa. Usually, this is where GC is made during this Tour and so was it today. I remember 10years ago we rode that thing in the pouring rain and the climbing wasn't too bad. Today, though it was sunshine and 90F so another hot day in the saddle. I figured I can't climb with the on-form South Americans and *maybe* get Top 30 if I really push it. So I decided to try to get in an early break and work on some Meta Volantes and try to make it as far as possible before the field catches us. The first 10-15minutes of the stage was an all-out effort as I tried to get into the right group. It took forever. I already gave up and started to fall back a bit when I decided to give it one more try and just slowly pushed the 53x11...nobody seemed to take me up on it so I ended up doing 65miles off the front by myself. At one point, I had 4minutes on the US-lead peloton but I knew it was just a matter of time before they caught me. At 120km, just before the first KOM I got caught and rode in the gruppetto with some US boys & Zach. Good day on the road and got myself 15 points for the MetaVolante jersey. The hotel in Jarabacoa was nice! a 5-star resort and a huge improvement to the bunkbeds we stayed in 10years ago on that stage.

my view for most of the day

Jarabacoa housing

Video recap from Stage 5:

Wes had his Garmin 500 for this stage and if you're interested in some geeky elevation, heart rate, and speed profiles then check out the file from Stage 5 here.

Vuelta continued - Stage 3 & 4

2011-03-04T10:25:00.004-06:00

Stage 3 saw us going back to Santo Domingo mainly through the countryside and then a bit on the beach-front road with a finish at the Faro a Colon, the monument where part of Christopher Columbus' remains are being stored. It's a giant concrete building which was finished in 1992 as part of the 500-year anniversary of the discovery of the New World. The stage was not too exciting, USA U23 controlled the front and no break got anywhere and it ended up being a field sprint. It was also the longest stage with close to 170km. Nate had a bad wreck and I got to see everything right next to me but that kid just bounces back and back and finished the race just a minute down even though his chin required stitches after landing face first on the tarmac. Zach learned how to pace int he caravan (and behind it) today....well done!

Kolt after Stage 3, Faro a Colon

Stage 4 was a 135km leg from Santo Domingo's Velodrome towards the inner country - to San Francisco de Marcoris to be exact. As far as I remember, that was a stage my teammate Rene Obst won back in 2001. The stage profile was a bit more rolling hills today but nothing spectacular. A group of 5 or 7 got away early and by the time we go to the highest point of the stage we caught them thanks to Venezuela and Colombia driving the pace on the 4-6% steep highway road going 26, 27mph. Wade & I made a front split of about 60(?) guys. Venezuela took it in the gutter for the last 30km of wind-exposed roads into town but it was okay to just sit in there. Ended up 27th or so on the day after a very exciting and dangerous finish with a nice 90degree left turn with 300(!)m to go. Of course, a crash in the last 500m was there, too but luckily that was behind me. After lunch, we rode our bikes on dirt roads to our hotel - trying to avoid 10ft deep manholes...I think someone just stole the steel covers! To our surprise, at the end of the dirt road was a nice resort/hotel!

post-stage 4 housing

Vuelta Independencia Nacional (UCI 2.2)

2011-03-01T09:56:00.006-06:00

Back in 2001 the Vuelta Independencia Nacional was my first UCI race outside of Europe and I remember a pretty exciting trip for a 19-year old kid. So when I was asked to go down again I thought it would be good to see how things are 10 years later and maybe get to see some old friends. Most importantly, though doing a 8-day stage race in mid-February is a great way to get ready for a long domestic season in the US. There's no much better way to get the "moto" going then doing a week of medium-intense racing in. The racing is not easy by any means but not too intense to crack you or make you dig too deep. So as long as you stay off the pavement and don't get sick you get a great training effect out of it - mostly done at 43-45kph for most stages. Most of the Latino teams (Venezuela, Colombia, etc.) have done quite some races already and the local teams from the D.R. are eager to show themselves at the front at the highlight event of Dominican Cycling throughout the year - culminating with the last stage being held on February 27, the "Independence Day" of the DR.

back in 2001...

...and 10 years later in 2011

I was guest-riding with a young group from Texas (Park Place) and even with me, the "old" guy, our average age of the team 22.5years! Zach, Nathaniel, Kolt, Wes & Wade, and Leo as DS made for a entertaining group for the whole trip. Stage 1 started with a 120km, 4-corner, circuit-race close to downtown. It was a short, traffic-eventful, ride from the hotel and even at 10am we already had 90F. After a short & light week of training and a day of traveling the legs felt a bit rusty and I was definitely not up to normal form. Kazakhstan showed up with 12 riders this year (on 2 teams) and were racing like mad-man out there. I don't know why the UCI allows 2 pretty much national teams from the same country in a race. They sure won't race against each other and in my opinion made the race a bit less open as you always had the "Borat-green" countering any moves - at least for the first few stages. A break of 13 stayed away and last year's Overall GC winner (and local rider) Sanchez won the stage. But we all made it through w/ out problems.

Park Place p/b ROTHE Training at start of Stage 1

Stage 2a was the first "real" stage when we hit the coast East of Santo Domingo and rode along the highway all the way to La Romana. Within the first 30km Team Kazakhstan (12 dudes, not 6 like all the other teams) took over at the front and put it in the gutter. It was hard but good and suddenly we're only 50guys left in the front group. I rear flatted right then hitting some metal piece on the shoulder. I stopped and 45seconds later the rest of the field browses by. After a wheel change I make my way through traffic thanks to our Hyundai Piccolo(sp?) back to the tail end of the large field which got dropped by our front group from earlier. I was not a happy camper, especially since some Colombians decided to take this group in the gutter while trying to catch the front 50guys. After a few pulls and some "organized yelling" we caught up the front again. Wade and I made it to the finish in the front group. The race commissaries didn't like my pacing after my flat and gave me a 1min time penalty...:-( It was a rough stage. We got to hang out for a few hours at a local Museum with pool (?), eat and sleep.

guys catching a break between half-stages at La Romana Retreat-center/museum

Stage 2b to Higuey was going to be short and punchy. Only 48km with crosswinds and the famous little "valley" where you descent on a shitty road, cross a bridge, and then ride up a short, steep climb on - I have to say - very nice, wide open tarmac. We all made it over there but the flats hit us again and Wade flatted right next to me as he hit another giant pothole. USA U23's Larry hit the same hole I think, broke his carbon front wheel, and did a somersault but luckily didn't break anything and was able to continue. The crosswinds made it a bit tricky but I was able to stay up the front and just follow wheels until the finish. Funny note: Rob Squire was in the yellow jersey after Stage 2a but the old leader (local D.R. rider Sanchez) still got to wear it on Stage 2b while the USA controlled the field and rode at the front the entire 48K. Not sure what to think about that, but I think Squire was not happy. If you're leading a UCI stage race you should get to wear the leader jersey and not someone else.

the "hill"

Fun on the MTB

2011-02-04T18:10:00.012-06:00

The cold weather this week forced most of us (cyclist) to improvise a bit. Riding the trainer is one option but getting out on the CX or MTB was another. Thanks to Robert I had a Cannondale Lefty still sitting in the garage and that's how this week of training ended up being - MTB miles. If you gotta get in 3-41/2 hrs or so on the road and the weather is like this...then you might as well get in ~3hrs on the MTB. Best thing, you don't get cold as quick as you're moving the whole time (at least if you're off-road).

So after living for 3years in the ATX I finally went the first time down the Greenbelt. As a "true roadie" with a bit of CX experience it was lots of fun. Tuesday afternoon it was chilly around 30*F but at least the sun was out and we had blue sky. Great 2.5hrs down there:

On Wednesday it started to get a bit colder and the sun was gone but by now we had a good group together. Early afternoon super-sprinter Willy Ross & his friend (name?), Adam G, MMayo and I hopped on the 'belt and spent some time on trails I've never imagined we had in Austin. Very challenging for "roadie" again and they had to wait a few times for me :-) But it got better over time. So much to learn. When riding road bikes or TT bikes you often think you know it all but once you're off-road and some big dudes on fat tires ride away from you you're starting to doubt your own ability. Steep learning-curve for me for sure. I ended up close to 3hrs. Later that day we went to PURE gym and sure enough I see WRoss teach a intense spin-class only 3hrs after our "little" excursion to the greenbelt. He's got lots of energy!

quick photo-stop at a chilly 26*F with Ross + friend, Mayo and Adam's taking pic

a chilly Willy w/ Greenbelt drop in background. He tough a 1hr spin-class a few hours later!

Thursday it got even colder and I still had no intentions to hop on the rollers so I headed out to Slaughter Creek South West of town and did a few laps there. Almost missed the automated/timed gate-closure at 6:35pm but got in a couple of hours on a easy trail comparing what we did the days before.

down to 25*F now on Thursday afternoon

Then finally on Friday, the snow was here! Last time I got to have some fun in the snow on the MTB was a year ago back home in Germany with my old teammates. If you got the right bike, the right (lower) pressure in the tires, and the right trail it's even more fun than just riding on dirt. Most of Austin had a "Snow Day" and so had Adam, Kelly, and I ;-) I thought most the snow didn't make it all the way on the trail with all the thick trees etc. but it was actually pretty "white" down there. But my mid-day most of it started to melt already (at least what was exposed to the sun) so we got pretty dirty in the 2-3hrs we spent down there. Kelly got "skillz", that's for sure. I rode with him at the first Mellow Johnny's Classic 2 years ago and we were head-to-head quite a bit off the back but he spent some serious time off-road and I can definitely tell. I wouldn't even think about riding up stuff, and he just does it. Pretty cool. Some pics from Friday's "excursion":

Kelly smiling... comin' in hot....

Mulch Hill... Adam G taking a break

COBRA !

2011-01-22T17:46:00.010-06:00

Spend a bit more time in the garage lately, mostly late evenings with a good glass of red wine. Why? Well, I needed to built up a nice new bike for the wifey. After Specialized, and another Specialized it was time for something custom and thanks to Russ Walker I got her a full-custom painted COBRA. Made in Taiwan, just like any other frameset you buy in the store but 70% cheaper. And the Austin Flyers paint scheme came with it. While I never got a chance to talk/chat with the guy who painted that frame in some factory in Taiwan I sure know he did an amazing job getting the colors right and most importantly made the wifey happy ;-)

Here are a few pics. Complete SRAM Red with a VCRC BB, an Easton stem/bar combo and of course a pair of COBRA 101 "Comin' in Hot"-edition wheels straight from Russ Walker's Auto Mall Accessories in Shreveport, Louisiana ;-)

PEZ Daily Distraction!

Ultra Romance with Wooly Mammoth

2011-01-13T13:04:00.005-06:00

This past weekend I participated in Team Wooly Mammoth' 1st Ultra Provocatorio Invitationale. Tons of fun with Andrew, Jen, and Francis. We (unofficially) won, too and all got some nice swag. Thanks Wooly's! Total 117miles for the day.

Watch a video-recap here:

Try something new: Dirty Du!

2010-11-29T22:42:00.008-06:00

Next to cyclocross, there are a few more things which can be tons of fun (and challenging) as part of any off-season. For example, a off-road duathlon like Jack and Adams puts on every year out at Rocky Hill Ranch near Smithville: the Dirty Du!

Thanks to Robert I had a nice MTB to ride around for a bit and Adam "guided" me through the singletracks of Rocky Hill Ranch on a pre-ride a few days before the race. As a "roadie", I've never been out there before but I can tell you that you miss a lot by not going out there and spending a couple of laps on the MTB. Tons of good, fast, semi-technical trails through a mostly thick forest.

The 2x5K off-road up "Fat Chuck's Revenge" are obviously the hardest task of the whole things - at least when you're not a real runner. Like cyclocross, the time on the MTB is pretty intense and fun, but comparing to the road you have to make so many quick decisions on where to go, brake, pedal, lift, balance etc. in such short amount of time that you're "always on the move". Wes and Tommy F came out, too so we lined up with about 150 others to take on two 5K's and the 12mile loop on the MTB. After coming out 5th or 6th from the run I quickly got on the Cannondale Scalpel and tried not to lose too much time on Jason from MJ's and Andy Lee, the eventual winner and former MTB-pro. I was still leaping behind Jason and Andy but passed a few "quick" runners and was in third coming into T2. Unfortunately, one of "those runners" was Lance Parker and he ran me down pretty good - putting 2+minutes into me within 2.5K. But I heard he's fast, so that's okay ;-) Desiree Ficker ran the 2nd run quite fast, too and with Eric Hess she had a great teammate for the team relay which they won by minutes ahead of 2nd place.

Thanks again to Jack Murray and Jack & Adam's for giving me the opportunity to try out that duathlon thing on dirt!

running up Fat Chuck's revenge

Cyclocross Fun

2010-11-18T22:13:00.004-06:00

What do you do when off-season training becomes boring? You add some bits of intensity to it. In this example, cyclocross. I've done a few races over the last few winters and it never gets old. I know I'll never be "great" at it but you can learn tons of stuff in every race and get better quickly. Besides, it gives you 60min of great, High Intensity Training, with tons and tons of micro-intervals, sprints, etc.

The first time (and for long time last time) I raced a CX bike was back in the mid-or late nineties and it was on a Diamant (oldest German bicycle manufacturer) steel frame with out clipless pedals and down-tube shifters. It must have weight 25lbs or something because I didn't like it at all.

But nowadays it's much more fun (Texas weather helps - of course, too) and thanks to some good people in the industry I have some sponsors which support me for the Texas CX races. Specifically, Sean & Charles at ROL Wheels and Sol & team at Austin Bikes! Check out the ROL Carbon 38mm tubular wheels here - solid, affordable, carbon tubular wheels at 1190grams/set. Built in Austin by Austin Bikes' very own Sam Frost. A bombproof wheelset for off-road fun.

photo KGS Bikes

Stories from India (भारत) - Bicycles in India

2010-11-03T15:03:00.001-05:00

coconut bicycle

commuter bicycle

banana leave bicycle

silk production (cocoon) carrying bicycle

tricked out Durga Puja festival bicycle

Stories from India (भारत) - How Silk is Made

2010-11-02T22:12:00.000-05:00

more to come

Stories from India (भारत) - Flora & Fauna

2010-10-29T07:37:00.021-05:00

Besides big cities with lots of traffic and people, India has to offer a big variety of open nature and wildlife. There a plenty of wildlife sanctuaries and national parks spread across the country - fortunately, because only in the last 40 or so years the preservation and protection of the Indian wildlife became a topic. Before that, plenty of hunting for elephant, tiger, was totally normal and widely common over there.

While in Bangalore we visited the Bannerghatta Biological Park which has a zoo and safari area with has plenty of adopted and rescued animals in a nice place south of town. Entry fee for zoo & safari was $3.50 and you could spend pretty much all day there. We saw some cobras, pythons, leopards, monkey, siamese(!) jackals, elephants in the zoo and plenty of tiger, lions, bears on the safari.

The Nagarhole National Park, where we spent 3 days, is 4-5hrs southwest of Bangalore and if you ever in India I recommend you go there for a few days. This park and the neighbouring Bandipur park has the highest density of elephants in entire Asia (1500+) and around 65 tigers living free and roaming the 248 sq mile (Nagarhole) area. Traveling via boat on the Kabini river, we saw elephants, marsh crocodiles, deer, lots of monkeys (rhesus macaque and langur), and many different birds.

After getting up at 5am in the morning on Saturday, we headed out via boat to cross the river and then onwards on a Safari truck in search for tigers. Unfortunately, there was no sighting of them that day but still plenty of langur monkeys, gaur, wild dogs, hogs, and again all types of birds to watch.

buck fight!

Stories from India (भारत) - Traffic

2010-10-13T08:10:00.006-05:00

-After a long season it was time to take a break and we headed to India to visit family in Bangalore, India who moved there for work a year ago. I've seen parts of South East Asia but India is so much different, from culture, religion, food, languages and much more. Plenty of things to see and explore. 2 weeks are not enough time to see and understand everything but you get a descent idea of what life is like over here.

Traffic is crazy here, at least when you're coming from Europe or the US where driving is somewhat 'regulated'. Not here. Someone said you don't use your brakes, you use your horn instead. Having a horn is more important than having a working turn signal or lights on your car. It 'regulates' the traffic - Indian style. As a driver you are responsible for what you see ahead of you - the operators of other vehicles (bikes, rickshaw, scooters, cars, buses, etc.) just have to watch out to not hit you from behind or side. It all looks weird, and - for western standards - dangerous but it works out just fine and you rarely see any accidents. And last but not least, you don't want to hit a cow - ever. They are holy here and traffic comes to a halt if there's one on the road. And that happens quite often and everywhere - you just make your way around it or honk your way by.

Conquer The Coast

2010-09-25T20:23:00.007-05:00

After only a half-way satisfying-result last week in Laredo, Carlos, Sheri and I went down to Corpus Christi for the Conquer the Coast Criterium. Smaller race in a huge parking lot. Unfortunately, they don't have the cool downtown/hilly course from 2 years back but nevertheless it was lots of fun and some exciting racing. After the Women showed the 35+ 4/5 Masters how to win a sprint (Rheannon won, Sheri 3rd), we lined up for the P/123 75minute race - at 9:30pm! Alcala & Co. were at the start again but this time we got the better of them when Wally Groda (BikeBarn) and I rode away and ended up lapping the field 35minutes in. After Carlos pulled the same thing solo Wally and I went again and gained another lap on what was left of the field. Rather than sprinting against a fellow non-sprinter I decided to go for it with 3 laps to go and solo'd in for the win with Wally in 2nd and Carlos in 3rd.

Thanks to promoter Craig Hottell who found us a great hotel - the V Boutique - in Corpus on 701 N. Water Street. A very stylish, and nice place in downtown CC owned by a Vietnamese family including an in-house Vietnamese restaurant. If you're ever in CC, check it out.

Part two of city review is the Aqua Java coffee shop on William St/Water St. Great place for breakfast with (huge) $2.89 sandwiches and all kinds of sweets including a variety of coffees from around the world.

isolated thunderstorms over I-35

room at the "V Boutique" hotel

Aqua Java got plenty of coffee in the house...

Best Weekly Crit...in the country?

2010-09-23T20:10:00.001-05:00

If you've never attended the Thursday Night Driveway Crits in Austin, you better make your way down. Last race is October 21st. Awesome crowds, tough races with big fields, and lots of great people. All thanks to Andrew Willis & Crew at Holland Racing!

tight finish with Wenger, yours truly, and Tyler Jewell (1st) last Thursday night. Photo by DCM Photography.

Interbike

2010-09-23T13:54:00.004-05:00

I haven't been there for a few years so when the opportunity came up I jumped on it and headed to Vegas early Monday morning. Never been to the Dirt Demo on Mo/Tue so that was a nice change from things - riding bikes at 3000ft in Boulder City, checking out some new gear, talking to folks and seeing old friends.

I took a few pictures and put them up here in that Picasa slideshow:

Racing in Laredo

2010-09-19T22:28:00.006-05:00

After TxTough on Thursday night we decided to drive down 3 1/2 hrs on I-35 to Laredo, only a stone throw away from Mexico. On a regular basis you'd drive 3+hrs up to Dallas on I-35 but going South on I-35 is pretty sweet - no traffic and instead of DFW you end up (almost) in Mexico.

There was a race called Laredo International Cycling Classic and a few locals asked me to come down there and race. Basically it was Carlos and I vs. Mexico since Alcala & Co. showed up in full force. This was a non-sanction USAC event so you don't need a license to race. Sheri did the Women's race and finished 4th - that's what Jerry Bueno and I saw at least. The "officials" gave her 5th, though. Go figure...

It was raining the whole day and a half we were down there. Some roads around the city were partly flooded and the 3.5mile circuit (10 times for 35miles total) had a plenty of water on it. But nevertheless we started with maybe 15 guys in the Open race. After a few laps Carlos was up the road with Hugo Hector and another guy. I was stuck with Alcala and 3 other "amigos", although they were not really friendly...After I punctured in the pouring rain it took me 20minutes to catch back up with the four guys since they obviously hit the acceleration button after I was gone. None of the dudes would work with me so I just covered every single of their attacks until they realized they wouldn't go anywhere today. In the meantime, the 3rd guiy in Carlos' lead group flatted and I was convinced CV had the win in the bag for us.

In the final sprint for 3rd I was on the right wheel (Alcala) but we drifted a bit too far right and the giant finish banner along with the officials standing on the road(!) made it a bit unsafe so I ended up 4th. End they actually gave me fourth place, too :-) Hugo Hector ended up beating Carlos in a tight finish for 1st so we had to be content with the $600 for 2nd place. Still, a good day considering the conditions.

We stayed in a nice hotel in South Laredo, 100yards away from the Rio Grande and "The Bridge" - the border to Mexcio. The hotel "La Posada" is a good place to stay if you ever down there and their restaurant is inexpensive and has some good American & Mexican cuisine.

giant dragonfly caught on camera

view from hotel (note: the flag on the Mexican site is at least 5 times bigger than the US flag on the Texas site)

the issues in Mexico are headlining the news in the local papers

Time Trialing in Floresville...

2010-08-15T21:26:00.003-05:00

...was fun and successful for Team Hotel San Jose ;-)

Photo courtesy of Photographs by Jim

oh, and something cool, courtesy of Kyler Eastman of University of Texas:

Life

2010-08-13T07:44:00.001-05:00

If you were at the local Thursday Driveway Crit last night, you know what this video below is about. If not, watch it again or read the article on KVUE here or visit Donate Life Texas.

Inspiring story to say the least.

Tuesday Night Time Trials

2010-08-12T14:06:00.005-05:00

Check out these vintage comic pages from many years back. Thanks to Jen Purcell for finding that on www.outyourbackdoor.com! Featuring Klaus, from Leipzig, East Germany (are they referring to Klaus Ampler maybe?)

Video Remix à la Driveway

2010-08-06T14:39:00.004-05:00

Chris from Rapha / Mellow Johnny's came out to the Driveway here in Austin and brought a helmet/seatpost cam. Check out the footage from the Cat 3/4 race:

Rain & Fireworks at Tour of Lawrence, KS

2010-07-05T21:03:00.001-05:00

After a successful trip to Lawrence, KS last year, the team was looking for another good weekend in the "Center of the USA" (the geographical center close to Lebanon, Kansas, to be precise). Josh, Carlos, and Travis drove in from Elite Nats from Bend, OR via Boulder, CO along with Sully while Ronnie and I made the trip up from Texas. I thought I'd be escaping the rain of Hurricane "Alex" but I was wrong. Except the Street Sprints on Friday Night we raced two days in the rain.

Josh kicked off the weekend in style by winning the Sprints, beating Nick Coil (left) and Dahlheim for 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

That cricuit race around KU campus is definitely the most fun circuit you do all year - mix in some 40mph descents and about a dozen slippery 90 degree turns and you have an exciting bike race! 500m into the race (it was raining, of course) a few guys already hit the deck and it was game on from there. I managed to work my way to the front where our Colorado-recruit Ben Blaugrund already settled in along with Sully. Unfortunately, Sean flatted and it was down to only two of us in a front group of about 12 riders. Thanks to good equipment and 80psi in my tubulars the rainy + slick roads didn't bother me too much...I felt okay physically, but only that and knew it would be hard to be there at the very end. That's when I told Ben to go for it when he sees the opportunity and sure enough he followed the right moves and made the podium by the days' end behind an on-form Dahlheim and former Mercy-teammate "Jose" Schmalz.

riding around KU campus with Hall, Bergman, & Co.

Ben Blaugrund on a slippery podium

Sunday's Crit was held on the same course downtown Lawrence again and having finished 2nd here last year myself with Heath winning we were motivated for a repeat and get Josh the win at the end of his 1-month race-trip across half the country. After a short spin in the morning (in the dry) I realized it will be a "wet affair" again:

But were able to execute our plan exactly as nothing would seriously get away for the first 45min of the 75min race and it was just time to follow wheels without wasting energy....energy we would need at the end do deliver Josh to the line up front and in one piece. There were only a few minor "sliding" crashes and people skidding but overall it was pretty good to see the field handling the slick pavement so well. I gotta give credit to the the tires again, though - never felt more comfortable running 80psi on the carbon tubulars in the rain. We took over with 6 or 7 laps to go and just rode a steady lead-out tempo to keep the pace high and keep others away from "swarming" us. It worked out well, although I had to dig deep a bit for a lap when Chad Haga attacked w/ 2 to go but the boys got everything under control and Sully held on for 4th while Josh took the win by a solid margin over 2nd place.

getting ready for 75minutes of fun in the wet...

...getting it done after 75minutes of great teamwork!

Nature Valley 2010

2010-06-21T19:24:00.001-05:00

lots of fun, more to come...

Photo by Kevin Schaefer of PedalRanch

Bike The Bricks and OKC Rocks

2010-06-13T21:48:00.001-05:00

The 3-day-race weekends continued in McKinney and Oklahoma City this past weekend. McKinney Velo put on a new event in downtown called "Bike The Bricks" and it's definitely the coolest crit I've done in Texas besides the Downtown Austin Crits held over the last few years. It was a tight course, at night, and a quality field. We had the numbers but still, that doesn't guarantee anything in bike racing. Everyone wants to win and was hunting for that $2,700 1st place purse and a 15lb heavy trophy. It worked out well, with Sully + Ronnie making the move and Ronnie winning the sprint in dominant fashion for the "V". Me and Carlos ended up riding away from what was left of the diminished peloton for 7th and 8th place and we put all of our guys in the Top 20 or so. Great night.

Ronnie being "pro"

Two new events on the Oklahoma Race calendar followed Saturday and Sunday, fashionably labeled "OKC Rocks". This town might not be know to you for the great riding and racing opportunities but there's something in the making and those crits were definitely a sign that there's lots of potential for great bike racing in the future. My friend and fellow MSU Cycling alumni Greg Saxon is involved with it and it was good to be back in Okie-land! Day 1 around the State Capitol did not go 100% according to plan as Josh got narrowly beaten at the line by an early-charging Brian Jensen and we settled with 2nd, 4th, and 6th and the rest of the guys in the all in the Top20. But we made up for it on Day 2 when the same P12 field + Raul Alcala and his teammates from Mexico took on the 90-minute crit just south of the Oklahoma Capitol. Four of us made a solid break in the last 20minutes of the race and Sully, me, and Pat McCarty got away at the end with Sully taking the win ahead of RBM's MVP Pat and myself. The three of us ended up lapping most of the remaining field and I think I'm celebrating at the bottom of the finish "hill" in the pic below while Sully crosses the line for the "V".

Sully for the Win at OKC Rocks, Day 2

Tulsa Tough

2010-06-08T00:59:00.008-05:00

I've been coming to Tulsa Tough every year since 2006. Back then, it was a bit smaller and less teams showed up but over the last years this event has grown to a 3-day NRC criterium series with guys + girls coming from the East and West Coast to get a slice of the $100,000 prize money spread over 3 days and all categories from Cat 5 to P/1. Chris Z of New Medio, the City of Tulsa, and the entire cycling community really built themselves an awesome race weekend there in the middle of boring Oklahoma...well, Tulsa ain't boring that's for sure!

We had a good team lined up and hoped for some sprint finishes with our very own Josh Carter on hand. That was the plan and well, sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes you're the nail. Friday's crit was more "nail-like". The Blue Dome night crit was fast and furious but everything stayed at bay for the most part, we followed moves and I went for a "Fireworks prime" ;-) At the end of the night, though Josh lost the wheel in front of him and with 90guys trying to be up there and chopping corners etc. we didn't come out with much.

Sportswriter and photographer Lyne Lamoureux of Podium Insight took some pretty cool shots that night:

Saturday's Crit at Brady Village looked to be yet another field sprint since former Mercy teammate and super-sprinter Huffy wanted to keep adding points to his Overall lead and we also hoped to have Josh there at the end. Besides, the course is fast and even though there's a small hill on the backside (in front of the SOUNDPONY) not much separation is usually made. The legs felt good again and I remember winning the Gambler's prime last year just before the lead-out trains almost rolled over me...This time around, though it was time to go to work and help setup Josh again. A dangerous move of 10 or 12 rolled off with 30minutes to go and we only had 2 guys in there. We stuck with the plan and Carlos, Heath and I brought it back and the rest of the guys took care of the rest to keep Josh up there until the end. It ended a bit differently as planned out with Sully getting 7th and Huff winning - again! We were close, but not there. One day to go, though.

Sunday's Riverview Criterium is the most exciting, craziest, criterium I'm racing each season. Athens is right next to hit, but the "Cry Baby Hill" is so unique and just therefore TulsaTough deserves its spot on the NRC calendar! The 1K course is more like a circuit, with a short + punchy hill, some rollers, a downhill and 500m flat along the Arkansas River. Every year I did this race the winner almost always rode in the front, made the breaks, and sometimes even lapped the field. No different today. There was not much hiding you can do on that course. I found myself off the front a bit too early after I took the first KOM on top of the hill so I backed off again and tried to save the legs for the rest. Guys would go off and come back and 30min it was time to go again as a group of 6 or 7 rolled off the front. Jelly Belly was happy to control the field and wait until the end and just watched guys who could threaten Huff's lead. Good for us. I was in good company with Tilford, Bergman, Schmalz, Haga and a couple of other guys. It didn't go far, though and we re-shuffled again. Finally, Brian Jensen made another move and me and Bergman joined and the three of us just rolled for the next 30minutes until 5 or so to go. If you have three guys racing on the front and being committed to stay away on a course like that it's hard for anyone to just bridge up or the field coming close to us. 2 guys made it, though and one of them my Kiwi teammate Logan. Solo for 3 laps to catch us and close a 25sec lead! He gave all he had to make it a bit harder and launched an attack but Jensen was unbeatable today and rode away with 1 1/2laps to go. Bergman, the other guy who bridged up and I were left just ahead of the charging field with 1/2 lap to go. I was behind Bergman coming out of the last corner but the other guy was right on my wheel and I had nothing left for the sprint for the last podium spot. Frustrating for sure, since it was so close and having ridden in the front most of the day. But still, it was a nice end to an exciting weekend and we definitely had the hammer in our jerseys today!

Texas State Crit Weekend

2010-06-01T22:43:00.000-05:00

The Memorial Day Race Weekend is always fun and the true start to a month of crit racing in the region. Was not different this past weekend. Pro/1 races only seems to be the "new thing"
to do in Texas racing so the fields are way smaller, the purse goes down a bit and the racing gets harder? Not so sure about the last one,though.

Saturday was Glickman Crit in Richardson, a race I won a few years back out of a 2-man move with Minturn getting 2nd back then. We got the right break going but lacked the true sprinter in the move and that was it. One down, 2 to go. Sunday's GS Tenzing Crit was much more fruitful, with Josh getting launched with 300m to go and Logan getting 6th and a few more green/black in the Top 15.

The actual TX State Crit was back in Ft. Worth like the last few years. Great course, technical, fast and spectator-friendly. We had the fastest guy in the field so we made sure everything stays together for the end and the plan worked out. Josh and Carlos (2009 winner) went 1-2. It might look good to have all the guys at the front but no matter if it's a local crit, the P/1 State Crit, or an NRC race it takes a lot of teamwork to get this going. New Cat 1 addition Brant Speed fit in well and THSJ-founder Barry Lee did his share, too (see picture). Hopefully these are signs for things to come.

Mike Olheiser Interview

2010-05-21T18:33:00.004-05:00

If you know Mike Olheiser, a good friend of mine who I've raced with on the same team a couple of times the last 2 years, you'll enjoy this video!

old case, but still a hot topic

2010-05-13T23:29:00.003-05:00

There's a good article about the "Doper Next Door" in the June edition of Bicycling Magazine. I usually don't post much articles/links on here but this is quite good and it's written by Austin resident, journalist and bicycle racer Ian Dille. To check it out click the link below or read the magazine. Makes you think.

Looking 4 Speed at Speedweek

2010-05-13T16:50:00.013-05:00

The trip over to Georgia for Speedweek was almost a bit too much. First from AUS to HOU to pick up Carlos, the Colombian and Ronnie, "The Rocket". Then on towards New Orleans (but through...) and over towards Mobile, Alabama with a quick overnight at one of the millions of hotels located right on I-10's.

We made it to our host house in Horchton, GA, and it was nice to stay with real, friendly people for a few days instead of being cramped up in some small-a#$ motel Athens Twilight was the first race. It was a big wash-out, torrential rainfalls all night long, delayed start, and unless you started somewhere in the 2nd row it was close-to-impossible to anywhere....well, you could always go down, though! Two Park Place crits as prep for the first NRC of the year didn't cut it for me. Only Sully managed to finish in the Top20 after taking 3rd in the CompuTrainer heats out on College St the night before (see pic). If you're ever there, make sure to stop at The Grill in downtown, great American Diner open 'til late night.

Sully smiling before CompuTrainer Final

dark + rainy S/F area Athen's around 11:30pm

Roswell Crit the day after just north of ATL went much better (thanks to dry roads) and i was actually able to race my bike. No result at the end but the legs came along and we were part of the race.

The following Tuesday we headed further SouthEast, this time to Beaufort, SC for another 3 1/2 corner crit - this time at night again. Those courses reminded a lot of Superweek except we did half the race in the dark - and besides some streetlights, and a few flash lights at the S/F area there was not much to see - at least for me and I was wearing clear lenses! You can watch "Dino" aka Sully get taken down by some unnamed rider in the below video. Happened with 2 to go so was a bit frustrating.

The Waltersboro Crit just a bit further north was a replica of the night before in terms of light but at least the streets were smooth and we got to race through a nice historic downtown with quite a few people lining the metal barriers. Everytime time your wheel would hit one of those, the crowd would go "uuuuhhh, ahhhhh". Until something happened. Than it was more like "Ouch". But it was actually pretty safe considering we raced again in the pitch-black dark at some parts of the course. I had an okay ride but nothing special to report. Trying to sprint against the Russian Alexi of TT1 was probably the hardest effort I put out all race that night.

Like the night before, we headed back to the "Rice Planters Inn", our place to stay in that area. The night ended with some fireworks in the parking lot and the morning started with a $5.99 breakfast buffet at Shoney's - budget food for hungry cyclists!

Race #5 and #6 were again a bit more north, this time in Spartanburg and Dilworth/Charlotte, NC. We stayed at a great place just outside Spartanburg which made things much easier, and Bailey, the Labradoodle kept things entertaining while not riding/racing. Spartanburg Crit was right downtown around Denny's headquarters on a Friday night and it was like riding a velodrome clockwise w/ out much light - again. The legs felt better and I was able to get in a break but yet again, a field sprint was pretty much pre-determined with the big sprinter teams looking to add V's to their winning record.

Bailey checking out our gear

I've done the Dilworth Crit back in '04 or '05 when guest-riding with OutdoorLightning on Thad Fissher's team. They have the race for 37(!) years in a row now. I really like the course: halfway up a longer hill/drag, but only 4-6% and big-chainring-material. The other half of the course is pretty much downhill and you make a 90degree left-hand turn at the bottom. Dilworth itself is a nice neighborhood and the race goes right around a park. We tried again to be in the right moves and get a result by hoping for a break would stick so we all took our turns jumping with stuff. I went from sitting at the back of the field to off the front only twice, the last time I rolled off with 5 to go to be joined by Adrian from UHC who wanted to set up his guys by having the other teams chase us down. But with 2 laps to go our little escape for primes was over and it ended up in yet another field sprint. Carlos cracked the Top20 but that was it for the day.

By the time we got to the last race, #7 in Sandy Springs just north of ATL, I was pretty worn out and had caught a the common cold somewhere along the way. After 30min I called it a day since my legs said "no mas" and that was the end of Speedweek. Thanks to family-friends Tony+Rebecca I got quick shower, dinner, and a ride to the airport to head back home. Time to get some rest + rebuilt!

Soggy Mineral Wells

2010-04-19T22:44:00.005-05:00

Things are going upward from weekend to weekend and I went fast during the (rainy) TT at Mineral Wells Stage Race - probably the rainiest race I can remember doing here in Texas (2days in a row water, water, and more "crazy" water). Off to Georgia and Carolinas now for some Criterium racing. Looking forward to some fast crits before we're headed to my old Mercy stomping-grounds of Arkansas for Joe Martin Stage Race at the beginning of May.

Photo: The Racing Post

old-school TT's and awesome riding in Fred'burg

2010-03-15T14:51:00.005-05:00

Great weekend at home! Got to ride out to Manor for Austin Nationals' TT. Was a good chance to catch up with some friends and clients in the "Ghost Town". Only did the Eddy Merckx-style TT without aero equipment and it was a good test-run for future TT's. Thanks to RunFar chip-timing the results were accurate and posted super-fast. I think every TT should use chip-timing, it's not that expensive and it saves a LOT of hazzle for promoters and makes participants happy with instant results instead of waiting around until it's dark. After getting my raffle-ticket "redeemed" for an Arundel cage Adam and I rode back home and that made it a solid 5hr day on the Fisher.

On Sunday we went out to the "real" Hill Country and rode north of Fredericksburg for 4hours. Biggest advantage there: no traffic. We got past by two cars in the first 2hours of our ride. Enchanted Rock was very crowded, though but we "sneaked in" and got our fix at vending machines w/ Dr. Pipp, "as-big-as-Travis' face" cookies, and "as-skinny-as-Adam's-fingers" sour sticks.

If you're in Freddyburg you'll need to get a drink and some Schnitzel at the local micro-brewery a.k.a. Fredericksburg Brewery. Pretty close to home-cooking and the Enchanted Rock Red Ale tastes delicious - especially after a +4hr ride in Texas Hill Country.

New Year, New Gear - from Gary Fisher!

2010-03-11T12:38:00.014-06:00

Thanks to some amazing sponsors our team gets to ride some sweet rigs this year. If you're thinking about buying a Gary Fisher bike - read this, and you'll really like getting one!

Training is one part of the equation to success; having the right gear to win races is the other. Gary Fisher’s new Team Hotel San Jose custom-painted Cronus Ultimate road bike not only looks terrific but also rides excellent when put under pressure.
At 900grams for a 56cm frame the frame is light but most importantly really stiff. Asymmetric tube shapes can be spotted to accommodate the different force impacts on drive and non-drive side while the beefy, 76mm-wide, and oval-shaped down-tube is a sprinter’s dream. No more feeling of “flexing” when cranking out the 1500+Watts! In addition, the Bontrager fork is sturdy and features a tapered 1 1/8” - 1 1/2” E2 carbon steering tube to go along with the tapered headtube. The integrated SpeedTrap sensor on the inside of the right fork arm makes it very simple to receive data for any ANT+ compatible device.

SRAM stepped it up this year and the bike features the companies’ top-of-the line RED group, in addition with GORE Ride-On housing and cables. The RED front derailleur features an aluminum cage instead of the standard titanium version to accommodate the strains of racing where shifting under lot of pressure is a common sight. SRAM’s RED PowerGlide chainrings are also special, featuring the “SPR” model which indicates a stiffer, more race-proven version of the already superb outer, 53t chainring. As far as "cockpit" goes, the bike’s handlebars, and stem are all made of carbon and are supplied by Ritchey Logic. So is the seatpost.

Probably one of the most-advanced parts on that bike are the all-new HED Jet 5 carbon clincher wheels. They’re a great compromise between a deep-dish rim and a low-profile climbing wheel set. The big upgrade for this wheel set is something else, though: The new, 50mm-deep Jet 5 wheel now features a rim width of 23mm. A wider rim does not only improve stiffness and makes for a more stable cornering but is also more aerodynamic as the rim and tire are more in one line now rather than the tire being “on top” of the rim and creating unwanted turbulence in airflow.
Frame: Fisher carbon frame, size- specific layup, E2 integrated headset, BB 90 integrated bottom bracket, asymmetric tube shapes, hidden fender mounts.

Fork: Bontrager carbon FCC, with integrated SpeedTrap computer mount
Wheels: Hed Jet 5
Tires: Vittoria Open Corsa 23mm
Shifters: SRAM Red
Front Derailleur: SRAM Red*
Rear Derailleur: SRAM Red
Cassette: SRAM Red 11-26
Brakeset: SRAM Red
Bottom Bracket: integrated SRAM Ceramic BB Kit
Crank Set: SRAM Red 53/39*
Seatpost: Ritchey WCS Carbon, 27.2mm
Handlebar: Ritchey Superlogic Carbon Evolution
Stem: Ritchey Carbon Matrix
Headset: Cane Creek IS8 for E2 Integrated

For more information visit www.fisherbikes.com, www.hedcycling.com, www.sram.com, and www.ritcheylogic.com

More reviews to follow!

more (successful) early Texas racing

2010-02-22T21:56:00.002-06:00

Amazing to see how certain Texas races experience same weather conditions year after year. It was Walburg again. Chilly, 50ish degrees, and a bit of misty rain. Add some mud/clay from central Texas farmers and you got a pretty photographer-friendly bike race.

For the first time this year we had a whole team (except Logan who's still in Kiwi-land) at the start and everything worked out as planned. The race never got really hard due to the non-existing winds, a smaller field of 50some P/1 racers, and the fact that everybody was waiting for the last 8miles. That's where I really dug deep for the first time since Tour of Southland last November and we kept it "smooth" until the finish with Josh taking the win easily. I "debarked" with 2K to go and rolled into the finish after our front group and ahead of a broken-into-pieces peloton.

Sunday's Pace Bend race did not disappoint again and we had clear, blue skies with 75 degrees + sunshine. Perfect day for a bike race and thanks to our sprinter Josh it was another good day for the team with him taking the win. It required a bit of work, though and this year's edition of PB was definitely one of the hardest I've done when looking at KJ's/power - or you just look at how the "field" of 60some P/1's fell apart in the last 5 laps. I found myself in the not so favorable position of being in a strong-break of 8 guys halfway-through the race which last until 3 laps to go on the 6mile course. I'm nowhere near my usually fitness yet so I just stuck it out there and we kept our eyes on the plan which ended up working out just well.

pre-race fun at PaceBend with youngster's Cody + Travis

...good to have those guys as teammates!

A bit of Déjà vu at Belterra + a win at Le Driveway

2010-02-08T20:24:00.004-06:00

Finally got the season underway last weekend with some racing in one of West Austin's nice neighborhoods a.k.a Belterra. I was by no means race-ready as some bacterial infect and subsequent antibiotics took me out for a week. But, the legs didn't feel too shabby and I figured I can be some help - even though I was only running on half a tank. The team got 5th (Brant) and 7th (Josh) Saturday and the outcome was only "okay" as we couldn't get the fastest man in the field to the line on time.

Flashback - Belterra 2006:
Monday Trivia Question: Can you identify the rider(s) in above pic taken in '06? I see a former P12TX State TT Champ, a father of a World's medalist, etc...

Day 2 of the Texas State Cup opening weekend at the Driveway meant for us to get it 100% right this time. From plan to execution it worked out this time around and Josh took the win ahead of youngster Alan Ting and our joker - Willy Ross - in third.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Tokarski (cyclepics.net)

All in all a solid weekend and another opportunity for some of the guys to get things dialed in for things to come. My legs should come around in the next few weeks - I hope!

Sweet riding in & around Austin

2010-01-25T10:24:00.006-06:00

Left Jo's Coffee at 9am with Robert, Ronnie, Cody, Joseph + the "team van" steered by Penny Biard. Rode out faaar West over Fitzhugh, got practice for Rouge-Roubaix on Madrone Canyon's gravel, made it to Hamilton Pool & Cypress Mill Rd, got chased by wild cattle on Old Spicewood Rd, crossed HW 71 to Spicewood, got to see PaceBend Park from the West, endured 2miles of riding on HW 71 towards PaceBend, discovered new roads on Bee Creek Rd, back again on HW71 and back home via Bee Caves and commuter-friendly & steep Del Curto Rd. Made for some enjoyable 127miles and 4500kJ's.

Ronnie's view...he was riding out front for the rest of the time, though

Sunday's windy 85m ride out East w/ guidance of Dan seemed like a treat comparing to the previous day's happenings. Cody Foster gets to wear the Sprint AND KOM jersey on the next ride!

End of Year and New Year's Fun

2010-01-11T07:57:00.001-06:00

It's already mid-January as the time over Christmas seemed to have flown by. Last year at this time I wrote a note New Year, New Team, New Look and yes it was exciting - but for various reasons it lasted only so long (June, actually). So this year I'll give it another try and for the first time will be part of a Austin-based team with a "international touch" so to speak. Should make for plenty of good times with a very strong and fun group of guys from Down Under, NZ, a few Texans, and myself.

snow in Weatherford

After a once-in-a-century white Christmas in Ft. Worth (see pic above) I headed to Germany for some vacation with family and friends...and training. New Years Eve is celebrated in a big-style in Germany and so in Dresden, where tons of people are out on the streets all night and into the early morning hours. There's hardly any (car) traffic since everyone takes the tram or buses to get around town - because it's more convenient and of course, alcohol and driving don't mix that night...

with Rene and Eric

After 3 days there it started to snow so much that my road bike was locked in the basement for the rest of the time. But luckily there were my old teammates and we spent 4 1/2hrs on the MTB riding through the forest in 6-10" of fresh snow. And if you're ever in Dresden and need a bike, make sure to check out my friend Udo's Radsport Collos - he got the latest road and MTB bikes in stock. Thanks to him, I was equipped with the Specialized Epic Carbon w/ Sram XX - I think it was like 17lbs or something!

The rest of the time I spent visiting with lots of family and friends, including some folks from my High School Class of 2000 - planning the 10-year reunion at the end of this year. A friend and former teammate of mine started his own business, too and he's pretty busy designing all kinds of products for various industries - including the bicycle market where he launched his own Commuter/SingleSpeed bike brand: Veloheld. Check it out, their latest "toy" is the belt-driven "Lane" where the traditional chain is replaced by a carbon/rubber belt.

Oh, and while I was there in Dresden the airport welcomed a special guest: parts of the new military Airbus A400M arrived on board a huge A300-600ST Beluga transport plane. They're doing a variety of testing and flight simulations in Dresden before it will officially go into full production. Quite an impressive sight at the local airport which is about the size of the Austin ABIA.

plane in a plane

Getting dirty...

2009-11-23T20:50:00.003-06:00

It's been a while since I did a MTB race, 2years ago...in Wichita Falls. So Sunday's Mellow Johnny's Classic out at "The Ranch" was definitively a litte bit rough for me but I was there for the fun - and a lot of fun, and pain it was. Those 2:20min off up-down-left-right-jump-descent-mud-log-slippery-rocks will for sure rank in the tough top 10 of things I've done on two wheels. Hats up to the guys who seemed to fly over that course and made a roadie look awkward out there. Finishing 30min down to the winner (JHK) over a 24mile course (in 28th place) would get you a automatic downgrade in some road races...but I guess in XC it wasn't too shabby.

Congrats to Bryan Fawley who showed everyone how it's done in Texas (only current US XC champ JHK was quicker).

20 years ago...

2009-11-09T21:35:00.002-06:00

...I started watching Baywatch & Knight Rider. I tasted Mars and Snickers for the first time. Matchbox cars and LEGO became regulars among my "tools". Coca-Cola and Sprite tasted pretty sweet. And best of all: I got to go to West-Berlin, and slowly the rest of the world.

Here's a pretty good video/slide-show of "The Wall" coming down 20 years ago, November 9, 1989:

Final Days at Southland

2009-11-09T20:17:00.001-06:00

Stage 8 marked the final day here in New Zealand at the Tour of Southland. We were still in the hunt for something special but Mike started to get a bit sick and it seemed doubtful that we could walk away with a stage win. BUT...Bang, Stage 8 ended up being our day as both Mike and I made it over the KOM (where I got 4th) of the day along with Chadwick, Heath, Bauer and U23 leader Findlay. The rest of the field started to split off the back. We were hammering in the tailwind and I got a new speed-record I believe: 38.2mph for 24minutes. We did the 79K (50m) stage in 1h29min! I was red-zone towards the end and had to let Mike and the other 4 guys roll away after I sprinted for some intermediate sprint points. I settled in a group of ~25 guys with the Bissel duo, Landis, MacCauley and the 2nd GC guy + teammates Greg + Kevin of course! Mike took the stage ahead of Chadwick and I ended up 10th on the day. Peter Jackson was one happy plumber that day!

After a few hours of rest at the Middle Pub in Winton (without the beer or fish'n chips) we got ready for the final 65K into downtown Invercargill. This was NOT a easy, all-things-set, last stage. As soon as the official's flag goes down, 100 guys start racing = attacking. The gale winds were ridiculous once again and 15k into the stage we had probably 5 different groups all over the road. After I gave it my all this morning to help Mike I was officially "fried" for the rest of the day. We were going 8mph on a downhill section at one point...that's when I realized this will be a tough one and I decided to "just ride it out" with a group of ~30guys to the finish @ Queens Park. Mike ended up 13th or 14th on the day and both Greg and Kevin finished a few spots ahead of me. I ended up somewhere in 41st GC and 12th in the Sprints. Oh well, it's over now. Thanks to Robert, Graeme & July, Sue & husband, Peter & wife, and everyone else involved in making things easier for Mike, Greg, Seth, Kevin and me down there.

I decided I definitively have to come back to this beautiful country one day. Probably without a bike and 3 weeks of time to explore everything here.

Stage 6 & 7 - Up and down into the wind

2009-11-05T23:01:00.001-06:00

Lots of action on yesterday's Stage 6. After 100k of rather uneventful racing up towards Queenstown we hit the "Wall" with 20K to go and a little selection (including the yellow, Mike and I) was made but 30 or so guys rolled back on after 10K. The break of 4 was up the road and we raced for 4th place. Mike put the hammer down on the uphill slopes to the Crown Range to finish 7th while I barely squeezed into the Top 10 with 10th place. Beautiful scenery, too. Mike now sits 15h GC.

Today's Stage 7 was another 160K trek to Te Anau, in the Western Hills of the South Island. A break including some big guns and GC threats went off 5K in and we never saw them again. The field (incl. the Yellow) was desperately chasing but to no avail. Mike and I made it over the top of the big climb at 115K with the Yellow and the Bissel Boys and Bauer (yellow) was flat out riding 45kph trying to catch the dangerous break with 40K to go. Kevin and Greg rolled up to our group with another 20 or so and suddenly all 4 of us were in a 30-40 strong group 2minutes behind the Blackgrove/Landis break. Unfortunately, Mike missed the split when Bauer (again) attacked and rode away with 2nd place GC guy and Yates to catch the leaders. They never did and Blackgrove is back in Yellow now!

We ended up 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd on the Stage - a unique and great thing for the Jackson Plumbing Team and our Sponsor here.

Stage 4 & 5 - battling the wind

2009-11-04T01:28:00.004-06:00

Another double-header today with Stage 4 & 5 in the west of the South Island. The 50miles up to Tuatapere didn’t look too tricky on paper but everyone knew going in it will be a battle with the wind today. Lots of crosswind and 100guys trying to get to the front made for a pretty hard stage. I’m feeling that my body is still a bit banged up from that crash a few days ago and the legs don’t quite have the “snap”. But…to open up the legs I decided to go for the first few intermediate sprints. To explain, they have about 10-15 intermediate sprints in EACH stage for the sprint points jersey and a few bucks from local businesses (usually $25-$50). That was a bit taxing but I felt better afterwards actually. I almost got in trouble a few times but was mostly in good company with some good teams so we made it back quickly to the bunch.All of us from Jackson Plumbing finished all in the field of about 80 guys. The sprint points got me in 8^th place in that competition now. But that’s all just for fun to be honest. Hopefully we’ll see the prize one day…

The 2^nd part of the day was a bit more brutal with 50 of the 100K being raced right on the west coast of the South Island which made for plenty of gusty wind and some rain. Not as bad as in previous years, though where guys got blown off the road. The short 1 1/2hr break between stages was a bit odd, you try to rest a bit but don’t want to have your body too much in “rest-mode” as another 60miles were ion tap. 10-15K in the Sh.. hit the fan and guys started going everywhere. I was positioned well but could tell the legs are worn out and slowly faded and ended up in a group of about 25guys who were still going fast. After 20miles, the field – or what was left of it – was about 3minutes up the road but the guys don’t call a grupetto down here; they just keep going hard even if it is for 45^th place. Well, it finally got me and I ended up riding in with 3 other guys (one of them Heath’ teammate and a world-class rower who just got recruited for this Tour). Finished 15min down on the winner and moved down to 68^th place in GC. I don’t care too much about that anyways but will try to help Mike Olheiser in the remaining stages as he sits Top20 and got a few seconsds on the field today.

3 days and 4 stages to go!

Check out tourofsouthland.com and roadcycling.co.nz for results, pics, and live updates from the Tour. Also, teammates Mike and Seth have blogs up here: www.mikeolheiser.com, sethrubin.blogspot.com/

Stage 3 - the easiest 100miles so far

2009-11-03T23:28:00.003-06:00

After the double-header on Monday, Stage 3's 100miles from Invercargill to Gore felt somewhat "relaxing". A few "gutter"-action in the beginning and once the break got off we just rode Tempo towards the finish. Well, Heath' Zookeepers/Cycle-Surgery team did the work and 100 of us just rode behind at a manageable 40kph. A few of us (Kevin and I) tried our luck in an attempt to catch the final break but w/ out luck. Mike almost made the final break of 4 guys who ended up stating away to sprint for the win. He got 14th as best-placed rider for Jackson Plumbing today. There were one bridge-crossing and three left-hand turns within the last K of the race. 4 guys stayed away to sprint for the win and the four of us all finished safely in the bunch. 4days and 6 stages to go.

Turbulent start down in Southland

2009-11-02T22:56:00.004-06:00

The Tour started at Queens Park in Invercargill with a short 8k Team TT on a 4-corner course in the morning. Our Motel is only 5minutes away from most starts here in town so we got plenty of time in the mornings usually. The TT was a good warm-up and we did a 11:01 which put us in 15^th place of the day out of 25 teams. An okay result considering we (Seth, Kevin, Greg, Mike + I) never really raced together, especially not a TTT. Actually, Mike and I did a Team TT together just over a month ago at Univest GP. But, who would have thought, the conditions are way better here down in Southland than back at Univest where we had rain and 50mph gusts.

After a quick lunch we headed back to the Park for Stage 2. Yes, double-days are quite common down here. The toughest climb of the day was thrown into the first day and we got to race up Bluff Hill, a 20% steep climb on the very end of the “South Island” and at the end of Highway 1. That was not the toughest part, though as we all figured out about 45K into the 80K stage. After a crosswind section (one of too many that day) a Subway rider lost it right in front of me once we were at full-speed with a nice tailwind, going around 50-55kph. He slid across the whole road and took out a bunch of guys including me. I haven’t wrecked like that for a long time. I went straight over the bars upon impact with his (now trashed) Avanti bike and found myself on the ground with probably 40 other guys. I checked myself and the bike and besides some cuts+bruises on the knee and a nice road rash on my cheek everything seemed fine. After some quick adjustments to a twisted saddle + bars we got rolling again until they stopped the entire race for 25minutes because of the large number of riders involved and the severity of the injuries of some guys. I actually fell on my head a bit and had to ask my teammates + Robert, our DS, for some basic stuff, like “Where are we”, “How did we all got here to NZ”, and such things. I never had crashed so hard on my helmet/head before and was “out of it” for a bit for sure. It was tough getting rolling again but I started to get back into the flow. It was weird for sure. I ended up talking to Landis for a while as he broke his bike in the wreck, too and somehow we even talked about the two hip replacements of my grandma. I barely remember that now, though :-) Well, the field ended up splitting into pieces towards the hill climb thanks to some – now in full force – winds and gusts coming off the Ocean. I dug deep in my 39x28 and made it to the top without having to get off my bike like I saw some folks do! My average cadence was around 48 for the last 600m I believe. That crash definitively took more out of my body than I had thought.

Mike finished the day in 20^th and is our GC guy now. I think he can get close to Top10 over the next 5 days. Seth is out unfortunately, as he ended up breaking his nose in that nasty pile-up. Better than a collarbone or leg, though as some apparently did.

Tomorrow should be a bit more “relaxed” with a 165K stage and a bit more mellow elevation profile and a sprint finish.

Invercargill Velodrome, brand new, 250m indoor track. Nice!

Hi from Invercargill

2009-10-30T16:16:00.002-05:00

Well, I made it to New Zealand...after a long trip from AUS, to LAX, AUK, Christchurch, and finally to Invercargill here in Southland, NZ. Only problem we have now: all our bikes are M.I.A. - hopefully they'll be here by tonight.

We got some great food from our hosts, the Irvines, settled in our sweet little Motel and now are waiting to go and meet our sponsor, Jackson Plumbing, at the local pub. Yes, pub. NZ has a lot of British flavor to it.

The Tour starts Monday with a 8K TTT in the a.m. and a 50mile circuit race in the afternoon.

@Auckland airport....maybe in the USA one day ?

Cross!

2009-10-18T17:41:00.007-05:00

Cross Season is here! Well, the weather is not really "cyclocross-like" here in Texas but nevertheless there's some good, hard racing available here down South thanks to some promoters like Rob Kane who put on a weekend of CX in San Antonio.

I took out the Addict CX RC for it's first real ride. Fast course with only a few obstacles for us "roadies". 15minutes in I realized the legs were going well and I took off, putting some pressure on the boys and just rode consistent laps to win the 1st CX race of the season. Thanks to Pam+Rob Kane for hosting us at the Police Academy Center. And of course Robert Biard for letting me use his wheels, Austin Bikes/Doug Looney for some 'quipment, and KC Crosby for some sweet shades!

Happenings

2009-10-16T18:28:00.002-05:00

It's been a while. Quite "interesting" two weeks in Texas bike racing. Did two in Crits in Denton and spent a good weekend at "home" in Ft. Worth. Results-wise it was pretty average as being "solo" and having field-sprint-esque courses/races did not suit me so well. Saturday's race was very cool and I tried hard to force a serious split but it came down to a - almost -field sprint. Sunday's race was much easier by looking at the numbers, even though 10 of us lapped the field. My old teammate Mat Stephens showed that he's still got the sprinter legs and won while I got 6th. Some great riding north of Denton, Horse County & surrounding area

A week later, a training ride to Johnson City was long overdue so I rode out West with a few THSJ guys and it was a pretty good ride. 5 1/2hrs, half of that in the rain, and just sub 120miles. The cool temperatures made the time/distance feel very manageable comparing to doing rides in the 100 F heat a few month back.

A few days later some news broke which were quite upsetting, disappointing. I felt cheated on. At the same time it's a 'positive' thing as it shows that guys get penalized who cheat; very knowingly cheat to be exact. Knowing I (and a handful of others) can ride faster than someone who is "juiced up" to the top makes the whole thing quite funny, actually. Why would you take stuff if you can't even beat the "clean" guys? Oh well.

The week finally turned back into a good one as the State RR was on the schedule. I had lots of fun and Kolt and I did our best. He was in the winning break for 94 miles, just the last few rollers got onto a few guys and the field caught Kolt, Lalla + Adam G. Six guys stayed away for the win (JT Cody!). I still scratch my head about some teams' tactics...If you're not in the break why not chase? Oh well, none of my business. Sunday's race was held on the same course, with similar temperatures, but with a bit rain and only 66miles. The turn-out was not as great as the day before but that made the race actually quite a bit harder in my opinion. After being in a 7-man break for most of the race I gave it one "shot" at the last climb and Helmig + Vargas came along. It was a mix of tactics, discussions, and strength which followed for the next 10miles to the finish. In the end, Helmig got me pretty good in the sprint for the win but 2nd was okay at that point. Even though we're both foreigners by passport, I got another blue-red-white jersey since I'm more of a permanent Texan...:-)

The next few month will actually be quite exciting rather than just another "boring" off-season: There's some Driveway left, a few punchy Cyclocross races, a trip Down Under, the local MTB race p/b Mellow Johnny's, and finally some "real" winter time back home in Germany.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month October

2009-10-08T15:06:00.004-05:00

If you know a family member, friend, co-worker, or teammate who's affected - find out how you can help and/or donate by visiting the National Breast Cancer Foundation !

Or, come and ride your bike with me October 25th at the Livestrong Challenge in Austin, TX.

1 + 1 + 13 = 1

2009-09-24T16:19:00.006-05:00

Fun weekend in Greenville, TX! Kolt Bates and I lined up for a 7:30am, 85mile road race and I made the right split with the right guys (incl. "Big Daddy") and we were able to hold off a charging field. Kris French, C. Trant, Dille and I rode away the last few miles and I was able to win the 40mph false-flat downhill sprint to the line.

The TT at 6:30pm was short and painful but just like the the South Mopac TT in Austin a all-out effort and a 10/10 on the "pain-scale". The lone Austin Flyer, Brant Speed, finished in a respectable 2nd place, only 13 seconds down on me.

Since the whole thing was based on points rather time, I just needed to watch a few guys in the crit and it was very unrealistic that someone would come around me for the Omnium win. A rear flat with 6 to go and a on-form Russ Walker made things a bit hectic in the end but I just had enough points to win the Omnium.

Thanks to teammate Kolt for working his a$% off and securing us another Mercy win in a Texas!

Greenville's newspaper, The Herald Banner, as a good story about the road races here.

road race win
(photo courtesy of Mike Brooks, commiebiker.smugmug.com)

Univest GP

2009-09-14T10:20:00.002-05:00

Just got back from three interesting days in Eastern Pennsylvania. Great event, great host house (Thanks to the Balzer's!), and some very fanatic fans everywhere made those 3 races pretty epic - along with 58F and drizzling rain :-) More later.

ToA

2009-09-08T14:43:00.008-05:00

Racing 4 races in 5 days here in Austin was a rare highlight. Maybe we can have a 5day stage race in 2010? I guess only Willis knows :-)

My race legs are coming slowly back under me after a little time off and vacation pre-HHH. Thursday's Driveway was (yet again) - the hardest race of the 4 race days - at least by the numbers. Thanks to the THSJ boys and Mark Purnell a.k.a. "The Announcer" we had a very exciting and interesting race where I ended up 4th.

Friends Lalla, Francis, and JPurcell came into town on Friday and we had a little MSU cycling team reunion at the house for the whole weekend. Manda RR was a total miss and I barely finished in the Top 30. Sunday's Pickle Crit went already better and I was able to squeeze into the right break w/ 2xTHSJ, Colt T, and PMc. For the 3rd time this year I was only able to see Heath' rear wheel and had to be content with a 2nd place. Riding w/ out a team here (the 'A' squad was at Gateway-Cup) definitively makes it a bit more tricky to get into the right moves.

Labor Day's eRacing Stigma Crit ended up in a bunch-sprint this year and it definitively felt harder then the inaugural edition last year. Besides some extra $$ in primes and a 12th place I couldn't achieve anything noteworthy comparing to last year when I was able to score a win out of a 4-man move.

Thanks to Andrew & Co. for giving us such a great event here in Austin. Daniel Norton took some cool pictures over the last 3days. Check them out here. I also hope "The Announcer's" voice is back by the time he's reading this :-)

Hotter'n Hell 60

2009-09-02T23:47:00.004-05:00

Well, I/we did the 100miles but it was actually quite chilly - 60.8˚F to be exact at 6:50am on Saturday morning.

Friday Night

I was part of a two/three-man team for most of the 3days and it was rough. After 5 days in the sun (see post below) - and having no bici with me - I definitively lacked "the legs" to be competitive. Still was good enough to help out Chad in the Friday Crit (he got 3rd) and finish 4th myself in Day 3's Crit. Due to an unfortunate mechanical mishap (always tighten your saddle bolts!) we lost 2nd place in the Omnium on the last day and Chad slipped to 7th.

random shot somewhere Northeast of WF (check out the TALL Team Type 1 dude)

DR

2009-09-01T12:36:00.009-05:00

After a busy month of July and lots of racing in early August we headed for 5 days of R&R to the Dominican Republic - a country of contrasts to be honest. Host to the (then) biggest city in the "New World" (Santo Domingo) you can discover lots of colonial history and follow C. Columbus' footsteps around the island.

...just back-up to the water beach and enjoy a "Presidente"

Kevin Underhill

2009-08-16T20:34:00.012-05:00

I did not know Kevin Underhill but got to see him on the RunFar TT last Tuesday evening. He did pretty good with a time of 21min considering being on his road bike. Now he's gone. Show up to a weekly training crit and you don't return home. Wow. I'm speechless here.

We are having "a minute of silence" way too often in this sport. I think over the last 6-7 years I probably paused 6 or 7 times before a race for some rider, friend, and/or fellow racer who got killed riding or racing his bike. That's 6-7 times too many. May he rest in peace.

el crono

2009-08-11T08:57:00.007-05:00

After a few years of trying it finally all came together and I was fast enough to claim the 2009 Texas State TT Championships. On top of that, I was fortunate to do the P12 Team TT with a a few good friends (Patrick, Travis, Robert) the next day and we came in 4th, just 10seconds off 3rd place.

Castroville is actually a cool little place to spend a weekend away from the city and you should definitively visit sometimes if you've never been there. If you need a place to stay make sure to contact the Betty at 3 Cedar's Ranch Bed & Breakfast. They even have a fresh baked cake ready for you when you arrive!

Thanks also to Holland Racing, "Big Daddy" Russ Walker, and my team for the continuous support.

1st 51:07 Yours Truly
2nd 52:19 David Wenger
3rd 52:23 Mitch Comardo

And you think that was fast? Check out John Frey's 40K record back from 1990 - a 47:35 (!) in Moriarty, NM. Wow. I feel slow now.

Jens, wir lieben Dich!

2009-07-30T20:31:00.019-05:00

Jens Voigt doesn’t read books. He simply attacks until the books relent and tell him everything he wants to know.
Waldo can’t be found because Jens dropped him on a hill training ride… on K2.
Jens doesn’t spin or mash the pedals… he kicks them into submission.
Jens Voigt puts the “laughter” in “Manslaughter.”
Jens Voigt climbs so well for a big guy because he doesn’t actually climb hills; the hills slink into the earth in fear as they see him approach.
If you are a UCI ProTour rider and you Google “Jens Voigt,” the only result you get is “it’s not to late to take up Football, Fred.”
Jens was a math prodigy in elementary school, putting “Attack!” in every blank space on all his tests. It would be the wrong answer for everybody else, but Jens is able to solve any problem by attacking.
Jens’ testicles are bald because hair does not grow on a mixture of titanium, brass, steel, and cold, hard granite.
Eddy Merckx was actually a neo-pro at the same time as Jens, but Jens dropped him so hard that he shot backwards in time to the 1960’s, where he became a great champion.
Jens once had a heart attack on the Tourmalet. Jens counterattacked repeatedly until he kicked its ass.
Jack was nimble, Jack was quick… and Jens still drove him to quit racing bikes and become an ice dancing commentator on Lifetime.
If Jens Voigt was a country, his principle exports would be Pain, Suffering, and Agony.
If Jens Voigt was a planet, he’d be the World of Hurt.
Jens Voigt doesn’t know where you live, but he knows exactly where you will die.
Jens Voigt doesn’t have a shadow because he dropped it repeatedly until it retired, climbing into the team car and claiming a stomach ailment.
Jens Voigt once challenged Lance Armstrong to a “who has more testicles” contest. Jens won… by five.
When you open a can of whoop-ass, Jens Voigt jumps out and attacks.
You are what you eat. Jens Voigt eats spring steel for breakfast, fire for lunch, and a mixture of titanium and carbon fiber for dinner. For between-meal snacks he eats men’s souls, and downs it with a tall cool glass of The Milk of Human Suffering.
Jens Voigt believes it’s not butter.
Jens Voigt can eat just one.
The first time man split the atom was when the atom tried to hold Jens Voigt’s wheel, but cracked.
Jens Voigt doesn’t complain about what suffering does to him… but suffering constantly complains about getting picked on by Jens Voigt.
Jens Voigt can start a fire by rubbing two mud puddles together.
Guns kill a couple dozen people every day. Jens Voigt kills 150.
Jens’s tears are so tough they could be the world heavyweight mixed-martial arts champion. Too bad Jens never cries.
Jens Voigt rides so fast during attacks, that he could circle the globe, hold his own wheel, and ride in his own draft. At least as long as he didn’t try to drop himself.
Jens Voigt nullified the periodic table because he doesn’t believe in any element, other than the element of surprise.
The grass is always greener on the other side. Unless Jens Voigt has been riding on the other side in which case it’s white with the salty, dried tears of all the riders whose souls he has crushed.

Oregon

2009-07-28T22:31:00.002-05:00

Just got back from 6days of racing in Bend, OR - an amazing place to have a stage race! Never been to that part of the country but it was well worth it. Other people apparently thought so, too, as they had a field limit of 150 but 240 Pro/Cat1's wanted to race and they finally cut it off at 187 starters!

I rode again with Mike Olheiser's team out of Alabama and the past 6 days of racing flew by quickly. After two weeks w/ out any racing and just training I had a little hard time to adjust to the speeds on Stage 1, but it went alright and we all finished in the pack. Unfortunately though, Mike missed the break of 20some riders who rode away before the KOM and the feed zone. 4min down on G :-( Stage 2 saw a very quick run-in to the last 10miles of uphill. We did like 30mph in the first hour on that stage and it seemed like nothing would stick until they finally let a group go. And again, the feed zone was used to try to break up the field. Weird. And I thought amateurs get called out for doing that in the big races...We raced to the base of the climb and - of course - there was a pile-up in the middle of the field 40riders down. I had to unclip, chase back on and later felt that my legs are not quite there yet...Ex-Euro badass Oscar Sevilla showed what he can do and solo'd to victory.

Mike and I "hiding" at the front during Stage 1 (photo J. Devich)

The TT the next day was a quick 16mile affair with 8miles going out (and 1000ft up) and 8miles going back down. I had the pleasure to be "sandwiched" somewhere in between CX champ Ryan Trebon and time trial king and NRC points leader Tom Zirbel. Well, i passed 3 guys including Trebon but - of course - Zirbel went by me 3mph faster before the turn-around and ended up winning - I was 3:50min off and came in 50something place. Okay. Too much uphill for me.

Stage 4's Road Race was another killer stage. 84miles with the first 16miles going pretty much uphill, climbing 2500+feet to the base of Mt. Bachelor - one of those snow-covered giant mountains around Bend. The road was wide open, maybe 4-6% steep and Mancebo + Hugo Pena % Co. set a blistering pace for Rock and their leader Sevilla. It was manageable until the 1K to the top..The field was already shattered and maybe 30guys were still in the front group. Mike and I were there, but I was in the red zone...2 guys from OUCH and a couple GARMIN kids were with us and we went 30seconds short on the front group through the first feed zone on top of the climb. Luckily, they really wanted to catch back on quickly and after descending for 5 miles we caught the front group and it was back to "business as usual" again. Another silly crash happened with 15miles to go - again, in the middle of the field, people touching wheels and 10+guys go down. I had another lucky day and only had to clip out and chase for 10sec and was back in the field. The finish was tough, it really kicked uphill with 3miles to go and I rolled in 60ish something place in a group of 10guys. Legs were feeling better than the days before.

The crit/Stage 5 was held in downtown Bend (Bond & Wall St) and pretty fast at 29.3mph but thanks to the constant Driveway races I was used to that speed :-) After 90min everything ended up in a field sprint and I just cruised through in the middle of the pack. I couldn't do anything other than sitting in and holding the wheel in front of me while we were going 35mph on the straights and I saw 600W on the deck computer.

thinking about what recovery drinks to chose...

The final and 6th stage was held on the same course like Elite Nats and was a tough little 16mile circuit. I was well out of contention in GC so I figured I might try to do something early while Mike was supposed to "chill" and wait for the final laps where it gets really hard in order to move up in GC a bit (he was sitting 23rd). Those first 15minutes of the race were some of the hardest I've done for a while. At 3500ft you feel your lungs pretty good, especially when you go from "zero" to all-out. Even Landis joined me in one for the early moves and although I was able to stick with "Mr. 53x11" they (the field) wouldn't let anything go that day early. So I just tried to stay where I was and help out Mike as much as possible. After - another - crash we had to chase back one because someone decided to go down in the middle of the field again, causing a few broken wheels and bones (?). Halfway through I had nothing left and barely made it over the last KOM in before the caravan and - adding to my "luck" - I flatted my front on the downhill. I called it a day right then, rode back to the feed zone to help the team and just rolled back to the host house to get at least some miles in my legs.

trying to get into the early move (photo J. Devich)

Overall, a pretty cool trip with lots hard racing miles which will hopefully be beneficial here in the near future for the upcoming regional races.

The "Makeout Bandits" @ the Rapha / Mellow Johnny's Little 500 Race / Party

2009-07-15T22:10:00.003-05:00

Some pictures can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034788&id=57900851&l=3cef3a0491

Lawrence, KS

2009-07-06T13:44:00.006-05:00

The 3rd weekend in a row in Kansas City is wrapped up and the inaugural Tour of Lawrence is over. Was lots of fun and some good competition with some good prize $$$. Friday's Street sprints were obviously not my cup of tea but I had tons of fun hanging with the gang anyways. Chad made the frontpage of the local paper, though :-)

Saturday went better but it wasn't good enough to win. Heath and I rolled off the front with 30min to go in the 70min and we never looked back and did a pursuit-style 2-man TT to hold off the chasing pack. 2nd was not bad, though and I losing to him ain't a bad thing ;-) After some dinner at Freestate, some frozen custard at Coldstone and a visit to the Eldrigde it was time to head home to the Marshall residence.

Sunday's circuit race was definitvely one of the harder races I've done in the past, although 55miles wasn't too bad. Would it have been 80miles like originally planned (?) maybe 10guys would have finished that race. The KU campus is a beutiful place to have bike race and I wonder why not other places like this can have a bike race like that. Joe and I were always in the front group but when Sullivan attacked with 1 to go I didn't had anything left to throw in the game and had to be content with 8th on the day.

This is for you, Russ "Big Daddy" Walker:

and this one is for you Todd :-)

Tour of KC

2009-06-28T21:37:00.006-05:00

After a few mellow days in KC we raced the "new" Tour of Kansas City this past weekend. New courses, new organizers, and a decent prize list attracted a few powerhouses from the region. But still the Tour of KC Part # 2 in August will happen, too.

Day 1 was pretty technical and more like a circuit race with some false flats and lots of turns. Scott Moninger came out of retirement and him and Alex rode away half-way through the race. So the chances were 50/50 and that only "ok" but not perfect if you wanna win the race. I got away from a little chase group with about 5 or 6 laps to go and could distance myself from the field but didn't catch Alex/Moninger. I got close but had to settle for third and "The Cagle" did what he does best and just jumped the field for 4th place. Mat A. rounded out the Top 10 with a 9th place. 2-3-4 is solid, but we knew we gotta win one of those days here. Also, it was great to see some new faces on the team: Joseph Schmalz and 52x14 junior Chris Wallace rode very well and did lots of work for the team.

Day 2 was over in Lee's Summit, MO. (That's the place where I sent LOTS of paperwork - and even more $$$ - since the Dept. of Homeland Security Center is based out of there...) It looked like it would rain before the race and everyone I asked told me it wouldn't. So I left my MAXXIS rain tires in the pit and went with the slick Michelins. Not the best choice since it started pouring on us 20minutes into the race. Above mentioned Chris Wallace made the race winning break with 3 others and while the peloton was busy chasing each other and not crashing, the leaders rode away. Alex and Mat made the split with a few others, too and the field got lapped with 1 lap to go. It was a bit "problematic" to figure out who's who in the last lap and we ended up with a 4th, 5th and 7th place while Moninger - yet again - took the win. First crit in the rain this year and it was actually not bad at all once the dirt was washed off and we could go fast again.

The final Day of ToKC was held in downtown and was a pretty tough, short and fast course. It was just below 1K in length and we ended up doing 54 laps on it - ouch! The best lap time was a flat one minute or 32mph, courtesy of "The Cagle". Hats up to the organizers for finding that course. That was challenging and fun at the same time. 25minutes in I found myself in a break of 10 along with teammates Joseph and Mat - 2 Big Shark guys incl. Moninger and 4 (!) Trek guys were with us, too. That was a tough one to crack and I wasn't really sure how we can get a win out of this. But, things turned in our favor when Mat came from "almost-getting-dropped" to attacking over the S/F-line along with Hartman and C.Hall. The three rode away and the rest of the break (we already had the field lapped once) took it easy for the last few laps. Mat's group of three ended up lapping a few riders again and Chad gave him a killer-leadout to take the win. I managed 7th while Joseph got 10th. Not bad and we finally got one win out of the weekend.

Next stop: Tour of Lawrence next weekend.

Alex showing some golden shoes and making funny faces...

Chad and Alex taking over Marshall's backyard after a rainy crit on Day 2

A cyclist's guide for Kansas City

2009-06-25T20:55:00.013-05:00

I spent the last few days in Overland Park riding, working on some new business ideas, and checking out the town with old college buddy Todd. I've been to KC a few times but didn't get to see much other than crit courses and a few restaurants.

But there's actually lots of stuff to see and do here in the Midwest. Sunday we checked out Shakespeare's Pizza in Columbia, MO. Apparently that's a favourite among the locals and one of the highlights of student life at University of Missouri. The long wait was well worth it and a 12" is definitely "eatable" after 84miles of racing in the heat of Winghaven.

The +100 temperatures definitely made training a bit more challenging but I can't complain "growing up" in the "Falls" in North Texas. On Tuesday Todd and I rode out to to the local "Tuesday Nighter". To quote Mr. Wallace, "no Stefan, it's not the Driveway" but still competitive and I got a very solid 40minutes of racing in once I found myself in a break with a few locals. I also had a teammate, Chris Wallace, a very good junior rider who's already done CX World's once and will one to watch on our team in the future. We rode back home with the organizer of this weekend's Tour of KC and am already looking forward to 3 days of Crits here. The "Cactus Grill" in Overland Park had some Mexican Food and deals on Margaritas. Nothing beats the "sans-alcohol-license" Black Sheep in Austin, though :-)

Something you gotta check out when visiting KC is Shawnee Mission Park, just west of town and a great place to ride some miles on trails without cars and - during 100 degree heat - pedestrians. Great for intervals or to just go for an easy spin. Watch out for deer, rabbits, and plenty of bluebirds - they're everywhere. The only downside is riding through on the busy East/West roads but once you're over the Interstate it's not worse than riding in any other metro area around the country.

If you're ever (always???) in need for some cold refreshments you'll need to visit the Flying Saucer in Downtown. They have more than 200 different beers and +50 on tap from around the world. Lots of German Pilsner's, Bocks, Ales,Wheats, too. Until we talked to the bartender, I didn't even know that Austin has a location, too, so will have to check this one out in the future!

Today I did some intervals on Tomahawk Rd in the Mission Hills area. Good "urban" road with smooth asphalt, plenty of $$$ homes left and right, and a Country Club in close proximity. Was lots of fun to ride fast there except for one soccer mom in an Audi S8 who ran a stop-sign and almost t-boned me. I'd hate to have an accident with a $96,200 base-priced piece of German-engineering...

Tour of KC starts tomorrow and should be plenty of fun with the whole "gang" being in town for a few days. Just one week later is another - bigger - Crit series here in the area, the Tour of Lawrence. When was the last time you had 3 big cycling events back-to-back-to-back in the KC area, two of them brand new events? I think that's pretty cool and good for the region.

Oh, and if you ever wondered what's fair game and not in a Crit, check out Steve's latest blog entry. A bit detailed, but he makes a very good point.

28 hot laps at Winghaven

2009-06-22T14:08:00.006-05:00

After an eventful week with team changes, 30hot laps at the Driveway and some traveling from ATX to KC I drove with Todd C. over to O'Fallon, MO for the Winghaven NRC race. I've never done it but only heard good things about it and teammate Mat won it back in 2006. It's a really nice, new neighborhood where they have the race and the 3mile course was definitively challenging to say the least. Combined with a few pro's and 100degree heat those 28laps in the middle of the day made for some good, aggressive bike racing. We had probably 8 or 9 guys in the race and I was looking forward to it as I've done way too many crits in the past and a 85mile RR sounded like a nice change.

Alex started off the race by going into a two-man break with Jensen and they stayed out for a while. This was really a Jensen course and as soon as they were brought back he went again in an attempt to go for the KOM laps/primes. A few others followed and Mat made it into a 10-man move chasing the leaders. By that time (halfway through) the pack had split into two groups, leaving a bunch of guys OTB and DNF'ing early. It was weird in our group or what was left from the "field". We would go 15mph at some points and guys would just ride away solo. Than someone decided to chase and soon after we would go super slow again. Unfortunately Mat cramped up and suddenly we were out of the race and there were only 10laps to go. I was really ready to call it a day since the race was up the road and we were in no-men's-land. But it got a but more interesting when we could a group of 10 or so and suddenly we were still racing for 14th place. With a $15K purse for the Top20 some people found a little bit extra juice and we were going a bit faster again. Still, the 13 guys ahead of us ended up lapping our diminished "field" on the last lap and we sprinted for 14th place. Thanks to my new/old teammates Joseph Schmalz I got a good spot before the last round-about and found the wheel of big Slovenian sprinter Ilesic of Type 1 and ended up 16th on the day. Not really what we had hoped for but considering this year's competition, the course and way it played out we can be happy with that for now.

Next stop: Tour of Kansas City 6/26-28, then Tour of Lawrence July 3-5, and a well-deserved break after that.

two-man TT at Thursday's Driveway with PMc
(photo by DCM Photography)

Todd "arguing" with the order-screen at McD's on I-70 in Booneville, MO

What you probably shouldn't eat before a 85mile NRC race...still was delicious. BBQ Pork w/ coleslaw!

Some pictures from the race are here:
http://stlbiking.smugmug.com/gallery/8640459_WWLff#P-8-15

I heart Crozzy !

2009-06-09T21:35:00.001-05:00

Teammate won Tuesday Night Crit again- that's 6 (SIX!) in a row!

UPDATED 6/9/9 - 7 (SEVEN) in a row

Photo by Lee McDaniel Photography

Tulsa Tough

2009-06-01T15:35:00.001-05:00

Another End of May, another Tulsa Tough. After a quick 50min Driveway warm-up we drove up to DFW Thursday evening and got to spend some time on Trinity Trail in Ft. Worth. Later that day, we arrived at the best Host Housing we could ask for - that of teammate Chad.

rest-stop Texas-style

Night #1 was rather uneventful. Rode out to the course, met up with friends and teammates, watched Jed Rogers sprint to 2nd in the 1/2 race, downed some energy drinks, and did a 65minute Twilight crit. There was not much to do for me in that race as the field sprint was pre-determined with 10laps to go and Chad already found his spot behind the winning Jelly Bean squad around eventual winner and former teammate Brad Huff! CC ended up 13th which was a bit disappointing since he was 6ht wheel going into the final turn but a OUCH rider decided to go against the laws of physics and dived into the final corner way too hot, rolled a tire, and crashed - causing a major rumble in the front.

Day#2 was already more exciting. We got to pin our numbers at the Soundpony, had more energy drinks, and socialized with (some already intoxicated) cycling fans on Main Street. After a quick rest stop at New Medio (the media/PR company behind Tulsa Tough and one of my teammates' employer) we rolled to the start in the Brady District with a nice 90 F heat around 6:30pm. It was - yet again - fast and furious and it took me 10laps to move anywhere to the front. When I finally did, I punched it through the Start/Finish and about a dozen guys came with me. Every major team had at least one if not two guys in the break and we rolled pretty good for a few laps. The pace there was so much harder than chilling in the field. I would go 200W less in the peloton vs. riding in the rotation in that move. But, the break was probably a bit too big and once Floyd Landis punched up the little rise on the backside the break fell apart and I was back in the peloton. I recovered, and recovered some more. With 10laps to go I got CC on my wheel and got him in the Top20 when I saw an opportunity to go off the front. Adam Bergman was dangling off the front of the field with 15seconds and we're kind of going slow. I punched it up the rise by the Soundpony and quickly joined him w/ 9 laps to go. We rode hard for a few laps before they rang the bell for the biggest prime of the day - $500. Since I'm not gifted excessively with fast-twitch fibers I figured I need to get this. So once again, I rode flat out over the rise on the back-side of the course and my race was done with 5 laps to go while collecting some change for the day. Chad came in 11th so we're improving from day to day :-)

this is for you, BigDaddy Walker

Day#3 usually suits me well with a hilly crit course but not this time. Somehow, my legs were MIA after going okay the last two nights. I was there for 50minutes and then had to call it quits. Weird. One day you roll, one day you're slow. CC saved the day for us with a Top 10 and an 8th place in the Omnium while "Huffy" dragged his through-cheer leading-formed body over the hills of Riverside and held on to the Omnium lead. Impressive.

scene on "The Hill" during Stage 3's Riverside Crit

Cool Bike Stuff Review # 3 - Oakley Jawbone

2009-05-30T09:38:00.005-05:00

Thanks to Oakley and my "part-time" teammate KC Crosby we get to play with some nice toys from time to time. This is time it's yet another lengthy awaited release of super-shades - the Jawbone! Nationally still on back-order, we were lucky to try them out at some Driveway's, the Memorial Day races and Tulsa Tough. I love them! As always, you put them on and they simply fit perfectly. No matter if it's Crozzy's face, Tyler's head or my nose - they fit all around!

I got to wear the Jawbone with a Polished Black Frame and Positive Red Iridium Polarized lenses. Not only do the shades look good but taking a look through the lenses is like watching HD TV on a 64" screen. The light transmission of only 18% is great for sunny Texas days as it let's just enough sun into your eyes to keep you focused on the objects ahead - in this case: riders a few inches away from me). The Iridium® coating tunes the contrast a bit and makes for an amazing view. The objects are sharp, clear, and very much in focus. I would almost put my camera lens behind those lenses to snap a picture. On top of that, a polarized filter reduces glare reflected off surfaces like pavement or asphalt so you are always aware what's going on around you when going 30mph, 400W or a HR of 180bpm. The view is still crisp clear.

The probably most advanced technology in those shades is Oakley's new SWITCHLOCK™ Technology for an interchangeable lens design that helps you keep up with changing light conditions and maximize performance in any environment. Two quick snaps and you got your lenses out and two more quick snaps and you can put your spare lenses in. No more worrying about breaking lenses or chippin' the paint off the frame.

The Jawbone tested runs at $250, comes with a extra set of Persimmon lenses for Twilight Crit racing and is available at http://oakley.com/pd/6294. Pre-order yours now to get your Game on and make KC happy ;-)

DFW Weekend

2009-05-26T15:26:00.004-05:00

After Gila, Joe Martin and a little time off the focus shifted towards the traditional Memorial Day Crits in DFW. We (Tyler and I) did the Driveway as a warm-up and things felt good, as I was able to "exercise" (to quote Crosby) to a 2nd place but still, the engine was not working as well as in previous training crits. Oh well, that's why it's a weekly crit after all.

Photo by Willis' iPhone

In both races, Saturday's Glickman Crit and Sunday's GS Tenzing Crit, I did not feel like being able to win so I rode more out of "instinct" and just tried to "race" and work as hard as I could to pull off something for the team. Chad and I were able to make a few $$$ in primes both days but fell short with a 2nd place (Cagle again) on Saturday and missed out on the winning break on Sunday. Duh! Stuff happens.

For Monday's State Criterium Champs I felt okay, but knew that it would be super hard to avoid a field sprint and get into a lucky break. So I raced again based on instinct and saw an opportunity in the first lap where Barry Lee and A. Gonzalez from Metro joined me quick. Knowing they would catch us anyways I tried to find a balance between over-cooking myself and going too slow. Well, it latest for about 45minutes and I could contribute to the team's winnings while my TxTough boys kept it easy at the front of the field. After I was caught I settled into the field and waited for the end - which would be all Chad's mission. He did great once again, but caught leading it out from the last turn and Carlos Vargas of THSJ nipped him by a few inches on the line. So close. Oh well, onward to Tulsa Tough which will be a notch harder than the last 3 days.

Photo by Lee McDaniel Photography

Here's an article from the local Ft. Worth Star-Telegram about the race.

Joe Martin

2009-05-11T21:38:00.005-05:00

Prologue: Last year I did a 9:10 to place 33rd, this year a 9:12 to place 88th! Wow, I must have missed something or did the quality of the P/1 really improved so much over one year? Anyways, that was not a good start but a 10min effort like that was just not in the legs today.

Century + 10: Friday's stage was probably the slowest 110miles I've ever done racing. It started fast and I (+Mat) tried really hard to get into "the break" in the first hour but nothing would go. Finally, it went and I was back in the pack :-( Anyhow, we started to go SLOW. I think we dropped only one rider over Mt. Gaylor this time...Almost 5:20hr into the stage Chad found my wheel and I did an all-out effort to pull him next to the OUCH and Colavita-trains. I had no legs for the final so I "dropped him off" and took it easy around the last few turns while he finished 7th, being best amateur once again!

Fastest 92miles ever: After our granny-ride yesterday some people thought it's time to add some speed to this race and we actually "raced" - all day. I was sitting 30th wheel and could notice all the aggressive riding the first time, the 2nd time, and the 3rd time up the little feed zone hill. Bissell definitively threw everything they had at Landis & Co. and it was fun to have an actual bike race instead a controlled, tactical "cruise" where the "real" racing would get neglected. 28mph avg speed sounds more like a crit to me but still 100guys made it into a mad dash to the final line after 92miles of racing. I tried my luck at first but only managed mid-pack in 32nd.

Crit: Some say it's the hardest Crit you do all year, I say it's definitely close to that. Only Chad and I were left from our original squad of five. I've done that race 3 times now and every time the leading team would ride tempo all day at the front. Not the "tempo" you think, more like NormPower of 360W for 90minutes. I found my place in the group and just followed wheels. Some wheel you wanna follow for sure is that of Huffy, might not always look the safest but he gets around the peloton pretty quick (and eventually finishing 5th). After getting a glimpse of what it feels like to be off the front I quickly settled back in the pack and finished it out in 30th place. The last 10 times up that B@# of a start/finish hill I barely had my eyes open and was always VERY close to pull the plug - but I couldn't.

Chad

You know you're in Arkansas when...

2009-05-07T18:22:00.002-05:00

...you pull into the hotel parking lot and see this:

more Gila

2009-05-03T09:08:00.002-05:00

Stage 3's Time Trial did not go as well...I had a solid warm-up and ended up doing a very similar time like last year but that only got me 83rd place this year whereas I finished 32nd with that in '08. Weird! Oh well, Mike did amazing again and was the 2nd best Amateur, "only" finishing 3:23 behind stage winner & new course-record holder Levi.

The Stage 4 Criterium is something I was looking forward to. Racing a NRC Crit at 6000Ft is a bit different (=harder) then "cruising" around the Wilson Historic District at the Matrix Challenge but it went fine. After 3 stages not everyone wants to go super hard so that's what helped me a bit. 15minutes in I made a move on the backside climb and Tim J. of OUCH came along with me. It hurt, he doesn't go slow at all, either! They announced a $100 prime so it was motivation enough to keep digging deep and I got it....but quickly realized that - in order not to fall off my bike - I need to go "back" to the field. So I did and finished - almost - safely in the bunch. I got held up in the Crit with that 1 1/2 lap-to-go crash where I needed to unclip and get straight back onto the road was able to make contact with the front group and finished the day out in 25th.

...hurting for the $ during the P/1 Crit

You love it or you hate it - the "Gila Monster" or Stage 5 with 9300ft of climbing over 107miles. Mike was sitting top 30 in GC and was looking to move up towards Top 20 so he needed all the help he could get. After a few scary early crashed (which both required medical helicopter assistance) the field "calmed down" a bit and we were cruising along the valley towards the first of 3 major climbs. 7miles, just pure gradual climbing. I made it somehow, so did maybe 50 other guys. The descent afterwards was a bit sketchy as always but at least no one seriously crashed like last year. One more time I went back to the car and loaded up on bottles and gels for Mike before we reached the U-Turn at the Cliff Dwellings Visitor Center and headed back up - a Cat. 1 climb now. After nearly 70miles of racing that's where my body said "Stop" and I just rode my own rhythm. The last few climbs I rode in smaller groups and solo towards the line. Thanks to the Dave Bolch for the water bottle and the gels! Ended up 66th while Mike got 21st on the day. Travis and Travis finished the day, too so it was a solid day & Tour for our little team among the big powerhouses like Mellow Johnny's ;-)

made by Kristina Quinn

Breathing thin Air @ Gila

2009-04-30T21:03:00.002-05:00

After two weekends of successful Crit&Road racing in DFW I made the trip out to Tour of the Gila with my "pseudo-teammates" from Alabama of Team Tri-Star. Thanks to Slovakian Miro (and his Nissan Titan V8) the drive was not bad at all and we talked a lot about the "old times" in the Eastern Block and cycling of course.

Mike Olheiser is our GC man here as he finished 10th last year and usually does REALLY well in the NRC races across the country. He got some (Master) Rainbow Stripes on his jersey, too. Stage 1 to Mogollon wasn't so bad until we made the final right turn towards the climb. Thanks to some prominent riders in the field the pace was "on" and all I could do was delivering Mike to the wheels of the Mellow Johnny's guys before riding my own pace. Was fun, though and I was glad I had the 39x27 this time around. Congrats to other Texans John Coppin (2nd in the 2's) and "College" Korioth (3rd 40+) who had a good ride that day. Afterwards we had some pizza & meat lasagna at Silver City Brewery Co. Our waiters name was "Trainee" - poor girl!

Stage 2 did not had any steep climbs in the profile but the onces we did climb were ridden really fast courtesy of Horner & Armstrong. 10K after the start you're already at 7000ft going the first time over the Continental Divide - and you still had 120K to go. It got more "comfortable", though a little bit later and once the break of the day was gone we could take a little breather and just ride. The Valley along NM HW 35 is quite a scenery and I could actually enjoy it a little bit since we were going "tempo" rather than full on race mode at that point. The field was already down to 80 guys at that point, so we must have gone somewhat fast at least? Like last year, it came down to a field sprint but since the wind was not as bad on HW 180 a large group made it to the line together. Landis's group got caught with 1K to go and tried to stay safe behind the Colavita & OUCH trains. For me it was'nt a sprint, more like a drag to the line - in the gutter and just holding onto the wheels in front of me. Ended up 24th on the day and Mike made it also safely in the bunch of 80guys.

post-Stage 2 @ at Ft. Byard

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

2009-04-28T10:32:00.005-05:00

The last two weekends of racing locally in DFW have been very good for the Team and I was able to score some points in the "winner, winner, chicken dinner" competition, too. If you don't know what that means, go check it out here.

Andy Hollinger's Ivan Mukasa and James Bailey Races were both awesome places to have bike races. Saturday's Circuit Race was okay as we got 4 guys in the Top 6 but we missed the win. Godsey, Surfer Nick and Crosby all rode super strong and it was nice to have such great teammates around for the "ride". Anything else than a win would have been a disappointment in Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway...so it was time to go hard or go home ;-) Wohlrabe of RBM and myself got off the front 2miles into the 80mile race and we never saw the field (or what was left) again. Him and I are similar racers when it comes to strength so we just did our two-man TT and rolled away. I was able to get away with 5miles to go and Crosby finished it in style by taking third. Good times!

The Matrix Crits were fine as always. We had a full squad and getting a win on one of the days was almost a must. No matter who'd do it. Chad won last year and he told me beforehand where to be in which corner if you wanna take it first to the line from a break. With 40min to go the "512-crew" of Wenger, Sol, I and Helmig were in a promising break and we got up to 40+ seconds. That was it. We started playing games with 2 laps to go and were going 12mph at one point on the bachstretch. DW put in a couple of furious attacks but everything came down to a sprint and I got into the 2-t0-go corner first and held that to the line.

Oh, by the way Jed Rogers, I'm not an Ape :-)

3 feet!

2009-04-23T14:29:00.003-05:00

Looks like the Texas cycling community can take a deep breath and look forward to some great changes in Texas legislature. The "Safe Passing" Bill 488 went through the TX Senate yesterday with 28-2 votes and only the House (and governor) can stop it from this point forward.

Read more on BikeTexas.org here. I'll have my measurement tape ready when I go out training now....

Cool Bike Stuff Review # 2 - The "Cobras"

2009-04-21T21:43:00.018-05:00

Thanks to some awesome people and a great organization I have the pleasure to be rolling around on some "Cobras" on Texas roads. Like many other wheelsets made out of the "black gold" these bad boys come from (far east) overseas and are done by Cobra Composites LTD.

The "Fifties" - or 50mm - version features a 2" deep tubular carbon rim, bladed Sapim spokes (24R/20F), Japanese industry bearings and nice stealth carbon look. Obviously, they roll very smooth and fast, are stiff and don't bounce in your frame's rear triangle, and weigh in at 1420grams (w/ out skewers, tires or cassette). Compare those to the Zipp's 404 MSRP and you looking on saving roughly 6 lincolns by going with the Cobras...

If that's not enough speed for you than you should take a look at the "Super Cobras" - the 85mm version of Cobra Composites' Carbon Wheels. They're perfect for TT's, Triathlons but also handle well in a criterium where a bullet-proof wheel can make the difference.The rims are a bit unique in the way the look: The latest "DAD" (Dynamic Air Displacement) design is set to displace air away from the rim and spoke bed in direct head winds or cross winds. Rims are composed of a 3K carbonweave for maximum strength and stealth looks. Lots of vertical and lateral stiffness is the result which helps in any race situation. Bladed Sapim spokes (24R/20F), and Japanese industry bearings come standard on this wheelset - just like the "Fifties". Without tires, cassette, and skewers they weight in at around ~1700grams.
In comparison, Zipp's new 808 are a few grams lighter and roll on ceramic bearings but you can save almost 1K by going with the "Super Cobras".

Bike Snob Blog...

2009-04-10T10:25:00.003-05:00

Ok, this post is funny!

Uh?

2009-04-03T12:39:00.001-05:00

...I think that was the first time I ever won a field sprint...okay, it was only a training crit but nevertheless it was nice to win something while my dad was in town and watched the race.

Redlands vs. Stefan 1:0

2009-04-01T22:47:00.000-05:00

Ah, California was fun but after being back in ATX I could tell I need a well-deserved break. Coming off a good ride at Fayetteville I was flying out to Redlands along with teammate Alex in hope of having "some legs" there. Well, I think I forgot them at home :-)

Thursday's uphill/flat prologue wasn't really my thing anyways but I had nothing in the tank. Even though the competition was pretty stiff this year here I expected a bit more.

Friday's road race was already a bit better, as we did 4x25mile loops on a flat/rolling course with some Texas-style winds. It was pretty epic. Rolling enclosure, echelons all over the place, riding on the shoulder, dodging parked cars on those shoulders, going 50+mph in the tailwind. The field shrunk from lap to lap with guys getting shelled in the x-winds. I was sitting fine in the field with 10miles to go but had to say good-bye the last time up the hill on the back side. I crossed the line together with 5 guys from Fly-V who rode at the front all day long. Weird.

We did a nice recovery ride Saturday morning with our host Mark around Yucaipa before getting ready for the crit. Due to some bike issues I was onboard a bright yellow MAVIC spare bike. That didn't get anywhere though, as I missed all the crashes but had only legs for 60minutes of the crit. Ouch!

Sunday's road race didn't look good on paper and from what I was told it was even worse in reality. The Sunset Loop course reminded me a bit on Tour de Delta at BC Superweek in Canada where you race through residential neighborhood all the time and the road goes up and down. Well, i called it a day/race after a handful laps and rode back down to watch some of my teammates compete in the local P/1/2 crit - that was far more exciting! Alex had a good day finishing in 40th place among a stellar group of guys.

Thanks to the NOW MS Society Team for getting us on board for this race and of course to Mark & Janet Smith who offered us some excellent host housing in Yucaipa.

Alex and Mark crusing through Yucaipa.

2nd in Fayetteville (again)

2009-03-25T13:15:00.003-05:00

Our mini team of Crosby, "Big Daddy" Russ Walker, and I came back with a 2nd place in GC from another TX race. Winning would have been of course nice, but THSJ's MVP Heath Blackgrove was unbeatable this weekend.

Dinner at the "Third Base" in Warrenton started off the weekend where K-Schae, Crosby and I got some pre-race burgers & fries along while enjoying some Texas Country Bar scene. Even though Saturday went not perfect (a break of 5 rolled off the front) I was still in contention with only 40sec down and no real big TT threat being in that group. Even though I went 5 seconds faster comparing to '08 (which got me 2nd back then) I only managed 5th in the TT. Uh? Texas Cycling is getting better and better and kids like Lawson Craddock (TT winner) show us how it's done. Impressive.

Going into Sunday's RR we had 8th GC, less than 40seconds off of overnight leader Korioth. The 2nd day usually makes the GC since it's a bit longer (96miles) and we do a bit more rollers, too. And that's exactly how it folded out as Heath, DW, myself and a few others rolled off the front with 3 1/2 laps to go and we did a 7-man team-time trial with nobody skipping pulls until the last lap. It was nice to be actually "racing" and compete instead of waiting for the finish. Heath was 4 seconds ahead of DW and me and the the "virtual" leader on the road now. When he went with 15miles to go I did not respond since there two SS in the break who's GC win was up the road right in front of us. I did a few half-hearted pulls and went for it the last time we saw real head-wind with 10miles to go. Knowing I can't catch Heath, I was racing for 2nd and TT'd towards the finish with young kid Schmalz, Carter + DW chasing. I felt like the "rabbit" but I figured they must be going hard to catch me. So it was and only Carter managed to get up to me, and we dragged each other to the line. Every second counted for his GC and I didn't even try to sprint vs. him - so I got 3rd on the day and 2nd GC. That's all we could do that day.

Thanks to Crosby + Russ for being there early and holding up the TX Tough colors while I was still "chilling" at the back :-) That's now the 3rd time I got 2nd in this one, maybe another time things will work out.

Now it's off to California with Alex Welch for Redlands. A shout-out to teammate Tyler Jewell who should have been in this spot but is still side-lined with a few broken bones from his crash. Get well!

Out,
Stefan

Scam or Real ?

2009-03-22T21:06:00.003-05:00

The other day I got this email from Nigeria. I thought it's hilarious!

So the question is: Scam or Real?

Stefan Rothe-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	Request for Coaching Training
Date:	Sat, 21 Mar 2009 06:04:35 -0700 (PDT)
From:	Ayuba Bawa
To:	info@rothetraining.com

Good Day,

My Name is Ayuba Bawa, am a cycling coach with the Ministry of youth and sports kaduna state, Nigeria west africa.

I am writing you to know if is posible to train an amateur coach for for more improvement in the field of cycling.

Thanks am especting your response please.

Ayuba Bawa

Coach Cycling

Phone: 234 8026634991