The Riccò Show

So in Tirreno-Adriatico's Stage 2 Young Boy Riccò made a big show at the finish:

"I was raising the speed and taking off for the sprint when Gerdemann (High Road) touched me from behind. He did not do it on purpose, because he was tired and could no longer see. But I would have won on my legs alone. The thing that bothers me the most is throwing away a guaranteed win." The altercation – the left side of Riccò's rear touched with Gerdemann's front wheel – caused a few broken spokes and forced 'The Cobra' to walk across the line for fifth place. Riccò immediately tossed his Scott bike in the air and let it crash down while pointing ahead to Gerdemann.

# 1 - he gets a flat earlier in the Stage...

# 2 -running to the finish for 5th place...

# 3 - getting ready for "airborne" action...

# 4 - The Addict on the fly...

# 5 - still flying...

# 6 - a pilot-less Scott Addict...

# 7 - going "solo" across the line...

# 8 - complaining starts...

# 9 - "Linus, WTF?"...

# 10 - (whining) "he started it, I'm hurt, Scott Addicts actually fly really well"

The "Roubaix - Double"

Saturday, 7am: Meet with Adam G. + Chris Trickey at Austin Java
7:20am: drive to College Station
10am: Start of 10th annual Tunis-Roubaix Road Race
10:02am: hit the first 'pave' and getting dirty
11:00am: Mat Stephens and I try to overcome the THSJ domination (7 out of 25 starters in the P123 race)
12pm: off the front with Willis and Vargas
12:30pm: another attempt to overcome THSJ numbers...
12:40pm: chasing down Vargas who has a minute on our chase group
12:50pm all togther again 12:51pm: chasing down Dan Opdyke
12:58pm: 4th place in the uphill sprint behind Uhl, Fawley + Willis
1:30pm: hit up Freebirds for a monster w/ Adam + Mat (extra guacemole)
2pm: head towards St. Francisville for Rouge-Roubaix race
3pm: 'pitstop' in southeast TX to clean dirty bikes + truck at car wash. 5pm: Brownie "Earthquakes" and "MoccaLattes" at DQ in Dayton, TX
9pm: change watches forward to 10pm
10:30pm arrival at hotel in st. Francisville
10:45pm: Breakfast Burritos at SONIC w/ a junior burger + cheese
12pm: bedtime
Sunday, 6:30am: get out of bed, look at frozen car windows, go back to bed
6:35am: get muffins, bagels + bananas in hotel lobby 7am: get ready for 100mile road race with 25miles of 'dirt' (check on the Specialized Armadillos)
7:40am: direct THSJ to race which are a bit late for 8am start ;-)
8:05am: roll out neutral onto the course with 107 other riders + a guy on a disc wheel (!) 9:30am: hit the first dirt section, felt good
10am: entire field stops for pee-break
10:02am: resume racing 11am: more dirt and this time while going uphill, missed out on 100 dollar prime by one spot ;-(
11:20am: in a break of 15guys, unorganized though
11:30am: all together again 11:45am: last dirt section coming on and I make the 'cut' by avoiding nasty holes in the road but can't match eventual winner's pace
11:55am: in 12man chase-group racing for 2nd place due to 'politics' in the group 12pm: race a bit more 'defensive' as I know the sprint is fast and downhillish 12:23pm: see the 1K-to-go sign and get ready for some fast-twitch-fiber action 12:25pm: Carlos Vargas takes the sprint for 2nd, Herring Gas 3rd, and I get 4th but due the Master in the Top3 I'm officially scored 3rd in the P/1/2 race
8:30pm: in the car with aNut, UT Peter + Jenny back to ATX
What a weekend!!! Great times with The Gaubert + Stephens

The "Tank"

(Shimano R-550 Wheels, 23mm Specialized Armadillos, Ultegra 10 Speed w/ Ceramic VCRC BB, 19lbs ???)

La Primavera @ Lago Vista - Dia No. 2

Teammate Mat Ankney and myself swapped places today and I got the "V" while he finished in 8th place. Our pre-race plan was executed perfectly by everyone on the team and I was the lucky guy to be "in charge" in the final laps (they finally let me...). Wheeler, two-time winner Sheedy, '07 Collegiate Champ Boyd, and Tilford came with me and so we went lap for lap but only Alex, Tilford and myself would actually pull through. Riding in that group, I had a "Déjà vu" about last year and so I decided to go hard on the backside and only a never-weakening Tilford came with me ;-) Once we got rid of the rest, it was just him and me pulling hard and I felt confident going into the finish hill sprint vs. Steve. Thanks Bam-Bam, Mat, Mat, Kolt, Marshall, Brooks!

To get a "Veggieburger-View" of the happenings at Lago Vista today, feel free to take a look at his blog here.

photo by Nicki Ellis


teammate Marshall (who did the early work) shows some joy and so does friend + co-worker Joseph LaFico ;-)

La Primavera @ Lago Vista - Dia No. 1

What a DAY! After some team-breakfast at my house I drove out w/ our newly acquired free agent MARSHALL to the race course, got the cooler where it needed to be, checked the radios and off we were! 13 or 14 (?) laps saddle time were ahead of us. I chilled for the first 6 laps until a quality group of riders (Tilford, Wenger, Velossimo etc.) got away and we had MAT & MAT in there...Well, I knew I needed to be there if I wanted to have an impact on the outcome of the race - so THANKS to the sacrificing way of riding of KOLT BATES and BAM-BAM I got a "Shake'n-Bake" slingshot and bridged to the big group, only towing SURFER NICK with me. Once there, I got to sit in a little longer and just counting down the laps. MAT S. rode superb today, chasing down things 24/7 and keeping the whole thing together. After a brief talk w/ MAT A. I rode 95% max. up the backside hill on lap 4, 3, and 2 to go. The group got down to maybe 12 guys because of that but unfortunately stayed together. In the lull of the moment MAT A. took a hard pull and was GONE w/ one lap to go. Sweet! I knew he had it when I saw him solo way off the front at the "roller-coaster". I let Tilford go knowing that he could bridge up to MAT A. w/ out taking guys with him. With 3/4 lap to go I got the radio out of my jersey pocket (the wires were all over my backside) and encouraged MAT + Tilly to keep it up...telling them to ... Go! In my 245th attempt to do well in a "Texas-Uphill-Finish" I finished 5th from our little chase group, ending up 8th overall, snapping a spoke in the sprint and failing in my quest to beat a Phil Wikoff in a sprint ;-)

Pace Bend / Walburg

So this past weekend was the annual "real" season opener here in Texas where all the "Big Guns" showed up. We had 140+ guys both days and it was definitively competitive. As for myself, I never finished better than 6th place in any of those two races in the past. So I only expected a "solid" result here...knowing that it is a bit too early for me to have the "Ace" in my jersey pocket...

Walburg was tough as always but probably one of the more "relaxed" editions in the P/1/2 race since I've done it. Except for, of course, the "Yellow-Line-(>bad German word<)" who used machine in order to move humans. With two riders from the Mexican Orven team up the road, the rest of the peloton watched each other and played games while the rest of the baby blue team chatted and wondered which of their 2 guys would take the win. My team did what we could and I gave it a shot a couple of times but no break I somewhat got in would go anywhere. The Green Team didn't fully utilize their dozen riders either so it ended up being a 1-2-3 for Mexico while the rest of us came in shattered groups of five riders after some good crosswind in the last 6 miles. Pace Bend...well, where should I start? The good stuff: A great course, one of the easiest 80mile road races you do all year, a lot of dynamics throughout the race but unfortunately (for me) it ended up in a field sprint and well, there's nothing I can do other than rolling in at 26thplace...The nature of the course, the large turnout (140 guys) and the way teams raced just made the race not hard enough to cause any splits or let breaks go up the road. I felt okay and my teammates did a good job jumping with stuff early on but nothing came together. The "Scheisse" hit the fan when the Women 4 race piled up in front of us when we were about to pass them and one lap later the race was stopped for 10minutes to take care of the carnage. After that - in cycling unique - "halftime" we resumed and with 3 laps to go I found myself in a move w/ Boyd + Jensen but we never got clear of the field. And well, I'm not strong enough to "just ride away" ;-) So it was an "extended" (3 guys 5 seconds of the front) field sprint with - of course - a HUGE pile-up, forcing multiple guys to ER visits, like my friend Adam Mills.

We rode that stretch to the finish 12 times at probably 35-38mph, and the last time close to 45mph (?). So whoever decided to put that finish down there should think twice the next time. Having crashes in 3 or more categories at the same finish straight is probably no coincidence. Talk about "the racers make the race fast" or "it's a risky sport" is B.S. IMO as the promoter of the race has ALWAYS and impact on the race course setup. You put it uphill - ok, people might drop a chain and fall over, but at least while going 0mph and not shooting fast-forward at 45mph slightly downhill.

"Chain ring Cut Award" goes to my wife Sheri who survived a nasty crash in the Women 1/2/3 race after getting kicked to the ground, and spending the rest of the afternoon at the ER.

40sec. Power Award goes to Phil Wikoff for bridging up to the leader in the final K and taking third.

"Tough Award" of the Day goes to my friend and co-worker Derick Williamson for finishing second in the Cat. 4/5 race while crashing over the finish line!

the "Yellow-Line-(>bad German word<)"

Travis, Briand, me, and Steve

a very peaceful setting before the P/1/2 roll-out

Adam, Allen, Corey - I hope to see you guys back on two wheels at Lago!

what 2 years can do...

April, 2006 --------------- February, 2008

Notice the guy on the far left in the left picture? Scott Nydam (Team Rio Grande). Pretty much unknown on national level back then when he won the Ft. Davis Hill Climb, got 2nd in the RR + Overall behind me in April '06. Now, look at the Tour of California Podium and you see him daily in the KOM jersey. Wow!

How to decrease your drag in 2 days?

Well, thanks to my new job I got to be part of a Wind Tunnel Clinic we held the last few days at A&M in College Station for our clients from Source Endurance. Next to helping them to be more efficient when riding TT's or competing in the bike-part of triathlons we also did some interesting stuff regarding rolling resistance of some well-known road bike tires.

...Drew Hill dealing with "smoke"

...John Cobb is watching
which hands are mine?

...Teacher (right) and student (left)

..."Damiano" is hiding

..."Not having my afternoon tea w/ milk makes me sleepy"

...Brandon gave me a reality-check on my TOKEN's

...Drew getting creative

...watching tunnel testing is indeed very interesting

Ridin' in Arkansas

Just got back from 3 days of riding my bicicletta at the annual Mercy Team Training Camp. 3 days of 4hours/80+miles. The 500mile drive from ATX was not as bad as I thought it would be. Only the freezing temperatures of 30F Friday morning chilled me out a bit. Luckily there is Denny's just of I-540 with unlimited coffee and pancakes.

New teammate Bill Marshall (the head guy at KLM) hooked us up with some sweet helmets, tires, a 2-year-supply of GU's and some other goodies. His MVP status for the camp is non-negotiable. My new (old) teammate Mat Stephens is back on the equipo, too and I'll look forward to tackle the Texas scene with his help :-) My "main competition within the team" will be a 21 year-old kid from Tulsa who finally seems to become a grown man...:-)

Looks like we have a new soigneur, too. My back is already missing the "Thai Foot Massage"...

500miles and 31mpg later - Back in Texas now!

2008

So here are "las biciclettas" I will be spending most time on this year...

R4 - I call it "il blanco"

the Single Speed - "Free Spirit"

CSK - the Backup & Off-Season bike

FUJI - for Superdrome Action

Fun Bike - great for last-minute grocery store runs

Thanks Sol !

www.austinbikes.com