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!
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 Clignet 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
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.
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).
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.
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:
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.
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:
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.
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 deMarcoris 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!
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
