Back to California! Elite Track Nationals, Carson, CA

After my first ever Omnium Track Nationals at Rock Hill, SC and later on the Elite Track Nats at the Velo Sports Center last year I was looking forward to compete again this year on the boards of the only indoor velodrome in the US - the 250m track in Carson, CA just a few miles South of Los Angeles.*

Leading up to Track Nationals I had about 4 weeks of solid training time. Not a whole lot but plenty enough to get yourself into shape and work on "track legs". Things are a bit more tricky when you live in a town without a track but you have to improvise, and just make the best out of it. That means: 1) specific rides/training on the road bike with power meter 2) travel to Superdrome in Frisco for some moto-pacing on the track and specific workouts 3) off-the-bike workouts to work on overall strength, agility, speed, flexibility etc. 3) and of course competing in some crits like the Driveway here in Austin. And finally, ride my Cervelo T3 track bike on South Mopac and "simulate" a pursuit in almost same gearing as I would race on the track a few weeks later. All that went into the built-up for Track Nationals. And I can say I was prepared as best as I could have been.

Day 1: Pursuit Quali, Omnium (Flying Lap, Points, Elimination)

The goal was clear: be on the podium again. After last year's 3rd behind Bobby Lea and Liam Donoghue I knew I wanted to be at least in the same spot if not a tad better. Bobby is riding in another league so I knew Silver is the only realistic chance. But Liam has been racing the track quite a bit and he's usually a few seconds faster. And he brought a front disc, too! I was joking with him he would need to be a lot faster now with no spokes! In qualification, I was seeded in last heat vs. Bobby and - realistically - my goal was to not get caught. Almost made it until the last 250meters. Ended up with 4:41 and Bobby rode a 4:34 or something. I was 3rd in qualification as Liam rode a 3:39 (?) to make the final vs. Bobby. I had to ride the next  morning vs. a guy from Arizona I have not raced against on the track .

Before racing, I had my bike (with drop bars) checked and sure enough the Cervelo T3 came out 250grams too light (6.55kg, needed 6.8kg). Shoot. What to do? a) Swapped front wheel for the more sturdy ROL 80C. Still not enough! b) Took extra chain link and stuffed it into my stem. c) Borrowed some (heavy) washers from neutral mechanic and put underneath bar tape. d) Took chainring bolts and put them into the bar end plugs. e) Taped one flat wrench under saddle. Okay, 6.81kg. Bingo! I was sweating more from "making weight" rather than exercising I thought!

The evening Session consisted of 3 of the 6 Omnium events we were going to do over two days. 

My Flying lap is my weak spot but I was still hoping I can get a decent run. But it wasn't meant to be and I ended up coming in only 13th and 1/10th of a second slower than last year at Omnium Track Nats in Rock Hill. Bummer. Next up was the Points Race and usually something I can do well in. With Bobby L., Jacob Duehring, we had a bit stiffer competition this year vs. last year's Omnium but I knew anything can happened in a 120lap race. I got a few points early but was only sitting 5 or 6th halfway through. At one point, I joined a two man move (Hillier/Jacks) off the front nobody really paid attention to and about 20laps later the three of us had lapped the field. I took some points on the way and ended up winning the points race ahead of Patrick Jacks and Bobby Lea. My Omnium felt like a roller coaster from here on ;-) I guess I was a bit exhausted from the Points race because the Elimination race didn't go so well and I only came in 8th. A few mistakes mid-way through and there I went whereas last year I scored 3rd in same event. Oh well.

Day 2: IP Final, more Omnium (Scratch, Kilo)

Since there were three of us (Bobby, Liam, and me) who rode the IP Finals AND the Omnium USA Cycling gave us a break and were going to count our IP final time as our IP Final time for Omnium IP event #4 time. Otherwise, we theoretically would have done another Pursuit just for the Omnium! Anyhow, like last year, I had to ride the "little" final against another ride to get my Bronze medal. Opponent was David Swanson from Arizona which I had not raced before. Everything went well: Warm-up, bike-check, all good and I was chilling on deck with Mike Baranoski (Matt B.'s dad) who volunteered to time me for the pursuit events. 3min to go. USAC official comes running towards me and tells us I can't have bar tape on my aerobars for my race. I'm like "What"? My bike went through bike-check probably 3 times already and it's being hanging on the rack there for anyone to see and NOW you come and ask me to modify stuff? He hands us a knife and Mike and I scramble to remove some bar tape I had wrapped around my aero base bar for comfort. It actually made my aerobars less aero...and now USAC wanted me to remove it. Sure enough I cut my finger w/ the officials sharp knife. I'm bleeding pretty good. We found some duck tape and I tape my fingers. I have my bronze-medal ride in 1minute and this sh%$t goes on. Oh well, I still brought it home... barely, though but I won my ride by 2 seconds thanks to some 17'ish splits and Mike's great pacing/split calling. Whew. That wasn't easy but happy with third. That meant 3rd in the Omnium event # 4, too. The little bar tape thing didn't effect my ride luckily or otherwise I'd been "a bit upset".

In the evening session I was hoping to make up a bit for my not so pretty Omnium position (7th or 8th?) but was realistic enough to know it's going to be hard, especially with a -anything-can-happen Scratch race and a the Kilo, an event I don't really focus on. I ended up 7th in the Scratch race and came in 10th in the Kilo. That meant 6th Overall. Nothing to write home about but I was happy I could win that Points race at least and my roller-coaster Omnium was officially over ;-) Podiums are now 3-deep only at all Nationals (since no other country besides US did a 5-man podium and apparently some other Nations kind of joked about it) so I wasn't too upset to finish just one point down on Liam who got 5th.

IP Quali

my T3 and T4 (Bobby Lea) just hanging out

Individual Pursuit Podium with Bobby & Liam (photo: Brian Hodes)

Day 3: Team Pursuit

With Liam Donoghue (2nd IP), Jacob Duehring (5th IP & 4th in Kilo in the Omnium), Mike Zagorski from Boulder, CO and myself we had a solid team for my first ever Team Pursuit Nationals. I've done team pursuits back in Junior Days in Germany on the tracks of Cottbus and Augsburg (200m, wooden indoor track) and some small stuff here in Texas but this track was fast, we had a great team, and just needed to finish it off. Our quali went good, we executed our "Australian" plan and had Mike ride lap 2, 3, 4 (?) all-out before we took over and rode mid 16's to finish in 4:30. Thanks again to Mike Baranoski again for calling our splits.

The final ride vs. the Oregon/WA team needed to be faster in order to finish ahead. We knew that and so we went with the same plan as in qualification...Jacob and then Mike got us off to a good start. After that, it was a real race and I could tell we were pretty damn close. None of the two teams seemed to get tired/slowed down and there was maybe a second between us two teams. I knew Liam, Jake, and I could go a bit faster and so we went up a notch in the last 1000m and by the time the clock stopped we rode a 4:27 and almost 3sec faster than Team #2. Whew! Winning as a team makes it even more special and I was happy to get that over with and be done!

The next few hours were a bit of a rush. Liam actually had a flight to catch in 2hrs and rode straight back to the booth (no cool-down) and started taking his bike apart and pack his stuff. My flight left 5pm so I had a bit more buffer but not too much. USADA must have not known about our time crunch and picked me & Mike for testing. The sweet USADA lady stood by my side the whole time and she even took pictures of the podium with my phone for me. Nice staff all around! Luckily the podium ceremony was ready & done pretty quickly and I was done at anti-doping in 10-15minutes thanks to "very proper hydration" ( I think I drank like 1.5gal water throughout the 3hrs hanging out at the track). Then it was time to pack my bike in parking lot, take all the stuff to FedEx, ship bike, wheels, rollers back to Austin, return the rental car, take shuttle to airport and catch my flight to DFW. Finally made it back to my aunt & uncle's place in Southlake around 11pm and got some good sleep before heading to Germany the next day for some vacation with the wife.

Big thanks to the following sponsors/friends/people for their generous help & support: my wife for here moto-pacing skills, Joe Morgan for driving his scooter for uncountable laps in front of me at the Frisco Superdrome, Austin Tri-Cyclist, Team Tulsa Tough, ROL Wheels, MAX Training, Wheelbuilder.com, Sommerville Sports, and Acu-Tissue.

On the way to winning the TP Final (photo: FELT)

Team Pursuit podium with Mike, Jacob, and Liam (l to r)
photo: Brian Hodes

Team Three plus One

Only had 5minutes to soak in the beach & sunshine of Redondo Beach

FedEx is your friend when it comes to getting bikes & gear home
for 1/4 of the cost what an airline would charge you!

*Note: USA Cycling changed the format of Track Nationals this year (again) and the timed races (pursuit, team sprints) and Omnium were held in L.A. whereas the mass start races (points, madison, sprints, keirin etc.) were raced in Rock Hill, SC two weeks later at the Giordana Velodrome. For an athlete (no matter if you're a sprinter or endurance rider) that means two big trips to two different locations within 2 weeks. Very cost-intensive, and logistically a bit of a challenge. Everyone I talked to (riders, and even some track racing promoters) thinks the decision to split Nationals like that is total nonsense and not athlete-friendly at all. There was even a (online) petition floating around the www when they first announced it but obviously nothing changed. Will see what happens next year but I heard the "rotating" schedule of giving the mass-start Nationals to a different venue every year will continue.

Road Nationals Course preview, Blue Mound State Park, WI

After a very early Saturday morning in San Antonio for the Texas State TT Championships (another "Elbowz sandwich" with Logan Hutchings first by 10seconds, me 2nd, and Heath Blackgrove 3rd) I headed straight North on I-35 on what would be a long but fun road trip! Quick stop in OKC at Waddell's house for some much needed rest and sleep. Then onto to Lawrence, KS to catch the final race (Crit) of the Tour of Lawrence and get in a last hard effort into the legs before Road Nationals this week here in Madison, WI.

We (teammate Jacob White and I) made it to Blue Mound State Park yesterday mid-afternoon after driving through Iowa most of the day. It's a big change from Texas scenery and I was reminded how nice it is up here in Wisconsin during the summer. 79 degrees, blue skies, and just a little breeze in your face.

Quick facts of the lap: 14.1 mile loop, 1280ft climbing/lap, 2 smaller but shorter pitches/climbs w/ up to 15% grade, a "Loose Gravel" section of 1/2 mile length, some more climbing in last mile of the lap with about 450ft of climbing and ~7-8% average grade. The start/finish is inside the park and you go out and do your 6 laps (U23 and Elite Cat 1) and then come back into the park. There's a nice, 300ft climb of .8miles w/ 8% grade in the run-in (or better: run-UP) to the finish and it will hurt after 80+ miles of racing.

The roads are mostly in good condition, starting out small and shaded with all the trees around the State Park. There's a lot of descending early on and it will be interesting in a 200 man field come Friday. We were going 40-44mph without much pedaling just cruising down the hill. After a few little turns and a quick run on a bigger County Road it's back onto smaller farm roads and the first two little "bumps" with 15% grade. This takes less than a minute, though and shouldn't make a big difference (for the top guys at least). After a few turns and winding road you suddenly turn left and I thought they're kidding when I saw the "Loose Gravel" sign but no, there's 1/2mile of loose gravel coming of a fast section. This will be interesting. Not sure how they found one of the few gravel roads out here and decided to use it in the US National Championships???

Shortly after comes another, longer and more gradual, 200ft climbing, over .7miles. This should make a little selection for some. And back onto County Road K before heading back on the Blue Mound Rd back to the State Park. That's where the final fun and fireworks will happen. 8% average grade over approx. 1.2miles and 460ft of climbing to the end of the lap and the feed zone. The road is wide-open at least and this should separate the contenders from the rest. Especially doing this 6 times (U23/Cat 1's). Once you're done doing your laps there's that nice surprise waiting for you with the run-in to the State Park and the final kicker to the finish with up to 10% grade, and another 280-300ft of climbing to the finish line.

A very similar course (22mile lap, using most of the same roads) to this has been used in the Tour of America's Dairyland a few years back. I remember Steve Tilford writing a blog post about it. No other than then-amateur, Matthew Busche, won that race solo back then. The field shattered completely back then.

A few pictures below and you can see the ride w/ course profile, elevation, etc. here on Strava.

Jacob can ride w/ "No handlebars, no handlebars"

"Loose Gravel"

false flat

look forward on final climb

look "back" on the final climb to end of lap

entrance to State Park, run-in to the finish

Strava profile

Mathematics in Corsicana

Back in Corsicana! After a not so stellar Joe Martin (crash & DNF) it took a little while to rebound but nonetheless I knew Corsicana Stage Race was going to be fun and a good event. Zac Lytle puts on good races and finds us great courses to race on.

Having won the TT there last year I definitely wanted to repeat that this time around. We had a better field than last year, too. Almost twice as many with 40 or so P12's. Nothing stellar, but not bad for May in Texas. The morning TT was a nice treat to the usual RR in the morning, TT in the late evening. You could actually focus on it, warm-up and don't feel overly tired from the RR earlier in the day.

The TT went well. While racing, I didn't feel super awesome and nobody had results until 4hours or so later but I ended up having the fastest time of the day, if also only by a second ahead of DaveW and two seconds away from Colin. It was fast with a cross/tail-wind all the way and I was glad to have chosen the 1080/Super9 - combo. After a 3rd (Fayetteville), a 2nd (Tyler Stage Race) it was good to finally win a race this year.

The "Beatdown on Beaton" Crit in Downtown Corsicana later that evening was definietly the most exciting Crit this year so far in terms of course. Actualy bricks and I forgot how many turns on the 0.8 mile loop through downtown made for some good racing. The Overall was based on points so I needed to make sure to a) not let any of the "heavy hitters" go up the road and b) gain/score as much points as possible in a potential field sprint. Halfway through the race Mat Stephens and Tristan Uhl got off the front and had a good 20seconds and I had to make an effort to chase that down. Since I didn't want to let it come down to a sprint and risk loosing the lead, I was hoping to stick with a break myself. Somehow, I forget how, I ended up off the front with Stephens again with 6 to go. We had a few bike lengths after I closes some gaps and we instantly put our heads down and gave it 100%. The gap opened up, more and more, and it was clear we're staying away. Me being 1st Overall, and him wanting to win the race and being 8th or so on GC was a good combination. I was content and didn't care about the first or second in the Crit. So I kept driving it and came around the final turn first but I knew there's not much to do against a sprinting Mat. We did the last 6 laps at a NP of 375W - pretty alright after a long day.

Racing in the evening always kind of messes with your body since you're still all wiry from racing or some pre-race coffee. So getting some rest ASAP before the next day's 7:30 90mile road race was crucial.

After a 5:45am wake-up call I quickly added the GC standings to my math/clue-sheet. Stage racing based on time is somewhat straight forward, based on points gives it a bit different approach as you need to know who's where in the standing and how many points they have....or have not. I've lost a few places in this road race last year being 2nd Overall (?) so I surely didn't want to do that today. I had a decent 7 point lead over Mat Stephens but there were a few other guys in contention. The early break went and that was fine with me: Break's gone, points are gone. But these guys obviously know how to race and want to win, too. So after Crozzy attacked a couple times (and me and occasionally a few other GC guys chasing it down) he finally got away at the end of the first of 4 laps with a group of 5 or so 6 to make a front split of 10 or so guys. That was bad for me and my GC but I kept cool. I figured this is a LONG race and guys are going to get tired. There was some crosswind, it was getting hot and we still had 66miles of racing left. With ~10 guys up the road our field was down to just 30 guys and it got smaller and smaller as time went on. On the 2nd lap I literally hit "a little bump in the road" when I broke a spoke and my rear wheel was dragging on the frame. Luckily the wheel truck was right there, I got my ROL spare wheel and joined the field just 3-4minutes later. We were riding tempo in a pace-line at that point at that time but the guys quickly slowed down, too to let me catch back one. Pure class!

The race got a bit harder thanks to Super Squadra who had a guy (Wheeler) in the break but still wanted to race their bikes so they rode a nice rotation in the crosswinds. This helped to make the race hard and whittle out some guys who just sat on. There were a few attacks going off from our group but nothing got away really. Mat threw down some serious punches in that last lap to get away but I was able to respond to all of them....barely! It was "mano-a-mano" at it's best. So finally, the last time into the cross/headwind Mat threw down another 1100Watt surge and I was barely able to respond. Wenger and Arteaga joined us. Somehow everyone was wanting to gain time/points on the guys behind us. The break was still way up the road but we were putting time into 4th and 5th GC. I was thinking that I needed to make sure to finish just with Mat and still get 2nd Overall since I kind of thought Crozzy won the Overall by now. But by that time, a few guys had either dropped, quit or flatted out of the break and we were actually racing for 6th place (which I didn't know until after we crossed the line). I was able to get away from our little group of 4 just a mile from the finish but Mat caught me right on the line for 6th, with me getting 7th. With the way the points work I didn't know until 20minutes after the finish that I was able to hold on to the GC lead by a mere of two points ahead of Crozzy (who won the stage) and Mat.

So happy all the addition of points in my head during the plus 3 1/2hrs, 3000KJ's, and NP of 285W of racing was over!

too tired to hold my head up in the TT (photo: Lee McDaniel)

Yep, digging deep doesn't always look pretty. (Thanks Jim Hicks for capturing the moment)

Austin Rattler 100

I don't own a MTB but if there's a endurance MTB race around the area I definitely wanted to be part of it. First and foremost the idea of 60miles at Rocky Hill Ranch looked like to be tons of fun and second, it's great training for the road.

Last year the Austin Rattler 100 (Leadville Qualifier) conflicted with some Crits but this year that weekend was "free" so I asked Robby Ketterhagen to let me borrow his slick Flash 29'er Hardtail. Perfect rig for that course in my opinion. The original Rocky Hill loop consists out of lots of fast singletrack and only a handful of very tricky sections. For this race, they modified the loop a bit to simulate Leadville a bit more and added bunch of jeep road and more open/riding through the field stuff. Still, we did about 2-3miles of pure singletrack on the new, modified 15mile loop put together by no other than Paul Uhl - the man in charge at Rocky Hill and father of local MTB badass Tristan Uhl.

Together with the 787 teammates Robert & Shiva I showed up EARLY (it was still dark) at the Ranch only to discover that a) my race number blew off my bike while driving out there and b) that I forgotten my wallet. Duh. I remember they were pretty picky about having ID for number pick-up but all was cool and I actually got a even nicer start # at registration.

It was good to see some fellow "roadies" come out for this, as I ran into Brian Jensen from Kansas who was coming down to train (and aiming at Leadville this year) and wanting to escape the chilly Midwest weather.

After staging and a rather "interesting" (electrical) national anthem 500-600 guys and girls set off all at once for 4 laps totaling 60miles on the "new"  course. It was a rather mellow roll-out and I was riding in the Top 15 staying out of trouble. First time up FatChuck's Revenge there was a slight separation and we suddenly had a front group of ~15guys riding solid Tempo. The same guy (Orbea) from Colorado was setting a solid pace, I was wondering how long he can ride like that. Through the first single track the Best separated from the rest...Tristan Uhl, JT Cody, Brian Jensen and the Orbea rider got a gap and I was for 10minutes or so in "nomansland"....Until a strong group including Robert (787), Robbie R. (BicycleSportShop), Chris P. (RBM), Dave Wiens (who was down in TX to promote the Series) etc. caught up to me. We rode a steady pace and swapped pulls but the 4 guys in front were getting out of sight and we were racing for 4th place with 2 laps to go.

The group whittled down more and more until it was just Robbie, Dave, Chris and I. I think Mr. Wiens flatted once and also hasn't been able to ride/train as much as we are here in spoiled, Texas weather so with a lap or so to go it was just me & Robbie racing for 4th now (the Orbea guy had and untimely flat and ran a spoke through his rim/tube). Obviously, Robbie can kick my a$$ on the single track and so he did on the 2nd to last section just before "The Wall" and I lost him through the woods. It was fun, though and I was happy to roll in 5th place...10 or so minutes behind 2012 and 2013 champ Tristan.

 2 laps to go: me, Dave & Robbie R.

 Top 25 Overall, Austin Rattler 100

in Louisville for Master 30+ Cyclocross Worlds

After s short break of Cyclocross in Texas I flew to Louisville, KY yesterday for the UCI Master Worlds which are held a few days before Elite Worlds this weekend here in the town of Bourbon, Kentucky Derby, Muhammad Ali, and Cardinals Basketball (well, not sure about the last one...).

Seems like the last week of January is always a bad weather deal in that part of the country! Last year we first had mud and then on race day 18F and frozen ground/ruts for my 30-34 race. Looks like it will be VERY similar this year. I got in and went for a ride over to the course and checked it out. Pretty flat and lots of grass (which is turning to slushy, mud stuff as I type) so less of a "true" CX course like the USGP Bandman Park Course which is used for Elite Worlds. There are some nice bike trails here in Louisville and traffic ain't to bad riding to/from the venue.

I got up at 7:30 today to check out the course for our race at 11:30. Well, actually the tornado sirens woke us up at 4am but even though there was a tornado warning most people slept through it/didn't care. I remember hearing the sirens a few times when I lived in Wichita Falls aka "Tornado Alley" so I wasn't too surprised. The rain did some damage to the course, though and it's getting heavier/slower as the day goes on. Start times have been pushed 2hrs up and our "Seeding Heat" to determine start/staging order for Friday's Final is at 2pm. It's more or less a "warm-up" and just 3 laps (18-20min) long.

Forecast for Thursday is pretty cold right now. Freezing tonight and 30's tomorrow with chance of snow. An Teens on Thursday night. If this holds up Friday's race course will be a similar ice-rink like last year.

Either way, this next few days will be interesting. Will update more tomorrow.

Cheers from Louisville,
Stefan

Note: Course pictures are courtesy of fellow Texan & teammate Paul Gerhardt, who was lucky to race in dry 68F yesterday afternoon.

only a few airports do that

bike trail close to I-64 in Louisville

"Good morning. Yes, we got a system moving in."

Product Review: ROL Wheels

Intro

Since 2 years I’ve been training and competing using wheels made by ROL Wheels, a local Austin-based company. I’ve raced on many, many wheels in the past – alloy, carbon, clincher, aero, deep-dish, low-profile, tubular – you name it. Having lived and raced bicycles in Texas and the region it is good to have the support of a local company. Not only do they provide me with their latest products but I feel like they actually care about my feedback and want to know how their wheels endure under my daily training and weekly racing. I don’t have to call the customer service of some wheel company; I can just go straight do Sean Lambert, the CEO of ROL, check into the office, chat with the wheel builders, “talk shop”, and built a good athlete-business relationship. It’s awesome and I’m very thankful for their support and help in the last 2 years.

ROL 58 Carbon Tubular

The ROL 58 Tubies are my standard “go-to” wheel when I do road races or fast, technical crits. At 58mm they’re aerodynamic but still not too deep for the Texas wind. Mine have a set of in-house 3D forged ROL alloy hubs, Sapim spokes, and a basic 58mm carbon rim.  The Japanese steel bearings are super smooth and don’t require much maintenance. Those wheels weigh in at 1465grams and I’ve ridden them to race wins on the road and even in Cyclocross. The 21mm wide carbon rim usually meets with a Vittoria EVO SC 23mm tubular tire as my preferred wheel/tire combination. When used in Cross, I put on 32 or 33mm Challenge Grifo tubies (with the “Belgian tape” method for added support). Even with bumpy Crits (think bricks) or Cross (think dirt, logs, sandpits, roots) I’ve never been able to get them out of true or break a spoke on these wheels!

Carbon 58 all blacked out. Only shows it's true decals with flash at night!

Sporting the 58 Tubular Rear and 38 Tubular up front at 2011 Ruts 'N Guts in Oklahoma

The new ROL logo becomes visible with flash

ROL C58 Carbon Clincher

If you’re looking for a nice, lightweight, stiff carbon Crit wheel yet don’t want to mess with gluing tires then this is what I' would recommend. Why spent $2700 on a set of ZIPP 404 Carbon Clinchers when you can get these for half the price? I use a set with DT Swiss 240 Hubs and I race pretty much every local Thursday Night Driveway Crit on it. I’ve never owned a pair of carbon clinchers until Sean gave me those to try and I love ‘em! They are very durable, stiff, with 20 spokes up front, and 24 in the rear. The Driveway is a race course where you can see some of the highest power numbers all year long, given the nature of the race course and the competition. Lots and lots of force being pushed onto the pedals but these wheels never failed on me. No hassle in case you flat riding out to the Driveway, you can change your tube like a regular clincher yet you have a nice carbon race wheel. I also raced a pair of these in a 7-day stage race in the Dominican Republic, where we encountered many potholes and some rough roads....But except one flat these wheels held up on Central American roads (and off-roads!). I usually run Michelin Pro 4’s (23mm) on these rims; again they’re 21mm wide.

C58 - Crit wheel!

The C58 Carbon Clincher is a great every day crit wheel, aero yet light and quick to respond

ROL 38 Carbon Tubulars

Just like the ROL 58 Tubies, the C38 wheels are made for road racing, with the slight difference that they’re a bit lighter, more low-profile at 38mm and good for hilly road and circuit races with climbing. I raced a set of these wheels - with Vittoria EVO SC 23mm tubular tires mounted -  all year in 2011 and won a few P12 races with them (road and cyclocross). They have crossed the Continental Divide at 7080ft. in the Gila National Forest at the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico and were my wheel of choice at the Tour de Depot in Salt Lake City, UT. In Utah, I put them to a test in freezing temperatures and sleet & snow. The perfect wheel if you’re looking to save some extra weight and aerodynamics don’t play a huge role. Weighing in at an amazing 1225grams!

The C38 carbon tubulars are a great mix of aerodynamics and lightweight. Here after winning Tour de Depot Stage Race in Utah

1210grams for the C38's!

ROL C25 Tubulars

Best climbing wheel I’ve ever ridden. No question, period! They feature the already mentioned DT Swiss 240 hubs, a 23mm wide and 25mm high full-carbon rim. Similar to a pair of Corima's. Weighing in at just 1100grams, too! You put a 23 or 24mm tubular tire on these bad boys and they’re a great wheelset to have when it goes uphill. I raced those at UCI Tour of the Gila for all stages (except the TT), including the downtown Criterium. Also ridden at the Joe Martin Stage Race's final hilly & 13-turn Crit – and no problem on these! Super stiff, supple and perfect in the corners. With the wider, 23mm rim you can run lower pressure and I usually would air them up to ~100psi combined with a 23mm Vittoria EVO SC tubular tire. These are still prototype and not in full production. But you might be able to score a pair to test-ride if you ask Sean nicely…!

The C25 Carbon Tubulars are great for hilly, technical Crits like Joe Martin Crit or Stillwater at Nature Valley

 

ROL Race SL Clincher

When it comes to every day riding, this is my wheel. Durable, durable, durable! A alloy clincher with a fat 23mm wide and 30mm high rim makes for a super comfy ride on asphalt, chip ‘n seal or even on a dirt or gravel road when you’re way out in the country. Weighing in at just 1520grams it’s the perfect training wheel. They’re very stiff (spoke count: 24R, 20F), corner really well and I feel very safe going down a fast, steep descent at 45+mph. For a rainy Crit I choose these wheels, too because I know they’re indestructible in any weather conditions, the brake surface is very robust and my SwissPads have good grip in rain and sunshine. I’m running some 23mm wider Continental Gatorskins with these wheels and combined with the wide rim I can run a comfortable 95-100psi for a normal day’s ride. They tire itself is actually 2-3mm wider once put onto a wide rim (see pic below). It’s pretty much impossible to pinch-flat these if you put a thick, heavy-duty tire on the rim. Note: these are tubeless compatible, too!

Race SL's

The Race SL's are great for dirt riding, as shown here at the 2012 Wooly Mammoth Ultra Provocatorio Invitationale

Put a 23mm Gatorskin on a 23mm rim and get a 25mm tire!

ROL Race SLR Clincher

Just like the Race SL, this wheel set features a 23mm wide rim and is tubeless-ready, too. Key difference here is the spoke count: SLR has 24 up front and 28 in the rear. In my case, they’re both double-laced in the front and rear as these are my Cyclocross wheels for every day riding. Super stiff and the double-laced spokes in the front make the wheel great for Cross where you tend to hit some objects pretty hard sometimes when out on trail. I’m running these as tubeless, with a 32mm wide KENDA Slant-Six tire and some Stan’s No Tubes sealant. The wide rim with the 32mm tires make for a great combination when I go out on some rough trails which usually feature roots, some rocks and other obstacles. I can ride over them at speed and keep up with my buddies on Mountain Bikes because I know I won’t flat on these bad boys. They’re my spare wheels for Cyclocross and on my pit bike. So in case I flat my ROL 58 Carbon Tubulars I know I got a set of the Race SLR tubeless wheels in the pit waiting for me :-)

My new favorite: The Race SLR with double-laced spokes front and back (24F/28R) and KENDA tubeless tires. Awesome wheel for every day riding on the trails, grass, sand, gravel, dirt etc.

And there’s more exciting stuff to come from ROL Wheels soon. For example, a new alloy tubular wheel is being tested right now and soon out for public release. Check them out at www.rolwheels.com or call the office at 512-219-1145

US Elite Track National Championships

This year, the end of my cycling season looked a little bit different: Instead of 3-4hr road races I focused exclusively on the track. Yes, correct...track! People ask me: "I didn't know you raced track". And also "There's no velodrome in Austin, or"? True, there's no velodrome in Austin (not yet) but I grew up racing left-turn only and fixed gear. My hometown track was in Heidenau and I spent a TON of time there training and racing when I was a Junior and U23 racer. I remember doing 160lap Points races pretty much every Wednesday during the summer when I was a Youth(15/16) and Junior(17/18) rider. As a junior rider in Germany it's pretty much standard that you race on the velodrome so I did Nationals a few times but never with outstanding results. It was more to work on speed, learn how to race in large fields w/ out brakes and become a better rider overall.

Fast forward 12-15years and I'm in Carson, CA for my first US Elite Track National Championships. Well, I already did the Omnium Elite Track Nats in August (which USA Cycling separated from the regular Nats for the first time this year) and came away with the Silver there. But racing in L.A. at the Velo Sports Center at the "regular" Nationals was a bit different. Olympian Bobby Lea, who raced the Omnium in London 2012, was in attendance and several other heavy hitters (mainly road pro's) so the competition was a bit stiffer in L.A. But I was confident and knew I trainer hard for my 2nd National Championships as an US Citizen - finally, at age 31!

Individual Pursuit #1: Go as hard as you can for 4 1/2 to 5min and don't blow up or go out too fast. That's the rule of thumb. You can prepare pretty simple for it, on the track and off the track. I did a bunch of 5min intervals (see the screenshot of a training ride below), over and over, back-to-back with some short breaks. At Nationals you race a qualifying round first, and if you make it into the Top 4, you go on into the finals. I thought Top 5 (American Podium as I call it) was possible. I've done 4:55 in Houston on a bumpy track 2 weeks before and with the power numbers I was hitting in the intervals I knew I can go faster. I ended up 3rd into the qualifying around after I rode high 17's and low 18's for the 4K. I got a bit too excited and caught the other rider just 1K into my pursuit but I was able to pretty much hold the speed and didn't blow up. 4:43. 1.5seconds away from the 1-2 final, which Bobby Lea and Donoghue (guy who won Pursuit at Omnium Nationals) were going to contest. 

Scratch Race #1: For the Scratch we had qualifying heats not much after my pursuit. Change bars, gears and get going again. For those of you who never done a Scratch race, it's basically a Crit on the track. First rider across the line wins. So if it comes down to a sprint you gotta be in the Top 12 if you wanted to qualify for the Final in the evening. Halloway lapped the field solo early on after everyone in my heat let him just ride away. I figured I don't want to risk anything and wait until the final sprint and try to get Top 12. With 8 or 10 laps to go I went for it, attacked hard from top and just solo'd in for 2nd in my heat and ahead of the bunch. Morning session complete, back for more in the evening! 

Individual Pursuit #2: Back to the track for the "Little Final", where I raced Ian Burnett (Competitive Cycling). Basically you're trying to go as fast as possible again, just have to dig deeper. It's been a while (10+ years?) that i've done two 4K pursuit races in one day but I knew I had to go a bit faster than 4:43 (my morning time) to make sure to get that Bronze medal. Both of us rode very equally and made it a race. It was pretty awesome actually. For the first 2000m I looked over and saw Ian hitting the s/f line at back-stretch the same time like I did on the home-stretch. Since I started a bit more conservative and only rode a 1:11 for the first 1000m I knew I had something left in the tank. With 8 laps to go I dug deep and I came in w/ 4:41 and a new PR and secured 3rd behind Lea and Donoghue. 

Scratch Race #2: 15 minutes after my IP little final we already race the Scratch race final. I could tell I had a long day already. I didn't really have time to change gears so I raced a bigger gear than usual for that race and combined with some heavy legs that made for only a mediocre Scratch and a 9th place. Kind of disappointing but besides Lea (who placed 5th) all the other guys who raced the IP finals didn't do so well. Friday: off-day! Sleep-in, Ride to the beach and checking out the $$$$$$$ homes along Torrance Beach etc. Relax.

Points Race #1: As for the Scratch race, there were two qualifying heats for the Points Race. With Lea and Dan Holt (two-time Elite National Points Race Champion) in my heat I knew I had to pay attention and go with those guys to make sure I roll through easy. That's exactly what happened. 30 laps or so in 5 of us, including Lea & Holt) got off the front and ended up taking a lap to secure our spot in the Final in the evening; I ended up 4th.

Points Race #2: Saturday Night was pretty crowded, a lot more spectators, live-video coverage on the internet, and some big finals (Men's Keirin, Women's Sprint etc.). The Points Race was pretty much the last event of the evening so it was a long time before we actually got to race. warm-up, staying hydrated, eat some but not too much, keep mentally focused until 8:30 or so for 160 laps of Points Race fun. Again, I was confident I can pull of a podium, but it was going to be a bit tougher than just racing 4000m all out like in the Pursuit. Nothing would go far for the 1st 3rd of the race and I stayed conservatively. I rode in a bit smaller gear then the Scratch, too which allowed my a higher cadence and being able to jump/react quicker. At one point, Lea and 4 or 5 others got 1/3rd lap, then a 1/2 lap and looked like to lap the field. I wasn't there and not happy. Lea was the only rider who managed to gain a lap on the field, the rest came back. So we were racing for 2nd. I managed to win 5 points going off the front once. I sat out one sprint, relaxed, and went after another rider solo, caught up, got the sprint/points and was back in the field. With 10-point I sat 5th or 6th with maybe 30 laps to go. To be on the podium for sure, I need to get some more so I went off the front with another ride and we timed it just ride and I got the full 5 pts again, getting me to 15 pts, tied for 3rd before the last and final sprint. 3rd, 4th, and 5th was all at the same points and 6th wasn't far down, 1 point. I figured I won't be out-sprinting Halloway, Lea & Co. in the final sprint so w/ 2 laps to go I went after Moir who was off the front since 4 or 5 laps to go. I caught him with a lap to go but there were too many guys still trying to get onto the podium and I was caught with less than 1/2 lap to go and got no points. Still, 5th at the end of the day behind Lea, Halloway, Donoghue, and Holt.

The Madison: For the final day I teamed up with my main "rival" from Omnium Nationals earlier in August: Zak Kovalcik. He's got a sprint/acceleration I don't have on the track so we knew we could be in the hunt for a Podium spot. Only thing is: we never raced a Madison together! Last time for me was at Texas Cup at the Superdrome in Frisco a few years back and before that as a Junior back in Germany. So we just had a little bit of time to "sync" our throws and make sure our technique is good enough to give each other enough momentum. And we knew we had to make up our lack of never having raced together before by just pedaling harder! The Madison field was not too big, 9 or 10 teams; pretty normal for Nationals actually. Still, it was fast from the start and we it took us a while to make things smooth. Once or twice I ended up having to sprint whereas we had planned to have Zak for it. That cost us a bit but Zak did win the points when he was in position and we were sitting 5th or 6th for most of the 200 lap/50 km race. Several teams tried to take a lap but just came up short by less than 30 meters or so. That evened the way for Lea/Simes to take the win by 5points. We were doing okay, nothing stellar but had to fight hard for 5th. Zak scored another 2 points when he was "on duty" and we ended up 5th, just 2pts ahead of TeamTyper1's Holt & Eldrigde in 6th. Whew. Overall, not bad considering it was our "first rodeo" together. But yeah, we both know that with a bit more specific training and a few Madison's together we can compete for the Top3 rather than fighting for 5th place.

All in all a successful first trip to L.A. for Elite Track Nationals. Special thanks to my team, Tulsa Tough pb ICEdot, for their year-long support; the Superdrome and Alkek crowd for helping me at the local track/races etc., Shawn from Laguna Beach Cyclery for letting me use one of their Colnago road bikes while in L.A.; Todd Minehardt for donating some of his track gear to me; Max Bookman of MAX Training for helping me with some core/strength conditioning to get ready for Nats; and last but not least Wes for letting me use his super slick Speedsuit for the Individual Pursuit!

Now it's time to take some time off, and get back to some basic strength, conditioning training and a bit of Cyclocross here and there!

interval training example leading up to Nats. Goal: 375-380W for 4:45, and repeat!

IP Qualifying (photo: Erika Fulk)

IP Podium

Points Race Action (photo: VeloImages)

Felt, time to sponsor someone ;-)

Points Race Podium

My "cubicle" for the weekend

Torrance Beach

Was looking for "The Hoff"

Torrance Beach

Madison

Madison Podium with Zak

Tuesday Nighter Road Clean-Up, Saturday, October 13, 9am

Yep, you heard it right: Fall Clean-Up for the "Nighter"! We're planning on giving the traditional "Tuesday Nighter" a little face lift.

City of Austin/Travis County recently cut & trimmed a bunch of trees & bushes along our favorite Tuesday Night course. Only problem is: there's tons of trash left and right along Thaxton Rd, Old Lockhart Rd, and Nuckols Crossing Rd. on the 9mile loop.

If you care about riding in South East Austin, and like to ride along "green roads" please come out or share this with your friends. This coming weekend is no CycloCross Race, no MTB Race, and no Road Race happening in Texas - and it's off-season! (Okay, it's ACL weekend but you can go later).

When: Saturday, October 13, 9am (plan on 2hrs or so)

Where: traditional Tuesday Nighter starting point on Thaxton Rd and Alum Rock Dr, Austin, TX (Map here: http://bit.ly/UMY3qV)

What to bring: some solid shoes and good attitude! If you drive out, carpool and bring your pick-up truck.

We'll provide some heavy duty trash bags and gloves. Some refreshments, too. You can ride your bike out, too but make sure to bring a lock or even better, take your commuter bike.

Any questions? Email me stefanrothe81 at gmail dot com

See you Saturday morning!

Note: in the case of rain, we'll postpone for another weekend in the Fall/Winter and post something on the www in advance.