Making some cash in Vegas

Posted by Dylan on behalf of Wyatt.

This past weekend I headed to the South Nevada Stage Race in hopes of getting some warm early season race miles in my legs. Somehow I convinced two teammates to join me for the long trip to race in January - Mike Audley from our Masters team and Charlie Avis from our Junior program. We arrived in Vegas Friday morning in less than optimal conditions with scattered showers and cold temperatures predicted for the weekend. Mike and I cruised through the first two days of racing in the Master 35s getting some solid racing miles with a focus on solid training rather than results. Young Charlie's experience was another story as he raced in the elite 3s as a 16 year old junior. This was Charlie’s first stage race and as we were warming up for the first stage, Charlie and I talked about what a great start of the season it would be for him if he could get himself on the podium and start his campaign to get back to Europe this summer to race with the Junior National Team. Friday was a 20K out and back TT that began with a downhill start with a tailwind and ended (obviously) with an uphill finish into a headwind. Charlie rode a loaner bike, without aero equipment and was required to ride junior gearing. Regardless, he rode a great time finishing 3rd (30 seconds out of 1st place).
Saturday was a criteruim around the UNLV stadium. Charlie was clearly a marked man throughout the day as he was shadowed by several riders. A break of five riders (all out of contention for the GC) got away in an early break and managed to stay away to finish 40 second up on the main group. Charlie rode a smart race and finished with all the top GC contenders and maintained his 3rd place position on GC. In the first two days of racing we were able to beat the odds of the weather, staying dry and relatively warm. Sunday was a different story. We woke early Sunday morning to driving rain and temperatures in the high 30’s. The profile for the day was 7,500 feet of climbing in 52 miles. When we arrived at the start an hour south of Vegas it was still raining hard and the temperature was in the low 40’s. Charlie, Greg (Charlie’s dad), Mike and I stood in the rain debating what to do. Mike and I quickly came to the conclusion that it did not make sense for us to race in these conditions given our objectives for the weekend. Charlie felt differently. He said he could not live with himself if he did not give it a shot. Mike and I, the old men, handed Charlie all the warm and dry clothes that we had, wished him luck and jumped back in the car. The race stayed together until the last climb of day as everyone tried to stay warm. At the base of the last climb there was single attack by a rider not in the chase for the GC. Charlie and one other rider sat on the front and pushed a hard tempo that quickly blew up the field leaving Charlie with one other rider and one rider up the road (neither of the other riders were in the hunt for GC). The finish was a downhill finish. Charlie and his chase companion were quickly closing in on the sole leader but at this point Charlie was not able to be of much assistance to the chase given he was completely spun out in his junior gearing. The three ended up finishing together with Charlie taking 3rd place for the day, but having put serious time into the other contenders for the GC. Charlie took the GC for a win on his first ever stage race... way to go Charlie!!! Overall it was an excellent weekend and having Charlie win the race with such class and heart makes being a part of this team truly exceptional.

Just when I get use to riding on the left, looking over my right shoulder, staying to the left when turning left, crossing all the way across traffic when turning right, giving way to the right, legally riding two abreast or more, weet bix, vegemite, meat pies, pasties, sausage rolls, iced coffee, and Cooper’s Red Ale it’s almost time to leave Australia. The last three weeks have flown right by… As my time in Oz comes to a close, I’m already making plans to be back here again next year. Anyone interested in coming along?

I stayed in the Hills above the city of Adelaide, South Australia (about 500m above sea level). Here the riding terrain is vast and varied: flats to 25 minutes climbs. It was like being in Napa without the cold rainy weather.

My motive for coming to Australia was simple: ride, eat, drink, socialize, and repeat. Following the Tour Down Under was far less important. Although, during the TDU I took kindly to photography: www.pezcyclingnews.com/cgi/gallerypicget.asp?pic=http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/babes/babes08/dunder08-3.jpg I got my socks…
Along with the Pro Tour race, there was a Veterans (Masters) Race Series: 80km road race, 24km time trial, and 5 laps on the stage 6 TDU downtown circuit. Not boring you with details, I ended up second in the RR, 3rd in the time trial (without a TT bike), and crashed out with 1km to go in the circuit race.
The South Australia Veterans Cycling Council (SAVCC) and its cast of characters are amazingly similar to NCNCA. Aside from having fewer members with strange accents and quirky phrases, I felt like I was in Cali.
Other cycling sites along the way:

Provided that the weather is good, I will be at the Early Bird Crit on 2/3. If it rains, I’ll see you in Merced.
Cheers
Craig

Testing with Clark from endurance

On Tuesday I went in for my V02 test with Clark Natwick from endurance (a 2008 sponser for coaching and testing). Their office is in the financial district of San Francisco. I went in and was expecting a doctor's office like how other test facilities are. It looks like an exercise club. There were spin classes going on and bike fittings. It looked like a fun place to be. It turns out that the person who tested me had tested me before at Max Testa's. They had me do two test with a special bike and a large breathing mechanism. I don't know how to describe it other than a large plastic mouth piece or a scuba mouth piece. I finished the first test which was fun because they didn't push me till failure. Then I did the second test which wasn't fun because they pushed you almost to failure. After it was over they talked to me about my results and how they effect my training plan. I came home and found an email in my inbox with my number that I plugged into a chart. It gave me my zones for training. I enjoyed the experience and am looking forward to the next test. I am very glad that they are one of our sponsors.

Yeah, it’s totally worth it

2007 was a very good year and yet it was a difficult year. We rolled into 2007 with a 37 man roster, including 10 young men that composed our first ever junior team. For a team in its 20th season of racing the new focus helped to pump new life into a tired “old man’s team”. For the juniors there were highs (Charlie Avis’ win in Belgium comes to mind) and there were lows (sickness and health), but mostly it was a great year with lots of wins and learning opportunities. For the masters, we savored a good number of victories and had fun with some of the best masters racers in the US.

We also had that Tour de France debacle and the end of the Discovery Channel Pro team, but I won’t get into that.

Personally, I have fond memories of some slick team wins (thanks guys), a super competitive Nor Cal Crit Championship win, and two nasty crashes.

Fast forward to 2008 and my first race of the new season. Earlier today I was out at a local criterium training series helping to lead brand new racers through a curriculum that helps them get more comfortable going through corners shoulder to shoulder with other riders at 30 miles per hour. In addition to the mentoring, which is something to be proud of in itself, I get a good amount of miles during the day. 8am to 3:30pm on and around my bike. Talking up cycling with friends and teammates is one great way to spend the day. Today was totally different so I thought I’d write about it. The 1/2/3’s started out with a small group of maybe 30 riders. With 50 degree weather and a threat of rain it was no wonder of the small turnout. The pace seemed moderate for the first 20 minutes and I got to wonder when the decisive move might come. 15 year old teammate Daniel Tisdell and his 1 percent body fat was already out of the race when Joel Robertson (Trumer Pils- 2007, ???- 2008) rolled away in the cross wind so I quickly bridged to him. A corner later he wanted me to pull through but I was already spent. He punched it again (smart move) and opened up the gap while I scrambled for a draft. A corner later and teammate Billy Innes shot up the opposite side of the field and bridged to Joel. Nice move Billy. The two of them rolled away. The field gave chase with the wind quickly splintering our groups. I was going backwards fast and could not get my heart rate down. This was not good. My speed is coming down, my heart rate is going up and here I am dropping an anchor like a dutiful sailor. I slug it out for the next twenty minutes and limp to the finish.

Billy took Joel in the sprint. Win #2 on the year (Daniel won the San Bruno hillclimb on Tuesday)

What happened?
Sick? no
Eat enough? yep
Drink enough? yep
Training above AT last 4 months? not much at all, but I thought I could suffer well
Too many miles today? Nope, I blew out a tire and missed a race
Broke my Trek carbon frame at the seat stay? Yep… that was it. My wheel had been rubbing for the past 20 minutes and I didn’t hear it because it was so cold out I had my ears covered.

Thanks for reading…. 2008 is going to be great fun! Lar