Sunday, August 29, 2010

Suisan Crit

Hey Everyone,
So 2 weeks ago was the Suisan crit. It was a fun race and weekend. I spent Wednesday through Sunday at Matt's house. We did the "Noon Ride" and The Spectrum ride with David and Dylan, Steve was at the Spectrum ride. So when we got to the Suisan crit it was freezing cold. I got my kit and started to warm up. I was on the rollers for about 15 minutes and then jumped on the course. It was a solid course but in my race there was a car parked on the backside during my race, they didn't move it until the 3's race. I had a really good position on the start line, which really helped my positioning. I was at the front the whole time around 5th or 6th wheel. One rider went off the front, many attacked to pulled him back but it didn't work. It was last lap, I was sitting in 4th wheel and there was a crash, I completely avoided it, making the field split. There were 7 riders in that group and I finished 6th missing 5th by a bike throw. I would like to do REALLY welll in the 4's at the Clovis Criterium, the day before the Giro. We'll see how it goes.

-Jack

Friday, August 27, 2010

Belgium

Hey everyone!

I am having a great time in Belgium right now. On Wednesday, I raced in my first kermesse in the town of Kemmel. The course had a small cobbled climb and went on some narrow farm roads. It started to rain right when the race began. I got into a couple breakaways but nothing stuck. It began to rain harder as the race went on. The field also got smaller and smaller. The cobbles were getting very slick near the end of the race. I ended up finishing 10th and won 18 euros!

On Thursday, I raced in another kermesse. It was a mostly flat course on narrow roads with a tiny hill and the street that the start/finish line was on had small cobbles. Once again, I tried to get in the breakaways but none of them worked. I was having a hard time trying to get the Belgians to work with me. I ended up 26th and won 5 euros.

Saturday, we have another kermesse and on Wednesday we head to Italy!

Torey

Sunday, August 22, 2010

West-Vlaanderen Cycling Tour

Last Friday we started a 4 day, 5 stage, stage race. On Friday we did a TTT. We finished 7th of 24 teams. We had a Kermesse that night. We have had Kermesses each day since. I finished in the top end of the 140 rider pack both day. Breaks got away both days, but I wasn't able to get into either of them.

Today was a flat fast Kermesse. I started in the middle of the pack and slowly moved up. I found that if I stayed in my 52x16 (hardest gear allowed for 15-16s) my legs would lose their pop after accelerating from 10kph to 50kph out of every turn. I started shifting into my 52x18 and could accelerate faster and move up through the group. With 2 laps to go (12km) I got near the front. I fought for position and stayed in the top 15. With 1.5km to go a break of 2 riders got up the road. At 1km to go I jumped and got a gap on the field. I stayed away until the final turn. The pack caught me and I was shelled off the back.

I risked it and it didn't pay off, but I gave it a try

Tomorrow is the final day.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

First Kermesse


We arrived in belgium Wednesday. We have been riding around the area. We have ridden cobbles and visited the HTC-Columbia Service Course.

Today we had our first kermesse. We started with 60-70. At the end of the first lap I attacked and was solo around the start/finished. I was caught soon after. I got in a few attacks, but nothing I was in stuck. My "teammates" (technically there is supposed to be no teamwork in kermesses) Michael and Colin got in a long break, but were caught with 3 to go. With 1 lap to go I put on the "pants" and forced my way to the front. I was top five with 1km but lost it through a technical section with flower boxes in the road. I sprinted early and finished 15. The money goes deep at Kermesses and I got a few Euros.

We have another kermesse tomorrow.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Master's Road Nationals - Day's One and Two - The Ticket Puncher Strikes

Somebody finally convinced Rob Anderson that a little rest now and then is a good thing and ever since he's been on a tear.

Yesterday was the Time Trial in Taylorsville, Kentucky. It is a tough course that is about 23.5km long with three pretty tough hills in it and a few more rollers to make sure that if you didn't pace well you would pay for it dearly. Based on past experience and how we are riding we all felt that we had a pretty good chance of winning if things went well. Chris, Craig and myself didn't pace as well as we could have and paid accordingly. Chris was 2nd in the 40-44, Craig was 4th in the 45-49 and I was 2nd. But the big story of the day was that Rob has found his TT legs again and won the 55-59 title by 6 seconds!



BTW, it was hot at the TT, probably around 90 degrees and humid when we raced.



Today was Rob's road race. Today was also supposed to be the hottest day of the week. When his 9 lap (~45 miles) race started the heat index was 115 degrees. On the second lap Rob started a move that included former team mate Wayne Stetina, Dave Leduc, Bill Kellagher and one other. As the laps ticked off Rob popped them off one by one. Stetina went about 4 laps in, Kellagher went with three to go and finally Rob dropped Leduc with one lap to go. We were very worried about Leduc because he is quite a finisher. In the final lap Rob put 2 minutes into Leduc and after the finish Leduc collapsed from the heat. It was brutal just standing in the feed zone and watching let alone racing! Even though we are a bit biased, Craig, Chris and I thought that Rob rode an unbelievably strong race. It bodes well for the World Master's Championships later this month in Austria.

Late in the race, announcer Dave Towle gave Rob a new nickname, "Ticket Puncher" because that's what he was doing all race long, punching tickets!