In the photo: Brennan Wertz, Holger Steinmetzger, Mathias Jacquelin
TMBDev shows up in force to NorCal’s premier stage race, and storms the GC podium with strong rides in the road race and time trial!
Team Stories
In the photo: Mathias Jacquelin
Last race of the season, and I had never raced so far away, so how could I say no to waking up at 4:20am, drive for 2.5h and race my bike one last time for the 12th Henleyville Road Race? I couldn’t, so here I was on I5, eating a plain bagel and drinking coffee, determined to make it to the hall of fame of Velopromo races. ….
In the photo: Chris Craig
With the 2018 season coming to a close I am happy to say I was able to take home the Cal Cup! The Cal Cup is an omnium of last ten major races in the Velo Promo season. The competition was tight and we needed to perform well, at least 7th place, at the final race (Oakland Grand Prix) to lock it down. …..
Written by: Emile Goguely (In the photo: Mathias Jacquelin, tied on time with Emile :)
With a shortened road season and loads of time on the TT bike I decided to target the district time trial championship. The event was meant to happen in Esparto but the location became Athlone just south of Merced. Not a fan of last minute changes and vague course description but this played into my favor as I still had college friends from UCM and that was an opportunity for me to be in town. ….
In the photo: Marco Lei
The Giro di San Francisco is one of my favorite crits of the season. It’s local, technical, with railroad tracks, lots of potholes and cracks, a small up hill and typically a large field – everything a crit racer could wish for. With the podium finish two days prior, I’m coming into this race with high hope of getting good results. This race has always felt special to me. I ride these roads every morning as my office is right outside the race course. ……
In the photo: Emile Goguely
Having invested a considerable amount of time on time trialing capabilities I decided to race the Tempus Fungit to see where I stacked against other time trialist. The course is a 11miler out & back with the out leg rolling slightly up. I was ready to try a different strategy and different gear this time around. ….
In the picture: Chris Craig
Feeling:
After being tangled in a crash, no real injuries, and trying to chase back on the day prior at Dunningan I pulled the plug after lap one and decided to save it for the crit the next day.
Plan:
This course is notorious for a split/big break. The goal was to stay near the front and try and keep either Travis M or myself fresh for a reduced field sprint. …..
In the photo: Marco Lei
My memories from racing Dunnigan Hills the past three years had been pretty blurry. Despite the small rolling hills and unshielded flats, the course has its own way to put one deep into the pain cave. The past few years had been hot, windy, and dusty. This year is a little different. …..
In the photo: Chris Craig
After way too long, I’ve finally won my first race! Definitely hooked to bike racing now, nothing quite like the feeling of coming across the line in first. Wanted to thank Mike’s Bikes and our other sponsors for their support. Especially wanted to thank my teammates Travis Mceuen, Mathias Jacquelin, and Matt Swartwout for pulling the right moves to ensure we landed a win.
In the photo: Chris Craig
Brisbane was a warmup crit after 2-3 weeks of travel and Europe and unstructured training. The course has some very technical turns (especially a sharp 90-degree turn) and definitely was expected to have lots of surges. Decided to give the 2/3 a "go" before racing the P1/2. We had a strong Mike’s Bikes presence in the race: Mathias Jacquelin, Ben Marshall, James Grady, Theo Goguely, and Arnaud Borner (plus a few more)…
In the photo: Ingmar Jungnickel
This win meant a lot to me...
I am an engineer at Specialized and was part of the team that designed the new Venge that was released to the public the day before. While I already had my bike for a couple months, I could only take it out for solo rides, so I had no race experience on the new bike…
In the photo: James Grady
To say it was hot would be an understatement. The 3 PM start time was by far the hottest part of the day, with the temperature topping 100 degrees. After a nearly three-hour, air-conditioned car ride the heat was as welcome and inevitable as an elbow from Cavendish. It’s been 10 years since I moved to San Francisco from the Phoenix area, and I almost missed the oppressive heat.
In the photo: Travis Mceuen
The first lap was uneventful so going into lap 2 I attacked. Peter Smith came with me and no one followed. We stayed out front for 2 laps or so. This was really just to get the legs up and running and, as we saw the group coming back, I prepared for the counter by just letting Peter pull.
In the photo: Emile Goguely
After a fruitless stage-race-focused early season, I decided to ride my mountain and cross bike. Shifting my focus on the mountain bike allowed me to progress by learning new skills while maintaining my fitness. Hearing all the buzz about gravel bike races made me want to give it a go. After signing up for the Lost and Found gravel grinder I was still a bit confused on what to expect…