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2016 Colavita Grand Prix

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It was a windy day in Rohnert Park for the ColaVita-Norcal Grand Prix. The Pro/1/2/3 event had 42 racers from many different teams. One of the most notable competitors was Jesse Anthony of Rally Pro Cycling, who attacked numerous times with vigor through the crosswind section of the course.

Numerous small breakaway attempts were made through out the 75-minute race, my teammate Craig Fellers stayed vigilant and active near the front to get into those small moves. In the final laps, one rider had worked up a 25 second lead on the field with two solo riders chasing him roughly 5 and 10 seconds behind him. Through the second to last lap, Bryan Larsen of Echelon-Storck Development brought back nearly the entire 25 second gap with his teammate Matt Schaupp in tow.

We crossed the line to start the final lap. AMain had a five-man leadout organized on the right side of the group. Jesse Anthony put in another big effort going into the cross-wind section, which strung out the field. While the cross wind buffeted the peloton, my Venge ViAS with CL64 wheels kept my tracking in a straight line and my Evade helmet ensured no energy was wasted. Craig kept me up in great position leading into the final corner, and I slotted in about 4th wheel. While the rest of us were looking at each other to see who would sprint first, Zach Gottesman, a junior racing for Mellow Motors, flew past us in the right gutter and quickly gained a 3-bike length advantage to the line. The seasoned junior champion track rider got a good jump on us. I sprinted after him and used his draft to gain enough speed to overtake him on the left. AMain’s Anthony Ferretti sprinted in for 3rd.

It was a fun day of racing, and I’m excited to use the pasta and olive oil Craig and I brought home for racing winnings! Many thanks to him for his awesome work, and to all of TMB/Equator’s sponsor for the incredible support.

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2016 USAC National Championships Criterium

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images: Dean Warren & Yvonne Lydick

After a relaxing Saturday of cafe rides, city site-seeing, and hotel lounging, we awoke on Sunday morning to the sounds of a good old fashioned Southern rainstorm and knew that today’s criterium would take on a very different dynamic.

 

I'd already raced a criterium in a downpour once this year at Santa Cruz and, thanks to our amazing S-Works Turbo tires, had no problems with cornering in the rain. I was focused on picking gentle lines, and not getting taken down by other riders. My role, put succinctly, was to “sit in and sprint,” while Cam, Aria, and Chris animated the bulk of the race, saving Roman and Reese to help me in the final laps. 

The course was on the longer side, over two kilometers, so I was surprised to see twenty laps to go after only fifteen minutes of racing. As expected, the race was punctuated by several large crashes which I thankfully avoided by riding in the top thirty positions for most of the race. Chris, Roman, Cam and Aria did great work covering moves throughout the day. With three laps to go, Roman took over the front with me on his wheel. I was a bit worried that we would run out of steam so far out, but Reese rolled up to the front right on cue and put in a massive pull to keep things lined out and safe. And again, with perfect timing, at one to go Chris appeared in front of me to take me to the final corner. A Finish Strong rider jumped into the final corner at 300m to go. I hopped on his wheel, hoping to make my move at 200m as he began to tire. Unfortunately, Holloway and the second place rider came around both of us early, and I wasn’t quite able get past the Finish Strong rider, and missed the podium by a bike throw.

Huge thanks goes out to all the guys on the team out here, this week has been a blast and I’m psyched to finish out the NorCal season as strong as ever. Thanks to Matt Adams and Mike’s Bikes for supporting us, and all of our sponsors who provide us with the best possible equipment to hit the finish line first. And a special thanks to my coach Ryan Moore and Achieve PTC for keeping me in shape and motivated to perform my best.

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Pescadero Road Race, through the eyes of Craig Fellers

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images: Alex Chiu

We got to Pescadero and there was no fog.  Are we in the wrong town?  A line of port-a-potties assured us that this was indeed the right place, and with a luxuriously late 8:30 start time they were already getting warm inside.  Not to be obsessive about pre-race rituals, but the lack of cell reception in Pescadero created an oddly fast bathroom line as the plastic boxes weren’t full of cyclist scrolling Instagram well after completing the task at hand.  #TMBEquator.  The extra time was of course completely negated by the extra slog through the reg line while people struggled to pull up their green/annoying USAC licenses with the same lack of reception.

At the start line, I really enjoyed that not one, but two H24 riders made the same Roman Kilun joke as they backed in to the front row last minute.  The chief official gave us the usual talk about not being stupid and sent us rolling.  Reese must not have read the race flier to see that this one is 103 miles long and attacked about half a mile in.  He was followed by Torrey Philip (H24) and that old fast guy in the Airgas kit who is perpetually on the brink of crashing.  They established a nice gap as the rest of us though about how hard it would be to ride over 100 miles in a break.  Hell, it is hard to sit in for the entire race at Pescadero. 

Going up the first set of hills on Stage Road, Tom Salvasen (SVCS) attacked.  He seems to have an uncanny eye for getting in good moves, so I followed along with Sam Basetti (H24) and 3 others.

So, here is where I note that I am probably the worst person to write this report since we stayed off the front for rest of the race.  I don’t really know what else happened except at some point we were rotating and Roman Kilun just slotted in as if he had always been there.  I’m like, where the hell did you come from.  He nonchalantly recites that he has just bridged an unfathomable gap solo as if this was a normal human activity.  He proceeds to take a casual pull up Haskins dropping all but myself (thank god), Sam Bassetti and Tom.

The 3 up the road have disintegrated into one solo rider, Torrey who puts out a hell of an effort to stay away, but with Roman and Tom on the front we bring him back on the last time up Stage Road.  Right as we collect Torrey at the crest Stage Road, Cam Bromstein shows up, again out of nowhere.  Our team is just ridiculous.  Honestly, I felt bad for the other people in the group, TMB is multiplying like nematode that got cut in half.  I made sure to show my pity by announcing that it “Really sucks to be you right now” to the others present.  Unfortunately, Cam cramped leaving it back up to Roman and I to contest the final climb. 

 

Through the final feed, Sam attacked and I followed.  I rode him all the way up the climb until Torrey started to close in (reminiscent of this scene in Terminator 2).  At 700m to go, I took the front to up the pace, and at 500, Sam attacked.  It was a good attack and a little sooner than I was expecting.  I couldn’t close the gap and crossed the line second.  Roman and Aria rounded out the top 10. 

The S-work Evade and Venge VIAS made the 85 miles in the breakaway manageable and must have been huge for Cam and Roman bridging big gaps up to the lead group.  Thanks to Capo for the great kits and Equator for getting our engines revved in the morning.  Of course, without our Toyota Sienna, half of our team would never make it to the line.  As Always, Alex Chiu was there to capture the moment.  And a special thanks to Matt Adams and the Mike’s Bikes crew for the relentless support.  After watching pro team after pro team fold, we realize how lucky we are to have the unwavering support from the best bike shop in America. 

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2016 Memorial Day Criterium

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images: Alex Chiu

With the bar set high from the team’s win at the Folsom Classic Criterium on Saturday, and a podium sweep at the classic Mount Hamilton Road Race, Garrett, Cam P., Andy and myself set out to make it three for three on the weekend at the Memorial Day Criterium in Morgan Hill.

The start whistle blew, and I rolled off the front for a lap-1 flyer. I checked back a few times to see if anyone would join me or if I’d get pulled back. I got reeled in on the back side of the second lap, a few riders countered with Cam following.

Since the course is essentially a giant circle, with wide open straightaways and no hard turns, most of the breakaways on the day never got fully out of sight. Tobin Ortenblad, last year’s winner, was the guy to beat in the field and was heavily marked. The reluctance of the peloton to let any group bigger than four or five riders get up the road kept the race together.

Within the last 12 laps, Larry Nolan and a rider from SunPower rolled off the front and got a sizeable gap. They were joined later by a Clif Bar rider, but were pulled back with about four laps to go. A four-man break formed in the final few laps that and Andy bridged up to it. Three of them were pulled back, but Matt Schaupp from Echelon-Storck rolled off and rode the last three laps solo. I found Cam, and he helped me stay up near the top five wheels on the second to last lap. Andy got back up to the front to keep the pace high through the cross-tailwind section, and Schaupp was pulled back as the field reached turn one of the with one lap to go.

Herbalife24 p/b MPS had a firm grip on the front of the bunch, with Penaloza, Carling and Bassetti ready to leadout Myers for the last corner. Ortenblad held the inside going around the back stretch and tried to push his way onto Bassetti’s wheel. I sat behind them as they elbowed and head-butted. When Carling accelerated, Ortenblad lost position as Bassetti and Myers followed.

Within 20m to the last corner, Bassetti moved out to give Myers room on the inside but he hesitated, skipping a chain as he tried to close the door on me.  I stayed seated and gave it a little gas to get to the corner first. I stood up out of the corner and sprinted to the line. Garrett followed me in for fourth, even after two solid days of crit and traveling including his win on Saturday.

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2016 Wente Road Race

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Wente was my first day back racing with the team since Chico Stage Race, and what a day it was! It’s been a whirlwind of an early season for me – a crash at Chico combined with some stressors in my life leading to less-than-stellar legs for Snelling/Chico, followed by 2 weeks off the bike in late March for some Asia travel as part of my MBA program.

image: Katie Truong

The last few weeks, however, have brought about a return to some really gratifying, hard training as well as the hunger to compete! I had no idea what to expect coming into Wente, other than knowing my legs felt good and that my teammates had been kicking ass, winning races left and right (huge shout outs especially to Cam Piper and Cameron Bronstein on their Redlands / San Dimas performances).

Our strategy for the day was pretty minimal; we had a lot of guys going strong and knew we could cover / initiate moves when we wanted. Piper and I would be riding aggressive early on, with the hope of getting in a small move and making it stick. The first 30 minutes were host to a flurry of attacks from all the contenders – guys like Ortenblad, Jenkins, and Saltzman seemed especially eager to stretch their legs on the main climb on course, 4-5 minutes that started at 13% and leveled off slowly. However, near the end of the 2 main sets of climbs on the first lap, we still had a group of 15-20 in tact, with another 15 or so trailing close behind.

During a brief lull in the action, I came up the right side and attacked on the last gradual climb into the descent to the finish, getting a sizable gap right away. Immediately chasing, with a gap behind them, was the dynamic duo of Zeke Mostov (BMC Development) and Thom Salveseen (Cyclesport – Specialized p/b Muscle Milk), both of whom I knew were strong and liked riding in breaks. I was pumped for some company and a hard day ahead!

We worked flawlessly together almost right away, with Zeke taking some especially motivated pulls on the flats to keep our gap growing, and Thom – who went from cat 2 to 1 in the span of a couple months – taking some monster pulls and a pointer here and there til he was rotating like a seasoned breakaway rider. About a lap into the break, we were able to tell the gap was over a minute, but we didn’t get any info until halfway into lap 4, when we were told we had 2.5 minutes. At this point, it was far from a sure thing, but we still had motivation, and when I felt it faltering a bit in the other guys, I took some hard turns on the front to make sure we kept the speed up. It was only in the last half lap that we started to play a few games, with Zeke attacking on the same last climb that had initiated the move. I was quick to cover, and Thom dieseled up right behind us. The final descent was slower than usual, as we played a bit of cat and mouse instead of charging ahead like we had on previous laps.

image: Katie Truong

Thom led us into the final corner, at which point there are about 800 meters to go, 300+ of it up a moderate grade, with about 150m false-flat to the line. I was glued to Zeke’s wheel and waited for him to make a move. Just past halfway up the climb, I was thinking how much longer I’d wait before trying to beat him to the jump. Then he launched at about 200m. I stayed stuck to his wheel and thought I had it in the bag, with a solid sprint still left in my legs. However, with less than 100m to go, I started to come around him and realized I’d chosen the wrong side – headwinds and poor timing made it hard to accelerate up to his hip, but once I got there with a couple dozen meters left, I knew I just had to put in a few more big pedal strokes. One bike length to go and I surged by him, finishing with a hand up in celebration and just feet to spare… Phew, that was a close one!

I was pumped to see so many teammates piling into the top 10 behind me – first Roman and Cam Piper with Jason Saltzman in between them (4,5,6), then Aria winning the bunch kick for 7th and Craig recovering from a flat to finish 9th. Looking forward to working together to attack some of NorCal’s crown jewels in the coming months – Berkeley and Pescadero are high on the list.

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2016 Copperopolis Road Race

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images: Alex Chiu

When the nickname for a race is the “Paris-Roubaix of Northern California,” you know you’re in for a treat.  With a circuit that includes two climbs and some gnarly road surfaces, Copperopolis Road Race certainly felt as close to cobbles as a ‘paved’ road surface could get.  I still have pleasant dreams of the short, freshly paved section of the main climb that was sandwiched by rough roads.

The team’s plan was relatively simple – mark the threats, some guys need to make the early break, and Chris or I needed to be there for lap three when the hopeful ‘winning move’ would be made. Funny how fast plans can change in racing!  We had seven guys, the next biggest team had eight.

It was actually a bit cold at the start, and my decision to not warm up before the race wasn’t the best.  The main climb on the first lap was no walk in the park, but got the legs ready to roll on the flats.  A couple moves tried to go early, but were marked by Andy, Craig, Cameron, Roman, Chris, and Aria immediately.  A small break of two TMB riders and two Herbalife riders went up the road once we hit the flats.  Riders attempted to bridge, but their moves were happily marked by our riders.  At one point, Chris HD and I began to bridge up to the front move, until we were joined by a rider from Lupus, then another from JL-Velo.  Eventually, these riders put in some big turns with each other to bring us to the break – now three TMB riders, three Herbalife riders, and the two other riders.  Our gap rolling in the main climb on the second lap was roughly a minute and thirty seconds.  The field must have nuked it in chase, as we were caught by the top of the climb.

Roman and Chris both kept me on my toes as additional attacks started flying.  Tim Rugg from Herbalife came up on the right side of the road as I heard Chris yelling from behind me.  I grabbed Tim’s wheel as a gap formed.  He looked at me and said something along the lines of “yeah… I’ll work with this.”  If he was in, I was in – though the thought of nearly 60 miles out front was a little intimidating.  We worked really well together as our gap grew to nearly six minutes at the max (that’s the one of two time gaps we were actually told…).  In hearing this time gap, we were told there were some riders trying to bridge – and they always seemed to be between 40 seconds and two minutes.  Not the best numbers, but we were determined to stay out front. 

Tim and I chatted about life, the donkeys on the side of the road, and the political correctness of what to say to a rider we were passing from other fields.   I’ll tell you, not seeing the donkeys on the fifth lap was a mental blow.  

 

Going into the last lap, we started to see a group of four-ish riders attempting to bridge behind us once we hit the flat section of the course.  After running out of food at the end of the third lap (lessons learned to not bank on the race moto letting the van up to the break), I was admittedly getting a little nervous of the shrinking gap.  At the same time, I had done a decent job eating the Probars and OSMO electrolyte drink I had!  I knew if we hit the last climb without taking it too easy, there was a good chance we were set for the finish.  Full gas on the descent, I pulled around Tim on one of the last corners and realized I had made a mistake… he likely wasn’t going to come back around me going into the last 1.5km – and he didn’t.  Coming into the base of the final finish hill with roughly 350m to go, I hit it really hard.  Unfortunately, Tim was glued to my wheel.  I sat up at the 200m to go sign hoping he would charge around me.  Without any movement with about 150m to go, I decided that I had nothing else in the cards apart from just going for it – seeing Roman jumping up and down at the finish line was a little extra motivation in knowing I could cross the line first! My Specialized Venge ViAS was perfect for this finish situation, and I knew I had aerodynamics on my side. Being able to post up without the worry of 25mph gusts (Bariani) was a great feeling!

On to Redlands!

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These are my thoughts from the Santa Cruz Classic Criterium

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Photos by John Reynolds.  All names are linked… if you want to see who they are. 

“I hope it doesn’t start raining.” 

“Okay, I’ll start on the back row and feel it out for the first few laps.” 

“…oh! was that the whistle? Are we starting? oh… we started.”

“Oh look! there are all of my friends! Its super cool they all came out to watch… Wait, what if I crash or do something stupid. oh god… that’ll be embarrassing.  I wish they wouldn’t have come. 

“Time to move forward. annnnnnnnd shoot the gap…. inside line… hold your speed. alright boom! half way to the front!” 

“Swiznooski looks really nervous.” 

“Up the hill.  The front of the race is slowing down a bit, lets pick up some more spots.  Alright in to the top 10 wheels! That seemed easy.” 

“Time to attack! GO! Pedal pedal pedal! what the fuck? Tobin and Owen just came over the top of me?! Alright… act like that wasn’t an attack.” 

“Oh good, Roman marked that, we’re represented in the break.  Nice job!Reese is going across too. Shit yea, the guys are on it today.” 

“Alright 2 teammates are up the road, lets pull off the front and get ready to follow if someone else tries to bridge.” 

“Shit.  It’s raining.” 

“No big deal, the break is getting reeled in. As soon as they get here… punch it again. Ready…. and GO! pedal pedal pedal!  Holy shit! WHAT WAS THAT?! okay some body behind you crashed, keep going up the hill then see if you have a gap.” 

“…well… alright, Only one rider with me, third wheel must have gone down and taken everyone with him.  I hope everyone is alright.  CHRIS! Fuckin’ concentrate! You’re in the break, lets pedal a few laps and see if the time goes out.” 

“Oh hey! Patrick is starting a chant! ‘leeeeets go Riiiiiekert” yea… thats me! Go me! …Chris, you realize you’re talking to yourself, right?” 

“OKAY this is good! The gap is going out! 45 seconds and growing? Maybe this could work. Do I like this break? can I win from this? we have 30min left to race… is this good for us? How do I win from here?”

“Jesus, that rain is coming down! I’m soaked.”

“Sam seems to be riding really strong, I wonder if he is accelerating up the hill to tire me out?  Is he going to attack me?  Is he stronger than me?” shit, i bet he feels fresh… I feel like crap. Damn it, he’s going to attack and ride away. That’ll be embarrassing in front of all my friends” 

“Okay 15min left… why hasn’t he attacked? Maybe he doesn’t feel that great either?”

“Lap cards are up, 6 laps to go.  Man, i haven’t heard a time gap in a while, i wonder if the group is catching us?  Should I ride for a couple more laps or try to rest for the finally?”

“3 laps to go.  Okay, when to I sit up, when to i try to get to his wheel?  Is 2 to go, too early? Okay, he seems content to keep working, does he think he can out sprint me?  maybe he’s been working on his sprint… shit, i bet he’s been working on his sprint.” 

“1 to go… the crowd goes wild with the bell lap! okay, no more pulls.  stay on the wheel.  I think we’ve got plenty of time on the group, you can play games for a a few seconds… He’ll go on the hill. he’s a better climber than you.” 

“3 corners left, get ready for it, he’s going to accelerate.  pace is going up.  he’s looking to the protected side.  Is the wind strong enough to effect this? okay he’s really watching the protected side.  300m to race, 200m to race. 150m to race… GO! Head down pedal! you’re coming around, you got the jump! go go go! and across the line!” 

“Shit… i didn’t post up. whatever… fist pump.”

by Chris Riekert

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2016 Chico Stage Race - Paskenta Road Race

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images: Alex Chiu

It’s noon Saturday, and the team is circled around the Sienna with anxious anticipation and excitement for the Stage 2 Road Race. The day before had been a disappointment, with Colin getting taken down hard by a crashed rider in the sprint from near-perfect position for a strong finish, after the efforts of the rest of the team to get him there in the last lap. While he was pretty bruised up and nursing some road rash, he was kitted up in his fresh Capo stars’n’stripes skinsuit and ready to go, having been at the venue since the crack of dawn to support his girlfriend’s early morning race.

The mood was tense – we’d done well at Chico before, but this year was a bigger, stronger field than ever before, and we’d have our work cut out for us. The plan was to hope for the windiest conditions possible, using our numbers and our course knowledge to outsmart and outride the competition, hopefully stacking a break that would stick to the line from halfway into lap one or halfway into lap two.

The start of the race was mellow, with a few of the guys following early moves just to make sure we were represented. A small group (maybe 5?) got a threatening advantage with just a few miles to go to the gravel run-up, but H24/Marc Pro seemed to have no trouble chasing it down. In fact, that would become a theme of the day – on every section but the gravel, it seemed like H24 was content to sit on the front or chase, like it was training camp v2.

The gravel came, and Mike’s had all our riders in good position, although it was hard to tell exactly who was up front when the attacks started to fly about a mile before the gravel. The lead-in to the 4-mile gravel section is on the crappiest road imaginable, full of potholes, loose filling, and general cause for mayhem. I (Colin) managed to sneak up the right side on the slight downhill within site of the gravel, entering it in the first few wheels alongside Will Routely of Rally. Being a mountain biker, I thought I was pretty good at this gravel thing, but I found it hard to stick with the front few guys. It was like I was pushing as hard as I could, but only getting 80% of the power to my legs/wheels. I think it was the impact of the crash from the day before, but it felt like I was stuck in sand for the entire thing.

I dangled on the back of the lead group of ~30 guys, but made it through fine and was glad for a brief respite through the feed zone. I then made my way to the front once again, preparing for an onslaught of attacks into the flat, straight, cross-windy section that has been the defining factor on course the past two years. It looked like most of our team was there at the front, ready to make something happen. Unfortunately for our planned tactics, the wind never materialized into anything decisive, and the group (still 60-70 strong) rode pretty much together until the next lap, with only a bit of mayhem for the points sprint mid-race, where all but a few hopefuls seemed content to let Sean Bennett stay in Green.

The second time through the gravel was much like the first, but it whittled the front group down to maybe 40-45 guys. Again, I snuck up with only a couple hundred meters to spare, entering the gravel on the front and again trying to ride like the mountain biker I am. This time through hurt even worse. and I wasn’t even CLOSE to my average power of years past. In fact, this was possibly my lowest average (+normalized) power race ever… Why was I hurting so much?! But I persevered, exiting the gravel about 25 wheels back, and clawing my way onto the back of the group. This time, there was no respite in the feed zone, just a few solemn words of encouragement, ‘Come on, Daw’ from none other than Justin Rossi as we both tried to hang onto the raging attacks from the front of the pack. In the next few km’s, more attacks flew, and I thought the race would split apart then. However, everything got brought back, and once again, a surprising lack of attacks through the usually-decisive crosswind section meant that I could recuperate a bit and focus on how I was going to sprint for the win.

At one point, with maybe 40 minutes left to race, our teammate Adam Switters got off the front solo, and the group was content to sit up and let him get some space. In fact, he got almost a minute on us before a couple of teams decided to sit on the front and bring him back before the right turn into the final ~15km to keep him from being a threat. The last 10km were surprisingly non-decisive, and the last 3-4km saw Rally assume the front to lead out Huff. At this point, I had Cam, Reese, and Roman there riding me right up to the side of the Rally train, and with 1km to go we expected it to get hard. However, Rally never really picked up the pace, and we were left wondering who would go first.

The first onslaught of sprint hopefuls jumped before 500m to go, on the second-to-last rise, so I yelled at Roman to accelerate. He did, and the Optum train responded as well. The rest is a blur, but I remember some early fliers from behind us getting quite a gap, while the eventual podium finishers rode those wheels to perfection. I was left to open up my effort at the bottom of the last rise, at least 250m from the line and with 10-12 riders ahead of me. I cranked up the rise with jello legs, passed a few guys on the long false-flat drag to the line for an 8th place finish. I was OK with it, considering the 38mph crash the day before, but it was not the redemption I was looking for after last year’s close 2nd place finish. In hindsight, 6 of the 7 guys ahead of me were pros, and I should be pleased with such a finish, but coming off such a great year for the team in 2015, we’re all hungry for wins!

We ate a big dinner in downtown Chico, debriefing the race, sharing war stories from the gravel, and getting ready for a hard TT the next morning. We were all excited to see what Cam Piper, our new teammate and solid GC contender could do with his #aeroiseverything setup, and a few of us were looking to stay in contention for a strong overall finish.​

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2016 Chico Stage Race - Thunderhill Circuit

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words: Craig Fellers images: Alex Chiu

Adrenaline is always high coming up to the Chico Stage Race.  For 2016, the stakes have been raised once again, as the prize purse creeps up towards $10,000 and more professional teams conglomerate to seek the glory of the “New Merco” season opener.  Stage 1 is held at Thunderhill Raceway, a premier racecar and motorcycle track just outside of Willows, Ca.  Sweeping turns and immaculate pavement will be a warm welcome, as lesser teams fear the potholes and gravel to come the next day in the Paskenta Road Race.

Taking the line, TMB P/B Equator had 9 racers led by our captains, Roman Kilun and Adam Switters both expecting a sprint finish for our champion, Garret Hankins.  With such perfect road conditions, attacks are challenging, and wind historically has not been a factor.  Our goal was to keep Garrett protected, let other teams waste their legs, and sheppard him to the line, not taking the front until 1 to go.  At the start we were joined by Rally (former Optum) Canyon Cycling, LUX, KHS, Axeon, Jamis, and Herbalife to round out the 100 rider P1 field.

Just 2 laps in, good attacks started flying.  This is not quite how we expected the race to unfold.  With Rally being the major contender for GC, we were keen to avoid moves with them getting away.  Adam and Chris followed a strong move with 2 other Rally riders in a group of 9 that stayed away for about 12 miles, but was eventually brought back.  Aria keenly followed the next moves which didn't last as long.  With 1.5 laps to go, Jason Saltzman made a solo breakaway up the climb, and we decided to take the front early and start our leadout. 

Adam did the majority of the work for the first half lap, leaving Reese and Craig to take the front crossing 1 to go.  They rotated for another half lap getting Chris to the base of the hill followed by Roman, Cam, Colin and Garrett.  The Rally train was starting to work their way up through the field vying for position.  Going over the hill, Garrett lost his wheel and was gobbled up by the field; Roman, Cam and Colin quickly made plans to have Colin sprint.  Down the back side of the hill Rally took over the front, Roman, Cam and Colin surfed and into the final corner, Roman unleashed Colin for the sprint… right into the back of a crash.  A KHS rider crossed wheels with a Jamis rider and hit the deck right in front of Colin, who had nowhere to go but down at nearly 40mph. Cam made it around the crash, but could only make it back to 17th. 

While Colin escaped with just aches, pains and some road rash, it was a tough start for the 2016 stage race.

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2016 Merced Criterium

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The day after Snelling road race was the Merced Criterium. The Merced Criterium course has all sorts of chicanes, rough pavement, reflectors, sharp corners, and even shoots through a tight alleyway. Add to that the presence of Rally Cycling (formerly Optum), and this race promised to be fast and aggressive. The TMBEquator squad included Roman, Chris, Reese, Cam Piper, and Garrett.

As expected, the race started fast, with plenty of attacks flying one after another. Roughly a third of the way into the 60 minutes race, Roman, Reese and Chris were able to make it into the front leading group of about a dozen riders. Garrett and Cameron made a hard chase to get to the front group with a huge amount of help from team Herbalife. Willie Myers, the sprinter for Herbalife, had also missed the split, which allowed Cam and I to sit back a bit and allow Herbalife to give us a ride to the front group.

Attacks immediately resumed after the regroup, but nothing was getting away as easily at this point. Finally, with about 10 minutes left in the race, Chris got into a break with a Rally rider and an Herbalife rider. They quickly built up a sizable gap. Things were looking good for us. That was until we came around turn 1 to find Chris on the ground, looking quite unhappy. As it turns out, an angsty teen on a bmx bike decided to ride into the course right in front of the break. Chris had nowhere to go and piled into him.

We now had to chase down the Rally and Herbalife rider who had about a 20 second gap. Unfortunately for Herbalife, their rider had gotten dropped from Rally. After we brought back the Herbalife rider, it was their turn to help chase. The final Rally rider was caught with about 3 to go, and from that point TMBEquator hovered near the front, allowing Rally to set the pace. In the final lap, Garrett followed Roman closely through the tight corners and chicanes. Roman set him up beautifully, getting him out of the final corner in 4th wheel. From there it was 250 meters to the line. Garrett opened it up just before Brad Huff (Rally) hit the gas, and was able to come by the two Rally riders in front of him to take the win!

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2016 Folsom Criterium

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words: Travis Lyons

This morning, I woke up early to get in a short spin on my Venge ViAS. I had a little trouble yesterday with the front derailleur after installing my powermeter, and the guys at MB Walnut Creek, Nico and Rob, got it dialed in a jiffy. This morning’s ride was mostly just to make sure the power read right, and to get the legs loose before driving up to Folsom in the afternoon.

Adam Switters, my only teammate for the day, arrived at the race shortly before Sean and me. Adam and I planned to trade off covering moves in the early part of the race, and to execute the same winning plan Adam made with Garrett a year earlier.

As the peloton, 42 riders strong, made its way around the semi-rectangular course, attacks from Herbalife24, CoreTechs, SquadraSF, and Max Jenkins (Astellas) kept everyone on their toes. Numerous small breaks of six or seven riders got up the road, but with no more than fifteen seconds at most on the bunch. Adam and I both made great use of our Evade aero helmets and the Venge ViAS’ aerodynamic prowess, which easily floated us up from the field to the breakaways.

Going into the final lap, Herbalife24 picked up the pace, still with 4 riders on the front. Adam and I held the inside line around the backside of the course. Bryan Larsen (Echelon-Storck) made his signature move with 400m to go, flying around the outside of the long right curve, causing Herbalife24 to jump to close down his advantage. There was a brief hesitation, and Adam accelerated up the inside with me on his wheel as we approached the last corner. I sprinted past Adam and kept Willy Myers (Herbalife24) on the long route around me to the line. Randy Bramblett (CoreTechs) rounded out the podium for third, and my carpool Sean (Dolce Vita) finished fifth!

I’m really happy to have gotten the first win for the team this year!

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2016 Men's Team Camp: Day Two

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words: Roman Kilun images: Andrew Goessling & Mike's Bikes

Day two of camp was scheduled to be the big ride of the weekend. Kings Ridge, Tin Barn, HWY 1 and Coleman Valley. In addition to some serious training the other goal for the ride was to work with our photographers to get some action shots of the team on the new bikes. All fueled on Equator Speed Blend we kitted up and got out the door. As team captain, it warmed my heart that everyone was ready on time and looking super fly for photos.

 

The first portion of the ride was fast and flat. Big smiles were had all around as we realized how silly fast these Vias bikes really are. As we rode and chatted the Caesar chaffered the photographers to get “the shot.” It was all fun and games until the base of King Ridge when our Colin Daw, our national champion, set a hard pace and the conversation was a minimum. The views were incredible, the weather was great, and the pain in the legs was just right. Once at the top we stopped for a big group photo and refilled on Osmo. The climbing was by no means over but everyone was quite relieved to have main climb over. 

An hour later we reached the coast just north of Fort Ross. At this point we spit up into 2 groups to practice on pace lines and to do some intensity. The plan was ride hard for 20k but no one wanted to stop and we smashed each other all the way to Bodega, some 30 miles later. Hungry and tired, we still had the climb up Coleman Valley to get home. 

Once within spitting distance of the house the guys started turning to me and asking about dinner… and I honestly did not know. We did not have much food in the house but I did know that a chef was coming to cook for us. It was five o’clock and I did not expect that he had arrived… but I am glad I was wrong. As we came into the house we realized that our chef, Matt Accarino (of SPQR) and had arrived, and he had made us the most amazing spread I have ever seen at any team event.  It was a cornucopia of treats, all perfect for recovery. And we were told that this was just to tide us over until dinner.. we were over the moon. 

After snacks and showers, Chef Accarino did a really informative presentation on race food preparation and how to cook a variety of grains. The team was super curious and got to try a dozen new ingredients. And then, it was dinner. Moroccan chicken, truffle risotto, roasted squash, and herb salad with grapefruit. Everything was beyond delicious and made with love. It was obvious that Accarino is a world-class chef and the next day we would learn that he is also a very good bike rider.

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2016 Men's Team Camp: Day One

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words: Cameron Bronstein images: Andrew Goessling

After an early morning at work, I pedaled home to meet part of the East Bay crew (Roman and Reese). We hit the road in Roman’s sweet old car for Novato to meet up with Caesar --our selfless mechanic-- and team papas Matt Adams and Steve Pelaez. It was quite the job to pack up our Toyota Sienna with the team’s gear from all of our sponsors: ProBar, Capo Cycling Apparel, Specialized Evade helmets and Sub6 shoes, Look Pedals, and BikeSmart gear. Amazingly everything fit in the Sienna and we were off. What a way to start the weekend in seeing the Mike’s Bikes warehouse, where a team of mechanics spends countless hours building all the bikes for Mike’s Bikes, including our new Specialized Venge ViAS team bikes. 

We made our way through the green Sonoma pastures and up the familiar grade of Joy Rd. in Occidental where we’d be staying for the weekend (huge thanks to Travis Lyons for setting us up with an amazing cabin). A few quick introductions later and we finally took off for the first ride of the weekend. Rain, wet roads, and a couple punctures kept the intensity mellow, but we had a fun time familiarizing ourselves with the steep curves of Coleman Valley Rd. which would serve as a motif for the weekend’s rides. 

We got all cleaned up from our muddy ride and relaxed for a bit, chatting about our awesome new bikes and our excitement for dinner. As forever hungry cyclists, we all opted for the “Dinner” option for entrees at Negri’s Original, which included countless sides and a seemingly endless amount of delicious Italian food. I was not one to complain! A long dinner later and we were getting more food for breakfast across the road. It was here that our team camp anthem was found and some major dance moves were thrown down (Fairfax by Gladiator).

As the evening came to a close, some of us played with our bikes while the rest divvied out our team gear. What a feeling to make a separate “stars and stripes” pile for all of our past and current National Champions -- a true testament to the depth and hard work of our riders! Cheers to a great first day of camp.

@TMBEquator

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