A small field came to race at Watsonville and I’m not sure why. Such a rad tight course: a hairpin and a couple turns that were nearly so, a hill and some other turns. It felt like a mini criterium-rollercoaster. I was warned that an early breakaway will work and so I attacked from the whistle. Rand Miller (CalGiant), John Wilk (Webcore), and Matt Schaupp (Ritte U23) bridged a lap later. Rand was obviously the man to mark, he had won at Watsonville before and was rallying the corners super hard, often creating bike length or two gaps between himself and the others after doing so. However, eventually his teammate James Mattis bridged and made it much more complicated. Rand attacked and James sat on our group, shutting down anyone trying to make it across to Rand. I marked John for the sprint for second, as he has beat me out of a breakaway before. Well, he beat me anyway, and I finished third.
TDF Stage 16 - Pau to Bagnere Luchon (Amateur Race - Etape 2)
Here's a quick recap of my race of the amateur version of Stage 16 - Pau - Luchon. It is the queen stage of this year's tour. 198K, 5 Cols (Aubisque, Sulor, Tourmalet, Aspin, Peyresourde). And if that wasn't tough enough, the heavens decided to open up and pour cold rain on us all day. This race was not just harder than I imagined. It is harder than anything I could have imagined. I have a renewed respect to all the Tour riders. Even more so to the gruppettos and domestiques.
I started in Group 6 - Number 6K-7K. There were 10K participants. But it didn't feel like a lot once you were on the road because everyone was spread out along the full road closure roads.
Quickly, i worked my way to different fast groups and kept bridging from one group to the other. I was so excited, I thought it was a crit and sprinted from the gun. Mistake # 1.
Eventually, I made my way to the 1000 and under group number and rode up with some fast riders up the Aubisque. I had to ride the climb at threshold and tapped out the KMs feeling good. I was riding above my level for 1.5 hrs up the 1st HC climb. Mistake# 2.
On the descent of the Aubisque, it was raining sideways, so descending was treacherous at best. Luckily, I was riding my crossbike and felt super comfortable sliding it around. I bombed the Aubisque descent, Rainier style. I eventually caught a moto to lead me down and followed his lines and dropped my group. It was such an adrenaline rush to descend faster than I ever have and not crash while doing it.
However, I was having so much fun the first 3 hours, I forgot to eat and drink. Then at the base of the Tourmalet, I bonked. I was shivering from the cold and dreaming of steaks and a chocolate peanut butter milkshake. But I still had 2+ hrs of climbing to do up the might Col du Tourmalet. I was just going backwards and could not put any power on the pedals. So I stopped at a cafe to get a ham sandwich, but I couldn't speak french so they only gave me a baguet. An hour later - halfway up the climb, I made it to a food stop and devoured anything I could get hold off. Yet another mistake, because minutes later, I had to go # 2. There was nothing but cliffside around me. My stomach was ready to explode. The idea of a stained chamois was not appealing at all. I was shit out of luck. So I kept climbing slower and slower, nursing the eventual eruption of Mt. Steveius. An hour later, I made it to the top of the Tourmalet and dashed to the rest room. It was filled with many riders doing nasty things too. I was just ready to blow when a door opened. I was in such a rush to get in I almost knocked over an old french man. That would be really bad especially since I was obviously an American since I decided to wear my stars and stripes jersey.
Anyhow, after I survived that 2 hr+ crisis, I ate some more and felt ready for the next 2 cols - the Col d Aspin and the Col de Peyressourde. Lots of the riders were saying that the worst was over since we only had 50K left and only 2 Cat 1 climbs (15K climbs). Hour long climbs are a piece of cake after the Tourmalet. It's all perspective, right.
But the worst part was not over yet. The descent of the Tourmalet was FREEZING rain. I was shivering so badly the bike felt like it was broken. My teeth were being grounded to powder. 45 mins. later I got to the base of the Tourmalet descent and the medics were handing out medical blankets. Got mine, and went straight to a cafe to order a boiling hot cafe au lait.
You know that saying, the darkest hr is just before dawn? Well, it is so true! I was sitting at the bar surrounded hypothermic surrounded by other freezing cyclist. And we were all drinking our cafe's like we had convulsions. I was shaking so badly, I think I spilled most of my hot drink on my hands and didn't even notice since they were so numb. Anyhow, it was such a ridiculous sight to see that I started laughing hysterically. I was speaking to a french guy and we both didn't understand each other but were laughing and shaking together. It is the key memory I will take from the ride. Cycling is suffering, and you have to laugh at it and enjoy the pain.
This image carried me to the finish. I even managed to have the 3rd fastest descent out of the many thousands into Luchon.
The things that matter most are not materialistic or grand, they are moments when you are in the moment, when you are present in every single way. This was how I felt during the Etape #2. I hope to do it again but next time, I hope to do it with some of you.
Au revoir!
Lyons Wins Colavita GP - Cat 2-3 Video
Check out a great report and video from Travis Lyons- It was a bright and sun-shiny day in Novato, California, when we met at the Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. building to race our bicycles. The field was small. Only 22 people had registered by the time I picked up my number from Registration. I knew I would have at least three teammates in the field to work with, and I felt we had a solid opportunity to pull out a win in the 2/3 field.
The plan(s) was to get Hank into a break that was well represented by the teams with a strong presence in the field, and mark anything that tried to bridge, or get in the way of people trying to organize a chase. Plan "B" was to have Ryan Johnson lead me out from the top of the hill on the backside of the course, with Ian Leibert sweeping and ready to sit up when the time was right. Taking Dana and John's advice into consideration, we knew that I needed to be the first into the last corner (about 220m from the finish, downhill to flat, w/ slight tailwind), ideally with some kind of a gap. Having Jared Franzoia, MB BG Fit Specialist, in the field was an unexpected, but none the less pleasant, surprise. It always helps to have numbers.
Hank got into a break with a few riders about mid-race, which ended up being just him and one other guy. Hank said they worked well together and they were each sharing the work load equally, but felt like the pace may have been a little beyond him. A few attempted to pull them back, and the field got strung out a few times. But whenever I looked up the road, it didn't seem that anyone was really making progress on Hank and the other rider's lead. With about 10 laps to go, their breakaway got pulled back, I presume by some riders from Red Peloton or Squadra SF, since they both had decent numbers in the field, and likely wanted it to come down to a sprint.
With two laps to go, Ryan was shepherding me through the pack, moving me up from around 20th to place me comfortably within the top 10 before halfway through the lap. I told him that this is where we wanted to stay for the beginning of the final lap. As we rounded the last corner of the lap, Hank made his way up to Ryan and I, at which point we began to take control of the front.
As we approached the first turn, Ryan was leading with Hank on his wheel, and me following. I shouted to Ryan that we needed to go, and as we exited the turn, Ryan took the left bend hard on the inside and began to raise the pace. A Davis rider put in an acceleration up the right side just before we hit the hill. I shouted to Ryan to sit on him, hoping that he might have time to recover a little and take us over the hill, but Hank jumped onto the Davis rider's wheel and Ryan sat back in behind Hank. Up the hill, Hank overtook the Davis rider on the inside of the right curve, then pulled off. Ryan stomped the pedals to push the pace even more on the descent before the long left curve. Fearing that there was a train waiting to come around us on the outside, I moved around Ryan to have him sit in and sweep behind me. I looked over my right shoulder about halfway around the curve and saw SquadraSF and Red Peloton both with leadouts coming around the outside. I knew I could be too far out, but I didn't want to get swarmed- so I started my sprint from the front of the pack.
I sprinted as hard as I could for about 200m to the final corner, looked under my left shoulder, and saw that I had a gap of about two bike lengths on the guys behind me. I stood up out of the exit of the turn and mashed the pedals as if I were stomping on extra large bubble-wrap packaging, having as much fun doing so. My only complaint about this course is the unnecessary number of lines going across the road that could easily have been mistaken for the finish line. I sprinted until my legs felt like spaghetti noodles and lunged for the line, my buddy, Mark Marquez on Fremont Bank, almost stealing my first win as a cat 2 to make it his own.
A huge thank you to my teammates, all of whom destroyed themselves [in some cases, multiple times] in the last lap to help me get the win. Glad to know that Ian was able to get up with only a [Specialized S-works Prevail] helmet that did it's job and a few scrapes from the crash in the final corner that happened about mid-pack.
Also, a big thank you to our sponsors for such invaluable support that has kept us going: Mike's Bikes Provantage Sports Specialized Bicycles SRAM Zipp Speed Weaponry Look Pedals Garmin CLIF Bar GoPro Smith Optics Bike Smart
Awesome San Rafael Twilight Crit Video
Check out this awesome video Matt Quann of Squadra Ovest put together from the Mens Pro 1/2 race at the San Rafael Twilight Crit.
Quick Update from BC Superweek
After the huge success at the local San Rafael Twilight Crit, several members of Team Mike's Bikes packed up their bikes and headed up to BC Superweek for some more fast racing. Dana Williams gave us a quick update on how the boys are doing:
"BC Superweek going well so far. 13th in UBC crit on Tuesday night and 12th at Gastown last night. 2 of 6 Team Mikes Bikes finished UBC (Riggs and I) and all but James finished Gastown. I did a quick interview on the start line for CBC (Canada's main broadcast station) and I guess it aired because I had lots of people say they saw me on TV.
UBC course was hardest crit I've done in a while. Technical course with one 180 degree turn followed by five 90 degree turns in pretty quick succession....so accelerate, then break, and repeat for 50 laps or 250 times. That gets the legs and heart going. Gastown is really only two accelerations and higher speed. The key to these races, like any other, but more so here, is to start at the front. I was 3 rows back at UBC which probably contributed to the pain but Gastown I was right behind the guys that got called up so much better More detailed report to follow. Giro di Burnaby tonight."
Click the link below for some footage of the boys at the Gastown Grand Prix via the Vancouver Sun: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/regional-news/WATCH+Gastown+Grand+Prix+returns+after+four+year+hiatus/6920429/story.html#ooid=hoMTZkNTqZ9orHwq6Eg_HBaPAc9bdkWF&ootime=52s
TMB, Riggs Dominant at San Rafael Twilight
Race winner Eric Riggs on his awesome performance- The San Rafael Twilight Criterium is always a great event, with spectators thickly lining the course and a massive street party by the end. Each year it keeps getting bigger and better.
The course contained four corners, wide roads, and a hill in the middle of the course splitting half of it uphill and half of it downhill, with gradients ranging from gradual to relatively steep. Typically, the race always sticks together because of constant surges (line changes) in the field due to the wide roads which keeps the pace high all day. Team Mike's Bikes went into the race with this in mind, partitioning our riders to race for primes and exposure off the front and then setup a leadout for our sprinter James Laberge in the final five laps.
Twenty minutes into the race a move of four riders had about fifteen seconds on the field. The surges and line changes in the field were not coming fast enough to send fresh riders to the front to chase it down, and the field had just been single filed for the past four laps which meant they were going to be less likely to chase. I did a seated attack (less threatening) into corner three and rode pretty dangerously through the downhill turn while my teammate Jon Piasta went to the front and rode purposely slow in order to maximize my immediate advantage over the field. I came out of corner four with a five second gap, chased solo for a lap and made it to the break.
A couple of riders in the break were being obnoxious and playing games with me as soon as I bridged up, gapping me off the back over and over. I wanted to actually ride the break and knew it wouldn't happen with these riders, so I let them gap me and then attacked into a corner, caught up with Jared Barrilleaux (CalGiant) and put in a hard one lap effort with him so the other riders wouldn't be able to reattach. Ariel Hermann (Metromint) fell off the break shortly after and the lead group consisted of just Barrilleaux and I now, and we started to find our rhythm.
Barrilleaux is a much stronger rider than me and so I had him pull the downhill stretches while I pulled the uphill stretches. This meant he ended up doing more work than I did and took the important roll of maintaining our speed after the uphill, but the offset equalized our fitness discrepency and allowed us to work well together. This combined with my teammates blocking the peleton and tricking it to ride slower allowed us to rapidly put time into the field.
I never thought this break had a chance. It was always just a matter of time until I got tired and stopped pulling, which would discourage Barrilleaux from pulling, and we'd both stop and wait for the peleton. Laps came and went, and even though the pain got worse for me it never took control and caused me to seize up and opt out of contributing the break. Eventually we saw the back of the peleton on the long straightaways and I realized this break would last, would probably lap the field. I just wanted to get my picture taken off the front, I never imagined it would go this far. I had more faith in my teammates than fear of Barrilleaux's and so lapping the field became my goal. At the same time I had to be careful here because Barrilleaux was strong enough to attack me, bridge up to the field solo, and leave me behind. I didn't think he would do that, but nonetheless I started to be more cautious of how deep I went when I pulled in anticipation of this.
Right as we were about to latch on and lap the field they picked up their pace for about six laps, riders getting shelled left and right. Barrilleaux and I kept staying consistent, minimized our loss in time on the field, and eventually were able to catch the field once it slowed down.
In the field Roman Kilun (Kenda/5-Hour Energy) waited for me at the back and then babysat me, carrying me to the front of the field. Later Andy Jacques-Maynes (Kenda/5-Hour Energy) also started helping me along with the TMB squad.
In the closing laps our team had setup a train with teammate James Laberge at the back of it, and me right behind him. I have never been hooked, hit, bumped, and cut off so much in my entire life. Everyone wanted James Laberge's wheel and were willing to do anything for it. With three laps to go I made the decision to give up Laberge's wheel because the way everyone rode for it meant I'd end up crashing if I tried to keep it. I'd stay nearby and planned to take it back on the last lap.
The final sprint would be between Barrilleuax and I, with the field racing for third. Because I had my team doing a leadout and help from Kilun and Jacques-Maynes, I decided to focus on trying to get as high of a result in the sprint as I could rather than marking Barrilleaux.
Coming into the last lap I started trying to find Laberge's wheel. I kept getting bumped and rubbing handlebars all over the place. Felt like I plowed through people more than passed them. Coming out of corner two Kilun came by me, gave me space so I could get onto his wheel, and then took off up the inside with me in tow. Everyone is full gas right now, the Mike's Bike leadout train led the charge, the CalGiant leadout train got split somehow, and teammate Tyler Brandt came up next to me and I yelled at him to sweep because I knew Barrilleaux was somewhere behind me. I hit corner three and passed Kilun, and sprinted after wheels. Brandt did an absolutely amazing job sweeping and I had, at minimum, a six bike length gap behind me coming out of corner four.
I started my sprint immediately, too long out, but I needed to maintain the gap that Brandt opened up for me. I ended up getting fifth or sixth in the field sprint, and in front of Barrilleaux for the win. Laberge had absolutely demolished the field sprint and won third overall, testament to both his sprinting prowlessness and our team's extraordinaire leadout.
I would like to think that I won because I am a stronger sprinter than Barrilleaux, but it really all came down to Tyler Brandt (who had ridden for CalGiant until their management stupidly decided to cut him from their roster for 2012) having the wherewithal to stay close to me in the final lap and accomplishing one of the best sweeps I've ever seen.
Easily one of the best finishes of my career and the memories of which I will cherish always.
-e.
Col du Tourmalet - Vacation Report From Steve Pelaez
Steve is climbing legendary mountains, dodging livestock and having a great time. Check out his report and video- Here's my incredible descent of the Tourmalet. I descended in the direction of this year’s TDF'12 climb. It's a really nice fast open descent, but I had some obstacles that I didn't really anticipate since I've never seen these encounters during the tour. It's an incredible experience and I'm fortunate to ride away from the experience in one piece. My grandma was Lourdes during the day praying for my safe return since I left around dawn. I'm glad HE was on my corner during the descent. Good things happen in 3s too.
I hope you enjoy it. It’s long but there's a lot to see.
Col du Tourmalet Descent to Luz St. Sauver from Steve Pelaez on Vimeo.
PS. I'm in Barcelona right now, and it simply is the best city I've seen during this European visit. Breath taking in its beauty, both the sites and the people altogether.
Leesville Gap Road Race: A War of Attrition
"It's really rough, hot and hard. It almost puts Copperopolis to shame". This was the consistent message I received from others who had previously raced Leesville Gap Road Race. This made the race even more intriguing to me because I had done Copperopolis for the first time earlier this year and it definitely was rough and tough. But considering the race took place in a town called Williams, and I knew that a good hard race would make me stronger for the upcoming BC Superweek races (that myself and five other Team Mike's Bike members will go contest), I decided to do it.
The P12 race had a good turnout. Many local teams were represented by some of their strong riders. Marco Strava Pro seemed to have the most number of teammates with strongmen Charles (Chuck) Hutcheson, Kris Lunning and Keith Hillier set to light things up. But not to be outdone, two well known pros from the area, Max Jenkins of Competitive Cyclist and Kirk Carlsen riding for Full Circle (former Garmin Development rider), were also in the mix.
Team Mike's Bikes had three riders: myself, Eric Riggs and Tyler Brandt. Our plan was for Eric to get off the front early to get up and over the climb with the top riders. Tyler and I were to work together, mark moves and stay at the front over the rough terrain so we could pick our line and minimize our chances of any mishaps. Eric and Tyler gave me a quick run down of the race which went something like this: about five miles of smooth pavement, cross a highway and the roads turn to (beep) for about 20 miles; pot holes and water run off trenches on a mix of gravel and pavement, which takes you up to the top of the climb then down a descent to a valley. Here the roads turn much better and are good getting out of the valley, down a fast descent and back to the finish just outside Williams.
My main concern was getting over the climb in decent position. I was told it was about 20 minutes so I knew I was going to have to dig deep because I'm definitely not a climber. I've focused more on crits this year (due to a young family with two boys under two and running my business) so I didn't think my chances were that great to hang with the climbers. But hopefully I could manage my losses by the top and work with a group to get back to the lead group if needed.
The race rolled out of Williams under neutral for the first few miles. As soon as the neutral motorcycle peeled off, Chuck Hutcheson accelerated past the front of the main group and looked back and asked jokingly 'can I attack now?'. Nobody responded so off he went. I was leading the pack and decided to keep a decent pace in order to manage the gap so Eric wouldn't have as much work to do when he decided to make his own move. I didn't have too wait long to see Eric accelerating past me and in pursuit of Chuck. And nobody went with him either. That was good for Tyler and I. The main pack continued to roll and I soon saw the highway we were to cross before the rough roads. Little did I know what was in store.
As soon as we hit the rough road, Kris Lunning of Marco Pro accelerated really hard off the front. Holy moly, when Tyler and Eric told me there would be pot holes, I didn't imagine the entire road being blanketed with them. The only thing that could be done was to go after Kris. As soon as he was brought back, another group of riders launched off the front. In this move was Max Jenkins. Ppsssssssss, the first flat of the race...and it was Max. Unlucky! I thought to myself 'this changes the complexion of the race.'. On we went. Tyler and I maintained our position close to the front. The rough roads started to go up but not as severely as I thought. Well, that's because the real climb hadn't started.
The pace was pretty good and I could tell the group was dwindling. We rounded a left turn and 'bam', the road pitched up. Now we were on the real climb. Up, up we went. I'd say at about half way up the climb, the group was down to about seven or eight riders. This is where my 'elastic' popped and the group began to ride away. Fortunately for me, another rider from Whole Athlete was in the same world of hurt. All we could do was continue on to the top. We work together and soon were joined by a Specialized rider (which I later found out was the wiley NorCal veteran and multiple National Champion Kevin Metcalfe). The three of us went over the top together and began the hectic descent. In the valley we came up on Jakob Berkman and he jumped on with us. The roads finally smoothened out and we soon found out our gap was 1:30 to the front group of four riders, which Eric was in.
Out the valley, up a short climb and down a steep descent we went. Here I have to give a few 'shout outs' to our team sponsors, Specialized and Zipp. The aerodynamics of my Venge frame combined with my Zipp 404 wheels allowed me to easily accelerate away from my group on the descent. We came back together as the road flatted out and continued to working in a nice paceline.
The one feed zone came on a short climb about 20 miles from the finish. As we approached it, I could see another rider up the road. It was Eric. He joined us and we were now five. We were on the home stretch. Would we be able to catch the lead group of four? We pushed on. Big props to Eric because he was burying himself each time he hit the front even though fatigue got the best of him in the lead group (he's the ultimate team player, a big asset to Team Mike's Bikes).
The race marshall on a motor bike was giving us splits. The gap was slowly coming down. As we came onto the flat farmland and turned a corner, in the distance it seemed like I could see a group of riders. As the miles continued to tick down, I soon realized what I saw in the distance was the lead group of four. We were closing the gap down. It was now under a minute but I didn't know how many miles were left in the race. Then one of the riders from the lead group dropped off the pace and soon joined our group. It was Kris L of Marco Pro. With his teammate, Chuck, in the lead group, there was no way he was going to do any work. He sat on the back as we pressed on. We made a 90 degree turn to the left (what ended up being the last one) and the lead group was pretty close (turns out it was 16 seconds, thanks to http://raceshape.com/strava-segments/616208?kom=1&rides=208579835, a cool website I came across, thanks to Kevin's twitter). The lead group saw us coming and accelerated. The gap started to open up again, and unfortunately nobody in the chase group had enough energy to match them.
As Eric finished putting in a strong pull, he said 'good luck dude' as he drifted back passed me. I soon realized he was cooked and I was on my own to fend for fourth place. As we approached the 1 km sign, Kevin attacked and nobody responded. But we kept the pace going. At about 300 meters to go, the Whole Athlete rider was the first to accelerate. Kris jumped on his wheel and I jumped on his. We were closing on Kevin. Kris passed the Whole Athlete rider, then I passed Kris but wasn't able to catch Kevin. 5th place it was.
What a fun race. It was definitely rough as expected, but that's what made it challenging and fun. Eric ended up finishing 8th. Unfortunately, bad luck got the best of Tyler as he flatted at mile 24.
U23 Nationals Crit
I came into Nationals preparing all for the criterium in hopes of retrieving a National Champions jersey and a gold medal. This was going to be a very hard task as many of the biggest named teams in the country and around the world showed up by the names of Garmin, BMC, and Team Mountain Khakis p/b SmartStop. There were also our Northern Californian rivals of California Giant Berry Farms/ Specialized. This was sure to be a complete smack down and whoever wins the race would be a for sure worthy winner! It was a hot day in downtown Augusta and I tried to conserve as much energy as possible by sitting in the shade waiting for us to be called up. In previous years, they have done call ups of the top 8 from last year's race, so I had thought I was going to get a call up but just in case if I didn't, I wanted to start right near the front so it could give me the best chance to stay safe and save it for the end. I ended up not getting a call up but I did get to start 2nd row!
The race was off and we were flying by the first 5 laps of the race! I stayed out of trouble throughout the race and stayed in the front the entire time with Tyler and John. They were both looking for any dangerous breakaways that might have succeeded. John was impressivly strong, following any Garmin, Cal Giant, Livestrong, or BMC riders to try to get in a winning break but nothing had succeded. With 6 laps to go, a group of about 7 got away that included 3 Cal Giants, a Garmin, BMC, and Livestrong rider got away. I asked Tyler how he was doing and without reply, he attacked out of the group and was able to bridge up! This now looked very promising and I was now getting a free ride to the finish hopefully. But by the time Tyler bridged up, within a lap, the field had caught them. We were strung out and it hardly slowed now after. After fighting for wheels from 5 to 2 laps to go, I was in prime position; sitting behind Ty Magner (BMC) and Luke Keough (Team Mountain Khakis p/b SmartStop). It was extremely fast the second to last lap and I was really feeling the burn just holding the wheel in front of me but I was able to catch my breath quickly as we came around the corner coming into 1 lap to go! I was still sitting in good position and was getting excited. I looked up and all I saw was one rider from their own team up there; there was no organized lead out and on the long back-straight, a swarm came over the top and I had guys on my left and right already. I realized here was when I should have jumped early to flow with the swarm but I didn't and got pushed back to about 15th. I slid to the outside and tried to make up some ground but it wasn't enough. I came around the last corner in about 8th position and got passed by one rider in the sprint as I used my energy trying to move back up. I ended up finishing 9th overall and I was the best 19 year-ol in the race!
Tyler somehow held onto 17th in the race and John finished shortly after. It was one of the faster crits I've done this year, but I've done similar crits in superweek before, so it was a good wake up call for me to get ready for BC Super week in 2 weeks! I want to thank all of the supporters and sponsors of Team Mike's Bikes and host housing for hosting Tyler, John, and I for the week! We surely had a great time and learned a lot and I'm looking forward to next year in Madison, Wisconsin!
U23 Nationals Road Race
Nationals is always the peak of the season. Having raced in Augusta last year I knew the road race was a good course for me. It has nonstop rolling hills and the heat makes it a race of attrition. This year would be my first as a U23, so I put no pressure on myself. The field is filled with professionals and 22 year olds who have years of experience on me. I was there to learn and hopefully help Tyler get a result. The race started and it was nervous from the beginning. People were doing hopeless attacks while the big teams just sat in, watched and shared a laugh. I made my way to the front and just stayed there to be safe. After two laps the attacks started rotating from the bigger teams. I saw how riders were getting tired and immediately new that this race would result in a breakaway. Attacks from teams like Livestrong, BMC, Garmin and Cal Giant were extremely dangerous because they would be happy with any of their riders making the break.
After some more attacks from the bigger teams, I made a selection that lasted for about 5 miles and once it was caught I knew the winning move would go. People were getting too tired and the weather was only getting warmer. As we entered the feedzone Lawson Craddock of Bontranger Livestrong attacked to bridge to a solo Garmin rider. Another Garmin rider was on his wheel and I followed. I knew this was the start of the break that would stick. It was Lawson, two Garmin riders and me. I was gassed from all the work I had been doing, but I knew if I didn’t work they would start attacking me. I rotated through until three BMC riders, two Cal Giants, a Juwi and a Hagens Berman rider joined.
The first lap in the break was nearly unbearable but it eventually slowed down a bit. I rotated through just enough to keep people happy but took advantage of any opportunity I could skip a pull. Team cars kept driving up to their riders to dump water on them, give them ice, feeds and also adjust well timed mechanicals. It felt very much like a pro race.
It became evident who the teams were working for because Livestrong, Garmin and BMC each had one guy who just sat on. Once this happened I knew things were about to get crazy so I sat on too. With two to go Lawson attacked. Everyone followed. BMC countered and everyone followed again. Lawson attacked again and I started cramping. The break started to ride away from me but I wasn’t going to give up yet, I rode as hard as I could and took advantage of the down hills to make up time. Eventually I caught back on and survived another attack. However, once Lawson attacked again I had nothing left to respond. I waited for the Juwi rider who had just been dropped and we set a very easy tempo together assuming we would get caught. Eventually Evan Huffman bridged with 2 riders in tow but I was eventually dropped from that. I was suffering, could barely pedal from the cramps and just tired to survive. However, I was surprised I wasn’t caught yet so I just kept riding at what my body allowed and eventually was caught by four more riders, three miles from the finish. I could tell they were fresh and I worked with them just so I wouldn’t get caught by the field. At the base of the climb one rider attacked, and I just set my own tempo. I was gaining on them, but looked back to see the field closing in behind. I started my sprint really early to ensure we didn’t get caught and was passed at the line but still finished 18th and was the 2nd nineteen year old.
I was happy with my result against such big teams. One week before the race I was sitting in a lecture hall taking final exams. In no way did I have a clean run into nationals but with the help of the team I was still able to make the most out of my week in Augusta. I definitely need to figure out why I have been cramping this season but either way I am amazed at the progress I have made in twelve short months. I am especially grateful to all our sponsors and everyone who makes this team possible. With another half of the season ahead and three more seasons as a U23, I am very excited for what lies up the road.
2012 Pescadero Road Race
[gallery] With many members of the team spread out at Elite/U23 Nationals and the neighboring Apple Pie Criterium, Jim Wingert and I were the only two Mike's Bikes riders to hit the start line of another classic NorCal road race, the Pescadero Coastal Classic. The race's beautiful, challenging course, as well as it's proximity to home, makes it one of my favorite road races of the year. It also features two pretty significant descents, which is great for me and my Tarmac SL4 to shred some corners on. I also won it one year way back when, huh, just remembered that!
Unlike years past, the race started under sunny skies and pleasant temperatures, with nary a fog bank to be seen. Our basic plan was for me to get into the early break, allowing Jim to stay in the field and conserve energy until his final lap assault on the finish. I covered some moves right from the gun, and got myself the first sprint prime which comes just a few minutes into the race. Jonathan Teeter (Marc Pro) and I built up a pretty nice lead over Stage Rd, but I promptly dropped him the second the road tipped downhill (oops) and set off alone.
My chances of staying away solo on the windy flatter part of the course we basically nil so I set a nice tempo over the remainder of Stage Rd until the pack caught me about halfway into the lap. Attacks were flying with Jim right up there, but nothing staying away. I rested a bit, then followed a move with Roman K (Kenda) and James Oram (Bontrager LS). I was pretty happy to be trading pulls with them leading up to the finishing climb, but they gapped me and I was eventually reabsorbed. Jim again countered over the top, drawing out Nate English, Kirk Carlsen, and others. I chilled at the back of my chasing group for a lap til we caught the leaders again.
Typically the tough yet beautiful scenery is enough to keep me entertained and engaged at this race, but this year's edition threw a little extra crazy into the mix. On the third lap, the P/1/2 field caught the 4's field (I think) on the Stage Rd descent, causing some mayhem for everyone involved, especially me, as happened to be trying to get back to the front after getting dropped. Yelling "OUTSIDE OUTSIDE INSIDE INSIDE" going 30mph around corners is always fun. I made it back, but we were still interspersed with the 4s field, who were on their finishing lap. The referee ended up neutralizing us up Haskin's Hill to let them finish in peace, which I was totally OK with. Things got a bit more loco descending off Haskin's, as we watched a poor woman stack it hard off the road because our moto told her we were coming past. In his surprise at seeing this woman crash, the moto missed a corner and crashed as well. Two ~40mph crashes within 5 sec? Yeah I'm just gonna keep riding. And what would Pesky be without some light to heavy rear brake lock-up fishtailing? That happened too. Good times. Michael Jasinski of Pistachios succinctly described it as "riding through a vortex."
On the last lap, just as I was preparing myself for the final climb, the race was neutralized in the feed zone with 5k to go due to more crashes on the descent. I have to stop pedaling and then restart basically sprinting then climbing all out? Ugh. Jim put in a good climb for 9th, while I rode in for 15th.
Considering how I was either at the front or chasing back on for most of the race, I can say I'm happy with my form. Excited for BC Superweek in a few weeks time!
Huge kudos to our boss man Matt Adams for winning the Masters 4's race! Col du Pantoll is payin off baby!
It was also cool to see some unfamiliar faces wearing Mike's Bikes kits, I'm stoked the team's successes are encouraging others to get out there and race!
-Andy
Weekend Results Round-up
We rolled strong this past weekend. Oh yes, we did: Road Nationals James LaBerge - 9th U23 Men's Crit Tyler Brandt - 13th in the Elite Men's Road Race John Piasta - 19th U23 Men's Road Race
Apple Pie Crit Dana Williams - 1st - Men's P/1/2 Taylor Cody (MB of Berkeley) - 1st E4 (enough points for upgrade to Cat 3) also MB Berkeley sales guy
Pescadero James Wingert - 9th Men's P/1/2 Matt Adams (MB prez) - 1st 35+ Cat 4 Justin Balderston (MB of Palo Alto - 18th E4
Burlingame Crit Dana Williams - 4th Men's P/1/2 Ryan Johnson - 1st E3 (enough points for Cat 2 upgrade)
Raid on Sherwood Peak MTB Race Davin Pukulis (MB marketing dir) - 13th overall
Mt. Rose Backside Hill Climb on Sunday (Sierra Nevada Hill Climb TT #2) Steve O'Mara - 1st
Apple Pie Criterium: 6/23/2012
The annual Apple Pie criterium had a new course for 2012. It was rectangular in shape and pancake flat in an rural set industrial park just south west of Petaluma. Although the pavement was quite rough, it was wide open and traffic was non existent so safety was optimal. There weren't too many pre-registered for the P12 race so I arrived intrigued to see how many would actually show up and race. The main reason for the low pre-reg was because the annual, hotly contested, Pescadero Road Race, was taking place this morning south of San Francisco. As it turned out, the field was pretty small but I was happy that there were some strong riders out including two from Wonderful Pistacio and one from Marco Pro-Strava, Webcor, Red Peloton and Metromint. I was the lone racer from Mike's Bikes as we had a few guys at Pescadero and four guys at Nationals in Augusta, Georgia.
And we were off for 75 minutes of crit racing. For the first 10 or so minutes it was a consistent pace with guys taking their pull on the front and then rotating to the back. The first move that really got any distance included Sterling Magnel of Wonderful Pistacio (WP) and the Webcor rider. They were always in sight, with about a 15 second gap, that they held for approximately 8-10 laps. But at some point it looked to me as though they decided to take the foot off the gas and let the field catch up to them. No complaints from me. With the second WP rider sitting in the chase group, a counter attack was bound to happen. Sure enough, it wasn't long before a five-man break got established. I could tell from who was in it that this was the winning move. It was Sterling from WP, the rider from Marco Pro, Red Peleton, Webcor and myself. We worked well together and the gap grew from 15 seconds, to 27 and then to 45. At this time I started thinking that the race may take a whole new direction if we lap the field because WP would have two riders and be at an advantage over all of us solo team riders. Well, that thought was soon diminished when I saw Sterling's teammate sitting on the grass as we passed the start/finish line with about 15 minutes of racing left. We soon caught the small 'field' that was left and a few of them hopped on. So now the finish was either going to come down to a sprint or one of two riders would get a gap and hold off the rest. The Marco Pro rider made the first attempt to get a gap with 2.5 laps to go. He was quickly followed by the Webcor rider, of who's wheel I jumped on to. The hard acceleration and chase effort created some fatigue and neither myself nor the Webcor rider wanted to pull through hard. For me, I had a game plan in the back of my head which preferred all of us together on the last lap. Fast forward 15 laps, I lead the five of us over the finish line as the last lap bell rang. This is where I wanted to be. I moved over and let the rider behind me pull through around corner 1. From here the pace quickly slowed down and a game of cat and mouse ensued for a short period. We were all looking at each other as we went around turn 2. I was at the back so had a good view of everything going on. At about half way through the back stretch, when I was about to make my move, the Red Peloton rider accelerated. The three other guys quickly jumped on his wheel and I followed. Fifth wheel wasn't where I wanted to be so I shifted up a gear and sprinted up the outside. I just happen to time it right that I was able to go past the Red Peleton rider in front just before the second last corner. My acceleration, combined with (what I later heard) the Red Peleton guy looking back for other guy to come around him, allowed me to quickly gain a considerable gap. I kept my momentum through the last turn and continued sprinting. The gap, combined with the head wind, allowed me to stay in front and ride across the line in first. Happy times, some cash and an apple pie was the reward. And Coco makes a good pie.....
Folsom Omnium
Since the Wente Road Race I have been struggling with some back issues resulting from past crashes and alignment. For me, the Folsom Omnium started a week before after seeing our Team Doctor Kristin Wingfield. The days before the race were my first rides without back pain and I knew if that held up it would be a good weekend. This was my third season doing the Folsom Omnium. Three years ago I did it as a Cat 3. Despite finishing near last I loved it. The next year it was my first P12 race. Despite my lack of results in the past, it has always been a fun weekend. So after this introduction I will get to the point. This year not only was it a fun weekend, we won.
Time Trial
We arrived at the time trial expecting a win even though James, Jim and myself haven’t done much riding on the TT bike at all (I had had one ride on it since Merco…). It was a pretty straight forward course, mostly flat with 6 rollers. We all went hard, Jim got 2nd (~10 seconds back) and I finished 7th (~35 seconds back). Either way, we were in great position for the omnium and I was stoked to have shaved 4 minutes off my time from a year and a half ago.
Crit
Tyler Dibble joined us for the crit. It would be my first race with both Team Captains and I was very excited for the opportunity. Entering the crit I knew a break could get away. It was windy and extremely easy to get out of sight. With Ryan Parnes in first we did not want to give up any of the preme points to him or anyone that could overtake Jim. The goal of the race was to either get me up the road with someone behind me in GC or set up to lead Jim out for the field sprint.
From the start it was really sketchy. I tried to get Jim into a safe position early on and as I got to the front Adam Switters attacked. Without hesitation Dibble chased. Strava bridged with me on their wheel and a few others. We were flying but Tyler and I didn’t work because Jim wasn’t up there with us. As soon as it was caught I countered with Chuck Hutchenson. We lasted for 2 laps before Switters bridged. When Switters bridged I sat on because he was 3rd on GC. Once we were caught Laberge countered for a preme lap and I sat up to see Jim and Dibble sitting in great position. After the preme, three riders got away including Strava, McGuire and Fremont. None of them were on GC. It was prefect, all the teams were represented and I knew there would be a hesitation to chase. Without hesitation I jumped in the first corner to get away on the crosswind section. I bridged and started pulling. I knew Strava would delay their chase because they had a teammate there, Fremont didn’t have the depth to bring it back and McGuire was all by himself. After 2 laps our gap was 20 seconds.
Before the race Dibble told me, “ You want the break to stick, but you don’t care if it comes back”. With that in mind I knew Strava would eventually start chasing, so I took advantage on establishing the break early. Even if we were caught at the end, I would at least have taken all the preme points from anyone who could pull away from Jim. After about 4 laps I heard 30 seconds. The gap seemed to staying right there. I was doing the majority of the work because I was in it for GC. I started noticing fatigue in the break and became nervous we weren’t going fast enough. Furthermore riders started skipping pulls and Fremont started sitting on. A lap later I heard Chuck was trying to bridge. Without hesitation I ramped it up and as a result dropped everyone but Joe from Strava. I didn’t expect him to work because Chuck was bridging, so I put him in the gutter. After 2 laps of that, I looked at him and said, “Chuck isn’t bridging and I have three sprinters in the field, lets work”. He listened and we kept working until the finish. I got every points preme, but as the finished approached we were losing time quickly. Joe was getting tired and I was all in for the overall. I pulled the last 2 laps, attacked into the final corner and won it. Forgetting about the crosswind I celebrated. It was not the most lovely victory salute but I haven’t had as much practice at this stuff as Laberge has.
I was happy, but became even happier when I saw Jim finish 5th. It was my first P12 win and my first Cycles Gladiator most aggressive/ best looking rider award. The crit was a great race for the team that set us up for the overall, but the circuit would be a new day.
Circuit
In the morning, I decided to stop studying for my finals and look up results. I had moved into 1st overall and Jim was in 3rd behind Parnes. Our priorities for the circuit were to keep 1st overall, then move Jim into 2nd and after ensuring that, win the stage. At sign in I looked at the finish and was freaked out by the 320 meter landing strip I saw. No joke, you could land a 747 on that road. Furthermore, Ryan Parnes was in 2nd and that guy puts out a 2000 watt sprint and has facial hair. How was I supposed to defend against that? Dibble talked to me before and said, “You be a shadow, that’s it. You finish one place behind him and you win.” I took “Yoda’s” advice since it worked yesterday and I got that wheel right away and stayed on it.
Throughout the race I paid attention to his jump and every time he attacked I was there. On the third lap Parnes had attacked and literally every GC rider was up the road with us. I wasn’t working because I was isolated and they had to take the overall from me. Eventually Chuck attacked with Switters, but I didn’t care because they were too far back to take the overall. Eventually Paul Mach bridged with the field in tow and I drifted back as Parnes’s “shadow”.
I started hearing trash talk and just took what Dibble said before the race as literally as possible. I just followed. In the mean time when I got bored of at staring at Ryan’s ass/ huge claves I glanced up the road to see the team doing an awesome job at holding the race together. Jim was trying to find his way into moves and James was taking free rides to the finish. Dibble was either chasing stuff back or at my side calming me down as my voice cracked every other word (It tends to do that even when I am not nervous).
Two laps to go Parnes had flatted. At this point James got me on his wheel and kept me near the front for the finish. Things were getting hectic as Chuck and Switters break came into sight. I kept looking back paranoid that Parnes was going to get back on my wheel and jump me. James was doing an awesome job at keeping me near the front and we were talking all the way to the finish. A kilometer from the finish I saw Parnes made it back and I got right on his wheel. I took the final corner on the inside and first focused on not losing that draft. A hundred meters from the line I started coming around him and bike threw for the line realizing at the point if I crashed I would have enough momentum to carry me to the finish. It was close. Fourth through 14th finished within a few feet of each other. I was relieved to later hear I held onto first and Jim’s finish had moved him into second overall. Our main priorities were accomplished.
I can’t thank the team enough for this win. It really was a team effort, from our team doctor to James and Dibbles selfless work. I am so proud to be a part of this squad and cannot wait for more great results to come in the future.
New Team Victory Salute
After solid number of wins, the TMB squad has had some time to practice the victory salute. It’s hard to top Laberge’s clean displays of dominance, but our current leader in the celebration department has to be John Piasta, aided by teammate extraordinaire, Eric Riggs. Check it out:
Brandt Looking to Take the Next Step
Tyler is kicking ass and people are taking note. Here's the latest press on him: Fairfax cyclist Brandt looking to take the next step at Grand Prix in Minnesota and Wisconsin
By Dave Curtis Marin Independent Journal
TYLER BRANDT has yet to burst upon the cycling scene. But as those who know him say, that doesn't mean his star is not on the rise.
Brandt, a 21-year-old Drake High grad who grew up in Fairfax, will try to take a step toward more recognition in the cycling community on Wednesday in Stage 1 of the Nature Valley Grand Prix in St. Paul, Minn. If all goes well, Brandt will come across the finish line after Stage 6 in Stillwater, Minn., on Sunday having opened some eyes among some professional racing teams after racing against professional riders.
"I'm trying to take this as far as I can," Brandt said of cycling. "Through high school, I was playing other sports as well as cycling. I definitely enjoyed cycling a lot, but it wasn't until maybe my junior year of high school it became more real that it was a possible step that I could make it there."
Read more of the story on the Marin IJ website.
Folsom Cyclebration Willow Creek Circuit Race - E3
Plagued with quadriceps tendonitis for the first half of the 2012 race season, most of my time has been spent on the bench in rehab and behind the scenes working on team stuff. Due to the injury, I have only had a couple of months of consistent on the bike training but my patient coach Shawn has made it some extremely quality time. I pinned my first race number back at a County Center crit and have gotten a couple other races in after that.
I drove out to the Willow Creek Circuit Race with intentions of supporting Ryan who had done well in the Time Trial and Criterium and was sitting high up on GC with potential to take the overall. Shawn also had me do Threshold Power testing the Friday before so my legs were slightly cooked and I figured this would just be another training race. The field was a decent size and Ryan gave me a quick rundown on whose number and team to watch for that were sitting above him in the standings. We rolled out for an hour of racing around the Folsom circuit thinking the race would likely come down to a sprint due to the close overall standings and representation from the teams. Early in the race a large break went off the front with decent representation from all the teams. With its size it looked potentially dangerous so before the gap opened up I went to the front and helped reel them back in. After the group was brought back, the field was content rotating and rolling around for a lap until two riders rolled off the front, Rocky Fletcher of Rio Strada and a Davis Bike Racing rider. As their gap started to increase, Ryan Oakes of Chico Corsa attacked out of the field to bridge up to the riders. Ryan had mentioned he was sitting high up in the standings and his teammate was sitting first overall so I attacked out of the field to join them.
With the four teams represented in the break, we quickly opened a gap from the field and were working pretty well together each comfortably sharing the load. The moto ref rolled up to us and gave a time update of what I think was 35 seconds. We continued to rotate but myself and Ryan Oakes began to do additional work. The moto ref then gave us a time update of 25 seconds so I knew the field was bringing us back and we had to work harder. I tried to motivate the riders to take stronger shorter pulls and keep a tight formation but felt that the workload was no longer being shared equally. With around 4 laps to go, I noticed Ryan Oakes had dropped out of the break and it was just myself and the two other riders. With the gap falling and only two companions left, my legs still felt fresh so I made the decision to rail the chicane and attack my two remaining breakaway companions.
For around four laps I proceeded to ride solo off the front with no time updates from the moto ref or race updates of chasing riders. In fear that riders would bridge or the field would catch me, I buried myself until the finishing stretch where I was able to celebrate solo with a minute lead on the peloton.
Luckily Ryan was able to rest in the field while the other teams chased and finished top 5 in the field sprint, but unfortunately was just nipped by a rider he was tied for 3rd with in the standings so finished 2nd overall in the GC for the weekend. Regardless, a great result and great weekend for us both. Later in the day, John Piasta and Jim Wingert would go 1-2 in the P/1/2 general classification. Phenomenal weekend for the team.
IC3 Dash for Cash
Arriving at the race I was stoked with all of the Mike’s Bikes kits I saw. I had thought it was only going to be James and myself; however Steve, Travis and Ryan (who I didn’t recognize at first because of his beyond manly beard) were there to join us. Steve conducted a pre race meeting and said I was going to be the guy. I laughed thinking that we have James and I haven’t been racing that much lately. Either way, I had a team behind me, and this was a first for me. I only know how to be a teammate or ride by myself, I had no idea what to do with them.
At the start I got to the front right away and it was aggressive. I could tell from the start something would get away because of the long crosswind sections. We covered everything and made a few attacks but nothing was sticking because either Nate English didn’t make the move and reeled it back, or everyone else was too fresh to chase it down. So after a few more break attempts I wasn’t able to respond as the winning move went with Nate, Chuck and Sam Bassetti. I didn’t panic because there were still strong guys in the field and knew as long as the pack didn’t sit up I would be able to get across. However, what didn’t even cross my mind was the question, “How can I use my teammates to help me get across?”. This was shortly answered when I went to Steve, told him I could solo bridge it when he firmly responded, “No! You get on my f***ing wheel and we do it together!” That shut me up and I did what the man said, pushing anyone out of the way that tried to get that wheel from me. He attacked like a mad man and I barely stayed on to realize the separation he caused. Was everyone stupid to let two Mike’s get off the front or were they just not strong enough to hang on as Peleaz put them in the gutter. It was definitely the later. Steve swung off and I knew I had to close the gap before the headwind section. The last 10 meters were the hardest to close but I finally got there and sat on to make sure no one came with me. I realized how much energy Steve saved me, I probably could have bridged it solo, but I would have killed myself in the process and not taken full advantage of my teammates. We were gone and eventually I started working a bit but never drove the break.
We pedaled bikes for the remainder of the race and then it got exciting again with two to go. I had been examining my competitors and saw that Nate was hurting and would have to go a long way out. Chuck looked strongest and I pretty much assumed Sam would cramp. With one to go Chuck attacked, English chased but peeled off. Then it was just me and Sam. This reminded me of Nationals last year, 1 up the road and two chasing. I thought I knew what to do after my failed attempt last June. Sam was not going to close that gap, but at the same time there was no way I was taking him to the finish with me. I sat on and attacked him in the crosswind section. I looked back and had a gap on him and had to be all in. I bridged to Chuck and my mistake was not coming around him hard enough. I just thought he was dead, but he got back on me and 100 meters from the line he came around me and 10 meters from the line so did Sam. I screwed that one up…big time. By me not jumping Chuck hard enough, he just made the gap for Sam smaller, and was able to use me a lead out.
I look back on the race and am so grateful for Team Mike’s Bikes. Everyone was in the race making a difference and I got to experience being a Team Leader getting to play my card for the win. I doubted myself before the race, but Steve’s confidence in me was contagious and I am one race closer to my first P 1/2 win.
2012 Mount Hamilton District Road Championship - An Instant Classic
After 63 grueling race miles with over 5K feet of climbing, the race came down to a bike throw. In that moment, it became an instant classic between two close friends, now on rival teams vying for the title Best Norcal Team. But before it came down to the bike throw, the race was brilliantly ridden by Shawn Rosenthal who threw caution to the wind on Mt Hamilton's hairy descent. He built a lead of 2 minutes and was riding away with the race until the dreaded cramps sneaked up on him. Painfully, he marshaled on and rallied the troops.
Here's the race video and a glimpse of how I motivate my riders (@ the end).
http://vimeo.com/43655390
Below is Tyler Brandt's race report:
Mount Hamilton is one of my favorite races on the calendar, a close second to the Nevada City Classic, but it has not been kind to me for many years. Mount Hamilton was my first race in the Category 3’s in 2006 I believe. I was still a Junior on the amazing Team Swift program and I made it over the climb in the front group and then cracked around mile-40 on the big roller climb, when out of no-where a dropped rider from the 1/ 2 race (Mack Chew) pushed me back into the lead group and I stayed with them to finish in the top 15. A year later I placed 4th in the Cat 3’s at which point I was still a great climber, I thought, and I absolutely loved the race.
The next year I was still a junior, but I was racing in the 1/ 2’s now and it was a rude awakening. I was no longer a climber, not in this category. For the next three years I toiled off the back, suffering a lot on the climb and never making anything near the front group. Last year was particularly disappointing when I got dropped with Rand Miller and barely beat him for something around last place with a silly bike throw.
After working particularly hard this winter and losing some of my baby fat, I was certain that this year would be different. It was also helpful that Mount Hamilton aligned with U.S. Pro Nationals, giving us local racers a moment of respite from the climbing prowess of local strongman Nate English. On the surface, it appeared to be a pretty even battle of teams at the race and I was confident in our leader for the day, Shawn Rosenthal, after we had gone for the pre-race ride the day before and he had smashed my face in with his “openers”
Alas, the race started and we began to roll up the hill. I didn’t get much of a warm-up in, mostly just focused on using the bathroom a few times to make sure I was as light as possible. Right away I knew I felt good, but I was still a bit worried. Shawn needed me for the last part of the climb and I wanted to make sure that I would be around for the fireworks show that I was sure the Cal-Giant Climbers were going to put on. The miles ticked by and I started to feel better and better, there were a few attacks, but nothing really put me in difficulty. Near the top Huffman finally put in a big dig on the front, but I wasn’t too worried about it because I knew that with my descending skills, at this point on the climb, I would be able to easily catch back on.
I finished the descent near the front, but was not yet aware that my teammate Shawn Rosenthal was up the road, after bravely and safely handling his bike down a hairy descent. I followed a little attack from Chuck Hutcheson on the next roller and when I began to pull through, Jim Wingert yelled at me.
My day suddenly became absolutely amazing, not only had I survived the climb, but my teammate now had a 2-minute gap on the field ala Paul Mach status 2009. Even more gratifying was that I knew Shawn was on amazing form and that it would take a very organized and complete chase to bring him back now. The tactics were beautiful. While Team Mike’s Bikes had initially been disadvantaged by not having the strongest climbers in the race, the pendulum had suddenly shifted and we were in complete control. To top it off we had the fastest man (boy?) in NorCal still in the lead group, our own little pocket rocket James Laberge. The wonderful thing about bike racing is that it isn’t just a lab test based on pure power to weight strength; it’s the complete contest, a measure of strength, ability (being able to handle one’s bike) and brains. And a smart team can win even when they don’t have the strongest rider in the race.
After an impressive chase by Cal-Giant and Marc-Pro Strava, Shawn was reeled back in with about 5ish miles to go. My teammate John Piasta immediately put everyone back on the defensive and countered Shawn’s move. The next 3 miles were a constant flow of attacks and I tried to stay in the midst of everything at the front while still leaving a bit for the sprint. We hit the final descent and Team Mike’s Bikes controlled the front, with at least 7 guys leading us down. At the bottom I saw our advantage and yelled to my teammates to hit it. It was wonderful display of selfless riding while Rainier Schaefer, and Matt McKinzie hit the lead-out first. Then Shawn Rosenthal, after riding all day on the front still sacrificed everything and anything he had left to help the lead-out. We passed the 1k to go sign and the big engine Jim Wingert took over and then Eric Riggs took us to 250 meters to go and at this point Sam Bassetti attacked our train on the right side and then Chris Stastny came flying by even quicker on my left. I was still confident in our sprinter James Laberge and I knew we couldn’t lose this race after how hard everyone had worked for this moment. I hit it hard and figured that around 100 meters to go he would come blasting past me. I stayed on top of the 11 tooth, probably too big of a gear, I could sense James wasn’t coming and Chris had a good gap on me. I put my head down and gave it everything I had, I wanted to win bad. With about 30 meters to go I saw Staz start to put his hands up, but I kept digging and threw an absolute prayer of a bike throw. At that moment I was pretty sure that I had pipped him and in the process I almost crashed him out. I was absolutely ecstatic to come through for my team and get the biggest win of my career, while also sad to have stripped the win from one of my best friends on the racing circuit. After being teammates for the past two years, we have had some great battles this season and I am glad to have finally come out on top before the rivalry became completely one-sided.
I can’t thank my teammates enough, this team came together as a unit in the early season and we have fought together as one throughout, led by our fearless leader Steve Pelaez. It is a complete joy riding for Team Mike’s Bikes and I hope that we can keep building on our success throughout the summer as we head to some bigger races across the country.
Memorial Day Criterium
It was a beautiful day in Morgan Hill, home of the Specialized Bicycles Headquarters! After the team's yesterdays performance (Tyler Brandt winning Mount Hamilton Road Race), he had a strong shot at winning the omnium and to earn a spot at the Nature Valley Professional Stage race next month! The team's plan was to first secure his qualifier and second, to get the win whether it was by breakaway or field sprint.
It was a windy day; head wind on the front straight and a cross-head wind the next straight away. We thought that a breakaway would get away, so wanted to make sure to stay near the front and make sure we don't miss it. There were multiple attacks throughout the race and it strung out the field a lot but it never really broke the field apart completely. Eric Riggs gave me a perfect lead out for a $150 prime at about the halfway point in the race and I felt good in that effort, so I decided to sit in and wait for a field sprint and make sure Tyler would be on my wheel so that he can get to Nature Valley.
It indeed eventually came down to a field sprint and we were lined up about 10 guys back with 1/2 laps to go and I yelled up to Steve "GO!" and he attacked so hard that I had to then tell him slow down, but we quickly adapted and was able to get organized and ramp up the speed again. Tyler came by me and led me out through the last turn and I was able to come around him to take the win! Tyler was able to hang on for 2nd and earned himself a spot to go to Nature Valley and compete against the pros! Big congrats to him and he will definitely represent Team Mike's Bikes strong! Martin Acosta (McGuire) finished 3rd, and Chuck Hutchenson (Marc-Pro Strava) finished in a well-deserved 4th place!
Thank you to all of my teammates throughout the race yesterday as it was a pro/1/2/3 race, so I was able to race with a few of my category 3 teammates which made it pretty cool! They were all so selfless and were all willing to stick their head out in the wind and turn the pain meter up a notch. Couldn't have done it without them! Also, couldn't have done it if it wasn't for any of our sponsors that have come together and helped support this amazing team that has come together as one! Once again, thank you and hope you have enjoyed the reading!
Photo Credit: Dale Tapley
