San Joaquin Valley Omnium P/1/2

With some solid end of the season fitness in my legs, I decided to venture down south to Fresno for the San Joaquin Valley Omnium with Kalani Hines of Metromint Cycling and Randy Bramblett of McGuire Cycling. The Omnium comprised of the Yokohl Valley Individual Time Trial Saturday morning, the Downtown Exeter Twilight Criterium Saturday night, and another crit on Sunday afternoon in Selma.

Yokohl Valley Individual Time Trial We skipped the Time Trial as Kalani had to work late the night before and we wouldn't have been able to make it out in time. Only 5 people registered but we were now 20-16 points down in the omnium.

Downtown Exeter Twilight Criterium The course was a simple four corner rectangle with good pavement and decent lighting in the dark turns. We were scheduled for 72 laps so about an hour and a half of racing. The whistle blew and after a few laps, some riders attacked but nothing really got anywhere. I tried but had a similar result. An attack went with three riders, one of which was Vincent Owens who was sitting 2nd in the Omnium. Noticing that the move was dangerous and was quickly getting up the road, I launched a solo attack. I spent the next 30 minutes of the race in no man's land attempting to bridge. I would get between 20-50 meters from the group, they would look back and see me, and up their pace eventually shedding one of the three riders. After scoring a pizza prime, the field pulled me back in.

Exhausted and frustrated I went to the front of the peloton and upped the pace to shut down any other bridge attempts and try to prevent the break from lapping the field. Luckily no breaks more breaks made it away but the breakaway of two lapped the field. We rolled around for a bit while I let my legs recover and planned my next move. After a few riders made a move and were dangling off the front, I attacked, made the bridge up to the riders, and jumped again. I now had some good daylight so settled in for another TT.

One of the two riders who had lapped the field saw this as a great opportunity to secure 1st place so attacked the field and bridged up to me and we began rotating and gaining time. Halfway through a lap I felt my rear tire start to loose air and quickly went flat. As I wobbled along the pavement, my break companion rode off and soon the field came around me. I jogged to the wheel pit for a change and after a quick exchange of words with an official, got a push back into the breakaway on the next lap. The break had now become two riders after Vincent Owens saw first place slipping and made the bridge. The two riders were content with just safely sitting up the road as they were already one lap up on the field. I however was not so soloed up the road to catch the peloton.

Great so I was now one lap up and there was only a hand full of laps to go. The announcers announced that I had secured 3rd place on the podium with the two riders just behind us sprinting for 1st and 2nd, while the peloton would be sprinting for 4th. I was going to just sit in for the remaining laps but made the decision to navigate through the field and try to lead out Kalani or Randy for the field sprint. On the final lap, thing slowed down with two turns to go so I mashed to the front with Randy on my wheel. I stayed seated and started my sprint after the last turn launching Randy to take the field sprint by a bike length.  I sat up and went across the line at the back of the pack.

Stoked I had finished 3rd and delivered Randy for 4th, right? Well turns out there was no communication between the motorcycle referee, Officials, and announcers. TWO other riders had attacked the field and one had lapped just before the sprint. When I sat up after leading out Randy, he simply rolled by me for 3rd and I got 4th. So much for having 3rd all wrapped up and everything coming back together for a sprint.

After over an hour of shuffling papers, riders protesting, and reviewing footage, the results were posted and we were able to collect our primes and winnings. One Official gave me the advice of not listening to the announcers. Thanks buddy. Selma Criterium We stayed the night at Kalani's brothers house which was only about 30 minutes away from the Selma Crit the next day. The course was slightly more technical the the previous day but had great pavement. The true test would be the 100 degree temperatures forecast for the 3pm race.

The whistle blew and almost immediately a junior Team Swift rider attacked. My legs were still warming up from the previous days effort and the junior hadn't placed above me yesterday so I watched him go. He dangled off the front for several laps when one of the riders who lapped the field yesterday attacked to bridge. Vinnie noticed and responded with myself and a few other riders on his wheel. He couldn't quite close the gap and looked back at us for help. I knew it was up to him for the omnium standings so just sat in the draft. For the next half of the race, everyone attacked the piss out of each other attempting to bridge or get away from the field. I put in a few hard digs but was marked from my attacks at the previous day. Vinnie went about a dozen times until finally getting away and everyone else was too burnt to chase.

The junior and the other rider lapped the field and made their way to the front to up the pace so Vinnie would be stuck behind chasing. He eventually caught the field and we were all back together again now sprinting for 4th.  With four laps to go, I set the rest of my matchbook ablaze and attacked the field through the start finish and into a technical turn. Only one rider made it onto my wheel, the guy who had lapped the field the day before and finished in front of me for 3rd. I bargained with him that if we worked together, we wouldn't have to go up against the sprinters, but he responded the he was a sprinter and was cooked. The field reeled us back in. A Japanese rider then attacked and sat a bit up the road solo while his teammate slowed down the field.

On the final lap I was pretty spent but made sure I was sitting top 5. Randy made the solid move of jumping into the final turn which was technical to lead out Vinnie for 1st. Attempting to jump onto the train, I split two riders and sprinted across the line just behind Randy and Vinnie for 3rd in the sprint and 6th in the race. The Japanese rider who attacked at the end held it for 4th but threw his hands in air thinking he had won. Where was he the whole race? Overall Skpping the TT, finishing 4th in the Exeter crit, and finishing 6th at Selma, I placed 7th overall in the Omnium. Good stuff, fun weekend.

National Road Race Championship: Masters 35-39 yr old

If you've read any of my previous race reports you'll know that I'm not usually short on words. :-) If you want to see a shorter version of the report below then check out it on CyclingIllustrated.com. The beautiful city of Bend, Oregon is once again (for the second year in a row) hosting the USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships.  For us in the 35-39 year old category, the time trial was on Wednesday, the road race was yesterday (Thursday) and the criterium is tomorrow (Saturday).  Having competed in only two time trials before, I decided I’d skip it, drive up from San Francisco on Wednesday and test myself in the road race and criterium.

I knew a few key aspects were going to play into the outcome of yesterday’s road race: altitude, the course, Team Monster Media Racing (MMR) and the race favorites.  The start and finish of the 110 km road race was at the Mt. Bachelor West Village base, situated at a mere 6,300 feet.  As one competitor expressed to me between two breathes as we rolled out under neutral “the altitude sure does pinch the lungs a bit.” The profile of the course was pretty basic; ride downhill for just over 15 km, dropping almost 2,000 feet of elevation, continue along 75 km on mostly flat terrain with a few bumps and false flat, then climb for 15 km to the finish, gaining about 1,500 feet.  The team with the most number of riders was MMR.  Not only did they have numbers but they also had some strong riders.  I hadn’t ridden against most of them before so I wrote down their numbers on my forearm.  This way I would know who to watch for during the race.  As for favorites, I based this off USA Cycling’s race predictor who had the top three as Rudolph Napolitano, Chris Brown and Jonathan Eropkin.  

Just under 50 riders rolled over the start line at 11:40.  It wasn’t long before I looked down at my Garmin and saw we were going almost 50 miles an hour. Thankfully we could use the whole road and the pavement was in great shape.  As the terrain flattened out, the attacks started as expected.  There was definitely some teams trying to establish a break.  Monster Media didn’t look to be an instigator but they definitely sent a guy up the road to make sure they were represented. I had heard from another rider that this year’s Cascade Cycling Classic, held on much of the same course, had many guys trying to establish a break but they always got pulled back and it came down to the last decisive climb.  I decided that I was going to rely on the merits of this and hang in the peleton and do my best on the final climb.

I’m guessing that it was around 20 miles into the race that a break of six riders got off the front.  Two of them were from MMR and another was race favorite Rudolph Napolitano.  I’m surprised this didn’t cause a bit more urgency.  But possibly like myself, other riders were watching a few of the other MMR team members that were still in the main group.  For the next 20 miles the pace was up and down, depending on if guys were trying to get off the front to bridge up to the break.  Two riders did end up getting away around half way through the race, one being race favorite Chris Brown. This ended up being a good move on his part.  The only action I really experienced was slamming into what seemed to be one of the only potholes in the course.  Hearing ‘click, click, click…’ as I put on my front break didn’t leave me with a comfortable feeling.  Turns out I severely cracked my carbon rim but thankfully it held to the finish.

As the final climb approached, it seemed as though it was really only one rider, Ben Blaugrund of Juwi Solar Cycling, that wanted to get a bit of a gap on the field before the road pitched up.  This wasn’t the case and soon we were climbing.  I knew I needed to be at the front in order to have the best chance of holding on.  Riders started falling off.  My heart was racing, legs were pumping and focus was on each pedal stroke.  I thought to myself ‘when was this hill going to end?‘  Soon there were just six of us, with me sitting on the back doing my best to hold on and  hide from a slight head wind.  We passed a rider and I saw a 700 number.  We had caught at least one rider in the front break and hopefully were going to reel more in.  My vision started to get blurry.  I was having a battle with my internal instinct that was telling me to stop.  The road flattened a bit and the pace increased.  I looked up and saw another climb ahead of me.  Imagine the sound of letting air out of a ballon. That’s how I felt.  The back tire of the rider ahead of me disappeared.  My pedal stroke slowed.  I was cracked!  But I had to keep going.  Just then three others riders went by me.  My brain was still winning….I couldn’t follow them.  I focused my attention to a guy on the side of the road who was cheering for us and managed to get out three words “How much further?”  He shouted “Just 300 meters to the top.”  I stood up and accelerated.  I had to get on the back of the three riders before the road flattened out at the top and began the 2.5 km somewhat flat run into the finish line.  Thankfully I made it and thankfully the guy at the front was happy to pull us along.  I accelerated to the front with about 500 m to the finish.  Fellow NorCal racer, Jan Weissenberger, hopped on my wheel and went by me just before the line, taking 13^th and I 14^th.  I had hoped to do a bit better but considering I gave it my all I can’t complain.

As it turned out, four of the riders in the front break ended up staying away from the five riders I almost stayed with.  I later found out that race favorite Rudolph Napolitano attacked the break with about 15 miles to go and ended up staying away.  He won by a very comfortable margin of 1:34.  Very impressive.  The sprint for second was won by Karl Bodine of MMR while Matthew Gates of Mix1 took third.  See race results here: http://www.usacycling.org/results/?year=2012&id=26&info_id=54387

Challenge Challenge

Challenge Challenge is probably the best race on the local calendar. Legit, mountainous roads and lots of miles with some reasonably long climbs have always made it a good one. This year it was even better, riding with a strong team. The race starts with a neutral descent on a road that will shake anything that is loose off your bike. This year was no exception, and guys without BikeSmart cages lost their bottles in the first few minutes. We waited for them – challenge is a community.

The race then gets going for real with a long steady climb. We hit it at a modest tempo and a little bit of selection took place. From there, the course rolls, hits a screaming descent, then it rolls gently before again hitting significant climbs. Marc Pro Strava threw down some attacks through the rolling sections that in some years past might have been winning moves. Not the case this year with a strong Team Mike’s Bikes keeping things under control. Big thanks to Hank, Tyler and Andy for all of the work on that. But about half way through the next set of big climbs, a decent size break got away. I made it along with three or four Marc Pro guys, one from Competitive Cyclist and one from Wonderful Pistachios. Then Andy closed the gap, giving TMB a solid presence in the group.

Knowing we had two strong riders behind us in Tyler and Hank, Andy and I sat in. Sitting in is a relative term on a course that doesn’t allow a ton of hiding, but still definitely an advantage.

Then more selection took place. Going into the last lap, it was down to three riders from Marc Pro Strava, one from Wonderful Pistachios one from Competitive Cyclist and me. And then it got hard. We lost one Marc Pro on the rough descent and the next two on the long climb, with the Competitive Cyclist rider opening a gap on me and the Wonderful Pistachios rider. The two of us chased, lost ground and ultimately I pulled away on the next set of hard climbs. I wasn’t able to catch the leader but did hold off the chasers for second.

Petaluma Criterium Race Report

On Saturday, the 1st of September, I arrived with my parents and four-legged friend to the Petaluma Criterium and surveyed the course. A crap pavement, 4-corner hardman's race. Definitely one for Rainier and the like. Got reg'd with few on the pre-registered list.

The race started off with several attempts by 1-5 man groups to break away from the group. At most, one group of an SJBC rider, a Red Peloton Rider (two of the better represented teams in the field), and three others, got outside of 20 seconds from the front of the group. With 6 to go, this five man break was still off the front. They only had a quickly disappearing 10 sec on the small field with a decent amount of sprinters waiting for it to come together. I knew it would come down to a field sprint, and told Ryan that I was feeling good after having sat in the last 30 min of the race. I told him to go from the corner (about 280m from the line), and that we needed to be in the top 6 or so into the last lap. Ryan and I found each other within the last two laps, and we moved up. I was happy.

I was on Ryan's wheel into the last lap and he was riding strong. Into corner 1, Ryan clipped his pedal on the apex of the turn as the group was about 3 wide. He made a great save, and jumped out of the corner and flew up the gutter to the left of the group to get us into better position. At this point, Red Peloton and SJBC both had decent organization coming together at the front and some random sprinters were shuffled in between. Ryan and I were about 7th and 8th into the second to last corner, and the peloton had just caught Bubba Melcher of Specialized Racing Masters who took a final lap flyer. Everyone sat up, and Ryan opened the throttle halfway across the 2nd to last straight and railed around the outside of the final turn. The SJBC sprinter jumped on the inside, a more ideal place to be with the wind blowing a slight left to right cross/tailwind, and I jumped around Ryan shortly after on the other side of the road. I was gaining on him, but he had about a wheel on me at the line. Second place it was for me.

Awesome teamwork from Ryan today. I'm so looking forward to racing with everyone at the Giro di SF on Monday!

-Travis

Winters Road Race

I'd say there was a bit of tension in the air today for the P12 Winters Road Race.  But not just your usual pre-race jitters.  For those of you following the NCNCA BikeReg.com Premier Series you'll know that Winters RR was the second to last race of  the series.  Marco Pro-Strava (MPS) came  into the race holding first place and Team Mike's Bikes was second, down by 43 points.  Therefore, we knew that if we wanted a chance of catching MPS then we had our work cut out for us.  Essentially we needed to try to get as many points as we could before the last race in the series, the Giro di San Francisco on September 3rd.  The more riders we had in the race the better our chances.  That said, I was thrilled to see 10 teammates at the start.  Here I have to reiterate the sentiments of many team members in previous blogs that it's great to be part of a group of riders who are committed to supporting each other and helping the team achieve it's goals. MPS was represented with about 6 or 7 of their strong men, CalGiant 4 or 5, Metromint 2 or 3 and few other NorCal strong men including pro's Nate English of Kenda 5-Hour Energy and Max Jenkins of Competitive Cyclist.

The P12 race was 96 miles, or 4 laps of the 24 mile loop (see Strava ride date at the bottom of this blog). The course was essentially flat except for a 10 1/2 minute climb (separated in 3 shelfs) about half way through followed by a descent back down the the valley floor.  It was my first time doing Winters but from team discussion before the race, this climb was the likely spot where a break would get established.  True to that, on each of the four laps, around 10-12 riders got off the front.

The first lap we had two in the move but it was pulled back within a few miles of the bottom of the descent.  Then on the second lap, we organized at the front and pulled a few strong riders back before the climb.  Up over the climb and down the decent, we had three solid road racers in the break (Eric Riggs, Tyler Bryant and John Piasta) along with Jenkins, English and a few others. The good news for those TMB riders in the field was that MPS had missed out on getting a rider in this move so we could sit in and mark dangerous moves trying to bridge to the break.  MPS ended up doing some good work, with the help of a few riders from other teams, and brought back the break at the beginning of the third lap.

About a 1/4 of the way into the third lap, teammate Hank Scholz (riding his first P12 race and fresh off a few weeks of racing in Belgium) followed an attack by Keith Hillier of MPS.  No chase ensued so their gap grew.  The field then got neutralized so their gap continued to grow (I later found out that they got neutralized for a bit as well).  The pace up the climb this time seemed to be a little less aggressive.   Therefore, there was a larger group at the bottom of the descent.

Then on the forth lap, about a quarter of the way through, we rode by Hank who unfortunately was on the side of the road and seemed to have had a mechanical.  You could imagine the reaction this caused....a few sirens were going off.  MPS now had a strong rider up the road.  It was now TMB's job to pull him back if we wanted any chance of making up points on MPS in the Premier Series.  So up to the front went team members and upped the pace.  I was still feeling pretty good so after a brief discussion with teammate John Piasta, it was decided I would sit in and try to conserve.  Our game plan going into the race was that if it looked as though the finish was going to come down to a pack or bunch sprint and I was there then I probably had the best chance at the win considering some sprint finishes earlier this season.

We brought back Hillier of MPS just about at the base of the final climb.  When we got to the top, I thought I was with the lead group.  My teammate Tyler Brandt was next to me and I was following Nate English.  But at the bottom of descent, when the road straightened out, I saw that around six riders had gotten off the front.  From what I recall, there was Jenkins, a CalGiant and MPS rider and a few others.   If we wanted to finish well we needed to bring this back. I knew our chances were pretty good though with Nate back with Tyler and I.  And sure enough, after some strong work by Tyler, Nate and one of two others, we bridged up to the lead group.  There was about 7 miles to go and the group was about 16 riders.  MPS had three riders and it was Tyler and I from TMB.  I was a bit concerned we were outnumbered and wondered if this disadvantage would be taken advantage of. The attacks started.  Fortunately other riders were also sensing a strong finish so we had some help covering moves.  At about four miles to go, Jenkins put in a strong attack.  He was joined by another rider and a gap opened.  Shortly after I made an acceleration and all of the sudden felt my hamstrings and quads twitch.  'Oh no, were my legs going to seize up on me. Relax, nice smooth pedal strokes' I thought to myself.  Then Chuck of MPS took a flyer.  My focus now was to keep pedalling steady so not to aggravate my muscles and cause a cramp.  We brought back Chuck at about a mile to go.

I had studied the last kilometre the three previous laps and knew that the speed would be high and an ideal position would be 4th or 5th wheel rounding the last corner, about 250 meters from the line.  As we came into that last corner, I was positioned where I wanted but was concerned I'd seize up if I got out of my saddle to sprint.  So I decided to stay seated and accelerate.  I put my head down and passed a few guys ahead of me.  Then, to a bit of a surprise to me, I passed Jenkins.  He had still been off the front.  Right then it occurred to me that I was in the lead.  The finish line was right in front of me; I raised my hands and celebrated my first P12 road race win.

A huge thank you to my teammates for laying it on the line to bring back moves, mark dangerous attacks, establish breaks and then Tyler for sacrificing himself to reel in Jenkins and other moves in the final few miles.  Also to our sponsors for providing us with the best equipment: Specialized, Zipp, BikeSmart, ClifBar, Capo, SRAM, Look, Garmin, GoPro, Smith and SF Parking.

As for the Premier Series points update.  If my calculations are correct, my 20 points for the win and MPS best place rider's 4 points (9th place) means we are now just 27 points out of first place.  Come on out and watch the Giro di SF on September 3rd.  It's going to be a battle...and lots of fun.

2 Wheel / Early Bird Women's Criterium

It was a nice sunny day as I drove over the hill from Napa to Rohnert Park but as the day went on, the wind became more and more harder to deal with. As the race came closer to the start, I found out that Andy Goessling, Tyler Brandt, Tyler Dibble, and John Piasta came to race and we came up with a game plan. We had the vision to have atleast 3 guys in the breakaway because we almost knew a break would stay away. I was to stay in the pack with Andy and if a break goes, Andy would help me get across to that winning break. The race started and right from the gun attacks went and the wind only made it harder. Unfortunantely, Andy got a flat and didn't know that I had wheels in the non-neutral support wheel pit. I followed and made some attacks but nothing really got away. A couple of times Max Jenkins (Competitive Cyclist) and Jared Barrilleaux (Cal giant/Specialized) would get away but others including all of us from Mike's Bikes were following attacks to make sure we would represented in the wining breakaway. With 7 laps to go, a big attack went and I followed it with Chuck Hutcheson (Marc-Pro Strava) on my wheel and once he came by, I looked back and there was a group of about 10 of us that were away that included John and Tyler Brandt. I told John to drill it so that the field would have less home with the wind out there to have the desire to chase us back.

We eventually got caught after Sterling Magnell (Wonderful Pistacios) bridged up to the break with us. With three laps to go, Jared went for a prime and then kept going for the win. Right away, I sent all of the guys to the front to bring him back. We brought him back with a half a lap to go. At this time Tyler Dibble had brought Jared back and I told him to sit on him because he did his job and it confused everyone in the pack and forced someone else to attack. I waited and kept looking back for this attack and then Max attacked and Chuck was first on him and then I was on chuck. I was then about to start my sprint a little early because it was a chicane finish and right then a Wonderful Pistachios rider attacked and I jumped right on him. I sat on him and waited until we got through the chicaine to come around him in the last 100 meters to come away with the win! Tyler Brandt was also able to come away with 2nd even though he helped bring Jared back!

Overall, it was a great day for the team not only today with Dana also winning the 35-39 Masters State Criterium earlier that day, but also Eric Riggs won the Sierra de Montserrat Curcuit Race on Saturday morning!

Thank you for reading.

--James LaBerge

Riggs Wins Dunnign Hills

By Eric Riggs Dunnign Hills RR is a flat, eighty-seven miles, hot road race. The heat would be the deciding factor of the day.

Only teammate with me was Tyler Brandt, fresh off his US National Team ride in Europe full of canal water and frites stench. We were outnumbered 2:6 Cal-Giant/Specialized and 2:9 Marc Pro-Strava riders and planned to get in the break together to minimize their numbers and maximize ours.

Pretty quick in the race Brandt and I found ourselves in a fifteen man breakaway, changing the ratios to 2:2 and 2:3, respectively. We started attacking in tandem, trying to force another selection, and for the next lap the race was all over the place. I rode the lead break of four, and other breaks were all over the road from miles thirty-five to sixty, when they all seemed to come back together and form a new fifteen person break.

Almost immediately another group formed off the front that I jumped into, this would be the winning move and contained Frank Spiteri (Marc Pro-Strava), JD Bergmann (Team Clif Bar), Christopher Harland-Dunaway (UC Davis Aggies/Davis Bike Club), and Jesse Moore (California Giant/Specialized).

I had been riding breaks all day and had no idea how strong or how much work the riders with me had done (aside from Moore who had been working all day for his teammates), all I knew was I didn't want to wait for a sprint against Bergmann and would have to attack before the line.

I toned down my pulls quite a bit, started playing a few games opening gaps to test everyone's strength, did a half-ass attack to test and see who would respond fastest, and with five miles to go I made my move.

I watched the group, they didn't seem to respond and the elastic broke. Eventually they started working together, but I had already put twenty seconds into them. I figured keeping my speed at twenty-nine/thirty would be the magic number and paced myself around that. Five miles later I had put more time into the chase group and had the win solo, with Brandt winning his group sprint for seventh.

Fast & Furious Festival Criterium (NCNCA State Criterium Championship)

We came into this race as one of the pre-race favorites to win the race and we definitely showed that we had the most heart throughout the race. It was a beautiful day in Pleasanton, California; home of the newly-opened Mike's Bike's of Pleasanton! Last year, I was able to finish 4th with junior gearing so I was very excited to get revenge and come back and win. The team's plan was to completely race for a field sprint. Even if a break went up the road, we either needed to keep it relatively close or be in the break and sit on it to bring it back into the fold for a field sprint for Dana and I. A break went up the road early in the race that included two CashCall riders, Chuck Hutcheson (Marc-Pro Strava), Chris Stasny( Cal Giant/Specialized), one other rider and Tyler Dibble (Team Mike's Bikes!). We were glade to have one of our riders in the break but we found iut the hard way that it was too strong of a breakaway, so strong that we set up the entire team to get on the front and team time trial to bring back the break. Eric Riggs, Shawn Rosenthal, Andy Goessling, Rainier Schaefer, and even Dana Williams (my leadout man) were total studs trying to bring this back! We really rode their hearts out that night and I am completely grateful to have such an amazing team to dedicate all of their efforts for me. I am very proud of being on this team and racing for Team Mike's Bikes!

Unfortunately, Tyler crashed going around one of the turns and it he was able to get back in but his scars were too much for him to race for the win. The rest of the breakaway started to play games in the closing laps and with about 7 laps to go, most of the guys had blown up and had tried their best to bring the break back. We brought them to about 15-20 seconds away and everyone sat up. I decided to take a dig for it for 1/2 a lap and emmidtaely after I looked back and pulled off, a Cashcall rider attacks and Marc-pro follows. I follow again behind Marc-pro and this started to get other teams to help chase too fortunately! I got back into the field with Dana and we let other teams chase as the breakaway was only 10 seconds infront of us with only 4 laps to go!

Not sure exactly what happened in the breakaway but by the time it came down to the last lap, it was very hectic and I had trouble communicating with Dana and figuring out how to bring back the last two riders of the breakaway (Chuck and a CashCall rider). Benny Swedberg attacked with 2 corners to go and I jump onto his wheel. Right now, I'm thinking I just sit on his wheel and sprint by him in the sprint and hope I catch the last two riders to win the race and/or the State Championship! Unfortunately, I started my sprint, I did start coming around Benny but all of a sudden Justin Williams (CashCall) comes from behind me and sprints by me but by the time he's halfway past me, he goes off his line and almost crashes into my front wheel. I had to stop pedaling (very bad for lactic acid for a sprint) and then continued to sprint. That delay was enough to let Justin take the field sprint and Benny to come in the 2nd in the field. I ended up with 3rd in the field and Dana somehow finished right behind me. The two riders stayed away and Chuck Hutchenson stayed away in the breakaway to win the state Championship.

Even though I didn't win, I am very proud of the guys and all of their efforts! They are truly the best teammates a sprinter could ask for!

Thank you for reading!

--James LaBerge

Berkeley Bicycle Club/Albany Criterium - 7/29/2012

With dark clouds looming to the East as I exited the highway 80, I wondered if mother nature would wreck havoc the 28th annual BBC/Albany Crit.  Wet pavement would definitely increase the chances of riders going down on the rectangle course around Memorial Park in Albany.  Fortunately clear skys and sunshine pushed away the dark clouds and we had clean dry pavement. Myself and teammate Tyler Dibble were the only two Team Mike's Bikes riders in the P12 race.  A number of other teammates decided to make the trek up to Reno to compete in the Tour de Nez crit.  This was the case for a number of  other NorCal teams; but I was glad to see they had sent some riders to compete in the historic BBC crit as well.

The race got underway and right from the gun Aerial Herman of Metromint attacked.  You could sense he (and likely his other team members) wanted to make this race hard, considering this was their 'home stomping grounds'.  This move was quickly shut down but soon after another rider attacked.  This game of 'cat and mouse' continued for the first 1/3 of the race.  

In my brief history of racing at BBC, along with a few tips from some of my more experienced teammates, a break does typically get away at this race.  This usually occurs out of turn 3, just after the 5-6% ascent from turn 2.  And sure enough, at around half way through the race, a break of around six riders were off the front.  Fortunately Tyler had got into it so I could sit in the field and mark anybody trying to bridge up to it.  Ben Swedberg of Cal-Giant happened to miss the move and was riding towards the front of the chase group.  I knew he was likely the strongest rider not in the break so I had to mark him.  He made his move going into turn 2 and I was able to get on his wheel.  As we went around turn 3, I looked back and realized nobody else had come with us.  The break was just ahead going into turn 4.  Here I had a decision to make; do I just hang on Ben's wheel and likely drift back to the pack, or help him a bit to get up to the break so that we'd have two teammates in it.  I decided that it was worth doing a little work and we ended up bridging up.  The break ended up staying away for a while but did get reeled back in.  I guess there were still some strong riders in the pack.

With two laps to go, the field was  together and it seemed like a field sprint was eminent.  I was in a good position at the front as I rolled over the finish line with one lap to go.  But then riders came by on my right and left.  Oh no, I was getting swarmed...and I couldn't do much about it.  This is a terrible feeling....something riders must always be aware of towards the end of a race.  At around the same time, an attack by a Metromint rider went down the outside.  It was Aerial Hermann.....he had been attacking all day and was once again bidding for the win.  He was first into turn 1.  I was probably around 10th.  I knew I needed to be close to the front going into turn 2 because the hard accelerations would likely start half way between turn 2 and 3.  There were fewer rider to the outside of me than the inside between turn 1 and 2 so I moved in that direction.  I was able to pass a few riders before entering turn 2.  As I came out of turn2 I decided it was time to go.  I looked up the road and could see that Aerial was still off the front but being chased by a McGuire rider.  I jumped out of my saddle and sprinted up the hill.  Just before turn 3 I was able to go by Aerial.  The McGuire rider had passed him as well and was just ahead between turn 3 and 4.  At this point I wondered if I should stay behind him and try to come around out of the final turn before the line or keep my speed up and go by him before turn 4.

With the momentum I had, I decided to go by him, with the hopes he wouldn't jump on my wheel and get a draft.  As I exited turn 4, I looked back and fortunately had opened a gap, enough to cross the line first.  It was another win for  Team Mike's Bikes.

BC Superweek Adventures

"Hey, I'm headed up to Whistler for a family vacation in July.  And it just happens to be the week after BC Superweek so I'm thinking of going up early to do some of the races. Does anybody want to come up and race with me?" That was what I mentioned back in the spring with the hopes of having some teammates to mix it up with some of North America's top pros during BC Superweek.  As it turned out, myself and five other Team Mike's Bikes team members were able to make the three mid-week criteriums (July 10th, 11th & 12th) while five of us were able to do the final weekend stage race (13th, 14th & 15th).  We decided to forgo the opening weekend stage race because we had committed to race the San Rafael Twilight Criterium on July 7th.

So on July 8th, Eric Riggs, John Piasta, Shawn Rosenthal and Andy Goessling piled into the Team Mike's Bike Honda Element, pointed it North on the I5...and drove....and drove...and drove!  16 hours later they pulled into Vancouver.  For me, I packed up our vehicle (two suit cases, two car seats, two kids, my wife, and my trusted steed; our team issue Specialized Venge Pro. See photo below of me at the airport) and also drove...but it was a much shorter drive for us....only to the San Francisco International Airport.  I couldn't imagine a 16 hour drive with a two year old boy, a 10 week old boy and my (supportive) beautiful wife.   Our final teammate, James Laberge, also flew up because he had to return to California for a prior commitment on the weekend of the 14th and 15th.

July 10th: UBC Criterium The start list, highlighted by two Orica-GreenEdge riders (Sven Tuft and Christian Maier, both fresh off of the Giro d'Italia) and others top pro teams including UnitedHealthcare, Optum p/b Kelly Benefit, Competitive Cyclist, Spider Tech and Exergy, combined with the technical course, dictated it was going to be a hard race.  Our most experience rider, Eric Riggs quickly voiced his prediction after seeing the course; 'Sven is going to solo off the front and win'.  We had just come off a successful San Rafael Twilight Crit so I'd say we were pretty confident.  We discussed a few possible tactics before the start but decided to see how the race would unfold and make a call in the late part of the race.

The course was basically the shape of a 'P'.  We started off with a 180 degree turn to the left about 150 meters from the start/finish line. After another 150 meters back up a slight grade on the other side of the center median, we turned 90 degrees to the right, 50 meters, another 90 degrees to the left, 100 meters, 90 degrees to the left, 50 meters, 90 degrees to the left, which took us onto the start/finish straight away, at which it was about a 100 meters to the line.  The race was 50 laps, so we essentially had 250 accelerations ahead of us.  In typical criterium fashion, some of the top pros were called up the line first.  Then the rest were allowed join in behind them.  As a team, we were a bit spread out at the start; I was around 3rd row with one or two while the others were a bit further back.  In retrospect, this was not the best tactical decision.  'Bang', the gun went off and we were off.

In short, it was one of the hardest crits I have done in a few years.  It reminded me of when I moved up from Cat 3 to Cat 2 and had to compete against Pros and Cat 1's and 2's. My legs and lungs were burning, and at one point, about half way through, I thought I wasn't going to be able to make it.  The reason was that Sven Tuft, along with former German Pro and Team Milram rider, Dominik Roels, were off the front and teams were trying to bring them back.  The tight course and large number of riders caused your typical 'yo-yo' effect.  This meaning that unless you were in the top 10, the constant decelerations and accelerations caused the field to bunch up going into a turn and then stretch out coming out of it.  The further back you were, the harder you had it.  As it turned out, a few of the TMB riders were a bit too far back and ended up getting caught behind some gaps in the field and decided to pull out and save their legs for the races to come.

It ended up being just Eric and myself finishing.  Although we both almost simultaneously said "I'll lead you out' on the second to last lap, Eric made a strong move up the inside as we went over the start/finish line on the bell lap (1 lap to go).  I hopped on his wheel and got a tow into the top 15 going into the 180 degree turn.  From here I tried to maintain my position and then sprint at the finish.  In the end I went across the line in the 13th and Eric held on for top 30, good enough for some prize cash. Sven Tuft held off Dominique in the sprint for the win. July 11th: Global Relay Gastown GrandPrix The history of this race dates back to the late 70's when it debuted as a premier race in North America.  Many well known pros, including Canadian Tour de France multiple classification jersey winner Alex Steida, well known cycling coach Chris Carmichael and his most successful athlete (and cycling legend), Lance Armstrong, have all won here.  The mix of cobble and paved streets in the historic part of the city known as Gastown, combined with high speeds and one 180 turn, create an exciting race.  An estimated 20-25,000 people typically come out to cheer on the racers.  And this year's version was no different.  The energy and buzz was quite something.  Learning from the UBC crit, and having raced Gastown twice in previous years (when I lived in Vancouver...of which I didn't finish either one), I knew I needed to be at the front for the start.  This was also a goal of all our team members. Based on last night's results, I'd say our attitude was more of survival than a clear team plan. The quality of the field is what dictated this.  If we happen to be in a good position at the end to work together then we would.  Fortunately I was able to get right behind the pros (who were called up) for the start.

The winner's purse was $14,000, the highest of any race in North America, so the pace was guaranteed to be fast right from the gun.  If you weren't at the front then you were going to be yo-yo'ed the whole race.  The course was a bit more friendly than UBC the night before.  It was basically a long and narrow triangle.  The front and back stretches were about 400 meters long while the 'bottom' end of the triangle was a 90 degree turn  (turn 2) followed by a sweeping 90 degree bend (turn 3).

The gun went off and I was happy to get into turn one (180 degrees) around 5th wheel.  From here on my goal was to stay towards the front, be attentive of any dangerous breaks and position myself in final lap to either lead James out or, if that didn't materialize, then give myself a chance at a good result.  If we had a rider represented in the break then I could let it go.  And for the most part, this is how the race unfolded.  Fortunately there weren't any crashes and the racing was fast.  There were quite a few break away attempts but nothing materialized. TMB had some riders in the top 20 for much of the race, with Eric bringing back a few breaks.  As I crossed the start/finish line on the bell lap, I was probably 20-25th place. Unfortunately James wasn't able to be up on my wheel so I knew I needed to move up. I accelerated up the inside and gained about 10 positions.  Out of the 180 degree turn it was full on.  We were single file.  Optum were lined up at the front for their sprinter Ken Hanson.  A small gap opened out of turn 3 and Canadian Criterium champion (and fellow alpine ski racer and Vancouverite) Ben Chaddock had to close it down.  Unfortunately for him it was a bit too much and he crossed the line 4th behind Ken Hanson, Ryan Anderson (Spider Tech) and Tommy Nankervis (Competitive Cyclist).  I was able to improve my finish by one spot from last night, and finish 12th, while Andy Goessling had a strong race and ended up 17th.  Eric came across the line with another top 30 while John Piasta was a bit further back.  As a team, it was an improvement over last night so spirits were a little higher.

July 12th: Giro di Burnaby

The course was quite similar to UBC (P shaped) except the start/finish straight away was much longer, probably 400 meters, which made for a less technical course.  We still had the hard acceleration out of the 180 degree turn (turn 1) each lap but the a long and gradual grade up to turn two was much friendlier on the legs.

You could tell we were all hoping to improve on our results and play a more integral role in this race right from the start because of the fact that all six of us were within the first two rows. The race got underway and the pace was a tad bit tamer than the previous two evenings.  I'd say everybody's legs were feeling some fatigue.  At about half way through the race a strong break of about 8 riders were off the front.  Fortunately for us, Shawn was in the move so we could sit in and let other teams work to bring it back.  Then unfortunately, Shawn got out of the break and was brought back to the field. In true team oriented and unselfish fashion, Eric was soon on the front and pulling the peleton closer to the break.  The race was back together and it seemed as though a field sprint was eminent.

As we went over the line with two laps to go, the bell rang to announce the crowd preme.  Going into turn four, I saw James make a move to the front and then accelerate.  I could tell he was going for the $1,000 preme.  He got a small gap but unfortunately a few other riders were thinking about the preme as well and were able to make it up to his wheel out of the final turn (turn 5) and overtake him.  The bell rang for the last lap.  I went to the inside and accelerated.  Eric was once again right there.  He lead me out of the 180 turn and up the back stretch.  We were within the top 10 as we passed the finish line.  Optum was once again lined up and leading out their sprinter, Ken Hanson.  Eric moved to the left, which if held was the optimal inside line on the final corner.  Unfortunately I wasn't attentive enough and lost his wheel and went up the right (a mistake on my part).  So now we had to fend for ourselves. Like the previous two nights, my mouth was open and I was gasping for air.  My legs were burning.  I was pretty well maxed out.  But during these times you have to push your body more than you think it can go.  Out of the final turn I got out of my saddle, jumped on my pedals and sprinted to the line.  For the second night in a row, it was Ken Hanson who crossed the finish line first. I was psyched to cross the line 6th in a field of this strength.  Andy crossed the line 15th, good enough to be in the money as well.

Tour of White Rock: July 13, 14 & 15

July 14th: Tour of White Rock Criterium

Saturday evening was what I expected to be the hardest crit of the week.  I had done this race when I lived in Vancouver about six years ago so I knew the course.  It was basically a rectangle, with the longer sides being a descent between turn four and one and a climb between turn two and three.  This 'hard-mans' course definitely favored Sven Tuft.  And predictions within our team, and I'm sure others, is he was the guy to follow.

For the second race in a row, all TMB riders were within the first two rows at the start (see photo below).  The race got underway and the climb definitely was taking it's toll as each lap passed.  We all tried to stay towards the front and go with moves. As anticipated, at the top the climb after a hard effort, Sven saw his opportunity and pushed the pace.  He was gone.  A few guys from the pro teams tried to go with him but they soon came back to the peleton, as Sven powered on.

 

As we were getting close to the end of the race, I overheard the announcer mention Sven was holding off lapping the field in order to collect a few more premes and not get mixed up in the final sprint (smart guy....and extremely impressive).

The field sprint was for 2nd place.  I was feeling strong and keeping towards the front.  I went through turn 2 on the final lap in about 4th wheel.  I knew the sprint was going to the start as we started the climb.  I saw riders coming up on my left so I jumped up and began to sprint.  The jump is always important, and although I wasn't the first to start my sprint I was feeling good.  Just then a rider in front of me started floating back and got in my way.  I had to brake ever so slightly and go around him.  It was just enough to slow my momentum and drop back a few positions and any hopes of a podium finish. I went across the line in 11th.

July 15th: Tour of White Rock Road Race

Held on the undulating main and residential streets of White Rock, the race was going to be challenging.  The start/finish line was in the middle of a 2.5 mile straight stretch.  At each end was a basically a loop that went up a climb then came back down to sea level.  We were to do 11 laps of the full course and then finish off with six laps of the north side loop, for a total of 85 miles. During my warm up I rode most of the course and saw there was a KOM at the top of the climb on the north loop. The course marshall at the KOM line mentioned there was a $100 prize for the first person over the line on the first lap.  Not that I felt I could get it but it was good to know.

Once again, all of the TMB riders were at the front for the start.  The start referee outlined the few basic things including the number of laps, the fact that riders not making the final short six laps in time would be pulled and the KOM specifics.  The gun went and we were off.  My plan was to be towards the front at the bottom of the climbs and float back as the true climbers pushed the pace.  I wasn't confident I'd make it to the final six small loops in time.   I just don't have enough time to spend on the bike (with family and work commitments) to contend with the pros on a hilly course of this nature. As we accelerated up the first climb on lap one, I was within the top 10.  Nobody was really making any aggressive moves so I decided to go for the $100 preme.  At least if I got it I would go away with something.  I quickly opened up a gap and I pushed on.  The legs started to tighten up.  I looked back and the front of the peleton was closing. I looked ahead and knew where the line was from my morning course recon.  Yes, I made it across the line first.  A $100 in the bank!  Now I wondered how the next climb would go.

Before long we were flying down the descent of the north loop and around a chicane at the bottom.  The climb on the south loop was soon upon us.  It was steeper than the north loop and zig zagged up into a residential area.  We hit the top and accelerated.  All the riders were stretched out single file as we continued to zig zag along the upper flats through a residential neighbourhood.

Bam...next thing I know I'm sliding on my side, my hip heats up from the friction and I see my glasses bouncing of the pavement in front of me.  Riderszip by.  What happened...how did I go down? I picked up my bike, adjusted the brakes, put my glasses back on and was off again.  The pace had already split up the pack and I was at the back of the second chase group, which happened to be the back of the race.  At this point I knew my race was over and conceded that it was going to be a good training ride.  But I still didn't know what caused me to go down.  The next time around that corner on lap two I realized it was a man hole cover that was wet from morning dew.

As expected, after 11 laps of the full course, the race was over for the group I was in.  65 miles and over 6,000 feet of climbing.  In talking to my teammates after the race, I found out that we had a few guys in the front group for most of the race.  Eric was off the front for three laps with the hopes of having a few other strong riders join him to work together and stay away.  As it turned out that didn't happen and he was absorbed back in the field.  As for Sven Tuft, he had a mechanical on lap one.  Once fixed he was almost four minutes back. Amazingly he slowly crawled his way back and finished fourth.  His teammate, Christian Maier, ended up getting the win.

So that was BC Superweek.  All in all a great experience for Team Mike's Bikes; one that we may head back to in 2013. Lots of suffering, good memories, some skin left behind and some Canadian cash.

Racing in Belgium

Several months ago, Steve asked Travis and I if we would be interested in traveling to Belgium this summer. Rick Adams, owner of Immersion Cycling, provided us with a proposal that would involve racing and training in West Flanders for two and half weeks. Travis and I jumped at the opportunity and for the past eleven days we have been competing in the local Kermises, tasting the local cuisine, riding the cobbled roads of the spring classics, and watching our favorite pros compete in post Tour de France criteriums. Below is a photo journal from my Instagram (henryscholz) of the trip so far. For more information on trips and racing in Belgium, check out Ricks site http://immersioncycling.com/

The Sigginga haim located in Zingem has 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 14 beds, living room, dining room, huge backyard, and a bike shed. It has hosted several cycling teams and we spoiled enough to only have 4 of us staying here!

On our first day in Belgium, Rick took us on a ride over some of the areas cobbled roads through the streets of Oudenaarde.

I got the chance to chase Travis up the cobbled climb the Koppenberg, part of the route of the Ronde van Vlaanderen. That hurt.

Travis, Richard and I all got dropped about halfway through our first kermis. We weren't too upset as the race was 115km in Laarne and had 147 entrants which consisted of a few rides from the Omega Pharma - Quick-Step and Vacansoleil development team, and even a couple riders from the US pro Jamis Cycling team.  I'd hoped in Europe they would at least spell my last correctly.

Afterwards we were luckily enough to be interviewed by a local journalist and made the news: http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=BLWPO_20120722_002

I just pulled out of the Landskouter kermis when I ran out of food and water after a little over 80k at around 280w. I pondered what the hell they are feeding these guys?

so... many... cobbles... Unfortunately there is no way to route your map to avoid cobbled sections so I got to commute over these out to and back from the race. They are fun at first but quickly become annoying as they rattle your bones.

We got the opportunity eat some friets with mayo and watch a post TDF crit in Aalst featuring this years Sprinters Green Jersey winner Peter Sagan and some other big favorites. Sagan won but the races tend to just be more of just a show as in a previous year Sastre out sprinted Cav and Farrar and Armstrong out sprinted Cipo.

The beautiful morning view from my bedroom in the Sigginga haim in Zingem.

A shot of church in the town center of Zingem.

After a bit of a bursitis flare up from screwing up my fit unpacking my bike, I went on a training ride while the boys raced. I found a park along the way and hit up some dirt to uncover some awesome cyclocross trails. Luckily I was able to get back to racing the next day after my knee calmed down.

Richard and I sat and recovered for a minute while we waited for Travis to finish a Kermis in Bambrugge.

Travis immediately after completing all 112km and finishing in the main bunch of the Bambrugge kermis.

After several days of kermis racing, we decided to take a rest day with napping in the morning, a spin in the afternoon, and a post tour crit at night.

There were some big names out at the Ninove post tour crit. Cav took the win over Mcewen and Sagan.

Diablo Hill Climb Time Trial

What does a climber focus on when he starts the season a few lbs heavier that he should be? Or 12 lbs heavier, with an at best semi-functional left leg, like me at this year’s team camp? Time trials.

And now that I’m closer to where I want to be to climb well– hill climb time trials.

So I raced one up by tahoe, it went fairly well. Then on the recommendation of teammate Jim Wingert, I signed up for Diablo.

The deal – Six miles and change up. Riders off in 30 second intervals. The first couple miles roll a bit, then it’s just up.

My condition – I climbed Mt.  Shasta with a few friends the weekend before. Six days later, I was finally starting to walk normally.

Getting there – In case I didn’t already hate the 80/580 merge to the maze stretch of highway enough, this Sunday confirmed that’s just a terrible stretch of road. 6 am and heading to a race – I went a half mile in about 20 minutes. Despite the delay, I was still able to get in a decent warm and make my start time. Really the first part of the race when it comes to TTs.

The race – I hit the course hard and 24 minutes and change later, I took the win. Jim came in second for a solid Team Mike’s  Bikes 1-2.

I was happy with the result and impressed with the event. Great job by the promoter. My zipp 303-404 combo also performed nicely – perfect balance of aero and lightness for this type of course.

Watsonville Criterium

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.

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

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.

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 18^th and was the 2^nd 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.

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