Tuesday, Joe and I went to Colorado Springs to do our first track racing of the year. On the schedule were sprints, tempo races and a 5 mile scratch race, in that order. As a really, really old guy, I signed up as a “C” category racer and Joe was talked into signing up as a “B” racer. The evening was a reasonable temperature, hot, but still comfortable. There was a significant breeze blowing from the south east as always seems to be the case on that track.
Seeding for the sprints was done by a 3 lap scratch race. The C’s went first. I wasn’t sure how I would do and was not expecting much based on last year’s experience. The race turned out easier that I expected and I easily finished 4th. Joe managed to do better and finished 3rd in his B race. The sprints were done in sets of three. The bottom set started first, with the top set of 3 going last in each group. I started in the middle of our threesome. The bottom rider took off hard from the gun and I had to chase to get on her wheel. I sucked that for almost a lap when the third rider in our group came around us. I jumped on his wheel until corner 3 when I started my sprint and managed to come around him before the finish line. As the 3rd placed rider, Joe was paired with the best 2 riders in his category. They did a bit more realistic matched sprint, but when they took off Joe couldn’t come around and ended up a close third.
As the 3 lap race seemed reasonable, I decided to do the 8 lap tempo race. With points available for every lap, I knew it could be hard. I managed to get near the front early and was able to win the 2 points available on the first lap. I stayed near the front and got 1 or 2 more points on the second lap. I then decided to fall back. Not a good choice as I fell too far back and was not in contention for the rest of the race. I didn’t hear where my points placed me in the race, but it was a good experience regardless.
Joe had a 10 lap tempo race. He grabbed the first points and stayed on or near the front all of the race and gathered the most points for his first Tuesday night track win!
I decided I was done for the evening, but Joe did the combined B/C 15 lap scratch race. (I knew I couldn’t come close to keeping up with Joe!) After the neutral lap the start featured one rider getting a gap without anyone chasing. When Joe and others started to chase, they discovered the leader had a partner in the race who was blocking. Initial efforts to chase him done were doomed. After Joe realized that they weren’t going to catch the leader, he made an effort to separate the best from the rest. He took off and brought two others with him off the front. Unfortunately, one of those was the guy who had been doing the blocking, so he didn’t help the group at all. Joe say that he was going to have to settle for second, so he waited until he thought he could attack and hold the lead until the finish. With about 2 laps to go, he took off and had a good lead, but relaxed too much just before the finish and got caught at the very end. I think Joe learned, once again, to not quit until after you have crossed the finish line!
It was a fun evening!
Twitch
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Vic's Espresso/ Peerless 55ers Solidify BAT Lead!
June 26 and 27 brought 3 members of the Vic's Espresso/ Peerless 55 team to Laramie, Wyoming for the Dead Dog Classic Stage Race. Paul Mack, Dean Sandoval, and Bill Simmons all made the trip to take part in Saturday's 55 mile road race and Sunday's criterium and time trial.
The road race consisted of over 3500 feet of climbing up to a 10,000 foot elevation in the Snowy Range. The descent brought the racers back to the start in the mountain town of Albany with an uphill finish. The 55ers were paired with the 45ers, which made for a fast pace once the climbing began. Dean eventually lost contact with the leaders which included rivals Bill Kellagher and Kim Workman, but managed to be the 3rd 55er at the summit turnaround. Paul and Bill S. drifted back as well, but managed to be at the turnaround a couple of minutes after Dean. Aided by a group of 45ers, Bill K. and Kim W. made time on the rest of the 55ers, while Dean worked with fellow-competitor, Steve Matous and another 45er, to limit the damage. At the finish it was Kellagher and Workman, then 3 minutes down , Matous and Sandoval. A couple of minutes later Bill S. and Paul came in for 6th and 7th place.
Sunday morning's criterium saw Paul and Bill S. set a furious pace to set-up a pre-arranged attempt for Bill K. and Dean to get away on the classic, downtown, 6-corner course in Laramie. When this didn't go, our Bill S. pulled away with Bill K., later to joined by Mike Myers. They established a half minute gap with Myers taking the win and our Bill taking 2nd. Dean and Paul were part of the field sprint a few seconds later.
Early afternoon took us to the mountains east of Laramie for the 10 mile time trial at over 8,000 feet. The out and back course is slightly downhill out and windy both ways. Our legs proved worthy as all 3 Vic's guys maintained or improved on GC. Dean won the TT, Paul took 7th, and Bill S. came in 12th.
The final GC had 3 top 10 finishers for Vic's Espresso/ Peerless!: Dean 3rd, Paul 6th, and Bill 7th! Our 1st place BAT lead is a whopping 112 points!
The road race consisted of over 3500 feet of climbing up to a 10,000 foot elevation in the Snowy Range. The descent brought the racers back to the start in the mountain town of Albany with an uphill finish. The 55ers were paired with the 45ers, which made for a fast pace once the climbing began. Dean eventually lost contact with the leaders which included rivals Bill Kellagher and Kim Workman, but managed to be the 3rd 55er at the summit turnaround. Paul and Bill S. drifted back as well, but managed to be at the turnaround a couple of minutes after Dean. Aided by a group of 45ers, Bill K. and Kim W. made time on the rest of the 55ers, while Dean worked with fellow-competitor, Steve Matous and another 45er, to limit the damage. At the finish it was Kellagher and Workman, then 3 minutes down , Matous and Sandoval. A couple of minutes later Bill S. and Paul came in for 6th and 7th place.
Sunday morning's criterium saw Paul and Bill S. set a furious pace to set-up a pre-arranged attempt for Bill K. and Dean to get away on the classic, downtown, 6-corner course in Laramie. When this didn't go, our Bill S. pulled away with Bill K., later to joined by Mike Myers. They established a half minute gap with Myers taking the win and our Bill taking 2nd. Dean and Paul were part of the field sprint a few seconds later.
Early afternoon took us to the mountains east of Laramie for the 10 mile time trial at over 8,000 feet. The out and back course is slightly downhill out and windy both ways. Our legs proved worthy as all 3 Vic's guys maintained or improved on GC. Dean won the TT, Paul took 7th, and Bill S. came in 12th.
The final GC had 3 top 10 finishers for Vic's Espresso/ Peerless!: Dean 3rd, Paul 6th, and Bill 7th! Our 1st place BAT lead is a whopping 112 points!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Centurion Preview Ride, Saturday, June 26, 2010
Here's the blue team at the front for the Centurion Preview ride last Saturday.Len
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Christy Orris State TT Silver Medalist
Women's team member, Christy Orris, secured podium placement by capturing the Silver Medal in Sunday's 2010 John Stenner Memorial State Time Trials. With a time of 1:01:49 in the Women's 35+ she could have easily challenged and powered past the 2nd place winner in the Women's Pro 4 Category with a matching time of 1:01:49. Way to go Christy!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Vic's 55 Men at City Park
OK, it's a little late but I've been a bit busy cartooning and injuring my knee (the good one) by working in the crawl space in Crested Butte - note to self, ride the bike, stay out of the crawl space. A visit to Dr. Pruitt at BCSM and I'm back in action. Yes, they do magic. Highly-informed, science-based but magic none-the-less.
Oh yes, City Park. Contrary to published reports, we contested the short course with the fun traffic furniture, lots of left turns and a slightly uphill sprint immediately after the final roundabout. 7 AM start. Four Vic's Espresso Peerless Tire 55-ers lined up, Bill Simmons, Mike Newsome, Dean Sandoval and me with most of the usual suspects for opponents plus a fit-looking Glen Winkle. Bill suggested our numbers indicated an attack-often strategy and we all were good with that. True to his word, Bill attacked on the first corner and put a good gap on the field. I had a good start and was able to take the lead and do some effective blocking for a couple of laps. Mike came up to perpetuate this tactic and we both covered Glen's many attacks for numerous circles. Glen found to his disappointment that no one would help him out. Bill rode a magnificent solo to the win with Glen taking the field sprint as Mike and I were a bit smoked by the work. Results: Mike third, Dean ninth and I was fifth. An excellent day indeed - I'm thrilled to be back mixing it up with my mates!
Oh yes, City Park. Contrary to published reports, we contested the short course with the fun traffic furniture, lots of left turns and a slightly uphill sprint immediately after the final roundabout. 7 AM start. Four Vic's Espresso Peerless Tire 55-ers lined up, Bill Simmons, Mike Newsome, Dean Sandoval and me with most of the usual suspects for opponents plus a fit-looking Glen Winkle. Bill suggested our numbers indicated an attack-often strategy and we all were good with that. True to his word, Bill attacked on the first corner and put a good gap on the field. I had a good start and was able to take the lead and do some effective blocking for a couple of laps. Mike came up to perpetuate this tactic and we both covered Glen's many attacks for numerous circles. Glen found to his disappointment that no one would help him out. Bill rode a magnificent solo to the win with Glen taking the field sprint as Mike and I were a bit smoked by the work. Results: Mike third, Dean ninth and I was fifth. An excellent day indeed - I'm thrilled to be back mixing it up with my mates!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
It was a cold and wet day at Cherry Creek Reservoir
Wednesday May 12th, as I was working away at my computer, one of my coworkers asked me to turn around and look out my window. The snow was coming down mixed with rain and it looked miserable here in Golden. He joked and asked me if I was going to go to the race since the weather looked so terrible. I just said, “Absolutely”.
Now to be honest I wasn’t looking forward to riding in this kind of weather but I remember a few weeks back when Neal, Grant, Curtis, Mike and I did the team TT at haystack. No that was fun on a whole different level.
Now back to the present. I gathered up my stuff and headed to Cherry Creek at about 4:10pm just incase there was a traffic jam due to the weather. I headed down 6th Ave. the snow stopped and then the rain stopped. It actually looked like it was going to be a nice day to race. There was really no traffic, people were being considerate on the road and all seemed right with the world. Sing Kumbaya here and hold up your hands.
I head into the park and find my fellow blues. I park next to Steve and get out and talk to him for a minute then start my pre-race ritual. Dennis was spinning away and looked to be in the middle of an effort so I didn’t want to interrupt him. This time I am a bit more relaxed since I’m about an hour and a half early. As I walk casually towards the restrooms I see Dean’s Red VW bus with Darren B in the passenger seat. When I get back Dean is getting his stuff ready so I decide enough messing around and start to get ready as well. I look through my stuff and notice I forgot my powertap head unit. That made me nervous so I took a quick inventory: race wheels check, shoes check, number and jersey check, helmet check, ok I can at least race. Turns out I only forgot my powertap head unit so I had to do my warm-up by feel. As Dean, Darren and I warm-up the temperature started getting cooler and then Dean said, “I think I saw a snow flake”.
Sure enough the weather was catching me from Golden. The warm-up got my under clothes wet and I got real cold as I put my trainer and items away. I switch my under gear to some dry stuff I had in the car and head to the line with about 10 minutes to spare. I rode a couple times around the boat dock then headed up to the starting line.
Dean started off 40 seconds ahead of me and Darren 20 seconds. The last week I have felt fairly good on the bike and wanted to have that feeling in a race. Well it happened yesterday. I took off and got up to speed quickly and it appeared just in my jump to speed I cut into Darren’s time. As I turned the first corner I settled in to my rhythm and continued to eat up seconds on Darren. I looked ahead and could see Dean about 10 seconds in front of Darren. I didn’t let my eagerness get the best of me and contained my rhythm. I pass Darren in the start of my personal “second quarter” of the race. Here I ratchet it up a bit. I pass Darren and he encourages me on. I see Dean ahead and he looks like the road runner cartoon character. His feet are spinning so fast all you see is a circle. I pass Dean and see another guy ahead of him. I know that if I don’t go a bit faster now I will be blocked in the turn. I crank it up to pass him before the turn and then settle back to my 2nd quarter effort. In the first turn around I encounter 2 more riders. One I pass outside and the other I had to scrub a bit of speed because of the wet road and painted surface and he had the best line in the corner back on to the main road. I stand here and sprint back up to speed and now I start my “3rd quarter” effort. The trip back I pass a few more riders and before I know it I am on the hill heading toward the lollipop. This hill was tough with the wind in my face I stand and fight the entire climb. It was a very tough effort but I knew I had to hold my speed up. In my mind I tell myself, “just suffer really badly for 30 seconds and you can rest on the downhill”. I get to the top and then my mind quickly tells my body, “You like the speed and pain take it to the 4th quarter here and leave it all on the course”. A car pulls out at the bottom of the hill and I am quickly gaining on it. I look for my outs and contemplate what my plan of attack is. As I get about 100 meters from the car and I think to myself, “I am going to catch this car in the lollipop, he has no idea what it is like to be on a bike in a race with a wet surface and a 180 degree corner. This is going to cost me a ton of time.”
I keep my 4th quarter effort going and the car is holding about 100 meters to the corner. Then the car does something I can not believe. He pulls over to the inside completely out of my way and lets me pass without slowing me down one bit. I slowed for the corner and sprinted out to get back up to speed. As hard as I can I pedal towards the finish line. My legs are screaming at me to stop, I have snot and spit all over my face and really don’t care. All am thinking is that there is 30 seconds left. Spin circles, hold the power as long as you can and man I bet that lady standing on the chair radioing in our numbers is cold. Then the finish line and I am done.
I wait for Dean and find out that for the second week he had a mechanical. When I passed him he was spun out because he could not get his rear derailleur to go below the 19 cog. He still smashed the course and I believe he would have taken the win if it weren’t for his bad luck.
The Blues results:
I was excited to finish fourth overall on the day and only 9 seconds behind Nico and 44 seconds behind Greg Krause.
Pro1-2
4 Robert Kelly SM Pro-1-2 Vic's Espresso Littleton 0:21:14.14 -0:00:44.13
35+ cat 3
1 Curtis Leschyshyn SM 35+_3 Boulder Masters Cycling Team Littleton 0:21:47.34
55-59
2 Dean Sandoval SM 55-59 Boulder Masters Cycling Team Canon City 0:23:12.49
6 Steven Worley SM 55-59 Boulder Masters Cycling Team Boulder 0:25:27.51
60-64
1 Dennis Hastings SM 60-64 Boulder Masters Cycling Team Evergreen 0:23:48.86
Now to be honest I wasn’t looking forward to riding in this kind of weather but I remember a few weeks back when Neal, Grant, Curtis, Mike and I did the team TT at haystack. No that was fun on a whole different level.
Now back to the present. I gathered up my stuff and headed to Cherry Creek at about 4:10pm just incase there was a traffic jam due to the weather. I headed down 6th Ave. the snow stopped and then the rain stopped. It actually looked like it was going to be a nice day to race. There was really no traffic, people were being considerate on the road and all seemed right with the world. Sing Kumbaya here and hold up your hands.
I head into the park and find my fellow blues. I park next to Steve and get out and talk to him for a minute then start my pre-race ritual. Dennis was spinning away and looked to be in the middle of an effort so I didn’t want to interrupt him. This time I am a bit more relaxed since I’m about an hour and a half early. As I walk casually towards the restrooms I see Dean’s Red VW bus with Darren B in the passenger seat. When I get back Dean is getting his stuff ready so I decide enough messing around and start to get ready as well. I look through my stuff and notice I forgot my powertap head unit. That made me nervous so I took a quick inventory: race wheels check, shoes check, number and jersey check, helmet check, ok I can at least race. Turns out I only forgot my powertap head unit so I had to do my warm-up by feel. As Dean, Darren and I warm-up the temperature started getting cooler and then Dean said, “I think I saw a snow flake”.
Sure enough the weather was catching me from Golden. The warm-up got my under clothes wet and I got real cold as I put my trainer and items away. I switch my under gear to some dry stuff I had in the car and head to the line with about 10 minutes to spare. I rode a couple times around the boat dock then headed up to the starting line.
Dean started off 40 seconds ahead of me and Darren 20 seconds. The last week I have felt fairly good on the bike and wanted to have that feeling in a race. Well it happened yesterday. I took off and got up to speed quickly and it appeared just in my jump to speed I cut into Darren’s time. As I turned the first corner I settled in to my rhythm and continued to eat up seconds on Darren. I looked ahead and could see Dean about 10 seconds in front of Darren. I didn’t let my eagerness get the best of me and contained my rhythm. I pass Darren in the start of my personal “second quarter” of the race. Here I ratchet it up a bit. I pass Darren and he encourages me on. I see Dean ahead and he looks like the road runner cartoon character. His feet are spinning so fast all you see is a circle. I pass Dean and see another guy ahead of him. I know that if I don’t go a bit faster now I will be blocked in the turn. I crank it up to pass him before the turn and then settle back to my 2nd quarter effort. In the first turn around I encounter 2 more riders. One I pass outside and the other I had to scrub a bit of speed because of the wet road and painted surface and he had the best line in the corner back on to the main road. I stand here and sprint back up to speed and now I start my “3rd quarter” effort. The trip back I pass a few more riders and before I know it I am on the hill heading toward the lollipop. This hill was tough with the wind in my face I stand and fight the entire climb. It was a very tough effort but I knew I had to hold my speed up. In my mind I tell myself, “just suffer really badly for 30 seconds and you can rest on the downhill”. I get to the top and then my mind quickly tells my body, “You like the speed and pain take it to the 4th quarter here and leave it all on the course”. A car pulls out at the bottom of the hill and I am quickly gaining on it. I look for my outs and contemplate what my plan of attack is. As I get about 100 meters from the car and I think to myself, “I am going to catch this car in the lollipop, he has no idea what it is like to be on a bike in a race with a wet surface and a 180 degree corner. This is going to cost me a ton of time.”
I keep my 4th quarter effort going and the car is holding about 100 meters to the corner. Then the car does something I can not believe. He pulls over to the inside completely out of my way and lets me pass without slowing me down one bit. I slowed for the corner and sprinted out to get back up to speed. As hard as I can I pedal towards the finish line. My legs are screaming at me to stop, I have snot and spit all over my face and really don’t care. All am thinking is that there is 30 seconds left. Spin circles, hold the power as long as you can and man I bet that lady standing on the chair radioing in our numbers is cold. Then the finish line and I am done.
I wait for Dean and find out that for the second week he had a mechanical. When I passed him he was spun out because he could not get his rear derailleur to go below the 19 cog. He still smashed the course and I believe he would have taken the win if it weren’t for his bad luck.
The Blues results:
I was excited to finish fourth overall on the day and only 9 seconds behind Nico and 44 seconds behind Greg Krause.
Pro1-2
4 Robert Kelly SM Pro-1-2 Vic's Espresso Littleton 0:21:14.14 -0:00:44.13
35+ cat 3
1 Curtis Leschyshyn SM 35+_3 Boulder Masters Cycling Team Littleton 0:21:47.34
55-59
2 Dean Sandoval SM 55-59 Boulder Masters Cycling Team Canon City 0:23:12.49
6 Steven Worley SM 55-59 Boulder Masters Cycling Team Boulder 0:25:27.51
60-64
1 Dennis Hastings SM 60-64 Boulder Masters Cycling Team Evergreen 0:23:48.86
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Embrace High Speed
The concrete oval is open and six Vics started the training season 5/8, Saturday. It was windy making the home stretch brutal in the big gears, but we all got the work done and are on the way to high speeds again. The team makes an awesome impression on all onlookers, especially when all six are lined out pacing - great look, tight formation, and perfect track technique. I'm glad the first fixed-gear body shock is over - let the training begin!Sunday, May 2, 2010
45+ Sandstone Ranch Criterium
...But Not Faster Than Bob Dahl...
Representing Vic's Espresso/Peerless Tire in the 45+ open race at the inaugural Sandstone Ranch Criterium east of Longmont were Jerry Greenleaf, Joe Paulson, Bill Simmons, and John Talley. With rain/snow forecast for the afternoon,the Vic's racers were pleased to have partly cloudy and chilly but dry weather for their 12:30 start time. Black clouds loomed over the mountains to the west, but they appeared likely to stay away until after the completion of their 45 minute timed event.
Pre-race strategy discussion centered on being watchful for riders from the Skins team, who had driven successful breakaways from the gun in the last two criteriums they had contested. However, as the blue boys took a couple of warm-up laps on the long rectangular course, it was the sight of Excel Sports rider Bob Dahl who had Joe most concerned, due to his dominating sprinting ability and impressive list of criterium wins in the 35+ ranks he had graduated from last year.
The race was animated from the start, with various riders trying excursions off the front. The blues stayed attentive, but patiently let the larger teams pursue breaks in which their jerseys weren't represented. Great Divide rider Jim Dickerson is legendary for his long breakaways, and when he tried one early on, the Jet quickly hopped on for the ride. JT, Bill, and Joe, moved to the front with the Great Divide riders to discourage an immediate pursuit. Contributing just enough to encourage Jim to keep it rolling, the Jet let Jim power the two of them around the course while remaining within striking distance of the field, which eventually pulled them back.
About half way through the race, three strong riders from different big teams got up the road, setting off alarm bells in Joe's head. Picking his moment when the field hesitated on the front straight, Joe launched from mid-pack to try a solo bridge. Half way across, he glanced back to see that Christopher Stout had jumped on board, and made it across with Joe. After a bit of recovery, Joe started to rotate through with the initial three escapees, but the gap to the field started to come down.
As the field got close, other riders were able to jump across, swelling the break to eight riders. To Joe's dismay, he saw that Bob Dahl was one of the late arrivals to the party. JT almost made it across with another rider, but the break got more organized, and pulled away for good. At four laps to go, the cohesion went back out of the group, and only about half of the riders were continuing to work. Anticipating the inevitable attacks, Joe worked his way onto Bob's wheel in the rotation.
Fed up with the limited contributions from other riders, Jimi Gibson set out on his own, but was reeled back in. At two laps to go, Jim Dickerson jumped out of the group, and the other riders looked at each other to see who would blink first. The duty fell to Jimi, who took up the front again. Jim's gap was getting dangerously large, so Joe pulled through hoping to re-establish a rotation to assist Jimi. No one followed though, so Jimi was soon back on the front, taking it as a personal challenge to try to pull Jim back on the last lap.
With half a lap to go, a rider launched up the side, and the end game was on. Joe fought for Bob's wheel as they approached the second to last corner, where being positioned in the top three was going to be key. Bob jumped as Derek Nichol came to the front, and the two riders fought for supremacy into the turn, with Joe right behind. Coming into the final turn with 200 meters to go, Bob and Derek were bouncing off each other, and Joe backed off in case they went down. Everyone stayed up, but Bob now had a little gap, which opened up as he accelerated out of the turn and down the home straight.
Joe left Derek behind as Bob hunted down Jim (remember Jim?) who was giving everything he had left to hold on for 100 more meters. Bob passed Jim, then Joe passed Jim in the last 50 meters, but no one was going to pass Bob, who crossed the line for the win with Joe now a few bike lengths back in 2nd. Jim held on for a richly deserved 3rd and final podium spot, and JT took the field sprint for 9th, followed in by Bill in 15th and the Jet in 21st.
Representing Vic's Espresso/Peerless Tire in the 45+ open race at the inaugural Sandstone Ranch Criterium east of Longmont were Jerry Greenleaf, Joe Paulson, Bill Simmons, and John Talley. With rain/snow forecast for the afternoon,the Vic's racers were pleased to have partly cloudy and chilly but dry weather for their 12:30 start time. Black clouds loomed over the mountains to the west, but they appeared likely to stay away until after the completion of their 45 minute timed event.
Pre-race strategy discussion centered on being watchful for riders from the Skins team, who had driven successful breakaways from the gun in the last two criteriums they had contested. However, as the blue boys took a couple of warm-up laps on the long rectangular course, it was the sight of Excel Sports rider Bob Dahl who had Joe most concerned, due to his dominating sprinting ability and impressive list of criterium wins in the 35+ ranks he had graduated from last year.
The race was animated from the start, with various riders trying excursions off the front. The blues stayed attentive, but patiently let the larger teams pursue breaks in which their jerseys weren't represented. Great Divide rider Jim Dickerson is legendary for his long breakaways, and when he tried one early on, the Jet quickly hopped on for the ride. JT, Bill, and Joe, moved to the front with the Great Divide riders to discourage an immediate pursuit. Contributing just enough to encourage Jim to keep it rolling, the Jet let Jim power the two of them around the course while remaining within striking distance of the field, which eventually pulled them back.
About half way through the race, three strong riders from different big teams got up the road, setting off alarm bells in Joe's head. Picking his moment when the field hesitated on the front straight, Joe launched from mid-pack to try a solo bridge. Half way across, he glanced back to see that Christopher Stout had jumped on board, and made it across with Joe. After a bit of recovery, Joe started to rotate through with the initial three escapees, but the gap to the field started to come down.
As the field got close, other riders were able to jump across, swelling the break to eight riders. To Joe's dismay, he saw that Bob Dahl was one of the late arrivals to the party. JT almost made it across with another rider, but the break got more organized, and pulled away for good. At four laps to go, the cohesion went back out of the group, and only about half of the riders were continuing to work. Anticipating the inevitable attacks, Joe worked his way onto Bob's wheel in the rotation.
Fed up with the limited contributions from other riders, Jimi Gibson set out on his own, but was reeled back in. At two laps to go, Jim Dickerson jumped out of the group, and the other riders looked at each other to see who would blink first. The duty fell to Jimi, who took up the front again. Jim's gap was getting dangerously large, so Joe pulled through hoping to re-establish a rotation to assist Jimi. No one followed though, so Jimi was soon back on the front, taking it as a personal challenge to try to pull Jim back on the last lap.
With half a lap to go, a rider launched up the side, and the end game was on. Joe fought for Bob's wheel as they approached the second to last corner, where being positioned in the top three was going to be key. Bob jumped as Derek Nichol came to the front, and the two riders fought for supremacy into the turn, with Joe right behind. Coming into the final turn with 200 meters to go, Bob and Derek were bouncing off each other, and Joe backed off in case they went down. Everyone stayed up, but Bob now had a little gap, which opened up as he accelerated out of the turn and down the home straight.
Joe left Derek behind as Bob hunted down Jim (remember Jim?) who was giving everything he had left to hold on for 100 more meters. Bob passed Jim, then Joe passed Jim in the last 50 meters, but no one was going to pass Bob, who crossed the line for the win with Joe now a few bike lengths back in 2nd. Jim held on for a richly deserved 3rd and final podium spot, and JT took the field sprint for 9th, followed in by Bill in 15th and the Jet in 21st.
Faster than a speeding bullet
Yesterday I had the studio set up for a shoot in the morning and afterwards got Joe to stop by for a few set ups. here's one of them.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
45+ Groove Subaru Spring Criterium
Uphill; Downhill
Joe Paulson, Bill Simmons, and John Talley came out on a moderately chilly and breezy spring morning to fly the Vic's Espresso/Peerless Tire colors with approximately 50 other racers on the up and down criterium course just outside of Golden. Feeling rather outnumbered by several other teams, the boys planned to ride conservatively for the first half of the 50 minute race, and then try to lead out JT on the final lap if it came down to a field sprint. However, recalling the immediate four man break that stayed away the entire race the previous weekend in Louisville, they knew they needed to stay attentive to threatening breaks.
Like a re-run of a bad movie, once again a break disappeared up the road almost immediately. The good news: it was a solo rider. Who could stay away against those headwinds for 45 more minutes. The bad news: it turned out to be Todd Robertson, a member of the previous week's winning move, and the individual time trial winner at Haystack in the 35+ category (no, that's not a typo). Several riders made stabs off the front to try to chase him down, including Jimi Gibson and Rod Yoder. The boys covered the serious looking moves, until Joe found himself up the road with Jimi and another rider. They were able to close some of the distance to the solo leader, but could not bring the gap down below 25 seconds. The field started to close back in, but a bridge move brought five additional riders up, including Rod Yoder and Bill Kellagher from Vitamin Cottage. With most of the major teams now represented up front, Bill and JT were able to work with the teammates of Joe's companions to shut the pursuit down.
With eight laps to go, JT hit one of the recessed manhole covers littering the course, breaking a wheel and cranking his handlebars over so his brakes locked up, bringing him to a very abrupt halt. With no free laps remaining, JT's race ended early.
Meanwhile, with eight riders now chasing off the front, the leader should have been in jeopardy, but the cooperation in the group disappeared as single riders kept attacking, and Joe kept chasing back to them with the others in tow. Joe refused to respond to yet another Jimi move, and he rolled away from the group. On the last lap, Joe got on Bob Dahl's wheel, but they caught an elite women's group (racing at the same time) in the final corner, and in the confusion Joe got gapped. Another rider who Joe hadn't seen the entire break came by with fresh legs, and Joe settled for 5th. The field sprint for 10th was getting hairy, so Bill backed off to live another day, but still claimed a top 20 finish.
The Vic's boys then pulled off their 45+ numbers, grabbed some quick food and drink, and lined up with their 35+ teammates for another 60 minutes of fun!
Joe Paulson, Bill Simmons, and John Talley came out on a moderately chilly and breezy spring morning to fly the Vic's Espresso/Peerless Tire colors with approximately 50 other racers on the up and down criterium course just outside of Golden. Feeling rather outnumbered by several other teams, the boys planned to ride conservatively for the first half of the 50 minute race, and then try to lead out JT on the final lap if it came down to a field sprint. However, recalling the immediate four man break that stayed away the entire race the previous weekend in Louisville, they knew they needed to stay attentive to threatening breaks.
Like a re-run of a bad movie, once again a break disappeared up the road almost immediately. The good news: it was a solo rider. Who could stay away against those headwinds for 45 more minutes. The bad news: it turned out to be Todd Robertson, a member of the previous week's winning move, and the individual time trial winner at Haystack in the 35+ category (no, that's not a typo). Several riders made stabs off the front to try to chase him down, including Jimi Gibson and Rod Yoder. The boys covered the serious looking moves, until Joe found himself up the road with Jimi and another rider. They were able to close some of the distance to the solo leader, but could not bring the gap down below 25 seconds. The field started to close back in, but a bridge move brought five additional riders up, including Rod Yoder and Bill Kellagher from Vitamin Cottage. With most of the major teams now represented up front, Bill and JT were able to work with the teammates of Joe's companions to shut the pursuit down.
With eight laps to go, JT hit one of the recessed manhole covers littering the course, breaking a wheel and cranking his handlebars over so his brakes locked up, bringing him to a very abrupt halt. With no free laps remaining, JT's race ended early.
Meanwhile, with eight riders now chasing off the front, the leader should have been in jeopardy, but the cooperation in the group disappeared as single riders kept attacking, and Joe kept chasing back to them with the others in tow. Joe refused to respond to yet another Jimi move, and he rolled away from the group. On the last lap, Joe got on Bob Dahl's wheel, but they caught an elite women's group (racing at the same time) in the final corner, and in the confusion Joe got gapped. Another rider who Joe hadn't seen the entire break came by with fresh legs, and Joe settled for 5th. The field sprint for 10th was getting hairy, so Bill backed off to live another day, but still claimed a top 20 finish.
The Vic's boys then pulled off their 45+ numbers, grabbed some quick food and drink, and lined up with their 35+ teammates for another 60 minutes of fun!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
45+ Haystack TTT
Deluge!
With the weather forecast predicting a 30% chance of light rain in the afternoon, the 45+ Vic's Espresso/Peerless Tire 5-man time trial team of Bill Brant, Mike Newsome, Joe Paulson, John Talley, and Brian Todeschini had their hopes up that the overcast but dry conditions of the morning would hold until their 2:07:20 afternoon start time. It was not to be. By the time Bill and Joe arrived at their rendezvous spot in north Boulder to begin preparations, a light mist was falling, that turned into light rain during their warm-ups. By the time the boys rolled north on US 36 toward the start line, the rain was coming down in earnest, and body core temperatures were plummeting.
The Blues were shivering uncontrollably as they took their place in the start tent, but tried to focus on the task ahead. The starter counted them down, and they were off. Joe lead them out onto the course, followed by Bill, Mike, JT, and Brian. They were under way smoothly, got up to speed, and started their rotation. It was quickly apparent that on this day, the front was actually the most comfortable place to be, because following a wheel meant catching a torrent of silt-laden spray full in the face, making seeing, hearing, and breathing all a challenge.
JT powered them up the long climb, Brian pulled across the top, and Joe took them into the first corner, already on the heels of the team that started 40 seconds before them. They eased around the corner, then wound it up down Nelson Road, which was full of standing water. The water on the road, coating their glasses, and in their eyes made navigating down Nelson Road at 49 mph a matter of instinct, trust, and hope. They all kept it upright down the descents, across the bottom, and up the climb to the second turn.
Another corner safely behind them, the rolled south, the cold and wet conditions starting to really penetrate. Up and down the final hill all five were still together, and they pushed to the final turn, then sprinted the final few hundred meters to the line. As Joe led them home, the water was so blinding that he never saw a line, so he just kept going until there weren't people around any more.
The revised course due to road construction on Niwot Road meant the boys still had a long ride back to their rendezvous point, so they just kept riding in the rain and cold, holding onto their bars with shaking hands. As they headed south on 63rd, a van suddenly swung into a driveway in front of them. As they were wondering what the crazy driver was up to, out popped Neal Henderson and Jerry Greenleaf who were coming to the rescue. They threw the bikes in the back, the boys piled in, and Neal cranked the heat. They delivered Mike and Joe back to their cars in north Boulder, into which they huddled to warm up before loading up their soaked and filthy gear.
Joe headed to the registration area to check results, and found the disappointing news that Mix1 had taken top honors on the day with a time of 23:37. Cody Racing was second at 23:58, and the Vic's boys rounded out the podium just behind at 24:02. Their Haystack TTT reign ended, the boys could take solace in surviving intact the epic conditions they'll long remember.
With the weather forecast predicting a 30% chance of light rain in the afternoon, the 45+ Vic's Espresso/Peerless Tire 5-man time trial team of Bill Brant, Mike Newsome, Joe Paulson, John Talley, and Brian Todeschini had their hopes up that the overcast but dry conditions of the morning would hold until their 2:07:20 afternoon start time. It was not to be. By the time Bill and Joe arrived at their rendezvous spot in north Boulder to begin preparations, a light mist was falling, that turned into light rain during their warm-ups. By the time the boys rolled north on US 36 toward the start line, the rain was coming down in earnest, and body core temperatures were plummeting.
The Blues were shivering uncontrollably as they took their place in the start tent, but tried to focus on the task ahead. The starter counted them down, and they were off. Joe lead them out onto the course, followed by Bill, Mike, JT, and Brian. They were under way smoothly, got up to speed, and started their rotation. It was quickly apparent that on this day, the front was actually the most comfortable place to be, because following a wheel meant catching a torrent of silt-laden spray full in the face, making seeing, hearing, and breathing all a challenge.
JT powered them up the long climb, Brian pulled across the top, and Joe took them into the first corner, already on the heels of the team that started 40 seconds before them. They eased around the corner, then wound it up down Nelson Road, which was full of standing water. The water on the road, coating their glasses, and in their eyes made navigating down Nelson Road at 49 mph a matter of instinct, trust, and hope. They all kept it upright down the descents, across the bottom, and up the climb to the second turn.
Another corner safely behind them, the rolled south, the cold and wet conditions starting to really penetrate. Up and down the final hill all five were still together, and they pushed to the final turn, then sprinted the final few hundred meters to the line. As Joe led them home, the water was so blinding that he never saw a line, so he just kept going until there weren't people around any more.
The revised course due to road construction on Niwot Road meant the boys still had a long ride back to their rendezvous point, so they just kept riding in the rain and cold, holding onto their bars with shaking hands. As they headed south on 63rd, a van suddenly swung into a driveway in front of them. As they were wondering what the crazy driver was up to, out popped Neal Henderson and Jerry Greenleaf who were coming to the rescue. They threw the bikes in the back, the boys piled in, and Neal cranked the heat. They delivered Mike and Joe back to their cars in north Boulder, into which they huddled to warm up before loading up their soaked and filthy gear.
Joe headed to the registration area to check results, and found the disappointing news that Mix1 had taken top honors on the day with a time of 23:37. Cody Racing was second at 23:58, and the Vic's boys rounded out the podium just behind at 24:02. Their Haystack TTT reign ended, the boys could take solace in surviving intact the epic conditions they'll long remember.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
KHMTT Week 1 & 2
The annual time trial series is underway. Weeks 1 and 2
have been held and it is time for a brief update. The players,
in no particular order are:
- Curtis
- Christy
- Rob
- Steve
- Dennis
- Dean
- Andy
- Scott Tietzel (Andy's stepson and young-blood)
The roads are the same, but the course layout is new. It seems most people like the new arrangement - it puts all the significant hills in the last 5-6 minutes when your already in the hurt locker, so why not toss a little more on the fire?
So who is doing what? Rob had a disappointing first week, but turned things around on week two by dropping about a minute. He posted a nice 5th place in Pro-1-2 @ 21:12 just behind Scott, the youngster @ 20:25. Curtis had held first place for two weeks in the 35+cat3 group a touch slower in the second week, largely because the wind was moderated to strong for the early-goers. He clocks right around 21:30. Dean has been the most travel challenged. On week one he and travel partner Darren had to take the back roads, off I-25, because of traffic mishaps and on week two they had a puncture on the VW. Pre-race stress is no problem for the deanster - in fact he also handled increasing negative slope aero-bars during the week one. Week two was especially a nice shine for Dean. He posted 21:37 a whopping 45 seconds in front of Fox and merely 25 seconds behind the Great Wayno Watson. Dennis is the class of the 60+ group, taking first slot each week. The second week he posted a 22:43 under the same wind conditions that hampered Curtis. Christy, still recovering from illness, put in a great ride to take 2nd place @ 26:04 - she will definitely improve upon that, if we can keep in town to do the races.
Of course all the soldiers put in equally hard rides - not much way around that in an ITT. The one exception was Andy - he is on a monster week work tour in Europe. The TT is actually much easier than the schedule he is holding at the moment.
Over and out. sJw, 227
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Spring Training
While all of you are contesting the early races, I'm working on getting up to speed 6 months after back surgery. I'm flying the Vic's Peerless colors here in Arizona. Congrats to all for your races this weekend! I feel GREAT and the warm weather is helping! I'll be back in action soon!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
45+ Prairie Center Criterium
It's On!
The 2010 criterium season is officially open: the Prairie Center Criterium was held in Brighton, CO today under nippy but otherwise ideal conditions. Joe Paulson, Bill Simmons, and John Talley came out to represent the Vic's Espresso/Peerless Tire clan, and take a shot at the $260 in cash on offer for the 50 minute 45+ men's race.
The 1 mile loop on good pavement (manhole and valve covers aside) had 6 turns to make things interesting, and every team seemed to have the same thought: get something up the road. Great Divide and Vitamin Cottage had strength in numbers, and Colorado Bike Law and Green Mountain were animating things as well.
JT got up the road early, joined by a Great Divide rider, and Bill and Joe quickly moved to the front to help the GD boys shut the pursuit down. Although there were still 45 minutes to race, it looked like a great move, with the gap steadily increasing. Alas, the GD rider suddenly popped, and JT was all alone up the road. He drove on valiantly for another few laps, but with GD now assisting in the chase, it was inevitable that he would be brought back. Another flurry of attacks (Karl Keister was a madman) were covered by Bill and Joe, and Joe found himself in a small selection triggered by the first prime lap. He hitched a ride on State cyclocross champ Rod Yoder's wheel when he jumped for the prize, and was able to come around to claim it instead.
The pair had gotten a good gap, so they hunkered down and went into serious 2-man TT mode. For awhile, it looked like promising, so Joe went all in, putting what he could into his pulls, and hanging on to Rod's wheel when the tall powerhouse went to work on the front. However, the chasers wouldn't give up, and a small group bridged up at the beginning of the 2nd prime lap. The new arrivals took early stabs off the group, but Rod didn't want to come away empty-handed after all that work, and and launched past them. However, Joe wanted something to show for his efforts as well, and put way too much effort into an 1100 watt surge for the line to snatch that prime as well.
Spent by the efforts, Joe sat up, and latched on to the tail of the peloton as it passed by. The attacks continued, and JT and Bill covered everything, with Bill clinging to Kiester like his shadow. With 5 laps to go, the field got very twitchy, and the corners got very interesting. Another surge brought JT and Joe to the front, and they found themselves in a selection with a few riders representing each of the major teams in the race. JT, realizing the opportunity, said "Let's go!" The group never got organized though, and everything was back together for final 2 laps.
JT drilled it at the front to get the pace high and the pack stable, and Bob Pinkerton charged past with 1 to go trying to set something up for the Vitamin boys. It looked like a great wheel to Joe, so he jumped on it, and followed Bob until the approach to the final corner, 200 meters from the finish. Suddenly, a big rider blew by on the inside, and Joe lit up after him. The rider (later identified by Bill as a former track world champ named Butch), had a good gap into the corner, but his move from the inside carried him wide, and he teetered momentarily in the gutter, helping Joe close in. Joe got behind him, then beside him, then finally inched in front before the line and sewed up the W with a bike throw.
Rod Yoder came across next, with JT right behind him in 4th. After covering countless attacks, Bill still came in 7th. Between the finish prizes and primes, the Blue boys picked up $155 in coffee money, so they were happy campers!
Video highlights now available courtesy of Rod Yoder: http://vimeo.com/10836844. You can see Joe's bridge up to Rod's solo attack to start their ill-fated break, and the last-lap launch by Butch off of Rod's wheel prior to the final corner, but Joe is out of view just in front of Rod. Enjoy!
The 2010 criterium season is officially open: the Prairie Center Criterium was held in Brighton, CO today under nippy but otherwise ideal conditions. Joe Paulson, Bill Simmons, and John Talley came out to represent the Vic's Espresso/Peerless Tire clan, and take a shot at the $260 in cash on offer for the 50 minute 45+ men's race.
The 1 mile loop on good pavement (manhole and valve covers aside) had 6 turns to make things interesting, and every team seemed to have the same thought: get something up the road. Great Divide and Vitamin Cottage had strength in numbers, and Colorado Bike Law and Green Mountain were animating things as well.
JT got up the road early, joined by a Great Divide rider, and Bill and Joe quickly moved to the front to help the GD boys shut the pursuit down. Although there were still 45 minutes to race, it looked like a great move, with the gap steadily increasing. Alas, the GD rider suddenly popped, and JT was all alone up the road. He drove on valiantly for another few laps, but with GD now assisting in the chase, it was inevitable that he would be brought back. Another flurry of attacks (Karl Keister was a madman) were covered by Bill and Joe, and Joe found himself in a small selection triggered by the first prime lap. He hitched a ride on State cyclocross champ Rod Yoder's wheel when he jumped for the prize, and was able to come around to claim it instead.
The pair had gotten a good gap, so they hunkered down and went into serious 2-man TT mode. For awhile, it looked like promising, so Joe went all in, putting what he could into his pulls, and hanging on to Rod's wheel when the tall powerhouse went to work on the front. However, the chasers wouldn't give up, and a small group bridged up at the beginning of the 2nd prime lap. The new arrivals took early stabs off the group, but Rod didn't want to come away empty-handed after all that work, and and launched past them. However, Joe wanted something to show for his efforts as well, and put way too much effort into an 1100 watt surge for the line to snatch that prime as well.
Spent by the efforts, Joe sat up, and latched on to the tail of the peloton as it passed by. The attacks continued, and JT and Bill covered everything, with Bill clinging to Kiester like his shadow. With 5 laps to go, the field got very twitchy, and the corners got very interesting. Another surge brought JT and Joe to the front, and they found themselves in a selection with a few riders representing each of the major teams in the race. JT, realizing the opportunity, said "Let's go!" The group never got organized though, and everything was back together for final 2 laps.
JT drilled it at the front to get the pace high and the pack stable, and Bob Pinkerton charged past with 1 to go trying to set something up for the Vitamin boys. It looked like a great wheel to Joe, so he jumped on it, and followed Bob until the approach to the final corner, 200 meters from the finish. Suddenly, a big rider blew by on the inside, and Joe lit up after him. The rider (later identified by Bill as a former track world champ named Butch), had a good gap into the corner, but his move from the inside carried him wide, and he teetered momentarily in the gutter, helping Joe close in. Joe got behind him, then beside him, then finally inched in front before the line and sewed up the W with a bike throw.
Rod Yoder came across next, with JT right behind him in 4th. After covering countless attacks, Bill still came in 7th. Between the finish prizes and primes, the Blue boys picked up $155 in coffee money, so they were happy campers!
Video highlights now available courtesy of Rod Yoder: http://vimeo.com/10836844. You can see Joe's bridge up to Rod's solo attack to start their ill-fated break, and the last-lap launch by Butch off of Rod's wheel prior to the final corner, but Joe is out of view just in front of Rod. Enjoy!
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