Euro Race #1

What was supposed to be a 30 minute drive to the race today. Turned into a 2 hour traffic jam. We made it to the race with 30 minutes before the start. We did 17 6.8k laps. We got underway, with some non stop attacking. I had some good attacks, but I missed the move of 12 guys who pretty much just rode away and got a big lead. We never saw them again. Another move of 8 guys got up the road a few laps later. I saw my shot at a good result starting to ride up the road. I went with everything and got in a 10 rider break we started to catch the 8 rider group. When we were within 10 seconds of them, 2 riders from the same team attacked splitting the group in half. I made the front part of the group, and we flew across the gap. forming a 13 rider group. Only 6 or 7 of us were pulling so after a few laps people got frustrated and started attacking I was hanging on them okay until about the 3 lap to go mark. I got dropped and was giving the red flag and told to get off the road. I ended up 21st.

My best finish last year in a race was 19th. So I hope within a week after I get used to the bike and get rid of this jet lag. I'll be able to get a top 10.

Today is my first Euro race. I'm pretty nervous, still jet lagged, but ready to throw down.

Does a GC win count as a win to add to the win column?

Tour of St Louis

I got to do an awesome stage race this weekend in St Louis. It had 2 super fast crits in parks no 4 corner boring stuff in sight.

Day 1

We had a crit a 1:45. Doing races in a area you don't know can be just as good as it can be bad. The people don't know you, but you also don't know them. For all you know you could be letting the best time trailer in the area up the road in a break. So you really have to be careful. I got in a super dangerous move with 10 other guys all the major teams were represented, including super sprinter Brad Huff of Jelly Belly. No one seemed content with the large break. So we ended up attacking each other for a while. I got away with a pretty good tt-er from big shark, and we opened up a 10 second gap. Brad tried to bridge but the gap was a little to big. He brang it back just enough so 2 more guys countered up to our break. So we now had 4 guys in the front with 6 in between the us and the peleton. They eventually got swallowed up, but our gap slowly opened. For over 50 minutes of the 75 minute race we stayed about the same gap with the pack. We ended up lapping the field at the 60 minute mark. Everything went pretty chaotic riders bouncing like pinballs off one another. With one to go I found myself swarmed and out of position. I tried to fly up on the outside with 2 turns to go, I pretty much ate curb and had to jam out on the brakes. I lost 20 spots right there in 2 seconds. I went way wide on the last turn and opened up my sprint 400 meters to early but I didn't have much of a choice. I closed in on the top 5 of the bunch as they spread across the road. I had the speed to come around, but no where to go. I was 3rd to come across from the riders that lapped the field. I won a 50 dollar prime some where in there to.


I was pretty nervous if I should ride hard for the 9 mile flat tt or not. Until Russ Let me borrow his super sweet specialized tt bike. I knew I had to just put it all on the line. The course was flat with a bit of cross wind and super smooth pavement. I rolled 50-52 kph on the way out with the wind. Into the wind on the way back I was able to stay at 46-47 kph. I wasn't sure if I had a good time or not till the next day when I woke up to find out. I slaughtered it, my time was a 18:26 with an average speed of 29.5 mph. It was good enough to win by 25 seconds.


So going into the last day I was leading the GC points by a bit I had 18 points and my closest competition had 13. So with the points going 10 for first 9 for 2nd and so on down to 10th place with 1 point. I knew I just had to stay close to the to my Gc competition and it'd be an easy win.
Sometimes the best defense is a great offense. After a broken spoke I went on the attack and a break of 4 was formed off the front with just 20 minutes and 5 laps remaining we opened up 10 seconds, With 10 minutes left we had 6 seconds then it went back to 15 then to 8. Then Team Mercy's Sprinter lepted across the gap. This left Big Shark out of the Break and as my only GC threat. Making the break work was my best option. I was doing minute pulls at over 450 watts. It wasn't until the last lap that we finally knew it would stick. Mercy setup a lead out and we all looked at each other coming around the final turn. No one wanted to go with 400 meters from the last turn to the finish. I made a gamble and jumped with 350 meters to go and got a gap. I couldn't spin my 12 over any faster with 100 meters to go. I went over the line with a 10 meter gap. Winning the race and the overall.

I want to give a big thanks to my teammates for getting me back to the front right away when I broke a spoke, and keeping all the danger breaks under control which wasn't an easy task.

Menomonee falls and GDVC 2

I thought I was getting lost on the way to the race on Saturday. I figured I could go watch a few races, then go grab some lunch. The race seemed to be in the middle of no where. Luckily Kaitie got me a Qdoba Burrito. The was 1.7 mile laps flat and fast. The first 30 minutes was just constant attacking and no one going anywhere fast. Finally I was able to counter one of Chad Hartley of Jittery Joe's attacks. We got a break of 5 going, and flew up the road. Ryan White, James Stemper, Jason Landrii, Erik Meier, and myself. Ryan was barely pulling and slowed us down more then helping, but I decided it'd be better to take my chances in a break of 5 then back in the field. We opened up over a minute on the field, and with one lap to go it was sure the winner would come out of the break. Going into the Final turn it was full throttle 3 wide, seeing who would hit there brakes first. James braked first, and I found myself in a perfect 2nd place spot with 300 meters to go on Ryan Whites wheel. I shot ahead of Ryan with 150 meters to go. Taking my 2nd Pro race of the year by a few bike lengths.



Gdvc #2

I was hoping this race would be a little easier after a hard race the day before. This wasn't the case when I found myself in a 11 man break, with 4 Iscorp riders and both white brothers. No one seemed content with the large break and attacks went one after the other. I found myself caught out with a small break up the road of 3 riders with One white brother, an Iscorp and James Stemper of Trocadaro. I pulled for a lap and a half at 450 watts, and the gap was down to 20 meters. Luckily Jordan Rossiegn of Iscorp thought it would be a good time to try and drop me from the break so he attacked, I caught on to the back of the break, and he finished the job of bringing everything together again. We lapped the field for the 2nd week in a row, same as last week Great Dane took control of the front of the field for the last 10 laps of the race. I was to far back on the last lap, I tried to compensate by going up the gutter passing 5 guys ending up 5th wheel going into the last corner. To far back, I couldn't make up the ground for the win. I ended up with a 3rd place.



I leave for the Tour of St Louis on Friday, I don't know much about it, but with good form I'm hoping for some good results. Then Monday I fly to Europe for 2 and a half months of hard racing.

Great Dane #1

It was a pretty chilly day in the low 40s. The race started with some typical attacking. I got in a break of 10ish people. I launched an attack from that group and brought 4 other riders with me. We quickly build a 30 second lead. With 2 Iscorp 1 Great Dane and a Trocadaro rider. All the teams with multiple riders were in the move. We quickly lapped the field at the 35 minute mark. Great Dane and Iscorp set up there lead out trains. Last lap I setup on the back of the Iscorp train. The Trocadaro rider in the break launched 150 meters before the final turn. He got a 40 meter gap. Leaving the Iscorp lead out in shambles. I launched my sprint right before the final corner with perfect timing for the field sprint. I flew up on the trocadaro rider, but a little to late I finished at his back wheel.

I'm not to worried about not winning. I got a good hard ride in on Saturday which left me a pretty flat for the race. I'm looking to get a 120 mile ride in Tuesday, and some good intervals later in the week. I'm going to take some recovery days before the double header this weekend. and give it my all for another win.

more pics.

1 to go.














Victory.

Black Hawk Farms Circuit race

Props to the race coordinator, this was one of the coolest races I've done in a long time. A 1.7 mile long Race car track with 7 turns. The field was pretty big with 55 riders. I didn't know to many people except for Both Ryan and Rob White. 20-30 mph winds were shattering most of the fields for the races I saw. With a big field and a 75 minute race. The White brothers and I teamed up in the cross winds and set tempo at the front to weaken some of the other riders legs. Ryan White broke one of his cleats and went down in the finishing straight. Luckily only he went down. I attacked with a few small groups. With everyone looking pretty winded I launched a full on attack in the cross wind. The gap opened up to 30 seconds as I came around to take the 10 laps 17 miles to go mark. I could see the pack behind single file in certain sections. I kept my head down for the next 5 laps as the gap held at 30 seconds. After that the gap grew it 50 seconds and I started to think I could make it. Scott Pearson of the Higher Gear team got away from the pack with 4 to go and I could see him slowly closing. I dropped it down 2 gears and slid a little farther back over the saddle and powered the gear over a little harder. Finally the bell rang and I got the one lap to go. The last lap went by almost to quickly, and before I knew it I was riding alone under the finish line fists raised in celebration. My first Pro win of the year and hopefully not the last.

Next weekend is the WCA opener in Madison. With this week being a recovery session I will be on my top game gunning for another win.

Hillsboro Roubaix

88 miles 4 22 mile laps with most of the last 2 miles over brick streets. The first 2 laps were pretty easy with a break of 3 building over 5 minutes. Lap 3 over the cobbles I attacked and brought 6 riders of the front including Steve Tilford, and Brain Jenson. To early to many people still had fresh legs and brought it back once we got off the bricks. Texas Road house set tempo for the rest of the lap. Once we hit the bricks for the last time everything went to pieces 40 riders got shot out the back, and attack after went and got brought back. Then Tilford attacked and brought 6 riders with him. I missed the move and watched the race ride away. I tried a few counter moves, but couldn't close it. I sat in the main field which was down to 15 riders. I attacked and Ryan White came with me up the feed hill. We rode in together, I finished 12th.

Kenosha Training Crit

After riding for 2 and a half hours with Mountain Goat and a few of the local celebrities, I rolled up a good 15 minutes before the start warmed up and ready to go. Abd had a solid team there with 5 or 6 riders in the small field of less then 20 riders. A few attacks launched and Eric Loberg was the first to get away and build a good 20 second gap. I went to the front and flexed a little bit setting tempo at slightly over 400 watts for the next 2 laps to bring that back. Abd countered as soon as Eric was back in the fold. A few laps later I got in a move that looked promising with A clif bar rider, One of the white brothers and myself. A lap later I saw the tables start to swing as 2 Abd riders started to bridge the gap. I knew this would pretty much seal my fate if they caught on. So I tried to pick our groups pace up. They caught us soon after that. I attacked as much as I could, and got away with one of the white brothers in the last lap. He sat on me the entire lap, I was just trying to hold on for 2nd. He attacked me right before the last turn. I didn't have the legs to follow. Abd still led the chase behind for the other white brother behind and he closed quickly in the home stretch and passed me a few meters before the finish. 3rd with both White brothers in front of me. I finished the day disappointed with myself. I rode 2 hours after to get some extra training in.