Well, the S&N GP Omnium race weekend continues to fall on one of the hottest weekends of the year.  We appreciate all of you supporting this race.  We apologize for the lack of port-o-jons at the RR & TT.  Our vendor flaked out on us but we will make sure this will not happen again.

We had a record attendance of about 300 registrants and this year we registered racers from 13 states.

Brad Kolodzaike, a freelance photographer, had taken pictures at the TT & crit and will have photos available for purchase.
You can check out photos at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bkolod
Brad can be contacted at:
kolodzaike.photography@gmail.com

Good luck to you all during the rest of this race season.  Thank you again and we look forward to seeing you next year.

Best Regards,
Mark Yoshida
President
Memphis Velo Cycling

Let the love fest begin. I want to congratulate the club on putting on an outstanding event. Once again, we set the standard for how an amateur bike races should be run. I am extremely proud of the club and team. So much unmeasured and uncompensated time, energy and passion by so many (in horrible conditions) goes into creating an event so that we can simply race our bikes. My deepest, sincerest thanks and gratitude to everyone involved. I had a great time.

Highlights, props and random shout outs in no particular order:

First to anyone who was at the road race and was unaware of the situation at hand, there were no PortoJohns! So sorry, but the vendor screwed us on that one. We had it all set up, but the big plastic shells of smells never showed up. I can guarantee that will never happen again. I hope by now everybody’s GI tract is back on track.

Thank heavens for Frank and Vickie! Can I get an Amen! Fast, accurate results and strict (and I mean strict) enforcement of all USAC regulations. Thumbs up to all the quality officiating this weekend. It was a really great team with quite a few of our own newly certified local officials wearing the blue.

We had an injury free event folks! After last years Cat 4 carnage, what a relief. Though temps should have had riders convulsing and foaming out the mouth all over the road from heat related stress, we did not have one incident that I am aware of. The EMTs we hired were bored out of their freaking minds all weekend.

Gotta give an acknowledgment to the Cirque du Velos Cycling Team. Some may not know that the CdVs had planned the road race portion of their local invitational race series on the very same course used this weekend, but because we expressed concerns about how the Fayette County residents in the area may react to back to back weekends of garishly outfitted cyclists invading their roads in mass, the CdVs graciously moved their race to another venue at the 11th hour as a courtesy to us and to not take the chance of it impacting our race or jeopardizing future racing in the area. A very class, considerate and much appreciated gesture. Thanks CdV!

Speaking of the locals, as far as I know we did not get one complaint about our presence so I have to say thanks to their support for tolerating a bunch of gelled up, lycra wrapped carbon cowboys invading their peaceful country existence for several hours. I understand that even some of the homes immediately adjacent to the venue were opening up their personal lavatory accommodations due to the John Johns being gone gone. I believe that the real reason our relationship with the residents of the area is much improved is due to the aggressive PR done by our race committee lead by Matt West and Mark Yoshida. In case you were unaware beginning well before our race last year; Matt and Mark engaged with the local officials and community representatives early which included a mass mailing to all the residents on the race course earning us a more peaceful coexistence.

You can’t mention the support of Fayette County without giving a bow to Fayette Cares this organization is the benefactor of all of our proceeds. They have been instrumental in earning the trust and tolerance of the local population, bringing volunteers to staff the Feed Zone and are also the ones who were onsite to sell me some nice salty potatoes chips to help alleviate my horrible leg cramps I suffered during the road race. Not to mention the charitable services they provide for the area. Kudos and thank you Fayette Cares.

Gotta recognize and thank all of the out of town racers who despite the absolutely gut wrenching forecast of a 110 degree heat index; still paid their money, loaded up and made the long haul here to suffer with the rest of us bike freaks. We sincerely appreciate everyone who participated and are committed to continue to bring you a quality event every year. One of these years we will get lucky with the weather or we will someday wise up and schedule in October. After all we are known as the “Halloween Team.”

Gotta give a massive atta boy deluxe back slap to Josh Jacobs and John Schmidt. You guys are absolute superstars for running this weekend as well as you did. Everything ticked and clicked like my Campy Record. It just doesn’t happen that way without you guys. I know you don’t put in the time and effort that you do without the serious passion you have for bike racing, this club and your bros. Attention Memphis Velo: When having a beer with John or Josh, never ever let them pay. Great job guys, thank you.

In addition, huge humble gratitude to Race Director, Matt West, Volunteer Coordinator Dale Chrystie and President Mark Yoshida (Mark gave up his race so others could). I’m sure they all would cry if they had a running tally on how many hours they spent preparing for this race. Maybe their better halfs will hold off on the divorce attorney for now. Awesome job guys, you showed everyone a great time and pulled off a top notch event. Again, may you never pay a tab when sippin’ with a Velo.

Word up to Michael Carpenter and Switch Creative for the mad cool graphics and logo / web work, all class and bad ass.

Once more, great job DJ Frogge for keeping the folks distracted from the heat with the color commentary on the crits. If only you had played that System of Down track at full volume during my sprint, I know I could have taken 16th!

All hail Mr. DCJ! Not only did he kick in “sick cheddar” cash preems to make our 100 degree crits even more pleasant, but he pulled off the highest MV placement in the Cat 3s and got us on the podium for our own event. His sprint in the crit was a sheer force of muscle, guts, will and attitude with a heartrate that probably popped the cork on his PowerTap. His effort won the team 2nd in the crit and 3rd in the overall. Congrats David.

Not only did the club put on a great event, but the team came to race and we kept the pace high and represented well in every category we entered.

To the volunteers, you just can’t say it enough times how important you are to the success of these events. It simply can’t happen without you. To everyone who assisted in anyway; club members, friends, family, riding buddies, Fayette County residents, friends of cycling, etc. Thank you SO much for being there in that heat to help us, I just might get weepy. I will get esoteric because I know the real reason most of you are there is because of our mutual passion for the machine that is rocket science complex in its design and material, but yet so elegantly simple in its ultimate function and purpose. That and of course if you belong to this club and you don’t volunteer your membership is in jeopardy.

Lastly to our sponsors, this gig REALLY doesn’t happen without you! No cash, no dash. To Smith & Nephew, DCJ Global, GI Pathology, RB’s, AGMW, Switch Creative, Swiftwick, Mad Alchemy;  sincere, groveling, gratitude for greasing wheels of amateur bike racing.

In closing, file under things you cannot unsee at the TT: Tighty whities worn under a white skinsuit. Ah, the memories.

If you need me, I will be in a dark room with my head in front of an air conditioner that is set on Minnesota.

Blake Robertson

Race Reports

John Schmidt

Teresa and I got to officiate the first part of MetroMoto’s Memphis Crit series last night and I gotta say it looked like a very good success for such short notice with MV looking strong!
In the B race, Tim Moore got in the break and took 2nd place! Congrats Tim!! And it was great to see the rest of the team working in the pack to shut everything down to keep Tim away in the break. Very nice work fellas! For those that missed it, you would have been proud, the team really looked good.
In the A race, Michael Carpenter takes the win!! Followed closely by Todd Hickman taking 2nd! Can’t get much better then that! Outstanding racing again by the whole MV team. Hickman got in the early break with Carp getting away from field and bridging up to the break. There were several attempts by the field to get the break but the MV boyz shut everything down with Matt West taking the field sprint for 4th!
Great nite of racing! Next wed night race june 30.
See ya,

John

Blake Robertson

Outstanding team effort last night! Gotta hand it to “Crit Killer Carp” for the massive anaerobic solo effort it took to jump across to the break and ultimately take the win.

Got “Back in Black” set on repeat. Very proud of the club and team. Keep up the great work everybody!

Blake

David C. Jones

Nice textbook racing!  It was fun to watch you guys in action.  Congratulations on some smart tactics, patience, and guts when it was needed.

DCJ

Summary- Really hot. Crit- finished mid pack. RR- 1st place.

Saturday- Downtown crit. The Cat 3/Masters 35+ was one combined field/race. Started at 715pm but was still 90 degrees. 0.7 mile course with 4 corners, 75 minute race. I didn’t feel very good and just hung on the whole race. Placed mid pack. Disappointing.

Sunday- Road Race at Pine Mountain.  Again, Cat 3/Masters 35+ was one combined field. 17 mile loop with some big climbs, one of which was a mile long. Screaming 2 mile descent too, where I hit 49 mph on one lap. We did 4 laps for a total of 68 miles. Race started at 10 am and it was already 85 degrees- 94 by the end of the race.
We started with a field of 40 guys.
About 8 miles into the race, while climbing, a DEER jumped out of the bushes, nailed a rider  mid pack and took him out! Hit him so hard that his front wheel got knocked off!! Never have seen anything like that before. He was ok. Noone else got tangled up.
Pretty mellow the first lap, whole field stayed together until a Pro1 racer from Tallahassee I know (Donny) attacked and soloed to a 2 minute gap. When we hit the climbs, several other teams started attacking to catch him and the whole field exploded. We eventually caught Donny at the beginning of the 4th lap, despite a few of our efforts to block for him.
I just kept steady throughout.
By 5 miles to go, there were only 9 people left in the front group from the original 40. The heat and hills took their toll. (I went through 5 bottles and 5 gels) 1 guy got off the front there and built a 45 second gap. I attacked with 2 others at 3 miles to go and cut the gap to 15 seconds, but the field caught us. Another effort by Donny at the front brought us to within 5 seconds of the guy off the front.
At the 1 km to go marker, we were single file lined out and I was at the back. I knew I couldn’t out sprint these guys, so at 900 meters, I attacked. I shot around the field, caught the guy off the front, and just kept going. I looked back at 400 meters and had a huge gap. Thinking that the field sprint would catch me, I just put my head down and drilled it as hard as I could, crossing the line about 75 feet ahead of the pack. Looking back later at my powertap data, I hit the finish line at 28 mph and 400 watts. My first Cat 3 (or Masters) Road Race win.

Next Race is ours in Memphis. I think we can shread the competition as it seems we are all riding well. See you guys next month!

Aaron

Michael Carpenter

RR – 5th place
TT – canceled due to weather
Crit – 1st place
Overall – 1st place

Blake Robertson

What’s up Velo Memphians? I wanted to drop a quick update on the weekends racing, though I personally do not have any stellar results to share with you, I’ll go so far to say that MV represented very well in McMinnville this weekend.

Matt West and I headed out from Memphis Friday afternoon for the 4.5 hour transfer to the Highland Rim. Got to McMinnville about 7:30, went to a very well organized packet pick up and then checked into what was without a doubt the worst, nastiest race hotel I have ever had the displeasure and disgust of occupying. Friends, when in McMinnville do not under any circumstance ever hang your helmet at the McMinnville Inn. I am really on a streak. Every time I think I have endured the foulest hotel in the region, I somehow can find myself in a joint that lowers the hygiene standards even further. At this point the staph infection has not materialized, but I have alerted my medical team.

RR – After swapping two hour shifts of bed bug watches, woke to mild temps and cranky looking skys. Our race rolled around 8:30. A small field of Cat 3s only around 30 compared to the 100 plus field of Cat 4s! Our group was very PRO. Everyone rolled smooth and smart in preparation for the real race to begin on the infamous 3 mile climb. We did encounter serious carnage from two early crashes in previously started categories. At one point our field had to weave its way around ambulances and EMT workers huddled over racers still on the pavement. I later heard an airlift was brought in to transport seriously injured riders. Don’t know any details about what happened, but I think both crashes were in the Masters field. Our group was neutralized for a mile or so in order for an ambulance to get past.

The weather stayed mild, but we were treated to a short but fully soaking downpour at about mile 10 just enough to trash my sparkling detailed bike and just in time to add two pounds of water to everyone’s shoes before the climb.

And so it begins. A Nashville Cyclist rider attacked right away, but was quickly neutralized. I made it up the first step with the group, but started to bog down by step two and was OTB by the third section.

I eventually joined up with two other riders and we all worked very well for the next 25 miles, trading long pulls and holding about a 22-24mph pace. A screaming fun downhill! I only once very briefly glanced at my speed and saw 47mph. Sure felt a lot faster.

Ended up 21st in the RR.

TT- Canceled! Due to severe weather the TT was called at about 4:45. I can assure you there was no one on our team upset about that.

CRIT – Woke up to very dark skies that turned into a steady rain at 8am. The whole team met for breakfast at 8:30 and it started raining harder. Though the chicken biscuits, tater bites and hubcap sized pancakes were phenomenal, they could not break the underlying foreboding mood brought by the though of having to race a wet crit course that is dangerous even on a dry day.

At about 10:15 after paying the sizable tab, the entire team was standing outside the restaurant lined up under the small awing watching the rain pour and contemplating the pros and cons of bagging the race and getting an early start back to Memphis. At about 10:30 someone said. “I’m out” and just needing someone else to make the call was all it took to for many others agree and to opt for a sprint to the vehicle, hotel check out and an nice comfy warm and dry ride back to Memphis with all bones intact and all blood still in the body. Live to fight another day! Save it for our race! I’m going on vacation next week! I have a business trip I have to be ready for! My wife would break my other collarbone! All very valid reasons to say go to Hell McMinnville and we were off! But wait, there is more to the story…

Matt and I ran back to Hotel Hepatitis packed up and stopped by the palatial Best Western to pick up DCJ who was hitching a ride back to Memphis with Matt and I. As we stood on the balcony still second guessing our decision to bail on the race, the rain started to lighten up. Great, as if we didn’t feel like candy pants as it was. Be smart! What is the advantage of doing this crit? Too much risk vs gain. We are not racing. Shake on it, no regrets. Let’s get out of here. A peak of sun. Matt continued to stare off into space like a man in deep turmoil.

So as it turns out the race promoters were giving $20 dollar refunds for the canceled TT. Very somber yet unified we headed over to the soggy crit to pick up our refund and then hit the road. Bikes, gear loaded. Ready to roll out. The women were racing…the women were racing.

The women finished. We got our cash and since we would be ahead of schedule anyway we decided to hang out and watch Dale race. The rain had stopped and pavement began to dry. We decided to walk over to the notorious “Dead Man’s Curve” which by what was reported to us had already seen 9 crashes that day.

For anyone who does not know, this corner is mean. It is a relatively steep 90 degree right hand turn going uphill where the road slants away to your left. As stated very tricky on even on dry pavement not to mention at speed. Seeing a few laps of riders trying to navigate this bitch would definitely help us with the justification of our decision. Three laps into Dale’s race, WHAM! Dude, slides out and hits the pavement hard. OKAY! That’s it! I got no problem with calling it. You guys ready? Let’s go to Memphis. Matt continued his sulk and the dry spots were getting bigger.

In the light of a wink of sun, the relentless internal hammering of our intuitive knowledge of what impotent, withering, ignoble pantywaists we would feel like not only for the long 4 and half hour ride home, but for countless days or weeks to come finally twisted and snapped the neck off of the voice reciting the all the legitimate reasons for us not to not run this crit. Memphis Velo testicular fortitude breached the wall of common sense rationalization in a single comment of “F*** this! We’re racing”.

We had about 30mins to get ready. We ripped open the back of my van and began pulling out bikes, bibs wheels and water. We were so confident in our decision that is until as soon as we were kited up and ready to rock. The rain began to fall again. It started of very slow but continued to escalate until the bikes, shoes and “Dead Man’s Curve” was fully and completely soaked by the official call to the line.

About 20 plus Cat 3s lined up for a 40 minute blood letting. The race was started and I was so nervous in the turns that a gap quickly formed and I was done by lap 2. I rode as hard as I could go solo until I was finally lapped with 4 to go by a breakaway of 3 guys which included a hard driving Michael Carpenter then followed by DCJ in the much reduced main field.

Hate to leave you hanging on the finish, but I will leave it at that and let the rest of the team share their perspective of how their race played out. Mike and DCJ take it from here…

I finished last in the crit, but due to the attrition of carnage I ended up in 13th place. Well over 10 riders DNF due to crashes. 12th overall in the GC.

BTW, FWIW – We got several compliments on the new kits. Thanks to Michael Carpenter, the MV Board, Scott Brumbelow and Mark Yoshida for all of your work on making the new kits happen.

Weather, weird stains and a great showing by Memphis Velo is the take away memories from the Highland Rim Classic 2010. Keep training. Thanks for reading. Now get back to work.

BR

David Jones

For starters, I don’t like following Blake’s eloquent report.  But, here goes.

We did feel like pantywaists until Blake (he failed to point himself out below) belted out: “F*** this! We’re racing.”  So, shamed as we were, we followed Blake’s lead and resigned to the facts. We scurried to the crammed vehicles, took our stuff out, filled, bottles and tires (with low pressure), and were able to get a six minute warm up.  I think all of our mental states were weak. As soon as we began warming up, yep, rain! Ick! After seeing so many crashes it was a mind game for all of us.  So, we head to the line and bang the race is on.

White knuckles, tight grips, and trepidation into the first corner. I missed clipping in properly so my start was less than stellar but did manage to be maybe 8th or 10th wheel into the corner. Everyone took it a little slow but quickly the snake and the pace began to grow.  Out onto the back straight it was game on with holes covered in puddles, neophytes sprinting like the race was finishing, and dead man’s corner just ahead. From my vantage point I could see Michael was nearby. Wow, into and out of the corner with all our skin, so far. As the race progressed, we fought for position at every opportunity and kept near the front.  At one point (among many) my wheel slid far too much for comfort, Michael saw this and decided mine wasn’t such a good wheel.  Go figure. Minutes later, maybe 15-20 minutes in we began to settle down a bit and a couple of riders had begun to gap the main field as we passed through a few single crashes here and there.  After the first turn beyond the finish line Michael was to my right and jumped to get across to the break. This was a game changer.

As Michael made his move, I politely soft pedaled and with three turns ahead of us before the back straight, “shake and bake” occurred, out of the last set of corners he was close to catching them and by dead man’s curve he had caught them. What a beautiful sight. It was around this time that we settled in and began riding the course with more confidence, rain and all. Oh no, three wheels up, at the front of the chase, a crash in front at dead man’s curve. Whew, missed another land mine. Multiple attacks on the front and back straights kept the break in what I would guess to be a 15-25 second maximum gap. As the attacks continued, the old guy just kept moving back to the front to try to slow it up a bit.  The reality was that Michael and the others in the break (now just three I think) were not willing to let up.

With two laps to go the gap had dropped to maybe 10 seconds, by this time Michael had to have been out there a good 20 minutes or more.  As we crossed the line with two laps to go several guys were trying to bridge, as we met the second turn we came across two racers and bikes in the middle of the road, uh oh. A few of us made it around the carnage to the back straight away a couple of seconds ahead of what was left of the field. We nailed it hard and Michael was in no way going to be caught as at this point he was flying and down near dead man’s corner. When we reached the start/finish line with one to go, Michael was at the first corner up the road. At that moment, old guy jumps and moves to and off the front on bell lap. Racing like a 15 year old, the corners came and went.  As the final turn came with a couple hundred (?) meters to the finish,  Michael was about to cross the line and with a last hard effort, we get 1st and 2nd place with a 5-6 between me and the next finisher.

Because of our finishing 1 and 2, Michael moved up to WIN THE OMNIUM and my placing moved me up to 5th over all. Matt and Blake finished 7th and 12th over all for the weekend. It was a stellar weekend for Michael but more so for the MV squad. After the race a guy from Gallatin came up to me and asked how his son could get into our program. It’s the dedication of the team that allowed this finish but candidly, if it weren’t for Blake’s words and Matt’s pre race remorse for our decision not to race, none of this would have been possible. These are just a few of the fun, dangerous, and weather driving racing snippets from the weekend.

Oh yeah, I sucked on the climb in the road race and of course, Matt and Michael rocked it!  And now you know the rest of the story. Thanks again Blake and Matt for reminding us who we are!

Go MV!

Mark Yoshida

RR: 45th place
I kept a steady pace up the climb and got to the top around midpack. We had about 100 cat 4 racers and it was amazing to see how much our field spread out once we hit the climb. Richard, Jon, and I were in the 2nd chase group. There wasn’t a lot of cooperation among the 25 or so guys in our chase group. I would say at least half of them were wheel suckers. Richard tried to rally a break away from the group but they wouldn’t let anything go so we were stuck making the best of what we had to work with.

TT: cancelled
We got to watch Michael ride up hill about 50 meters in hurricane force winds, pebble size hail, and freezing rain as he made his way to a house to find shelter. I thought he was going to be blown away.

Crit: 8th place
I was in great position throughout the race. Going into the final lap, there was a huge attack and I didn’t realize it was the whole front pack that was attacking. I didn’t expect everyone to attack so hard and it was a crucial tactical error. By the time I reacted, it was too late to grab the last wheel coming by me. I spent the last lap chasing. I finished 8th out of the lead pack of 9.

Omnium: 9th place
To my surprise, due to this being a race of attrition, I ended up 9th in the omnium. Steve Fermanich got 10th in the omnium.

Tim Moore

As expected none of us could compete with the mountain goats up the 3 mile climb in the RR.
Curt and I managed to make it to the top in the first chase group. We could not get the group organized for a proper chase.
28th/111 for me.

TT: Canceled

Crit: I managed to crash myself out near the first part of the race trashing my hand and my rear derailleur hanger.

Big thanks to my teammates for their help and concern. I have been to the orthopedic and everything is good. Nothing broken just a lot of swelling making things very uncomfortable. Hopefully I will be back on the bike very soon.

MV was represented well all weekend in all categories. Congratulations to Dale Christie and Michael Carpenter for notching some more podiums for what will be a great season!

Dale Chrystie

The great thing about racing is that literally every time I race I learn all kinds of things.

RR – 11th place

All the Master’s categories (30+, 40+, 50+ and 60+) were grouped together, so I found myself with what they said was a little over 100 people leaving the start/finish line. In the 15 or so miles prior to the 72% grade, 400-mile-long mountain we had to climb, our tiny little group of Master’s found a way to have not one but two major crashes. So, lesson #1 learned from previous races was to stay near the front of the group, which I did. I was in the first 25% or so of the group and both crashes happened within a couple of bike lengths of me (no, I didn’t cause either of them), for completely ridiculous reasons (one guy crossed wheels in the first crash and the second involved a nasty incident where a guy picked the wrong time to get into a fight with his water bottle). Each crash wiped out literally one to two dozen people. Oh, and the second one completely stopped the Cat 4 race to allow for emergency vehicles to clear the area.

Lesson #2 was that I pushed way too hard up the climb and I paid for it the remainder of the race. Given a chance to do this again, I would have taken the 2.5 mile climb more slowly and had more legs for the remaining 35 or so miles. As such, I spent much of the remainder of the race by myself trying to convince myself to just keep peddling. I’m sure had those accidents not happened I would have finished much worse in the results, but I’ll take 11th place in the TN state road race.

TT – Delayed by rain, then delayed by rain, then cancelled

The story here isn’t that this was ultimately cancelled, it was in the delays. The TT went right back up the 2.5 or so mile climb we came down in the morning. They got 30-40 minutes of riders up the mountain and I was about the third racer from the start line when the storm rolled in. The temp dropped about 15 degrees and my warmed-up legs instantly tightened up. Then, within literally a couple of minutes, it REALLY started to rain and they postponed start times for 20 minutes, so I quickly headed up to Mark’s Expedition, as it turns out, with Michael Carpenter and a BPC guy. The only shelter the three of us could quickly find was on Mark’s bumper with the lift gate pulled down as far as possible. Because the back end was completely packed, over the next 20 minutes or so we were held hostage in that same position as we experienced torrential rains, severe winds, flash floods (no, I’m not making this up) and hail. Michael was holding a jacket off the side of him to protect himself from the elements while hanging on to his bike to keep it from literally being blown away or swept away in the flood that was coming down the road. Ultimately, after another delay, they finally came to their senses and cancelled the TT. Good thing because my legs were shot and I really didn’t want to climb back up that mountain.

Crit – 8th in the 50/60+ – not sure what I was in the 50+

It was an interesting crit course with seven turns in I think .6 of a mile, including the infamous “dead-man” turn (which absolutely lived up to the hype). Lesson #2 reared its ugly head again as I went out too fast and wasn’t able to sustain. A few laps into the race, my back wheel kicked out on one of the tight turns and I dropped several places and was never really able to get back on with the group. I did beat one guy on the last lap and finished strong across the line but we were both well back.

Lesson #3 – attrition. As a result of the crashes, the weather and the fact that most 50-year-olds are smart enough not to do multiple races in one weekend, I claimed my first podium spot, finishing 3rd. I’ll happily take my bronze medal and the lessons learned.

Congrats to everyone who raced – Trust me, EVERYONE at Highland Rim knew MV was in the house and the new kits rocked (thank you, Michael).

Mark Yoshida

TT – 3 miles: 7th place
The course had quite a bit of false flats with a few kickers. I could not get my legs working like I was hoping. I finished only 16 seconds behind first place but that’s a lot for a short TT, I finished in 7th place.

Circuit Race – 2.5 mile loop (a few hard rollers & strong winds): 2nd place
The omnium consisted of just the TT and circuit race. The circuit race also had a hot spot sprint, which gave bonus points towards the omnium for the top 5. I needed hot spot points and a very high finish in the race to have a chance at the podium. It was a very hard sprint at the hot spot but I got 2nd. There were 4 guys I knew that are strong racers so my strategy was to try to stay in the top 5 throughout the race and go with any breaks that any of those 4 racers were in. There were a few break attempts but it was too windy for anything to stick. In the final 500 meters, I was swarmed by the pack and was boxed in. I worked my way to the outside and kept looking for an opening. With about 100 meters to go, I found an opening, swung wide, and made it around everyone except one guy. I was gaining on him but the finish came too soon. I took second, behind by just half a bike length.

Omnium: 1st place
The points from 2nd place in both the hot spot sprint and circuit race pushed me into 1st place for the omnium.

Charles Finney Ride

Saturday, April 17th · 2010 8am

memphishightailers.com

1st Cat 3 in the field and 4th overall in the race-David C.Jones
2nd Cat 3 in the field and 7th overall in the race-Michael Carpenter
3rd Cat 3 in the field and 13th overall in the race-Todd Hickman
Matt West was 29th in the field after a crash at mile 72 and still beat many cat 2’s in the race!

P1,2,3 80 minute crit on Sunday

1st Cat 3 in the field and 12th overall in the Crit-David C. Jones
2nd Cat 3 in the field and 16th overall in the crit-Michael Carpenter
35th in the crit overall-Todd Hickman

Cat 3,4 Saturday 50 mileRoad Race

17th overall in the race-Blake Robertson
19th overall in the race-Curt Arthur
24th overall in the race-Jon McCarthy
29th overall in the race-Tim Moore
32nd overall in the race-Mark Yoshida
34th overall in the race-Steve Pavlovic
36th overall in the race-Steve Fermanich
41st overall in the race-Richard Hardin

Cat 3,4 Criterium

12th – Blake Robertson
12th- Steve Fermanich
14th – Mark Yoshida
16th- Steve Pavlovic
25th – Tim Moore
26th –Curt Arthur
29th- Richard Hardin
34th –Jon McCarthy

Curt Arthur – 7th, Cat 4

Having heard the stories, I had fretted about the course and terrain for a few days prior to the race. Tim suggested Vittoria pave’ tires (25’s), which took some doing to find.

We rode the course on Sat prior to the race and while unnerving at first, the sand became manageable and kind of fun, provided it was not too deep. We rode the first section only. I was talking to Funston at the hotel and he told us about a spot on the second section to watch for: a very sandy section, nearly impossible to ride through.

At the start I settled in about 1/3 of the way down the pack. The guy that went down actually threw a body check into me. His shoulder hit me in the side and he slid down my side. I yelled at Tim, checked on Steve, and all was well. Tim flatted shortly after that.

When we hit the first section, I just rode to stay with the main field, there was one guy about 30 seconds ahead, but no one seemed too worried about him. By the time the first section was navigated there was about 18 of us left. We rode for while and some, myself included, tried to get a paceline going but to little avail. There were too many people on the same teams that did not want to risk doing work. So I settled into the back and started eating and stretching as much as I could fit, knowing I would stiffen up later.

The second section went pretty well, I ran through the sandy section, passed few doing so, and stayed with the leaders. I really don’t remember too much about this section. When we left I did a quick head count and there were 11 left. So I settled in near the back and resumed eating and stretching.

I saw Tim at the start of the third section, nice to see a familiar face, but still felt a little guilty as he should have been here with us. I didn’t see Steve but could only assume he was with the second group.

I missed the leaders on the last climb due to a lot a traffic and walkers on the hill. I had to get off and run as well as there was no room to ride. I passed a few from my group still trying to ride that I never saw again. Once over the hill, I took huge risks on the rest, big ring and hammering the rest of the gravel section. One near miss on one turn but I managed to stay on the road.

Once on the pavement there were five of us, 2 “butt paste” boys, and 3 of us from different teams. the bp guys kept attacking. Not quite sure what to do but wanting to keep my placing high I did more responding than I should have, but we did drop the other 2 guys. At about 4 miles to go, I decided to let one of them go and harbor some efforts. The last bp guy went past me shortly after but I didn’t have a whole lot left. I had also started to cramp some for the last few miles.

In the end, I knew I was well placed but 7th was a great surprise. I owe a lot of this to the advise I received from Tim and Steve, Dale, as well as Funston. Ben’s suggestions of eating helped as I never really ran on empty until the last few miles but was still able to keep pace, which was an average speed of 20.5.

I hope this bodes well for the team this year, looking forward to racing with a full group and helping out as best I can.

Curt

Steve Pavlovic

First and foremost, props to Curt for an excellent 7th place cat 4 finish at the Rouge. He rode smart and got an excellent result for his first Rouge.

Also, I wanted to give props to Ben Stone for some excellent nutritional advice for the race.  He gave us what to eat before, and how to eat during.  It did help!

My day was not so good, basically SUCKED!  I have been nursing a lower back issue all week and started Sunday with some pain the gradually grew worse as the day went on.  Rode well the first section, dodged the wreck 12 miles or so in, then watch Tim drop off with a flat.   On we went.  About 8-10 miles in someone tried to orchestrate a pee break, twice. They finally convinced everyone to slow it down, so I thought if I participated as well (didn’t really have to go) we could slow the whole group down enough for Tim to catch back on.  Unfortunately, I got back to the group at the back of the pack about 1 mile from the first dirt section.  I passed a whole bunch of people who didn’t know how to ride in the gravel (loosest it’s ever been by the way) but as I’m doing that the lead 15 riders or so were gradually pulling away.  I finally got around all the slower rider but could never catch the lead group.

After the dirt I hooked up with a small group of about 10 riders who caught me.  It was incredible how poorly these people could ride.  They had no clue on how to work together  doing everything wrong.  Anyway my back was on fire and my legs were starting to cramp.  Got to the second dirt section and found Tim with a couple of his buddies from Florida.  We rode the second dirt section and then I bailed after 65 miles.  Not having fun anymore.

The highlight of the day:  We drove up to the start finish and were able to cheer Curt across the finish line.  Go Curt!

Steve

Tim Moore

Well, it was a long journey down to West Feliciana, LA this weekend. When arrived Saturday and went out for our short training ride we were greeted by the hardest course I have ever seen in the four years of attending this race. The first section was graded on the Thursday of race week making it extremely loose and dusty. This was robbing everyone of some serious horsepower over the eight mile section. I knew this was going to be a pivotal point of the race and we would be dropping half the field here.

The second dirt section was very difficult including a portion at the bottom of Blockhouse Hill where the road had been washed out. This 20 meter section was filled in with sand/mulch? transforming it into a cyclocross style sandpit. Curt would definitely excel at this point in the race.

The race started fairly tame with a neutral roll out onto the typical rough asphalt inhabiting the surrounding area. We we just cruising along when at mile 10 there was the typical CAT 4 boneheaded crash. It sounded awful as the rider must have gone down very hard. I immediately called for Curt who was only 2 riders behind me…whew! Where’s Steve? Curt dropped back and made sure he was still with us. We were all together now just cruising along and doing a great job of saving our energy for the dreaded first section.

This is when my day went from great to terrible in 2.5 seconds. A few miles after the crash my bike started feeling weird. I look down and it’s a flat front tire my first in four years at this race. I don’t panic because at least it’s not the rear and I wouldn’t have to worry what sort of gear ratio I’m gonna get out of the wheel truck. Curt had placed wheels in the truck but I didn’t see them right away. Well, these Kysrium ES’s with the brand new Gatorskins look good to me so on it goes. 32mph behind the wheel truck to catch on…

Then there is a hard left turn I know is coming, the truck puts it’s left blinker on, I acknowledge them by pointing left and they over cook the turn anyway causing me to loose all momentum as I over cook the turn myself. Then the bastards just take off and leave me! What the F’n FF! It’s ok, it’s ok…I’ve made up some ground and I still feel good. I settle into 25mph knowing the group is only doing 20-22 maybe. It was amazing how many people I was passing who had dropped from our group already. One by one they would suck my wheel until the next rise in the road and poof they would be gone.

A mile or so later the unthinkable happens…the brand new front tire goes flat again! Now I have to stop and actually change it myself. There was a very nice gentleman in his front yard, well aware of the race going on, who offered his help and asked if that was the main peloton that just passed through. He actually used the word peloton and I was impressed. He said I was maybe 20-30 seconds off the group. I pulled the tube out of the tire and there was a tire liner…extra protection and I still flatted!!!! I was NOT having a good time anymore. My race was over…

My plan now was to ride to the exiting section of the first dirt and hand up my remaining water bottles to Curt and Steve. Deep into depression at this point I passed my good friend from FL Donald Davis riding the opposite direction toward the Pond Store with a rider from Little Rock (Zack). I turned around and we made an afternoon of watching all the groups go up Blockhouse Hill.

When the CAT 4 group arrived it was down to 15 maybe 20 guys with Curt on the back of the group. I was super pumped knowing he was back there saving every ounce of energy possible. MV was in a great spot! Steve arrived a short time later and we rode to the top of Blockhouse where a car ride was waiting. Steve’s back was in bad shape so it didn’t take but seeing my bike on the back of an SUV with more room for his to end his race. I wanted the car ride to be able to see Curt’s finish, knowing how much it means to see a teammate at the finish line after such a long hard day.

I’ll let Curt tell his story but I have to say I was extremely impressed with his 7th place finish on the worse course I’ve seen!!! MEMPHIS VELO IN DA HOUSE!!! REPRESENT!!!

Sorry for how long this message was for as little of the race I was a part of … but man, MV is gonna have another great season and I am just excited to be a part of it!

CONGRATS CURT!

TIM

Aaron Guyer

Here is the summary:
Circuit Race: 11th
TT: 2nd
RR: 4th
GC for the Stage Race: 2nd (cat 3)

Here are the details:

This weekend was unseasonably cold for North Florida- lows in the low 30’s and high of 57. Usually we are 45 and 75 respectively at this time of year.

Saturday-
Circuit race- 2.61 mile loops, rolling hills and S turns throught a under-developed subdivision. I think about 50 people lined up for the cat 3/4 race which was 50 minutes long. I rode midpack most of the race, nothing got away. I attacked twice but got pulled back. Coming into the finish I was plowing up the hole on the right side, but then 2 guys crashed right in front of me and I narrowly avoided going down myself. Ended up with 11th. Mark unfortunately flatted on the last lap. I then jumped in immediately for the 35 + masters race to help a guy I ride with here in tallahassee who is a cat 1. This was a much faster/harder race. I helped bridge my friend up to a 3 man break about 20 minutes into the 60 minute race and then was blown. I ended up finishing in the pack at 9th. My friend got 2nd.

TT- really windy but went well. I did 5:50 for the 2.61 mile course, ave power 350, ave spd 26.71. Good enough for 2nd in the cat 3’s. Winner was 10 seconds ahead of me.

Sunday- going into the RR, I was 5th in the GC, with only 3 seconds separating me and the 2nd – 4th places. 1st place guy got some time bonuses in the circuit race and was about 40 seconds ahead total.
The course was an 8 mile loop with 1.8 miles of clay/dirt/sand road. We did 48 miles total in the cat 3/4 race. Sunny but super windy. From the gun, 1 guy went off the front, never to be seen again. I hung in the pack the 1st 3 laps and we were shelling people every time we hit the dirt. A field of about 60 soon dwindled to around 25. The 4th lap 2 guys attacked. I countered with a rider from FSU and we cut the lead from 30 seconds to 15, but then we were caught by the pack and teammates from the break blocked really well. So soon, those 2 had a minute on us. I attacked a few more times but always got reeled in.

Last lap- around 4 miles to go, including the dirt section. I was at the very back of the peloton. There was a section in a subdivision where there was a small median that you could go either right or left. Left was shorter but narrower, and every lap it seemed the peloton preferred this side. So, with nothing to lose, I went right and gunned it. I passed the ENTIRE field, and hit the dirt road about a 1/2 mile later with a 5 second gap. I had been riding the dirt well all day, so I just went for it. There were the biggest climbs of the course in the dirt and I usually climb pretty well.  My lead grew to 15 seconds by the time I hit the pavement again with 2 miles to go- into a stiff headwind. I knew that road well though, since one of our group rides goes out that route. I knew if i could just get up the road about a mile, i would be going downhill the rest of the way (until the finish which was at the top of a short hill). 3 guys from Tallahassee I train with blocked the field long enough for me to cover that mile and then I was able to scream into the finish at 28-30 mph. I ended up coming in solo in 4th place (as I never caught the other 3 who got away earlier in the race). I finished about 30 seconds ahead of the field. That moved me from 5th to 2nd in the cat 3 GC.

I was happy with that result. Next week is the Regions Race Weekend in Albany, GA- about 90 miles north of me.

AG

Mark Yoshida

CAT 3/4 RACES (results were broken down by separate categories)
Circuit Race: 19th
TT: 8th
RR: 11th

CIRCUIT RACE (2.61 mile loop, 50 minutes):
Cold, windy, & overcast – I thought I was still in Memphis!
I felt strong throughout the circuit race but flatted going into the final lap.  I was able to finish but lost 1:35 to the pack in the last lap.

TT (2.61 miles):
Went off too hard and paid for it in the second half of the course.  My time was 6:14, avg. speed of 25.99 mph.

ROAD RACE (6 laps: 8 mile loop with 1.8 miles of clay/dirt/sand section):
Weather.com reported 12 mph winds with gusts up to 18 mph.
I lost about 5 seconds to the pack in the dirt section on lap 1 but was able to get back on once we hit the pavement.  We dropped about 1/3 of the pack in the 1st lap.  2nd lap, I lost about 15 seconds to the pack on the dirt section. Once back on pavement, the course turned into a stiff headwind and I kept about the same gap for almost 2 miles but was never able to get back on.  I just didn’t have the strength in my legs to hang on to the pack in the dirt section. I turned the race into a hard effort training ride and kept pushing myself the rest of the race. I was surprised to find out I had placed 11th in the the Cat 4s.

Hey Aaron – What happened to the part about WARM & SUNNY Florida?