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Dahlonega Road Race

5/31/2009

Wes Douglas

I did this race “mountain bike style” by driving over on Saturday after work and arriving at the Montaluce Winery Dahlonega road race start location around 1AM….Slept right there in the car.  Before the start I took at quick look at the hill leading into the S/F line. It was something of a stair stepping climb…not too long but brutal with about a 18-20% grade starting out (with no momentum) then a second kick of about 13-15% and then a more gradual 8% or so to the top and the Start/Finish.  We were going go have to climb this after each lap.  Immediately after the neutral start the attacks began.  Nothing on this course seemed to be flat….It all seemed to be either up or down and what I would call a bit of a meat grinder for me.  There were a few small breaks and a few flyers on the first lap but the pace was killing me because we would go super slow and then all out….Off and On…Off and On. 

After the first lap and climb to the S/F and the following climbs I was getting a little worried about even finishing this race….I did not feel good at all.  I decided I needed to put an end to this stop and go business, if I could.  To that end, I waited until we were back on the main road where the terrain would allow me to use power and maintain some momentum.  Previously a Pacesetter rider had been allowed to go solo off the front and was still out there.  Once my heart rate and the pace had finally settled down I decided to give it a shot and made the attack hoping I could get away with another rider or two.  I slipped off pretty easily and was quickly joined by Myogenesis Adam Ray.  Looking back I saw this was going to work….at least for a while….and after a few minutes we had joined the Pacesetter rider.  The three of us were really working well together but it was obvious that on this day Adam was the faster climber followed by me and then Pacesetter.  I was certain that if we managed to stay away I would end up second. 

After the third lap the Pacesetter rider popped on the S/F climb even though we didn’t want this.  He was trying to hold on and Adam and I though for a second about waiting to see if he could latch back on but decided this would be the wrong decision.  We had to go.  We knew there was a chase but weren’t too sure about how far back they were or who was in it or their numbers.  Adam and I were crushing it now.   He would lead up most the climbs with me being able to hold on and do more work on the rolling sections.  It was getting really hot and with the hard work (my HR was averaging 180 the whole break) we were doing and I was going through a bottle of water every lap.  Halfway though the 4^th lap we got a glimpse of the chase group.  We could see there was a big group but didn’t know for sure who was in it.  I was just praying we could hold them off or that Brian was back there and staying fresh.  Adam and I doubled our efforts and were putting time back on them.  After climb to the S/F there was still no sight of the chase group but Ruth was holding a radio and let me know they were a minute back going into the 5^th and final lap. 

On the second climb I lost a little more ground to Adam but I though I would catch back on when we hit the main road however, just before I did the chase group surprised me as they came by.  I grabbed onto the last wheel and started to recover.  Adam was also caught a few seconds later.   It was a good run but now it as time to change tactics.  Time for me to recover a little if I could!!!  I saw a few stragglers trying to make it up to us but I didn’t want them to make it so the second I felt a little rested I went to the front to drill the pace….It worked…no one else got into the break of ten.  Still, Myogenesis and most of the other riders seemed want to take it pretty slow, rest up and let the Start/Finish hill sprint decide things.  Well at this point I knew I would not be winning that contest and I didn’t want the any other riders to catch and have a chance either…nor did I want the group to rest and have more energy to use against Brian.   To keep this from happening I attacked every time the pace got too slow, going off the front and forcing a chase.  At one point I got way out there and out of sight so these efforts forced the group to chase and not take it nice and easy until the sprint. 

I was pretty much dead and cramping on the hill sprint and came in ninth.  After I rolled though the S/F I saw Brian rolling back towards me signaling a number ONE….Awesome Day!! 

Mens cat3 criterium, 17 or 18 riders in the field.  VeloCity, Cumberland Transit, Mellow Mushroom, BBC, Jittery Joes and a few other were represented.  Jacob and I were the only Tria riders.  The first laps rolled fast with Tim Heard and a Cumberland guy getting off the front for a lap.  This was brought back and another small attack was covered by Jacob.  As we rounded corner #2 going into #3 the field had just made the catch and was sitting up.  I jumped wide and shot through the corner and opened up a gap.  Cumberland Transit and Jason Donaldson of BBC bridged up.  Jacob and BBC controlled the field to let the gap grow.  The three of us worked well together and got over a minute by the finish.  With a lap to go I attacked into the wind between corners 2 and 3 but they were on me.  We came down the back side three wide across the road.  I heard Donaldson rub his brakes and that was the signal to hit the gas.  I went into the last corner hot and put a gap on him that he could not close.  The Cumberland rider was better at the corners but was in bad position.   I got up to 34 mph in the sprint, 26.4 mph average for 20.25 miles.

This is a great course, downtown!  The corners are like fly paper!  Thank you Mayor Langford for repaving!  I hope this race is around next year.

Posted by Brian Toone
March 28-29, 2009
Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Quick summary - criterium
Pro/1/2 - 11th (Brian), Raced hard (Wes and Stuart)
Cat 3 - 2nd (Lennie), 4th (Sammy), Raced hard (Mike and Jacob)

Quick summary - road race
Pro/1/2 - 4th (Brian), Worked very hard (Wes and Stuart)
Cat 3 - 2nd (Sammy), Raced hard (Mike, Lennie, and Jacob)

P/1/2 Criterium
The Pro/1/2 criterium was Saturday and started at 8pm. The temperature had dropped off considerably, and the wind had picked up speed and started to gust in a few different directions on the course. It made for a crazy race with the dark conditions, too. I will definitely admit that I had a lot of fun on the course even with it being crazy. I made the mistake of going with the lap 1 breakaway and the lap 2 breakaway and then when that got caught sliding all the way to back of the pack for several laps. By this point, the winning break of 3 had gotten away and established itself pretty well. Stuart and Wes got to the front a lot and drilled it, but they weren’t getting a lot of help. Other people were constantly attacking, and the pace would slow way down again when the attack would get caught. Going into the last couple laps, I worked my way to close to the front, but could only manage 8th in the field sprint for 11th in the race with the breakaway of three already finished.

P/1/2 Road Race
If the Tour de Tuscaloosa is one of my favorite race weekends, the road race course has to be my favorite course of all the races I do each year. It has a little bit of everything - mostly rolling hills, but one longer climb, a couple flat sections, and even a short downhill switchback section. 7 laps of a 10 mile loop. We started out with the plan (devised on the start line) that Stuart would go with whatever break went off the front early. Sure enough - a break went very early (immediately after the neutral section) and we had it covered. Read the rest of this entry »

This last training race was the hardest one I’ve ever done and Ty and I both thought the final break was the hardest either of us had ever been in.  I may get some of these details wrong because I just couldn’t do much more than ride.  The race began with Ty and Mike out on the front and I was about 15 back keeping an eye on them.  There were several flyers on the first lap that were mostly ignored and rightly so.  I think the real attacking began on lap two after turn one.   This pace was insane.  It seemed to be so fast the field was stretched out in a long line and somewhere around the hill on the back side the string was cut.  Me, Mike Olheiser (Tristar/Warp9), Ty Stanfield (Kenda), Pat Allison (TNT), Eric White (ProVelo), Travis Sherman (Tristar/Warp9)and two other strong Huntsville riders made this break and started working really well together. This 8 man break continued until just after the start of the 4^th lap.  I had just finished my pull and had just rotated to the back of the pace line when Mike and Ty attacked all out on the long gradual incline.  Everyone popped and I was caught in the back.  I could see Mike and Ty getting away but I was not going to just sit there and let it go.  I came around the other riders and continued to hammer with everything I had.  I was going to make this bridge or explode trying.  Afterwards Ty said he saw me trying to bridge up and he didn’t think I would be able to make it because the gap was pretty big and they were doing about 30mph.  Hell….I don’t know how I did it either but I got on with them right before turn one.  Previously the average speed of the 8 man break was around 27 but when the three of us started working together I hardly say anything below 30.  Lots of 32-37mph..We work hard and in no time were out of sight and gone.  Our rotations were tight and fast and they needed to be with the winds…We never let up.  On the 5^th lap I saw Ty downshift to his 12 right before the hill on the backside.  Mike was in front of him and I was thinking…Oh crap don’t start this now….Well Ty attacked mike and Mike countered.  Then Ty attacked again and Mike countered and got a good gap on the two of us.  This whole time I had decided to let those two go at it and I would hold Ty’s wheel.  I had no interest in attacking and thought we should keep it together until the climb at the end where both Ty and I would have better odds on Mike.  Ty was thinking he should go ahead and start softening mike up but I really thought that was a huge mistake at that point and it was.  So when mike got that gap Ty tried to wave me by to go bridge it and I was thinking Hell no bro….You got this going and you are going to have to do most of the work to bring it back because I’m not going to sacrifice myself for it.  I told Ty I would work with him but it was too late.  We were on TT terrain and Mike was gone.   From that point Ty and I traded pulls until the hill.  I put in a small attack on the second switchback and Ty held on then countered.  He came past me but didn’t gain more than about 20 meters.  I settled into my rhythm and just held the spacing.  With about ½ k to go I came out of the saddle, bridged the gap, came past Ty and kept going until the finish.  So the finish was Mike, Wes, Ty.  I think I started to blackout at least twice on this race.  I know I was seeing spots on the bridge effort to Mike and Ty and then attacking on the climb. I’m toast.

-Wes Douglas

Posted by Brian Toone
January 4, 2009
Managua, Nicaragua

I had an incredible opportunity to race in Nicaragua on Sunday, January 4. It turns out that this also led to our first victory of the year! I am still humbled by the opportunity to borrow a bike and experience racing in another country. Here is an abbreviated report I sent out to our team mailing list:

For the race today, I borrowed a bike and shoes from Shannon OReilley, the president of the Nicaraguan Cycling Assocation. The race was a 1.25 km course with two 180 degree turns. The start/finish was at the top of a downhill which took you shortly into the first 180 which was a VERY large roundabout called “Rotunda La Virgin” complete with a statue of the Virgin Mary and for the Christmas season all kinds of camels, sheep, and wise men. The roundabout itself was probably 1/10th of a mile or more. When you exited the roundabout you came back up the start/finish hill but on the other side of the road. The hill wasn’t that steep but it was into a strong headwind (20mph?) so that going super hard across the top you were only going 16-18 mph. Then you went into this headwind all the way to second 180 degree turn which was a normal 180 (not a roundabout) so it was pretty sharp. Then you had a 20mph tailwind and we easily were topping 35mph through here on the first couple laps.

Two riders on different teams attacked on the first lap, and my teammate, Walter, joined them to form a small three man breakaway. They got a little bit of a gap, but the pace was just way too fast on the downwind part of the course. We caught them at the start of the second lap. My other teammate (the national road and mountain bike champ) attacked on the hill and got away solo but another rider bridged to him and then again because of the tailwind we caught them both at the start of the third lap. So for the first two laps, the pace had been super fast when we started the third lap and made it around the roundabout starting up the hill into the headwind. I attacked as hard as I could thinking that people would be tired and I at least wanted to put on a show as the token “gringo” in the race. I had a 20 second lead for the next 7 or 8 laps but then I could tell my gap was shrinking. It was awesome to hear everyone on the side yelling “allez”, “allez”, “allez”, and one boy yelling “allez gringo, allez gringo”. I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to stay away from the chase group behind me which included one of my teammates (Walter) who had bridged from the third group to the chase group so I eased up and then there were four of us off the front. We used our numbers perfectly with Walter attacking first and forcing the strongest sprinter in the race to chase. I hopped onto his wheel and when Walter was reeled back in, I launched a counter attack and only the Shell rider could follow. So the two of us got away and worked together with me pulling up the hill into the headwind and the Shell rider pulling on the tailwind section. We worked together for the last five laps and then I was able to outsprint him.

There was somebody taking pictures, and I am going to try to hook up with him on Saturday before we leave to buy a few for $1 each. Also this website has some pictures from the race including the podium picture: http://www.ciclismonica.com/Circuito2009/circuito.html