Saturday at Elk Grove started out with Clark's strategies seeing as how he was going to be in all 3 cat 5 races. After calming Clark down and telling him that the race would be too fast for a single man break, instead in the first race he does a three man break. Knowing how Clark likes to push a big gear and not spin he still ended up an impressive 4th. In the second cat 5 race it looked like Jorge was in great position for the sprint before two riders met in front of him going down with him going down on top of them. Luckily their bodies cushioned Jorge's fall. Clark ended up 24th after dropping down to his 11 too soon. On the third race, after Jorge had to recover from a crash (thanks goes to Sram in the pit) and switch numbers, again Clark felt like he had to pull the field with one lap left. With enough energy left Clark, who this time did not dump his cassette all at the same time, sprinted to the line taking 3rd. Jorge and Joe who were mid pack the whole way, ended up 13th and 16th. Lessons learned- When you are in the 11 and not spinning it makes for a good picture but not speed. And secondly, if you are in back to back races, instead of switching numbers, place one number on top of the other. Then all you have to do is tear off the top and you are ready to go again.
The Cat 4 race was way sketchy. Before the race with everybody lined up the field was asked to move to one side to make way for the pace car to get through. This squeezed the field to half the area and of course riders in the back attempted to take advantage of this by following the car to the front. It was nice that this was noticed by one of the officials who told those riders to go to the back, but they really didn't. This squeezed the field even tighter for the start. With the surges and resultant slowing down thereafter and the turns it was a tight pack all the way to the end. Brakes were locking up all over the place sending bicycle sideways. This was evident after one of the leaders got pinched on the last lap, which by itself had three seperate crashes. (If anybody can give me input, why was the motorcycle official attempting to make his way through the pack midway through the race?). All in all it was smart to stay way out in front or way in the back.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Willow Springs TT Set for August 24th
The Willow Springs Stage for the HomeMade Pizza Co. Chicago Time Trail Series will be run on August 24th starting at 9 am.
The course is set almost entirely within Forest Preserve property and therefore provides the most scenic race you will do this year. Right out of the start you will hit the 6% 1.5K climb that will determine the KoM for the day. On the back side of the climb riders can hit 40mph on the straight downhill run towards 107th St. Mix in some brand new pavement and a few rolling sections and this course will bring out the best in everyone.
Race day registration opens at 7:00 am and closes at 9:30, with the first rider going of at 9:00 sharp. Once again, the earlier you register, the earlier you race!
For more info check out the Series Homepage
or drop us a line.
The course is set almost entirely within Forest Preserve property and therefore provides the most scenic race you will do this year. Right out of the start you will hit the 6% 1.5K climb that will determine the KoM for the day. On the back side of the climb riders can hit 40mph on the straight downhill run towards 107th St. Mix in some brand new pavement and a few rolling sections and this course will bring out the best in everyone.
Race day registration opens at 7:00 am and closes at 9:30, with the first rider going of at 9:00 sharp. Once again, the earlier you register, the earlier you race!
For more info check out the Series Homepage
or drop us a line.
Major Announcement Coming Soon!
Check back soon as a major announcement will be coming regarding the team and its involvement in the sport of cycling!
Monday, July 28, 2008
An important message from El Presidente: AKA: El Capitan
I would like to take a moment to reflect on our team and how far we have come. Last year around this time the team was just a thought. We did not have enough riders to field a team. Tony and I were brainstorming with the Beverly Bike shop to come with team structure and basic mechanics of the team. Damon then stepped up and it started shaping up nicely. I remembered racing against Paul Morrison and asking him if he would be interested in joining the team. As it turned out, he also represented VeePak Inc. which turned out to be the co-sponsor of the team. We started getting to work and making connections and soon we had Spinergy, SRAM, and of course Cannondale.
We were on our way and to get things started we kicked off our season with a cyclocross training ride. It was the coldest day of the year negative 10 degrees below zero but we all showed up to participate and promote it which gave us the first sign that our team was tight.
The next big race was the Hillsboro Roubaix. Once again the team came together and headed down state to kick off our first race together. The team was unified and becoming stronger. Our team was officially baptized by finishing a challenging course and realizing the amount of training that still needed to be accomplished.
As a team we have had some highlighted moments. Who can remember my surprise finish at Vernon Hills? How about Joe’s podium finish for coming in fourth at the ABR Crit Nationals in Winfield and Sergio’s 6th place finish just barely missing the podium. Tony’s 3rd place finish at Olympia Fields and his 1st place win at Bensenville. We all have seen Jorge’s consistent hard work. Damon has provided a lot of information about the team on his insightful blog and also providing the team to host a leg of the Chicago Time Trial series. Danny’s excellent mechanic skills and his positive attitude. Paul feeling “ready to race again”. Rich and Fat Tony’s return to the team and Jim’s steady riding. How about Clark’s half lap lead at Olympia Fields and then his crash due to a screw missing from his shoe. We have our team mechanic Clark, and you work for the Bike shop. And our newest member Bob our time trial expert. These are just a few of our moments, there are still more to come.
I would personally like to thank every member of our team that has made this season successful so far. I sincerely appreciate your hard work and training, your loyalty and devotion and the sacrifices you and your families make. It has not gone unnoticed. And remember You Guys are the team and I am proud to ride, train and race with all of you. Let’s start getting ready for CYCLOCROSS.
We were on our way and to get things started we kicked off our season with a cyclocross training ride. It was the coldest day of the year negative 10 degrees below zero but we all showed up to participate and promote it which gave us the first sign that our team was tight.
The next big race was the Hillsboro Roubaix. Once again the team came together and headed down state to kick off our first race together. The team was unified and becoming stronger. Our team was officially baptized by finishing a challenging course and realizing the amount of training that still needed to be accomplished.
As a team we have had some highlighted moments. Who can remember my surprise finish at Vernon Hills? How about Joe’s podium finish for coming in fourth at the ABR Crit Nationals in Winfield and Sergio’s 6th place finish just barely missing the podium. Tony’s 3rd place finish at Olympia Fields and his 1st place win at Bensenville. We all have seen Jorge’s consistent hard work. Damon has provided a lot of information about the team on his insightful blog and also providing the team to host a leg of the Chicago Time Trial series. Danny’s excellent mechanic skills and his positive attitude. Paul feeling “ready to race again”. Rich and Fat Tony’s return to the team and Jim’s steady riding. How about Clark’s half lap lead at Olympia Fields and then his crash due to a screw missing from his shoe. We have our team mechanic Clark, and you work for the Bike shop. And our newest member Bob our time trial expert. These are just a few of our moments, there are still more to come.
I would personally like to thank every member of our team that has made this season successful so far. I sincerely appreciate your hard work and training, your loyalty and devotion and the sacrifices you and your families make. It has not gone unnoticed. And remember You Guys are the team and I am proud to ride, train and race with all of you. Let’s start getting ready for CYCLOCROSS.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Chicago Criterium Yields Great Results
The inaugural edition of the Chicago Criterium we extremely well for us as a team. We started 8 riders in 3 different reaces. While I'm not sure on every one's results I do know that we placed top twenty in each race including an 11th place finish for Sergio in the second heat of the 5's race.
Having only seen the Masters 4/5 race I will only comment on that for ow until I can recieve some updates from the guys that did the first two races. The race started out quick as usual with the field being stretched to its breaking point after just the first lap. Turn two which was supposed to be the worst corner on the course remained incident free for the duration of the 40 minute race.
Elvis, Tony and Jim managed to keep themselves out of trouble for the first half of the race, while Jorge and Dan were working further back in the field in two smaller groups. Tony was feeling feisty and managed to take a $100 prime, the first of his career. After snatching the prize, Tony planned on sitting up and rejoining the field however he had such a large gap that he gave another dig to try and separate himself even further. The field was having none of this after last week's victory in Bensenville and quickly brought things back together.
With about six laps remaining Tony and Elvis found themselves sitting in the top 10-15 places and things looking good for another possible victory. It was about this time that any one that was not with the main group was pulled from the race, whether they posed any sort of threat to the safety of the race or not. Having been there many times myself, I am always frustrated when officials do this. As riders we not pay a lot of money to race, but we earn a certain satisfaction for having completed a race, no matter where we may have placed.
With just a few laps to go in the race Tony made a move on the backside of the course that I happened to catch on the Jumbotron just as he jumped. However, that side of the course also had a headwind that would occasionally kick up and Tony didn't stand a chance by himself with a hard charging field behind him. He came around turn 3 still in the lead, but the rise over the bridge proved too much and he was brought back into the field. When it came down to the sprint Elvis still had a fresh pair of legs and snatched 13th place.
Congratulations to everyone that raced well today. The Chicago Criterium was a great venue to hold a bicycle race and I for one can't wait until next year to have another try at it.
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