Friday, March 14, 2008

New Blog from Benno

Our own team mechanic, Ben "Benno" Oliver, has started a new blog to answer your questions. Does your bike make strange noises? Does it shift when you don’t want it to and not shift when you do? Is it filthy? Do you feel uncomfortable when you sit on it? When you push down on the pedals does it not give you a commensurate amount of forward momentum? These are all problems he can solve for you.

Check out the blog here, and leave a comment with your questions. Don't be shy!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Back to the Root

From Tom Zirbel:

So I raced locally this past Saturday. And it was my forte: a nice and long (23k), windy, rolling TT. The last TT I did was up against some of the best in the world and I fared pretty well. I was 20s or so from the current World Champion in the discipline and Ben and I were the top domestic pros. And even though the Boulder area is filled to the brim with pros, I was the only pro to show up for this TT. I’ve got this one in the bag, right? Nope.

Let’s start from the beginning: I wake up early Sat. morning (at the crack of 7a!) so that I have time to eat, pack the Tercel, drive to Ft. Collins (consume coffee along the way), park at my friend’s place, use her facilities, ride to the race start (approx. 25 mi away), sign waivers, pin #s, do some openers, yada, yada, and still have a little time to chat or whatnot. Good plan, eh? Just like in years past, I think to myself. Going solo. It wasn’t so long ago, I think. Stuffing bikes and gear into my compact car and heading off to the next big race. Every bike racer knows what I’m talking about, it’s just that pros sometimes forget (or want to). The days when you drove yourself to races, you filled your bottles and pockets w/ the race food that you bought, you raced on the bike that you paid for, cleaned, and maintained. For the aspiring pro this is called The Starving Cat. 1 Racer Sydrome. Because of all the time and energy it takes to train properly for this sport, an aspiring pro will usually not be able to hold a ‘real’ job while trying to make the jump to the pro ranks. And what little money the cat. 1 does earn will go to replacement parts, race food, gas money, entry fees, etc. The remainder goes toward various flavors of Ramen and generic mac&cheese.

So as I start off on my warmup from Ft. Collins to race start, I’m about 10 min. behind schedule. Talked a little too long w/ Jen, I think to myself. Ah, good thing I budgeted extra time! I’m feeling very self-sufficient at this point. Then I turn north. Holy cow, it’s windy!! Hmmm, I’m definitely too stubborn to turn around and drive to the start, but on the other hand, 20 of the 25 miles that I have to ride will be into this 30mi/hr headwind. Grrr. Better go harder. So I’m slogging away, “warming up” which is more accurately “starting my workout” so that I’m not late for my start time when my crank arm starts to come loose. Crap! I don’t carry an 8mm allen key w/ me! Dang it Steve-O! You’re going to make me miss my start because YOU didn’t tighten my……oh wait. I guess I was the one who tightened that bolt after taking off the cranks to fly back to Denver w/ my bike. Ugh. Guess I have to blame myself. So I find the nearest farm house (I’m way out in the country by now) and come upon a man who is working on his bike (though his is of the motorized variety) and after much digging and beard scratching, he finds the tool I seek and I’m pretty sure that that was the first and only time his 8mm allen key will be used. I thank him and am on my way again after only 6.5 minutes. Ooh boy. Better give it some stick now if I want to make that start time. More headwind. I’m not going to lie to you, I can think of a few occasions where my morale and motivation has been higher. Driving me now is pride. I don’t want to miss my start, and I sure as heck am not going to scrap this race and turn back now. Ah finally, the registration tent! O.k., I check my start time – 11:19a. I check the official race time – 11:14. Hmmm. “Ahem, sorry to be rude, but I have 5 min. to get to the start house, do you suppose I could cut in line?” Yep, I was that guy. “Whoa. You better get going! Here, I’ll pin your number.” Thanks, I respond. Kinda feeling like a tool here. She finishes pinning my number and I turn to shake her hand and thank her. She looks very familiar so I ask her name. “Georgia”. Oh. Georgia Gould. The woman who has been ripping legs off in the mountain bike scene. No time for small talk, must get to start ramp. I roll up to the line, “Are you #81?” Yup. “Heck, you have 43s to spare. Why’d you get here so early?” Sarcasm. If he only knew. Honestly, at this point I’m just happy to be here on time. Ok, time to race. 7mi south w/ massive tailwind, flip it, and finish w/ 7 miles of pure fun. I didn’t catch a rider until about 8mi into the race yet I caught my minute man at the ToC TT about 6mi in. Bad sign. Don’t think, just go hard, I tell myself. As I finish that interminable last 7 mi, I am struggling to keep breakfast down while getting oxygen to all my screaming muscles. I’m a wreck. I’m always a wreck after a TT but I never get used to it. My minute man, whom is a strong TTer and whom I didn’t catch, tries to carry a conversation w/ me minutes after my finish. He’s going on about average speeds and whether I closed on him and all I can think about is extracting this giant loogey that is starting to block my breathing passage. I don’t care who won or how fast I went on the way out – just let me breathe! I’m starting to return to the living now and he goes on to tell me that he’s basically retired from racing but had been training a bit and decided he’d give this TT a try. He also tells me he’s working more and spending more time with his kids. Huh. Me who gets paid to ride my bike and more specifically to win TTs, didn’t catch this dad who has a full time job and “retired” from racing last year. I don’t dwell on this line of thinking. I’m in a good mood now. My legs are no longer filled w/ acid and my breathing rate is fairly normal, and you know what the best part is? I get a tailwind back to my car! This racing business is pretty cool. And man does this little episode help me appreciate Steve-O, Kaycee, Glen, Mark and everyone else who helps me do everything except pedal at the races. I’ve got it good.

Epilogue: I finished 3rd on the day. My minute man, Kevin Nichol, won the race in convincing fashion. However, top 3 in each category get medals mailed to them. I’m going to be checking the mail with enthusiasm every day until I receive that hard-earned medal.

Results can be found at: http://americancyc.web152.discountasp.net/Results/FrostBiteTT.htm

Downtown Greenville Cycling Classic: Results

From Teddy King:

I won my race today! Sure it was only a training series race, but these southerners take their racing seriously. Same as last weekend, it's put on by Hincapie Sports and it's the most legit training series race I've ever seen; there's decent prize money, a whole slew of local pros showed up, and there were about 75 people in our pro/1/2 field. Plus I won it in fairly impressive fashion. I wasn't planning on doing anything until about half way into the race, so that people would have cooked themselves early and I'd still have some gas in the tank. But following wheels, I ended up in a breakaway of 4 strong guys half way into the first of 10 laps. So we rotated strongly for the remainder of the race and held our chasers at bay. It finished up a 2-ish minute climb that we saw every lap. I just out powered people for the win. Booya. Like I said, training series or not, it's pretty legit. And in my book, a win's a win.

http://www.teamhincapie.com/results3.php

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Teddy's Race Report

It's funny to start the season with the Tour of California, because everything afterwards seems, well… smaller. Everything about ToC is just so darn BIG, that it seems to leave everything else dwarfed in its wake. Furthermore, it occurs so early in the season, that when I returned home in late February, most of the country's local races are training series. Thankfully for me, here in the southeast the local training series is put on by Hincapie Sports, which runs a very tight ship. I was thrilled as I was driving towards the start and see well organized "BIKE RACE" direction signs, a peloton leading police car, and an official on a motorcycle. Clearly this is a very well organized event. Moreover, the local training series draws the co-namesake of Hincapie Sports, George Hincapie. It's definitely not every day that your hometown weekend race draws ProTour riders, but this Saturday happened to be that day.

I must admit that I was pretty psyched when George approached me in the race and congratulated me on a good ride from Seaside to San Luis Obispo (110 miles in a freezing wet breakaway with George). I'll also admit with my tail between my legs that he clearly rode better than I did on that particular stage of ToC. He finished 2nd while I popped at the end of the race and, shiveringly cold, was content crossing the line in fourth-to-last-place. We chatted a bit, which was fun. He wasn't going to race Sunday and instead was opting for Paris-Nice over another training series race. Whatever..

Saturday's race was 75 miles over six rolling circuits. While some teams lined up with a dozen riders, I was BISSELL's lone representative. With the yellow line rule in effect, it was easy for three of the biggest teams' riders escape up the road, and then have those teams post three or four riders on the front and block. Ugggh… negative racing at its finest. After that breakaway was established, I proceeded to attack as much as I could and hopefully draw a chase group, but I was continually marked. With about half of the race remaining, it was clear George wanted some good training so he sat on the front of the peloton and dragged us along at 25mph for about 20 minutes. After recovering from my repeated attacks, I pedaled up to George and put in a high-tempo effort on the front as well. Mind you, at this point, I figure the race is basically over with those three well up the road. However, the gap was dwindling down to the point that the three escapees were within sight with one lap to go. With some more fine work by George, the Time Factory Team, and me, we reeled back the break, and had the race come down to a sprint. George led it out for about a mile, then Thad Dulin of the Jack Kane pro team went. I jumped on his wheel, drafted a bit, pulled out to pass, but was halted by a ferocious headwind, and was content to finish 2nd. Awesome training all day. Pretty good result. Talked to George. Fun day.

Sunday was 56 miles over the course of seven windy and exposed laps. After an onslaught of attacks by yours truly and lots of the other more populous teams, there was finally a successful breakaway with two laps remaining. It was fun for me because of the five breakaway riders, three are New Englanders: Dan Vallaincourt (Toshiba), Adam Hodges-Myerson (Time Factory), and me. Thad Dulin and a rider from the Hincapie team were the other two guys. With one lap to go, there were various attacks, chases, counter attacks, and the like. I countered an attack, was caught, and then was countered by Thad. I chased for a while with Adam until I decided to go it alone in the pursuit. Unfortunately Thad had the mustard in his legs to stay away and win by about 5 seconds. Once again, I settled for 2nd place and some great training.

-Teddy King

Ben's Merco Race Report

The Merco Credit Union Downtown Grand Prix was held March 1st in downtown Merced, CA. Traditionally the season opener for the domestic racing season, the 2008 edition did not disappoint with fast racing action for the full 90 minutes.

The attacks started with the gun and within 10 minutes a break of 11 had established itself. Representing BISSELL Pro Cycling was Richard England and myself, Ben Jacques-Maynes. Also present were Cam Evans, Canadian road race champion; Chris Horner of the Astana team; Kayle LeoGrande of Rock Racing; Daniel Holloway, US Elite Crit champ; two racers from Colavita and a smattering of strong amateur racers.

This group quickly grew a gap and the pace was solid, though a few games were played concerning $100 primes. With 18 laps to go in the race, a few riders said "enough is enough" and attacked the group as the cohesion fell apart. A new group of three were left to fight for the win, containing Chris Horner, myself and Alejandro Borrajo of Colavita. Borrajo was the strongest in a sprint, and you could not underestimate Horner for a last lap attack.

it was not to be, as with 7 laps to go, the tail end of the pack was within sight. I was not interested in lapping the field, as a three up sprint seemed to be my best choice. Horner had other ideas, and personally rode the pack down, making contact with 2 laps to go. From that point on it was all about making up ground through a battling pack, keeping two other guys within sight as swarms of riders thought of personal glory.

With half a lap to go, two tired racers crashed into each other in a particularly tight spot on the course, taking me straight to the barriers and heaping more riders on top of me. I emerged unhurt, but my race ended in an uncharismatic heap, and I rolled across the line escorted by my teammates. The finish was completely anticlimactic as I was looking forward to trying my strength down the finishing straight, where Borrajo beat Horner to the line for the win.

-Ben Jacques-Maynes

Aaron's Merco Race Report

Team BISSELL rode great in the RR on Sunday in Merced.

Although we didn't come home with the win, it wasn't for lack of effort.

I thought with most guys a bit tired and still under the weather from ToC we had a good showing and rode really well as a team. We covered attacks all day until about 25 of us went clear halfway into the race. We were fortunate to have 3 riders from BISSELL: Morgan, BJM and myself all made the group.

Attacks started with 2 laps to go which was still 50 miles to go.

Half of the guys were working, the other half looking for a free ride.

Ben Jacques-Maynes decided to try and split the 25 man group into a more select group, so we started to counter each other and slowly got the group down to 10 by the finish.

Eric Wohlberg rode away with one lap to go, hats off to him for a great ride!

I managed to get into a group on the final lap with 4 guys behind Wohlberg, we were caught by a remaining group with Ben and Morgan with half a lap to go and then started the attacks again.

The group split into the final 10 of us and with 3km to go split into two groups of 5, Ben in the front group and myself in the second group of 5 about 10 seconds behind.

With 500meters to go, our group caught the first group.

Ben jumped on my wheel and I was able to take him to about 250 meters to go where he took the group sprint for 2nd.

We ended up with 2 guys in the top 10 and Morgan showed he has lots of talent today. It was good to see.

-Aaron Olson