Wednesday, March 25, 2009

GC Union City, GA Mayor's Race - Omnium, March 21st & 22nd

TT - Brannon braved the cool morning air to open his legs up in the time trial & hopefully grab a few omnium points in the process.  The course was a difficult rolling out & back 10 mile challenge.  He came within 16 seconds of earning points which would prove critical later in the close final overall standings.

Crit - The warm afternoon welcomed the field to a well designed 6 turn oval shaped course.  It featured a turning climb through turns 4-6 into a final straight that is usually plagued by a crosswind.  Today, however, the wind would be a headwind down the back stretch & a tailwind to the finish.  Speed was kept high throughout the race as Patrick Allison (TNT Fireworks) & Sammy Flores (Birmingham Velo/Tria) did battle over MAR lap points.  Brannon & Steve stayed near the front most of the race.  Brannon read the field well going into the final lap & jumped into a great position as they entered the backstretch.  Coming out of the final turn he drove it to the line for 3rd behind Flores (Velo/Tria) & Cody Hall (VeloVoodoo).  This put Brannon back into the mix in 7th overall with only a few points separating him from a top 5.

RR - The cool morning air had everyone looking at each other to decide what to wear as it promised to warm up quickly & the race would be a long rolling 68 mile journey.  Eric joined Brannon & Steve, & had done the math to set our strategy for the day:  get Brannon KOM bonus points to move him into 5th, keep the contenders from taking them, & then set him up for the finish.  Of the contenders Adam Handler & Nathan Sibly of Aarons were only one point ahead of Brannon, Patrick Vrana (RBM) only a couple points behind, & several others in striking distance. Reality setup a 3 man train for the first KOM where Brannon edged out Patrick Allison (TNT) moving Brannon into 5th overall.  Eric & Steve worked to keep the many breaks within reach.  Steve launched for the second KOM to keep points from the challengers & was just beat on the line by Flores (Birmingham Velo/Tria).  From there it was a game of position with short break attempts going off on the run into the finish.  A small group hung off the front of the peleton containing the dangerous Aarons team in the finale.  Eric led the charge with Brannon in tow.  In the confusion of the final course turns & the catch of the break Brannon found himself behind a spent Aarons rider with 250m to go, & had to adjust his sprint while the field surged around on the right.  Steve drove through on the outside to a 9th place finish, Brannon recovered for 10th, & Eric finished 24th. Overall - Much of the hard work grabbing & protecting the 18 KOM points on offer during the road race was overshadowed by the large number of points available at the finish.  Adam Handler (Aarons) & Patrick Vrana (RBM) finished on the RR podium, & the KOM points that Flores (Velo/Tria) earned squeaked him past Brannon as well.  Matt Lipscomb, who won the TT, finished with just enough points to tie Brannon for 6th in the overall.  Steve's efforts to cover the KOMs & top 10 earned him 12th in the GC.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Regions Bank Race Weekend – March 7th & 8th, 2009

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Prologue & Criterium

With the thick, cool morning fog making the roads wet we had to be more cautious railing the 12 corners of the 3.67km prologue. Prologue results put Michael in 3rd, Eric in 5th, Brannon in 9th, Rob in 15th & Reggie in 23rd.

The sun was out and shining for the afternoon criterium and it was nice and warm. A pleasant change from the previous weekend’s racing weather. The Albany crit course is always a favorite with its unique shape and having 8 corners. The plan was to keep Michael safe, protect or get MAR primes and lead Michael out for the win. It was a fast race and another team (Jittery Joes Devo) was working hard for their GC rider Mark Babcock. However, we rode together as team better than expected this early in the season by reading the race and each other perfectly. We just clicked. Everyone was in the right spot at the right moments and we kept the race mostly under our control eventually leading Michael out for the win. Michael was now in the overall lead and Eric was in 6th.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Road Race

The Albany road racecourse is a fast, flat course where wind is your worst enemy. Due to the flat and open terrain the wind is always the tail wind section always seems to be the shortest. With Michael in 1st place and Eric in 6th the plan was for both to do as little work as possible except for Michael getting at least one KOM bonus to further his time advantage. The team was to protect the other KOM’s and cover all breaks keeping Michael safe in the lead for the overall win. On lap two a breakaway got away and earned a 30 second gap to the main field. Rob managed to get in the break prior to the gap opening up too big and stayed in until about 10 miles from the finish. By this time the main field had lost several riders due to the fast pace.

Eric and Michael needed a pack finish so that everyone received the same time for the road race. This would secure their 1st and 6th positions in the overall. Organizing a chase was not easy with the lack of assistance from other riders and a rival team (with two riders in the breakaway) continually disrupting efforts to organize the chase. Having pulled the chase group for miles, Michael and Eric finally reeled in the break and the pack was back together for a group sprint finish.

- Click here for photos from the weeked -

Stage Results:

Michael 1st place

Eric 6th place

Reggie 15th place

Rob 21st place

Brannon 24th place

Thursday, March 5, 2009

TopView Classic – Feb 28th & Mar 1st

Saturday, February 28th
52 miles composed of 7 laps on a 7.2 mile circuit. Brannon, Michael, Brian, Rob, Reggie, and Steve lined up for the first official road race of the 2009 season. Fast form the start with about 30 other riders eager to open up the legs for the first race of the Georgia Cycling Granprix Series. Our first breakaway attempt by Steve was brought back and then Rob was able make a break stick with him and two other riders. Four other riders later joined the break. With rob solid in the break away the rest of the team put together a textbook lead out for the day’s designated sprinter (Michael). A great performance by the team lead to a 5th place finish for Rob in the break away and Michael winning the field sprint as planned and taking 8th place. Also, finishing in the top 20 were Brannon in 12th and Brian in 14th. Sunday, March 1st
A race to remember.
The weather was all but favorable with temperature starting at about 40 degrees and dropping all day and the cold rain eventually turning to a mixture of sleet & snow. The race was shortened to 22 miles, but did not make the race any easier. The short distance made the pace that much faster with attacks starting in the first mile. The race was a game of cat and mouse. The team did a great job of covering every break attempt and being aggressive with our own moves. In the first part of the last lap a small breakaway formed and Michael took that opportunity to setup for the win. The break stuck and only he and another rider were left going into the final hill. In the last 300 meters Micheal dropped the hammer and sprinted away for the win. Mike Burns finished 9th, Eric Neely finished 13th and Robert Conatser finished 15th.