Super Squadra

July 2, 2009 is our small team’s most prolific day in history with not one, but two national track titles secured by young Alan Ting. Halfway across the country Wenger led me out for a second consecutive team win at the Driveway and another mini-series lead to defend.

I don’t have much information yet about Ting’s wins but the first of the day came in the 1-kilometer pursuit and he followed that effort later in the evening with a kierin title. I can’t wait for the write-up which can be found here when Ting is done collecting hardware and through with his required summer reading. It won’t be long before Alan joins us in Austin and our team finally gets a proper sprinter. Here’s to kicking off the July 4th weekend right.

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Early Saturday morning, yes I’m talking 4:15 early, I rolled out of bed after a deep three hour sleep. It was about 75 degrees out already and as I fished out the four-bike rack for Wenger, Wheeler, McCarty and I to load up and drive to Copperas Cove, sweat soaked my clothing. It was destined to be a hot finish 7 hours later after 85 miles of racing.

The race rolled out without a cloud in the central TX sky. My spirits were lifted after reading reprobations against the late entry fee hand written on the race-issued number of a fellow racer. Andy could post a finish line shot of the message but the rider didn’t finish. Stay classy sir. I was quite familiar with the course and have had success with escaping before turning onto the main loop so 10 meters out of the parking lot I attacked and was joined by THSJ’s Ruarri and a rider who I can’t ID simply because he was gone as quickly as he had joined us. 45 minutes into the race we were reeled back in by the field and I was dumping sweat like a prize fighter.

I was feeling opened up and pleased that I was spared the nasty cross-section battle back in the field. Steven was next in the move and he bridged across to a group that had formed in the 30 mph tailwind. We turned into one of my favorite features of the Copperas Cove RR, the wide open, yellow line-free crosswind section. With the defending State RR champion up the road I took a free ride across to the break of 5 with old pal Korioth, Brant Speed, and RBM’s Colin Davis. All three looked great and they were easily the favorites for the rest of the race. Shortly after the consolidation of the breakaway we headed into the rollers and wind. From nowhere appeared my other two traveling partners, Wenger and Patrick. However they managed to bridge up to us I knew it had taken its toll on Wenger and about a half lap later he punched his own ticket and our break was down to 6 again. It was a pleasure to have our entire team in the break with Dille on IR and Ting gluing his front disc wheel.

Cramping was taking its toll on both Wheeler and me with 20 miles remaining. I twice fell off the pace before the attacks even came but kept it together and reattached. As we turned left back into town I knew the moves it would take to snag a fourth win in four years in Copperas Cove. Suffer and never let a rider so much as 5m advantage. After a lot of gnashing of teeth and pulling hideous fat sprinter faces, I survived the two larger hills before the final long ascent to the finish. Successive attacks from Colin and Brant left me on the limit with 1k to go. But with the familiar orange cones and the finish tent faintly in the distance I could finally play my winning hand. Brant led out and held on for a fine fourth. I swung off his wheel and took the win. Many apologies to the officials for my atrocious pin job on my number and tacky celebration. Great effort by all of the competitors and special thanks to Steven for your amazing navigation skills by car and stellar teamwork by bike.

Wenger and I lined up last night with little chance of emulating Wheeler and his streak of three straight in May. We were without Mr. Wheeler himself as he was tasked with destroying his beloved sleepmaker and packing up his Nolan Ryan memorabila and prized TO popcorn kernel. As is well-documented by now, Ian is playing humpty dumpty, if only there had been hydrocodone and Shiner in 19th century England. Luckily Dr. Fullerton of Prolo Austin and Dr. Bomben of Performance Health Austin are going to show all the king’s horses and all the king’s men how to put a triple fracture back together again. In the meantime, Wenger and I had to be a bit measured if we hoped to win June’s opening Driveway criterium.

With a field of 50-60 featuring many of the regulars in town plus one Philly registrant (McCarty) and the lower course run up the corkscrew, we’d have to temper our enthusiasm until late in the race. It provided for a fine spectacle as groups moved clear all night long before the field came thundering across at 35mph. I also pulled off a feat I’d long fantasized about; pedaling through the top of the corkscrew. I think others have tried it and met gruesome fates like atomic faceplant and run into your neighbor and get cursed at. There were also some compelling primes offered in the race, like a Polar HRM. After all it’s never too early to start Christmas shopping for Wheeler.

So with three to go Wenger and I got off our butts and bridged to the main split. With a hair over one to go Wenger launched up my lefthand side and was marked momentarily by Stefan. The ennui of chasing Wenger down overwhelmed him as he passed through the S/F and Wenger was free. Except THSJ had other plans and as a train of three materialized for their finisher, Wenger was no longer distancing us. I scooted into position just as the final THSJ rider launched at a considerable distance. At the appropriate time, I did a sprint for 2nd place… then politely apologized to Wenger as I sailed past him for the win. 1st and 3rd was the final result. On my way home, Wenger and I checked out various eastside real estate and chatted up the several Austin Flyer’s grabbing a bite at El Chilito. See you next week.

This past weekend we traveled to Tulsa, OK for three days of NRC crits. We’ve not done this race since it upped the cash on offer for the Pro/1 field to $75000 and landed itself on the NRC. It’s gone from an uber-regional race where one could expect to fatten their wallet to a pro event where guys making their living are out to get their payday. Heading into the weekend we hoped to make a competitive showing and emerge with our skin and gear intact. With that in mind, our fortunes were mixed.

Friday was a nice day off spent in the car heading up to Tulsa. A quick stop in Tushka, OK left me sans wallet and a with number of phone calls to place to cancel debit and credit cards. Somehow between the counter and the car in the parking lot my wallet vanished. I still believe a kind Okie is going to mail it to me and I’ll at least not have to throw down for a new wallet (though Neiman’s is having a big sale on the 5th). We arrived in Tulsa with ample time to touch down at host housing and ride to the crit. Friday’s race was ridiculously fast but not so fast that the head of the field wasn’t a bubble of riders scrapping and bumping for position. The race flew by and no sooner than I’d caught my breath we were inside of 10 to go. Through the Finish with 7 laps remaining I heard the dreadful sound of high-end gear failing and bodies falling. What I would only later find out is the sole victim was our Ian Dille. A rider rode into his front wheel and took out all 18 spokes. He came down on his collarbone and his weekend and June bid for Driveway overall were both over. Wenger and I finished the night in 27th and 32nd, no money, no omnium points and a friend in pain.




Saturday morning we had a delightful breakfast prepared by our gracious (and super badass) host Rick Poplin. Our man Rick, the inspiration for Outkast’s Bombs Over Baghdad is a fighter jet pilot, father, baseball coach, single man on the town and multisport athlete. We ate with his two sons and were outeaten by Jake and Tate on every menu item which included in no particular order; biscuits, eggs, sausage, biscuits with sausage gravy and so forth. Tate, one of Tulsa’s hottest prospects at the right-field position had a Saturday game and the crew took off for the lake after that. We did a spin after breakfast and checked out the river and all of the Tulsa townies getting their bike-path exercise on. The race that night was more of the same, fast racing and a bunch kick. I entered the final corner on eventual 4th place finisher Carlos Vargas but after some high speed bumping in the corner I exited into the curb and only held on for 15th. It was solidly in the money but a bit disappointing given my positioning with only 300m to go. I could only take so much risk after crashing only 8 days prior.

Sunday’s race is always a source of anxiety for me. I don’t like the hill and given the class of the field I was pretty nervous. I skipped the morning ride to save whatever mental and phsyical energy I could for the day’s race. The major drama of the day happened in the final 30 minutes before the race start. Ian was driving to the races for his journalistic endeavors and I accidentally left my helmet in the car from the night before. With no helmet I went about looking for Ian. When I finally found him on the last lap of the preceding race he didn’t know where the car was. I grabbed the keys and went looking for the car in vain. As I rolled up to the back of the field they were performing line calls and still I had no helmet. I saw Metro VW’s Whitney Schultz and begged her for her helmet. She came through and got me a helmet with only about 1 minute to spare. Needless to say lining up at the back of a 125 rider field on a tight course is a recipe for failure. However by the time we reached the first corner I had overtaken most of the back half of the field and it was game on. I followed the wheels for most of the day and it was a surprisingly easy day. I managed 14th after entering the last corner in the same bubble as the top 5 riders. I took no risks and was content with the placing after a hot, tense 80 minutes.


We rolled in about 2am Monday morning and with Ian already seemingly on the mend, it was a nice feeling to have not only the weekend but the first half of the season behind us. We have a short break and some weekends back in town to regain our fitness and catch up on real life. Steven’s anniversary passed on Sunday (thanks again for lending him to us Nina) and with a new home to move into this coming weekend, he will certainly be busy. Wenger too has just listed his home so it won’t be a summer without its share of excitement. Ting will be joining us in Austin in August and I think we’re all thrilled about the prospect of having us all in the same area code.

Super Squadra is currently embroiled in our most intensive racing block of the season. Starting with last Thursday’s Driveway criterium and finishing with this weekend’s Tulsa Tough, three-day NRC event, we’ll test our legs seven times in eleven days. It’s a final blowout before a long awaited “summer break.”

In continuing Wheeler’s winning streak at the Driveway, Wenger pulled off an amazing victory on Saturday at the Gary Glickman criterium, held on a titillating circuit in a Richardson business park. The course, although it featured a 180-degree turn, was fast, fun, and enjoyed by all. With a fair amount of elevation gain and loss heading into and away from the start finish line, it was fairly easy to split the field, but nearly impossible to stay away as we barreled down the backside of the course into a direct headwind. A multitude of splits emerged, including a very dangerous move containing Wenger, Stefan Rothe, and Sol Frost, but as the lap cards ticked down, the field remained more or less together.

After a group containing myself and a number of other dangerous riders, including Lawson Craddock—who appears to generate watt output by flailing his arms and legs as ferociously as possible—came back at the bottom of the backside hill, Wenger took a flyer off the front in an attempt to both win the race, and set Phil up for what appeared to be an inevitable field sprint. However, the gap to Wenger never closed as he punched it up the hill, and started his victory celebration well (very, well) in front of the finish line.

Sunday’s GS Tenzing crit presents a strong argument to make this weekend an omnium event. With a lower prize payout and a fun, but slightly less engaging course, the incentive for many racers to skip the event and save their legs for Monday’s State Championship race is gaining more and more appeal. We considered it ourselves this year, before ultimately deciding we drove north to race, and race we will. Despite a few missing faces, a large field of 80 or so riders lined up for the flat, albeit windy course next to Frisco’s EDS Superdrome. From the start it became obvious that many were racing conservatively, and it would require a late, hard effort to stay away from the bunched up field. That’s exactly what happened when I joined forces with San Jose’s Heath Blackgrove and Bike Barn’s Mitch Comardo with about 20-minutes to go. We worked efficiently together and held off the chasing TX Tough led pack to battle it out in a three up sprint. I took a moment of hesitation to open up my final kick, but failed to dupe Heath, who caught my draft and managed to get by me a few meters from the line. Phil, Wenger, and Ting (glorious Ting) all finished in the top ten as well. Although second wasn’t the result I’d hoped for, I gotta admit it’s pretty cool having the chance to go toe-to-toe with an Athens Twilight winner on our home turf.


Finally, Ft. Worth. For the last five years or so the site of the State Criterium Championships has remained at the Will Rogers Center, a spectator friendly urban venue with a technically demanding course. After our two previously successful days of racing, we came into the late Monday morning start with a laid back, yet confident team vibe. The team plan revolved around racing conservatively for the first 30-minutes, so when Stefan Rothe took off solo on lap one, we were pretty happy. However, Stefan was paid well for his time off the front with roughly $500 in primes. With an hour to go Wenger and I relieved Wheeler, who’d been guarding the front of the field like a man possessed, with a succession of counter attacks. From that point on the field stayed more or less single file, with many Super Squadra represented breaks heading up the road, but none sticking for more than a few laps. Knowing our best chance for victory would come out of a small group, we kept the pressure on until three laps to go, when San Jose’s Heath Blackgrove took the front of the field and promptly mowed down anyone trying to get away. In the chaotic dash for the line Phil got squeezed in the second to last corner by a team diving to the inside, and subsequently tossing a cone up into the top ten riders. It bounced around like a graduation beach ball and created enough of a distraction to put anyone in its way out of contention. Phil held on for sixth with Wheeler in ninth, and both myself and Wenger grabbing the last couple money spots.

Another Thursday in May, another Wheeler win. Yawn, this is getting predictable…. except not at all. Together with the ebb and flow of form and participation of the competition and with the variety of race courses on offer at Holland Racings Driveway series, there’s plenty to love about the last three weeks of racing.

Allow me to briefly recap the first two Wheeler victories. First week Wheeler followed John Korioth’s first lap downhill attack and we wouldn’t see him again until the celebratory cheek-slap (we don’t really do that) after the race. He rode judiciously in the break as they extended their lead and following some attacks in the final flat lower loop, overcame Evan Lambert with relative ease in the finale. Back in the field we played the bully and kept the field together before I led out the last lap for Wenger. It was a portent for the teamwork we would deploy over the following two weeks.

Fast forward to the second Thursday in May and the heat was back in town. Many of the strongest riders in town were back and TX Tough’s Tyler Jewell was on the mend and ready to get back into his finishing groove. We snagged one or two primes during the evening and in general countered and chased all significant moves. We were racing the full circuit clockwise which makes a breakaway exceedingly difficult. Two dangerous moves featuring Peter Carey (fresh of JMSR stage success) were negated first by Ian and with the final blow dealt by myself. Wheeler was cool and relaxed throughout. Coming through the final lap though Peter had a nice gap of 10s and chase support was dwindling as Wheeler was in third wheel with a full 1.5 miles to the finish. In a bid for the stage win and as a decoy to draw out the finishers I attacked with about 1 mile to go and garnered a nice gap. Sol Frost bridged across but with one more trip up the corkscrew and already at the limit it was stalemate. I looked behind to see Wheeler’s neon leader’s jersey and I hit out one last time for him taking him from the catch to the top of the corkscrew. I swung left and watched him navigate the final corners opening up his advantage the entire way.

This week around the competition was even better with select THSJ riders like Heath Blackgrove and OUCH’s Pat McCarty gracing us at our weekly race. The race was a bit lethargic and negative throughout as no group ever made much inroads towards a winning move for the first 45 minutes. However, late in the game a select group of Wheeler, Sol, Scott Henry, Korioth, Pat and several others coalesced off the front. I shot across to provide support to Wheeler and with only 3 laps and counting it looked like a wrap. The group was large so everyone did their turn at the front and we rolled well together. Inside of one lap to go Wenger and Heath finished their bridge and we had three to sort out Wheeler’s leadout. I took the helm and led us down the corkscrew and into the final hill. I quickly followed Pat and Sol’s acceleration and slotted in with Wheeler in tow. As we entered the final curves I took the lead and ramped it up for the finish. I felt easy and knew with Wheeler on the wheel I could actually give the finish a dig without jeopardizing him. Instead of pulling up and wide into the final chicane I dove in hard and washed the front wheel. Wheeler had the poise to keep it upright and as best I can tell from the photos wrapped up the win somewhere near 50m to the line. I was happy but with a cramped up calf and riders barreling through the apex of the turn towards me tempered my excitement a bit. It may have even looked like I was angry about the large amounts of exposed flesh wound but that’s just me.

State crit this weekend is unfortunately not held on a Thursday or at the Driveway. Hrmph. We’ll still contest it and hope for the best.

For all of the excitement surrounding alternative fuels, I decided to follow trend with a bit of testing. However, the evidence that going green, or in this case red(cherry) and blue (blue raspberry), did not point towards a viable source of energy for the future hot and humid bike rides.

With all my AP exams now behind me, I can take a bit of time to recount the events of this past weekend. The pairing of Coldsprings and the fairly new Sugar Cycles Criterium makes for an exciting first weekend in May. Although my team members from Austin may have a few unflattering nicknames for my hometown of Houston, I know that they do truly enjoy this weekend in early May.

 

Since the creation of Super Squadra, the team has stayed at casa Ting the night before Coldsprings. This year the Miu-dar (Miu is my dog’s name) picked up the Bicycle Sport Shop Sprinter van pulling into the street as the sun was setting over Spring, Texas. A plate of hot and authentic dumplings that I prepared earlier in the day greeted my Austin mates; special thanks to my sister for helping me wrap them. We scarfed down the meal and then found ourselves outside checking out my dad’s two 1970s muscle cars. After dumping a bit of CO2 into the atmosphere and oooing and ahhing, we were ready to settle in for the night in preparation for the next day.

An early morning ensued, and after a healthy stack of pancakes, we all rolled out further north of Houston towards Coldsprings. This race has always been one of my favorites; it holds a place in my heart as the origin of my first big road win. We rolled up to the start line knowing that we were one of the biggest teams at the race, and that we should be very attentive to get as many people in the breaks as possible.

 

The race rolled out quite quickly, and the entire team was doing a proper job of following wheels. Somewhere during the second to last lap, a break containing David, Ian, and I rolled off the front. Steven bridged up Han style, and hit the gas over the top of the finish climb, building a sizable gap. This prompted Houston’s finest, Kevin Kremke to shoot out of the field, with Phil and a few other riders also in hot pursuit. This part of the race course was littered with follow cars and riders from multiple fields causing the field to hesitate in its chase. The break was able to solidify a race winning gap. Super Squadra battled Kremke up the final climb, with Kremke taking the win over Steven, who produced a solid sprint to contend with one of Texas’ fastest and nicest racers. Phil rolled in for 3rd with Peter Carey putting a solid ride for 4th.

After the race, we took the dreaded ride back to the car lot where we cleaned off, and Phil changed into his Houston approved outfit and underwear. The team sans myself headed off to Houston’s famed Saint Arnolds Brewery, where they consumed unhealthy amounts of root beer in order to prepare for our next day in Candyland.

 

The Sugarland Criterium is a very young race. However due to fantastic racing and a victory here last year via David Wenger, it was a race we came into with high ambitions. During the first five laps of the race, a break containing all 5 members of the team, and about 6 other riders formed creating the break of the day. The team worked hard to collect primes and wear down the other riders in the break. However, around 45 minutes into the race after going for a prime, I found myself out of the break with Steven, Phil, and a few other riders also soon coming out the back of the move. This left just David, Ian, Kremke, Ronnie Strange, Peter Carey, and Crosby up in the winning move. In the end, Strange took a solid win in front of a wonderful crowd, with Kremke coming in second, David taking third, and Ian sixth. We were a bit disappointed with the results, because at one point we had nearly half the riders in the break. However, congrats to Houston riders Strange and Kremke for showing us “what was up Houston”. With a Houston Grand rematch only a fortnight away, we look forward to having another go in the Bayou City.

 

Special shout out to pro rider Ben Swift (Swifty) who will be riding the Giro in just a few days. He has been both mine and Lawson’s favorite rider since the time he beat up on Lawson and I many years ago in rainy Wales. Lawson and I wish you the best of luck!

I’ve been enjoying Texas’ longest running criterium, The Matrix Challenge, for three years. The first year I did it, I got out sprinted in a break at the State Fair Grounds. The second year, I learned my lesson and attacked the break before the sprint could unfold on the beautiful course at the Meadow’s Foundation.

In 2009, Super Squadra spent the whole day at the front of the bike race for the Saturday running of the eight turn course. From the start, Alan and Ian took turns covering attacks until Phil and I found ourselves in a decisive nine rider move. Once the first big break of the day got to looking at each other a bit too much, I set the tone for what our team wanted out of the day, the best representation in the break we could possibly have. That means a strong majority of the break needed to be in Bicycle Sport Shop attire and as the size of this move swelled, we went on the offensive to slim down the breakaway. Ultimately, this was the cause for the pack absorbing the break so that we could reshuffle the deck and attempt to get strong numbers in a break. 


Pretty much as soon as I got back in the field, Steven and Ian each followed attacks, but as fate would have it, today was my day to “Play Ian.” Playing a game of “Ian” was fun. This game is where a rider gets to the front on a Saturday then proceeds to somehow have fate insert he/ she into every single breakaway for the day. All season, from New Bruanfels to Lago to Ft. Davis, we’ve always found Ian so attentive that he can’t miss a move. After taking notes, the rest of the team got in the action at Matrix and I found myself sprinting up to the wheel of Christian Helmig and trading pulls with him until 4/23 Driveway Crit Winner Sol Frost made the move. For a few laps, this was the case and Super Squadra was happy with the players in this first group on the road.


Part of the reason we were happy about this move is that it forced 1/8th of the race to go on the defensive. TX Tough had 10 strong riders in the race that wanted to win and had to either pull back the break, or send riders up to it. Stefan Rothe came up solo to flash the TX Tough shield and with all major teams represented, both the pace of the break and the pace of the pack slowed a bit. Overall, the pace of the break was not urgent as it was not a great situation for anyone in the move except for Sol, but not a bad situation. I worked evenly with the break, but wanted the rest of the break to put in more than their fair share of towing the group around.


With about six laps to go, Wheeler was sitting about 25- 30s back and I got to sit on the move while taking some verbal abuse from the guys in the break. Sticks and stones, yo. I’m waiting for my teammate and Tuesday’s conqueror of the Far West Points Race, Wheeler! Ultimately the size of the gap between the break and Steven increased, then I went on the attack. Four times. I couldn’t shake anyone in the break, they all have the gift of speed and were riding very strong while sitting on a comfortable cushion on the chasing group. Coming out of the 6th turn on the course on the last lap, I sat off the wheels just a bit so that I could pick the right wheel for the sprint. About 250m before the next turn, Stefan struck out and I was quick to get on his wheel. I had the perfect position going into turn 7 and coming into turn 8, Stefan let off just a bit then hit a huge turn of speed out of the turn which opened a gap I couldn’t close by the finish line. I was able to keep the team’s podium streak alive at 16 straight events by holding on for 3rd, but will have to repeat this mantra at the Sugar Land Criterium for the final sprint; When in doubt, lead out.

Photos courtesy of Commiebiker.