Super Squadra

The Tour de Austin Bradley Houston Law Pole Position Time Trial will be smoking fast. As is the case with any time trial, a time trial specific bike will be fastest, but don’t fret if you’re coming with one road bike for the weekend. Bring your clip-on aero bars, a set of Allen wrenches, and set up the road bike to go fast on the turny course. Pop all of the spacers out of your steerer tube, place them above the stem, and get in a low, as well as aggressive, TT position and you’ll be set.

As with most races where locals can easily familiarize themselves with a course, Austinites will enjoy a home-court advantage at the Driveway. If you’re coming from out of town or this is your first trip to The Driveway Austin, be prepared for a flat-out fast course. There are no corners that require heavy braking. In fact, there is only one turn that requires coasting, the one closest to the announcer’s stand on your way from the start line. Everything else can be taken full-gas, sometimes in the aero bars and sometimes out. No matter what, stay slow, keep pedaling, and shoot to take your momentum the whole way to the outside of the exit of every turn. Again, lots of turns, but only one that counts as a corner.

The Driveway Austin features two distinct sections. First, there is the upper part of the course that will be used for the start and finish. There is no vegetation, so if there are winds, expect them to be amplified by the openness of the top of the course. Also, this section of the course has many turns. All but one can be pedaled through if the rider takes a wide arch, which will eventually take you past the shop house then into the river bottom which is protected from the wind by tall trees.

This section of the course is normally free from wind. Sometimes the long, sweeping turn at the end can get a bit of a south wind in it, but that’s it. This section is fast! It is almost perfectly straight, here’s where you’ll pull the average speed up a few notches. Heading into this section is downhill and perhaps the only time a rider can let pressure off the pedals. The approach back to the upper part of the course is deceptively uphill, a prime spot for powerful riders to make up time on the competition. Do one more full lap for a total of roughly 4 miles and your done.

It’s a short, hard effort, so amidst all the turning and pedaling, don’t forget to breath!

Hello Racers and Racers-to-be,

Come on out yourself for some skill development and racing simulation, or please encourage a newbie friend to attend.

Thanks to our good friends and sponsor at Holland racing, we are able to present our fifth monthly clinic. Our last clinic of 2010 will be on September 1. The first half of the two-wheeled seminar, led by the TXBRA team State and Premier Cup Champions, Super Squadra, will feature drills focusing on basic bike handling drills. During the clinic’s second portion, we’ll dive into the specifics of racing in a group, and more importantly, how to beat that group to the finish line.

More information on the Beginner Series can be found at,
http://www.drivewayseries.com/Home/DLAPiperBeginnersProgram/tabid/567/Default.aspx

It looks like we will have a packed house in with instructors and attendees, so arrive as early as 5:15 p.m. to register.

2009 is in the books!

From our season’s humble beginning in January to a final victory in the October series at The Driveway, we’ve had our fair share of hardship, fun, victory, and embarrassment all of which will be featured in our much anticipated “Best of ‘09” blog entries. The 2009 season, without a doubt, was a test of endurance unmatched by any other athletic feat our team has attempted to conquer. Personally, I had 81 starts in competition this year. Everyone else on the team is very near that same total, and we’ve got the tan lines to prove it, even if they are from sleeveless jerseys.

We achieved our goals for 2009, to win the TX Cup for the individual as well as team competitions. Milestones along the way include sweeping the monthly competitions at The Driveway, Ting’s wins and medals at Junior Nationals, holding on to the TX Cup leaders jersey from the first race to the last race, and a podium streak that stretched to nearly 30 consecutive races. Looking forward to new p/b sponsors and supporters in 2010, we seek to grow our program as well as the breadth of Super Squadra success in future seasons.

To remain so consistent throughout the windy, hot, as well as wet season means careful prep of our bodies and bikes. Constant preventive maintenance and equipment suggestions from the service department at Bicycle Sport Shop kept us so consistently fast this year. Key recommendation: If you’re racing on an indoor track and want podiums, talk to Mike Woodard about hot-rodding hubs, cogs, chains, tires, bottom brackets, and pedals!

We push are equipment very hard. Sometimes to the point of failure with top of the line equipment. It is no secret that bike racers break equipment often, and we are no exception to the rule. We went through three frames, five wheels, and two pairs of shoes that were rendered useless. Yet, we were able to line up at every race and train every day. It is the hours that Bicycle Sport Shop puts into our team that keep us on the road and separates our team’s regular success from sheer good fortune. If you want to win races, make sure your equipment is up to the task and well-trained mechanics fix problems before they happen.

Races Won in 2009:
Junior National Kilometer Championships
Junior National Keirin Championships
TX Cup Individual
TX Cup Team
Premier Cup Team
Alkek State Cup #2
Alkek State Cup #3
Driveway Criterium, 15-times
Driveway Monthly Series, 8-times
Alsatian Country Time Trial
Chappell Hill
Fayetteville Stage 1
Gary Glickman Criterium
Good Ole Summertime Road Race
Fiesta Grande Criterium
Ivan Mukasa Memorial
Memorial Park Criterium
Pace Bend

‘Lil break in over the HH100 weekend and luckily we’re not missing much other than a size small Trek TTX bike. No wheels on the bike at the time it was stolen. Black bike, vision front end, red Adamo saddle, black 165mm Rival cranks, and otherwise Ultegra components should make this bike pop pretty easy.

Also, a 2006 Shimano Ultegra pre-built front wheel as well as 36 spoke Mavic MA-3 with black Shimano 105 hub and Shimano 105 11- 25cassette are missing. Both have Specialized S Works tires.

Thanks for any leads.

Now every time you see me sprint
Every time you see me climb
Every time you see me in your state or town
Say wat’s up? Yeah…. Yeah… Alan Ting Tell ‘Em

Alan will be turning his swag on in Austin full time now as he completes studies and prepares to “go all godzilla on these books” at UT. Super Squadra can retire our outdated sprinter model and at last sport the newest import instead. All wrapped in a tasteful red, white, and blue, stars/bars color scheme.

I put my team on, did my theme song
Now it’s time to turn it up, yeah… Yeah…

The 2009 race season has officially started with last weekend’s Alsatian Country Omnium.  This second year race was held in Castroville, a town right outside of San Antonio.  The race consisted of three separate events (time trial, criterium and road race) with each event being scored on a point system.  The higher the place, the more points you score and with whomever having the most points in the end would be the winner.

The time trial was Saturday morning and it was a 10 mile out and back course.  The wind was ripping from the south so the first 5 miles (which headed north) were very easy and the last 5 miles (which headed south) were very painful.  With having a time trial this early in the season it was a great indicator on how everyone’s fitness was and Super Squadra’s very own Dave Wenger didn’t disappoint.  Dave won the time trial event with a smoking fast time that gave him the lead going into the criterium later Saturday afternoon.

The criterium was held in a city park on a very fast and tight course.  For 60 minutes racers tried to attack the field and gain an advantage but the pace was too high as the race ended up in a field sprint.  Phil positioned Dave as close to the front as he could and Dave used this good positioning to grab a top 5 finish.  With this result Dave ended the day in the lead and set up a day of defending for the rest of us.

On sunday morning the teams goal was to protect Dave and the overall lead that he had worked so hard to get on Saturday.  Phil and I got into a couple of early moves before the counter break went up the road which included our johnny on the spot, Ian Dille.  Ian was off in the break for most of the first half of the race until they were slowly brought back.  The wind was once again a factor and with a huge chunk of the course having a fierce cross-wind the field was getting destroyed every lap.  After a brief delay from the officials scolding the riders for abusing the yellow-line rule, the racing picked back up and a three man break established a gap.  Bryan Fawley (Park Place/Lexus), Russ Walker (Tx Tough) and Justin Wallace (Moritz) were working well together and forced us to start chasing with around 15 miles left in the race.  Ian, Patrick McCarty (OUCH) and I started rotating at the front and kept Dave sheltered from the wind as everyone else lined up behind him in the gutter fighting for postition.  The three of us shared the work and we slowly pulled back the breakaway with around five miles left in the race.  Coming into the finish, Dave did his best to follow the right wheels and ended up with another top 5 finish on a very hard long uphill drag.  Unfortunately for us, Kevin Kremke (Bike Barn) exploded out of the field in the final sprint, winning the race and capturing the overall win as well.  Dave did finish up 2nd overall for the weekend though and gave Super Squadra a great start heading into the 2009 season.

The best part of the off-season is the ability to go on a slow, long, fun ride with the emphasis not being on the upcoming race but on the upcoming stories that come from these rides.  So far this year I’ve had two great winter training rides that have stuck out above the rest.

The first ride was ambitious but was one that had been done a couple of times before.  With a howling north wind though it ended up being a ton harder than we all expected.  Ian, Dave, Pat McCarty and I rolled out of town and started heading south towards Lockhart.  Lockhart is a town 32 miles south of Austin that has garnered worldwide acclaim for its amazing BBQ.  Even though we knew we were risking a hard and arduous ride home in the 25 mph north wind the pull of mouth watering BBQ was too much.    The ride was going well and multiple times I looked at Dave and asked how fast we were going.  At times we were barley pedaling yet were hitting over 30 mph.  Dave and I just laughed about it though not worrying about the return trip.  Pat suffered a flat with his 25’s to his dismay and we all joked about how Pat is used to getting a new wheel from the mechanic much less having to patch a tube.  After what seemed like the easiest two hour ride ever we arrived in Lockhart and went straight to Smitty’s.  We decided to all throw in and we ordered $40 dollars of sausage, brisket, pork ribs and prime rib.  We then rode over to the steps of the courthouse and dug in.

All i can say is that one minute it was there.
And the next minute it was gone.

After Pat used a slice of bread as a napkin to wipe the rib sauce off his face we slowly saddled our bikes and headed home.  Now, I can give you the details of the conversations we had on the way home but they either consisted of just pure silence or of someone saying “why did we do this”?  At one point I looked at Ian and asked him if Dave was in his 39 x 23.  When Ian nodded yes and told me that we were going just 12 mph I just smiled and waited my turn to take the next pull not wanting to do the calcualtions in my head of how much farther we had to go.  A long 3.5 hours later we were back in Austin.  I was wrecked from the ride but still had that since of accomplishment as I was able to share a great ride with great friends and still had a belly full of the famous Lockhart BBQ.

Bicycle Sport Shop pb Girling’s media training this spring has all team riders talking like NASCAR drivers. Please read what the Bicycle Sport Shop rider has to say about the Tour de Gruene, Lance, and life here.

Returning champions of the 27mi two person time trial known as the Tour de Gruene, Bicycle Sport Shop pb Girling’s Phil Wikoff along with honorary Squadra member Patrick McCarty get a real run for their money this weekend. Velonews features them as the 2007 winners of the event set to defend against the like of 2008 Texas state road race Champion Steven Wheeler and TdG partner David Wenger as well as 1999- 2005 Tour de France Winner Lance Armstrong with time trial partner, Super Squadra sponsor, and 2008 masters national road race champion John Korioth. What a field! There’s no such thing as an easy race in Texas, or in the month of November.

 

If you’re looking to ride with Bicycle Sport Shop pb Girling on the upcoming LiveStrong training rides, then couple that with a complimentary training regimen as well as nutritional support from team sponsor HealthCoach. All you need to do is sign up and select a running, swimming, walking, or as we suggest, a cycling program and then get out and exercise! See you on the road.