Our brothers in arms, the South Austin Men’s League (of whom honorary Super Squadrian Ken Dille is a member) are on the lookout for the following man.
If you have any leads, please report them to the comments section. (Click for full size image)
Thanks to Bicycle Sport Shop pb Girling supporter Mark Wiggans for passing along this link to the Daily Leader.
5hr of racing for $5k (below post re: Mission Accomplished from April 21) or 28hr of work for $5k? Transportation included, Astana needs to look into the Mississippi Grand Prix for 2009 to optimize winnings. Oh the joys of amateur.
Much of the draw of the MSGP stage race was not entirely its whopping $5k team GC prize. I was terribly drawn to the format of the race, four stages in ~38 hours with a short TT. Also attractive was the fact I would be able to rejoin my great friend Rich Harper for our now seemingly annual combine effort. In 2006 when I first moved to Texas, we met up for the Tulsa Tough races and did very well. Last year we met up to travel together over Memorial Day east coast criteriums. This year with a conflict during Tulsa Tough, MSGP seemed to perfectly fit the bill. Good money, feasible travel, and the prospect of racing under the name ‘Squadra Inferno’ was too much to resist. The full roster in Steven’s absence was David, me, Ian, Austin Flyer’s Brant Speed, Inferno’s Rich Harper, Jeff Hopkins, Matt Winstead and multi-sport athlete Ty Stanfield.
We set out at 630am on Friday morning in anticipation of Houston’s ridiculous I-10 rush hour traffic. With live traffic updates from Daniele’s Houston boss, we feared the worst. No worries though, traffic slowed but never fully stopped and we were Beaumont-bound without significant delay. Shortly into Louisiana the rain picked up and the rest of the day went between sheets of rain and light misting. Our arrival at the Friday night crit course through downtown Brookhaven caused some unease. The streets were indeed heavily painted and off camber though totally flat. In a development that none of us had ever seen before, they called the race off just as rain was letting up. Our subsequent hour preride of the TT course and beyond was a very bucolic, pleasant way to spend the evening but certainly unexpected. We enjoyed a fine sunset as we returned to town.
So, Saturday morning gave way to actual racing. The road race course was amazing, tight, serpentine roads ducking in and out of neighborhoods giving way to longer gradual grades. The finish was a nice 500m pitch. For the first 1.5 25mi laps the race was nervous and tight. A sole rider off the front led to a well-organized chase by FCS/Metro VW and through the start/finish it was all together. The next half lap was strung out and aggressive thanks to Dille and Matt Winstead. However the first time the field saw Wenger appear at the front would be the last. His subtle acceleration drew out a lone rider and moments later a bridge by THSJ/TX Tough’s Carlos Vargas. For us the race was over. We couldn’t have been happier to have that combination up the road and the race shut down. We did a leadout for our sprinter(s!) and Hopkins handily won the sprint with Rich one placing further back.
The TT was a confirmation of our road race tactics. The very rider the field let take 3 minutes in the RR would continue to take time out, our man David Wenger. Matt Winstead had a super TT in the top 5 and Brant and Rich rounded out the top 10. With 30s lead on team GC over our sole remaining rival THSJ, we were confident of our chances with only an 80 minute circuit race to come.
On the way to Brookhaven, Mississippi, Wenger got a plastic fountain drink cup bearing the number 77 of NASCAR driver Sam Hornish Jr., a fellow native of Ohio who won the Indi 500 in 2006. It must’ve been a sign, because Sunday’s circuit race — only our third criterium type event of the year, minus the Driveway — felt like we were taking laps at Talladega. We hit corners five wide, we got strung out single file along the backstretch, and we bumped shoulders sprinting for primes.
The team plan, with Wenger leading the GC, and Squadra/Inferno up by 30-seconds on San Jose/TX Tough for the lucrative team prize, was simply not to let anything go up the road, win the midway time bonuses, and lastly, try to win the stage. We were highly successful in accomplishing the first two goals. No break was allowed to roll up the road without at least a couple riders from our team sitting on it, and others on the front of the field working to bring it back.
As per the pre-race discussion, guest rider Brant Speed (who has possibly the most fitting last name in the Texas peloton) put in a dig for the mid-way bonus right before the bell lap. He was quickly brought back, but succeeded in stringing out the field and leaving the door open for me to attack. I was able to get a gap and steal a precious five-second bonus from anyone who might hop us in GC. The racing remained competitive throughout, with Carlos Vargas laying down a few serious attacks and forcing us to dig deep in chasing him down. With a lap to go Phil took command on the back straight, stringing the field out on a false flat at 30-plus mph. Our temporary teammate, strongman Matt Winstead delivered the day’s designated Squadra/Inferno sprinters, Rich “I own a pet alligator” Harper and Jeff “My Australian accent makes everything I say funny” Hopkins, to the final 150-meters in perfect position. Unfortunately, Nathan Rogut was even more perfect, and took the win.
After waiting patiently for our novelty check (mark that off my list of lifelong goals), we piled back into our Dodge, just like Sam Hornish Jr. drives, and made our way back to the ATX.
Super Squadra spends time pedaling in Mississippi with friends old and new (Team Inferno’s Rich Harper, Matt Winstead and Jeff Hopkins). Here’s to another weekend of stage racing school with headmaster Wenger. A report with the gritty details and lofty praise for the promoters, competitors and I-10 is soon to follow. (click below for enlarged photo)
Wow what a weekend! Before we get into the details about the races a special thanks goes out to Tim Pletcher for letting the team use his Suburban for the weekend. Thanks to Tim the seven hour car ride was surprisingly comfortable even though we had 4 team members, 8 bikes, 10 sets of wheels and of course Daniele’s lasagna.
Anyways, on to the race reports.
Saturday morning was the time trial and we went off around 8:25 or so. Around that time the temperature was hovering around 40 degrees so we all froze to death and did the TT in leg warmers and full fingered gloves. Dave still managed to smoke the TT and ended up winning. He won the TT with a 10 second cushion over the current TXBRA overall leader Alex Boyd. The rest of us had solid rides with myself barely cracking the top ten with a tenth place finish.
The hill climb was later in the day on Saturday and we had Dave in the overall lead going into the second stage. Ian, Phil and I were determined to keep Dave in the lead so we did everything we could to help set us up going into Sundays final road race stage. Ian tried to get in some early moves before the climb started and did a great job of keeping us represented in moves that went up the road. Phil had an awesome ride as he rode tempo for what seemed like forever into the base of the climb. When we hit the first climb a select group of 15 riders made its way up the road and Dave and I were sitting comfortable in the group. Attacks started coming though and a couple of riders slipped off the front. I went to the front and rode tempo for as long as I could to keep the riders in check. The whole group blew up on the steep slopes of the Observatory climb though and Dave and I finished together losing only about a minute to the winner.
Sunday was setting up for us nicely as we had Dave in 4th and myself in 9th going into the last day. Dave was still in striking distance of the lead so we decided to try and send myself and either Ian or Phil up the road to make things easier on Dave. Our plan worked out perfectly as Ian and I found ourselves in a break of four only 5 miles into the race. Ian drove the break like a man possessed and had me in all kinds of pain. He literally drove the gap between our break and the field by himself and when we got the first time check we had over a 3 minute lead.
Around 20 miles later a group of 8 other riders joined our break. The new group of riders didnt work together very well but still managed to increase our lead to a whopping 7 minutes. At this time I was actually the virtual leader of the race so Ian continued to drive the pace and sacrifice himself so that I might have a chance to win. Miles rolled by and it was clear that we weren’t going to be caught. Another rider in our break was only a couple of seconds behind me in the GC so I knew that it was going to be a tough finish. I started to fade in the last couple of miles and Jason Short (MSU) ended up jumping me before the descent and got away with Tyler Jewell (Tx Tough). I wasn’t able to bring them back and ended up coming in around 30 seconds behind them. It was hard being so close to the overall win and seeing it ride away but I still moved all the way up to 2nd place for the weekend and secured another podium spot for our team. Dave stayed with the leaders and ended up 9th overall.
A special shout out goes to our missing fifth rider who couldn’tmake the trip out withus because of a reaction due to a bee sting. We missed you Ting and hope your feeling better.
After last weekends races the Super Squadra team has jumped ahead of the Mercy Cycling team and taken over the top spot in the Pro 1-2 TXBRA Team Standings. This is very exciting news for the team and fo all of our sponsers. Super Squadra will look to ride this wave of momentum into this weekends Division 1 races in Ft. Davis, Texas.
Well there was a lot to say about Mineral Wells weekend but mostly it was really pretty and lush and we stayed in a great 19th century guesthouse that was equipped with 7.1 surround and a flat panel HD television. How’s that for juxtaposition? Wenger rode a great second place ride on Sunday and Dille was top 10. I had a fourth place ride on Saturday. Anyway that’s all behind us, let’s talk about this weekend’s Fort Davis Stage Race.
I have only once been to Ft. Davis SR in 2006 but I am pretty fond of this race. The races are pretty tightly packed but there’s also enough time to check out the scenery and relax a bit. The highlight of my first visit was the Rattlesnake museum. There were rattlesnakes and yes they would probably ruin your life if you were bit by one but these guys were tiny. Like 1.5″ diameter. It’s right on State St. in town so stop in and see some local flavor. Second highlight was the two hour wait for a chicken sandwich on Sunday afternoon. Literally two hours. Please patronize the local businesses as they very graciously accept us in their town annually. However, on Sunday afternoon if you’re in a hurry to get home, give Ft. Stockton or Alpine a look to sate your hunger.
Ah yes the race. We’ll open up the weekend around Saturday 8am with a “16 mile TT”. That is in quotations because it feels a lot longer. I think it’s 11 miles to the turnaround and most of that drags uphill into the wind. The return 5 mile trip is the fastest of your life, enjoy riding your TT bike as fast as Ullrich-era time trialists were able to do for a full hour (~33-34mph). At least Ft. Davis competitors would pass a random. The second stage starts at 3:30pm and is a brief one at 16 miles again. The last third of the stage is all uphill to McDonald observatory (see below). Look for all the names of the early spring season to mount the hill fastest. Stefan, Alex Boyd, Little Burandt and Carlos should all be solid. We’ll do our best to stay on terms with the competition.
The last stage is 72 miles and is very dynamic. There is a nice hill midway through the route which should provide a springboard for the day’s winner. I won’t say too much more about this stage because it won’t shape up until Saturday’s fireworks are all clear. We’ll check in after with some stories, photos and hopefully results.
Believe the hype: This is a Texas road race course—in North Texas, at that—with a real climb. Rising roughly 400-feet over the span of a mile to a mile and a half, Cherry Pie Hill played a decisive role in last Sunday’s 90-mile Ivan Mukasa Memorial road race. With the hill coming slightly before the start-finish of the course’s 45-mile loop, the slightly undermanned, but still competitive field (35 starters? C’mon San Antonio and Houston racers!) split into two groups: Those that escaped before the hill, and those that didn’t.
The first group to go up the road only two-miles into the race included Super Squadra’s David Wenger and wunder kid Travis Burandt along with San Jose/TX Tough riders (slash deer bait) Tyler Jewell and Andrew Dalheim, plus a few more. As the field played cat and mouse, with no one wanting to expend undue energy before the hill, Wenger’s group soared out to a three-plus minute lead.
Kudos go to Super Squadra’s young Alan Ting who rode strong and escaped in an eight-man chase group before the climb, and therefore did not have to follow the German incursion, Stefan Rothe, up the hill—as the rest of us did. From Cherry Pie Hill to the finish the racing was all out, however, Wenger’s group was given too much rope, and although Rothe and I closed within 45-seconds at one point, Wenger was left isolated up the road. In his second all day breakaway of the season, and after attempting an audacious solo attack on the courses brutal head wind section, Wenger finished second with myself coming out of a small chase group to secure seventh.
Add this event to the list of Texas road race classics.
