Super Squadra

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.

With race accommodations still on the brain, I pose a rhetorical question; why buy the cow when the milk is free?  Yep free housing folks, it’s out there. Lots of race directors reach out to the community and invite locals to open their homes (and refridgerators) to the elite racers traveling from out of town.  Below in no particular order are some of most memorable hosted experiences we had this year.

Keeping it in the (upper case) Family – One of my favorite races without question is the Gateway Cup series held over Labor Day around St. Louis. Yes they’re great races and you should do them next year but more importantly for me is the five days I get to spend visiting my sister Nora and brother-in-law Zach. They are both graduate students in doctoral programs at Wash U. For this reason they’re simultaneously incredibly busy and flexible, gracious hosts. This year I spent 5 days on my back on their coach/bed/floor laid up with pneumonia. It was a truly miserable time and I was totally incapacitated to race. Spending time with them (and poor Ian who lost his racing and cavorting partner) and venturing out at the height of my illness for a Ted Drewe’s frozen custard made this trip one of my favorites.

Keeping it in the (lower case) family – Only on a single occasion did we have to abuse our lil’ teammate Ting’s hospitality and crash for the weekend. For the Coldspring RR and its early start we stayed at casa Ting and enjoyed fresh dumplings, a wealth of hilarious Ting photos from his youth and a pretty amazing lunch of beef tips and potatoes. Steven and Wenger had an especially full evening at the track with 11 yr old’s birthday cake, the latest Miley Cyrus gossip and heat after heat of 13-14 girl’s 3k pursuit.

Cliffdwellers – I’ll have to limit myself on this entry. Our dear friends Heather and Zac Lytle, displaced from their spiritual home of Austin now reside in Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood. Bounded by I-30 and I-35, the neighborhood has history and color in spades. Taking in a plate of migas at El Jordan cafe means you’re only footsteps from Texas Theater where Lee Harvey Oswald rested up after an evening of changing the world. We enjoyed many evenings at the Lytles and they were always delightful hosts. One evening I was even treated to retracing Heather’s many steps on foreign soil throughout the years as documented by her digital camera. 2009 holds promise that we’ll finally get through that Côte d’Ivoire trip.

Cribs Goldapp Edition – One of the real high points of the last two seasons has come at about 9pm after the HHH crit. It is at that time we besiege the Goldapp home with fat fingers (broken glassware) and smelly food (Chili’s to go). Ever the most gracious host, Allen makes his home’s southern wing available to us as well as his very own washroom when the stinky post-race squadras out-number available showers. We have had some misunderstandings over the years. There was keygate where we were locked out of the house for about two hours following the race. Searching desperately for post-race calories we managed to wrangle up and polish off Allen’s last three Shiner beers. Later that weekend Wenger, perhaps a bit buzzed from his HHH RR and overall wins, thanked profusely our host “John” in parting. Allen, confused at the time, has never held it against us.

Thanks to all our hosts over the course of the season that made the travel and racing so memorable. We’ll be back next year to do it all again

Given the remoteness of many Texas races—Ft. Davis and Palo Pinto come to mind—securing affordable, yet still appealing, lodging can sometimes present a challenge. That is, unless you have an unofficial housing co-coordinator (last name: Wikoff) on your team. Phil made us the envy of many a fiance with his knack for finding adorable cottages, converted farm houses, and quaint B&Bs. In 2008 Super Squadra was treated to a number of romantic weekends in faraway locales.

Here’s the top three:

Runner up to the Runner up—We arrived late on Friday night at the admittedly amazing Four Crossings Guesthouse in the majestic Palo Pinto mountains only to receive a 30-plus-minute tour from our host, a former SMU mathematics professor who remodeled the one-time farmhouse herself, spends her spare time mashing grapes for home made wine, and resides in a metal sided shed out back. With heavy yawns, we not only learned where every single light switch was located, we found out how to operate the 52-inch flat panel TV and surround sound audio system. Although we were instructed that no funny business should occur in the Guest House’s hot tub (and steam shower for that matter), no such warnings were given for Ioni Creek running alongside the property. A pair of Bicycle Sport Shop sponsored lovebirds were later spied retreating to the creek’s crystal clear waters for a post race frolic. The Four Crossings would rank much higher on this list had it not cost us the entirety of our weekend’s considerable race winnings.



Runner up—Kudos to the youngest promoter in Texas, Andrew Willis, on staging the season’s first TXBRA race out of the Hotel Alsace. It’s similar to Austin’s own Hotel San Jose, only quite a bitter cheaper (especially when you stuff four dudes into one room), and contains spectacular views from the back deck overlooking the hill country town of Castroville. Bonus points for the complimentary robes.

Winner—Don’t bother looking up the Blue Willow Farm B&B for Fayetteville next year, we’ve already got it booked. Our stay in the farm’s Chicken Coop Guesthouse (pictured below) was undeniably the year’s lodging highlight. Not only is the Coop located on the banks of the Colorado River, below a historic bluff, it’s overrun with all kinds of friendly farm animals; goats, horses, and of course, chickens. The mantle over the kitchen sink pays homage to the Coop’s moniker, with best of show chicken trophies spanning three decades. Other chicken related kitsch included lamp shades, throw pillows, and bed covers. Note: The Coop also comes with a sunrise alarm courtesy of the species’s male counterpart.

We’ve all been there. It’s dark:30 and you’re meeting up with your teammates to caravan off to a race. Where to meet?

How about a place that has very inconvenient parking, perhaps with a wait staff that is encouraged to be displeased while serving patrons, and food so greasy that it could lower the drag forces working on your SRAM chain? Perfect, see you there at our 3rd favorite team restaurant lining I-35, the greasy spoon Star Seeds at I-35 and 32nd street in Austin. While I can personally recall at least one very good performance after a breakfast taco that required three extra tortillas, this place holds a special place in the heart of every bachelor whose time to bloom is near. In the heat of the guys on the team celebrating an upcoming marriage, Star Seeds provides just the right ratio of taste to grease to make a champion gleam in a shiny hugh.

Next to best place to check out on your next cycling adventure, perhaps even to the Super Squadra Scouting Camp, while coming in from Dallas, is the Texas Best Smokehouse in Italy, TX. When traveling back from toppling unprobable odds at the Matrix Challenge in June, Ian had a bit of a boo-boo on his… bottom. Sitting on frozen vegetables during the odyssey home, he requested his favorite food. Who could say no? Not Phil. Not me. Brisket it is, and I also recommend the turkey as well as a side of mac’n cheese. Don’t forget to check out the Monolithic Dome Institute near Italy, either.



Our favorite stop along I-35, unquestionably, is Fuel City at the junction of I-35 and I- 30 in Dallas. Whether it is yet _another_ bachelor party, celebration a well executed tactic over Memorial Day racing, or welcoming a pile of cash found at Texas Tough, this is the spot for Super Squadra to chow down. Tacos here are cheap, nothing over $1.16, so order no less than three. To top things off other than your gas tank, the gas station regularly has a man singing karaoke style to live radio on Saturdays at a very high decibel level, donkeys, cattle, and a pool. A pool. Gas station. Since we were pretty gross after our sweaty exploits at TX Tough and faced a long drive home, Phil disregarded the sign along the fence of the pool reading, “CHICAS, CHICAS, CHICAS!” and hopped in the warm water. I was left to pump gas in the Bicycle Sport Shop Sprinter Van when I heard over the PA system of the facility something along the lines of, “Would the very pale man in the pool please get out. It is closed and for women only.” Check it out, get some creamed corn and an energy drink during your next stop.

Somethings are a given when you decide to be a bike racer and enduring long trips in the car are one of them.  Anyone that has had to travel to a race this year realizes how important it is to have some good tunes to rely on.  With all of the road trips that Super Squadra has been on this year some songs have stuck out more than others.  These songs trigger memories of certain weekends or certain races and as part of our Best of 08′ series here are the top 5 songs of the 2008 season.

1.  Wolf Like Me – TV on the Radio This songs takes the top spot for the sole reason that it’s my personal favorite.  Phil was blasting this song all weekend at the Fayettville Stage Race and it became my personal anthem after I couldn’t get the beat out of my head during the individual TT.  By the end of the year Phil was so tired of me asking him to play that song that he burned me a CD that had this song on it.  He gave it to me at the State Road Race and we all listened to it right before we started our race.  I guess it helped.

2.   Grateful Dead I didn’t pick a certain Grateful Dead song in particular but i did link to “Truckin”.  For the Ft. Davis stage race the team loaded up in Tim Pletcher’s suburban and headed west.   Somewhere in Junction, Texas we hit this unexplained Grateful Dead “music zone” where for literally over an hour nothing played but Grateful Dead.  We all just looked at each other and laughed when one 8 min song ended and another one started up.  We never figured out if it was an all Grateful Dead station or if it was just for that day but it definetly helped pass the time out to Ft. Davis.

3.  Lollipop- Lil Wayne This was a song that got pushed on us by our very own resident rap expert Phil when we headed up to Chicago for Crit Nats.  When we were there we rented a Chrysler Town & Country mini-van to help us get around and we needed the extra space that only a mini-van could provide since we had 4 people and 4 bikes.  Now, just imagine 4 guys in a Town & Country listening to this song.  That within itself is enough to get it on our top 5 list.

4.  Dangerous- Kardinal Offishall There’s nothing worse than having a bad song stuck in your head.  Except having a bad song stuck in your head before the state TT.  For whatever reason the Bicycle Sportshop van was in tune with this song since no matter what station we switched to we couldnt get away from it.  On another note its probably not a good idea to be singing the chorus “so dangerous, so dangerous” when your hitting 30 mph in your time trial bars.

5.  Subway Jingle On a trip to Mississippi this year for the Mississippi Grand Prix the team single handedly increased Subways stock by eating there three times in two days.  Can you really blame us though when its only $5 dollars and they have such a catchy song.  It only gets bad though when Ian starts singing the jingle to his 3rd sandwich in two days.  I dont think any of us have had Subway since.

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.

Black shorts, some sort of red/blue/green/white top, and that seems to complete your average Texas racers’ biking kit. Now, I am no self proclaimed fashionista, but having noticed such a lack of trendy fashion in the peleton, I called it upon myself to provide impetus for change. In tandem with a pair of “hottie” socks, my friend Lawson and I created a new fashionably-functional outfit.

First debuted during a Kirkwood training ride, the outfit recieved rave reviews for not only being proper fashioned, but also for the superior cooling affects of the top. While other riders were baking in the hot and humid Houston air, I was enjoying the much superior ventilation of my new kit.
Try it out sometime, it functions almost as well as it looks.

Zoolander approved.

Special thanks to Mrs. Craddock for the tops.

This just in from AP reports. Bicycle Sport Shop pb Girling riders Steven Wheeler and David Wenger rang their bike bells 1000 times each during the 27.3 Tour de Gruene two-person TT. They seem to have finished second with a time of 59.11 to Lance Armstrong and John Korioth with Teammate Wikoff finishing in 3rd with Patrick McCarty with a time of 59.35. All team members will now go into hibernation for 2wk before reappearing from their caves and if they do not see their shadow when exiting their lairs, the TX Cup will start proptly on the first weekend of Feb 2009.