Super Squadra

On the Monday of Martin Luther King Day we hosted a class of talented, enthusiastic and highly motivated juniors athletes. Hailing from as far as Houston and Dallas but also as close as the Rosedale neighborhood of Central Austin, our group was going to test our ability to pass on novel, valuable information they had not already absorbed through their own coaches and mentors.

We began with our same presentation expertly carried out by Ian. The questions didn’t come as thick and fast as our Masters session no doubt owed to the very classroom-like atmosphere that our attendees were trying to escape in the first place on their day off. Our local collegiate cycling representatives showed up mid morning and things livened up quite a bit. In addition to a very attractive pitch for the nearly free sport of collegiate cycling (assuming bike ownership), they came armed with a ton of good stories from their own collegiate careers. Around noon I showed up with over 40 box-lunch sandwiches provided by Thundercloud. Keep in mind total attendees plus guests was just barely over 20 folks. Nonetheless the entire pile of box lunches had disappeared by quarter after. Impressive!

We headed out en masse on bike to the Driveway in time for the 1pm start. With a smaller group and the Driveway already setup we were able to immediately jump into the fun. Just as soon as we’d taken a tour of the entire Driveway road course we were throwing off our cleated shoes in favor of our tennis shoes. After a number of rounds of ‘circle of death’ but in time to prevent any personal damage to one another’s machines, Pat showed up and took about 20 minutes to answer questions and of course, talk about that $200 block of plastic holding his cleat.



We moved into the feeding drill- aka worst-case scenario- where despite the initial belief that taking bottles at speed was old hat for the campers, we still were able to work out the finer points of bottle handoff, hand up and non-verbal communication with your feeder (to be followed by post-race communication like bribing and shameless gratitude).



As the day progressed we realized this group was unfazed by the skill portions of the camp. Only one day earlier, we were able to challenge most of our Masters athletes with certain balance and flexibility drills. This group however needed the type of challenge that comes with sprinting then riding solo in the wind lap after lap. We also knew that to win the favor of any parents footing the bill for camp, we needed to send their child home tired. For that purpose, we turned to an old-fashioned round of miss’n out. The racing was on literally from the word ‘go.’ Each round was an interesting study of riders trying their hand at attacking or driving at the front then making sure not to get caught out by the final surges each lap. Our group of three to contest the final lap was Daniel Allen, Payson McElveen and the undeniable Lawson Craddock. Lawson pulled his Jr. Nat’l Time Trial champ card and rode away early from the Daniel and Payson but those two provided the true racing and entertainment value. They each buried their heads to keep away from each other only to pull even through the final corner with 200m to go. A fierce sprint was taken by Daniel.



Our day at the Driveway wrapped up with a very short and intense fifteen minute sudden-death race on the wide open lower loop with the hill thrown in beyond the start/finish. Was it entirely fair that the Squadra boys participated after two days of standing around watching others hang it out at the Driveway… not entirely. It was a blast though and we could already see the our tactical do’s and don’ts dictating many of the riders’ moves.

We had a wonderful three days with all the camp attendees. It’s unbelievable to work with Juniors riders so talented and with futures in cycling so bright. We cannot wait to see these athletes hand us our lunch in the next year or two. We can only hope they’ll give us a shout out for the few days they spent with us in Austin sharpening their racing acumen.

On Saturday morning the inaugural Super Squadra Scouting Camp kicked off with an 80-mile ride to Lockhart, the capital of Texas BBQ and site of this Fall’s ill fated mid-ride meat binge. Our campers displayed a succinct ability to ride a steady, two-by-two paceline. We completed the ride in just over four hours for a 20-mile-per-hour average, and threw in a couple racing sections for good measure. The first, on the way into Lockhart, was followed by a leg busting climb up to the town square where we refueled with mini-Clif Bars (non-salmonella version) and posed for a photo-op in front of the historical County Court House. The last run-in occurred on the Tuesday Nighter course and finished off with a sprint up the drag toward William Cannon. At the end it was Lawson Craddock maxing out his Power Meter (then asking, “where was the hill?”) followed by tenacious junior and master racers, Kevin Fish, William Rader, and Steve Guzman, Jason Newman, Tim Pletcher, and Chad Musgrove.

Upon arriving back at Bicycle Sport Shop our hungry crew was treated to 50 graciously donated Chipotle burritos (promptly delivered by big sis Michele Ting) as well as some ice cold refreshments. Newly signed OUCH rider Pat McCarty, who rolled out with us in the morning but turned off early as it was one of his easy days, came back to share a beverage and tell some tales, but failed to match the potential professional eating prowess of our own Alan Ting, who easily put down two burritos (Kobayashi who?).

Sunday morning our masters campers reconvened at Bicycle Sport Shop for a morning tactics and training seminar that was later followed by an afternoon at the Driveway racetrack. We made use of every minute during the seminars as our Masters racers were full of curiosity. We won’t give away exactly what we presented (see: Scouting Camp 2010) but we will say watch out for these guys this season. If they race as smartly as they interacted with our lecture, they’re going to be the most tactically astute riders in all of Texas. After a training and nutrition talk by Source Endurance co-founder David Wenger, we took a break for a healthy lunch, courtesy of Thundercloud Subs. While the campers chowed on turkey subs and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, John Korioth, Erick Benz, and Patrick McCarty answered questions about winning a national championship and Lance Armstrong’s lactate threshold (Korioth), winning every age-based state championship while working 60-hours a week and taking care of two young kids (Benz), and taking the KOM at the Vuelta a Chihuahua amidst the throws of a vicious stomach bug (McCarty).



Then, the real fun started. The Masters spent three hours on various loops at the Driveway racetrack practicing their bumping skills in the “circle of death,” racing a 40-second loop complete with a chaotic feedzone in “worst case scenario,” displaying tactical positioning and cornering prowess in a series of “miss and outs,” and finished the day off with a 25-minute no-holds-barred criterium. Everyone left tired, happy, and hopefully ready for their best racing season yet.

Jason Newman and John Brooks on the first round of "worst case scenario"

Oh no! Improper technique leads to a missed hand up.

This time Jason's holding the bottle at the top and…

Wallah! John's got his fluids and is off chasing.

Guzman leading Hill Swift in the "miss and out."

AT&T-Brain and Spine gaurding the front.

PJ Rabice of Team SIX getting ready to jump for the line.

Feel free to browse Kevin Schaefer’s photo gallery from the junior and master cycling seminars from 1/18 and 1/19. If you’d like to use them, please give Kevin credit for the photos and let folks know what a great time you had in Austin. Enjoy!

The Super Squadra Scouting Camp wrapped up on Monday evening after three whirlwind, but ridiculously fun days. We’ll have a full report with tuns of photos coming soon, but first we wanted to pass along a few thank yous…

Thanks to all the cyclists who came to our camp. Everyone was a pleasure to work with. We hope you’ll stay in touch and track us down at races for a little advice, to tell us about your latest result, or just to say hi.

Thanks to Bicycle Sport Shop for providing the support to make our camp possible. From the mechanical work and SAG driving from the world’s best wrench, Mike Woodard, to the presentation space, packet printing, and hundreds of other little things that helped our camp come together, Bicycle Sport Shop really allowed us to make our camp a top notch production.

Thanks to Chipotle burritos and Thundercloud Subs for sponsoring Saturday’s post-ride party and lunch on Sunday and Monday. The food was not only delicious, but fit right in with our nutritional advice for hungry bike racers.

Finally, thanks to our wives, girlfriends, and family members who’ve always supported us (and made us look quite dashing in our new track suits). You guys rock!

Santa was thrown off by the unseasonably warm weather in Central TX this year but he finally found the Bicycle Sport Shop and dropped off a load of the finest cycling gear in the world. Pics are forthcoming.

Also, after months of planning, the biggest weekend of the year for our close-knit team is just about here. Yes, yes it’s the camp. We’ll do a post-camp report on the action. It will be a busy weekend but well worth it. Stay tuned, ‘09 is just winding up.

The Super Squadra Scouting Camp is drawing near, and we’re excited about the itinerary we’ve put together. We’ll have a great route to ride on Saturday, an informational session on Sunday that will include a personalized playbook on how to podium in specific Texas Cup finishes, plus an array of race simulation drills at the Driveway racetrack. Additionally, we’re offering a special promotion for the Super Squadra camp. Here are the details:

- When two riders from the same team sign up for the camp, a third gets to come for free.
- Just e-mail us with the third person’s name and contact information, and we’ll put them in the camp database.
- This offer is extended to both masters and juniors (ex. a Master and Junior sign up allows for an additional Master or Junior for free).
- Simply register, here.

Finally, we’re proud to confirm the presence of guest speaker (and pseudo Super Squadra member) Patrick McCarty, who’s ridden on the Postal Service, Discovery Channel, Phonak, Garmin-Chipotle, and recently signed with the nation’s top domestic team, OUCH. Pat was on the team time trial squad that scored a Pink Jersey at the Giro d’Italia and recently took the King of the Mountains jersey at the Vuelta a Chihuahua. We’ll get Pat to dish about the behind the scenes life of a Euro-pro—and his penchant for podium kisses.