Super Squadra

As the title suggests, the podium, which was actually just the road near the finish line wasn’t large enough this year at the Pure Austin Road Race at Pace Bend Park. If it were, it would have had all four of my teammates crowding me to the back of the step just as things were during the race. Allow me to recount the day from my armchair position in the field.

From our crowded side-road start the race took a sharp right hand curve and the racing was underway. Immediately Metro-VW had the reigns on things. Despite their grip on the front of the race the first several laps featured many attacks from some of the familiar faces of aggression. This included Bryan Fawley again and again, Sol Frost, Travis Burandt and covering near every one of them was our own David Wenger.

Finally the peloton elastic, stretched thin over the staccato hills of the front half and the serpentine turns of the backside of the course, snapped. The diminutive form of Ian was faintly in sight as the day’s move of four riders moved clear for their nearly ten lap furlough. Within the move, solidarity was hardly the group’s ethos. They failed to ever gain much more than one minute over the sedated field and the gap often hovered around 30s. Although Ian, Bike Barn’s Mitch Comardo, Metro-VW’s Andrew Dalheim, and TX Tough’s Chad Cagle all could have been winners on the day, they were unable to commit to becoming so from that scenario.

Inside of four laps to go the move was absorbed only to launch anew another flurry of attacks. Heading up the feed zone hill the penultimate time, the field was splintered with the leading group of 10 or 12 nearly a quarter mile ahead of the main field with any number of riders in between grappling to regain the front group. It was a key moment for our team as within the group David and Steven worked through as my main bunch sprint adversaries had to make the bridge on their own. As was the story of the day, I continued to sit back and watch, bottling up my aggression and saving my legs.

Under the beautiful afternoon sun that seems never to miss out on an edition of Pace Bend, the closing kilometers were finally here. As I had done the prior laps, I mentally checked off the different landmarks that would guide my positioning. This false flat right hand bend leads to that sign which is followed by that left hand… and so forth. With my fellow teammates swirling around me and the favorites queuing up behind their own teammates, it was a fairly orderly affair heading into the final left hand bend. Where I envisioned myself in fourth wheel coming out of the last corner I found myself in third wheel on the two very strongest riders to race in TX of late – that of Team Hotel San Jose’s Heath Blackgrove and Chris Wherry. They provided a perfect leadout but due to the crosswind grinding uphill of Pace Bend’s new finish, I was able to jump for the line as their pace flagged around 150m to go. I crossed the line and instantly my thoughts went to how surprised my teammates were going to be. Of the nearly 140 starters on Sunday, it is likely every single rider and team had a plan. For that one afternoon Super Squadra were the lucky ones for whom that plan panned out.

Um, in case you haven’t heard, we won Pacebend. Here’s a report from a Super Squadra fan on the scene, our take to follow soon…

“The two THSJ guys came around the corner and one of them swung right, this opened the gap for Phil. The sprint was almost slow-motion looking but he came around the other THSJ rider and powered up the hill. The last 50 M or so he was sandwiched at the front with riders on both sides. As the hill kicked up a little they all looked somewhat overgeared and began to fade. Phil contorted his body and surged ahead. If there was ever a time for the Serrotta to have catastrophic failure it was now (consider throwing a new chain on today). The stress on the bars and stem and his cranks must have been massive.”

Lucky for the Texans in the Pro/1 field at this year’s Walburg Classic, we have already had some practice handling our Zipp wheels in the wind at the Tour of New Braunfels as well as the Alsatian Country Omnium. It’s not so bad, and they help us look cool on the starting line when most folks aren’t brave enough for 88mm of rim like Dr. Phil. However, not quite as cool as an official with a starter’s pistol pointed at the P/1 pack warning us to wait until she shoots it to signal the start of our race.

The fun didn’t start too early in the race, but Wikoff and I noted the heavy line of dark clouds off in the distance early in the day, while the conditions were still very calm. TX Tough’s Matt Ankey put in a hard solo move that quickly built a healthy advantage. We were not too worried about one rider off the front, but when RBM’s Colt Trant and ultra tough man from KS Trek Stores Bill Stolte made it across, it was time to race. Luckily, that was on the north end of the course with rolling hills. First Ian hit out with a soft attack/chase that lead to another round of him and I countering each other before two riders slipped off the front, Velossimo’s John McAllister as well as an American Beef rider. Steven finished off the Super Squadra leap frogging session by completing a solo bridge to the second group on the road, then all was calm again.

Ian, Phil, and I got to controlling the field as rain began to fall and temperatures sank. That means we had twice the pleasure of making our way to Team Hotel San Jose’s Chris Wherry after he had lined things out on the left-ish side of the center of the road. THSJ’s other bonafide professional rider in attendance, Heath Blackgrove, was also shooting up through the pack as the group constantly reshuffled. The second attacked was Chris’s big one, and it stuck. He showed no mercy in allowing a rider to draft by riding directly on the right most yellow line on the road, which put me in the wind gusting from the right. After a brief session of loosing my cool, I finally was able to negotiate a truce. Even though I had no obligation to pull through with Steven up the road and TX Tough having no one, it was still in my best interest to have two Squadra guys up the road even if it meant taking the best rider with me. So, truce made so that I could draft at least part of the time, then our world shifted again.

After we made our way through the feed zone the first time, the winds were howling. I was riding in my small chain ring at 365w in the fierce wind and light rain when Ian made it across to my group with Blackgrove, Josh Carter, and a few other notable sitter-oners. As soon as Blackgrove started pulling in the 8 rider move, it was obvious who was hurting, and it was not THSJ. Blackgrove and I quickly got in a split and drove hard for 8mi to catch the Wheeler group. When we did, we shed all riders but Steven, then about 2mi later made it up to the leaders. Behind, Ian was with Wherry who put him in the gutter, shutting down any chance of two THSJs or three Squadra riders in the move. 

Pretty much as soon as we bridged to the leaders, my back hurt. It was because I, along with everyone else in the break, had to lean their bicycles at about 70deg just to ride in a straight line due to the wind. We were literally leaning toward the right hard enough to take a turn in a criterium just to proceed down the road in an echelon. To me, it felt like my left leg did all the work when heading south, right leg all the work going north due to the angle at which we had to ride our bikes. The feed zone was the only 1.5km on the course protected from the wind where we could take one hand off of the bars to eat and drink. Further, I spent more time in my small chain ring at Walburg than in any other race I’ve ever done. The winds were that tough. 

The group worked pretty well over the course fo the last lap and a half of the race. Trant, Ankey, and Stolte had to be tired from riding the front of the race from the fifth mile of the race, but things were not so easy during that bridge, either. With nine (9) other teammates in a field of 42, Ankey sat on the move once it was firmly established. The rest of us soldiered forward with no funny business. With about 10mi to go, we got a report from moto official Mike Gladu that the chase was about 1.5min back, Blackgrove got to taking faster pulls that were not too much longer than his previous efforts. The group also made an effort to get Ankey to pull through as he’s a fast finisher, so Blackgove’s efforts shook out the break a bit. Trant couldn’t hold Blackgove’s wheel during one of many 33mph pulls in a crosswind. First Stolte made it up with Trant, Ankey, drifting off the back. When the gap was at 30sec, I went across and the race was down to three of us at 10mi to go. 

We were getting confusing time checks during the final run in, and the last thing I wanted to do was get caught by chasers. I took the brunt of the pulls figuring that Stolte and I would attempt to work over Blackgrove before the finish, but THSJ’s rider took his fate into his own hands. He attacked what looked to be 2mi before the finish, and after a brief hesitation on Stolte’s part, he went for a solo bridge to the strongest rider of the race. When I made it back to Stolte on the finishing climb, there was briefly a chance of us catching the leader but my competitor was eying how to get what he felt was the best placing on the day for him. With 30 meters to go, he jumped for a fine 2nd place, I finished with high spirits in 3rd.

I write that this, my 7th year of Walburg, is the toughest because I have six years of power data on the race. The only edition that came close was my first attempt in 2003 where the last hour I raced (which ended prematurely, perhaps a story for a future blog post) was at NP 303w on Power-Tap, which you can rent at Bicycle Sport Shop for a nominal fee. This year, my whole race norm powered out to 303w, straight up average at 279w. The last two hours were both above 1000kj. Additionally, the fragmentation of the field is what made this race so hard. Nearly every rider had what amounted to a solo effort due to the intense winds. Let’s see what Walburg ‘10 will bring thanks to the tireless efforts of Team at&t- Brain and Spine.

When the Northwest Cycling Club Junior team, circa 2003, decided it would be a good idea to down 4 free Monsters (each) before the Fayetteville RR, it soon dawned on us that, well, it wasn’t. Daniel’s jitters soon commenced, Lawson’s crazy/awesomeness may have hit a record peak, and the burgeoning flame within my stomach all made for a long 40 miles. Fast forward a few years, to 60 minutes before the Castroville crit when affable cyclist, Daniel Carruthers, walks up to the van with a case of red aluminum jewels, I found it was time to give this multi-billion dollar industry another shot. With David’s wallet 25 dollars lighter, and each of us clinching a new secret weapon, it was time to size Usana’s Rev3 against its larger and better established competitors. Armed with Mango Cliff shot in left hand, and Rev3 in right, the review ensued.

Upon popping the cap, and taking my first drink, I came to find its light, effervescent, Perrier like qualities to my liking. A hint of raspberry along with a mild licorice after taste makes this a Dillecious contender in the growing energy drink field. However, with its steep price, Rev3 may find it hard to find its buzz.

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.

New season, new format, new goals. In late 2008, the TXBRA brass passed a renewed and refreshed vision for the TX state road race schedule. It involved moving the majority of TX races into the middle tier of races now known as the TX State Cup. The TX State Cup will be the majority of the races our team will participate in. We’ll discuss the Premiere Cup when the 2009 Pace Bend Road Race comes up in a few weeks time. Although Holland Racing’s Castroville weekend was only a third-tier race last year, it will get a boost in stature due mostly to its own efforts. This year we will have a Saturday morning 10-mile TT followed by an afternoon criterium in last year’s same Castroville Regional Park. Sunday morning we will line up for a new road race course to finish up a solid weekend of racing.

With the weekend’s events scored as an omnium, the tactics and key players will follow a fairly different script that that of a stage race. Even with the time trial weighted nearly equally as the criterium and road race, we won’t be able to count on a stellar time trial performance and the defense of it through the weekend. An attentive, aggressive rider and a fast finisher can still very well take out the overall with high mass start finishes.

Despite the few contested races this season, there are some clear favorites. We’ll start with Erick Benz. He’s definitely got the TT prowess after a state title and close second in November’s Tour de Gruene ITT to Lance Armstrong. His ability to sort out the finishes in the road race and criterium will be key to his success. Mat Davis from Louisiana is also a speedy time trialist with some hard road race cred. Favorite for any race, Kevin Kremke, will also be lining up the latest and greatest of Zipp speed weaponry for his assault on the weekend. He’s shown great form already and could be the best chance at a weekend sweep (or at least 2 out of 3). Stefan Rothe, fresh from a weekend of team bonding and always fit should make the goings tough all weekend long.

Our best bets for the weekend are…. all of us! Seriously though, we’re all different enough riders we have a fair shot at success. Meanwhile we’ll be using this event as a stepping stone to a huge Walburg/Pace bend weekend in a fortnight. I’m excited as always to see Wenger line up his TT and with Dille recently dialed in on a newold machine, he’ll be aiming to impress. My boy Ting will be eager to race with his adult buds again and Wheeler will just be happy riding on anything other than a spin bike. No he will NOT be warming up at Iron Haus Fitness thank you very much! Hope for a safe, hard weekend of racing. We’ll check back in on Monday.

Driving down I-35 South to Sunday’s race, there are no shortage of flag poles. It seems that every bank, strip mall, and outlet center is competing to see who can mount the most cubic feet of red, white, and blue a hundred-plus feet in the air. Yesterday, even the flags that could double for the sail of a tall boat, were flapping at perfect right angles. When combined with a 15-mile, almost entirely exposed, east-west race course loop, one thing was certain: It would be an ugly day.



Our game plan for the day included riding as close to the front as possible— even echeloning at the front of the pack to stay out of the gutter or on the yellow line—and taking an aggressive early stance. On the second lap, after only 20-miles, which was actually longer than I’d anticipated, the field blew to smithereens. Dave, Steven, and I ended up in a front group of 15-20 riders with no chase in sight. Since I’d gotten a free ride into the move thanks to Dave’s diligence up front, I had the energy to sneak off the front with three other riders—Austin Bikes Jordan Smotherman, LaSport’s Matt Davis, and GS Tenzing’s Brian Jones. Aided by a ferocious tailwind, we quickly escaped sight of the front group and hunkered down for a long day (oh, 45-miles) off the front.

Like a man who’d been made fun of one too many times for wearing a Camelback and sporting hairy legs, Matt Davis rode possessed at the front of our group. He took monster pulls and tuns of them. (Wind? What wind?) Finally, on the last lap, we encountered the site I’d been fearing all day. Kevin Kremke soaring up to our move with a hearty, “hey boys,” then moving to the front and promptly shelling Brian Jones on a riser.

Our five man group played about a mile and half of slow racing coming to the line, until Kevin jumped with 150-meters to go. I jumped too, but am apparently no Alan Ting, I was a somewhat embarrassing last out of our group, but still happy to have finished with the break in the first race of the year. Dave rolled in not too far behind to secure eight on the day.

10:00a: Ian arrives right on time at Casa Wenger for team gathering in team track suit and is handed his new Specialized saddle as well as team Oakley Radars.

10:10a: PJ Rabice, agent for Super Squadra and enabler of weekend activities, arrives and makes fun of our professional looking attire. “What are you guys wearing? You look like Quick Step or something.” PJ’s attire included a random mix of SIX Lounge hat, MJ’s shirt, and camouflage. 

10:20ish: Phil hastily arrives in track suit and scowls at my neighbors as he has to sit through a parade of traffic coming through the cul-de-sac. 

11:40: Team meeting. Tactics are to line Phil out for a sprint.

12:00: Ride lazy in the pack.

12:43: Beginning of frantic chase so Ian can assist Phil for the sprint. I said earlier in the week that this race always comes down to a field sprint and to rather be correct than a winner, I chase. Gap to break is in the 45- 50s range. That, and I like the odds of Phil in a sprint much better than my odds of outdualing the very strong riders up front should I get to them. Sol Frost, Kevin Kremke, and Jason Short had exceptional rides.

12:56: Pulling hard and NO ONE IS ON MY WHEEL! Not a good situation. One guy gets to my Zipp 808 and sits, then rather than work to win the race, attacks me. He’s riding strong. I claw to his Zipp 303 on the descent and pull since, well, the game has changed and I’m now racing to catch the break. 

12:58: Same guy attacks again rather than let me help his chances in the last 1.5k. He rides up to doomed break as they play a game of “shirk the lead out.” I do not understand that move, but soldier on towards the finish.

12:59:30: Field zooms past and Phil looks good!

1:00: Josh Carter wins a very fine sprint. He rode actively all day, clearly out for training and still mopped up in the sprint. Very nice work, Mr. Carter.

1:20: Team ride with Agent down to the 2nd bridge on River Road. 

4:30: Ate perhaps the best taco in Texas, new joint on 306 near Park Road.