Super Squadra

Early Saturday morning, yes I’m talking 4:15 early, I rolled out of bed after a deep three hour sleep. It was about 75 degrees out already and as I fished out the four-bike rack for Wenger, Wheeler, McCarty and I to load up and drive to Copperas Cove, sweat soaked my clothing. It was destined to be a hot finish 7 hours later after 85 miles of racing.

The race rolled out without a cloud in the central TX sky. My spirits were lifted after reading reprobations against the late entry fee hand written on the race-issued number of a fellow racer. Andy could post a finish line shot of the message but the rider didn’t finish. Stay classy sir. I was quite familiar with the course and have had success with escaping before turning onto the main loop so 10 meters out of the parking lot I attacked and was joined by THSJ’s Ruarri and a rider who I can’t ID simply because he was gone as quickly as he had joined us. 45 minutes into the race we were reeled back in by the field and I was dumping sweat like a prize fighter.

I was feeling opened up and pleased that I was spared the nasty cross-section battle back in the field. Steven was next in the move and he bridged across to a group that had formed in the 30 mph tailwind. We turned into one of my favorite features of the Copperas Cove RR, the wide open, yellow line-free crosswind section. With the defending State RR champion up the road I took a free ride across to the break of 5 with old pal Korioth, Brant Speed, and RBM’s Colin Davis. All three looked great and they were easily the favorites for the rest of the race. Shortly after the consolidation of the breakaway we headed into the rollers and wind. From nowhere appeared my other two traveling partners, Wenger and Patrick. However they managed to bridge up to us I knew it had taken its toll on Wenger and about a half lap later he punched his own ticket and our break was down to 6 again. It was a pleasure to have our entire team in the break with Dille on IR and Ting gluing his front disc wheel.

Cramping was taking its toll on both Wheeler and me with 20 miles remaining. I twice fell off the pace before the attacks even came but kept it together and reattached. As we turned left back into town I knew the moves it would take to snag a fourth win in four years in Copperas Cove. Suffer and never let a rider so much as 5m advantage. After a lot of gnashing of teeth and pulling hideous fat sprinter faces, I survived the two larger hills before the final long ascent to the finish. Successive attacks from Colin and Brant left me on the limit with 1k to go. But with the familiar orange cones and the finish tent faintly in the distance I could finally play my winning hand. Brant led out and held on for a fine fourth. I swung off his wheel and took the win. Many apologies to the officials for my atrocious pin job on my number and tacky celebration. Great effort by all of the competitors and special thanks to Steven for your amazing navigation skills by car and stellar teamwork by bike.

Wenger and I lined up last night with little chance of emulating Wheeler and his streak of three straight in May. We were without Mr. Wheeler himself as he was tasked with destroying his beloved sleepmaker and packing up his Nolan Ryan memorabila and prized TO popcorn kernel. As is well-documented by now, Ian is playing humpty dumpty, if only there had been hydrocodone and Shiner in 19th century England. Luckily Dr. Fullerton of Prolo Austin and Dr. Bomben of Performance Health Austin are going to show all the king’s horses and all the king’s men how to put a triple fracture back together again. In the meantime, Wenger and I had to be a bit measured if we hoped to win June’s opening Driveway criterium.

With a field of 50-60 featuring many of the regulars in town plus one Philly registrant (McCarty) and the lower course run up the corkscrew, we’d have to temper our enthusiasm until late in the race. It provided for a fine spectacle as groups moved clear all night long before the field came thundering across at 35mph. I also pulled off a feat I’d long fantasized about; pedaling through the top of the corkscrew. I think others have tried it and met gruesome fates like atomic faceplant and run into your neighbor and get cursed at. There were also some compelling primes offered in the race, like a Polar HRM. After all it’s never too early to start Christmas shopping for Wheeler.

So with three to go Wenger and I got off our butts and bridged to the main split. With a hair over one to go Wenger launched up my lefthand side and was marked momentarily by Stefan. The ennui of chasing Wenger down overwhelmed him as he passed through the S/F and Wenger was free. Except THSJ had other plans and as a train of three materialized for their finisher, Wenger was no longer distancing us. I scooted into position just as the final THSJ rider launched at a considerable distance. At the appropriate time, I did a sprint for 2nd place… then politely apologized to Wenger as I sailed past him for the win. 1st and 3rd was the final result. On my way home, Wenger and I checked out various eastside real estate and chatted up the several Austin Flyer’s grabbing a bite at El Chilito. See you next week.

This past weekend we traveled to Tulsa, OK for three days of NRC crits. We’ve not done this race since it upped the cash on offer for the Pro/1 field to $75000 and landed itself on the NRC. It’s gone from an uber-regional race where one could expect to fatten their wallet to a pro event where guys making their living are out to get their payday. Heading into the weekend we hoped to make a competitive showing and emerge with our skin and gear intact. With that in mind, our fortunes were mixed.

Friday was a nice day off spent in the car heading up to Tulsa. A quick stop in Tushka, OK left me sans wallet and a with number of phone calls to place to cancel debit and credit cards. Somehow between the counter and the car in the parking lot my wallet vanished. I still believe a kind Okie is going to mail it to me and I’ll at least not have to throw down for a new wallet (though Neiman’s is having a big sale on the 5th). We arrived in Tulsa with ample time to touch down at host housing and ride to the crit. Friday’s race was ridiculously fast but not so fast that the head of the field wasn’t a bubble of riders scrapping and bumping for position. The race flew by and no sooner than I’d caught my breath we were inside of 10 to go. Through the Finish with 7 laps remaining I heard the dreadful sound of high-end gear failing and bodies falling. What I would only later find out is the sole victim was our Ian Dille. A rider rode into his front wheel and took out all 18 spokes. He came down on his collarbone and his weekend and June bid for Driveway overall were both over. Wenger and I finished the night in 27th and 32nd, no money, no omnium points and a friend in pain.




Saturday morning we had a delightful breakfast prepared by our gracious (and super badass) host Rick Poplin. Our man Rick, the inspiration for Outkast’s Bombs Over Baghdad is a fighter jet pilot, father, baseball coach, single man on the town and multisport athlete. We ate with his two sons and were outeaten by Jake and Tate on every menu item which included in no particular order; biscuits, eggs, sausage, biscuits with sausage gravy and so forth. Tate, one of Tulsa’s hottest prospects at the right-field position had a Saturday game and the crew took off for the lake after that. We did a spin after breakfast and checked out the river and all of the Tulsa townies getting their bike-path exercise on. The race that night was more of the same, fast racing and a bunch kick. I entered the final corner on eventual 4th place finisher Carlos Vargas but after some high speed bumping in the corner I exited into the curb and only held on for 15th. It was solidly in the money but a bit disappointing given my positioning with only 300m to go. I could only take so much risk after crashing only 8 days prior.

Sunday’s race is always a source of anxiety for me. I don’t like the hill and given the class of the field I was pretty nervous. I skipped the morning ride to save whatever mental and phsyical energy I could for the day’s race. The major drama of the day happened in the final 30 minutes before the race start. Ian was driving to the races for his journalistic endeavors and I accidentally left my helmet in the car from the night before. With no helmet I went about looking for Ian. When I finally found him on the last lap of the preceding race he didn’t know where the car was. I grabbed the keys and went looking for the car in vain. As I rolled up to the back of the field they were performing line calls and still I had no helmet. I saw Metro VW’s Whitney Schultz and begged her for her helmet. She came through and got me a helmet with only about 1 minute to spare. Needless to say lining up at the back of a 125 rider field on a tight course is a recipe for failure. However by the time we reached the first corner I had overtaken most of the back half of the field and it was game on. I followed the wheels for most of the day and it was a surprisingly easy day. I managed 14th after entering the last corner in the same bubble as the top 5 riders. I took no risks and was content with the placing after a hot, tense 80 minutes.


We rolled in about 2am Monday morning and with Ian already seemingly on the mend, it was a nice feeling to have not only the weekend but the first half of the season behind us. We have a short break and some weekends back in town to regain our fitness and catch up on real life. Steven’s anniversary passed on Sunday (thanks again for lending him to us Nina) and with a new home to move into this coming weekend, he will certainly be busy. Wenger too has just listed his home so it won’t be a summer without its share of excitement. Ting will be joining us in Austin in August and I think we’re all thrilled about the prospect of having us all in the same area code.