Another great weekend of solid racing and awesome weather! Saturday started the final weekend of "training" races in Greenville, SC. and the plan was for the team to be out in force for the first time this year. Unfortunately, an ill-timed stomach virus knocked Jason out the day of. My friend, John Delong, and I headed to Greenville in 75 degree, sunny weather and the team spun for about an hour before the race to warm up and discuss race tactics. We agreed to all be aggressive, stay in the front and take turns going with moves. Unfortunately, this proved to be tough on such a narrow course!
The course was like a shortened version of Fleche-Wallone with a steep finishing climb every lap. The bigger teams hit the front and it was 'balls-to-the-wall' every time up that climb! My 38mm I9 wheels were the perfect setup for the short steep hill and lots of in the pack riding other than the hill. Of course having the Trek built up at 14.5lbs total didn't hurt either! The field split up a couple of times, and I worked on riding smart and staying in the front group without expending too much energy. I ended up in a couple of brief moves but unfortunately wasn't strong enough to go with a counter-attack that stayed away for the rest of the race. Andrew rode strongly in the field all day, while Chris Emory was the usual power house and even towed me across a split before finishing strongly on the final climb. I started the climb in 5th, but too big a gear, and just didn't have the power at the point in the season to finish off what should've have been a perfect course for me. Chris Emory was 23rd, I was 24th, Andrew was right behind us, with Jacob using the race to fine-tune his Spring fitness.
See my race file here:
http://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/TRDCUN5P3XRCGHE43D2XJZF43M
Sunday we headed to the BMW Performance Center in Spartanburg, SC for a short 1 hour + 2 lap race. John and I decided to meet one of his former teammates, Boy Johnson, in Traveler's Rest and ride down to the course to get in some extra miles before the race. It was nice to get in a solid warmup after the efforts yesterday. Legs felt OK and the team decided to watch moves, but be conservative. I made a personal commitment to get in an early move since I foresaw carnage like a couple of weeks ago (due to the wind). Again, I rode my 38mm I9 wheels, but can't wait to get the 68mm wheels for races like this!
Like yesterday, and 2 weeks ago, we missed the winning move, although we were all near the front of the race. I started following counter attacks and after 5 guys went up the road, as well as another 5 guys from Mountain Khakis (can you say 'team time trial'?). 4 of the 5 guys I was with got dropped, and one Lees Mcrae rider bridged across. I flicked my elbow and noticed that it was me in 'no mans land' - it was at this point that I almost shut it down and went back to the field . . . ALMOST. I thought, "what am I going to tell my teammates"? So I put my head down to the stem and drilled it 'til I caught the 6 guys in front of me. Then I watched as one by one the MK team shattered each other until it was just me, Lees Mcrae, Adam Myerson, and Spencer Beamer. We finally settled into a rhythm (after the requisite bickering) and lapped the field. Unfortunately the 5 had already gone through the field and we were fighting for 6th. The team did a tremendous job getting me to the front at the end, but The Blue Train was out manned by Mountain Khakis and I had a solid finish, but ended up 9th on the day. The great thing was we showed our quality with:
All 4 in the top 20! Not bad for a 'little' team of working dads (almost all) from Asheville!
1Jonathan Clarke Jelly Belly Pro CyclingAsheville, NC
2David Forkner Global BikeFranklin, NC
3Thaddeus Dulin Myogenesis p/b United Health CareGreenville, SC
4Sondre Thorbergsen Lees McraeBanner Elk, NC
5Nicholas Reistad Jelly Belly Cycling TeamATHENS, GA
6Adam Myerson DORCHESTER, MA
7Spencer Beamer Team Mountain KhakisKNOXVILLE, TN
8John Doyle Lees McraeMATTAWAN, MI
9Christopher Larsen INDUSTRY 9Asheville, NC
10Steven Gordon DLP RacingWarrenton, VA
11Andrew Olson DLP RacingBlacksburg, VA
12Patrick Weddell Global Bike p/b CatomaStatesboro, GA
13Benjamin Miller Standard Pacific HomesCharlotte, NC
14Joshua Whitmore Sylva, NC
15Bill Short Juice Plus Cycling/NC CyclingGREENVILLE, SC
16Chris Emory Arden, NC
17Scott Jackson Richmond Pro Cycling TeamBanner Elk, NC
18Gentry Arnette Johns Creek, GA
19Andrew Erskine Industry 9Asheville, NC
20Jacob McGahey Asheville, NC
Thanks to all our sponsors who helped us pull together this year: Industry 9, Trek, Hutchinson, Liberty Bicycles, Dr. Miller, PML, Eco Concepts Realty, ABRC, Champion, Velosports, Honey Stinger, Rudy Project, and Affordable Home Inspections. We couldn't do it without you!
You can check out their websites here: http://www.ashevilleelitecycling.com/officialsponsors.html
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