Asheville Boy Teddy King hangs w/ LA

Check it out - go Teddy!

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=85734949063&h=H1oQw&u=esyZE&ref=nf

Race Report: Tour of Atlanta

By Andrew Erskine:

Tour of Atlanta

With the team divided over the Memorial Day weekend, with some of the guys racing in TN, I decided to go solo to race the Tour of Atlanta. It promised to be a very strong field with some of the better pro teams fielding full teams, it didn’t disappoint. Fly V Australia were there as were Champion Porsche, and they managed to keep the racing hard and fast throughout. The stages were to be made up mostly of crits/circuits, hard and fast, this is the racing that suits me well, high intensity, your either in it, or out the back door!

I raced well, and spent some time scrapping for wheels, as the bigger teams raced well and kept the pace high, I tried to stay close to the front in all the stages and give the final few laps my best shot, as I was riding solo I didn’t want to spend too much time making early efforts and getting blown away, the pace was consistently fast, so it made moving up solo hard. Got to contest the sprints with some good sprinters. My legs improved as the crits went on, and I was happy to finish right at or in the top 20 for all of my efforts each race.

Good racing, enjoyable, learning as always when you get to race against teams of that caliber. I raced the first 4 stages then took some time with family.

Good to also see some other familiar faces, the guys from Globalbike riding well in good numbers, and Adam and Chris and the Myogenesis team also strong, and caught Robert Watkins throwing it down with the Cat 3’s. I’m sure there were others, but it was a blur. The rest of the team did great in TN, so good representation in two states.

Thanks as always to our sponsors : Industry 9, Trek, Hutchinson, PML Pathology, Liberty Bikes, ABRC, Velosports Performance Center, Rudy Project, Eco Concepts Realty, Dr Steve Miller DDS, Honey Stinger

Nutrition is Important! Our SFG

When I started racing again a couple of years ago, I knew that it wouldn't be like before (training 20-30hrs per week, and racing 3-4 times per week). I would have to do what I could within the constraints of my 'new' life (working 40+hrs per week, often on my feet, spending time with Jess, training early in the morning, a body that was almost 10 years older, only devoting 5-10hrs per week to training, less sleep, etc.). So I set out to optimize each area of my cycling life: equipment, nutrition, recovery, etc.

Considering nutrition, I read a ton, and decided to pick up a couple of books. One I HIGHLY recommend is "The Paleo Diet for Athletes". In this book Cordain describes the evolution of our current digestive system and Friel contributes by explaining how endurance athletes can compromise to achieve the best of both worlds with respect to eating the 'right' way and still achieving optimal performance. Over the last 3 years I have become more and more primal in my eating habits and have worked on cutting out simple sugars, grains, white potatoes, cereals, etc. This flies directly in the face of most nutritionists and conventional wisdom, especially for endurance athletes, but it's hard to argue with the science, or the results! The best part about this diet is that I enjoy food - REAL FOOD, like vegetables, meats, nuts, etc. - more now than ever before! Jess and I cook some amazing meals and, don't get me wrong, we still enjoy our vices like cake, beer, and wine from time to time!

One of the big reasons that Jess and I moved to Asheville was for the abundance of locally grown food. Of course the epitome of local is growing your own food right? Toward this end, Jess and I started our own 'Square Foot Garden' at our new house this weekend. We are planting various vegetables for salads and other 'healthy' starches like squash, carrots, etc. Check out our pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=113027&id=584280718&l=99fdde35c7

Some other great links for 'Paleolithic' or 'Primal' Nutrition:
www.thepaleodiet.com
www.marksdailyapple.com
http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,s1-4-21-18998-1,00.html
www.squarefootgardening.com

Equipment is Important! New D2 Shoes

For those of you that know me, you know that I pay attention to most every detail - training, nutrition, recovery, and equipment. As my friend Pete put it, 'I don't obsess over it, but I enjoy it.' However after my stinging 1 second loss last weekend, maybe I should pay just a little more attention to equipment choice?

These shoes are the latest addition to my equipment arsenal. Now, I've been riding D2's shoes for over 2 years now and I absolutely love them. However after crashing and messing up my right shoe this Spring, I needed a replacement pair. I would rate my D2s 1st in equipment that I wouldn't ride without, 2nd being my power meter ;). When I got my first pair I went out to the D2 factory, got a tour and met Dan and Don (hence the D2 name). These guys truly care about their craft. They began making custom ski boots years ago and through their love of cycling branched out into the cycling arena. They worked on Project 96 and showed me some pretty sweet protoypes that were developed just for the Olympics over 10 years ago. All of this technology goes into each pair of custom shoes that they design and produce. You may also recognize these shoes from the TdF last year - Will Frishkorn rides them.

I have very wide feet - 9 EEEEE, so custom shoes are almost a necessity for me. Straight out of the box these babies fit like a glove, are super stiff (they have the thickest, stiffest carbon sole on the market with tri-directional hand laid carbon fiber soles), and cool (the new model features fully perforated uppers, and the all-white color helps deflect solar heating). They weigh about 120g less than my old Sidis, and while there are lighter shoes on the market I think the custom design and stiffness outweigh an extra 100g any day. I can crank the triple velcro down as tight as I want and can ride for up to 4 hours with no hot spots or pain. The interesting thing is that I also used to have toe and knee problems. All of these issues went away within weeks of riding these shoes and have not returned since! All in all, I simply find these shoes amazing and can't recommend them highly enough. They are pricey, but absolutely worth every penny when you consider the anatomical, efficiency, and comfort that they provide. The only other part of your bike that is more 'intimate' would be your saddle, and until they start making these custom molded, take some time and check out D2's website: www.d2shoe.com

Recovery is Important!

Check out our new bed: http://www.acmeindustrialthinking.com/XBasic%20Bed%201_design6.jpg

For My Mom

After working I headed down to Marshall for the 2nd Asheville Time Trial Series race this year. I got a couple of calls from my teammates during the day letting me know that I would be doing the race solo tonight. Unfortunately as I was getting dressed I got a call from my parents as well and was informed that preliminary scans show abnormal growths in on of my mother's lungs. Not good news, and not what you want to hear ever, especially before a race. I tried to refocus and during my warm up I decided that I would pour my emotions into the pedals and fight like I know my Mom will fight regardless of the official diagnosis.

I felt awesome during my warm up and since I always struggle with going out too hard on this course (slight uphill to start) I made an extra effort to dose my power tonight. Pacing was almost perfect as I was only a few watts off my goal and averaged the same wattage on the way out as the way back. The result of my highest power numbers and a dedicated aero position on thie course was a new PR - 25:28! It was also the fastest time on the night, so I chalked up my second win in a week. This one's for my Mom! I love you Mom and I know you're going to pull through this regardless. We've done it before during tough times and we're going to do it this time!

Race Report: McMinville 30+

Bottle cages . . . I wish I didn't have my bottle cages.

The weekend started with an on-time departure out of Asheville with Chris Emory. Unfortunately due to work and some family obligations Jason and Andrew weren't able to make it, and Jacob is on vacation this week. Due to the length of the Pro/1/2 race we decided to opt for the Masters 30+ race and doubling up on the crits on Sunday. We had a preview of Saturday's weather on the drive into TN as thunderstorms brought rain down in sheets. We rolled into quaint McMinnville, registered and rolled to the "New York Grill" for dinner. It was here that we met Scott, the purveyor of large steaks, drinks, and the best food in town! Unfortunately we weren't able to stay for the dance party that drew over 200 people and a local rapper called "Haystack" from Nashville that performed until 3AM. Where do they find all these people? Anyway, the steak was good, so was the pasta. We turned in early since the race stared at 8 Saturday morning.

Up early Saturday, we ate an early breakfast, chilled for a bit, and rolled to the start. A note: there's no Starbucks in McMinnville, so I found a McDonalds (did you know they could add a shot of espresso?) and got the biggest cup of coffee I could. This would have to do for my caffeination (supplemented with a Monster energy drink of course). It seemed to do the trick as after the first rolling 17mi 'warm up' Chris and I found ourselves in the front group up the climb chasing the 4 'escapees' who had gained about 2 minutes before the climb. Our field of 60 was quickly pared down to about 8 and we picked up 2 from the break to make an even 10 over the top of the climb. We quickly organized and started rolling, quickly putting 4 minutes into the chasers. This continued into the thunderstorm that we rode into on the top of the plateau, and out of it, until Chris Brown from Litespeed attacked with about 15 miles to go. I countered and ended up all alone with 14 miles remaining in the RR. This wasn't exactly what Chris and I wanted, but as I quickly opened up a gap I decided to work on my time trialing skills. I've never done this race before, but I figured if I could make it to the top of the climb with 20-30s I could stay away. Well I barely had that gap (thanks to Chris blocking behind), and descended in a tuck as tight as I could get at 50+ mph. Coming out of my tuck at the bottom of the descent my hip flexors were cramping (as well as most of the rest of my body), but I drilled it as hard as I could as the group (now at 10sec) chased me into the final mile. Up the final rise I pushed as hard as I could and started to sprint pushing as big a gear as I could. As I crossed the line Chris Emory came flying by on my left to win the 'field sprint' from behind! 1st and 2nd on the day! I let out a gutteral cry as I won my first Masters race (aside from Nats) but more importantly we went 1, 2 out of the day's biggest field - SWEET!

The TT was not as sweet as the win as lightning and darkening skies greeting our start. We were in the clear however and we each started in 30 sec intervals. Chris won last year and I fully expected him to do so again. However the days efforts blunted our speed and Chris got beat into 3rd (by 1sec) and me into 5th (by 1 sec - what the hell?). We both rode our stock road bike setups (no aero bars, I9 Super Ego wheels), despite much conversation. I remember thinking that I should remove my bottle cages, ride deep-dish wheels, and an aero helmet. I didn't . . . turns out we still ended up in 1st and 2nd in the overall going into the crit on Sunday, but I should've taken off my bottle cages. We celebrated back at New York Grill with a margharita!

Chris and I had a great warmup and knew who we had to watch during the crit. It was simple - I would watch Chris Brown and Chris would try to get up the road with anyone else. He did just that, but Chris Brown countered and I chased him down with 2 others. We ended up alone and ended up putting 30 seconds into the field. I was in perfect position coming into the final half lap, but a front wheel washout followed by Brown almost crashing in the final turn ruined my line, and I ended up losing in the sprint by 6 inches . . . we TIED on points. And the tie was broken by placing in the . . . crit. DAMN! 1 second faster in the TT (bottle cages!), or just a few inches the crit would have secured us the overall. Salvaging the day was Chris winning the field sprint for 4th (one other got away), we ended up 2nd and 3rd overall, I put out my best 5s, 5min, 10min powers, and we had a nice payday for our efforts. Oh yeah, and thanks to McMinnville for an awesome, well organized race!

So, we could look at the weekend as a failure, or we could look at it as a great success - a win, two 2nd places, a 3rd, 4th, and 5th place, and 2nd and 3rd overall. Not bad for two 'old' working guys from Asheville! Of course, I couldn't have done it without a great teammate and we couldn't have done it without our sponsors:

Industry 9, Trek, Hutchinson, Liberty Bicycles, Rudy Project, Honey Stinger, Dr. Miller, PML, Eco Concepts Realty, ABRC, Champion, Velosports, and Affordable Home Inspections

Race Report: Pro Race series Atlanta Dick Lane Velodrome

Written by Andrew Erskine:

Pro Race series Atlanta Dick Lane Velodrome. Since Jeff Hopkins has taken over at Dick Lane he has been making strides and trying to take the racing to the next level. The traditional Festival of Speed has been replaced with the Pro race series, a 3 race series where there is a “featured” segment in addition to traditional omnium racing.

The first race series was “The Keirin”. 12 riders were invited to take part, and Jeff had managed to assemble some of the country’s fastest track pro’s, which in turn resulted in some of the fastest and most competitive track racing I have ever seen.

I was lucky enough to receive an invite, and got to rub shoulders(literally) with the best around. The field included the likes of Lanell Rockmore who was supposed to be at the Pan Am Games, Dave Espinoza, collegiate National Champ, amongst a plethora of national and World Champs, and the regions fastest pro’s. It was set up with 4 rounds of keirin races for points, to set up the finals, 5 keirins total!!!

Firstly though was the matter of the Omnium racing, as I mentioned the field was good, slightly smaller than usual with about 18 riders, but a stronger field, bringing out the best in everyone, a great day for the racers and spectators, good weather, good organization, the racing was even ahead of schedule, a good show. The racing started fast and furious with a 15 lap snowball, the pro teams had two’s and three’s and in the mass start events worked well, making it more difficult for the single riders, Team Type 1 and Jittery Joe’s raced well and countered all day, making it a constant chase, this kept the racing consistently fast which made it progressively harder. Jason Sprouse was scheduled to be racing with me but a last minute family emergency kept him at home, so I went solo.

I managed to jump hard in the middle of the snowball and get a gap, I stayed out for 2 laps, and get myself 2^nd placed overall, a good start. The unknown distance was truly that, with the schedule running so well, this usually means a longer race, and the bell didn’t ring until the 18^th lap I believe, the race was again flat out!! I had gone for it a few laps earlier taking my chance, so grabbed a wheel as the feild came through and hung on for 6^th, not bad, but not what I wanted. Next up quickly came the 60 lap points race, legs were already feeling “alive” after 2 very fast races. The points race didn’t disappoint, with only 8 riders finishing, the teams made it hard, in fact I can honestly say that this was the hardest points race I have ever done, it was relentless, I managed to work hard and take a few sprint laps for points and stay with the lead group, I was forced into leading out the final sprint and just got taken at the line, which dropped me a place, but was happy with a 5^th place after trading efforts with a stellar field. Sitting 4^th in the omnium, I was tired but pleased given the company.

But wait, the reason I was here, the Keirin Invitational was about to start, all the sprinters who had come in, and had to this point ridden maybe 3-4 laps, were firing it up, I was now wondering how the 90 plus laps of racing I had done were going to feel. We were each given a helmet cover and a color for the evening, introduced and it was on!! 4 rounds of keirin. It was a blast, I learned a lot as I got “cozy” with the sprinters. Every race was fair, hard and SOOO fast, the crowd all picked a color and cheered as the derny went around, great atmosphere, loud music, good announcing, it was hard not to get swept up. I raced well, all the races were a bunch sprint to the line, with a bike length separating 6 riders in every round, it became a matter of placing yourself in the sweet spot, or “creating” a gap to put it politely. The guys who were in from T Town and all over were fast, and with a decent purse on the line were giving it everything. The crowd loved it. I ended up 9^th overall in the keirin, again pleased with my efforts. I had managed to squeeze in 2 more Omnium races during the Keirin session giving me a total of 10 races on the day!!!, only 3 riders had done the double so to speak, with almost everyone either focusing on the Omnium, OR the Keirin (a smart move!) My Omnium placing started to slip as I was very tired toward the end, with every race being so fast and competitive and the repeated sprinting, my legs were crying out. Very happy with my form, and the DLV pro race series, giving me a chance to race against the best early in the season. The big guns put on a great show, Dave Espinoza taking a superb final ride against Lanell Rockmore at the line, with the crowd going wild. I managed to take a few dollars from the Big Boys, and better, took some great experience and racing and few new tricks!!

Brian Jones was also seen mixing it up with the B racers earlier in the day, flying the Asheville colors and doing well.

Thanks to Jeff Hopkins and the DLV crew for a great day, and of course, thanks to our sponsors for always making it possible.

Industry Nine, Trek, Hutchinson, PML, Honey Stinger, Liberty Bikes, ABRC, Eco Concepts Realty, Dr Steve Miller DDS, Rudy Project, VeloSports Performance Center and Champion Systems

First Ride: Industry 9 Super Ego Clincher

I'm a busy guy. I work a lot, I train hard, I try to spend as much time with my wife and dog as possible, and I like to get a reasonable amount of sleep. Sometimes these things are in conflict with one another so I'm always looking for ways to make my life and training more efficient. That's the first reason I like the new Industry 9 Super Ego Clinchers - they make my life easier! No more do I have to change brake pads from training wheels to race wheels. I can race on my carbon tubular wheels, and train on these without additional worries of flatting a $100 tire. Now I can just change the tube if necessary.

Now for the details:

FRONT :	18 hole / Radial lacing pattern
REAR :	24 hole / 3x drive side / radial non-drive side lacing pattern
SPOKE :	Machined & cold forged / bladed / 7075 aluminum spokes
RIM :	Edge Composites 1.0 / 38mm clincher rims / 400g
WEIGHT :	1340 Grams
PRICE :	MSRP-$2249.99

Today I rode these wheels for the first time on my West Asheville 'Recovery Loop'. It has it all - flat roads, downhills, potholes, uphills, turns, etc. Perfect for evaluating how these wheels compare to the others in my stable. Yesterday I rode a pair of 'old' Mavic Ksyrium wheels with Hutchinson tubeless tires. I reserve these wheels for rides when I know I'm going to hit some dirt roads or if I'll be riding in the rain. The tubeless tires are great for training, but for some reason they just don't feel as fast to me as clinchers or tubulars to me, despite what the data says. That being said, I've never flatted one and they are super-smooth to ride!

Compared to the Ksyriums the Super Egos ride much smoother due to the damping effect of the carbon. The additional stiffness of the carbon rims is blunted by the moderate profile of the Edge 1.38 rims. Tires and tubes were Hutchin Fusion 2 Ultras with their Air Light tubes (280g in combination). These tires were pumped up to 115psi. I've ridden Cosmic Carbons, Zipp 404s, Edge 68mm wheels, Zipp 1080s, and these wheels are by far the best all-around wheelset I've ridden as far as combination of weight, stiffness, handling, ease of use and road feel. It was windy today, and I purposely rode into a crosswind with my hands off the bars - some noticeable difference compared to the Ksyriums for instance, but not unmanageable in a group situation. I also intentionally hit potholes, rough roads and went over some curbs. The wheels stayed true and felt solid without any weird 'snaps' or 'pops' that I used to hear with my Zipps. Under all-out sprinting these wheels are super-stiff laterally and while I found them almost too stiff with my Cannondale System 6 from last year, they are awesome in combination with the Trek Madone that I'm now riding. I like the feel of these wheels better than my I9 Ego aluminum clincher wheels (the Super Egos absorb more road shock), and better than the tubular version as well (I think the extra rim mass actually makes the wheel more stable). If you have to buy only one set of wheels - I would recommend these without hesitation. To reiterate, these are the best all-around wheelset I've ever ridden. So why won't I ride them all the time?

In a race situation I would hands down choose the tubular version, and in a flat race the 68mm deep version (ID) for the additional wattage savings versus the 38mm rim. In a race I'd be willing to sacrifice the ride quality and repairability (is that a word?) for lighter weight, lower rolling resistance, and aerodynamics. You're looking at between a 350g-400g penalty in riding clinchers versus tubulars, and I still like the feel of tubulars at speed and in corners better than clinchers. Ideally having a set of both the clincher Super Ego wheels and the 68mm deep ID wheels would give you a perfect combination of wheels to use in training races and rides, or windy days, and a pair of 'race day' wheels (ID). I feel lucky to have this as my setup for 2009!

I will continue with updates on durability, overall quality, and any other issues that arise. However Industry 9 also has excellent customer service, turning damaged wheels around from crashes in a couple of days. They have even gone out of their way to warranty a rim that I saw no noticeable issues with. I have confidence that if I ever did have any more problems that they would be resolved promptly.

Feel free to e-mail me with any other questions or for additional photos. More information, pricing, and availability can also be found at Industry 9's website: www.industrynine.net/Road_Wheels

Tour de Cure

My friend and coworker has a son with Type 1 diabetes and is raising money through the Tour de Cure. I encourage you to visit his site and, if able, donate to a worthy cause:

http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC280218030?px=4725015&pg=personal&fr_id=5599&et=_v1489CjEmYGSrDGQxerSw..&s_tafId=268676

Some people develop diabetes through poor diet. Some are born with Type 1 diabetes and have to maintain an impeccable diet to live an 'average' life. Jake has Type 1 diabetes and his father Mark is working to help others like him.

Training Series, Teamwork, and Motivation

Last week was an interesting one race-wise. We participated in the first 'Ring of Fire' race at the Mellowdrome in Asheville, taking the win as well as 3 of the top 5 spots on the night. A great result considering the field and the fact that Jason's back precluded him from racing that night. It's a training race, so the goal is to go hard, but it's always nice to take home a win for the sponsors!

This culminated a solid training block for me before a little rest before one of my big objectives of the year - Dilworth Criterium on Saturday. I targeted this race since last year and I've been training for this race for months. In addition, I've been feeling great recently and have been putting up some of the best power numbers I've ever seen, at one of my lowest weights since started racing again. This combination as well as the commitment from my team to help me on the day gave me some super motivation! Unfortunately the best strategy is a failure if there isn't participation and this was the case come race day. That, along with about a dozen Lees-Mcrae riders foiled my plans . . . we'll leave it at that.

After the race I discussed motivation with my friend, Adam Ray, in the context of some of the mentally ill people that he has worked with in his life. I started to ponder what ultimately motivates people to do what they do and obviously if you can harness this for yourself or others you can increase your success exponentially. This is true in life and in cycling of course. At our level mental motivation is so important. Especially on race day and those days that you train particularly hard.

This brought me to Sunday. I almost didn't ride yesterday due to the weather and my frustration. A steady rain made me think twice about hitting the road, but with a break in the rain on the radar I took off. I'm glad I did too, because the roads were beautiful and I had a couple of fantastic climbs up 151 to the BRP! I had an outstanding workout since I had some serious motivation from my frustrations on Saturday! With some important races in May and June as well as Nationals in July, now is the time to refocus and pour my motivation into my workouts. I hope that you can do the same as you get into the meat of your cycling season.

Have a great week!

The Welsh Dragon

For those of you that don't follow track racing - check this out!

http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/pdf_flyers/Keirin%20Startlist.pdf

Andrew Erskine
'Welsh Dragon'
presented by Turning Point Wellness
Hometown : Wales
Favorite Superhero : Silver Surfer,
Special Skills : Sweet Jumps and
Nunchuck skills. Secret Move : Turn
4 Treeshaker. Keep an eye on this
lad and his turn 4 move as he
brings his rugby skills to the track
during a break from his favourite
hobby, hunting wolverines.

Race Report: Tour de Moore

I wasn't able to race last weekend due to being on call, so here's the report from Jacob:

The last weekend of April found myself (Jacob), Andrew, Chris Emory, and Jason headed down to the long standing Tour de Moore road race. This is the last year the current promotional staff would be running the race, and they had a great display showing photos and news articles from over the years - very nostalgic. This has been a great course and well run race and my thanks goes out to all of the staff and volunteers who made this race possible over the years. As the race has become a masters only affair over the last few years we were all racing the 30-40 category as a change from our regular pro 1,2 participation. Don't let the masters designation fool you though as the $1,500 purse (great for a masters event) and quality course had some of the Southeasts best 1,2 riders lining up to go for the prize.

Our goal as a team was to be very active early on and make sure to be represented in any move coming from the 50 rider field. After a casual roll out for the first 3 miles the attacks started in earnest as we took stabs one by one at getting things rolling. Jason and I were both on our new ID carbon wheels from I-9 which are 66mm deep and crazy light and in concert with the new Hutchinson carbon comp tubulars made rolling off the front feel almost effortless. Andrew got himself into a short-lived move, but for the most part, the fresh legs and motivated field kept bringing things back together. About fifteen miles in to the race the attacks started to take a tole on the field and a surge by Jason and a few other guys had everyone looking at each other as if to say "your turn." Well, the buck got passed, nobody cashed it in, and they were gone. For the next 10 miles or so the field yo-yo ed behind the break getting to within 20 seconds at one point, but with Chris, Andrew and I covering almost every counter, finally the field eased up and Jason and Co disappeared from sight. As Jason soldiered on with the wind, the 90 degree heat, and some strong breakaway companions, the heavy hitters in the field who'd missed the break went to work trying to make something happen. A few hard efforts from Pat Raines, Rich Harper and some other big engines had the field suffering in the heat as well. With around 35 miles to go Rich launched yet another attack and I covered it along with a couple of other guys, one of whom also had a guy in the break. As the break had over two minutes on us at this point, I decided to work for a while to get us separated from the field as Jason's group was at a safe distance. Chris Emory and Andrew did a great job reigning in additional counters and allowed us to open a decent gap over the next few miles. Once we had separated from the field I had the luxury of sitting on a fair amount with Jason up the road. However the the shock of the 90 degree temps, (after training in the 60s and 70s all spring), a quickly dwindling supply of water and no feeds, and the fourteen 800-1200 watt efforts (looking back at my power file) I'd made attacking and covering moves in the first half of the race had me slowly grilling in the hot sun. Rich punched it hard on a hill with 5 miles to go and rolled away from our group. After looking at each other for a half mile or so and going nowhere, I chose discretion over valor as I was on the verge of cramping, and agreed to ride wheels to the finish and not sprint.

In the mean time Jason's ongoing back issues had him suffering on the bike and although he did his share of the work all day in the break, left him unable to attempt a major effort to shed his breakaway companions. As Jason will attest to, sprinting is not his strongest suit, but he rolled in for and excellent 3rd place at the end of a 55mile breakaway. End result for the race and a good day for the team was a 3rd for Jason, 8th for myself and Andrew brought home the field sprint win for 16th - Unfortunately one place out of the money, as a second chase group of seven had gotten up the road. Overall though, a good day for the team.

Thanks to our sponsors: Industry 9, Trek, Hutchinson, Liberty Bicycles, Rudy Project, Honey Stinger, Dr. Miller, PML, Eco Concepts Realty, ABRC, Champion, Velosports, and Affordable Home Inspections. We couldn't do it without you! - Jacob