This past weekend the Lupus Racing Team raced the Tour of the Southern Highlands in Gainesville and Clermont Georgia. We fielded a team of Mike Stone, Marcos Lazzarotto, and myself. This race weekend was a timed stage race consisting of street sprints Friday night, a rolling 10 mile time trial on Saturday morning, a rolling 35 mile circuit race on Saturday evening, and a hilly 90 mile road race on Sunday.
The street sprints we done on a straight course with 2 180 degree turns. We were placed in 13 heats of 4 riders where the winner of each heat would advance to the next round. I had Michael Hernandez of CCB in my round. He is a strong sprinter, and he killed me, so I was done with the first heat. None of us won our round, so it was a quick night for us. The street sprints were won by Andrew Dahlheim of Arapahoe Resources over Ben Renkema and Fletcher Lydick both Finish Strong. The street sprints had no effect of the general classification but decided the final three starting spots in the time trial the next morning.
Since I won the overall in the race last year, I was the final rider to begin the time trial before the street sprint victors. This time trial was Merckx Style (no aero equipment allowed) on a rolling course with a few turns. I just started out at near my limit, pushed harder on uphills and tried to save some energy on the downhills. I spent the entire time trial with my forearms on the tops of the bars to stay in the most aerodynamic position possible. My biceps are still on fire as I type this post! I put in a decent ride to finish 32 seconds down on the winner Kai Wiggins of CCB in 13th place. My teammates finished about a minute down on me. I would say the stage went well having me close to striking distance going into the final two stages.
Stage 2 of the Mission Source Tour of Highlands was 9 laps on a 4 mile circuit that had a 2 minute hill in the middle of the lap. I won this stage last year in a solo effort, but it was really hard to go off the front. The plan for me was to try to save energy during this stage because we thought the stage would be easy. However, the race played out just the opposite. There was an attack of 10 riders that went off the front pretty much from the gun. After a couple laps of hard racing that move was brought back and a counter of 3 riders went off the front. This turned out to be a break of the day, but it was tough in the field. No teams set pace ever, so the pace was either full gas or coasting. There were attacks every time up the hill, but they were neutralized on the downhill. The race leader was in a bad crash that put him out of the race with two laps to go. I was right next to the crash and narrowly missed it. In the final lap Arapahoe Resources set the pace strong and attacked going up the hill. This produced a little split off the front, and the pace was full gas going toward the finish line. We caught the final remnants of the breakaway going into the final 200 meters and I came in 5th place on same time. I would call the stage a success because I saved energy and lost no time going into the final stage.
The final stage was a 90 mile road race on a 15 mile rolling circuit. There was a 1 km 5% climb, but there were no significant hills on the course. A breakaway of 8 riders with a couple Arapahoe and a couple CCB riders rolled about 2km into the race with no Lupus riders represented. This was a scenario we did not want to happen. The yellow jersey Chris Jones of Kelly Benefits also had no riders in the breakaway. No teams set pace over the first couple laps, and the gap to the break grew to about 4.5 minutes. I knew from past experience that even though this gap seemed large the break would eventually implode late in the race and we could catch them if a team set a decent pace. I sent my teammates Marcos and Stone to the front to set pace. They received some help from Amore e Vita and from Kelly Benefits. The gap held steady for a while. In the final two laps fireworks happened from Phil O'donnell of Axeon on the KOM climb and my legs were toast. Going into one lap to go I put in a ton of attacks, but I could not make a gap happen. Once again at the start of the final lap Marcos was setting a good pace with the break only a minute up the road. On the KOM I tried to get a gap over the top as we could see the break, but I couldn't make anything happen. I tried one final attack with 5 kms to go, but I just could not make the gap happen. I decided then to try for the field sprint. Arapahoe and CCB set a fast pace on the front. Then a couple Arapahoe riders got off the front and their team sat up going into the final 3 kms. This gave their riders the gap to go one, two off the front while Andrew Dahlheim of Arapahoe took the field sprint for third. Arapahoe also ended up winning the overall with Adam Koble. They had sound tactics and rode strong as a team this weekend, so congratulations to them on taking the win. I am very thankful for the job my teammates Marcos and Stone did for me this weekend. They did an incredible and rode selflessly. In the end I was not able to deliver for them. I finished the final stage in the field in 13th place and ended up 6th in the general classification. Last year this road race imploded with huge time gaps, but this year with stronger teams the race was a lot faster and a lot of riders finished together. It's strange how courses can change so much depending on the riders present. I am also thankful that my teammate Igor Rudalev hosted Marcos and me at his house this weekend. The hospitality his family provided made the weekend a very fun and relaxing experience for Marcos and me.
Next weekend we will race Rouge Roubaix. It is a challenging 100 mile road race with 20 miles on gravel roads. I won this race last year, and I hope Lupus Racing Team can get the win there again next weekend!
Monday, March 07, 2016
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Greenville Spring Series #3
This past weekend was the final weekend of the Greenville Spring Series. The Lupus Racing Team fielded a squad of Marcos Lazzarotto, Nolan Tankersley, and myself.
Saturday was the River Falls Circuit Race which was 10 laps on a 5 mile course. This circuit is tough with a 1km climb that averages aroud 6% and is followed by winding and narrow roads for the rest of the circuit. The past two times I raced River Falls the winning break went only a couple kilometers into the race. We knew we had to be attentive if we wanted to get the win this year. Like in years past a group went that included Phil O'Donnell (Axeon), Charlie Hough (Hincapie), and Ian Garrison (Hincapie Juniors). After missing the split Marcos, Nolan, and I were attentive and covering moves. For a couple laps the break was close, but we could just not get there. On the third or fourth time up the climb Mac Brennan surged hard, but no split occurred. I came to the conclusion that Andy Crater was marking Mac for the Spring Series omnium after a few laps. That made the tactics interesting. Finally, after many laps of us trying to get off the front, with two laps to go I got into a move with Reid Beloni (Greenlife) and John Delong (Amore e Vita). I pulled hard with Reid and John and tried to drop them on the climb each lap. Leading into the finishing climb I jumped hard and dropped John, but Reid was able to hang with me. The leaders came into sight, but I just couldn't keep pushing the same pace. I paid for my surge and underestimated Reid's ability. By the finish I was toast and rolled in for 5th.
The next day was once again the Donaldson Circuit Race. We raced 8 laps on the rolling 7 mile circuit with wind gusting around 15 miles per hour. After River Falls I knew I was close in the omnium and may be marked throughout the race. I told Nolan and Marcos to follow early moves because that would put us in a strong position and would leave me fresh to make breaks late in the race. Two laps in Mac went solo in a brave move. He did an epic 42 mile ride by himself to take the win from us by a couple minutes. I figured Mac would have been brought back, but he proved to be on super form. I spent the first four laps mostly sitting in the field and conserving energy while Nolan and Marcos covered at the front of the race. After 4 laps Nolan, Marcos, and I worked with Andy Crater (Cycle Haus), Phil O'Donnell and Johnny Brown from Axeon. The field remained together. The next lap I worked with Johnny and Phil again to try to split the field but again nothing. With 2.5 laps to go we all just put in a flurry of attacks and finally made a 6 rider split that included Parker Kyzer (Finish Strong), Phil O'Donnell and Johnny Brown (Axeon), Rolly Weaver, myself, and another rider. A couple other riders bridged up to us near the end. In the finale there were once again a ton of attacks. It came down to a sprint of our group of 9, and I came in 5th place. We had one more tough weekend of racing. It wouldn't be honest if I said I wasn't disappointed we did not come away with a win. Mac was just on another level today.
My next race will be Rouge Roubaix in a couple weeks. I look forward to defending my Rouge title with my Lupus Racing Team teammates. It is a really tough and unique race where I had a great time last year. My form is coming along and I am happy to have gotten in a few hard races with my teammates before the season begins.
Saturday was the River Falls Circuit Race which was 10 laps on a 5 mile course. This circuit is tough with a 1km climb that averages aroud 6% and is followed by winding and narrow roads for the rest of the circuit. The past two times I raced River Falls the winning break went only a couple kilometers into the race. We knew we had to be attentive if we wanted to get the win this year. Like in years past a group went that included Phil O'Donnell (Axeon), Charlie Hough (Hincapie), and Ian Garrison (Hincapie Juniors). After missing the split Marcos, Nolan, and I were attentive and covering moves. For a couple laps the break was close, but we could just not get there. On the third or fourth time up the climb Mac Brennan surged hard, but no split occurred. I came to the conclusion that Andy Crater was marking Mac for the Spring Series omnium after a few laps. That made the tactics interesting. Finally, after many laps of us trying to get off the front, with two laps to go I got into a move with Reid Beloni (Greenlife) and John Delong (Amore e Vita). I pulled hard with Reid and John and tried to drop them on the climb each lap. Leading into the finishing climb I jumped hard and dropped John, but Reid was able to hang with me. The leaders came into sight, but I just couldn't keep pushing the same pace. I paid for my surge and underestimated Reid's ability. By the finish I was toast and rolled in for 5th.
The next day was once again the Donaldson Circuit Race. We raced 8 laps on the rolling 7 mile circuit with wind gusting around 15 miles per hour. After River Falls I knew I was close in the omnium and may be marked throughout the race. I told Nolan and Marcos to follow early moves because that would put us in a strong position and would leave me fresh to make breaks late in the race. Two laps in Mac went solo in a brave move. He did an epic 42 mile ride by himself to take the win from us by a couple minutes. I figured Mac would have been brought back, but he proved to be on super form. I spent the first four laps mostly sitting in the field and conserving energy while Nolan and Marcos covered at the front of the race. After 4 laps Nolan, Marcos, and I worked with Andy Crater (Cycle Haus), Phil O'Donnell and Johnny Brown from Axeon. The field remained together. The next lap I worked with Johnny and Phil again to try to split the field but again nothing. With 2.5 laps to go we all just put in a flurry of attacks and finally made a 6 rider split that included Parker Kyzer (Finish Strong), Phil O'Donnell and Johnny Brown (Axeon), Rolly Weaver, myself, and another rider. A couple other riders bridged up to us near the end. In the finale there were once again a ton of attacks. It came down to a sprint of our group of 9, and I came in 5th place. We had one more tough weekend of racing. It wouldn't be honest if I said I wasn't disappointed we did not come away with a win. Mac was just on another level today.
My next race will be Rouge Roubaix in a couple weeks. I look forward to defending my Rouge title with my Lupus Racing Team teammates. It is a really tough and unique race where I had a great time last year. My form is coming along and I am happy to have gotten in a few hard races with my teammates before the season begins.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Greenville Spring Series Weekend #2
This past weekend was the second weekend of the Greenville Spring Series. Both of the races were at the rolling 7 mile Donaldson Center Circuit. I love this course because the race is always super tough, and only the strongest riders are able to win here. Both of our races consisted of 8 laps. The Lupus Racing Team for the weekend consisted of Marcos, Thomas, Matthieu, Barry, and myself.
Right from the start Thomas launched into a breakaway of 3 riders. Matthieu and I followed moves and put ourselves into a 10 rider chase group. We didn't work very hard in this group. At one point everyone in my group slowed up, so I launched an attack to bridge to the front. It seemed I was only a carrot, so I stopped trying to bridge and was absorbed by the group. Our group was absorbed by the peloton, and Barry, Marcos, Matthieu, and I covered some attacks. Matthieu ended up in a group off the front that bridged to Thomas' group. Then on the 4th lap there was a massive pileup I could not avoid. I got up with ninja reflexes, so I figured I could catch the group. I chased hard, but the field was drilling it. I think they caught Thomas' break at this point, and the field was going bananas. A group of riders joined me and I decided to stick it out and finish the race. I figured it would be better training than sitting on the side of the road. Up the road the guys followed moves and got in breaks. I am not sure all that happened but Rolly Weaver ended up getting the win with Barry Miller as our best placed rider in 4th place.
For Sunday's race Marcos and Barry followed moves right from the start. This gave me the opportunity to go with the break of the day at the end of lap one. This split was a massive 20 rider move that consisted of 6 Hincapie riders. I decided I would sit on for a while. After 4 laps the Hincapie riders started attacking. There was a long time to go at this point, so I was cautious with the attacks I decided to follow. With 3 laps to go Brendan Rhim got away solo at what looked to me might be the win. The group seemed tired and unmotivated, so I attacked only to be caught 5 minutes later. The group seemed tired, so I attacked again and was caught by Charlie Hough, Rolly Weaver, Ian Garrison, and Mac Brennan. With a lap and a half to go Mac went and shortly after Rolly bridged up to him. At the end of the day attacks were flying left and right, and I was unable to respond to the numbers Hincapie had in my group. I was left with Charlie, Brendan, and Ian who surprisingly rotated with me. I stopped working with them with 2k to go, but I didn't have anything left for the sprint and arrived in 6th place. This was the the price of my two solo attacks with a couple laps to go. Mac Brennan took the win over Rolly Weaver. In hindsight one might think that the attacks I put in with a couple laps to go were not wise. I am not a sprinter, and I race to win. If first place is up the road, I will do what I can to get up there. I won't sit in and try to sprint for second or third place. I am happy with the effort I put in at the end of the day because I gave it my best and crossed the line with nothing left in the tank.
This was a tough race weekend out at Donaldson with my Lupus Racing Team teammates. I look forward to racing at River Falls and Donaldson next weekend for the final race weekend of the 2016 Greenville Spring Series.
Right from the start Thomas launched into a breakaway of 3 riders. Matthieu and I followed moves and put ourselves into a 10 rider chase group. We didn't work very hard in this group. At one point everyone in my group slowed up, so I launched an attack to bridge to the front. It seemed I was only a carrot, so I stopped trying to bridge and was absorbed by the group. Our group was absorbed by the peloton, and Barry, Marcos, Matthieu, and I covered some attacks. Matthieu ended up in a group off the front that bridged to Thomas' group. Then on the 4th lap there was a massive pileup I could not avoid. I got up with ninja reflexes, so I figured I could catch the group. I chased hard, but the field was drilling it. I think they caught Thomas' break at this point, and the field was going bananas. A group of riders joined me and I decided to stick it out and finish the race. I figured it would be better training than sitting on the side of the road. Up the road the guys followed moves and got in breaks. I am not sure all that happened but Rolly Weaver ended up getting the win with Barry Miller as our best placed rider in 4th place.
For Sunday's race Marcos and Barry followed moves right from the start. This gave me the opportunity to go with the break of the day at the end of lap one. This split was a massive 20 rider move that consisted of 6 Hincapie riders. I decided I would sit on for a while. After 4 laps the Hincapie riders started attacking. There was a long time to go at this point, so I was cautious with the attacks I decided to follow. With 3 laps to go Brendan Rhim got away solo at what looked to me might be the win. The group seemed tired and unmotivated, so I attacked only to be caught 5 minutes later. The group seemed tired, so I attacked again and was caught by Charlie Hough, Rolly Weaver, Ian Garrison, and Mac Brennan. With a lap and a half to go Mac went and shortly after Rolly bridged up to him. At the end of the day attacks were flying left and right, and I was unable to respond to the numbers Hincapie had in my group. I was left with Charlie, Brendan, and Ian who surprisingly rotated with me. I stopped working with them with 2k to go, but I didn't have anything left for the sprint and arrived in 6th place. This was the the price of my two solo attacks with a couple laps to go. Mac Brennan took the win over Rolly Weaver. In hindsight one might think that the attacks I put in with a couple laps to go were not wise. I am not a sprinter, and I race to win. If first place is up the road, I will do what I can to get up there. I won't sit in and try to sprint for second or third place. I am happy with the effort I put in at the end of the day because I gave it my best and crossed the line with nothing left in the tank.
This was a tough race weekend out at Donaldson with my Lupus Racing Team teammates. I look forward to racing at River Falls and Donaldson next weekend for the final race weekend of the 2016 Greenville Spring Series.
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