Sometimes athletes need some extra work, even elite professional athletes can use a little one on one time to help to dial in their craft. Our new Pro team has shown some good results since the start of the year but they are by no means perfect....yet. The difficulty is brining together a totally new group of guys and asking them to race like a perfectly oiled machine. This is not really a fair ask since our guys live all over the midwest and really only get time all together during races. Sometimes while racing you have to just know what your teammate is going to do, you have to trust in their ability and know that they will be there when they said.
Yesterday Matt, Shane, and I attended the Monsters of the Midway at the University of Chicago. This is a completely flat course on a long wide palisade on the UoChi campus. The road is a pretty tough with lots of cracks and pot holes. If the road was ever improved this would be a unreal super fun course. The condition of the course added a level of difficulty for sure. The level of talent at the race was quite high with 10 Ego Sammy's riders, a similar number of xXx riders, Cole House, Chad Hartley, and a handful of other very strong riders. For the most part our team strives to fight for control of the race but with our low numbers we were going to do as little as possible. This meant we would have to get a bit lucky with our timing but it also meant we could work on our techniques.
Matt, Shane, and I would try to make our way into any moves that showed any real promise and if we were not successful we would lead out Shane for the sprint. Matt works for the Astellas Pro cycling team so he has picked up some great techniques from them this year and we were going to practice them today.
The weather was too darn cold for May so I spent a good hour and a half warming up and trying to work out all the car legs from the night before. We lined up at back of the field and waited for the officials to get everything set. Luckily we did not wait too long and we were on our way in the normal speedy fashion. I took my time making it to the front and rolled off the front with a few moves that looked promising but went nowhere. Finally a move went up the road that looked to be the move and Matt had made it in. Cole House, Chad Hartley, two Ego Sammy's riders and a host of others. The problem was there were just too many guys in there. Once I realized there were too many up the road I should have positioned myself to be ready for the counter that was for sure going to go but hindsight and all. With just a few feet before the break was caught a counter attack was launched out of that by Cole House. That move started with two and swelled to 6 which was the winning number. There was not enough firepower left in the field to bring the move back. So it was time to practice our lead out work. With 7 laps to go we lined up with Matt, myself, and then Shane as our sprinter. Matt had to do his best to stay out of the wind as 7 laps is a LOOONG way to go for one guy, but we also had to position ourselves in a way to not get trapped and left out of position. Matt did a great job getting us around the course and keeping us in position. With one to go our lack of numbers hurt us a bit as we were swarmed by the pack. Shane was telling me we had to go! I found a gap and Shane did a great job to stay glued to my wheel. With only two turns to go Matt made his way back up to me and I jumped on his wheel again. I made a mistake at this point and did not make it through a hole Matt had gone through. This is something I will have to work on, I can't lose that wheel! It took me a few seconds but I was back on Matt's wheel, but Matt had slowed slightly to wait for us. This cost of a bit of speed for the last turn. We improved our position going through turn 3 and into turn 4. Coming out of turn 4 Shane jumped hard and had a lot of speed. He was able to make up a lot of spots and then waited for those in front of him to fade before going again. It was a long sprint, at least 400+ meters long. Shane ended the day 9th over all and 3rd in the field sprint. Sure we love to win, but getting some of our technical goals for the day was a big plus for us.
We all felt much better about the ride this week compared to last weekend at Urbana. Sometimes you need to fail hard to know how to improve.
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Urbana Grand Prix
Urbana Grand Prix
Grant Erhard
5/3/15
The forecast was a high of 84 degrees, sun and wind; making for a fun fast race. The course at the Urbana Grand Prix in Urbana, Illinois was mainly through a park with 1.6 miles of winding roads with some small rollers and a slight up hill approximately 200 meters from the finish line. Our team of the day consisted of Nick, Shane, Matt, James and myself. We went into the race with a plan to go for preems, get Shane either in the break of lead him out for the field sprint. With a handful of fast guys we had a few wheels we could follow, and Sammy's P/b EGO with almost 9 guys we wouldn’t have to do a ton of work or so we thought. The race started off kinda of slow I was a bit far back and began moving up while a series of small attacks went as teams started to stretch their legs. A couple of laps went by and a preem was announced so I moved to my spot near the front to be ready if some one jumped. Sure enough about half way through two members of Sammy's jumped and got a small gap. I delayed to be the first to jump on board because we had a long way to go still for the lap and didn’t want to be forced to pull. A couple of random guys jumped but didn’t really commit to the effort and left a gap open. I took my time jumping around these two and gained slowly on the duo. The two Sammy's riders never looked back which allowed me to sneak up on them and at the bottom of the hill going into the finish, I went around them easily and was able to coast through the line. The two went by me committing to the gap so I jumped on board hoping for a free ride. I was not wanting to work with the two Sammy's riders until the gap was set and we weren’t being chased. But they were not on the same page about towing me around and quickly began trying to force me to work. Fighting not to work a rider got away, at the same moment the field was just a few seconds back but wouldn’t finish the chase leaving me and the one other Sammy's rider in the wind. We dangled for a few laps off the front till we were caught. My team went to the front and began chase. With 8 Sammy's riders still in the field they began to block and were doing a very good job doing so. I recovered and moved up to help in the chase. As the lead grew each lap riders began to grow frustrated by Sammy's coordination in blocking. I've always said that when blocking, you know you are doing it right when riders start getting mad. What sucks is that I was on the receiving end of this along with the rest of the field.
My team began to run out of gas in the heat, and Shane was sitting in waiting for the end. I went to the front and began to pull back the solo Sammy's rider. With two or three other riders from various teams working, and the Sammy's wall of bikes at the front, we were able to push the pace to bring back the solo rider, Dustin Morici. Once Dustin was back in the field we only had 2 laps to go. I was feeling rather tiered and began to drop back in the whittled down field; one, to catch my breath, and two, find Shane and move him up. I recovered quickly because the pace had drastically come down as Sammy's was at the front slowly winding up their lead out for their sprinter. I must commend their team coordination, they block well together, then immediately found one another for a lead out; true teamwork. Entering the last lap I was able to find Shane slipping off the back of the field as the heat had taken its toll and he was cramping bad. He told me to leave him so I began moving back up. With 1.5 miles to move up I took my time as the pace was still not very fast. Nearing the front I found a good line out of the wind and was able to coast up to about 8th wheel. With a Astellas Pro cycling rider Hogan Sills sitting 3rd I knew where I wanted to be. Sammy's however had their guy lined up near him and were trying to push everyone away. I pushed back, came underneath their blocks and found myself sitting just to the left of Hogan from Astellas. With about 250 meters left I began to wind my sprint up. But I guess great minds think alike and Hogan went half a second before me and was FAST out the saddle. I dug deep pushing harder and harder pounding over the hill pushing wide to close the door of anyone trying to come over me. But again a half second too late as a rider was able to sneak over the top of me. I kept sprinting and came in for 3rd with no problem.
Todays race was really fun. I went to Urbana to race for my teammates. Even thou things didn’t go as planned I was happy that I could do all the work that I did and still be able to sprint at the end. What this tells me is that as our entire team gets stronger I will be able to help them even more than I had hoped.
Grant Erhard
5/3/15
The forecast was a high of 84 degrees, sun and wind; making for a fun fast race. The course at the Urbana Grand Prix in Urbana, Illinois was mainly through a park with 1.6 miles of winding roads with some small rollers and a slight up hill approximately 200 meters from the finish line. Our team of the day consisted of Nick, Shane, Matt, James and myself. We went into the race with a plan to go for preems, get Shane either in the break of lead him out for the field sprint. With a handful of fast guys we had a few wheels we could follow, and Sammy's P/b EGO with almost 9 guys we wouldn’t have to do a ton of work or so we thought. The race started off kinda of slow I was a bit far back and began moving up while a series of small attacks went as teams started to stretch their legs. A couple of laps went by and a preem was announced so I moved to my spot near the front to be ready if some one jumped. Sure enough about half way through two members of Sammy's jumped and got a small gap. I delayed to be the first to jump on board because we had a long way to go still for the lap and didn’t want to be forced to pull. A couple of random guys jumped but didn’t really commit to the effort and left a gap open. I took my time jumping around these two and gained slowly on the duo. The two Sammy's riders never looked back which allowed me to sneak up on them and at the bottom of the hill going into the finish, I went around them easily and was able to coast through the line. The two went by me committing to the gap so I jumped on board hoping for a free ride. I was not wanting to work with the two Sammy's riders until the gap was set and we weren’t being chased. But they were not on the same page about towing me around and quickly began trying to force me to work. Fighting not to work a rider got away, at the same moment the field was just a few seconds back but wouldn’t finish the chase leaving me and the one other Sammy's rider in the wind. We dangled for a few laps off the front till we were caught. My team went to the front and began chase. With 8 Sammy's riders still in the field they began to block and were doing a very good job doing so. I recovered and moved up to help in the chase. As the lead grew each lap riders began to grow frustrated by Sammy's coordination in blocking. I've always said that when blocking, you know you are doing it right when riders start getting mad. What sucks is that I was on the receiving end of this along with the rest of the field.
My team began to run out of gas in the heat, and Shane was sitting in waiting for the end. I went to the front and began to pull back the solo Sammy's rider. With two or three other riders from various teams working, and the Sammy's wall of bikes at the front, we were able to push the pace to bring back the solo rider, Dustin Morici. Once Dustin was back in the field we only had 2 laps to go. I was feeling rather tiered and began to drop back in the whittled down field; one, to catch my breath, and two, find Shane and move him up. I recovered quickly because the pace had drastically come down as Sammy's was at the front slowly winding up their lead out for their sprinter. I must commend their team coordination, they block well together, then immediately found one another for a lead out; true teamwork. Entering the last lap I was able to find Shane slipping off the back of the field as the heat had taken its toll and he was cramping bad. He told me to leave him so I began moving back up. With 1.5 miles to move up I took my time as the pace was still not very fast. Nearing the front I found a good line out of the wind and was able to coast up to about 8th wheel. With a Astellas Pro cycling rider Hogan Sills sitting 3rd I knew where I wanted to be. Sammy's however had their guy lined up near him and were trying to push everyone away. I pushed back, came underneath their blocks and found myself sitting just to the left of Hogan from Astellas. With about 250 meters left I began to wind my sprint up. But I guess great minds think alike and Hogan went half a second before me and was FAST out the saddle. I dug deep pushing harder and harder pounding over the hill pushing wide to close the door of anyone trying to come over me. But again a half second too late as a rider was able to sneak over the top of me. I kept sprinting and came in for 3rd with no problem.
Todays race was really fun. I went to Urbana to race for my teammates. Even thou things didn’t go as planned I was happy that I could do all the work that I did and still be able to sprint at the end. What this tells me is that as our entire team gets stronger I will be able to help them even more than I had hoped.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Inside Speed Week
Matt Kelley
SBR Quantum Racing domestic rider.
USA Crits SpeedWeek report.
Headphones on and up. Up a little more. Drowning out the screaming techno blaring up and down the street. Dulling the din of caged combatants crashing past in one minute forty second intervals. Ragged guitar smashing gets my eyes seeing red. Bass rhythms regulate the pounding of my heart. Wake me up, shake me up, whip me up. Headphones up.
Fidget with my display settings. Fidget with my shoe settings. Fidget with my gloved fingers. An official is stamping and bellowing a hundred paces in front of me. The setting sun is blinding. The roaring crowd is deafening. The rhythmic hammer fall of my heart matches the beat of a clock counting down to zero. Zero. Zero.
A whistle shrieks and the breath of a hundred sons are suspended for a hundred moments.
My chariot is fire. My blood is foam. My grip is steel. Charging between pools of light and sound I can hear the snorting and cursing of battles waging around me. I can not see but feel my way through the bodies and machines. Elbows and hips and teeth gnash around sharp corners. Money is snatched. More money is snatched. The crowd, drunken, pushes closer to the gates. Eager for blood. Thirsting for the fight. Urging us on with balled fists to go faster, faster, faster still.
The clock inexorably beats toward exhaustion. Courage my heart, we must go on. My teeth are bared. My eyes sting with salt. Fingernails tearing through my gloves. The pain is endurable; my mantra, my religion. The pain is endurable. My collapsing body is strapped to my machine. Every corner is a nightmare. The machine is fighting me, bucking to be unleashed. The enemy surrounding me are ghosts from another time. I'm racing towards the brightest light. I'm sprinting for that golden pool of relief and reward. I reach out with all my heart. Yet still I hear the rejoicing of victor and vicarious. The golden light shepherds me past it's warm embrace. My head bows under the heavy yoke of suffering not yet released.
I cruise through the light, the din of the crowd, the revelry of the victorious. Into the darkness. The cool places. The silence. I listen to my breathing. Ragged and gulping. My body is fire. My heart is coal. Tonight was lost. It will not be my last. Golden light I am coming for you. For now, headphones up. Headphones up.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Tour de Hills
Tour de Hills
Cat ¾
Ryan Toedebusch
Harrison Arkansas
April 18, 2015
I made my way south to the Ozarks for my 2nd go at the Tour de Hills road race. Last year I raced as a cat 5 and ended up getting 2nd to Zach Cobb from SBC-racing. Coming back as a 3 and racing the ¾’s, I was hoping for stiffer competition and a large field. The weather was not looking good with clouds and rain in the forecast. Seems this may have scared away many riders for there was only 16 in my category.
The course is deemed the Jasper disaster, in reference to the 3 major climbs that it contains and Jasper is the town where the climbing fun begins. 10:10 am start and it looked like the weather would hold, at least for the start. The first 20 miles out of Harrison were flat and I used these to warm up the legs since I was late to register. I pulled to the front for a few miles and opened up the fuel lines (ie: capillaries). Hit the first climb, Pruit climb (1.2 miles 6.2%avg) and (what felt like to me) screamed up it with the pack of ~30 still intact (cat ¾ started with Masters). This was just enough to open the legs up before Mt. Sherman climb (3.2 miles 7.1%avg). This climb started hard and quickly there were only 6 of us left. One dude from Panda Racing Dev got up the road and stayed away until the finish to win. I narrowly hung on for the duration of this climb. I was dropped but never lost sight of the group and fought like hell to regroup just before the dope and bomber descent that was to come. I find these moments in racing to be very rewarding. I take opportunities like this to really test myself – mostly mentally. I didn’t want to lose sight of them, my legs were telling me otherwise but I rode my pace and my tempo and was able to latch back up before the descent – cool!
Since the ¾ cat started with Masters – we had these guys intermingled with us, which made keeping track of bib numbers important for me. I was 3rd/4th on the road at all times after the first climb. Coming down from Mt. Sherman I took some moments to slam some calories before the real descending started. The last climb was Ponca (2.7 miles 7.5%avg) and I recall this one hurting last year. Awesomely for me this year, while it was painful, it was over much faster than I remembered, with mostly uneventful riding up with a group of 4 riders. Now that the deciding terrain was out of the way, I just had to hold off a few chasing riders in my race to secure a podium spot.
The last 20 miles were false flats and some more bomber descents. I worked hard with 3 riders, 2 were masters and one dude was in my cat, who had bridged back up after Ponca. He told me that he was 2nd last year in the ¾, so I knew he was capable. He was cramping and asked to get pulled in but wouldn’t contest me for 3rd. Being a skeptic – I wasn’t sure, dude seemed nice but I didn’t take any chances. These last miles I was teetering on full-gassed and as we pulled into town, I made sure to save enough juice to out sprint my guy, even if he made a truce. I was able to outsprint both Masters guys and the other cat ¾ to get my last spot on the podium. All in all – great day of racing and it was great prep for Joe Martin this weekend. I have to say that this race is legit and suits me well.
Thanks SBR Quantum Racing and all of our sponsors.
Cat ¾
Ryan Toedebusch
Harrison Arkansas
April 18, 2015
I made my way south to the Ozarks for my 2nd go at the Tour de Hills road race. Last year I raced as a cat 5 and ended up getting 2nd to Zach Cobb from SBC-racing. Coming back as a 3 and racing the ¾’s, I was hoping for stiffer competition and a large field. The weather was not looking good with clouds and rain in the forecast. Seems this may have scared away many riders for there was only 16 in my category.
The course is deemed the Jasper disaster, in reference to the 3 major climbs that it contains and Jasper is the town where the climbing fun begins. 10:10 am start and it looked like the weather would hold, at least for the start. The first 20 miles out of Harrison were flat and I used these to warm up the legs since I was late to register. I pulled to the front for a few miles and opened up the fuel lines (ie: capillaries). Hit the first climb, Pruit climb (1.2 miles 6.2%avg) and (what felt like to me) screamed up it with the pack of ~30 still intact (cat ¾ started with Masters). This was just enough to open the legs up before Mt. Sherman climb (3.2 miles 7.1%avg). This climb started hard and quickly there were only 6 of us left. One dude from Panda Racing Dev got up the road and stayed away until the finish to win. I narrowly hung on for the duration of this climb. I was dropped but never lost sight of the group and fought like hell to regroup just before the dope and bomber descent that was to come. I find these moments in racing to be very rewarding. I take opportunities like this to really test myself – mostly mentally. I didn’t want to lose sight of them, my legs were telling me otherwise but I rode my pace and my tempo and was able to latch back up before the descent – cool!
Since the ¾ cat started with Masters – we had these guys intermingled with us, which made keeping track of bib numbers important for me. I was 3rd/4th on the road at all times after the first climb. Coming down from Mt. Sherman I took some moments to slam some calories before the real descending started. The last climb was Ponca (2.7 miles 7.5%avg) and I recall this one hurting last year. Awesomely for me this year, while it was painful, it was over much faster than I remembered, with mostly uneventful riding up with a group of 4 riders. Now that the deciding terrain was out of the way, I just had to hold off a few chasing riders in my race to secure a podium spot.
The last 20 miles were false flats and some more bomber descents. I worked hard with 3 riders, 2 were masters and one dude was in my cat, who had bridged back up after Ponca. He told me that he was 2nd last year in the ¾, so I knew he was capable. He was cramping and asked to get pulled in but wouldn’t contest me for 3rd. Being a skeptic – I wasn’t sure, dude seemed nice but I didn’t take any chances. These last miles I was teetering on full-gassed and as we pulled into town, I made sure to save enough juice to out sprint my guy, even if he made a truce. I was able to outsprint both Masters guys and the other cat ¾ to get my last spot on the podium. All in all – great day of racing and it was great prep for Joe Martin this weekend. I have to say that this race is legit and suits me well.
Thanks SBR Quantum Racing and all of our sponsors.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Hillsboro Roubaix
P1/2
Jesse Siemen
This year was my first Hillsboro race and come to find out my last. It sounds like after 14 years of putting on the event, it will be no more. It is really unfortunate to lose another opportunity to participate in a local road race, but it’s pretty easy to understand why. The great folks who organize and put on these races have to really have a love and passion for the event to go through all they do with little tangible benefit. With that said, it was a top notch event that was run incredibly well and I’m glad I had the opportunity to participate. Thank-you Hillsboro crew!
BJ and I did a couple recon laps of the final loop with the cobbles around town before the race started. While the bricks looked pretty tame and smooth, it was enough to rattle you. I find riding on bricks like that similar to loose gravel or sand, where you have to keep the power down and coasting is not an option. BJ gave me some tips on what to expect through the feed zone and heading out of town (i.e. it will be fast).
A pretty good field of 60 some riders lined up at the start with some quality riders. The race started out pretty calm after the neutral roll out. It wasn’t a leisurely pace, but it also wasn’t too crazy. Within the first few miles, several people flatted, including BJ. Nick and I got together to discuss the option to drop back and try to pull him back up, but we knew he had some company back there to chase with from other people that flatted and opted not risking losing a couple more guys in case we weren’t able to make contact again.After many attacks and failed attempts to form breaks, a good looking move formed on the back half of the first lap. A bunch of people split off the front. Grant was the only one in the move. By the time I found an opportunity to join them, they had a decent, but manageable gap to bridge across. I made a hard attack and found myself solo coming across. It ended up being one of those situations where they were right there, but I couldn’t quite make it. I just dangled for a while. It’s a terrible feeling to know you are that close to being able to get back in a draft, but your legs just don’t respond. I latched back on to the pack with my tail between my legs thinking the race was over.
However, surprisingly the break wasn't gaining much ground on us. I made a couple attempts on the
second lap to try to bridge, but was finally able to on the third lap. Shortly after I made it, the group
really slowed and everybody that was left in the race was back on. We cruised through the last lap with some small moves being made, but nothing was sticking. Overall, the race was pretty fast paced, with a lot of surges, so everybody was starting to feel it as we approached town. I followed a strong move from Korte Hammer Down up the hill into town. We formed a little gap with one other guy, but nobody wanted to commit to leading it out through the first turn onto the bricks. I ended up being the one to do the honors. I was not going full out with the hopes of trying to slot in a few guys back. Grant decided to drill the downhill and buzzed by me at mach speed. I slotted in third into the 2nd to last corner. I gave Grant and the other rider a cushion to make it difficult for someone to come around me and latch onto Grant. One guy passed me (eventual winner) and I came 4th into the last finishing stretch hitting the wind. It was a long drag to the finish line. I lost a handful of spots and ended up 9th.
Grant again was on the podium in 2nd. Overall, a good hard race that was good prep for the upcoming Joe Martin Stage Race.
Jesse Siemen
This year was my first Hillsboro race and come to find out my last. It sounds like after 14 years of putting on the event, it will be no more. It is really unfortunate to lose another opportunity to participate in a local road race, but it’s pretty easy to understand why. The great folks who organize and put on these races have to really have a love and passion for the event to go through all they do with little tangible benefit. With that said, it was a top notch event that was run incredibly well and I’m glad I had the opportunity to participate. Thank-you Hillsboro crew!
BJ and I did a couple recon laps of the final loop with the cobbles around town before the race started. While the bricks looked pretty tame and smooth, it was enough to rattle you. I find riding on bricks like that similar to loose gravel or sand, where you have to keep the power down and coasting is not an option. BJ gave me some tips on what to expect through the feed zone and heading out of town (i.e. it will be fast).
A pretty good field of 60 some riders lined up at the start with some quality riders. The race started out pretty calm after the neutral roll out. It wasn’t a leisurely pace, but it also wasn’t too crazy. Within the first few miles, several people flatted, including BJ. Nick and I got together to discuss the option to drop back and try to pull him back up, but we knew he had some company back there to chase with from other people that flatted and opted not risking losing a couple more guys in case we weren’t able to make contact again.After many attacks and failed attempts to form breaks, a good looking move formed on the back half of the first lap. A bunch of people split off the front. Grant was the only one in the move. By the time I found an opportunity to join them, they had a decent, but manageable gap to bridge across. I made a hard attack and found myself solo coming across. It ended up being one of those situations where they were right there, but I couldn’t quite make it. I just dangled for a while. It’s a terrible feeling to know you are that close to being able to get back in a draft, but your legs just don’t respond. I latched back on to the pack with my tail between my legs thinking the race was over.
However, surprisingly the break wasn't gaining much ground on us. I made a couple attempts on the
second lap to try to bridge, but was finally able to on the third lap. Shortly after I made it, the group
really slowed and everybody that was left in the race was back on. We cruised through the last lap with some small moves being made, but nothing was sticking. Overall, the race was pretty fast paced, with a lot of surges, so everybody was starting to feel it as we approached town. I followed a strong move from Korte Hammer Down up the hill into town. We formed a little gap with one other guy, but nobody wanted to commit to leading it out through the first turn onto the bricks. I ended up being the one to do the honors. I was not going full out with the hopes of trying to slot in a few guys back. Grant decided to drill the downhill and buzzed by me at mach speed. I slotted in third into the 2nd to last corner. I gave Grant and the other rider a cushion to make it difficult for someone to come around me and latch onto Grant. One guy passed me (eventual winner) and I came 4th into the last finishing stretch hitting the wind. It was a long drag to the finish line. I lost a handful of spots and ended up 9th.
Grant again was on the podium in 2nd. Overall, a good hard race that was good prep for the upcoming Joe Martin Stage Race.
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Tilles Park
P1/2
Grant's report
It was a rainy April afternoon at the start of the P/1/2 race in Tilles Park. With only about 25 riders starting because of the weather, and three teams with 4 or more riders we knew who to watch. Being on one of the teams who had 4 riders we had the upper hand and were able to dictate most of the
race. Our plan was to have two of our guys Nick and Shane who are our sprinters sit in and wait for the sprint or a late break to roll with. Myself and Jesse where going to attack often, scoop up preems, and try to make a break happen. This is harder than it sounds traditionally because the course is very flowy with no real turns. At the get go I knew I didn’t want to be in the field long because of the rain and spray from the tires made it near impossible to see. After only a few laps a Gateway Harley Davidson rider attacked and I was able to cover the move getting a gap rather quickly. The two of us started taking some hard pulls extending our gap to just over 7 seconds and counting I was a bit worried about this only because of how early it was in the race and not knowing how motivated the rest of the field was to chase. After 3 more laps a teammate of my break partner bridged up to us. This made me panic just a bit because we now had an established gap but I was also out numbered in the break. This was not ideal but I was willing to work with them because we were quickly putting time on the field. Now at +30 seconds I knew we were away and was motivated to try and lap the field. With a few words of motivation to my new friends in the break we successfully lapped the field with 18 laps to go.
Now in the field I took a sigh of relief knowing that I was guaranteed a podium spot. I moved up to a better position not wanting to be back to far incase one of the two from the break decided they to attack again. One ended up attacking but Nick was quick to cover and roll with him. I watched as he just flew away and Nick blowing up from the effort. I do not race for second and when Nick fell off his wheel I launched my attack to bridge up to him. I got a gap quickly but looking back soon saw that I not only brought the third member of the original break but another one of his teammates. This was not at all good because neither would pull naturally not wanting to chase their down teammate. I was left to bridge up to him myself or just sit up and let him ride away. That was not an option so the chase resumed I knew that right when I would make the catch his teammates would attack me hoping I would be gassed. I was right, the second I got on his wheel, boom, attack. I responded quickly and covered the move only to be attacked again. Luckily I had my wits about me and let the new member of the break roll off, he was still down a lap and didn't matter. Back to the three amigos from the original break; the duo began to attack me one after the other. I was against the ropes at this point. They both were determined to drop me and ride away. I hung in, stayed focused and covered every attack the two threw at me. The two riders were at this point, wasted. With just 5 laps to go I sat at the front of the group taking the inside of every corner and straight away to keep an eye on them. We were losing time rapidly now and the field was gaining fast. With 2 laps to go a random rider bridged up to us, I forced him to to sit in front and pull, telling him I would not work with him because I was worried about the win. Entering the last lap the new break member kept the pace up which allowed me to sit on his wheel and position myself for the sprint. Still trying to keep an eye out for a late attack from the other two riders. Entering the last 200 meters I began to wind my sprint up just sitting and waiting for the two riders to go. Right when one jumped I went.
Taking the inside line to keep the second rider from coming under neath me I stayed in the saddle then jumped hard a second time opening up my sprint taking the win. Im very happy with this win because of all the work that I had to do to get it. The odds were against me but I was able to fight through all that and pull out a strong victory for the team, sponsors and myself.
Nick's report
Rain had been on the tap for this Sunday all week. Everyone was glued to to their phones checking the radar every few minutes. Tilles is a fairly safe course with no real turns to speak of, mostly gradual bends. Probably the best course for an early season rain soaked race. With the rain we were down a few riders, we have some guys who have had some really bad luck racing in the rain and they opted to play it safe. With Joe Martin coming next weekend and all of the guys opting out I was okay with that. Tilles is a fun race, but nothing as big as Joe Martin.
We lined up with Grant, Shane, Jesse, and myself. There were two other teams lined up with the same numbers, Gateway Harley Davidson, and DogFish Racing. The field was small, only 20 guys showed up, but there was plenty of firepower. One of the Gateway Harley guys had already raced in his collegiate race earlier in the morning, and he was in a break that lapped the field. All of them are beasts! DogFish was no slouch either so we would need to watch them. And there were plenty of single guys like Devin Clark to watch out for.
Our plan for the day was simple, two of our guys were going to be on break away duty, and two other guys were going to try to sit in and be fresh for a sprint if it came to that. Normally this race ends in a sprint, but with the small field and wet weather, a break was a pretty good bet.
That bet paid off in just three laps. Grant and two Gateway Harley riders, Connor Brown and Micah Engle, went away quickly! The field tried to chase pretty hard but no one was able to organize enough, no one else was able to bridge, and the remaining Gateway Harley riders and our riders sat near or on on the front making things hard for other teams. To tell the truth Dennis Ramirez of Gateway Harley was on anything that moved, and had plenty of power to do way more, as he showed later in the race.
About halfway through the race Grant and his party lapped us and moved to the front. We all moved up and set up right behind the Gateway Harley guys. Fairly quickly Micah took off and I was on his wheel, that was not easy! Quickly we were out of sight of the field. He asked me to come around a few times but I was not able to at first, I also really didn't know if I wanted to come around. It was not helpful to Grant for me to come around, but finally I did and tried to pick a good easy spot for me to hit the front. I made sure to put out as few watts as I could to maybe slow Micah down a bit. He came through pretty quick after I hit the front and I had to work again to stay on his wheel. He pulled almost a full lap before asking me to come around again, but again I waited. He asked again later and I finally came around and slowed. At this point we were coming through the start finish and I was being told to sit in, I knew I should probably just be doing that so I nodded that I understood and then Micah took off HARD! I knew he was probably going to do that to me but I also thought I was going to be able to handle it, I was wrong. I need to remember that I am racing guys who are working to go pro, and they are on another level than I am, and to handle that accordingly. So I blew it! Now my team was going to have to chase, Grant was now sitting 2nd and 1st is riding away up the road with nothing to slow him down. I kept my speed up and got ready for the pack to catch me where I would pull on the front with the rest of the team. I was really pissed at myself.
Grant knew what he was going to do though. He took off! Unfortunately Gateway was glued to his wheel and not just one rider but two. This was not good odds for Grant this time. If he caught Micah he would be outnumbered 3 to 1. When he was up the road with two other guys early on I knew for a fact he was going to have no problem, but 3 guys worried me. Grant however, is becoming a pretty smart racer and he has power to spare, I didn't need to worry.
With Grant going up the road the race lit up. Guys were attacking left and right and it looked like there was going to be two more groups on the road. Jesse, Shane, and I were not looking good for making the 2nd group. Shane hit the front and did a great pull, he came off and dug hard to come in behind me and Jesse turned on the afterburner. He was able to close down the gap to the group ahead of us and we were back in the game. I am not sure how long between us catching back onto the first chase group and 6 laps to go but when we hit 6 to go DogFish put all their guys on the front.
While all this is going on with us, Grant was up the road covering every attack Gateway Harley threw at him. He finally got a bit of a break when Dennis Ramirez took off. He was a lap down so Grant did not bother to follow him. This meant Gateway could not attack anymore as they might pull Grant up to Dennis, so their speed went way down.
Meanwhile DogFish is pulling on the front, they quickly went through their first three riders and John Straub took the front and he pulled for almost 2 laps. Finally I hit the front and I had Shane, my sprinter on my wheel. In my low oxygen state I was trying to keep things moving smoothly but not catch the leading group. I forgot that those guys were going to win no matter what....... low oxygen remember. While I am pulling Scott Ogilivie attacked and was able to bridge up to Grant. I thought this could be good for Grant as it changed up the dynamic, Grant would for sure be able to use Scott to his advantage. With half a lap to go, the rest of the field decided I was going too slow for them now and everyone went flying by, my day done. Shane was positioned well, Jesse was pretty smoked and on the back. From my position on the course I could see the sprint open up. The field was closing very quickly and Grant decided to start leading things out. The field was coming around the final bend and the leading 3 were opening up the sprint. Grant kept the two Harley riders on his left and watched them to make sure they stayed just behind him. Grant was able to out power them and take the win. It was an amazing result from our point of view!!!
It was an exciting day, the rain made things interesting and thankfully the race was quite safe. It is so fun to race with some guys who will hopefully be doing some big things very soon. Great job team!!!
Thanks Reid for the great photos!!!!!!!!
Grant's report
It was a rainy April afternoon at the start of the P/1/2 race in Tilles Park. With only about 25 riders starting because of the weather, and three teams with 4 or more riders we knew who to watch. Being on one of the teams who had 4 riders we had the upper hand and were able to dictate most of the
race. Our plan was to have two of our guys Nick and Shane who are our sprinters sit in and wait for the sprint or a late break to roll with. Myself and Jesse where going to attack often, scoop up preems, and try to make a break happen. This is harder than it sounds traditionally because the course is very flowy with no real turns. At the get go I knew I didn’t want to be in the field long because of the rain and spray from the tires made it near impossible to see. After only a few laps a Gateway Harley Davidson rider attacked and I was able to cover the move getting a gap rather quickly. The two of us started taking some hard pulls extending our gap to just over 7 seconds and counting I was a bit worried about this only because of how early it was in the race and not knowing how motivated the rest of the field was to chase. After 3 more laps a teammate of my break partner bridged up to us. This made me panic just a bit because we now had an established gap but I was also out numbered in the break. This was not ideal but I was willing to work with them because we were quickly putting time on the field. Now at +30 seconds I knew we were away and was motivated to try and lap the field. With a few words of motivation to my new friends in the break we successfully lapped the field with 18 laps to go.
Now in the field I took a sigh of relief knowing that I was guaranteed a podium spot. I moved up to a better position not wanting to be back to far incase one of the two from the break decided they to attack again. One ended up attacking but Nick was quick to cover and roll with him. I watched as he just flew away and Nick blowing up from the effort. I do not race for second and when Nick fell off his wheel I launched my attack to bridge up to him. I got a gap quickly but looking back soon saw that I not only brought the third member of the original break but another one of his teammates. This was not at all good because neither would pull naturally not wanting to chase their down teammate. I was left to bridge up to him myself or just sit up and let him ride away. That was not an option so the chase resumed I knew that right when I would make the catch his teammates would attack me hoping I would be gassed. I was right, the second I got on his wheel, boom, attack. I responded quickly and covered the move only to be attacked again. Luckily I had my wits about me and let the new member of the break roll off, he was still down a lap and didn't matter. Back to the three amigos from the original break; the duo began to attack me one after the other. I was against the ropes at this point. They both were determined to drop me and ride away. I hung in, stayed focused and covered every attack the two threw at me. The two riders were at this point, wasted. With just 5 laps to go I sat at the front of the group taking the inside of every corner and straight away to keep an eye on them. We were losing time rapidly now and the field was gaining fast. With 2 laps to go a random rider bridged up to us, I forced him to to sit in front and pull, telling him I would not work with him because I was worried about the win. Entering the last lap the new break member kept the pace up which allowed me to sit on his wheel and position myself for the sprint. Still trying to keep an eye out for a late attack from the other two riders. Entering the last 200 meters I began to wind my sprint up just sitting and waiting for the two riders to go. Right when one jumped I went.
Taking the inside line to keep the second rider from coming under neath me I stayed in the saddle then jumped hard a second time opening up my sprint taking the win. Im very happy with this win because of all the work that I had to do to get it. The odds were against me but I was able to fight through all that and pull out a strong victory for the team, sponsors and myself.
Nick's report
Rain had been on the tap for this Sunday all week. Everyone was glued to to their phones checking the radar every few minutes. Tilles is a fairly safe course with no real turns to speak of, mostly gradual bends. Probably the best course for an early season rain soaked race. With the rain we were down a few riders, we have some guys who have had some really bad luck racing in the rain and they opted to play it safe. With Joe Martin coming next weekend and all of the guys opting out I was okay with that. Tilles is a fun race, but nothing as big as Joe Martin.
We lined up with Grant, Shane, Jesse, and myself. There were two other teams lined up with the same numbers, Gateway Harley Davidson, and DogFish Racing. The field was small, only 20 guys showed up, but there was plenty of firepower. One of the Gateway Harley guys had already raced in his collegiate race earlier in the morning, and he was in a break that lapped the field. All of them are beasts! DogFish was no slouch either so we would need to watch them. And there were plenty of single guys like Devin Clark to watch out for.
Our plan for the day was simple, two of our guys were going to be on break away duty, and two other guys were going to try to sit in and be fresh for a sprint if it came to that. Normally this race ends in a sprint, but with the small field and wet weather, a break was a pretty good bet.
That bet paid off in just three laps. Grant and two Gateway Harley riders, Connor Brown and Micah Engle, went away quickly! The field tried to chase pretty hard but no one was able to organize enough, no one else was able to bridge, and the remaining Gateway Harley riders and our riders sat near or on on the front making things hard for other teams. To tell the truth Dennis Ramirez of Gateway Harley was on anything that moved, and had plenty of power to do way more, as he showed later in the race.
About halfway through the race Grant and his party lapped us and moved to the front. We all moved up and set up right behind the Gateway Harley guys. Fairly quickly Micah took off and I was on his wheel, that was not easy! Quickly we were out of sight of the field. He asked me to come around a few times but I was not able to at first, I also really didn't know if I wanted to come around. It was not helpful to Grant for me to come around, but finally I did and tried to pick a good easy spot for me to hit the front. I made sure to put out as few watts as I could to maybe slow Micah down a bit. He came through pretty quick after I hit the front and I had to work again to stay on his wheel. He pulled almost a full lap before asking me to come around again, but again I waited. He asked again later and I finally came around and slowed. At this point we were coming through the start finish and I was being told to sit in, I knew I should probably just be doing that so I nodded that I understood and then Micah took off HARD! I knew he was probably going to do that to me but I also thought I was going to be able to handle it, I was wrong. I need to remember that I am racing guys who are working to go pro, and they are on another level than I am, and to handle that accordingly. So I blew it! Now my team was going to have to chase, Grant was now sitting 2nd and 1st is riding away up the road with nothing to slow him down. I kept my speed up and got ready for the pack to catch me where I would pull on the front with the rest of the team. I was really pissed at myself.
Grant knew what he was going to do though. He took off! Unfortunately Gateway was glued to his wheel and not just one rider but two. This was not good odds for Grant this time. If he caught Micah he would be outnumbered 3 to 1. When he was up the road with two other guys early on I knew for a fact he was going to have no problem, but 3 guys worried me. Grant however, is becoming a pretty smart racer and he has power to spare, I didn't need to worry.
With Grant going up the road the race lit up. Guys were attacking left and right and it looked like there was going to be two more groups on the road. Jesse, Shane, and I were not looking good for making the 2nd group. Shane hit the front and did a great pull, he came off and dug hard to come in behind me and Jesse turned on the afterburner. He was able to close down the gap to the group ahead of us and we were back in the game. I am not sure how long between us catching back onto the first chase group and 6 laps to go but when we hit 6 to go DogFish put all their guys on the front.
While all this is going on with us, Grant was up the road covering every attack Gateway Harley threw at him. He finally got a bit of a break when Dennis Ramirez took off. He was a lap down so Grant did not bother to follow him. This meant Gateway could not attack anymore as they might pull Grant up to Dennis, so their speed went way down.
Meanwhile DogFish is pulling on the front, they quickly went through their first three riders and John Straub took the front and he pulled for almost 2 laps. Finally I hit the front and I had Shane, my sprinter on my wheel. In my low oxygen state I was trying to keep things moving smoothly but not catch the leading group. I forgot that those guys were going to win no matter what....... low oxygen remember. While I am pulling Scott Ogilivie attacked and was able to bridge up to Grant. I thought this could be good for Grant as it changed up the dynamic, Grant would for sure be able to use Scott to his advantage. With half a lap to go, the rest of the field decided I was going too slow for them now and everyone went flying by, my day done. Shane was positioned well, Jesse was pretty smoked and on the back. From my position on the course I could see the sprint open up. The field was closing very quickly and Grant decided to start leading things out. The field was coming around the final bend and the leading 3 were opening up the sprint. Grant kept the two Harley riders on his left and watched them to make sure they stayed just behind him. Grant was able to out power them and take the win. It was an amazing result from our point of view!!!
It was an exciting day, the rain made things interesting and thankfully the race was quite safe. It is so fun to race with some guys who will hopefully be doing some big things very soon. Great job team!!!
 |
| The power is in his hair. |
 |
| Tough ride but we had a great time and worked great today |
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| Grant still fresh as a daisy |
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| Shane did some great work today |
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| Lack of oxygen |
Boulder Roubaix
Boulder Roubaix 2015
By: Sarah Lukas
The first race of the season. The first race since your legs really screamed in pain last season. The first race to gauge where your fitness is. The first race to light the fire. My first race this season did all of that and more.
I am beginning my second full season with SBR Quantum Racing and couldn’t be more thrilled than the first race I ever did with the team. With a new season ahead of us brings a lot of new sponsors,
teammates, and experiences. Since relocating to Boulder, Colorado, I am psyched to still have a connection to Missouri where I felt like I started living my life again. I am so appreciative to be working with Nick again and the rest of the guys associated with the team. Not only my direct teammates, but to have the support of sponsors Swim Bike Run – St. Louis, Federal Ag Supply, Town Square Pub and Grub, St Louis Tattoo Company, Precision Health Group, The Cup, The Olinger Insurance Company, LLC., and some awesome returning sponsors including Quantum Solutions and Peak Nutrition, 2015 is shaping up to be insane. I mean, come on, we have St Louis Tattoo Company and The Cup supporting us…tattoos and cupcakes?! Hell yea!
Boulder Roubaix had been screaming my name since I moved out to Boulder. The 56.1 mile Roubaix road race consisted of three 18.7 mile laps with 43% paved roads and 57% gravel. I was going into the race overcoming being sick that week prior, but with some solid base miles in my legs. At the same time, my expectations were relatively mellow with the hopes that I will have a better judgment of how to structure my next couple months of racing and training.
The weather was perfect – very little wind, sun shining, temperatures in the low-70s, and a great group of women in the Pro ½ field. It was primarily made up of two teams, Evol. and Stages. Having the field ultimately dominating one of the two teams can make it tough to be a part of the tactics, but we would later find out that the teams wouldn’t be our only challenge for the day.
Lap 1 was quick tempo. I felt comfortable; the gravel sections were fun and I definitely thrived there as I have always been most comfortable on dirt and technical sections. I surprised myself with my
consistency on the climbs. The group stayed together a majority of our 18 mile lap. Small attacks here and there, accelerations occurred, and as we came through on lap 2 we had one rider from Evol solo off the front. We didn’t begin a solid chase until the rider began to fatigue on lap 2 and we could get her in our line of sight again. This was the beginning of quite an interesting lap. I found my legs starting to twinge here and there. Little spasms of muscle cramps on-setting, typical early-season fatigue, and so it goes. The field has split a little as we dropped riders the first lap. The peloton grouped back together and we were comfortably cruising. About half-way through we were rerouted by our moto due to a fire that had spread on our race course. We weren’t quite sure the cause of the fire, whether a controlled burn got out-of-hand, or some brush fire started. Nonetheless, we had to tack on some extra mileage (about 4-5 miles). The turns got confusing, the group split even more, then the field was stopped completely at a stop sign along with a men’s field that was in front of us. The delegation of rerouting back on course occurred and we were neutralized. While stopping and getting off the bike is never ideal mid-race, it did allow us to regroup and get some much-needed hydration. After the neutralization led us back to the race course, we let a couple of the riders who had a slight gap gain that 15 second advantage back, then we were back at it! It was a quick restart and my legs were not ready. I was red-lined on the back of the group until the end of the strange, detoured lap. Leading into the 3rd lap I was alone and dropped off the back. I wasn’t the only one in this case. A few riders didn’t find much enjoyment carrying on riding alone and DNF-ed. A DNF was not the way I wanted to start my season. I pressed on and finished the lap, slightly slow and cruisey, but finished.
A lot of things were pulled from the race, one being a huge motivation and confidence. While I would’ve loved to have finished in the bunch sprint, I was really happy with my fitness leading into it, how I felt that day, and what I accomplished in the race (it is only early-April, after all). Tactically, it was refreshing to get back into a road race and remember what racing feels like. I am left excited for what is to come and cannot wait to meet up with some of our men’s team and show people what we can do!
By: Sarah Lukas
The first race of the season. The first race since your legs really screamed in pain last season. The first race to gauge where your fitness is. The first race to light the fire. My first race this season did all of that and more.
I am beginning my second full season with SBR Quantum Racing and couldn’t be more thrilled than the first race I ever did with the team. With a new season ahead of us brings a lot of new sponsors,
teammates, and experiences. Since relocating to Boulder, Colorado, I am psyched to still have a connection to Missouri where I felt like I started living my life again. I am so appreciative to be working with Nick again and the rest of the guys associated with the team. Not only my direct teammates, but to have the support of sponsors Swim Bike Run – St. Louis, Federal Ag Supply, Town Square Pub and Grub, St Louis Tattoo Company, Precision Health Group, The Cup, The Olinger Insurance Company, LLC., and some awesome returning sponsors including Quantum Solutions and Peak Nutrition, 2015 is shaping up to be insane. I mean, come on, we have St Louis Tattoo Company and The Cup supporting us…tattoos and cupcakes?! Hell yea!
Boulder Roubaix had been screaming my name since I moved out to Boulder. The 56.1 mile Roubaix road race consisted of three 18.7 mile laps with 43% paved roads and 57% gravel. I was going into the race overcoming being sick that week prior, but with some solid base miles in my legs. At the same time, my expectations were relatively mellow with the hopes that I will have a better judgment of how to structure my next couple months of racing and training.
The weather was perfect – very little wind, sun shining, temperatures in the low-70s, and a great group of women in the Pro ½ field. It was primarily made up of two teams, Evol. and Stages. Having the field ultimately dominating one of the two teams can make it tough to be a part of the tactics, but we would later find out that the teams wouldn’t be our only challenge for the day.
Lap 1 was quick tempo. I felt comfortable; the gravel sections were fun and I definitely thrived there as I have always been most comfortable on dirt and technical sections. I surprised myself with my
consistency on the climbs. The group stayed together a majority of our 18 mile lap. Small attacks here and there, accelerations occurred, and as we came through on lap 2 we had one rider from Evol solo off the front. We didn’t begin a solid chase until the rider began to fatigue on lap 2 and we could get her in our line of sight again. This was the beginning of quite an interesting lap. I found my legs starting to twinge here and there. Little spasms of muscle cramps on-setting, typical early-season fatigue, and so it goes. The field has split a little as we dropped riders the first lap. The peloton grouped back together and we were comfortably cruising. About half-way through we were rerouted by our moto due to a fire that had spread on our race course. We weren’t quite sure the cause of the fire, whether a controlled burn got out-of-hand, or some brush fire started. Nonetheless, we had to tack on some extra mileage (about 4-5 miles). The turns got confusing, the group split even more, then the field was stopped completely at a stop sign along with a men’s field that was in front of us. The delegation of rerouting back on course occurred and we were neutralized. While stopping and getting off the bike is never ideal mid-race, it did allow us to regroup and get some much-needed hydration. After the neutralization led us back to the race course, we let a couple of the riders who had a slight gap gain that 15 second advantage back, then we were back at it! It was a quick restart and my legs were not ready. I was red-lined on the back of the group until the end of the strange, detoured lap. Leading into the 3rd lap I was alone and dropped off the back. I wasn’t the only one in this case. A few riders didn’t find much enjoyment carrying on riding alone and DNF-ed. A DNF was not the way I wanted to start my season. I pressed on and finished the lap, slightly slow and cruisey, but finished.
A lot of things were pulled from the race, one being a huge motivation and confidence. While I would’ve loved to have finished in the bunch sprint, I was really happy with my fitness leading into it, how I felt that day, and what I accomplished in the race (it is only early-April, after all). Tactically, it was refreshing to get back into a road race and remember what racing feels like. I am left excited for what is to come and cannot wait to meet up with some of our men’s team and show people what we can do!
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Sunny King
Race Recap
John Pratt
Sunny King Criterium
March 28, 2015
Sunny King Criterium was my first race for SBR Quantum. I am so excited to be a part of the
team. Our support we have received from BMC, SBR, and teammates, like Nick Grigsby, who
made all the team meals has been nothing short of humbling.
Sitting at the start line, I realized that I had plenty of nerves. I was trying to play it cool, but it was hard to fake it sitting up there was a herd of professionals and seasoned amateurs. My only other professional race had ended with a throw-up DNF after just 20 minutes, so I had plenty to be nervous about.
The opening laps saw Grant, Shane, Matt and I up towards the front of the race. After 7 laps, I made it up to the very front of the race and was up far enough to consider sprinting for a preme. As soon as I hit the front I had this weird sensation that I was really tired and that I couldn’t figure out why I’d want to be at the front. After 20 of 60 laps, my stomach turned into a knarly knot of undigested food and nerves. Big races get me anxious and I just can’t keep my stomach quiet, so now I was racing around near the back of the peloton trying to keep my gut quiet. I wasn’t having much success. Thankfully, the winning 7-man break got away at this time, and the overall pace of the race slowed down. I was sitting near the back, just biding my time and trying to recover from my upset stomach. With about 30 laps to go, I realized that I was starting to find a groove and I started moving back toward the front.I got really excited when with 15 laps to go I was still feeling strong and felt I could sprint the race out. I was sitting around 30th-40th in the field. It was pretty fantastic to be pushing the limits behind UHC and Hincapie. Totally exhilarating! As the laps ticked down, I found that I was stronger than lot of the guys around me because gaps kept forming and I had to bridge across them. With 5 to go, I got gapped for good and missed out on the lead 33-man group. I tried bridging, but I don’t quite have the horsepower of UHC, so that didn't happen.
In the finale, I finished 4th in the second group with a strong 37th place finish. After the race, the announcer, Brad Sohner, gave me a big smile and told me that he had gotten an awesome pic from my ND teammates watching the livestream. I have to say, it was so cool to have family, friends, teammates, and sponsors all watching the race. Mostly, I was just out there having a blast. I haven’t smiled that much racing in a long time. Even with all the pain, it was one grand party. I can’t wait to keep racing for Swim Bike Run, BMC, and all my teammates. The support has been unreal.
Sunny King report
Nick Hand
This weekend the Domestic Elite guys, Grigs, Austin, and I headed down to Anniston AL to race in the Sunny King Crit and the Fort McClellon road race. Because of a cancelation earlier in the year the Sunny King Crit was now the first race of the NCC series. The team was really excited as this was the first time we were going to get most of the "pro" guys together and race against the best in the country.
For years I have been trying to pull together a team like this. I have never thought I would be a top level rider, but I have always loved to manage teams and building one from scratch with Quantum Racing has been a blast! So taking the next step and building this elite domestic squad has been really exciting for me. I could not have have done any of it without a LOT of help from a ton of people. First of those is my wife, I could never do any of the things that I do without her behind me, taking care of me and propping me up when I am down. Next is my team of guys who all have a desire to improve and be something more than what they could be on their own. A few of those guys are now helping me to manage the team as we grow which has been great since there are plenty of aspects of team ownership and management that I am not great at. Last is our sponsors, the people who pay the bills. We have a lot of new sponsors this year who are excited about being a part of something new with a desire to make it to the levels we wish to go. However there is one sponsor who has been there since the very start, Mike Rickey and Quantum Solutions has been there since day one. Not only as a sponsor but as a great friend and mentor. In another post I will go over all our great sponsors but for now back to Sunny King.
Sunny King is hosted in Anniston Alabama. A quaint little town with a lot of amazing history. The host housing we were provided was actually a very important building in the history of equal rights for African Americans in the 20th century. The team headed down Friday in order to get a good start to the day on Saturday. Grigsby did an amazing job with food for the team and had some amazing food for us before the guys got on the bikes to get the 10 hours of driving worked out of their legs. I had to head down to registration to set of a booth for my company TW Carbon and advertise my new product Race Care.
Austin, Grigsby, and I all had races early in the day. Austin had a great ride and looked strong in his race. Girgsby and I didn't do as well as we had hoped, but we were there to help the pro guys set up. When I got back from the 2's race the guys were all in their own stages of getting ready. Some were sleeping, some working on their bikes, others just relaxing. Grigsby got started at dinner for after the race and we got all the ducks in a row for the night's final race.
With the most of the team being NCC virgins we really wanted to see how it would work out. We went in with a plan but we were trying to not have too high of expectations. Mostly we wanted to see the guys give it everything they had and have fun. It is a long season and the key to it going well is all the guys jelling.
The race started off fast with Uhc sending a rider off the front from the gun. It only lasted a lap but the attacks did not stop. Grant and Shane were sitting pretty good up near the front, Brophy and John were about half way back, and Jesse looked to be struggling from the beggining. He was still recovering form a bad crash the week before so this was not unexpected. Jesse was the first out and John looked like he was starting to struggle. I was starting to worry this was going to be an early night for us. About 20 minutes in Shane was all of a sudden gone from the race. After starting so well the cold weather plaid havoc on his lungs and he wasn't able to continue. Soon after Grant started to have some serious mechanical problems which saw him go to the pits twice, once having to do a cx bike exchange and chase the field for 4 laps. He was able to catch back on but the effort put him too far in the red and even sitting in the field he couldn't recover. His night was over. Brophy and John were the only riders remaining. Now Brophy hanging in there was pretty amazing considering he can only see out of one eye!!! He looked like he was sitting pretty comfortable in the first quarter of the field for most of the race. Unfortunately his night was over with only about 10 laps to go, but I was pretty impressed by what I saw from him. The last man standing was John, as the race had progressed he seemed to get stronger. He was farther and farther up the field every lap. And when UHC went to the front of the field to destroy everyone, John just missed the front group by feet. Just a split second delay he made when he looked behind him while going up the front stretch could have been what did it. But John played it smart and slotted back into the group that did not make the split, which was still a sizable group. He was able to sprint to 37th place, just outside the money, but a great result for his first crack at the NCC.
When we all got back to the host housing Grigsby already had dinner ready. A huge amount of pasta and veggies. A few of us walked down the block after dinner for a couple drinks, and then it was time for bed. We had to be up at 6:30 the next morning for the Fort McClellon road race. This was not going to be fun for me at all.
Grigsby again made a great breakfast in the morning and Jesse had the coffee going when I rolled out of bed. He seemed like he had a lot of pep after last night's ride, a lot more than I had seen him have the last few times I saw him even. Once everyone had eaten their fill the guys got ready and headed out the door to ride over to the staging area of the race, about 5 miles away. I drove over as I was planning on leaving right after the race.
The course was a 20ish mile loop that featured 2 climbs on it. And from a Midwesterner's point of view, they were mountains! The first climb came at the end of the neutral roll out, and that is also pretty much when my race ended. The climb is only 2km long but near the top it gets steeper reaching close to a 20% grade. Even with my 28 tooth cassette that was too much for me. I was able to make it over the top with a couple other non climbers and we chased for a good while, but there was no use really. When we hit the second climb of the lap I pulled the plug and just hit my own rhythm. When I reached the spot where you turned to go to the first climb again, I asked the marshal there which way to get back to my car. I packed up and headed to the feed zone to help feed anyone left in the race.
When I got there it looked like Brophy was between a chase group and the main pack. John and Jesse were in the pack and looked good. Grant was out. I did not get a chance to talk with the other guys about their races as once the race was over Grant, Austin, and I headed home. But Grant struggle from a lack of sleep the night before. He was so pumped from racing he couldn't relax. He was able to hang with the strong climbers the first couple times up the climbs but his energy didn't hold. Austin had a good ride again but was pulled with one lap to go when he was not able to stick with the lead group over the harder of the two climbs. He still had a great showing and placed high in the standings.
It was great to see how we stack up in the big races. We have a lot of work to do, but when you just start out you have to work hard. I know we are going to see a lot of improvement this year. The team is pumped and eager to get in sync with each other. It will just take some time.
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Tour of St Louis
Last weekend was the first race of the regular season in St Louis. Tour of St Louis has been growing steadily over the last few years and this year was one of the best fields I had seen. Most of the strong teams that attended came with full squads and there was even a spattering of single strong men.
The race is three stages over two days with a time trial and two crits. Most of our team did not participate in the TT as we do not have the TT bikes to be competitive. Robin was our only Omnium contender and did a good TT but with the caliber of riders there he was coming into the first crit in 11th.
The plan in the weekend's first crit was to try and make something happen. This is a bit different than what we normally do, but we wanted to work on new strategies and you have to do it sometime. We started off throwing attacks pretty early in the race, one after another we were riding off the front or going in break aways. The speed of the race seemed pretty high and anything out front was pulled back pretty quickly by any team or person not represented. This made it tough for us, we have some very strong riders but at that speed, and how many attacks were going off, we were quickly struggling to catch our breath. Near the middle of the race Bj put in a big effort to bridge to a move that looked promising. As he neared the move riders in it attacked and Bj dug again to make it to them. Unfortunately once there that group was already fighting and Bj thought better of it and allowed himself to be swallowed along with all the break.
Our last plan was to line up the team to try and put our sprinter for the day Jason in a good position for the sprint. With 4 to go the team started to come together and we were getting lined up. I remember sitting first out of the team just waiting for the word go. I was hurting but was doing my best to try and hold a spot. We were not on the front and my job would be to move us up once everyone was there. That unfortunately for me, most of the team, and a lot of the field, wouldn't happen. With 2 to go there was a large crash that took me and everyone on the team out by Shane and Grant.
With only about 20 of the field left racing Shane did his best to help Grant move into a good spot for the sprint. Grant waited till the last second and was able to save a 2nd place for the team.
Sunday was on the Forest Park course. Flat with 6 turns and a lot of wind. We decided to go with a plan more suited to our strengths. I was not feeling great, and having a new bike delivered to me by our great sponsor Swim Bike Run that morning was proving a little hard to get set just right for me. I always take a few days to get everything dialed just right and every time I had to put any power into the bike my legs would fill with acid. I told the team I would do everything in my power to be where I needed to be, but the crash from the day before and the new bike was too much for my body to take.
The race was fast from the gun and the team did well to roll with as many attacks as we could. With our numbers we thought we would be able to be represented in just about every move. But that was probably a bit over zealous of us. At about 38 minutes into the race, I could no longer keep the pace. My legs just couldn't produce the watts required and I found myself going backwards. I pulled out of the race and became a fan for the rest of the guys finishing up.
With 10 laps to go the team started to line up for Grant. With the speeds so high nothing was going to stay away and it was best to save it all for one last go at it. With 3 laps to go Bj pulled hard to get Jesse and Grant to the front. This in itself looked like a very big effort and Bj was done. Jesse did his best to keep Grant at the front for the next lap, but they were swarmed when a slight lul came in the speed. They were separated but Grant jumped onto teammate Eric Finks' wheel who was able to get him to the last turn of the race. Grant opened up his sprint picking up a few spots and placed 8th. Not as good as he had hoped but still a fine showing.
The team learned a lot last weekend and I think we grew because of it. It is a whole new experience for us all and a lot of the new members still are learning how to integrate into the team. The only way to do that is to give it time.
This weekend the Pro squad as we call them is down in Anniston AL for the Sunny King Crit and Fort McClellon Road Race. I am really excited to see how they work this weekend. I will let you know in a few hours.....
The race is three stages over two days with a time trial and two crits. Most of our team did not participate in the TT as we do not have the TT bikes to be competitive. Robin was our only Omnium contender and did a good TT but with the caliber of riders there he was coming into the first crit in 11th.
The plan in the weekend's first crit was to try and make something happen. This is a bit different than what we normally do, but we wanted to work on new strategies and you have to do it sometime. We started off throwing attacks pretty early in the race, one after another we were riding off the front or going in break aways. The speed of the race seemed pretty high and anything out front was pulled back pretty quickly by any team or person not represented. This made it tough for us, we have some very strong riders but at that speed, and how many attacks were going off, we were quickly struggling to catch our breath. Near the middle of the race Bj put in a big effort to bridge to a move that looked promising. As he neared the move riders in it attacked and Bj dug again to make it to them. Unfortunately once there that group was already fighting and Bj thought better of it and allowed himself to be swallowed along with all the break.
Our last plan was to line up the team to try and put our sprinter for the day Jason in a good position for the sprint. With 4 to go the team started to come together and we were getting lined up. I remember sitting first out of the team just waiting for the word go. I was hurting but was doing my best to try and hold a spot. We were not on the front and my job would be to move us up once everyone was there. That unfortunately for me, most of the team, and a lot of the field, wouldn't happen. With 2 to go there was a large crash that took me and everyone on the team out by Shane and Grant.
With only about 20 of the field left racing Shane did his best to help Grant move into a good spot for the sprint. Grant waited till the last second and was able to save a 2nd place for the team.
Sunday was on the Forest Park course. Flat with 6 turns and a lot of wind. We decided to go with a plan more suited to our strengths. I was not feeling great, and having a new bike delivered to me by our great sponsor Swim Bike Run that morning was proving a little hard to get set just right for me. I always take a few days to get everything dialed just right and every time I had to put any power into the bike my legs would fill with acid. I told the team I would do everything in my power to be where I needed to be, but the crash from the day before and the new bike was too much for my body to take.
The race was fast from the gun and the team did well to roll with as many attacks as we could. With our numbers we thought we would be able to be represented in just about every move. But that was probably a bit over zealous of us. At about 38 minutes into the race, I could no longer keep the pace. My legs just couldn't produce the watts required and I found myself going backwards. I pulled out of the race and became a fan for the rest of the guys finishing up.
With 10 laps to go the team started to line up for Grant. With the speeds so high nothing was going to stay away and it was best to save it all for one last go at it. With 3 laps to go Bj pulled hard to get Jesse and Grant to the front. This in itself looked like a very big effort and Bj was done. Jesse did his best to keep Grant at the front for the next lap, but they were swarmed when a slight lul came in the speed. They were separated but Grant jumped onto teammate Eric Finks' wheel who was able to get him to the last turn of the race. Grant opened up his sprint picking up a few spots and placed 8th. Not as good as he had hoped but still a fine showing.
The team learned a lot last weekend and I think we grew because of it. It is a whole new experience for us all and a lot of the new members still are learning how to integrate into the team. The only way to do that is to give it time.
This weekend the Pro squad as we call them is down in Anniston AL for the Sunny King Crit and Fort McClellon Road Race. I am really excited to see how they work this weekend. I will let you know in a few hours.....
Sunday, March 15, 2015
2015 Frozen Waffle
P1/2/3
The course in Springfield was an eleven mile loop, with rollers, one big climb and has a
constant cross wind out of the south. We developed a plan to use the hill which is at the end of the lap to help launch a break from. Some where on the first lap a break rolled off the front made up of eight riders with two of our own in the move. We didn’t like the odds so we worked on the front and slowly brought it back. At the end of the first lap we attacked but the field wanted none of it and things stayed together for most of the race . With two laps to go we caught the break and decided to stop attacking keep it together and lead me out to the bottom of the hill and crush it there. Entering the last lap we began moving up together and set ourselves on the front setting a hard tempo. Our guys pulled for 6 miles keeping the field strung out and content on just waiting with us. Approaching the hill we began to rev up the pace keeping any would be attackers at bay. I was dropped off about 75 meters from the base of the climb so I just kept pushing the pace to keep from blowing up and getting swarmed. One rider attacked right at the bottom, I stood and began to sprint. Passing the Cyclery rider as he was running out of gas. My teammate, Matt Brophy, came around me like a rocket near the top of the climb. I began to chase him using him as a carrot as the field raced towards the finish line. I was able to fight through the pain and hang on to third as a Gateway Harley Davidson rider, Connor Brown, was able to sneak past at the line. The team did a great job communicating and working together. You can clearly see that our team is truly that, a team. We made plan and stuck to it, as a result of this we are starting 2015 out very strong.
Grant Erhard
The plan was set and it was going to be a fun one to make happen, in theory..... Like many of the best laid plans our plan A didn't go quite right as there were many variables we couldn't control. So we tried to roll with it. We had a contingency for what happened, but it took some time to execute as it involved committing what seemed to be a cardinal sin of racing. Pulling your own teammates back from a break away. But believe it or not we had decided that if we did not have a large advantage in the break than we would pull it back. When Phillip and I found ourselves in an 8 man break we were both quite surprised. We decided we would rotate around but soft pedaled when hitting the front. Most of the other riders were very interested in staying away, but all Phillip and I wanted was one of our lead guys to make it up to us, or for the team to pull us back.
Lap after lap went by and almost no one was in view. I was starting to get worried. Looking around the group there were a few riders that I did not know, but the ones I did, I knew they were better climbers than I was and the finish was quite a hard climb. Phillip might have been able to challenge for the win but I was not sure. We really wanted this break ended.
The team was able to bring the break back with two, 11 mile laps remaining, and a couple of the guys looked pretty worn out. Immediately there were a few flyers thrown but it looked like nothing else was going to get away, teams didn't want to let each other go. I dropped back and tried to get the story of how everyone was doing and try to regroup and put a new plan together. We decided we would make sure to get Grant and Brophy to the bottom of the final climb at the front. That meant we were going to do a lead-out to the final hill and let those guys sort the rest out. We got the plan passed around and followed wheels for the next lap.
With 3/4 of the final lap left we started to try and organize near the front. As we are still getting our shit together this did not go as smoothly as planned but most of the needed pieces were in place. With about 1/2 a lap left we were driving on the front. The goal was to put the rest of the field in the gutter to make it hard for the rest of the field. I do not know if we accomplished this as it seemed there were a good number of riders left when I pulled off before the hill, but you have to start trying these techniques and work out the kinks early in the year.
It was not as easy as we had hoped as a Mercy Kuat rider was really trying hard to throw a wrench in our lead-out. He was able to push Brophy back farther in the pack than he should have, but Grant was able to figure out the situation and did a great job gate keeping for us. With maybe 1km to go the Mercy Kuat rider attacked on a big downhill. We were able to control him and took control of the front again with ~700 meters to go. Bj put in a huge final pull and I was up. I did my best to keep up my speed but I was really hurting. Phillip pulled around me a little bit too soon though as I had a couple hundred meters left in me, but with that I was done. I watched Phillip motor away with Grant on his wheel. As they went by Grant asked who was on his wheel, I told him Josh Carter, who had one of his teammates on his wheel, and Brophy was 2-3 riders behind them. I gave Brophy one more verbal encouragement and watched the race ride away. Phillip looked like he was able to take Grant just about to the hill, where Grant lead himself out the rest of the way. As I heard it, Grant lead most of the way up the hill and Brophy came around him as they crested the rise. Brophy took a few bike-lengths lead while Grant sprinted it out with Connor Brown who pipped him on the line. So a 1st and a 3rd for the team was a great thing to hear when I finally rolled through, especially with the odd racing that had happened. Good things are coming!
Nick Hand
The course in Springfield was an eleven mile loop, with rollers, one big climb and has a
constant cross wind out of the south. We developed a plan to use the hill which is at the end of the lap to help launch a break from. Some where on the first lap a break rolled off the front made up of eight riders with two of our own in the move. We didn’t like the odds so we worked on the front and slowly brought it back. At the end of the first lap we attacked but the field wanted none of it and things stayed together for most of the race . With two laps to go we caught the break and decided to stop attacking keep it together and lead me out to the bottom of the hill and crush it there. Entering the last lap we began moving up together and set ourselves on the front setting a hard tempo. Our guys pulled for 6 miles keeping the field strung out and content on just waiting with us. Approaching the hill we began to rev up the pace keeping any would be attackers at bay. I was dropped off about 75 meters from the base of the climb so I just kept pushing the pace to keep from blowing up and getting swarmed. One rider attacked right at the bottom, I stood and began to sprint. Passing the Cyclery rider as he was running out of gas. My teammate, Matt Brophy, came around me like a rocket near the top of the climb. I began to chase him using him as a carrot as the field raced towards the finish line. I was able to fight through the pain and hang on to third as a Gateway Harley Davidson rider, Connor Brown, was able to sneak past at the line. The team did a great job communicating and working together. You can clearly see that our team is truly that, a team. We made plan and stuck to it, as a result of this we are starting 2015 out very strong.
Grant Erhard
The plan was set and it was going to be a fun one to make happen, in theory..... Like many of the best laid plans our plan A didn't go quite right as there were many variables we couldn't control. So we tried to roll with it. We had a contingency for what happened, but it took some time to execute as it involved committing what seemed to be a cardinal sin of racing. Pulling your own teammates back from a break away. But believe it or not we had decided that if we did not have a large advantage in the break than we would pull it back. When Phillip and I found ourselves in an 8 man break we were both quite surprised. We decided we would rotate around but soft pedaled when hitting the front. Most of the other riders were very interested in staying away, but all Phillip and I wanted was one of our lead guys to make it up to us, or for the team to pull us back.
Lap after lap went by and almost no one was in view. I was starting to get worried. Looking around the group there were a few riders that I did not know, but the ones I did, I knew they were better climbers than I was and the finish was quite a hard climb. Phillip might have been able to challenge for the win but I was not sure. We really wanted this break ended.
The team was able to bring the break back with two, 11 mile laps remaining, and a couple of the guys looked pretty worn out. Immediately there were a few flyers thrown but it looked like nothing else was going to get away, teams didn't want to let each other go. I dropped back and tried to get the story of how everyone was doing and try to regroup and put a new plan together. We decided we would make sure to get Grant and Brophy to the bottom of the final climb at the front. That meant we were going to do a lead-out to the final hill and let those guys sort the rest out. We got the plan passed around and followed wheels for the next lap.
With 3/4 of the final lap left we started to try and organize near the front. As we are still getting our shit together this did not go as smoothly as planned but most of the needed pieces were in place. With about 1/2 a lap left we were driving on the front. The goal was to put the rest of the field in the gutter to make it hard for the rest of the field. I do not know if we accomplished this as it seemed there were a good number of riders left when I pulled off before the hill, but you have to start trying these techniques and work out the kinks early in the year.
It was not as easy as we had hoped as a Mercy Kuat rider was really trying hard to throw a wrench in our lead-out. He was able to push Brophy back farther in the pack than he should have, but Grant was able to figure out the situation and did a great job gate keeping for us. With maybe 1km to go the Mercy Kuat rider attacked on a big downhill. We were able to control him and took control of the front again with ~700 meters to go. Bj put in a huge final pull and I was up. I did my best to keep up my speed but I was really hurting. Phillip pulled around me a little bit too soon though as I had a couple hundred meters left in me, but with that I was done. I watched Phillip motor away with Grant on his wheel. As they went by Grant asked who was on his wheel, I told him Josh Carter, who had one of his teammates on his wheel, and Brophy was 2-3 riders behind them. I gave Brophy one more verbal encouragement and watched the race ride away. Phillip looked like he was able to take Grant just about to the hill, where Grant lead himself out the rest of the way. As I heard it, Grant lead most of the way up the hill and Brophy came around him as they crested the rise. Brophy took a few bike-lengths lead while Grant sprinted it out with Connor Brown who pipped him on the line. So a 1st and a 3rd for the team was a great thing to hear when I finally rolled through, especially with the odd racing that had happened. Good things are coming!
Nick Hand
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Raymond Sapp Frozen Toes Memorial Road Race
Pro 1/2/3
Matt Brophy's race
I don't believe any cyclist could have asked for a nicer day to start off a season. The boys went over the game plan for the days 60 mile road race; keep the race together on the first lap, keep it hard, and then establish the days breakaway once we make the final right hand turn 10k out from the finish on the first lap. The race began far more docile than I had anticipated. After six months away from racing, I figured first lap of the race would be filled with wild attacks from the pent up energy build up after countless hours of indoor trainer rides. However, we rolled through the first few miles at an enjoyable 30kph or so. One rider was allowed to gain a decent advantage as we coasted around, but his effort was soon to be thwarted. Riders became antsy and attacks started going up the road. Grigsby, Hand, and Zuend kept things in control on the front, allowing Murphy, Erhard, and I to sit in and wait for the right moves. For the next half hour the pace was high and groups came and went. After making the last right turn on the first lap, LU/Astellas' Brandon "Monk" Feehery had a slight advantage. The front of the group began to slow going into one of the first rollers and I saw the opportunity to jump across. We worked together and the gap grew quickly. Through the finish, we had an advantage of roughly one minute. We worked together and lost sight of field as we began the second lap. We settled into a comfortable pace as the miles went by. Within the last 20km or so we began to see a group approaching. As we entered the final 10k we had about a 30 second gap. Being collegiate teammates, and roommates, Monk and I were not about to play cat and mouse with eachother and risk the chances of going 1-2. We picked up the pace as we finished off the final kilometers. The cat and mouse began as we approached the final roller up to the finish, knowing that we were going to stay clear of the chasers. I led into the base and anxiously awaited his move. Monk jumped with about 100-150 to go(don't really have any clue) and I was able to hop in his draft and come around him at the line. I don't think I could have pictured SBR Quantums first race together going any better. Everyone executed their jobs perfectly and we accomplished exactly what we set out to do. Now we just have to keep the momentum rolling and continue crushing souls!
Matt
Robin Zuend's point of view.
With the season delayed by a long winter we were finally ready to get underway at the wonderfully warm "Froze" Toes race. SBRQ lined up in the 1/2/3 field with a solid group of Brophy, Grant, Nick H, Nick G, Murphy and myself. Along with Lindenwood we had the two biggest teams in the race which was going to allow us some ability to dictate what was going to happen. The race started out pretty calm as everyone needed to take a little time get back into racing again. The SBRQ guys were all over the front keeping an eye on proceedings. Attacks of a couple guys went up the road for the first half of the lap but we kept everything pretty close together, which was our plan going in. 2/3 of the way in a couple guys got up the road and dangled there for 5 miles or so before we brought them back without too much fuss. On the long(ish) uphill drag near the finish Brophy broke away with Brandon Feehery. At this point the team went all in to make sure that Brophy stayed away. It should be noted that the entire road when heading east to west to the finish looked like it had been shelled by mortar fire. Hang on to the bars and hope you don't run into a hole, or somebody avoiding one runs into you. Many flats were had, but luckily none for our team. Over the course of the second lap SBRQ continued to be plastered over the front of the race, and for a long time the leading two were out of sight. About halfway through the second lap though the lead car came into view and the field started to make a concerted effort to bring them back. We had this covered by making sure that we always had someone in the top 2-3 guys to totally disrupt the rhythm of any chase attempt. This worked so well it started to frustrate some of the other guys, but we played it perfectly. Coming into the finishing hill the leading two had a couple hundred yards on the group but the team played it perfectly and Brophy outsprinted his breakaway companion for a well deserved win. I managed to hang out for a reasonable 8th place to help contribute a little money to the pool. I personally learned a lot about team tactics on the day and coming back with the perfect result definitely makes it worth it. The team played it perfectly and everybody put in huge efforts to make it happen. And to top it all off, there were #TheCup cupcakes waiting at the finish, what more could you want.
Category 3⁄4 Race Report
By: Austin Gomes
First Race of the Missouri Road Season, Raymond Sapp Memorial “Froze” Toes Road
Race. The course was a rather flat 4 corner 31 mile loop through the back roads of good
As a 3⁄4 racer in today’s race I quickly joined James, Phillip, and Ryan for a pre-race
discussion. With practically zero warm-up for most of us, the first 5 miles was used to
loosen up and get back into race mode.
After the “warm-up” part of the race the intensity started kicking up. I was anxious and
decided to take a few pulls and ramp up the pace. I figured I’d rather have a fast, more
challenging race than a slow mediocre race. The team put in multiple pulls and launched
multiple attacks but nothing was staying away. We then all communicated to ease off a
bit, and for myself and James to put in a few good hard efforts to spark something and
tire out the opponents. This seemed to work a little bit as we were spitting some off the
back but wasn’t working enough to burn our selves out in the process.
The race continued and started to come to an end. With roughly 5 miles to go I started
making my way back into the front group after being sucked backwards in the pack. We
were on a fast flat section of road when I pulled up along side Toedebusch. Since it was
his day I let him pull out and move his way to the front. From that point I didn’t realize
that we were within about 3 miles of the finish. This is the point when the road started
becoming super sketchy with pot holes every 3 seconds, gravel left and right. From my
perspective this was a very scary down hill and main stretch to the finish. With the center
line in hard effect I could not squeeze by on the outside to regain my top ten position for
the finishing climb. So I fought my way on the outside as hard as I could, sprinting up the
to the front for a tough fought 5th
place spot on the podium. As for James I am not sure where he came in...(sorry). But
overall we had a solid day with some fun racing.
That was my race in a nutshell.
place finish. Not as great as I hoped but I sort of did my job of getting Ryan
place finish. Meanwhile Phillip sprinted hard for a 3rd
Phillip's View
Matt Brophy's race
I don't believe any cyclist could have asked for a nicer day to start off a season. The boys went over the game plan for the days 60 mile road race; keep the race together on the first lap, keep it hard, and then establish the days breakaway once we make the final right hand turn 10k out from the finish on the first lap. The race began far more docile than I had anticipated. After six months away from racing, I figured first lap of the race would be filled with wild attacks from the pent up energy build up after countless hours of indoor trainer rides. However, we rolled through the first few miles at an enjoyable 30kph or so. One rider was allowed to gain a decent advantage as we coasted around, but his effort was soon to be thwarted. Riders became antsy and attacks started going up the road. Grigsby, Hand, and Zuend kept things in control on the front, allowing Murphy, Erhard, and I to sit in and wait for the right moves. For the next half hour the pace was high and groups came and went. After making the last right turn on the first lap, LU/Astellas' Brandon "Monk" Feehery had a slight advantage. The front of the group began to slow going into one of the first rollers and I saw the opportunity to jump across. We worked together and the gap grew quickly. Through the finish, we had an advantage of roughly one minute. We worked together and lost sight of field as we began the second lap. We settled into a comfortable pace as the miles went by. Within the last 20km or so we began to see a group approaching. As we entered the final 10k we had about a 30 second gap. Being collegiate teammates, and roommates, Monk and I were not about to play cat and mouse with eachother and risk the chances of going 1-2. We picked up the pace as we finished off the final kilometers. The cat and mouse began as we approached the final roller up to the finish, knowing that we were going to stay clear of the chasers. I led into the base and anxiously awaited his move. Monk jumped with about 100-150 to go(don't really have any clue) and I was able to hop in his draft and come around him at the line. I don't think I could have pictured SBR Quantums first race together going any better. Everyone executed their jobs perfectly and we accomplished exactly what we set out to do. Now we just have to keep the momentum rolling and continue crushing souls!
Matt
Robin Zuend's point of view.
With the season delayed by a long winter we were finally ready to get underway at the wonderfully warm "Froze" Toes race. SBRQ lined up in the 1/2/3 field with a solid group of Brophy, Grant, Nick H, Nick G, Murphy and myself. Along with Lindenwood we had the two biggest teams in the race which was going to allow us some ability to dictate what was going to happen. The race started out pretty calm as everyone needed to take a little time get back into racing again. The SBRQ guys were all over the front keeping an eye on proceedings. Attacks of a couple guys went up the road for the first half of the lap but we kept everything pretty close together, which was our plan going in. 2/3 of the way in a couple guys got up the road and dangled there for 5 miles or so before we brought them back without too much fuss. On the long(ish) uphill drag near the finish Brophy broke away with Brandon Feehery. At this point the team went all in to make sure that Brophy stayed away. It should be noted that the entire road when heading east to west to the finish looked like it had been shelled by mortar fire. Hang on to the bars and hope you don't run into a hole, or somebody avoiding one runs into you. Many flats were had, but luckily none for our team. Over the course of the second lap SBRQ continued to be plastered over the front of the race, and for a long time the leading two were out of sight. About halfway through the second lap though the lead car came into view and the field started to make a concerted effort to bring them back. We had this covered by making sure that we always had someone in the top 2-3 guys to totally disrupt the rhythm of any chase attempt. This worked so well it started to frustrate some of the other guys, but we played it perfectly. Coming into the finishing hill the leading two had a couple hundred yards on the group but the team played it perfectly and Brophy outsprinted his breakaway companion for a well deserved win. I managed to hang out for a reasonable 8th place to help contribute a little money to the pool. I personally learned a lot about team tactics on the day and coming back with the perfect result definitely makes it worth it. The team played it perfectly and everybody put in huge efforts to make it happen. And to top it all off, there were #TheCup cupcakes waiting at the finish, what more could you want.
Category 3⁄4 Race Report
By: Austin Gomes
First Race of the Missouri Road Season, Raymond Sapp Memorial “Froze” Toes Road
Race. The course was a rather flat 4 corner 31 mile loop through the back roads of good
As a 3⁄4 racer in today’s race I quickly joined James, Phillip, and Ryan for a pre-race
discussion. With practically zero warm-up for most of us, the first 5 miles was used to
loosen up and get back into race mode.
After the “warm-up” part of the race the intensity started kicking up. I was anxious and
decided to take a few pulls and ramp up the pace. I figured I’d rather have a fast, more
challenging race than a slow mediocre race. The team put in multiple pulls and launched
multiple attacks but nothing was staying away. We then all communicated to ease off a
bit, and for myself and James to put in a few good hard efforts to spark something and
tire out the opponents. This seemed to work a little bit as we were spitting some off the
back but wasn’t working enough to burn our selves out in the process.
The race continued and started to come to an end. With roughly 5 miles to go I started
making my way back into the front group after being sucked backwards in the pack. We
were on a fast flat section of road when I pulled up along side Toedebusch. Since it was
his day I let him pull out and move his way to the front. From that point I didn’t realize
that we were within about 3 miles of the finish. This is the point when the road started
becoming super sketchy with pot holes every 3 seconds, gravel left and right. From my
perspective this was a very scary down hill and main stretch to the finish. With the center
line in hard effect I could not squeeze by on the outside to regain my top ten position for
the finishing climb. So I fought my way on the outside as hard as I could, sprinting up the
to the front for a tough fought 5th
place spot on the podium. As for James I am not sure where he came in...(sorry). But
overall we had a solid day with some fun racing.
That was my race in a nutshell.
place finish. Not as great as I hoped but I sort of did my job of getting Ryan
place finish. Meanwhile Phillip sprinted hard for a 3rd
Phillip's View
Froze Toes Race Report
Two weeks ago Froze Toes had been postponed with Snow/Ice and high temps in the low teens for the day. While I was bummed about the delay of the official start to Race Season I was for sure the weather was guaranteed to be better. Oh how right I was! I woke up this morning and Race Day was here with the forecast calling for 62 degrees and Sunny! I loaded the truck up and was off on my way in plenty of time...or so I thought! Due to all my excitement I had managed to forget about the time change and quickly realized I would be cutting it close to missing sign up and even the race! Fortunately, I made it to the race with a few minutes to spare to get signed up, get my new SBR Quantum Racing Kit, and get dressed to go racing!
With several team members spending the week in AZ training for the upcoming season only 4 riders were left to carry the SBR Quantum Racing Flag today! Today's team consisted of Austin, James, Ryan and Myself. We grouped at the starting line to discuss race tactics and survey our competition. After a few moments we quickly realized we had a great shot at some really good results today!
With the race underway, SBRQ quickly went to the front to set the pace high from the beginning and we remained there to control the race. Early in the race several attacks were launched but the group was quick to pull them back in so a breakaway was going to be very difficult to set up. Throughout the race we all took our turns making moves and testing the legs of the field to gauge who we thought would be there at the end but no moves seemed to be working to establish a break. Austin and James each attacked several times and every time they did the field got a little weaker and responded slightly slower each time. Setting up a great opportunity for a Break!
Around the halfway mark Ryan launched a perfectly timed solo attack as we rounded a sharp corner and the field had to slow significantly to make it through in one piece. He instantly pulled a pretty good sized gap and fully committed himself to the attack. James and myself found ourselves in a good position at the front to provide blocking for Ryan to try and grow his lead quickly. The field however, had different plans and swarmed around us and sprinted to catch Ryan about 30 seconds later. Great try though!!
The pace remained quick for the majority of the race and the team faded back a few spots to get some cover and "re-charge" our batteries prior to the finish rapidly approaching us! While we were fading top the back an attack was launched and he quickly established a gap and held the gap for a few miles. A few failed attempts of a small chase group to catch him the field got organized and pulled him back in with around 7 miles to go. This was setting up to be a large group sprint!
With the field all back together and the center line rule being strictly enforced(Open Course with the race taking place in only one lane of traffic, if the center line is crossed and you gain positions you are disqualified from the race.) I knew it was time to move up and get in position for the team to get the best results. We made the final turn onto the access road running along I-70 and oh boy was it rough! Riddled with potholes and rocks made positioning even more important now as there was only one smooth line in the whole road and the entire field would be fighting for it! I found myself on the front rotating with three other guys (Lindenwood, Big shark, and Zach). Knowing how important position was going to be I was willing to do a little more work in an effort to ensure the team had guys in position at the end.
The Finishing climb was in sight and I was sitting in a good position around 4th 5th wheel back with my Team mate Ryan in tow! We were ready for the sprint and to make a great effort for the win at the line! Halfway up the climb Ryan shot around me and looked to be in position for the win but that changed in a flash with a rider cutting left and into his line due to the many holes in the road. While this was not good for Ryan it opened up a gap to my right and I seized spot and the 200 meter sprint for the line was on. I made up a few spots and crossed the line in 3rd, about 2 feet out of first! Ryan still managed to finish 5th which is awesome given the way he was cut off and lost most of his momentum! Austin and James were caught in the traffic of the field and finished inside the top 15!
All in all it was a great race and the team did a great job of riding together and working for each other! I am very excited for the next race as we will have the full team! I would like to say a big Thank you to everyone who supports the SBR Quantum Racing team and myself! With a big Thank you to our great sponsors; Swim Bike Run-St. Louis, Quantum Solutions, Federal Ag Supply, Town Square Pub and Grub, St Louis Tattoo Company, Precision Health Group, The Cup, The Olinger Insurance Agency LLC, and Peak Nutrition! We appreciate the support!
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