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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