9/30/2008

A GREAT RIDE FOR A GREAT CAUSE!!!

This past weekend was the MS 150 ride in Orange Beach, AL. The ride had a great turn out and the Cureseekers were a big part of that. We had over 20 riders, with many MS rookies and lots of Top Bananas, push themselves and do a really great ride. We hope to grow the team again next year and get more riders wearing the "Polka Dots of Power". We would like to thank everyone who participated in the ride and especially all of the volunteers who made it such a great experience. Thank you!! Join the movement.




9/23/2008

NEW BIKE DAY!!

Ian just picked up his new ride, a custom painted Gunnar Roadie. The color is "Pink Panther" with an old school panel look. The frame was built by the same masters that build Waterford steel frames using 0S2 tubing. The parts mix includes SRAM Rival drivetrain, Fulcrum Racing 7 wheels, Profile carbon fork and Thomson stem and post. Check out http://www.gunnarbikes.com/ for more

9/16/2008

Tour of Missouri

So, I just flew home from the Tour of Missouri and boy are my arms tired. Ok, all kidding aside. My arms are tired, but that is because I was on moto duty the whole week. Riding around on the back of a moto carrying a set of wheels for six stages (I was along side the road for the TT) makes the arms a bit tired. I'll fill in with some more details later.

9/10/2008

9/04/2008

Musings (continued)

Sunday - US Pro Road Race Championships. But first, Josh and I were selected to "support" the Stars and Stripe Challenge Ride. This was a charity ride sponsored by Palmetto Peloton Project, a local non-profit organization that raises money for cancer advocacy and research. They had a turn out of about 500 riders. This meant we had to get up early to get our car ready and get to the course for a 7:30 am rollout. This, while everyone else was still snug in their beds. Oh well, that's the breaks. We snuck back to the hotel after parading the riders around for one lap of the course. We joined the rest of the Mavic crew and got the other cars and the motos ready for the big show.

If you ever get the chance to ride in the race caravan at a pro race, DO IT. NASCAR has nothing on the pro caravan. Screaming along, inches from the car in front of you. You've got cars on the left moving up, cars on the right moving back, and don't forget about the motos. Every time you turn around, there's another moto making your life interesting. They buzz about like you just through a rock at a bee hive.

We supported this race "euro" style, which meant Mavic 2 and 3 (the cars) and Mavic moto 2 actually started in front of the peloton. Once a break got off the front, Mavic moto 2 would drop behind them until the gap was sufficient for a car to drop in. Then, if a chase group developed, the same thing would happen. Moto drop back, then a car, with the other car dropping behind the break. Confused yet? I was initially. But since I wasn't driving I just focused on jumping.

The course consisted of a small circuit and a large loop. The total race consisted of 3 small circuits, 4 big loops, and 3 more small circuits. The first circuits were supposed to be somewhat parade laps. WRONG!!! About a half-mile into the race, the racers decided it was game on and hit full gas. The front of the caravan was still pretty compacted at this point. So, everyone was pushing hard to make room for the race. Nothing like starting the race flat out. That is why one of the TV motos dumped it on the first lap.

Once we got to the bigger circuits, things calmed down a bit. Then we hit Paris Mountain and it did it's job. A group of 12 got off the front. We dropped in behind them (after screaming down the back side of the mountain). Each time up the mountain, the break would shed some people and the group would close. The last time up the climb, those that were left pretty much regrouped. With this, we were pushed to the front and stayed there for the remainder of the race. We were diverted off course before the finish, so I didn't get to see it. But if you take a look at the finish line photo, you'll see Mark (driving the moto) and Collin (peeking over Mark's shoulder) had a front row seat and managed to get the Mavic moto front and center in the money shot.

It was an uneventful race for me as I didn't exit the car. I did see Collin pull a mussette bag out of a chainring from the back of the moto. However, the ride itself was anything but boring. Josh was pushing the Saab 9-3 Aero Sportcombi to its limits to hold our position. That, and he had a goal of making one of the VIP's that rode with us car sick. He didn't succeed in that, but I was sliding around like crazy trying to hang on to my seat and a set of wheels. Fun times!!!!

It's a good thing I have skinny legs.

Now, off to Missouri...

9/02/2008

Musings from the jump seat of Mavic 2 (or How I spent my Labor Day weekend)

I got the call a while ago that I would be on the Mavic crew for the US Pro Championships weekend in Greenville. Labor Day weekend couldn't get here fast enough. I had some major news throw a kink in life early in the week, but by the weekend, I was ready to go.

I arrived on Friday, just in time to take care of some of the mundane tasks involved with the running of a neutral support crew. That involved washing the truck (the BIIIIG yellow one - fortunately, the trailer was staying at the hotel for the weekend so we didn't have to wash that), sorting the wheels (yes, all of them) and neutral bikes, and just making sure everything looked good for the sponsors. The first lesson I learned was to make sure you have plenty of clearance when jumping into the truck. I jumped in to grab some gear and BAM, caught a SRAM Force rear derailleur in the top of the head. OUCH, lesson learned and only minor bleeding.

Saturday was the time trial. We set up five pits along the circuit. I spent the day under a yellow tent watching the riders scream through a pretty hairy off-camber turn. I was sure someone was going to stack it in that corner, but everyone made it through safely. These are pros after all. However, you could still definitely tell who had spent some time training on their TT bikes. They were sailing through the corner in their aerobars and maintaining speed. The others...SKETCHY. Sitting up, grabbing the brakes, and changing lines several times through the turn.

We finished our official duties in time to head out for a ride. A group of 6 of us went and did the long loop of the road race. This included the ascent of Paris Mountain. Paris Mountain is a nasty little bump that gains about 1,000 feet over 3.5 miles. The pros would tackle it 4 times, we opted for only once and it HURT!!!!!!

Stay tuned for the road race report...