Bill Reports on Record Braking Ride

Yesterday Boyd and myself attended the Lowes Motor Speedway time trial series in Charlotte, NC. This is a 10 mile time trial around the same track that cars go 200mph around. While we didn't hit these kind of speeds we did fly.

For this event you can enter categories depending on your ability or the bike you are riding. Boyd entered the cat 1 race and I entered the fixed gear category. The front stretch is slightly up hill and into the wind and the back stretch is slightly downhill with a tail wind.
I started first. Let me start by saying that I only did this because Boyd said that he thought I could break the track record for fixed gear. That's 21 min 53 sec. I also haven't been riding much because of work. I started out and right away my legs felt like they were going to fall off. There are about 500 people at this event of all different abilities. It's kinda nice because you are always catching people. After about the first lap and a half I settled down and found a good rhythm.

A couple of people who were spectating knew that I was there to try and break the record. My friend Holli is standing on the side of the track yelling my lap times to me. The only problem is that I don't know if they are good or bad. So now i'm hammering down the track talking to myself. Is that a good time or a bad time? Should I speed up or slow down? I feel like i'm going fast? How far is it all the way around? I have'nt been caught yet! I must be going good! ( This is why I don't do very many time trials ) Finally I just told myself to shut up and go all out. Well, I did. I blew up with about a mile and a half to go. Luckily I was just about to hit the tailwind section and on a fixed gear bike it's pretty easy to carry your speed.

As I came around the final turn onto pit road I was breathing like someone had kicked me in the stomach. As i crossed the line I couldn't even see straight. People are trying to get me to stop to take off my timing chip and I just rode past them like they weren't even there. At least I knew I gave it my all.

I did end up breaking the record:

Old record: 21 min 53 secNew record: 20 min 32 sec

Thankfully I didn't see Boyd the entire time I was out there. He had a really good ride with a time of 20 min 40 sec. I'm not exactly sure where this put him in the standings, I think 4th.
T
his is a really fun series. I'm really glad that Boyd talked me into it and I look forward to breaking the new record.

Missy's Mussles

Mussle Video Starting Missy

Dirty Dawg MTB Race Report

Dirty Dawg Mountain Bike Race Mountain Lake, Virginia
April 1 2007

After missing registration it into the Tour of Walkersville race because I was in Belize I decided to stay in Blacksburg and train. When I realized it was going to rain all weekend and my power tap was still getting a rim put on it I started to think about what kind of training I could do to make it fun and then I realized that their was the Dirty Dawg mountain bike race in town.

To convince myself to attempt the mountain bike race I talked to local mountain biking blogger, friend and workmate Ashwin about the course. He assured me it wasn’t to rocky and I shouldn’t have a problem with my lack of technical riding skills. My girlfriend Missy was not so pleased and told me I was going to hurt myself bad and waste all the training I have been doing for this up coming season.

As the Rabbit crested the top of Mountain Lake I was committed to participating even though I was having regrets. The weather on top of the mountain was foggy but not as rainy as it had been back in Blacksburg. The course started in front of the Mountain Lake lodge and went up a fire road and then looped back to the Mountain Lake lodge where the finish would be. I took it easy off the starting line and then was forced to use my road skills to squeeze through none existent gaps in-between riders that were blocking my way. I caught my Friend from west Virginia University Geff Moy and told him I was going to follow him through the technical sections because I have not Mt bike skills and need to follow some on more experienced to make it through the rocky sections. Geff and I swapped spot for the first half the race until I realized we were doing mostly smooth trail for the first half a lap and then I took off with my road power. The course reentered the woods and down the mountain we went. It was steep and rocky at parts and I got out of the way of the faster riders. Geff passed me and told me to float and 100 meters later he got a flat. I finished the lap by catching some riders with better technical skills then me because of the long up hill.. I then gave it the gas for the smooth sections at the beginning of the lap but was forced to creep down the decent since I was all alone at this point. Two riders I had passed at the beginning of the lap shot passed and I didn’t see them till I finished.

I was pleased with my mountain bike race since I didn’t crash or hurt myself. I rode very strong on all the Open Sections. Another road rider Jon Hamblen attended the race but I didn’t recognize him until after ward mostly because he took the hole shot and kept on going to win the race by 5 min.

Kirkwood Report By Jamie

It was a fun hard day. I knew I wanted to dial it up a bit and test my base miles out but from the gun was not the plan. I could tell right away that an early break was going to go. Everyone seemed a little scared of the extended distance from last year (51 to 84). The race blew a part last year (with Bill winning) at the shorter distance. I wanted in the long bomb move if it was happening so I just punched it over a steep roller and they let me go. I got joined by 3 other dudes after a few miles and I was happy to see 3 riders from three other Teams (Cervelo, GPOA and Mengoni). All of the Teams had multiple teammates in the field so I knew the chase would be messed up. We eventually got caught by a chase group (7 riders?) with about 30 miles to go but as soon as we were, they stopped working together so I attacked and went solo for another half lap. After they caught me again, the group was down to a smaller size, maybe 8 from 11. We went for about 3 miles before they started not working smooth together again. Scott Z tried to put it in the gutter and put the hurt on us but that just pissed me off because he really wasn't really rotating through before that from what I could see so I stood up and attacked him as he was going hard in the crosswind like he was standing still. He immediately stopped and reevaluated his maneuver or as I call it, his mistake. They could have just rotated nice and all would have been fine and dandy. I would have preferred that. It was about 18 miles to go and I knew I was going to have a tough time pulling this off alone with all of the effort that I had already put in so I had a quick check to look at my 20 second gap to evaluate and to my luck John Loner was in-between me and the chase. I waited for him and that was the done deal. I thought I was going to crack but somehow I held it together and pulled out the 84 mile Team Time Trial. I am happy. I had about a B grade on my base miles (March) after taking 3 weeks completely off from Australia so this is a good sign. I am accepting my training well. Joe was surprised that when I say "COMPLETELY OFF", I mean that I don't touch a bike at all. I don't even like looking at it. When I take time off, it is off off. Joe's ride was very impressive. I am happy for him too. He looked very fresh and together after the race and believe me, no one was looking pretty after that race. For him to bridge to that group that was chasing me and Loner on his own is awesome. I am impressed.

Two weeks to the NRC Race in Florida. I'm hoping everything keeps on track. I would race tomorrow but even though I looked pretty good today, I'd be horrible tomorrow. I may have seemed very strong today but it wasn't easy. I spent almost 4 hours in Zone 4 today. There is a price to pay for that. Plus, it looks like rain and I am already on antibiotics for this sinus/ear thing that I couldn't shake on my own. Maybe I should race on antibiotics more often?

Kirkwood Road Race Report By Joe

today was the Kirkwood road race and Alliance fielded a small team of three guys; myself, Karl, and Jame. It was a relatively small field of probably 65 guys and the race was about 85 miles. So far, this has been by far the hardest race I've done all year. Although the field was small there were some high quality guys such as Scott Z from Priority Health Pro and numerous guys from Rite-Aid Pro.
The gun went off and within the first mile Jame was gone with a small group.
little did we know that that was the end of the race right there. Jame stayed away the entire day and was able to beat out his one and only competitor in an easy sprint finish. Because of the race conditions(mainly cool and windy) the field was torn apart. I actually found myself straggling behind the field only two laps into it having to chase back on for a mile or two. There were also a million attacks making people just completely suffer.
Everytime I saw Stephan or Scott attacked, I had a small feeling of hatred for them because I knew that this was going to be the hardest 20 seconds of my life trying to hold onto their wheels.
With 2 laps to go, the field had relaxed for just a bit as a small chase group had formed up the road from the previous few laps. I wanted up there so I tried a few attacks myself, but ended up dragging the whole field with me, until my final attack up a small hill in which everyone let me go. It took me about 5-6 miles to finally catch the chase group of about 7-8 guys.
By this time Jame and one other dude had a good lead. Scott Z then threw in yet another attack and blew up the chase group even more. There were only 4 of us coming into the finish(one guy got away and took 3rd because we were all playing games) where I easily took the sprint from Scott to take 4th.
Alliance domination with few numbers-how sweet.

Jefferson Cup Repport By John

Jefferson Cup, Charlottesville, VA
March 25, 2007

The most competitive thing about the 2007 Jeff Cup was the online registration period. It seemed the negative racing was the strategy for all the large teams in the race. The race started out fast, but after the first trip up the hill Rite Aid hit the front and started slowing things down. Joe and I were aggressive for the first third of the race trying to keep the race speed up. I was able to drive a few groups away Rite Aid always slipped some dead weight in the group, and the surges from the peleton would bring my group. During lap three I pulled the eyelets through the rim of my power tap wheel. I did not notice till after the race. I went from feeling great and racing fast to feeling great and not having the longer power surges I had earlier in the race. The race got really lame after a large group slipped off the front with three Rite Aid and riders from just about every other big team. The large break just dangled 20 seconds off the front for the final two laps. The only team chasing was the Seigler team. Joe and I chatted about the finish, since there were just two of us we would have to play it smart. We counted on the break coming back and waited for the finish. I was working out a deal with some friends from Blacksburg, VA to help out Joe and I in the sprint when people just started falling down around us and my friends were taken out of the race. For the finish Joe positioned himself with the sprinters. The false flat heading into the sprint slows down any lead out train but no worry this year Rite Aid was just blocking from curb to curb to save their hope of taking the win from the break that was quickly coming back. With 250 meters to go the front of the race slowed dramatically as Rite Aid sat up to attempt to crash the rest of the race. Joe got caught up in this mess and I had to start pushing people out of the way so I could take it off road and pop around the slowing riders. I sprinted with 200 meters and was gaining quickly but I couldn’t squeeze between two wobbling riders and shut down the sprint with 50 meters left. I was pleased that I finished 9th place after pulling the eyelets through the rim and attempting a sprint. Joe came in 17th and expressed that the Jeff cup was the most dangerous race he had ever participated in. I believe with one more Alliance rider attending the race we could have affected the out come of the finishing sprint and come up with a stronger result.

Miller Reports on Greenville, SC and Fogelsville, PA weekends

South Carolina weekend 3/10&11 was a huge success.

The races were sponsored by our clothing sponsor Rich Hinpcapie. It seems like every team in SC is riding Hincapie clothes and Bianchi bikes. I thought this would be good news for us. We would fit in and get some support from the other teams. I was wrong. Bill told us that all of the teams in that area heard we were coming and wanted to see what we were made of.

The roads were narrow and the moto officials were unforgiving about the yellow line rule which made tactics very negative.

In Saturday's 75 mile race we helped keep some of the breaks in check and marked some of the strong men. It was tough attacking and staying in position, nobody wanted to over extend themselves on the rolling 15 mile course. With just few laps to go a small group got away. It was not an attack, as much as a "roll off the front while my team mates sit up" type of move. With five miles to go, after the last big hill all of the other teams seemed content to allow the break to go. They only had 30-40 seconds. So Team Alliance Environmental went to the front. It started with John and Boyd ramping up the speed. Then Miller and Whitman joined in. Chris Ernst had flatted out. Bill Short was in tow waiting for the sprint. The chase was not an easy one. It was all head wind. With one mile to go the wind got the best of us and other teams started to swarm. Bill and Joe were able to stay near the front. The break was in sight and the field was closing fast. Boyd and Miller were slowed by a mid-field crash. John stayed in the field. With the field closing fast on the breakaway, there was only one right hand bend and a 200 meter downhill finish to go. Bill sprinted past the field leaders to take the field sprint for fourth and Joe was right in there for third in the field and sixth overall.

Narrowly missing the win

Sunday's 60 mile race was much more aggressive and steady. The pace and pressure were constant. Again the course was rolling and the yellow line rule was in effect, but the roads were much wider leaving room to pass, attack and chase. Throughout the race we had most moves covered. Joe Whitman made it into the eventual winning break. Again we had some tough decisions to make. Bill Short had an opportunity to win the series overall or we let Joe race for upgrade points. The decision was easy as long as Joe was in it for the win, we would race for him. The rest of the field was confused and waited for us to do something, but we were content.

Jittery Joe’s had a rider on the front chasing all by himself for three laps at one point with three laps to go he had closed the gap to 22 seconds. Team Alliance Environmental was prepared for the counters. It was a really cool sight. Chris, John, Mike, Boyd and Bill all sitting 4th thru 8th respectively waiting to pounce. But nobody would help Jittery Joe’s out, so the gap grew again out to 40 seconds with just one lap to go.

At three miles to go the gap was still 25-30 seconds, at point those of us in the field saw three guys get away and Joe was not in the move. We decided to take over. Boyd took a monstrous pull for about 1-1.5 miles, stretching the field into a long single file line into the headwind. Then Miller pulled thru from taking the field about halfway up the final rise to the 1K mark. Then John Delong pulled for the next 700 meters all out, guys popping left and right. Finally Chris pulled through taking from 300 to 150 meters at full speed, pulling off for Bill. All Bill had to do was take two pedal strokes and coast across the line for an easy field sprint.

Bill ended up 9th on the day. I know it wasn't the win but boy it felt good. Joe rode to a great 5th place finish (we never did catch his group, we came close)

The simple fact is wins do not come easy. Practice like this and good solid tactics will eventually payoff. I am very proud of what we have accomplished this spring. We have race hard, we are gelling as a team and we are learning the necessary tactics and thought processes that will pay huge dividend during the "Real" season.

This past Sunday March 18 I raced did the Fleetwood derby before the Allentown training criteriums. There were only eight of us. Myself and Mike Norton (Rite Aid pro) did most of the pulling. I then rode the training races. There I raced against Bill E, Stephan K and Ryan D. (all Rite Aid pros), Bill E and I lapped the "B race" field twice and then Stephan, Bill, Jackie Simes and I lapped the "A race" twice as well.

I also heard that Bill raced in TN. I was told he was 3rd. We need to confirm that.

"Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." Vince Lombardi

"Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision." Muhammad Ali

We are showing that desire, the wins will come!

Mike