Tour of Virginia Stage 5 Waynesboro to Staunton

4/27 - Stage #5 Waynesboro to Staunton– 105 miles

Today’s was the first inclement weather. The earlier start guaranteed that we would be starting at 40 degrees and in the rain, but sun was forecasted for the afternoon. Over the first climb everything was fine, the rain was intense at time, the field was moving fast. We covered the first 45 miles at about 28 mph.

It was at this point Team Alliance’s days started going really bad. Joe was struggling to stay on the back. Mike was doing team work carrying, bottles and clothes, back and forth to the car. Just before we started the ascent of the day’s only “categorized” climb John Delong pulled to the side of the road. Miller stopped immediately to help. John had a bent chain and a flat tire. We assume from one of the gravel roads we rode over. John told us to leave him. This was a tough decision because he was our highest placed rider, but the fact is that this mechanical was probably terminal. John did get a wheel from our car and a chain from the SRAM car. He rode another ten miles, but never made up ground. John jumped into the broom wagon.

Joe struggled at the back for a long time. He was having his bad day today. He tried staying in the caravan, but the race really sped up in the final 35 miles. With 20 kilometers to go the race was full speed. Rite Aid’s Stephen Kincaid (PA) was chasing hard most of the day. A small group was up the rode. The break contained some high GC riders. So Stephen and his teammates had to chase.

Coming into the finish Team Alliance was trying to set up Jame Carney for a sprint win. But again luck was not on our side. Jame flatted as we passed the 3 kilometer sign. This kept him in the GC position, but ruined the chance for a win. Boyd and Mike rolled in with the field.

We all waited hoping Joe would make the time cut. After 14 minutes Joe rolled in safely, giving him the opportunity to fight again another day.

Race time 4:10 h:m

Tour of Virgina Stage 4 - Douthat State Park to Wayneboro

4/26 - Stage #4 - Douthat State Park to Wayneboro – 108 miles

This is another beautiful day in the Tour of Virginia, sunny and mid low 70’s. Today’s stage is the queen stage of the Tour of Virginia, starting with one category 3 and then two category 1’s and countless uncategorized climbs, that really deserve KOM points. We all agree that this is the hardest stage. The two category 1’s are Montebello (better known as Vesuvius) and Reed’s Gap (the top is 1.5 miles past the Wintergreen Resort). These two climbs are epic; many riders from PA know these climbs from training camps and touring the parkway.

In today’s report we will start with the bad news first. Boyd Johnson(SC) who started the day sitting 24th GC flatted after cresting the cat 3. Chris Ernst(NC) stopped and gave him his wheel. Joe Whitman and Mike Miller went back to bring Boyd back to the pack. Chris never made it back to the field. Chris abandoned in the next feed zone. Joe and Mike got Boyd safely back into the pack.

Soon after getting Boyd back, Miller started having trouble. Mike was barely able to stay in contact on the flats, let alone the small climbs. This was not a good day to have a bad day. Later we found out Mike was having severe stomach problems. After the first category one he was able to “stop” for a natural break. He soldiered on, catching dropped riders and finishing inside the time limit.

The good news was John Delong and Boyd had great days. John and Boyd went over the top of the final climb 30 or 40 seconds behind the leaders. John and Boyd led the chase on the descent. They came close to bringing it back, but the leaders were racing for time bonuses so they pushed it all the way to the line. John used Boyd’s leadout to out sprint the group for 16th place. Boyd finished 21st. Jame finished 31st. Joe finished in the 50’s. Mike finished about 30 minutes back, but not last place.

At the end of the day John is 21st, Boyd is 24th Jame is 32nd in GC.

The winning time was +/- 4:40 h:m

Tour of Virginia Stage 3 – Bedford to Covington

4/25 – Stage #3 – Bedford to Covington– 107.6 miles (closer to 110 miles)

Today was the first big day of the ToV. The race started at noon, it was sunny, and temperatures climbed throughout the day. We started at the D-Day Memorial site in Bedford, completing one loop around the memorial before officially starting the race. Today’s race consisted of two Cat 3 climbs, and a big Cat 1 climb starting at mile 85, along with numerous uncategorized climbs throughout the race.

The pace was fast from the start, averaging 30mph through the rolling hills leading to the first Cat 3 climb at mile 27. Jame got into a break of about 25 that lasted the next 40 miles, over the second Cat 3 climb, and to the final climb of the day, a monstrous 7-mile Cat 1 climb. The break away dissipated during this last climb, with a group of 20 guys from the peleton joining the break as they wound their way up the big hill. John and Boyd were in this group, with Joe not too far behind. A contingent of Colombians from the Caico Team led the pace through the hills and their big climber crested the KOM first.

The finish was at the bottom of a 10-mile-long insane descent. John and Boyd were in a group of 11, chasing 2 small groups ahead of them. Boyd was on the front driving the pace through the bottom stretch before the finish, putting John in a good position to sprint for 16th place overall on the day. Winning time was 4 hours and 33 minutes. John and Boyd finished about 5 minutes back, Joe came in a few minutes later finishing 34th day, Mike finished 57th and Chris finished 73rd. Overall, a very successful day for Team Alliance.

On a side note, Team Alliance was also representing in the team car caravan today. Bill was driving, Dana was getting bottles ready for the feeds, but most importantly we were the only team to have a team dog along for support. Check out Buster on cyclingnews.com

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos.php?id=/photos/2007/diaries/timefactory/time0706/IMG_9400

Tour of Virginia Stage 2 Criterium

4/24/2007
Tonight was the criterium. This was an absolutely crazy course. There was a 50 mph left hand turn onto a really narrow road. There was also a hill that took the racers through the last two turns and it was about an 8% grade. With 175 riders starting this made the hill even harder. As the front of the group would hit the hill the back of the group would have to slow way down and then re-accelerate on the hill.

After call ups where done the race was on. Jame stayed on or near the front the entire first half of the race. This appeared to be the safest place in the pack. The rest of the team stayed in the front half of the pack for the entire race. The only crash that we where involved in was Joe. He wasn’t hurt. He went down on the hill when another rider crashed into him.

For the most part the race was pretty uneventful. All the guy’s finished with the same time as the pack. Tomorrow is when the real racing start’s.

Tour of Virginia Stage 1 Time Trial

April 24, 2007

Today was the start of the Tour of Virginia for Alliance Environmental. Attending the race was: Jame Carney, John DeLong, Boyd Johnson, Mike Miller, Joe Whitman, and Chris Ernst. Team manager is Bill Short and assisting him is Missy Petty (John’s girlfriend) and Dana Cumo (Joe’s girlfriend).

This morning was the Time Trial. It was an out and back course on a hill. Basically you up the hill, down the backside, make a 180 degree turn and do it again. This was definitely not a stage that was going to decide the GC, so we won’t talk much about it.

All of the guy’s came in with respectable times. Boyd was almost eliminated as he crossed the finish line. It seems that one of the course marshals thought it would be a good idea to park his car over the finish line. Boyd buzzed him going 40mph.

Tonight is the crit. It should be very interesting.

Joe Reporst on Belize 140 mile Cross Country Classic

Hey all-
It was a crazy weekend for Boyd and I in Belize. We flew in Thursday night were we stayed at the nicest resort in town. Sheffield met us at the airport and immediately catered to us. After getting settled in Boyd and I went out on the town for a quick hour and a half ride where I flatted. Not a good sign.
Friday was our rest day, but we managed to get out for a 2 hour ride where we ended up meeting the Santinos team. This team is like the Darth Vader of Belizean Cycling. It's the New York Yankees of baseball-all big hitters and all bought but the 'rich" guy of the country. They are super nice guys, but the team is not well liked by the cycling fans. After our ride we laid around the hotel, went for a swim and watched a few movies. Boyd makes for a great date! In the evening we met up with Western Spirit, the team we were going to be racing for. We were brought down in hopes to help Shane Vasquez defend his title from last year. Although our plans included a plan B of either Boyd or myself going for the win if Shane couldn't get into a solo break-away.
Saturday quickly came. We were up at 4:30am to eat some wet pasta. I was feeling like shit with a major head cold and I don't know if Boyd was feeling at the top of his game either. The race kicked off though at around 5:50 am and the crowd was already intense. The roads were lined up already, everyone chanting for Shane.
The first few hours were pretty fast. The 140 mile race started out at about 25-30 miles per hour and Boyd and I were chasing down a few people who kept trying to go up the road. I looked at Boyd at one point and he looked like he was suffering...so was I. After about 65 miles, I think we both started to feel better and the legs were loosening up. Plus we were coming into San Ignacio where the crowd was 6-10 people deep!! Everyone was chanting Shane's name by now and Boyd and I quick made our way to the front because the turn around was going to be real crazy.
80 miles into it and two Santinos guys got to the front. These two were shipped in for the day, like us, from Guatemala to work for the powerhouse team and that they did. They got to the front and hammered for about 20 miles making the field of about 140 guys down to about 40. Boyd and I were sitting about 5 and 6 guys back, perfect tempo for us.
The race was starting to heat up as Shane got away in a break. He got about a minute on the field, but he was a marked man. They quickly brought him back. Plan B-sprint finish. Our "domestiques" weren't doing any work so I started to go back for grub and bottles for us. I didn't mind though, I was feeling good. At mile 100 Boyd says to me "I can win this"-rockin' I'll take second place. The podium is big enough for the two of us.
With about 15 miles to go, some dude literally falls over right in front of me nearly taking Boyd out. I went down hard, but used the Mike Miller technique-fall on something soft. I hurt my back pretty bad and was very slow to get up. My day was over. Boyd and Shane kept it upright and went on with 6 other guys. The race was in the bag for us. The crash took out the leading sprinter, Greg Lovell so I was told to quit chasing. That's bike racing-I finished in the back of the chasing group at about 17th. Boyd though was led out by Shane for an easy sprint victory.
The crowd coming into town was absolutely incredible. It was lined up about 5 miles out of town. By the time I finished Boyd had about 15 reports with mics in his face. There were people all around giving him praise. Our team was ecstatic with the victory and the $5000US cash prize. We are literally rock stars in Belize.
Again, awesome weekend with great results. I can't believe how catered we were. Boyd i think is still down there signing autographs and taking pictures with people's grandparents. Also, one more thing-there is an 11 by 14 picture in the Bakadeer Inn of "Environmental Alliance International Cycling Team" Pretty cool.
Stay tuned for Boyd version of the race in a day or two. Also, I apologize for any typos in the email. I still zoned out from the traveling.

Joe

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.