ToV Stage 7: Charlottesville Road Race

Taking place in the UVA college town, the Stage 7 road race was a short, 93-mile jaunt through the rolling hills around Charlottesville. The race started at 10:30 am, featured a promenade through campus and then the fun began. The night before the race Mark's friend told us that he thought a breakaway group would get out there and stay away. Boy, I should have listened to this advice!

I got in a few of the early moves, but I honestly wasn't thinking that the group would go. Eventually, a 10-man group rolled off and included the race leader (doh!), Jesse Anthony from Sierra and Leogrande among others. The Rite Aid team didn't like the break and I thought (incorrectly) that they would pull it back as they had done all week long.

The course was rolling through the short power climbs and it seemed that everyone was on their riding lawn mowers! Cut grass was flying everything on the course.

We averaged some serious speed over the 3 1/2 hour affair and the tailwind sections kept the speeds over 25 mph. The course ended with 3 laps of a 3-mile circuit through downtown Charlottesville.

We arrived into town and the 10-man group still had over 2 minutes on us. Rite Aid tried in vain, while the leader's team was disrupting the chase.

Mark lives here and decided with one lap to go to attack and try to beat the field for 11th place overall. He almost pulled it off, but was caught 100 meters from the line by Jamie Carney.

Overall, big thanks to the UVA Composite Team and the Race Organizers. I had a blast racing out in VA and hope that this week will help me out later in the season, starting with Cat's Hill next week. I am recovering well from each day, and I don't feel that tired after this race. Let's hope the form is coming back on.

Big thanks to ATN and Martin for all their support, text messages, encouragement, etc. It's truly a blessing to have such supportive sponsors!

Thanks for reading!

BP

ToV Stage 6: Harrisonburg Criterium

With an early start to Stage 5 and a late start to Stage 6, we had our first qusi rest day of the tour. We were staying at a ski house in the woods and we had a nice BBQ with burgers and steak the night before.

You would think I would be "muy tranquillo" at the start of the criterium, but Mr. Coffee intervened. I downed 16 ounces of the bean juice and was wired and just plain twitchy the whole crit, a 32-lap affair throughout downtown Harrisonburg.

I talked to one of the race directors before the start and negotiated call-ups for Mark and myself, since we were sporting the UVA kits. Great, positioning at the front yet again!

The course reminded me a lot of the Manhattan Beach GP. There was a long, headwind section on the backstretch into a sharp left hand bend and about 800 meters with a tailwind to the finish.

I was just having a bad day. I crossed up wheels with Andy from Colavita and hit the pavement pretty hard. I ripped the shorts and got some nice road rash on the left hand hip, among other places. Yeah, my bad!

I took a free lap and got back in the race. I grovelled for 5 laps and moved up to the first third of the race and was actually in pretty decent position for the final sprint. I thought the left hand side of the road at 350 meters would be the place to go, but unfortunately, everyone else thought the same thing. I was boxed in and sat up at 200 to go and rolled in somewhere in the top 30. At this point, I was just happy to not have lost more skin.

After the race I spoke to Andy and apologized for the bad move. He was super cool and didn't sweat it. Luckily, no one else went down in my little solo mishap.

ToV Stage 5: Waynesboro to Staunton Road Race

The race started under cool temps and cloudy skies. The forecast called for clearing in the afternoon, but Mother Nature had other ideas and pummeled us with rain drops for the first half of the race.

The race course was about 105 miles through rolling hills with no categorized climbs. Just a lot of ups and downs for the next 4 1/2 hours. Should be easy, right?

Oh, and did I mention the dirt roads? Yeah, the put us on these dirt roads through these rolling hills. Local mountain biker Jeremiah Bishop led us through this part of the course and picked some great lines.

A 3-man break stayed off the front until 5K to go and the teams from Sierra, Rite Aid and Kalhara LaGrange tried to organize some trains. I managed to surf my way up to 20th position coming into the final left hand bend, about 500 meters from the uphill sprint finish.

Boy, I was bummed I didn't preview this finish because I honestly thought I had more real estate and opportunities to move up. I managed to wind up a really good high-cadence sprint, but I was too far back leading into what I now knew was the final corner and ended up 16th.

ToV Stage 4: Douthat State Park to Waynesboro Road Race

The "Queen Stage" of the race, Stage 4 featured a 108 mile death march with two Cat 3 climbs and two Cat 1 climbs, the second of which has sustained pitches of 15 - 18%. The day was seriously going to be epic.

Thankfully, the race started pretty reasonably and stayed that way for much of the race. There were a bunch of attacks, but nothing was really sticking. We hit the base of the first Cat 1, "Vesuvius," and the pace increased. The Colombian Caico squad of the race leader were throwing down the gauntlet on the climb.

Given my meltdown the day before, I had the 25 on and vowed to just climb at or below threshold all day. My legs were coming around but I didn't want to kill it. So, I did just that. I was gapped off the leaders at the top of Vesuvius, but I got in a great chase group of 20 guys and we Team TT'd it back to the front of the race, after Caico shut down the pace at the feed zone.

I hung well with the front group until the base of the final Cat 1, Reed's Gap. Again, I started the climb slowly and worked into my threshold power and kept it there. Even with the 25 on I was still climbing out of the saddle at only 7 mph.

It was great seeing all the fans on the top of this climb, especially the UVA supporters cheering us on. That really helped, since the hill was really starting to wear on me.

I was about 45 seconds behind a chase group of 20 at the top of the climb, but thanks to Mark's local knowledge of the hill, I made up some serious time on the descent. I can't tell you all how well those Cervelos descend; so solid and smooth!

Back on the flats, I bridged up to the caravan and I see Daniel Holloway's ugly mug yelling at me out of the VMG car to get back in the chase group. While cursing Holloway the whole time, I kicked it into high gear and re-joined the others.

We were a few minutes down on the leaders and the chase group I was in this time was not working so well together, despite some serious heckling by me. I rolled in somewhere in the top 30 and was seriously smiling from ear to ear that this epic stage was in the books.

ToV Stage 3: Bedford to Covington Road Race

We cruised out to Bedford with 8 guys in our makeshift Team Car, the Toyota Highlander SUV. Needless to say, it was a tight fit. We arrived in time to snag a box full o' bagels from the nice people at the start, along with some whipped cream cheese. Great recovery food!

At over 110 miles, this was the longest stage of the tour and featured two category 3 and one category 1 climb about 15 miles from the finish.

The pollen was in full force today and somehow my inhaler wasn't working. Great! Asthma anyone?

We rolled out and the attacks started fast and furious. Eventually, a 10-man group got away and established a 4 minute advantage over the peloton. Some bridge moves were tried, but nothing was really working at this point. Sierra missed the break and was putting full force in the chase.

With temps forecasted in the high 80s, hydration was the key to prevent the bonk. Pete De Leslie, our all star feeder, driver, etc. etc. was going to be at both feed zones. We got a great feed at the first zone, but didn't see Pete in what we thought was the second feed zone. We dropped back to the SRAM car and got a couple of bottles and then flogged ourselves to get back on. By this time, only Mark and I were still in the front group. Unfortunately, bad luck befell the remaining 5 guys on our Team.

We hit the base of the Cat 1 climb and your's truly did not feel so hot. Call it dead legs, but I was feeling the big B of the Bonk coming on. The climb was about 5-6 miles at 10-12% and I only had the 23 on the back. Shoot. Combined with the nonexistent power output, this was going to be a long climb.

Well, I hit the wall and couldn't keep the coal in the engine room. I thought I'd try to rely on the kindness of strangers and get a Coke, some bottles, etc. I doused myself with what I thought was water only to find out it was mix. Great. That will make some nice work of my hair on the descent! I eventually made it to the top of the climb with Kayle Leogrande and 10 others in a small chase group.

The group worked pretty well together coming into town. I rolled in behind Leogrande about 10 minutes off the winner's pace.

Hardman had a great day and was climbing like a madman. He finished 11th, about 1 1/2 minutes down.

The time cut for the race was set at 12% and the officials stuck to it. The officials cut over 70 people on the first road stage and this included the majority of our UVA composite Team.

ToV Stage 2: Lynchburg Criterium

Tuesday afternoon we piled in the Toyota SUV and cruised on backcountry roads out to Lynchburg, VA home to Pat Robertson and his little Fundamentalismville. We got lost multiple times coming into town, but eventually, found our way to the parking lot.

It was hot, hot in downtown Lynchburg and the criterium pavement was pushing the heat into our tires. I cruised around the course a bunch of times and checked out the corners and the pavement.

The main obstacle of this course was a sharp, 90-degree left hand bend into a 50-meter power climb before another sharp left hand bend and 200 meters to the finish. There was also a nice sweeping descent into the backstretch of the course.

I received a "call up" given my placing in the TT. This helped a lot in the crit to maintain a good position.

The race started hard and was going to remain that way, given that it was only 25 laps. There were numerous ill-fated attacks at the outset of the race, but the pack was intent on absorbing anything and everything.

Before I knew it, we were at 5 laps to go. Kayle Leogrande from Rock Racing made a nice attack with 3 to go and Alejandro Barras from Rite Aid also went with 1 to go. In the end, Leogrande and Barras were both absorbed, but Barras managed to kick again for the win.

Coming into the final power climb, my teammate Mark Hardman yelled at me to "Get on his Fu#&ing wheel" which I promptly did. I was well positioned, but taken out of position when I was almost pushed to the curb on the outside. I wound up the sprint again and rolled across the line for 9th.

Wente Crit

Riders: Me, Sergei, AC, Macfreshy, J/A, Mr, D Guikema, Big Rob. With Marty and Etienne running the show on the sidelines.

How it went down:

First off.... I love this race... and all criteriums for that matter. It was very windy with a particularly stiff headwind finish straight. There was big turnout with some of the big name sprinters, holloway (scarecrow boy, Dean Laberge, McCook, Devon Vigues etc...) From the gun it was very aggressive with attacks and counter attacks coming very frequent. I stayed put near the front early on with Sergei, Jandy being aggressive early on. My legs (as of late due to quality training and rest) felt very fresh... I made an early break and then another right after going for a prime to test the tactical sprint.. I went early and was nipped at the line by Laberge.... so i sat tight the rest of the race after being punked and waited for my time... my time came with 5 laps to go when my race officially starts and to say that I was aggressive during that time would be an understatement... I must have used my head, elbows, knees and my bare fist at times to get other riders outta my way as I was glued to Robs wheel, then too Sergei's and back and forth between McCook, Vigus and Holloway (good thing I stayed on holloway on a few crucial turns in the final lap as MCCook was nowhere.... Cal Giant had a fat leadout in front ... but it was a tid bit too slow and we had a BPG train overtaking them with 4,3,2 to go but we as a team never committed entirely to the sprint leadout ... but I used my instinct and years experience racing with out a finishing organization and just gritted my teeth to be up there for an even shot at the line... big props to Rob and Sergei for laying the foundation of the pain train in the last lap to sacrifice... last turn I got cut off by Darin Divine (Lombardi) but kept all my speed as I came out a lil far back in like 7-8th wheel.... I was near holloway but was stuck in the gutter.... as the sprint opened up I wasted no time and jumped into the wind only to come flying right into Holloway's behind as he threw his bike against Vigus in a tight finish.. Shoulda been on those two down the finish straight or coming off a teammates wheel about 50-100meters sooner... nonetheless I felt strong and timing is getting better. I was very happy with our team representation throughout the development of the race. Only a matter of time before we get the "W."


RLB

ToV Stage 1: Natural Bridge Time Trial

After a full day of traveling out to VA I drove out to our hotel and put the bikes together. Got a "high beam" warm up on the TT course Monday night at 10:45 pm local time. I went to sleep and got 6 hours, woke up at 3am CA time and headed out to the course.

We pre-rode the course another 5-6 times before they closed it off. They shortened the course some and the turnaround came after a shallow descent into a right hand bend. The course featured a short, 2-minute climb on the way out and a longer 3-minute false flat drag to the descent at the finish.

Despite the travel legs, I felt pretty decent during my warm up. I decided to keep it in the 55 for the whole TT, while trying not to blow on the first hill. I managed to ride the first hill exactly as I envisioned, but I think I missed the top end on the second climb to the finish.

I posted a 8:08, 4 seconds off the winning time. Now, back to the hotel to chill before the crit this evening.

Santa Cruz Criterium Race Report

Date: Sunday, April 15
Team: A/J Mendonca, Christian Kearney, Sean McBride, Rob Evans, Papa Paul and BP Buchholz
Results: BP 10th and Christian Top 15

After the stormy conditions in Monterey, the sun came back and brought his mischievous cousin from the other side of the tracks, The Wind, with him. The Santa Cruz course is really one of the best crit circuits in the area. It has it all: A quick, stair-step dimple to the finish, a 90-degree right hand bend and even speed bumps.

A strong 6-pack from Sierra Nevada was out to make up for the previous day's thumping at Laguna Seca, while Berries brought a double-wide clamshell of riders as well. We didn't have a Team discussion before the race, but A/J, Christian and I knew to trade off some attacks and get something to stick.

Well, that's what happened. A/J got the throwdown train outta the station and, when the pack coalesced around him, I went. I got a nice gap and looked back to see Roman Kilun from HN coming up to me. Sweet! Good legs to have. Also, a pair of Sierras were up with us as well. Eric Wohlberg bridged with a guy from Vitamin Cottage and it was surely game on.

The laps clicked off in an uneventful manner. All I can say from this part of the race was that I won a PB Prime; yup a tub of Skippy Chunky Style. I did it for Mikey!

Eventually the presence of Sierra Nevada broke up our cooperation and certain breakaway companions were skipping their pulls. A large group of 6-8 riders bridged up with 30 of 50 laps remaining and this squarely put the nail in our collective coffins.

Back in the pack, Christian, J/A and crew were patrolling the front and Christian also scored two primes, neither of which involved peanut butter.

So, I thought that Someone Else had my back. I swore at Someone Else to pull through. Man, this ship was sinking and I was trying to plug the holes in the hull with At this point, it's good to follow the advice of the Beatles and "Stop, Look Around..." or else you may be punk'd. Roman made a great attack midway up the hill and brought Jesse Anthony from Sierra with him. Alas, I never went. I thought Someone Else would pull it back. Well, Someone Else is one Lazy Mother-F*&ker, because Someone Else never did. Eric W. also attacked with the Vitamin Cottage guy and they got away. Again, Someone Else should have covered this!

So, dejected and firing the dirtiest looks at Someone Else, I was caught by the main pack. Roman and Jesse lapped the field and were in the main pack. Sierra took this opportunity to organize a train. With one to go, I yelled at Christian to get on my wheel and try for the field sprint. Coming into the right hand bend before the finishing hill, Christian came in a tad hot and lost my wheel. I rolled in for 10th (last place for t-shirts). Jesse Anthony won it with Roman in second.

Well, my Personal Yoda was obviously not perched on my right shoulder like always. Instead, I relied on my fake teammate Someone Else, who obviously was relying on Someone Else's Else's Else. In the end, No One from our group came out on top.

Sea Otter Road Race

Riders: Willinger, McBride, Ray IV, Mendonca, Kearney
Competitors: 80 riders (appr.) Full Healthnet, Kodak and Jelly Belly squadra, Priority Health, Time Factory, etc
Results: Kearney (16th) Ray IV (27th)

So I am not sure I will do this race much justice as the Sea Otter weekend is now all a blur to me. But here goes...

The race (totaling 71 miles) consisted of 8, 8 mile laps on Fort Ord with one selective climb with a cross wind section on the top and 1 short but steep climb at the feed zone. The race finished on the top of a 2 mile climb.

It was clear that most of the teams were not ready to race hard from the gun seeing as an NRC race loomed the following day and decided to take it easy for the first half of the race and let the miles tick away, though for most it was still not comfortable on the climbs.

Upon reaching the top of the main climb Frank Pipp launched an attack with 2 from Sierra and one other. Once able to get myself out of the sedated peleton, I tried to bridge, but found myself in purgatory with the break 20 meters ahead and organizing. Luckily the pack awakened behind me and countered with Matt Willinger, Bajadali, Kilun, Mike Jones, Walters, etc.

Upon reaching the Feed Zone, Mike Jones put in a hard effort and dropped Matt Willinger among others. The break of 10 or so raced on ahead of us. The peleton took the climbs hard but were unorganized for the most part. With 2 to go I found myself with a slow leak and had to pull off to receive SRAM neutral support at one of their designated areas (they are in fact useful!). I was unable to latch on the back of what was left of the peleton immediately following the feed and was helped by Sean to get back into a small 7 man chase group that included Andy. Then Andy I took turns chasing and coaxing some of the resigned riders to fighting their way back to the pack. In about a lap I was finally back in the sanctuary of the pack.

On the final lap it was Uthman and I racing for 16th and unbeknownst to us, no money. It was unclear to us how many were up the road as a few riders went in search of the break the previous 2 laps. However, we figure we'd still race a race and I attacked before the feedzone simultaneously with Nick Hight-Huff. We were gone never to be seen again. We picked up a rider on the way who refused to work or speak a word, despite my most desparaging comments. If only he worked he may have had a chance...cause Nick and I weren't having it. So we played the "attack and let him chase" on the way up the climb with Nick allowing me the undeserved win, since I know his climbing legs were superior to mine at that point in the race. Nick snubbed him for 17th, of course: A painful and elegant lesson in racing etiquette.

Uthman rode a strong, yet cramping finish for 27th place. Great selfless teamwork by everyone in this race.

On ahead, Jesse Moore (Cal Giant) was forced into leading out the bottom section of the climb, yet was able to finish 3rd behind Bajadali (Jelly Belly) and Walters (Sierra Nevada) . A truly great ride by one of our local amateur competitors. Rounding out the top ten and receiving nothing from the coffers of Sea Otter for their overpriced race entry fee were: Kilun-HN (4th), Jones-JB (5th), Anthony-SN (6th), Timmerman-SN (7th), Rice-JB (8th), Pipp-HN(9th), Klein(10th)

Corporate Crit. #2 cat 2/3

Race: Santa Rosa Crit #2. cat 2/3 4/14/2007
Team: Giovanni Rey
Results: 8th

After an hour of nervous wish-I-knew-where-the-restroom-was driving Jen and I got to Santa Rosa in the nick of time to register, find the little blue palace, and get to the start line. My warmup was two laps from the reg tent to the start/finish and back on a damp rainy day. Ah, but a glimmer of hope... the wind was stopping and a few stray beams of sun were starting to sneak through from time to time as the race started. 50 brave soles took the chance on the weather and lined up for a flogging, Santa Rosa style.

I blew myself out the week before and was completely limp wed/thr/friday so my new resolution to always race at the front and beat myself into being more of a hard man in BPG tradition was put aside. I also needed to hold back and do some sort of warming up and see if my legs had returned to me yet. So... round and round we went. The first 5 laps or so were relatively fast, then 15 slow laps, then on and off again as folks started thinking about the finish. During the slow part I remember thinking how wonderfully pleasant this ride would be if one particular rider would just shut-up. My goodness, that man needs a muzzle. In the second half I stopped tail gunning and started trying to stay between 10th and 20th. I took a few pulls at the front and started trying to see who was strong. No teammates and I didn't know many of the other riders... I wasn't sure, but I had some ideas who to keep an eye on.

3 to go and I started pushing forward. At the bell I was content to be 15th or so. The pace had been decent for the last few and I thought the folks currently at the front would continue driving. I picked my way up to 8th or so, and was chomping at the bit for a chance to unleash on the last few riders after we hit the headwind on the final straight-a-way. With that headwind and all, they didn't have a chance... Their best move was to keep driving it as hard as they could, and I was ready to blow them out of the water if they did. However, Always bad to rely on other peoples competitiveness for my tactics. Oops. So we got a little bit swamped by some cliff bar riders going into the last corner. I tried to jump ship and go with the faster moving bunch when SNAP... The sickening sound of metal failure beneath me.

...silence...

one of those time stopping slow-motion moments. Like when the hero in a movie watches as the grenade pin falls to the ground in ultra close-up slow motion.

...nothing...

nothing happened. f#$!. keep going. "where am I"... 20th or so. Damn it.. Anger, frustration, anxiety, back into fast forward. Dodge right, left, up the middle, left again, and across the finish. I thought 5th. But after the fact it turned out to be 8th officially. 4rth cat3. Both seat rails snapped, but the saddle held together until after the finish. An ok ride. I wish I hadn't hesitated. I wish my seat hadn't snapped. I wish I had worked harder and gotten more training out of it. I wish I hadn't finished with 50% full tank.

Next time. Wente crit next weekend. I'm gonna rest a little and bring out some whoopass.


Ciao,

giovanni

Corporate Crit. #2 Pro/1/2/3

Race: Pro/1/2/3
Team: Randy B. & Sergei B.
Results: Sergei (5th)

The second edition of the Corporate Criterium in Santa Rosa was held under windy and near-rain conditions. For the BPG, the main competition came from 4 Cal Giant Strawberries and Daniel Holloway of the VMG team. Being outnumbered by the strawberries, I thought that it's better to act than react, and opened up a quarter lap gap by attacking on lap 2 of the 90 minute crit. One rider was bridging, and it looked like a strawberry from afar, so I decided to wait. It turned out to be a rider from Squadra, JD Bergman, and I immediately sat up knowing that this move was doomed. As soon as the pack made contact, Strawberry launched a counter off the front. It was again up to me to close the gap, because it started growing. Once I caught the break and towed the rest of the pack to this move, Devon Vigus, again of strawberry countered, taking his teammate, Keith Miller with him, along with 5 other riders including Tim Granshaw of Morgan Stanley and Daniel Holloway. This was the move of the race.

After 2 strong efforts already in the bag, I could've made a 3rd to close the gap, but that would just set up another Strawberry attack. Instead, the break got a 20sec gap right away. While I was recovering, Randy made his way to the front of the pack and decided to bridge, taking 1 other rider with him. This was a strong do-or-die move by him, and they got within 10 seconds of the break but just couldn't quite close it.

Once the gap grew out to 40s with 1hr still left in the race, I started rotating on the front. I realized that one of the Strawberries still in the field, was none other but Mr. Patrick Briggs himself, making his first appearance after a horrible hip injury, and therefore there was more to this race. I heard his Spinergy RevXs swooshing on the opposite side of the pack and immediately did a power shift to my 12 tooth cog. One lap later the pack was nowhere to be seen, and I was in the move with Pat and one of his teammates (not sure what his name was, tall guy with ripped legs).

In the end, Devon Vigus and Tim Granshaw were a lap on everyone else, Pat and myself caught the break and in the process lost one of his teammates, so now there are 7 fighting for 3rd place, with 1st and 2nd secured.

Daniel Holloway attacked immediately after we bridged the gap, but was chased down by Pat. Devon and Tim went off the front again, taking Keith Miller and 2 others with them. I got stuck behind Pat and Daniel fighting and yelling at each other. I wanted to hear what Holloway had to say, but the gap was getting bigger, and I attacked and bridged the 5 riders off the front solo. That took a lot out of me. I pulled through evenly making sure that Daniel doesn't bridge this move, because then my chances for a top 5 finish would be slim. With 8 laps to go, I was hauling ass and taking half lap pulls. Then I really almost brought on the pain by clipping my pedal around a corner. Yeah, real Cat 5 move right there. It was weird, because I pedaled through that turn for the whole race, and it never happened before. I held it up right, but my breakaway companions didn't like that at all, so I apologized and luckily was forgiven.

On the last lap, Tim and Devon led us out. Devon taking the win and Tim taking 2nd. Keith Miller of Strawberry won the sprint and got 3rd in the race, then some guy that never pulled through got 4th, I ended up 5th. Perhaps in the end, it's not a terrific result for BPG, but on an individual level, I'm happy that I can race a 90 minute crit off the front, and you know you're doing something right, when Pat Briggs shakes your hand and tells you after the race, "way to put your back in it, Sergei".

~SB

Sea Otter Circuit Race

Team: URIV, Christian, Rob, Paul, Aaron, BP
Results: BP (20th), Christian (30) and URIV (35)

The NRC descended upon the Lagua Seca Raceway in the form of gale-force winds, rain and mud. I think Mother Nature must have been off a day with this whole Friday the 13th thing. Or, maybe she was watching "The Day After Tomorrow," got pumped and decided to unleash some fury on Monterey.

The race was supposed to start at 1pm, but the women's race had been stopped due to an "Act of God" rule (aka super Red Bull-hyped Mother Nature rockin' to ATN's Speed Metal soundtrack), but was never re-started. The women could never finish the race, and the promoters decided that the "race didn't count" and they weren't ponying up the prize money. It's a shame that the promoters made this decision and I am pissed that the women had to endure the washing machine of nature for no dough.

So, we got to the line promptly at 2pm only to find out that our race was also going to be postponed for another 30 minutes. Quick, find shelter. I huddled in a minivan with a bunch of guys from the Orbea Team from up North. Great bunch of guys, but I feel for them. One doood had wicked gas up in that van!

So, needless to say, the 30-minute delay really iced the 'ole adrenaline. I was hoping that they would cancel the sucker and do it on Sunday.

The race started with a super wicked AJM attack on the backside of the course. Daniel Ramsey from Successful Living joined him and the two were off on a Point Sojourn for KOMs and Sprints. Back in the relative safety of the pack, the poker faces were honed intently on one man, Andy Bajadali. Riding super well after his win in Redlands, he was the Big Favorite for the win. HN and Sierra were all waiting for the move.

The first half of the race featured a number of surges up and over the hill and into the wind and on the back stretch. Each time I got to the bottom of the hill I thought that one of the Big Teams would shred us into the gutter in the headwind. But, it never really happened. They always seemed to sit up.

We missed a couple of moves and Christian and URIV 4 worked amazingly well to bring me back into position. These guys also hung on in this shred fest to finish the race, a truly great feat considering less than 40 of the 100+ starters finished.

With about 12 laps to go, the first selection from the group was made at the top of the climb. I was too far back on the climb and suffered when the green gumby that is pack-elastic snapped in half and left only windy daylight between me at the next lycra-ass. Need to work on this next time 'round.

I was caught in the third group on the road. My nice little sextet featured a HN, two of the Orbea guys, this guy from Vitamin Cottage (who's super strong; I remembered him from Hood) and one other guy. We never really worked well together and instead thought it better to attack for the last 8 laps. I got gapped a few times but I kept thinking how much it would suck to ride this alone in the wind so I hung on with the bunch.

At 1 to go I felt a lot better and decided to just follow the surges up the hill and sprint at the end. I managed 20th position, last in the money and still good for some NRC puntos.

Daniel Ramsey got caught and then went again with 4 to go and stayed away SOLO for the win. Man, great job doood! That was truly sick. He raced super aggressive and it paid off in what should have been a suicide move.

It was great hanging with ATN before the race and seeing him out there supporting the Team. Also, huge ups to AJ and Suk for feeding us and lending me his warm clothes during the race delay. Of course, huge love to Catherine and Mikey D. Dogg for their support and cheers during a not-so-spectator friendly event.

Victory at Van Brisbane!

I just want to say a quick thanks to ALL, especially Big Bad Paul and Sean McFreshy for helping me finish out this weekend with the FIRST win of my racing career!!

The Crit at Brisbane was technical and windy as hell again. Needless to say, the race was reading break all over it and we had some guys to play with. Sergei, Randy, Gio, Logan, Sean McB, Paul and I lined up proper with the rest of the 100 starters. From the gun the plan was to go hard, ride the front and try to create a mid-race break that might have a good chance to stay away.

During the first part of the race, Paul and Sean were basically railing it at the front while I was riding about 15 guys back and letting gaps just open up in front of me. Then I rode guys back across as they were pounded hard by cross-winds. It was apparent that the field was shredding rider after rider each lap and you could see the sidelines begin to fill up. At about 40 minutes in Sean Attacks while with a Capital A, so Paul and I slow the front and ride wheels. When he came back after about 2 laps, I went off looking for some company, but got none, so after half a lap, I drifted back to the field, realizing that there wasn't very many riders actually left in the field anyway. So then Sean, Paul and I took turns Attacking, riding the front and whittling down the remaining field to about 20 guys with 5 to go. With 4 to go, I realized that I was riding a bit too close to the front and needed to rest if I was going to give it a serious go. I drop back to 15th wheel and start recovering quickly while Paul and Sean continued to ride in the top 5 keeping keep it fast at the front.

Sean said that the this race was a sprint to the hairpin on the backside of the course and I was visualizing the front 5 guys just burning in the wind and having only to sprint an unsuspecting 8 guys if I could get the SICK jump before anyone else. 2 laps to go and I'm feeling good. I empty my water bottle and prepared for the throw-down. By the bell lap, I am 15th wheel and fully recovered. Coming around the first right and second right turns, I took a couple opportunities to move up to about 8th. Then on the back straight, Sean and Paul were riding 3rd and 4th wheel. I got a line out on the right side and got my jump out of the pack... SICK! I was clear and sprinting with everything I had for the left-hander before the hairpin. Going into the left before the hairpin, I couldn't tell how big the gap was, but as I came out of the hairpin, it was clear that a team Victory was in sight, so I hit it again for another effort. One left turn, chicane, then one more right turn and still I'm clear, but still have 50 yards of nasty cross to the line. So I just put my head down and buried it. Then the Line came and Victory was ours!

Thanks everyone for the support. It was an awesome day

-Elliot

Tuolumne Crit

I owes you all a report.

Simple 4 corner course that kinda bowled on each end. Coupled with some wind made it for an easy course to make moves on. Small field, in the 20's and the usual double race masters sprinters. Safeway had a few and a sprinter, Chris Black was there, and some EMC guys. For the youngins we had another 4 Lombardi's, Todd and Andres from Delta, 3 Herbivores (organic athlete) and Kevin "Age is only a number" Klein. I rode out there from Sonora in the morning and did a bit more climbing on top of that so the legs were nice and warm. With the small field I just wanted to dump the masters sprinters quick and then ride it out with a small selection. This worked perfectly except for the 3 Lombardi's that made it with us and both Delta guys. The group had all the players but the masters and with the 3 Lombardi's I knew it would be a long 45 laps. Looked like we had a non friendly negative racing pack and started into it right away. From there we just attacked and pulled back and sat up and bridged but never worked well together, I was happy with that. With about 11 to go I started looking for the perfect time, everyone was starting to hesitate too much in frustration, and Lombardi kept pulled back their other team mates solo moves. Todd from Delta did a few 4 laps alone moves and could really make them stick so I knew that was the way to go.

Sure enough with 7 to go Lombardi was watching Andres, Kevin was watching Lombardi, Todd was just came back, the EMC and Vegan guys were cooked and I happened to be on the back. I almost slowed with the group when I changed my mind and just kept going around. They happened to have really REALLY slowed playing with each other and then they played some more when flipping the coin for who would chase. Instant quarter lap that I hammered into half really quick, I guess the officials knew I would be pulling that off at sometime because they saved two primes for me, such nice guys. I caught the actual pack with about two to go but had to ride through them and then pulled them to their sprint, still gave it a lil go with Safeway but he got me when I had to raise my arms across the line for the real win.

Fun times....

Jesse or Andy

Triumph In Sonora

Results: Brian Buchholz (1st) Andy/Jesse Mendonca (4th)

The stage was set for a strong BPG showing at the 2007 Wards Ferry Road Race, a 61 mile hill fest (5, 12 mile laps) nestled in the foothills of the Sierras on the outskirts of Sonora. 2 years previous Christian Kearney placed 2nd (1st loser) at this race and only last year, one of BPG's new and strongest riders, Brian Buchholz also placed 2nd. Between the 4 BPG riders who showed up to battle amongst the farmlands of Sonora: Andy Mendonca, Dennis Guikema, Christian Kearney and Brian Buchholz, all vowed to right this wrong.

From the start Andy and Dennis rolled to the front to cover the first attacks of the race. It seems all were itching to make this short race grueling from the get-go and the pace was brisk up the first climb, 1 mile into the race. Shortly after Christian punctured and found himself changing a wheel at an in opportune time. Kevin Klein and others began hammering the front as Christian tried in earnest with cold legs and a racing heart to chase back on to a hot race on rolling terrain. Meanwhile, Andy got in the first break of the day that was brought back shortly before the end of the first lap. Brian countered; only Kevin Klein managed to get up to him. Game was officially on! Well, unfortunately not for Dennis, who struggled with the nasty steep climb near the finish, and Christian who was still chasing, and majority of the peleton whom were scattered amongst the hills of the Sierras gasping for air and more wattage.

Andy settled into covering dangerous attacks and slowing the chasing field as best one teammate can do on his own. Brian and Kevin Klien hammered out a nasty pace that many in the peleton tried to match, but none could bring back.

On the final lap the gap stood around 2 minutes. Andres Gil (Pacific State Bank) and Jesse Moore (Cal Giant) were able to extricate themselves from Andy's clutches and what was left of the field with a 20-30 second gap. But on the roller just before the open descent, Andy launched a massive big ring attack and closed it solo, and almost immediately. Now Andy was ready to work.

In the end, Kevin Klein could not shake Brian on the course and fell victim to his thunderous sprint. Andy unleashed his sprint and was nipped on the line by the savvy Andres Gil.