BPG/Montano Velo

chico downtown criterium

2008-09-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

I'll keep this one short. After a super frustrating day at the rr on Saturday I was ready to throw down hard at the crit on Sunday. Lots of attacks and breaks, but nothing stuck as much of the field was apparently interested in taking home a share of the $1000 prize list. Chris Carter of team AC got away with a couple other guys who he promptly dropped with about 10 laps to go. No one seemed to interested in working together to bring him back, so he stretched his solo lead out to 15-20 seconds. Mike Sayers in his ?final pro race? instigated a last ditch counter attack/chase group with a lap to go which I jumped after with 1/2 a lap to go. I cought all of the guys Sayers was with, but came just short of catching him as he came just short of catching Chris Carter.

3rd place was not a bad way to finish off the season. I can't wait to do it all again next year.
JD

Folsom two bridges circuit race

2008-09-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

Elliot, Dylan and JD showed up for this really cool little circuit in downtown Folsom, which wound through the old timey part of town, where they used to put on a hilly little crit, and then proceeded to cross over lake Natoma on the main bridge through town, then hooked around ancrossed back over to the start/finish on the old trestle bridge. We need more interesting courses like this around here! It was so much more fun than your average four corner crit.
With my legs still feeling not so fresh from the SF Twilight the night before I was planning on sitting in for at least half of the race. Oh well. About fifteen minutes in to the race Tyler Dibble counter-attacked after a prime and got away with a rider from AC racing. I thought it was too early to go and since he was out there with only one other guy I wasn't too worried. A couple laps later a VOS rider bridged up to the break which was about 15 sec up the road by this point. One lap later I could sense the lack of firepower and interest in the pack and decided it was time to get to work. I sprinted out of the 180 onto the big bridge with only one other guy on my wheel. I pulled the two of us to within 20 meters of the break, before I pulled over to let him close the gap down the rest of the way. We all started working well together immediately and I was surprised when on lap later, Joel Robertson bridged up to us. I was a little worried about this, as Joel was sitting in 3rd place for the Omnium that this race was a part of, but apparently the Z-team guy who was in the lead didn't notice that third place was up the road.
The six of us worked well together and had the gap over 30 seconds, aided by Elliot and Dylan constantly sitting 2nd wheel in the field keeping the chase nice and disorganized. At about 20 minutes from the finish we started slowing down and the pack pulled us back to 14 secs. I hit it hard again out of the 180 and took a long pull which got rid of the VOS and AC guys. Another couple pulls Joel, Tyler, and I took cracked the guy I bridged up with and by the next time through the start/finish we had the gap back out to 30 seconds. The Three of us worked well together until the last lap when Tyler and I made Joel do most of the work since he was in a position to win the overall omnium. Coming into the corner with 250 meters to go I jumped hard from the back as I felt good and thought I could hold it all the way from there, unfortunately I pulled my shoe out of the pedal and had to slow down a good amout to get myself back together. I still had a good acceleration, but Tyler was able to get by me with about 100 meters to go. I started reeling him back in, but he was able to hold me off by half of a wheel at the line.
Elliot ended up rolling in for eighth after a good day of controlling the field, and I was able to finish just off the top step of the podium for a frustrating fifth time this year. Oh well. I'll get em' next time!

Suisun Harbor Criterium

2008-08-17T18:54:00.000-07:00

JD, Sean, Josh, Elliot, and Dylan lined up for this windy short crit.

Suisun can easily splinter to bits due to the super windy conditions and less than half mile four corner course that we roll around 72 times, so the BPG boys made sure to have at least one guy off the front with every break that went. Lots of promising moves went up the road including Sean solo for 8 laps, but nothing stuck until about 15 laps to go.

Elliot and Sean made it into a split of about 15 guys that got about 15 seconds off the front of the main field. Josh, Dylan and I cruised at the front of the field following anyone who even though about trying to bridge. The gap to the break started to shrink with about 5 laps laps to go as the field realized it was now or never time, if they wanted to reel in the break.

Dylan hit the deck with 4 laps to go following the single file peleton through turn one, but escaped with only some missing skin for his trouble.

The Field made contact with the break, just as we were hearing the bell for one lap to go. I made my move up the inside after turn 2. I continued to move up through turn 3 and then jammed the inside of turn four as hard as I could as most everyone was taking it wide to try to ride the finishing straight in the protected - from the wind - right hand gutter. I was probably tenth wheel through the last corner, but was able to use my cornering and open road to start my sprint immediately. I was passing guys like they were standing still as I was well recovered from my earlier efforts, due to the free ride I had gotten in the peleton, cuz of Sean and Elliot's breakaway. I was closing in on the front of the field fast, but was just not quite able to reel in Eric Wohlberg and a kyoto sangyo university rider who had gapped off the rest of the field. Elliot followed me in for sixth place.

After the race there was lots of complaining from the field about an erratic sprint from Wohlberg, who was eventually relegated for putting everyone in the gutter. While I didn't see the incident, as I was sprinting on the opposite side of the road, others told me, and I'm inclined to believe them, that Eric's sprint was fine and that it was the kyoto sangyo university rider who put everyone into the curb.

While having someone relegated in front of you is not the best way to move up in the standings, I officially ended up second (for the fourth time this year. I swear I'll win one of these stupid bike race things one of these days.) and Elliot ended up fifth for a pretty decent day for the BPG crit squad.

ICCC Dash for Cash race report

2008-08-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

This was a classic business park race- flat, 4 corners and spiced up with some wind. I won't deny that I took special pleasure in receiving the number 666 at this International Christian Cycling Club promoted race and I was feeling optimistic about my chances in this race. My confidence was further bolstered by the attendance of my teammates Matt Tamel, JD Bergman, Sean McBride, Logan Loader and Dylan Clark and of course Sergei Badeka calling the shots on the radio.

There were upwards of 130 starters since it was a P/1/2/3 race and in addition to a lot of inexperienced cat 3's there were many of the usual nor-cal fast men at the start including a few guys who get paid to ride; Healthnet's Roman Kilun and Rock Racing's Kevin Klein were present as well.

Our strategy for the day was to avoid possible problems created by a big, unpredictable field by riding at the front and making the race good and fast to reduce the field size as quickly as possible- it seemed like I was not alone in this tactic as the pace was high from the gun.

There were a lot of attacks all throughout the race and by the look of the results, our plan worked and there were a lot of non-finishers. The format of this race has changed and instead of a $10 prime on every lap, there were several $40 primes spread throughout the day. For such a large field, the prizes were surprisingly small... and no cash at all for the top 5 as it turned out. Can't complain too much I guess, but with a name like Dash for Cash I was kind of expecting something signifigant to race for. The primes did serve to split a few breaks off the front, but nothing seemed like it would stick and by the later part of the race it was clear that we were looking at a sprint.

That didn't stop us from making the effort to get off the front with every attack- all the BPG riders were working hard to be represented in possible moves. In the last 30 minutes, I think I was in 3 different breakaway attempts; Sergei kept telling me to go, so that's what I did. I thought I was going to die a couple times when the break I was in came back to the group and I immediately found myself in a position to go with the counter... I was determined to leave every bit of energy I had out on the course so I just got in the pain bag and went with every attack I could.

Soon enough we were hearing the bell for the final lap and I was still in the mood to suffer so I got up as close to the front as I could. I got lucky and found myself coming into the last corner in the 4th spot- I sprinted hard but I was boxed in and couldn't improve on that position. Nobody came past me and I was 4th with JD rolling in just behind me. 4th and 5th, not bad!

-Josh Snead

Super Week Day 1: Beverly Cycling Classic.

2008-07-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

This race is always an interesting one, it's one of the hardest courses we do and its the first day out so you never know whos gonna be there or how the legs will react. My flight was delayed by about 5 hours on Thursday night, so I ended up spending about 12-13 hours on planes and in airports, not exactly what I wanted for a good set up to a hard race. No matter JD picked me up at about 2 oclock am and I managed to get to sleep by 4....ouch.

As for the racing, we lined up about 80 guys for the hot hilly race with a strong cast of characters including Bahaati, Justin Williams and Sterling from RR, a couple of hard aussies from Jittery Joes, a full Kelly Benefits team, and a host of local hitters. It was absolutely house from the gun with the entire first thirty minutes pretty much lined out with the occassional attack making it even faster. JD and I stayed pretty well up and covered as best we could, I thought I felt pretty good until I started looking for the lap counter and realized we had done less than half the race, 35 laps to go and I was hurting a bit already. Lucky for me, the pace slowed a bit and a couple of breaks managed to get a bit of time but came back, I knew this would likely mean the winning move would come quick.

And just as predicted it went, JD and I missed the move as did Kelly Benefits, who quickly sent all 5 or 6 guys to the front and drilled it for two laps bringing the gap down just enough to send two across and then shut it down. The breakneck speed at which Kelly implemented this beautiful piece of textbook racing left just about everybody else (save for Richard England who went across with em...Kudos to that guy!) gasping for breath and unable to do much. So that was the top 10 up the road.

Shortly after, at about the time I was wondering if I was gonna make it through the race a few guys dawdled off and got a gap so off I went to give it a shot. We worked well for a few laps and were eventually joined by Vic Ayala, Bahaati, some Candelario clone from Kelly and a few others and we began to make it happen. Lots of primes and attacks kept us varying between kinda going and going like hell, while up front the lead 10 lapped the field. We ended up with 15 in our group so everyone should get paid as long as we didnt get caught. Late in the game I managed to snag a 100 dollar prime just barely from a late charging Bahaati and settled in to try and make it to the end. There was a bit more action in our group with me working a good bit to keep things smooth and try to stay up front, and at about 3 to go 3 of us ended up with a bit of a gap and charged to try and make it stick but no dice. We were caught just before one to go and unfortunately I ended up in the lead out role going in to the hill.

Knowing that if I slowed it up to get off I would be caught out by the flurry of attacks I opted to lead it out, the race here is basically to the decent two corners from the line so I did my best to just lead it to that corner knowing if I got there towards the front I would hold my own. I did just that until about 10 feet from the corner where I got swamed by four riders, came out of the last corner in 5th wheels and managed to hold off all but one for what should have been 16th place, key word should have...

With no finishing camera (huh?) and a few dishonest clowns that have been here too many years past my very solid and positive 16th place turned into me arguing with the officials and getting given the firs "unkown rider" spot in 19th. Not exactly the way I wanted things to go, I had even checked in at the finish as my jersey was unzipped but apparently Im just not cool enough.

Good job to JD who rode real strong and looked good all day, to Logan who came out trying to make the break that stuck and ended up feeding and to a real tough Dylan that gave it a solid go till his post surgery incision started to bleed. All in all Im satisfied-ish with the days ride if not the "official" result, with the easier days and the promise of a finishing camera I think things should get a good bit better.

Napa Downtown Grand Prix

2008-06-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

Josh, Sean, Justin, Clint, Randy, and I showed up for this short track lollipop shaped crit. The weather was super hot and so was the racing. Once again the BPG / Montano Velo boys rode a great team race, covering or initiating just about every break that went up the road. About half way through the race Sean got away with JAndy Mondonca in what turned out to be the move of the day. Unfortunately Sean wasn’t able to hang with JAndy’s 54x11 pedal mashing. Josh then got off the front to try to chase JAndy back with Sean. After that counter came back it was Justin’s turn to try to get up to JAndy. He crossed 15 seconds of the 20 second gap in just a couple of laps. It looked like Justin was going to catch JAndy and be able to go for the win when he washed out in the hairpin turn. With five laps to go I put in a big attack and got a decent gap off the front of the pack. With three to go I was cought by what I thought was just Kevin Klein and Phil Zajkek, but may have in fact been the entire pack. After letting each of them take two pulls, so I could recover, I pulled through hard into the head wind and through the hairpin. I saw that I had gapped the field, cuz Phil and Kevin had sat up, so I accelerated hard down the tailwind start/ finish straight to get my gap back. I stayed clear until half a lap to go when I was cought by two chasers just as I was hitting the headwind. I was able to get the wheel of the Lombardi’s rider who was just sitting on Rand Miller to block for JAndy. I was able to pass the Lombardi’s rider in the hairpin the final time with some good momentum and took Sergei’s advice from the sidelines to put in one more big effort, to outsprint Rand for the second place finish.

Specialized / Sierra Nevada Criterium

2008-06-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

BPG / Montano Velo showed up with a strong team with Clint, Randy, Matt T., Justin, Logan, Josh and JD. It was 95 degrees in the central valley for this office park slug fest. The plan for the day was to be sure we had guys in the break, because we were pretty sure it was going to split up. BPG rode strong initiating or covering all of the attacks of the day. After getting one prime early I followed another rider attacking for a later prime 25 minutes into the race, and ended up with four other guys off of the front. Logan followed another group to bridge to my group, to make 2 BPGs out of 8 shortly after. Josh then followed the last guys up to the front a lap later to bring 3 BPG riders into the break of ~12. The break worked fairly well together, and the rest of the BPG guys did a great job to shut down the pack. We finally lapped the field with five laps to go. Justin, Clint, Randy, and Matt all did a great job keeping the group together and the pace high for the rest of the race. Just after we got the bell for the last lap, after monster pulls by Matt and Randy, a Waste management rider who was down a lap attacked to try to set up his teammate, who had lapped. Josh handily got his wheel and another WM rider pulled me and the pack back up to them. At 400 meters to go just as the pace at front started to slow, Cameron from team Agel?, who I didn't recognize, but had been impressed with his pulls during the breakaway, attacked hard. He came by on the left going a good 5 mp/h faster than the guys on the front. I accelerated immediately up the right and closed his gap to two bike lengths by the last corner and continued to gain on him down the finishing straight. Unfortunately for me, Cameron was really strong and stayed clear to the line to win by a bike length. Josh sprinted in for 7th and Logan finished an impressive 8th even with a nose bleed and cramps.BPG put together another great team effort to end up with three guys in the top ten. I'm only sorry I couldn't cap off all of the great work with a W!

Modesto Road Race

2008-05-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

Randy, British Dave, and I lined up for this hot flat central valley sprint fest. After two laps of constant attacking from the field everyone decided nothing was going to get away and the peleton settled in for a cruisy morning. Every once in a while someone would decide that a break might work afer all and attack, but to no avail as Daniel Holloway(VMG/Felt) was too angry at everyone for stting on his wheel every time he did anything - as well as the fact that BPG worked him over the previous day in the crit, with Victor Rapinski getting the win – so he almost single handedly kept the race together. Clint Rogers was my savior sitting in the feed zone today as it was at least 90 degrees out there. I must have drank 9 bottles in the 3 hour race. Unfortunateley Randy flatted about halfway through the race and couldn’t get back to the field. With about a lap and a half left in the eight lap race I got into a good group of 7 attacking riders that was rolling through well together at over thirty mph, but after five minutes or so of freedom we were reeled back in, cementing the certainty of a field sprint in my mind. As we went through the bell for the final lap Joel Robertson attacked and tried to draw out some others to go with him, but nobody else wanted to challenge the McGuire train which was controlling the front for their sprinter Darren Basso. McGuire burned through all of their men keeping Joel at 20 seconds for the last lap and didn’t save anyone beseides Darren for the sprint which proved costly for them. After catching the cat 4s and Joel with 2km to go we had to race sise by side with the cat 4s, who were going into their finish as well, as the moto escort were taking care of a big crash in the 4s field that had just happened. At 1k to go British Dave put the nail in the coffin of the McGuire train by drilling it hard up the left hand gutter. There was a lot of elbow banging going into the last corner at 250 meters to go, but I ended up coming through in 4th, on Danny’s wheel. John Wilk opened up the sprint up the right of the road and Danny went left. We easily passed John and I came out of Danny’s slipstream with fifty meters to go, but didn’t have the power to come around the sprinting beast that is Daniel Holloway. Oh well, second in a road race is not too bad.

Berkeley Hills RR, or..."Damn, that hurt!"

2008-05-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

After another week of having my ass kicked by school, largely ignoring my bike (maybe 5 hrs this week before today if Im lucky) and a last minute SOS plea from work to come in and cover, I had officially decided that Berkeley Hills would not be in my best interest, and that I wasnt going. That was until the ride I had arranged for Dave called at 7 Sat. night and said he wasnt going. So against my better judgement I drug my sad sorry self out of the house with Dave in tow and headed to the east bay oh so early this mother's day morning to race. Logan was on hand, and Viktor made a brief appearance, but after trying to pay with a credit card and getting shot down, apparently took off before any of us could try and sort him out, so that made the squad myself, Logan and Dave for the day. And off we went...

After about three miles the signature Pat Briggs early move went, and as they usually come back quick enough my initial thought was to leave it but once one Nate English, followed by Taylor Kuphaldt from Davis joined the fun I figured it would be wise to have somebody there and followed suit, we had a few others along for a total of seven, and were joined after a half a lap by Jesse Moore of Cal Giant. At this point I was wondering if this early move was gonna come back after all, and after the first lap when we were joined by another 8 including Mike Sayers, Ozzy Olmos and a couple of other strong dudes, I knew that this was not the early move, but THE MOVE, and I was a bit worried.

From here I can make a long story short, I lasted till the 3rd time over momma bear, with Sayers, Moore, English, and Kuphaldt pushing the pace couldnt hack it and came off just behind a few other guys that couldnt take the heat either. From here I did almost 2 laps solo, catching a couple of guys, and being caught by a couple of guys, until...The last time up the climb I was caught by half of what was "the field", and then about 1k from the line the other half of "the field" to finish of those in the race at all, for 26th place.

Not so surprised to be honest, although given my recent lack of training it could have been a lot worse. Unfortunately I was the only of us three to finish making it not exactly a banner day for BPG. Sorry for the bad news, but on the bright side school is essentially over this week, and I feel confident that with a good block of training in me Ill be properly ready to "race" race again.

Hope everybody is having a good Sunday, see ya next time

Sean.

Oh yeah, and in case you were curious the places that matter went something like:
1. Nate English (damn, this kid is something else)
2. Jesse Moore
3. Taylor Kuphaldt
4. Mike Sayers
5. Ozzy Olmos
6. Jonathon Eropkin (him and Ozzy may be the other way around)
7. Mark Burnham

thats all i know for sure, later dudes

EBC Criterium

2008-05-10T15:06:00.000-07:00

Todays was a pretty fun race. It seemed like at all times we had the race under control, basically what ever we wanted we got until the last lap. Viktor was amazing, once again showing amazing time trial power. There were alot of breaks going and we always had atleast one person in them leaving no work for us to do. Along with Viktor, Justin and Josh were bolth riding very strong.

Anyways the race was a usual crit with many atacks early in the race, ususally the break would just get too big and the group would chase them down. Nearly the whole race though Victor was up the road which was very nice because it was up to everyone else to bring the breaks back. However being that we were the team with numbers it left more people trying to single handedly bridge to the breaks and all we had to do was follow wheels so if anyone got to it, we would just have another one there. Once we caught the break there were a few counters. Soon enough it was 3 laps to go. At this point Viktor launched a huge atack and was solo. It looked like he would make it for a little bit but soon enough he was caught and we were trying to get organzied for the sprint. I saw randy and a few other guys trying to get in the "sweet spot" and I went and joined. I thought we had a good group getting ready to lign it up but when I looked back, they had gotten boxed off my wheel. With 500 meters to go I was sittin in about 4th posistion waiting patiently when someone (cough cough) came up and decided to jock for posistion and while doing it let a little gap go. I ended up taking 3rd in the sprint. Although not a win, still a very fun race

Cat's Hill

2008-05-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

(Posted By Viktor Rapinskii)

About halfway through the race I saw a break go and I thought that was the end of that. Luckily it had Elliot in it, and Sergei told me that if it comes down to a sprint between those 4, our chances are really good, since one of the other riders was James Mattis (Cal Giant). After that a flurry of attacks brought the break back and closer to the end 2 riders kind of just rolled off the front. I was told they're not really dangerous and we kind of just let them dangle out there for a while and I knew it would come back. Sitting in the pack, I saw Mike Sayers do a lot of the work, which only meant that Jackson Steward was feeling good for the sprint. I didn't think I had that great of a condition to contest the field sprint, so I wanted to take a chance. Throughout the whole race I was paying attention to the riders around me and analyzing where on the course they are the most tired. It turned out that right after the hill, when you make the first right turn along the park, that's where everyone would usually catch their breath, and that's where I decided to attack. I brought 2 guys with me and 2 laps later we bridged up to the front two, thus making 5.

I knew at that point, that if we were to come back, I had about 8 teammates that were still in the race with a legitimate shot at the win. When I heard that our gap started growing, all 5 of us in the break stepped on the gas. With 1 to go, I knew I wanted to be first before the final turn and opened up the throttle on the downhill. I think I caught the others by surprise as they must've thought that was too early and the finishing straight is long, but when you're on the downhill like that, you can start your sprint even at 500 meters, because you carry a lot of momentum. I flew out of the last corner already a bike length ahead of the other 4 and just kept that advantage to the finish line.

Thank you for a great race, I can't wait till the next weekend.

Viktor Rapinskii

Isla Vista Crit

2008-04-13T20:57:00.000-07:00

(Posted By Randy Bramblett)

Just wanted to touch base with you guys about Justin and I's trip to Santa Barbara....

very exhausting .. came back at midnight last night but great weather and hot chicks in bikinis at the isla vista crit was all worth it.

Saturdays Crit was in Isla Vista where all the drunk crazy UCSB kids go... fast short course and hot weather was all good - o and several big NRC guys showin up tuning up the legs before Garrett Lamire. Basically a field of 120 got blown to 36 finishers ...in a sprint that came out of a "D" shaped bend and we were all in our 53-11's going 40mph. Still working on trying to impede on a raging 8 man pro team leadout train. I was 19th ... Justin had a off day but more than made up for it the next day at Ojai taking 5th in a strong cat 2 field. That race was one of the harder Pro/1 races Ive ever done ... So I stayed at the front with the big names an hour into it ... got so dehydrated despite drinking 40 gallons of liquid and getting feeds in the feed zone ( of a crit) from Justin.. my lights went out with 20 to go.. but adding to some positiveness ...so did the lights of Ivan Dominguez and Rashaan Bahati.

Randy

Madera Stage Race

2008-04-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

(Posted By Matt Willinger)

BPG: Elliot Jarimillo,, Matt Tamel, Matt Willinger, Steele Willinger

Field: Started 51 riders

Willinger 3rd place in GC

I came into this race unsure about my fitness and nervous in general but in the week leading up to it EJ and I had some good workouts behind the scooter and it made all the difference. The field at Madera was relatively large this year and had a couple pros and Mattis and Moore from CalGiant just coming off good rides at Redlands so I knew it would be harder than years past. The first two stages of the race are both 10 mile time trials, weird but ok. I got 4Th and 5Th and ended up 3rd overall going into the crit. Mattis was in first by about 2 minutes Moore was in second somewhere in the middle and Scott Zwizanski from Bissell was just 12 seconds behind me (oh yeah, and with absolutely zero aero equipment and me in full on space monkey getup). Good ole Christian Kearney slotted into 5Th.
The crit was fairly uneventful, Elliot and Matt T pretty much covered the danger guys and I somehow rolled off the front for a 0:05 time bonus which proved totally inconsequential in the end. One of the race officials offered me 10$ instead which I briefly considered.
I knew tactics would be important in the road race. It being basically flat I had nowhere to really gain the time I would need to get in front of Moore and Mattis was to far ahead to touch baring a complete meltdown which I didn't see happening in Madera. Better to control the race together and defend our podium spot. The fact was if Zwizanski won the road race with the field together he would jump me in GC with the 0:20 time bonus and after covering a couple of his attacks in the crit I could see it happening. So a break of four took off on the first lap. It had no GC guys in it except Vincent Owens from Sierra Pacific. It was excellent for us, if they succeeded they would soak up the time bonuses and everything would be cool. This is where Elliot and Matt T rode like they were on a damn pro team. They rode smart with CalGiant tapping out the miles to keep attacks at bay and the break close but just out of reach. It's a sensitive business keeping the break right where you want it and I couldn't have asked for better team work. Meanwhile I was focusing on staying fresh to cover Zwizanski when the time came. He put in a few hard ones but not the monster attack that I was fearing.
In the end it all worked out. Elliot and Matt both flatted 15 meters after the finish which was awesome. Thanks for reading my long ass race report if you made it this far! (but it was 3 days of racing) See you at Sea Otter.

Special Thanks to The Man 'o' Steele for the support. We couldn't do it with out you.

Matt

Hanford Criterium

2008-03-30T20:49:00.000-07:00

(Posted By Justin Fraga)

Riders: Randy Bramblett, Clint Rogers, JD Bergman, Aaron Cox, Justin Fraga

The Hanford crit always offers a relatively large purse in the Pro/1/2 event, so we expected at least some upper tier riders to show up. Walking back from the registration tent I noticed a Pinarello Prince parked in the Cal Giant parking area and new it had to belong to Ben Jaques-Maynes. Clint, Randy and I got dressed and rode through some of the surrounding streets to warm up. We passed a Symmetrics rider but weren't sure who it was. Turned out to be Svein Tuft, the guy who rolled away for a solo victory in the US Pro Road Race Championships last season.

So now we were up against a full Cal Giant roster (Andy JM and the like), BJM, and Svein Tuft. Dave McCook was also there without team mates.

The race began and immediately I knew we were in for some work. Tuft started attacking 2 laps in. While the pace was very fast, the race wasn't stressful since everyone should have known who to watch-- the only thing we had to do was go with AJM, BJM, and Svein, no matter what. Well we screwed that up pretty bad and BPG watched as those exact 3 riders rolled away. There went the race. Ken Hansen from Giant also went with them and the 4 were not seen again.

I was highly frustrated and started launching angry attacks. Giant was doing what Giant does: blocking, sitting, generally getting in the way. They wouldn't let anyone go. Mike Hernandez (VOS) and Joel Robertson (Sierra Pacific) joined in and the 3 of us decided we were either going to get away or go down in flames. Either option was better than sitting in and getting lapped to us. We attacked furiously... Hernandez yelled over the wind: "Just keep hitting them! They'll give up eventually!" He turned out to be right. Randy told me he was going to work hard and would sit for the sprint once we hit 10 laps to go... he moved up and started pulling the race-- at one point Randy and I went off the front in what probably looked like a pointless attack, but Joel & Mike quickly jumped up to us. Dirk Copeland from Giant covered the move and Randy moved back and let a gap form. That was our chance and I put my head down and took a monster pull. Joel and Mike followed with the same effort. Behind us I saw the bridge attempts disintegrate and I knew we finally had it.

We had completed 3/4 of the race. Copeland saw the lead break closing in on the pack when we came through the center of the "figure 8" in the course and decided it was safe to work with us. The four of us took smooth, strong pulls and quickly sunk 30 seconds into the field. With 2 to go and the main field lapped by Svein's break, we were the last 4 riders on the course (since the main field lost a lap and had already sprinted). Hernandez and Robertson are both iron-willed riders who can attack until their lungs bleed, but they aren't good sprinters and I knew Copeland was the wheel to follow. As we rounding the final turn he jumped to the inside, and as I tried to follow I stuck a pedal in the gutter, knocking my bike in the air and almost taking out Robertson and Hernandez entirely. I held it upright but my chain had fallen to my climbing ring. I didn't have time to shift back up so I dumped into my 11 tooth and sprinted, cross chained. I managed to spin past Hernandez and come in behind Copeland for 6th place.

Later Randy told me the field sprint was incredibly hectic, with Ken Hansen taking the win in a massive run up, and Tuft coming in 3rd. Randy either took 9th or 10th, which means he either won or nearly won the field sprint, even though the guys in the break managed to come in ahead of everyone else.

1: Ken Hansen
2: BJM?
3: Svein Tuft
4: AJM?
5: Dirk Copeland
6: Justin Fraga (BPG)
7: Mike Hernandez
8: Joel Robertson
9?10? Randy Bramblett (BPG)
(not sure how the other guys finished)

-Justin

Copperopolis

2008-03-22T20:48:00.000-07:00

(Posted By Dylan Clark)

I got caught in heavy rush hour traffic driving through downtown
Milton, so i barely made it to the start on time. About eighty Cat 3s
started the race, and we just cruised.
about a mile or two from where we left we rolled through the feed
zone. Id like to say that i appreciate the fact that Steele was in the
feedzone all day long helping everyone out, which was way cool.
the first lap was quite uneventful, as everyone was just getting a
feel for the course.
As Lap two came around things heated up a little, mostly over the
first climb. we all ascended a little quicker than the previous lap,
and only about ten people were shelled off the back. I met up with Matt
Willinger out in the flats that very same lap. He helped me quite a bit
with positioning advice for this course, which i kept in mind until the
finish line.
as lap three rolled around the climb went faster, and i was
feeling fueled up thanks to all the goods provided by steele and my
father. this time around the group was all but cut in half after the
climb over the hills. A break went that i think barely anyone saw, so
at this point there were two off the front, leading a pack of about
thirty. No one was doing anything about the situation, which actually
really annoyed me. there was a feeling of contentment among the pack. i
wasnt exactly diggin' the scene so i decided to try to escape.
Earlier in the race the first climb didnt really seem tough enough
to do any damage on, hopwever after about sixty miles the situation
changed. Approaching the feed zone on the last lap i made damn sure i
was top ten so i didnt get all bunched up at the bottom of the climb.
as i went to the opposite side of the road that i had been visiting all
day, i saw Matt Willinger with a bottle for me, which tasted pretty
good at this point.
as soon as the elevation started to head up, my gear ratios did
to, as i jumped out of the saddle and tried to get out of there. A few
came with me but fell back after a few minutes. after i got onto the
flats i got a split time of 45 seconds from the motorcycle. I heard the
break ahead of me was quite a ways ahead, so i just concentrated on not
getting caught.
I hit the back straightaway and recieved an updated split time of
1:45. inspired, i just kept giving it. Upon approaching the final
climb, i heard that a had 2:30 on the pack. I made it up the climb
fairly quickly, and began the off-road bumpy assault down to the
finish. Hot and tired, i rolled throught for third place at
Copperopolis.

Land Park

2008-03-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

(Posted By Dylan Clark)

Cat 3 rolled at about 3 P.M. in Sacramento so i actually got to
sleep past 5 A.M. on race day. My plan was pretty simple, just stay top
15 and keep out of the wind.
On about the third lap i was sitting on the back of a wheel and
plowed right through a hole in the course, and immediatley felt a
wobble in my rear carbon wheel, which i knew was not at all strong to
begin with. as i feathered my brakes i could hear the bubble of clear
coat pass through my pads. i wont lie this concerned me just a little.
I had some trouble at first, i had never really ridden in a crit
with rolling corners like the ones that can be found in Land Park.One
thing that helped however, was the fact that I was able to spot Etienne
every time i passed him. I wasnt allowed to use a radio so we had to
play it oldschool. He yelled helpful hints throughout the race which i
appreciated very much. Thanks man!
About halfway throught the race a few breaks tried to go but
nothing really stuck, with about five to go the pace heated a little as
expected, so i started concentrating on not getting sucked back
unexpectedley.
On the second to last lap I set up behind a guy i know from up
here in Auburn, and sat on his wheel until the final straight.
I came throught the last corner in about eighth position, and
cruised for a few meters, as soon as it felt right i charged to the
side of the street and gunned it. i made it around a few people and
looked up the road and saw two guys quite a ways up. at this point i
knew i positioned myself poorly, But thanks to that Sac town pull i
reeled in second place!

Land Park

2008-03-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

(Posted By Randy Bramblett)

Where: Sac
Field of about 60+ Pro1/2
Who: Me, Fraga, Clint, JD, Tamel

Well- Im very happy to take my first win of the year and also the team's first. Im not usually a huge fan of this race or course... but who is right? Regardless a lotta people showed partly because of the sunny skies that day. I have to say that my training and patience is starting to slowly pay off. Those brutal port rides wit Justin and Jamiel help... A LOT. I would say EVERYONE on the team should try and make it if they can. This can be a great teamwork building arena for us. Its at 7:30pm Oakland Port. We usually meet at the SF 16th/Mission Bart at 6:30pm to depart. Ok Back to business- Big thanks to J Fraga for riding at the front the ENTIRE race which helped along with the wind to keep any breaks from forming ... We all agreed to be aggressive and and try and establish a break .. myself included... I spent several laps early on trying to form a break or bridge to a break.... but it was clear with 7 to go a field sprint was in effect .... about a 45 sec recovery was all I needed ... Would have been nice to see ALL the BPG Riders keeping things faster but its a wide course so I got right in front the last lap with ease and big thanks to JD for a killer attack with 500meters to go that caused a chase in front of me sitting 4 th wheel going into the last 200m and I just had a straight shot and waited till last 50 meters to come around James Badia (Webcor) and with a hard bike trow won by literally... a centimeter. It was for the most part a great Team race with some aggression behind it. Just the beginning. We gotta put our strengths together , especially these local races like this one.

Randy

Menlo Park Grand Prix

2008-03-08T20:42:00.000-08:00

(Posted By Dylan Clark)

I Made the drive down to my 1:00 race that very same morning, and
arrived to blue skies and no wind. About 75 people showed up in my
catergory overall.

the first ten laps or so brought a few failed breakaway attempts, and
everything ran smoothly for a while. There were a few webcor guys
that were clearly interested in controlling the latter part of the
race. with eight to go a webcor rider shot off the front in the back
straight. i looked around me and noticed two or three of his
teammates in the top fifteen of the field. i decided to jump and pull
him in about a lap later, with help from only one other rider whos
name i dont know.

there were a few textbook anticipation laps before the bells rang.
the finishing straight was a bit long so i was planning on being
about seventh wheel out of the final corner, but unfortunately things
didnt go that way. on the back straight i saw what i thought was the
final surge before the sprint, however when i got going the riders in
front of me slowed down tremendously upon entering the second from
last corner. i was completely boxed in and thought i was finished.
somewhere in the short distance between the last two corners i just
threw my elbows and forced my way out, causing a few skids... but
hey, they were where i needed to be.

out of the last corner i was sitting about 12th and swung wide, and
got around a few guys. the top seven was now spread out across the
road pretty well, so i hooked up on the back of a webcor rider at the
far left side of the street. at about 30 meters to go i gunned it for
the gutter and clipped the guy at the line, nearly running into the
finishing structure.

my next race is the Land Park crit, followed by the road race in
Zamora the next day, hopefully ill see a few of you guys up there!

Merco Road Race

2008-03-02T20:38:00.000-08:00

(Posted By Matt Willinger)

Yo, Sounds like the 2's field was rough. I know how negative the racing can be there P/1/2 is much more fun, I'm looking forward to it. Glad you are all ok for the most part.
I was nervous before my race. Mclane is always difficult for me, crosswinds and being guttered for 120 miles are definitely not my strong points. Also there was a lot of hype about how hard it would be, the big teams are intimidating. Randy and I agreed that the race was for training and we just wanted to finish, it being Randy's first P/1 road race and I having never actually finished it. But even with the big guys there it began totally civilized and no real attacks were started until the second lap, except for our boy Andy/Jesse who launched his trademark 'way to early' attack. It was hilarious to see him take the first dig against a field like that, props to the Mendonca! Anyway, when the attacks did start it was totally random. There was no wind so nothing was hard enough to break legs it was just a roll of the dice as to who would get up the road. I went with a few moves but they were all broke back. I had just come back one finally went. If we had a couple more guys we would definitly have had someone in there. Once it was gone I tried to bridge with a symetrics guy and a couple others rode up but they brought the field with them and then it was over.

Great training though. Thanks for all you guys who came out to watch us ride around in circles, Etienne, Steele, Martin, I drank 6 bottles and wouldn't have finished without you. Next up, results. Matt

Dinuba Crit

2008-02-18T20:33:00.000-08:00

Dinuba crit: P,1,2
only 25 total riders
55 laps which ended up being 1hr and 15 min
75 degrees

Sierra pacific had 7 guys, CG had 3, VOS had 3, and a bunch of other solo dudes. I knew the race would be interesting due to the numbers. I was expecting it to blow up and separate with a bunch of small groups of riders spread through out the race course so i lined up in the middle of the Field so i could get a good view of what wheels to follow off the front. The first few laps were like normal no super fast but it was still single file then on about the third lap a few fast guys from most of the teams and knew that was it because they had a bit of a gap with their tea mates left at the front of the peloton, I went with this and for about 10 min we each took lap pulls to make the gap grow, the break had six guys in it 2 Sierra guys, Oz from Cal Giant, 1 guy from Kahala, one from VOS, and me. We finally lapped into the broken up field and from there Sierra had all their guys on the front pulling and saving their two riders that were in the break and also chasing down any of us riders who would attack. I really played my card well in this race, the VOS guy was a high tempo break away rider who could not sprint and the same for oz from Cal Giant, the sierra guys were basically all rounders so i left it to them to chase for me to sprint in the end. VOS tried to take off and blew up a couple times while getting reeled back in so he was out. It all stayed together just really fast the last couple laps with us break away rider mixed with in the field of mostly Sierra guys working for their rider who lapped with me, with a couple turns and straight to go Bosch yelled at his guys to all sit and it was a huge cluster that i had to get though but i found a good line and with two turn to go into the final straight i had 5th wheel, Ken Hanson was trying to lead out OZ from cal Giant and Bosch with his tea mate then me. In the last straight i cam around the two CG guys and was reeling in on Sierra for 1st and second but ran out of room by lees than a wheel.

I should of had third wheel in the last turn and only would of had to come around the Sierra guys to win this thing but that's what i walked away from this one.

For my first crit i feel great, completely different form from last year. Which pleases me due to an off season of combining like three different coaching theories.

I cant so Snelling next weekend guys due to work but i will be at the Merced crit on Sun. Hopefully i could pick up the new kits there it Martin or Atn will be present.

Thanks guys, Aaron

Cherry Pie

2008-02-10T20:19:00.000-08:00

(Posted By Justin Fraga)

We had beautiful weather for the first race of the season, which was all the more enjoyable since it followed weeks of cold, rainy mornings.

With Kelly Benefits, Cal Giant and Sierra Pacific fielding full teams, and a smattering of big engines in the mix (Rodriguez/Switters from Rock, Stewart/Sayers from BMC, and Lucas Euser from Slipstream), I expected the race to be organized and aggressive. The BPG pre race meeting stressed a conservative strategy ("don't burn the matches too early") but I suppose the early-season jitters had me up front and jumpy in the first few laps.

Etienne called out the formation of a break as soon as he saw it and I was the closest BPG rider to the front at the time, so I surged hard to cover. Brian Buccholz was hammering away with Jackson Stewart and a few other guys in tow. I was expecting to sit on the break and let it die-- until Lucas bridged up and immediately started screaming "go go go!" Jackson took some hard pulls and the pace picked up. At this point we had maybe a 15 second lead over the field, and my confidence in the break was solidified by the addition of Devon Vigus from Cal Giant. We already had a Sierra Pacific rider in the break, so now the major teams were all represented and it was nothing but full throttle from all nine of the break riders.

Every time the break swooped down the backside of the hairpin turn I could see the main field approaching from the other side of the street, and plenty of red, white and green on the front. With a substantial portion of the field dedicated to blocking and everyone in the break committed, we quickly sunk the better part of a minute into our lead. The rotations were smooth and nobody was dogging it. I don't know what the average speed was, besides fast.

The cat and mouse games didn't begin until we had 4 laps to go. Lucas and Jackson attacked the hill and I had to bury myself to stay on their wheels. We all spaced out and drifted around the course, eye-balling each other. A few more attacks were launched but nobody was dropped. On the bell lap I was expecting the 3 pros to deliver a knockout punch somewhere in the lower section of the course, so I came to the front and soft pedaled, waiting for the attack. It never came and I ended up dangling off the front like a chump. It was here that I should have been more decisive and switched tactics-- I have a strong 1k attack but only a mediocre sprint-- we were only maybe 800m from the finish when I had a healthy 50m on the rest. Jumping right then would have probably solidified a podium spot for me, since only Lucas, Jackson and Devon would have had the punch to make up the distance and catch me. But I hesitated and when the sprint began at the bottom of the hill I had no draft. The other 8 guys swarmed me and I finished last in the break.

It was a bittersweet race for me. I felt the team rode with a lot of cohesion which is always a great sign so early in the season; we have a great season ahead of us. I also felt pretty fresh at the end of the race considering the effort I had just put in. I made a big mental error at the last moment and it cost me quite a few places in the finish, but in the season opener I'd rather lose out due to tactical mistakes than a general lack of fitness.

I'm heading off to Phoenix for Valley of the Sun this weekend with a lot of confidence in my fitness, but pretty hungry for more racing and a chance to be more aggressive than I was yesterday.

-Justin

Pine Flat RR

2008-02-07T20:23:00.000-08:00

(Posted By Aaron Cox)

First race of the year for me, the Field was 30-40 guys the berry boys had about 3-4, cvc, McGuire had their whole team, Uth dogg was present, lombardy, and a bunch of other solo guys.
We rolled out at 730 for 65 miles of a rolling hills then some steep long climbs towards the last 15 miles. It started out slow for the fir the first 30 then Cal Giant sent a guy off the front we chased
caught him and kept it strung out into some hills where the launches began. About the 3rd attempt about 5 guys got off the front representing all the teams except cvc or now known as Sierra Pacific Orthopedic. Elliot made the break so i just got to sit in and chill for an hr while cvc sent their men up front to bring the break back. during this time i dropped the chain rolling into a hill and had to get off the bike to put it back on. This was the first of two different times. The pack was all together rolling into the bottom of the hardest and longest climb when Vince O and a Berry along with some other guy, the rest of the Sierra guys started to slow the pace to let their boy get off to do his thing in the hills. So i didn't like this so i went to the front to rail it out to close that gap to keep it all together entering the climb. The climb is a couple miles then you descend into some rollers and into another 1 k steep windy climb to the finish. In the hill I
dropped the chain again and had to get off to put it back on and the rest of my day was playing catch up. I basically rode the rest by myself, caught a few guys and ended up 23rd, Elliot was with the pack but i heard it got shattered into the finish so not sure where he ended up. Ken Hanson won it from Cal Giant, Vince got 2ND and Uthman 5Th. Bad day for results but i feel good, strong and way different from last year at this time, cant wait to see you guys soon!

-Aaron

NCNCA District Road Race Report

2007-08-04T19:24:00.000-07:00

Date: August 4, 2007
Team: Andy/Jesse, BP (4th), Christian, David, Logan, Paul, Rob and Sean

BP's Race Report:

The annual 10-lap / 105 mile affair through the mothballed army base roads of Fort Ord took place again today. The loop was the same as 2006, but the finish was moved to the top of a series of the many rollers. It was great to have Logan "Pigpen" Loader back from Europe to contest his first race as a Cat I, and in his own backyard no less.

A field of about 80 Cat I - Cat III racers lined up in the mist and fog to contest the coveted district title (and the prospect of $2 entry fees!). The race started at a moderate pace, with Cal Giant controlling attacks until a break of three went off on the third lap. The break had Chava from Cal Giant in it, a Metromint rider and another rider from a Team I didn't recognize. The break quickly established a 3+ minute gap.

The pack slowed through the middle section of the race. Eventually, with 3.5 laps remaining, Cal Giant pulled Chava from the break and put their whole Team, sans Mattis, at the front. Now, it looked as if James was wearing a red and white bullseye on his back because it was obvious he was Cal Giant's protected rider. I knew that he and Ted Huang would try to have a go when the gap came down.

It took a while, but eventually, the gap dropped to under two minutes with one lap left to race. Ted flexed his leg muscles in the feed zone, accelerated, grabbed a bottle and kept on going. Ted claimed this was not the verboten feed zone attack, but some of his competitors felt otherwise. I was caught looking for a bottle and when I looked up Ted, Mattis and Andreas Gil were up the road with a 200M gap. At this point, I could have given it a surge up to them but I hesitated and they were off to the races.

With about 8K to race I got a little frustrated with the lack of cohesion in the chase group and jumped. I thought I could pull a Spine guy with me to help but no luck. Off solo. Well, at least I could end this pain sooner!

I actually had pretty decent legs up the 1K climb and was cursing myself for missing Ted's earlier move. I picked up a U23 rider, the guy I didn't recognize from the original break and Andreas. I managed to stay in front of them for fourth, with Mattis taking the W, Ted in second and the Metromint dude in third.

As a Team, we had a real bugger of a race. Jandy and Christian each covered a couple of attacks earlier on and Dave managed to keep good positioning on the climb. Christian looked really fresh throughout the race but succumbed to a broken rear derailleur cable late in the race.

Special thanks to Sukie for some kickass feeds and Shelley for the cheering section!

Best,

BP

July 20/21 - Hellyer AVC Race Report

2007-07-22T21:50:00.000-07:00

American Velodrome Challenge July 20/21
San Jose, Ca
Team: Rob Evans ("hooptie"), Andy Mondonca ("JAndy"), Giovanni Rey (me)
Results: 6th Keirin, 3rd Madison (Rey/ Evans), 4rth Madison(Mondonca/Nolan) 4rth in the Scratch race

There was a big money race at San Jose this weekend and all the big guns were out. Absolutely spectacular. Huge spectator turnout, lots of beer and BBQ sloshing around, and killer competition in town from every corner of North America to do battle against the best that the SF bay area have to offer.

My events were the Keirin, Scratch race, Points race, Miss-n-Out, and Madison. I was absolutely pumped for the Keirin and Scratch race. The Scratch because I wanted the 'W' and thought I was ready for it, and the Keirin because it is just so damn much fun. Especially cool was having Hooptie and JAndy in the field to work with. Aside from the tactical help, the additional motivation is incredible.

I'll get to my race report in a sec' but first a note about Hooptie's lady. Friday night we had many hundreds (thousands?) of screaming bike race fans to witness the races including the women's points race (podium shot above). Remember this photo. I don't know what Shelley's plans are. But I think this is very likely "THE" changing of the guard. Right there on at Hellyer park on friday night. The very best female track racers we have had in all the international races (world cups, world championships, and Olympics with many medals to there names) all got there ass handed to them by Shelley. Then Shelley did it again the next day in the scratch race to prove it wasn't a fluke. Damn.

Keirin

Ok, back to BPG. Just getting over a cold and recovering from an absolutely miserable morning I was all focus for my Keirin heat. Rough personal conditions may have actually help
me as it was a no-pressure situation when I lined up against Adam Duvendeck (US Keirin Champ, Athens Olympian), Matt Barlee (Canadian Nat. Champ), Steve Hill (US Kilo Champ), and 2 other scary fast guys. Since the big-meat was going to be nearly impossible to pass in the final sprint, the only thing to do was get to the front early and nail it ... I did, right from the motor at 500 meters. Dropping all but Duvendeck and Barlee. But staying in front of Duvendeck was a tall order and exiting the last corner he came thru, pulling Barlee along with him. Top 2 went straight to the final. I went into the 2^nd chance rides (aka Repechage). In my Repechage it was again top 2 advance, but this time everyone else goes home. My heat contained hard men Josh Weir, and Kevin Selker, Steve Hill again, Mexican Sprint Champion Angelo Martorel, and Texas rider Steen Rose. I drew a starting spot at the top of the track and had to try to wiggle and push my way into the line up behind the motor. Martorel jumped to the motor, Weir behind him. I first tested Weir, then dropped back one and went 9 round with Rose for 3^rd spot in line. 3 laps of head butting and ass slapping (ok no ass slapping). Finally it was time to stop flirting and I clobbered Rose into the infield. He dropped back and did not mess with me any more. I thought I was sitting pretty 3^rd wheel when the motor pulled off with 500m to go, just to see the maelstrom of feet and helmets as Steve Hill jump from the back. On the back stretch with 200m to go Martorel had retaken Hill and in the chaos of overtaking Hill I dropped under Weir and took up chase on Martorel. Weir fought hard though and we came to the line in a dead heat (Martorel won, but Weir and I both needed that 2^nd qualifying spot to get into the final). The officials were stumped, and gave us both the node, making room for one more in the final.

Keirin Final. Many of the same riders I had faced earlier. Duvendeck, Barlee, Martorel, Weir. Also, Kenny Williams, Bobby Walthour, and Josiah Ng (Malaysia, 5^th place in Keirin at Athens) and Travis Smith (Canadian Sprint Champ). Ok, now I had to admit that I was outclassed. I had a simple tactic in mind of getting a nice cozy spot in the middle of the field and follow wheels around to some sort of respectable finish... Long story short. 6^th place, and I was running hard on 5^th and 4rth. I had awesome legs and wish I had tried something more aggressive. Next time. Winner was Ng, followed by Barlee, Smith, Duvendeck, Walthour, and me. Good enough for some $$ :)

Miss-n-out

Not so much to report here. A huge field. 30 riders, which is tough for a miss-n-out where the last rider is eliminated from the pack ever lap. It can get down right ugly near the rear so many of the big-lung crowd just go to the front and drill it. I am more of a big-leg-er then a big-lung-er so I went to work at the back. This was fun and got a rise out of the crowd as I nipped off about 10 riders one at a time, each time nearly getting cut myself. Unfortunately I found myself in a bad spot with about 12 riders left and got cut. Still lots of cheers and attention for "playing the devil" for a while. I’m a sucker for that. Hooptie started this one, but it wasn't his bag either and he took an early exit. BJM gets second, Travis Smith wins.

Madison

For the un-informed, this is Tag Team bike racing. We had 13 teams, each with 2 riders who tag each other (or actually grab hands and throw) into the 60 lap (20km) race.

It was BPG team time. I partnered with Hooptie in BPG colors and JAndy partnered with Larry Nolan in Disco colors. It is hard to give a play by play for this one since I was blurry eyed the whole time. Somehow or other Hooptie and I made the cut and were in the lead group of 3 teams, lapping most everyone else. It wasn't pretty though. We were riding this one cold with no practice at all and it showed. A very technical race and the top 2 teams from San Diego and Colorado Springs were technically perfect and spending much less energy then us. We ponyed up with horse power to make up for all the missed exchanges and held onto the lead teams finishing 3^rd behind San Diego (Martorel, Selker) and Colorado (Lutrell and Suhr). A damn good ride. JAndy and Larry cruised through right behind us for 4rth. Score. payday #2. and BPG on the podium.

Scratch race

This was the top of the Saturday session. 33 riders, 15km. JAndy, Hooptie, and I were together on this one. A lot of the same players as the Madison, but with the addition of BJM, Kenny Williams, and most of the big-meat sprinters. The race started with a bang. literally. As Ng's rear tire blew in the first 20 seconds. Bad for him, good for us.

JAndy went long, and went long again, and again. That man is hard and I am glad to have in on our team. Rob cruised the front and controlled the pack helping JAndy get a good half lap... until the big move when BJM, Williams, and Hernando got a gap and took up chase. A quick consult with Hooptie and we elected to continue blocking and put our money on JAndy. Maybe an error. But my "Friday" legs were gone anyway, and my "Saturday" legs weren't real eager to go chasing after BJM.

Damn that BJM. The guy is just sick. Hernando and JAndy got dropped and BJM eventually pulled Williams around, taking a lap. Shoot. Now we were racing for 3^rd. I briefly considered putting a pump in BJM's wheel, breaking away style, but don't have one with me.

Somewhere in the last few laps when I was snoozing strong veteran racer Eric Hollenbeck from San Diego snuck away and the pack slowed down. 2 to go and I push to the front, checked my pedals and let Nolan take the wind before unleashing with everything I had left, coming back around Nolan to finish 4rth. (BJM and Williams had the lap, and Hollenbeck had the sneaky 3^rd place). Score. payday #3.

Points race

Toast, bacon, ashes, road kill, put a fork in me I was useless. I took a couple pulls and got dropped early. Hooptie and JAndy fought valiantly but didn't get many points when they missed a break with BJM, Williams, Selker, and one other. BJM wins again.

Flying Lap Record attempt

Kind of a fun event to close down. Still fried I did my lap in 20.8. Nothing to write home about. Official record is 18.8 seconds by Stephen Alfred. Josaih came closest with 18.9. Beer for all and I went home and crawled into bed. A really great weekend.

Sunday, July 22 - Albany Criterium Race Report

2007-07-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Team: Aaron (8th), BP (2nd), Christian, Randy and Sean. ATN and Martin also repping with radios and heaps of good vibes!

BP's Race Report:
So, after a month away from racing due to the untimely passing of my Father-in-Law, I managed to get back on the horse and come out and support the Team at the Albany Criterium. Super Week and Altoona meant that some of the local strongmen were out of town. However, CalGiant had 4 guys to match our 5 laddies. There were a total of 35 guys out for some afternoon festivities.

The course is four corners with a headwind false flat section on the backside of the course. The wind and the makeup of the race lead to plenty of daylight between all riders in the field. I got out solo about 2 laps into the affair and snagged a coffee/wine prime (aka the teeth stain prime!). I was brought back into the fold and Christian and Aaron got out with 8 other riders (including 2 CalGiant) and the move was away.

After 5 laps watching the break 10 -15 seconds up the road, Pat Briggs (CalGiant) and I bridged up to the move. Christian and Aaron were really burying themselves in the break, particularly on the back stretch. Back in the field, Randy's uber-sprinter legs and Sean's attentiveness discouraged any late bridge attempts from succeeding.

While in the break, CalGiant started attacking, trying to get one of their men off. Aaron did a seriously awesome job at pulling dangerous moves back. I tried to counter on a couple of moves, but couldn't stay off for more than 1/2 lap.

Steve Reaney managed to get a solid gap with 8 laps to go. Since I know he's got mad power on the flats, I jettisoned from the group and tried to bridge to him. After 3 laps in the wind I managed to hook on his wheel, but I tried pulling through and he attacked me. Doh! I tried my darndest to follow, but the "poder" is not there quite yet. I flogged the dolphin in the wind for the last five laps solo mio and rolled in for second, with Reaney earning the W.

Overall, fun race! It's great to be back in the racing fold again! I really missed getting out to the races. Mad props to ATN for the radios and Martin for the shouts of encouragement.

We're on our way for Cal Cup. I'm excited! Are you?

Best,

BP