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Friday, July 30, 2010
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Stickler posted on June 22, 2009 10:54 
Reports from 3 categories:
Pro 1/2 Battle of the Byways - Sunday June 21, 2008
Rolf Eisinger
The day started out with Larry waking up around 5 am for a spin while Mike and I continuted to sleep in until 6:30 am. We all made it to breakfast and out the door by 7:40 am for the 9 am start of the 86 mile Red River Gorge RR. The 1,2 field was small and 1/3 of the filed was composed of road house. The start started slow with some guys going off the front and a couple of us chased them back. Everything came together as we climbed to the tunnel. The decent was fast and a there was a solo attack a few miles later. Another rider went after him but road house set tempo to keep them in reach. We hit the first real hill and I made an effort. I saw the field shattered and it was myself and kirk from road house. Not to far behind andrew, brook and rob. I tried to push the pace to kirk and I would leave the rest of the road house guys but he sat up and they worked together to pull me back. We caught the two guys ahead of us at the first feed. The pace was fast and I don’t think anyone was able to get a feed. We dropped rob and another guy at the feed zone. The break looked good until the other non road house guy flatted. I saw the rock- pointed it out and he hit it dead on. It was myself and three road house guys. I made a move on the next big hill and got away for a couple miles before they brought me back. I waited for the final hill and made another move. Kirk wanted to go with me but sat up to wait for his teammates which were dropped. I held them off for 10 miles and there were only 6 more to the finish. It was a good effort. Towards the finish I covered brook and kirks moves. The finish was a little crazy and Andrew got me at the line. Props to Andrew he suffered up the climbs and didn’t give up and won the race.
Happy fathers day Dads!
Rolf
Category 3 Men's - Battle of the Byways June 21, 2008
Michael Friedberg
Crazy Larry got up at 4:30 am to spin in the parking lot, but Rolf and I went back to sleep and we made it to the race in time to stretch and eat bananas. The start was very slow, we were often riding <15mph, two guys got off the front before the tunnel. The first climb shredded the field, it was down to about 10 of us plus the 2 man break. We started to pull them in during the long stretch on the highway, and despite my attempts to get our chase pack to punish the breakaway, the pack was in the mood to just glide up to the pair and let them latch on. Everything was calm until the second major climb, then I got to the front and pressed hard, the pack was hurting by the top, we continued to press on the rollers and hit the downhill with three, but three more pulled us in and we continued with six. I put everything into the third climb but ran out of fluids and when the pack regrouped on the rollers at the top I knew I was in trouble, by mile 70 both calves, both quads and my left adductor were cramping bad, I kept spinning and begged Chris Nebbitt for some water which helped immediately I went completely into survival mode which worked because all six of us where in pain. The last little kicker almost finished me off, but I willed myself over the top and hung on until the final sprint through the neighborhood, but I had burned all my matches and looked back twice just to make sure 7th hadn't been sneaking up on us, which he hadn't because we put 15 minutes on 7th place, and the really hurting guys were still trickling in when Larry and I drove out of the parking lot. I know how to race this thing for next year and I know it will go well.
Larry Stickler's report - Masters
Setting the record straight on what time I started to warm up. . . .
Friday Time Trial - I was unsure how my separated shoulder would feel on a TT bike but I thought it would be ok given the distance was short. I warmed up 45 minutes prior on the trainer blasting loud music from my Honda Element - i was enjoying the music a lot and opened the doors for better acoustics. I was pretty amazed at the sound (more on that later). The TT course was a 6.6 mile out and back course. headwind going out. 1/2 mile down hill start with a 3/4 mile slight up hill rolling to false flat then leveling off till the turn around. An Ohio racer was starting 30 seconds ahead of me and I was the last Master's rider to start. After about 1.5 miles, I could tell my shoulder was going to be fine, so I focussed on a high cadence spinning and following a straight line. I took the three sharp turns at the turn around very conservatively sitting up and coasting the corners, once back in the TT mode I focussed on the rider 1 minute ahead of me as I felt I was going to catch the OH guy who started 30 seconds ahead. With 1 mile to go I passed the OH guy and was closing in on the next guy. the last portion was a 1/2 mile uphill effort to the finish and I had to eventually get out of the saddle for a short period to keep a high cadence. After the TT, I spent most of the time looking for jumper cables as the cool acoustics I created by opening the car doors had activated the dome lights and ran the car battery down. It wasn't till after calling triple A and waiting around till another racer pulled up and told Freedbird and I that I had won. YEAH! 75 points toward the omnium!
Saturday's Road race(Gregg, Keith, me)
All I can say is I hate heat, I've always hated heat. Keith Lucas worked his arse off and Gregg had a great race finishing 3rd. Nothing like chasing a break for 10 miles feeling cold shivers in one's body and seeing the opposing team look back at you chasing(McShane you dirty rotten crafty scoundrel. Note for all team members; please occasionally turn around if one of your teammates is not in your break ~ they might be attempting to bridge.
I spent the entire rest of the day drinking gallons of fluids. Lucas finished 6th and I finished 7th.
Sunday's Battle of the Byways Road Race
at 6:30a.m., I did warm up I suppose I could have started at 5:30 or even 4:30a.m. as earlier reported but didn't want to wake the kids (freebird and rolf).
Even after the miserable day's performance on Saturday, I had 96 points to Mandrolla's 75 points.
In order for me to win, I had to beat Mandrolla and finish at least 4th in the race. I felt I had a good shot.
The race started out horribly slow with Calistoga marking me and me marking Mandrolla. There were a few attacks here and there and we knew Calistoga would send off either Mike McShane or Dr. Bill early. McShane launched a solo attack and after a short period, I motioned for Keith to attack and he successfully launched solo and had caught up with Mike. Unfortunately, the lead car led them incorrectly, so Mike and Keith piled the bikes in the lead car which dropped them off ahead of us prior to the tunnel entrance. Just prior, Mandrolla had launched an attack up the hill to the tunnel stringing the peloton. We had a small yet potentially successful break going through the tunnel (with Lucas and McShane included), but the course marshals allowed a side car motorcycle and other motorcycle in front of us and the descent's twisty turns slowed the side car down big time. Our break group was screaming at them to pull over and we eventually passed them on a dangerous corner. Unfortunately the peloton did bridge up to us. Calistoga's Dr. Bill attacked and we let him go. Eventually in the Gorge, you find a god awful hill and this one was the size of a steep knob. It separated the lead group and the peloton, (lead pack was Calistoga and Fetzer) just when you thought the pain was over, the hill kicked left and you had another wickedly difficult climb. I started to fall off from the lead group and Calistoga immediately attacked. Keith and Gregg waited for me and we quickly organized to bridge up to Calistoga. Don Fields of the McDonalds team was the only other rider who made the climb with our group and after collecting himself, starting working with us. We chased Calistoga for over 10 miles and were unsucccessful. Gregg and Keith worked their tails off for me sacrificing their own individual results and I hope to repay the favor soon.
The McDonald's racer, Don Fields, was a former football player and is ripped. He's a very good sprinter and crit racer. I was not looking forward to trying to tangle with him at the finish and Gregg and Keith once again did a great job assisting me. With 2 kilometers to go, the road had a slight uphill grade. I attacked and skinny keith lucas positioned his bike and life right in front of Don's while Gregg stayed glued to his wheel. It was enough disruption to allow me to gain the needed seconds to form a gap. I was in TT mode scrambling for the finish and got 5th. Gregg pimped Don for 6th and Keith 8th. With their help, I got 2nd place in the overall Omnium. Calistoga's John Mandrolla took 1st place with his team's support and he won the overall omnium. Nicely done by John as I know he too was suffering up the hill ~ he just had more grit than I did that day. He rode a great race and deserves the win. His team will do well at Nat's next week.
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Gordo's Race Report:
Saturday March 21, 2009 Lexington Crit/Circuit Race/Tour of the Industrial Park.
Fetzer Cycling Team Representatives: GMD, Larry, Lee, Keith Lucas, Dr. Rokosh, Lerner. Team Goal: Ride as a team and put someone in the top 3 Weather: Sunny, 55, light wind. Course: we all know how this goes. Wide roads, gentle climb, fast downhill, NO Trees. Basically, I've realized that I can only do well at races where there aren't any trees. As in zero. Frozen Toes had none and I got 4th, this race doesn't have any, so clearly I was going to go well. And I've also decided I'm just not going to bother training anymore. Seriously, I rode 3 days this week and managed a whopping 4.5 hours on the bike. So, one day a week on the bike ought to do it... Team strategy was to make Roadhouse (v. 3.0: "Now with ugly blue jerseys") do all of the work. Some of us would cover Kevin, others Curtis, others John Grant, and we might cover Sean and Andrew if the opportunity presented itself. There were to be no, and I repeat NO offensive moves. Only following of wheels. Brad and Vic would be proud of me. I followed instructions for a whole 3 laps! Yes. I followed wheels (as did everyone) for 3 laps. And then all went to hell as I took advantage of a Roadhouse cover (I think it was Sean) and hit the jets half way up the climb and got a gap. I rode as best I could until a group came up to me with John Grant and - as directed- Boz, a couple of Barbasol guys and a few others. I did my best not to do too much work and instructed Boz as such as well. We rolled ok, but were caught by a couple of guys including Curtis. I thought this was the field, but it turned out to be only a minor regrouping of the break. Curtis jumped and Mitch Kersting from Barbasol went with him. With no teammates following, I gave chase, thinking I was pulling the field up to them. A few other guys went by me but when I looked back, I saw I had a gap and had to ride pretty hard for a little bit to get across. Thankfully it was on the top of the course and I made it across as we descended. Break joined, we had Curtis and Andrew from Roadhouse, Kennedy and Mitch from Barbasol, Fagerberg, Me and a dude from Ohio University. We generally rotated pretty well throughout the race, and didn't do much in the name of trying to thin the herd. I felt like crap in the break. But, in true Phil Liggett fashion, I tried to keep my fluid levels topped up and take as short a time at the front as I could. I started to come around as the race went on and by the closing laps, felt reasonable. Luckily, there was not much of the really hot cat on mouse action, though with 2 guys each, Roadhouse and Barbasol might have had a good opportunity. With 2 to go, the OU guy attacked and I countered, getting a pretty decent gap for half a lap. I got caught on the flats before the "climb" and did my best to focus on covering the counter that never came. With one to go, I tried my best to take Curtis's wheel. Fagerberg and I were kind of vying for it, and hoping that Kennedy and Mitch would really ramp it up in the final. In the final 500m, Andrew jumped with Curtis on his wheel and Erik following closely behind. I was expecting a ramp and not a jump and had to dig deep to get on terms with the move. I nearly made it back when Andrew pulled off and Curtis started sprinting. I started soon after and kept getting agonizingly closer to Erik, but never quite made it. I started to die in the final but kept the gas on and managed to hold off Mitch's bike throw at the line. So, despite not being able to follow directions (I color outside the lines and run on the pool deck as well) we managed the team goal of 3d. So, that's that...No racing for me this w/e as I'm judging first year oral arguments, but I'm planning to be back on the 5th at Shelbyville.
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| Hillsboro Roubaix, Saturday April 4th, 2009
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Fetzer Cycling Team Representative: Larry Stickler
I raced solo for Fetzer on Saturday's Hillsboro Roubaix. Hillsboro, IL is a sleepy town northeast of St. Louis. Great people live in Hillboro.. The race was Masters 40 - 49 / 66 miles (3 laps), 75 riders. Temps in the mid 60's. Winds s/se 15 - 20mph (it felt more like 20mph, but it may have been the pain). Having heard about this race from Jack Sells of the Barbasol racing team for three years, I thought for sure I would be racing in a mind field. This year Jack even brought his cross bike equipped with a suspension seat post. I'm happy to report the roads were not that bad. Extensive patching took place since last year. The wind however did live up to Jack's description. "It's everywhere and expect to race in the gutter". The Hillboro Roubaix is our version of the famous Paris Roubaix spring classic. Part of the course races over old brick roads "pave". The Pave section is approximately a 1/4 to 1/2 mile section. Riders descend rapidly hitting the pave at speeds over 40mph! The brick/pave road leads upwards and turns left onto a false flat that eventually turns left onto a pavement stretch approaching a 1/4 mile to the start/finish.
Eric Fagerburg of the Calistoga Racing Team and I drove up together. Eric was interested in the pave the day before the race and we a made point of experimenting; rolling on the old bricks at various speeds and to try and determine and optimum tire pressure. We both decided against running carbon wheels given the potential of damage. I rolled kysrium clinchers with a vittoria 24cm Pave EVO tire at 120psi. I felt most comfortable speeding through the pave vs. a slower pace.
First lap was pretty easy with only a few attacks. One big problem did occur toward the end of the first lap which is the brick (pave) section. Racing down hill exceeding 40 mph to meet brick really rattles the bike and h20 bottles! I lost one on the first descent and nearly the 2nd one as I approached the pave left turn. Having only one bottle for 2 more laps concerned me given my inclenation to drink a lot. (note to self, next year, lose the fancy zipp cages and install wire cages for this race)
Early in lap 2 the team Mack created a series of attacks with one guy riding solo with a 30+second lead into a headwind. He seemed fairly strong and after an unsuccesful bridge attempt by a pony shop (chicago) rider and an orange Iowa team, I countered and pulled one other rider with me. The slight headwind sucked, and the wheel sucker did not want to help. We got about 10 seconds from the Mack guy when he looked back and sat up. I thought for sure another Mack rider was going to counter as the peloton was closing in. At that point a few other guys countered dragging Fagerburg (Calistoga) and Eric's teammate, national champion Steve Spanbauer (also Calistoga). I hopped on to the train but again nothing seemed to stick. About midway through the 2nd lap, Spanbauer made a series of attacks and several had marked his wheel as did I but expected Fagerburg to counter which he did. Again nothing seemed to stick. The peloton kept shrinking given the attacks and wind. By the time we reached the 3rd lap, the race had taken its toll on the collective energy of the Peloton. Fagerburg attacked with me on his wheel, I purposely soft peddled trying to form a gap which did work for awhile. A few other guys bridged around me and his group had about 30 second lead. Spanbauer rolled to the front and rolled a false tempo stringing out the remaining peloton brilliantly. hard enough to hurt, but not fast enough to catch. I joined and tried to assist. What I did not realize in the lead group, that a Lucas Oil rider in Fagerburg's group attacked and rolled off from them. A few stronger guys bridged up to Fagerburg's group, dragging me, Spanbauer and a few others. The total group was around 20 - 25 riders. I thought the race was back together. Spanbauer and 2 other guys started rotating but not that hard and I for the life of me could not understand why these guys were rotating. Unfortunately I learned at the end of the race about the Lucas Oil rider (lesson learned, dimwit).
With 20+ riders approaching the finish I was in the top 8 climbing the last hill before the pave descent. At the top I gave it a little extra effort to hit the pave first as I recalled some riders in earlier laps were apprehensive of the pave. I was followed closely by Spanbauer on my right leading out Fagerburg. Turning left and on to the final stretch of pave Fagerburg rode a steady hard tempo pulling about 6 or 7 guys with him. The final stretch was a left turn onto paved road. Fagerburg turned the jets on and won the field sprint. I finished 13th and and my small cogs on my cassette are still clean. One of these days I hope to get stronger and use them.
Fagerburg received a very cool 1/2 brick trophy for his 2nd place. I want a brick next year.
Respectfully submitted,
Larry Stickler
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| Shelby County RR, Waddy KY Cat 1 / 2 April 5th, 2009
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As reported by Rolf Eisinger, Cat 1 racer
The race started out slow until Kevin Atkisson (Roadhouse) attacked (30 seconds after we started). A couple Fetzer riders chased him down and he sat up. These tactics were repeated several times until I was able to break away with John Grant (Roadhouse) on my wheel. He sat on my wheel for almost 3 of the 5 laps (as I recall). Then Kevin (RH) and Lee (Fetzer) bridged up to us. We rode together from Waddy to the start/finish where I attacked and stayed away until the hill. I was caught by a group on the hill. Matt Lerner (Fetzer) made an effort and Curtis Tolsen (Roadhouse) tried to go with him. This put Curtis in distress. I saw this and bridged up to Matt passing Curtis like he wasn’t moving. I used Matt as a platform and launch another attack that lasted until the ½ mark of the last lap. I was caught by Curtis Kevin and Lee. Lee attacked and Curtis and Kevin were caught off guard. I could sense they were tired. They caught Lee and I counter attacked. Curtis went with me and I asked him if he expected me to counter my own attack or did he want to help rotate. There was no answer so I countered my own attack. Curtis stood up and there was nothing. I finished solo putting a 1:10 on the 3 Roadhouse riders who were chasing me. First win of the season for the Fetzer Cycling Team.
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