This past weekend was the Superior Morgual Classic, it was one stage less this year, but featured a hard crit on Saturday and the famous Morgual Bismark RR on Sunday. We had guys racing in the 35 plus, the 45 plus and 55 plus fields. The sum total for the weekend was 1 crit win, 1 RR win, a 1st overall, a 2nd overall and a 3rd overall. Here are race reports from each team.
35 Plus Race Report
The 35 Plus men were ready to rumble after a strong team win the prior weekend. They came with a big team for the crit and expected an aggressive race, but the strong teams (Vic's, Map My Ride, Rio, and Westside) combined with high winds made for a group finish. As a result the guys worked to set up Dan and he delivered the win, coming off of ex US Pro Champ Eddy Gragus's wheel, with plenty of time to pound his chest, with the announcer calling it a Gorilla pounding! Matt Gates took 6th to score some good points and Marc took 11th as well to give the guys the team lead
The RR started well with Dan in the Pink Leader Jersey (looking just like Contador..........), but the pace got hot the very first time up the wall. From there the make it or break it lap was the 3rd trip up the wall when strongmen Jeff Hartman, Westside, and Paul Espoiti, Map My Ride/Scion, put in a surge that few could follow. Matt Gates went deep and made the 4 man front group which was a feat. Unfortunately he did not fully recover and got dropped out of the winning move later in the lap. As is too often the case once the winning move goes things got negative and all people wanted to do was chase everything down. So the Matts and Marc eventually stopped trying to attack or chase and waited to the final time up the wall. Matt Gates again rode strong and took 5th on the day to get 3rd overall for the weekend, with Matt Segur and Marc not too far behind.
45 Plus Race Report
The Masters 45+ team had some good stage placings at the crit and at the road race, enabling a Mix1 one rider to finish 2nd in the overall Omnium competition.
Teamwork at the crit on Saturday enabled Peter Ismert of Mix1 to sneak around the finishing pack for a 4th place finish. Other Mix1 riders who worked hard during the race to bring in breakaways, or get into breaks,
finished well within the top 20 to earn team points for the weekend. With a strong lead by teammate Henrik Pederson, Ismert was also able to win a points prime early in the crit, which boosted him to second overall in the Omnium after the crit.
At the road race on Sunday, teamwork again prevailed for a good finish. The rider who had the highest points from the crit didn't race in the road race, leaving Ismert as the points leader at the start of the race. The points were so close among the top 5 riders, getting a win at the road race was imperative for the overall Omnium victory. The Mix1 team protected Ismert from the start to maintain good position for matching attacks and for going into the climbs. Each time up "the Wall", Dennis Farrell from BCV-Scion easily led the race to the top. Ismert new his best bet to win on the last climb was to rely on his teammates for help and to save his energy by allowing Farrell to cover attacks and hope other riders didn't get away. In the end, Farrell proved too strong and won the drag race up "the Wall" to the finish. A strong Gary Sharp from Real ID-Amgen got second, with Ismert third. Mix1's Chris Leggere finished a strong 8th and was there to pace Ismert up the "the Wall" on each lap. With the team's efforts, Mix1 got Ismert in 2nd for the overall Omnium competition.
55 Plus Race Report (written by Bill Kelligher in the first hand)
In Saturday's criterium, there were many primes so I counter attacked each time there was a prime. It was a good idea, but nothing stuck. There was some fun racing though including some full on handlebar bashing with a certain gladiator from Natural Grocers. The Vic's guys prevailed in the end. They got their field sprint and Steve Worley took the win. Steve is coming into form for track nationals and he did a exceptional sprint, just holding off Glenn Winkle, and me about a length back in 3rd. Steve B came in a creditable 9th after riding sweep for me in the lead-up to the sprint. He did some handlebar banging of his own keeping that gladiator guy off of my wheel.
The road race for us was only 2 laps, 3 times up the wall for 27 miles, so what for everyone else was an epic road race, for us, was once again a battle with the Vic's guys who were working for a field sprint. For me, thinking I didn't have the form to dominate such a short race, I decided to more or less take what they would give me. So the first lap, I just sat in and as a result, we just rode tempo around the course. Once we got to Marshal Rd, Geoff Cooper one of the Pro Peloton guys launched, and since he didn't do so well in the crit
By the time we headed up the Wall the 2nd time, things got a little perkier. Hard tempo pared the front group down to 9 guys. Then I gave it a go on the Feed Hill. I got away an built up a healthy 30 second lead by time we hit 93, but a determined chase by the Vic's guys brought me back about half way up Marshal Rd. From that point on, there were lots of jumps and attempts to get away, but the Vic's guys were determined to bring everything back and we arrived at the base of the Wall with those same 9 or 10 guys. There was a vicious surge up the first part of hill but from the past I knew you didn't want to launch your sprint too early so I waited and waited, and with about 70 meters to go I launched my sprint coming around the guy who had led us our form the base of the hill. Just then I noticed that the rider up ahead going very slowly was none other than Geoff Cooper, our solo break-away. Holy Smokes!! Dig, dig, dig, I think I can, I think I can, dig, dig, Grrrrr! Got him!!! Right on the line! I won the race by about a foot. Phew, sometimes you need a little luck. Turns out Geoff had no idea that we were coming up from behind on him and was just cruising in to the finish.
And speaking of luck, the other half of the team wasn't quite so lucky. Steve flatted about halfway through the second lap. After riding the flat tire for several miles, he managed to beg a wheel from a spectator and still finished the race.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Sonic Boom Race
The Sonic Boom team (http:/sonicboomracing.com/) brought bike racing back to downtown Louisville this past weekend and we had a total blast. It was a well run event, especially for a first year event, and we just loved the course. Hopefully it is back in 2012 and if we are really lucky maybe the city would repave Front Street (a few laps there the train tacks next to Front Street looked like a smoother option). This was an old school crit that we have less of these days, so it made it that much better. The course is a classic figure 8 course, with 8 turns, it was pretty narrow, and the course went up for half and then back down for half. Due to the nature of the course we knew it would be single file most of the time, so riding at the front was important. Our 35 plus guys had 9 riders on the line, with a good mix of riders from sprinters, to worker, to some all around guys.
As soon as the gun went off the guys hit the front early, attacking to see if they could sneak into an early split. CJ was up the road on lap two, and soon after the Matt's both had a go, along with Principal Barnett, then Pete Lucke fresh from the 45 plus race. The pace never slowed much and the guys covered all the moves. A group of 5 got away with CJ and Matt Gates, Byron from Rio, and Paul Espoiti from Map My Ride, but that group split and Jeff Hartman from Westside went up the rode solo. Jeff is clearly one of the strongest guys in the field and he rode his lead out to close to 30 seconds, solo. It was an impressive effort.
Luckily the mix1 guys did not panic and once the lead got to 30 seconds it stopped going up. There was a lot of attacking going on in the field, but nothing was going anywhere. With about 10 to go team sprinter Dan Schmatz got the guys organized and we put 4 riders on the front who staid there to the bitter end. It was a sight to see with Matt Gates, LT, and Marc just rolling at the front and slowly bringing back the break. We did not get much help from the field, as they were more interested in attacking, but with some help from Grant on Vic's, we caught the solo break on the last lap. Things got a little dicey on that lap, but Dan and Josh held position, Dan had a strong move into the last corner and took the win, Josh came in right behind in 4th, and CJ just missed the money in 11th. All in all it was a complete team effort and after a lot of close calls all the guys were excited to race like team, take change of the race and deliver the win.
Dan with his oldest son right after the race. This photo sums up our team, as we have lots of families, and lots of kids. Racing is fun, winning is great, but doing it with the family is even better.
Clearly Dan did not go hard enough as he needed some extra work after the event.
Paul Espoiti from Map My Ride, Dan, and Lance from Groove Subaru on the podium. Lance deserves the bike handling award on the last lap as another rider cut him off with 3 corners to go and he made a great save to keep it up right, get around said rider, and make the podium. Nice work Lance.
As soon as the gun went off the guys hit the front early, attacking to see if they could sneak into an early split. CJ was up the road on lap two, and soon after the Matt's both had a go, along with Principal Barnett, then Pete Lucke fresh from the 45 plus race. The pace never slowed much and the guys covered all the moves. A group of 5 got away with CJ and Matt Gates, Byron from Rio, and Paul Espoiti from Map My Ride, but that group split and Jeff Hartman from Westside went up the rode solo. Jeff is clearly one of the strongest guys in the field and he rode his lead out to close to 30 seconds, solo. It was an impressive effort.
Luckily the mix1 guys did not panic and once the lead got to 30 seconds it stopped going up. There was a lot of attacking going on in the field, but nothing was going anywhere. With about 10 to go team sprinter Dan Schmatz got the guys organized and we put 4 riders on the front who staid there to the bitter end. It was a sight to see with Matt Gates, LT, and Marc just rolling at the front and slowly bringing back the break. We did not get much help from the field, as they were more interested in attacking, but with some help from Grant on Vic's, we caught the solo break on the last lap. Things got a little dicey on that lap, but Dan and Josh held position, Dan had a strong move into the last corner and took the win, Josh came in right behind in 4th, and CJ just missed the money in 11th. All in all it was a complete team effort and after a lot of close calls all the guys were excited to race like team, take change of the race and deliver the win.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Nothing Better Than The WIn For Pete Lucke
Nothing better than putting two guys into a 6 man break, having your team go all in for the break, working together, and taking out the win, with a nice picture to boot. Pete Lucke and Peter Ismert both made the winning move at WOT as we wrote about earlier this week. Here are some great photos from Peter's friend Rupert Berrington of Action Photography
The break had a really small lead in the closing laps and while half the guys wanted to sit on, Peter worked with the other guys and help keep it away to the line.
This gives you a great idea of close the pack got as the sprint unfold from the break. Pete Lucke went from the top of the rise and had a solid gap on the line.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Wheels Of Thunder Race Report
This past weekend was the Wheels Of Thunder crit, we fielded team in 35 plus and 45 plus.
35 Plus race report: 35 plus has gotten more serious this year. There are 5 different team that start with 4 to 8 riders each weekend, they all race as teams, and all have guys who can win races. We actually are excited about this, it may mean we have not done as well, but it is leading to great racing and we will get our day. It appeared the 35 plus race was harder than the pro/1/2 this weekend, but in the big picture that is not really good for the sport in CO.
We lined up Pete (who had already won the 45 plus race) ,CJ, Jim, Marcel, Dan, LT, Matt G, Matt S and Josh today, which is a strong team. Other strong riders were Michael Carter, Michael Gibson, Paul Espoiti, Eddy Gragus, Jeff Hartman and the like. Our race was super aggressive, with non stop attacks, but nothing got close to getting away. We had guys in every single move, or we bridged up, we had team mates bridging up to move to cover and we rode solid as a team, at the front.
But has been theme this year, we were close, but it has not worked out yet. With about 4 to go Josh, our 2nd best sprint option, got ridden into the cones on the hill. It appeared to be no big deal and he did not go down, but a cone shot into his drive train/wheel, ripped off his rear der off, so his day was over. Major blow for Josh who has had a horrible spring (he flatted 1 mile into Kopp) and to the team.
Matt Gates and CJ rode with Dan in the top 8 as we crested the hill for the last time and we were in good position. We just needed one more guy like Josh to help in the the lead out. Dan rode the finishing straight solo, got pinned against the right curb, and stuck as the final sprint went. He got restarted and came in 5th, but it was not what we were looking for. Nice win for Bob Dahl who is such a strong overall rider and deserves all the good results he gets. With the way we are riding things are going to happen, we are not worried, but it would be nice to see a solid result.
45 plus race report from Peter Ismert: Mix1's Pete Lucke and Peter Ismert lined up with 44 other guys for the 45+ race at the Wheels of Thunder race in Centennial, Colorado. With only two of them today and lots of strong riders, they had to play their cards carefully during the race. There were plenty of attacks during the first half of the race. Finally, about halfway through, a couple of attacks led to a breakaway group of 6-8 guys. The breakaway was made up of a variety of teams with strong riders like Farrel, Yoder, Hofer and Paulson, and it included both of our Pete's. The breakaway group focused on keeping the break from getting caught by the main pack. With 2 laps to go, the breakaway still was 24 seconds ahead of the main pack. However, with 3/4 of a lap to go, the pack came to within 100 feet of the breakaway. At this point, Ismert rode hard a couple of times to help keep the main pack at bay on the last lap. With help from a couple others, they held off the pack. Meanwhile, Lucke worked hard to get into a good position. With 500 meters to go, he took over from there, coming around a couple guys, accelerating all the way to the finish line, winning the race. Great teamwork today and it paid off for the win.
Lastly here is a video from the 45 plus race: http://bit.ly/muVBOt
35 Plus race report: 35 plus has gotten more serious this year. There are 5 different team that start with 4 to 8 riders each weekend, they all race as teams, and all have guys who can win races. We actually are excited about this, it may mean we have not done as well, but it is leading to great racing and we will get our day. It appeared the 35 plus race was harder than the pro/1/2 this weekend, but in the big picture that is not really good for the sport in CO.
We lined up Pete (who had already won the 45 plus race) ,CJ, Jim, Marcel, Dan, LT, Matt G, Matt S and Josh today, which is a strong team. Other strong riders were Michael Carter, Michael Gibson, Paul Espoiti, Eddy Gragus, Jeff Hartman and the like. Our race was super aggressive, with non stop attacks, but nothing got close to getting away. We had guys in every single move, or we bridged up, we had team mates bridging up to move to cover and we rode solid as a team, at the front.
But has been theme this year, we were close, but it has not worked out yet. With about 4 to go Josh, our 2nd best sprint option, got ridden into the cones on the hill. It appeared to be no big deal and he did not go down, but a cone shot into his drive train/wheel, ripped off his rear der off, so his day was over. Major blow for Josh who has had a horrible spring (he flatted 1 mile into Kopp) and to the team.
Matt Gates and CJ rode with Dan in the top 8 as we crested the hill for the last time and we were in good position. We just needed one more guy like Josh to help in the the lead out. Dan rode the finishing straight solo, got pinned against the right curb, and stuck as the final sprint went. He got restarted and came in 5th, but it was not what we were looking for. Nice win for Bob Dahl who is such a strong overall rider and deserves all the good results he gets. With the way we are riding things are going to happen, we are not worried, but it would be nice to see a solid result.
45 plus race report from Peter Ismert: Mix1's Pete Lucke and Peter Ismert lined up with 44 other guys for the 45+ race at the Wheels of Thunder race in Centennial, Colorado. With only two of them today and lots of strong riders, they had to play their cards carefully during the race. There were plenty of attacks during the first half of the race. Finally, about halfway through, a couple of attacks led to a breakaway group of 6-8 guys. The breakaway was made up of a variety of teams with strong riders like Farrel, Yoder, Hofer and Paulson, and it included both of our Pete's. The breakaway group focused on keeping the break from getting caught by the main pack. With 2 laps to go, the breakaway still was 24 seconds ahead of the main pack. However, with 3/4 of a lap to go, the pack came to within 100 feet of the breakaway. At this point, Ismert rode hard a couple of times to help keep the main pack at bay on the last lap. With help from a couple others, they held off the pack. Meanwhile, Lucke worked hard to get into a good position. With 500 meters to go, he took over from there, coming around a couple guys, accelerating all the way to the finish line, winning the race. Great teamwork today and it paid off for the win.
Matt Segur in the 35 Plus race at the bottom of the hill.
Pete Lucke in the 35 plus race, his second race of the day.
CJ Gauss riding at the front in the 35 plus race.
Matt Gates, Jim Thies, Matt Segur, and Josh Barnett getting ready to race.
And the best photo of all, Pete Lucke standing on the top step of the podium from 45 plus. It was great team work to get 2 guys in the break, and then they rode well together to take advantage, and deliver the win.
Lastly here is a video from the 45 plus race: http://bit.ly/muVBOt
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Koppenburg Race Report
This past weekend was the famous spring Koppenburg Road Race. It is held in Superior, CO, on a short loop that is about half dirt and half pavement. The weather is often poor, the winds always blow hard, and the climb has not gotten any less steep in the last decade. None the less it is a Colorado spring classic and mix1 was a sponsor of the race.
We did not get a summary report from the 45 plus guys, but they had a solid outing. They put 3 guys into the final selection and were in a good place to go for the win, but in the last 2 miles a few crafty riders slipped away and our guys were left sprinting for 4. None the less we put all 3 guys in the top 10 and it was a solid team effort. The team is missing Jimi Gibson this year, but he will not be racing at all due injury. They have also been missing road captain Jeff Oksanko who has been out sick too.
The 35 plus guys started 6 riders and had a solid team on paper, but as it has gone all spring, it just has not worked out real well yet (we know it will eventually). One thing we noticed on Sunday is how much more balanced the 35 plus race is. Gone are the days when Green Mountain would dominate every single race, would put 5 guys in an 8 man break, finish 1-2-3, and the field offered little resistance. For the first time this year there are a whole bunch of strong teams, that ride like teams, and race hard. It may sound funny to say this, but our team is totally thrilled to see the balance, sure it is going to be harder us, but it makes for better racing and we look forward to trying our best. Westside has steeped up their game this year and have been by far the best team in April. Rio has a strong group of riders and is riding well. It seams the Vic's guys are riding more and more like a team and they have had some great performances too. And Lastly the Scion/Map My Ride team has moved into 35 plus with a vengeance from the pro/1/2 field and they present a force to be reckoned with with riders like Espoiti and Sullivan.
In terms of the race the conditions actually made it a less interesting race. The dirt was in good shape, so it was fast, and due to changes with drainage on the hill, the hill was in the best shape ever. On top of that the normally destructive cross winds over the top of the hill were not there this year, a block head wind kept it together and made it easier to chase back on. Things started badly for us as one of our top 3 riders and best sprinter, Josh Barnett, literally flatted out of the race only 1 mile in. As he said "that was $35 not well spent". After that the first 6 of 8 laps were not the eventful. There were some moves, but nothing serious, with the only real issue being guys dropping out with a lot of flats. You really needed wide tires or tubulars for this event.
The 6 time over the Kopp we still had 4 guy in the front group and things were looking good. Then more bad luck struck as our 2nd best guy, Marc Holbert, was taken out on the hill. It was painful to watch, but there was little we could do. As Marc dusted himself off a counter attack finally got away with a lot of strong men and all the main teams represented. We liked the look as we had our best guy in there and for the first time Jeff Hartman, from Westside, was not up there. The break started to get established, but then they dropped the one Westside rider, so their team immediately set about to get Jeff across. We give them all the credit, they made the move, and Jeff got across. That was the end of the race.
The break stayed away and despite some attacking was 5 guys on the last lap (Mike Sutter from Rio, our own Matt Gates, Paul Espoiti from Scion, Jeff from Westside, and Bob Dahl from Rio). Paul Espoiti put in a brutal surge and rode in solo for the win. We are not sure on his exact total, but we think he has won about 80% of the masters races he has entered. Impressive, he is one strong dude. We see the photos of him racing against pro tour riders last summer in Europe and placing top 20 at the Common Wealth Games and we know why! The rest of the break sprinted for 2nd with local power house Bob Dahl taking it, with our Matt Gates in 4th. All in all it was not a bad day with a rider in the winning move, but with some better luck we would have a few more guys right behind him. Hopefully the bad luck is behind us and as the season moves towards some Hill Climbs and Crits, we are confident our time will come. Once again great to see so many team out there racing hard and doing well. 2011 is going to be a fun year in 35 Plus, with good people good teams, and friendly competition.
We did not get a summary report from the 45 plus guys, but they had a solid outing. They put 3 guys into the final selection and were in a good place to go for the win, but in the last 2 miles a few crafty riders slipped away and our guys were left sprinting for 4. None the less we put all 3 guys in the top 10 and it was a solid team effort. The team is missing Jimi Gibson this year, but he will not be racing at all due injury. They have also been missing road captain Jeff Oksanko who has been out sick too.
The 35 plus guys started 6 riders and had a solid team on paper, but as it has gone all spring, it just has not worked out real well yet (we know it will eventually). One thing we noticed on Sunday is how much more balanced the 35 plus race is. Gone are the days when Green Mountain would dominate every single race, would put 5 guys in an 8 man break, finish 1-2-3, and the field offered little resistance. For the first time this year there are a whole bunch of strong teams, that ride like teams, and race hard. It may sound funny to say this, but our team is totally thrilled to see the balance, sure it is going to be harder us, but it makes for better racing and we look forward to trying our best. Westside has steeped up their game this year and have been by far the best team in April. Rio has a strong group of riders and is riding well. It seams the Vic's guys are riding more and more like a team and they have had some great performances too. And Lastly the Scion/Map My Ride team has moved into 35 plus with a vengeance from the pro/1/2 field and they present a force to be reckoned with with riders like Espoiti and Sullivan.
In terms of the race the conditions actually made it a less interesting race. The dirt was in good shape, so it was fast, and due to changes with drainage on the hill, the hill was in the best shape ever. On top of that the normally destructive cross winds over the top of the hill were not there this year, a block head wind kept it together and made it easier to chase back on. Things started badly for us as one of our top 3 riders and best sprinter, Josh Barnett, literally flatted out of the race only 1 mile in. As he said "that was $35 not well spent". After that the first 6 of 8 laps were not the eventful. There were some moves, but nothing serious, with the only real issue being guys dropping out with a lot of flats. You really needed wide tires or tubulars for this event.
The 6 time over the Kopp we still had 4 guy in the front group and things were looking good. Then more bad luck struck as our 2nd best guy, Marc Holbert, was taken out on the hill. It was painful to watch, but there was little we could do. As Marc dusted himself off a counter attack finally got away with a lot of strong men and all the main teams represented. We liked the look as we had our best guy in there and for the first time Jeff Hartman, from Westside, was not up there. The break started to get established, but then they dropped the one Westside rider, so their team immediately set about to get Jeff across. We give them all the credit, they made the move, and Jeff got across. That was the end of the race.
The break stayed away and despite some attacking was 5 guys on the last lap (Mike Sutter from Rio, our own Matt Gates, Paul Espoiti from Scion, Jeff from Westside, and Bob Dahl from Rio). Paul Espoiti put in a brutal surge and rode in solo for the win. We are not sure on his exact total, but we think he has won about 80% of the masters races he has entered. Impressive, he is one strong dude. We see the photos of him racing against pro tour riders last summer in Europe and placing top 20 at the Common Wealth Games and we know why! The rest of the break sprinted for 2nd with local power house Bob Dahl taking it, with our Matt Gates in 4th. All in all it was not a bad day with a rider in the winning move, but with some better luck we would have a few more guys right behind him. Hopefully the bad luck is behind us and as the season moves towards some Hill Climbs and Crits, we are confident our time will come. Once again great to see so many team out there racing hard and doing well. 2011 is going to be a fun year in 35 Plus, with good people good teams, and friendly competition.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Helping mix1 today at the Koppenburg
Today was the annual Colorado spring classic Koppenburg road race. The race is a short loop that is about half dirt and half pavement, with steep dirt climbs, bad weather, and strong winds. Today was no different, but www.boulderracing.com was kind enough to put a DJ on the main climb to mentally distract the racers (hey every little bit counts). mix1 was a big sponsor of the race today and they asked the team to help man their booth while they gave out free product, including their new Chocolate and Vanilla shakes. The guys were happy to help out and ran through all the free mix1 before 1 pm. Next time we need more! Here are a few photos we shot of the booth and some other racers sampling the mix1.
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