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.

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 

www.rupertberrington.me

 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.

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.  

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

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.

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.

Deer Trail Race reports

Well Deer Trail came and went and for the first time we had three different teams out there, 35 plus, 45 plus, and 55 plus.  It was a mixed bag of results, but as always it is a well run race, and is much harder than it looks on the surface.

35 Plus Report from CJ: low winds made for an easier race (not an easy race, just easier.....), with an early 5 man break.  Jim Thies made the break, but eventually got popped.  That left 3 guys in the lead for 75% of the race, including one from Westside, and they made it stick.  Westside had a big team and had a lots of options.  We rode the 1st full lap pretty easy and then threw 4 of our 6 guys into a full on chase on the inbound leg of lap one to the finish line, with Marc and Matt sitting on to wait.  We felt we rode very well, we were coordinated, and we took charge of the race.  We got a little help from Rio, but Dan, Jim, Marcel and CJ put in a lot of work. 

Eventually the chasing took it's tool and the 4 guys started to drop, but by this time the break was coming back and the field was blowing apart under the pressure.  The plan worked and a front group emerged, with Matt making it.  Unfortunately the break just held on for 1st through 3rd, with the front group arriving 21 seconds later, with Jeff Hartman taking the "sprint" for 4th, with Matt Gates right behind in 5th.

We give all the credit to Westside, they put a guy in the break and they rode it to the end, and the win.  However we went all in as a team, we executed a solid plan, and showed the more we ride together, the better we are going to get.  It was great to see 4 guys just blow themselves up to get our two best option up there.  That kind of team work and sacrifice is going to lead to race wins as the season wears on.


45 Plus Report from Peter:  By the time the 45+ masters mens race started, the winds had picked up
quite a bit, creating strong crosswind situations.  With that in mind, the six riders from the Mix1 team looked to control the race and take advantage of the wind.  Bill Stalhuth controlled the first part of the
race, holding back any potential breakaways while the other Mix1 riders got into position.  This allowed the Mix1 riders to save their strength for going after breakaway riders and attacking at the right
moment. Although two other riders eventually got away off the front on their own, Mix1 worked hard to keep them them as close as possible.

Unfortunately, after working hard to get near the breakaway, the Mix1 riders were not able to get in with the final select group of six riders off the front. Strong riders such as Rod Yoder, Dwight Hall,
and Jim Dickerson could not be caught.  Mix1 still won the field sprint with some teamwork, but hopes to build on their strengths and teamwork at races in the coming weeks.


55 Plus Report from Bill K: It was a very strong 55+ field with just about all of the strong guys were there with the exception of a certain Mr. Dickerson.  Vic's and Real D both had 6 guys, Pro Peloton had at least 4. As I've won this race a few times in the past, I felt like I had a big red target on my back and my every move was being marked.  So we started out with the usual 55+ script with lots of sitting on, people wanting to save energy, doodling out to the first turn-around. A mile or two after that, Barry Messmer from Vic's gave a dig and went down the road.  Steve B set off in chase and then the two of them drifted away for the day's first break.  And again, big thanks to Steve since this now took lots of pressure off of me.  I was more than happy to have Steve get his shot at winning the race, and it put the onus on The Real D and Pro Peloton guys to chase.  So Steve and Barry held on until just before the 2nd turn-around allowing me to sit protected and causing Pro Peloton burn some matches to bring them back.  At that turn-around, we turned into a tailwind so I attacked hard, bringing Shannon Fox with me.  We didn't stay out for long, but we caused a split in the field and narrowed things down to about 20 guys.  We were able to keep things rolling until the turn.  Again fortunately for me, another rider slipped off the front and the Real D guys took on the task of keeping him in check so that after the turn onto our final leg, I could attack.  The Real D boys seemed intent on putting the pressure on up the feed hill, so I waited for the second, steeper hill to launch my attack.  That's where the 6 rider break formed.  The field was chasing hard so we had to push harder.  It was a pretty good effort from most of the 6 guys in the break.  I only had to attack once to keep the shirkers at the back honest.  So we just kept pounding it up those hills until the finish.  I got a little crossed up by the change in the finish line.  We were pounding along so long that I simply forgot the finish was coming up.  I was on the front taking a hard pull when I realized that little shack by the road was actually the judges stand.  Luckily for me, I slowed to let the next guy go by and he pulled through.  Phew, didn't have to lead out for the last mile!  I now had a pretty good spot in 2nd position with the first guy hitting it pretty hard.  We were well past the 1k to go sign and now I'm noticing that he's slowing down (oh no!!).  How far to go?  Can I make it from here?  Looks close..  Are they starting to come around me?...  So thinking I was about 200 meters to to, I launched my sprint, leading it out.  So now that I'm well into my sprint, hitting my highest speed, in the corner of my eye, I notice the 200 meter to go sign go by.  (Doh!!)  And I can feel myself starting to slow a bit.  I look down through my legs and can see a wheel coming up to me. (Oh no!! I blew it!).  I'm sitting about 3 feet off the yellow line with the breeze coming from the right, and now I see the wheel behind me start moving up on my left. I instinctively drift to my left to close the door and I see the wheel disappear (score!!).   Drove it home for the win!! 
Steve came in with the field a few seconds back, third in the field sprint, claiming a top 10 placing.  Good work Steve!

Moto Pacing

Several of the guys on the team work with the fine coaches from Fascat Coaching in north Boulder (http://www.fascatcoaching.com/).  They offer a wide range of services from coaching, to bike fitting, to moto pacing, to testing, to indoor riding and beyond.  They have a great staff of coaches ranging from people with pro road experience, to top cross riders, to past pro mountain bikers and the like.  They can help out riders at any and all levels.  Here is a video their coach, Jon Tarkington, took from the back of their scooter while Moto Pacing CJ Gauss.  The winds were pretty bad on this day, so CJ spent most of the day next to the scooter trying to get a draft.  The only time he was behind it was going downhill with a tailwind at 50 MPH, or back up the hills dead into the wind.

http://www.youtube.com/user/fascatfho#p/a/u/0/4iwMqX6HbuE

Haystack TT & TTT

Yesterday was the annual Haystack Time Trial (TT) and Team Time Trail (TTT).  It is a fun day as it is the only Team Time Trial of the year and purely a team event.  The guys had solid races in the 35 plus TT with Matt, Matt and LT all in the top 10.  In the 45 Plus race Gene just missed the win with a strong second place.  Here is 35 plus team member Pete Lucke getting quoted after the race.

http://www.mountainflyermagazine.com/view.php/haystack-mountain-time-trials.html

The mix1 team have done well in the past in the TTT events.  The 35 plus guys have been strong, but never won (nor have they ever beaten their older team mates).  The 45 plus guys are undefeated in the last 3 years since they knocked off Boulder power house the Vic's team.  This year things turned out a little different, the 45 Plus guys took second, lead in by current world master champ Gene Palumbo.  The boys probably missed Jimi Gibson who is a one man pulling crew, up, down, left or right.  After years of trying the 35 plus team of LT, Marcel, Pete, Matt, and Matt finally got the big W and won the event.  It was really satisfying for these guys.  As an added bonus they also beat their 45 plus guys for the first time.  2012 is only 52 weeks away and I am sure the 45 plus guys will be ready for the rematch.

 Here are the 45 plus guys finishing, with only 3 guys.  Teams are allowed to start with 5 riders and the time is taking on the 3rd man to finish.  So the more riders you can keep together, usually the faster you can go.  The conditions this weekend caused the 45 plus guys to end with only 3 riders, so they all had to work hard.

 This photo if from Joe over at Peleton Photos and shows the 5 man 45 plus team taking an early hill on highway 36.  Gene is leading the guys along and they are in a strong formation.

Mead Roubaix Race Report

The first road race of the year was held last weekend with the annual Roubaix.  For 2011 local promoter Chris Grealish of DBC Events moved the course from Boulder to the more rural location of Mead, to give the old course a rest for a year.  Not a bad idea at all, but our team definitely likes the Boulder course more.

45 Plus race report from Jeff Ofsanko:   This past weekend was the now infamous and notorious Mead Roubaix, a 3 lap/60 mile race created in the spirit of France’s Paris-Roubaix road race. Whereas riders in the French event have to negotiate numerous sectors of old cobblestone roads, the Mead version incorporated multiple sections of dirt roads within the race’s 3 twenty mile loops. However, unlike most dirt roads in Boulder County (which are often as firm as your average highway), Mead’s back roads were littered with super-soft, barely ride-able dirt sections which became know as the “sandtraps.” Oh and rumor has it that there was a pretty good breeze blowing that day! Anyway, the day’s events were marked by several crashes and riders hiking their bikes through the sand traps.

True to form, the sand traps wasted no time claiming their 45+ victims. And while the Mix 1 crew managed to avoid the first round of crashes, Henrik Pederson got held up behind a crash around 8 miles into the event and never regained the sharp end of the race. Matt V, Peter I, and Jeff managed to escape the first lap mayhem, with Jeff even getting established in an early 4 man breakaway. Jeff’s group was reeled in as the field started the 2^nd of the 3 twenty mile loops and now Jeff, Peter, and Matt were present in a 12 or so rider move.

Once the group hit the next section of sand traps (about halfway through the race) the definitive selections occurred. Vitamin Cottage’s Rod Yoder and Echelon Energy’s Dwight Hall escaped the group with Jeff, Peter and 3 others (Bruce Hodkins, Dennis Farrell and Karl Kiester) chasing. Yoder and Hall were on fire and weren’t seen again until the finish line. Jeff lost contact with his chase group with about 10 miles left to in the race and managed to hold off all but one rider from behind for an 8^th place finish. With 4 miles to go Peter and Karl from Great Divide lost contact with the chase group. Peter managed to out sprint Karl at the finish and placed 5^th. Matt flatted in one of the sand traps but managed a 14^th place finish in spite of having to change a tube (strong work Matt) while Henrik placed 17^th.

With one podium and 4 top fives in the first two BAR/BAT races of the year, the 45ers now turn their attention towards the Haystack Individual and Team Time Trials in search of the squad’s first victory for the season. Great start to the season team and best of luck at Haystack!

 Peter on the left and Jeff in the center on the photo, the first time into the sandy downhill.

mix1 Masters Cycling Team Adopt A Road 2011

2011 marks the third year we have done the Adopt A Road program.  We have the same road again this year, 63rd, north from Valmont to Jay.  We chose this road as it is a nice one to ride on and it is popular with cyclists.  This past Saturday the guys were up early for donuts, coffee, and some road clean up.  It is always interesting to see what we find, ranging from the normal stuff, to road kill, to money, and even beyond.  It is also fun to be out doing work and see all the other riders going by on a Saturday morning, knowing we are making this stretch of road better for them.  Thank you Jim Thies for organising this the last 2 years and to Peter Ismert for taking over this year.