Georgia State Championship Road Race and Time Trial

by Greg App

Road Race:

Trek/VW/Freeflite was represented at the state championship road race by Greg App, Creed Sewell, Mark Kebbekus, Curtis Baker, and Jason Smith. A brief discussion among the attending team members led to Creed being the 
"go to man" for the day. Greg, looking for a big result in Sunday's state championship time trial, and Jason, coming off of a slight hip flexor injury (successfully attended to by chiropractor, Active Release practitioner, and team sponsor Dr.
Stephen Lascala), would be the early-race "work dogs." Creed would be kept as fresh as possible, until he could put his finishing speed to use.

The race pretty much played out in "text book" fashion. Just looking to get the race moving, Greg went out on the attack in the first mile. When he looked back and saw a couple hundred meters between him and the pack, he buried it until the gap was about a minute and a half, then he rode tempo, waiting for the inevitable chase group to come up. About halfway through 
the first lap he was joined by Steve Carhart (Roswell Velo), a Reality Bikes rider, a West Virginia rider, and two Team Bling Bling riders. Everybody pulled their weight except for the Team Bling Bling contingent, who between the two of them
pulled the weight of somewhere between one-half and one rider. Anyway, that's bike racing, so they were along for the ride.

Eventually, going into the third of six laps, the front group was joined by a chase group with one or two more Bling Bling's, Josh Seldman (Krystal), Todd Nordemeyer Backyard Burgers), and our guys Jason and Creed. At this point Jason and Greg committed to doing whatever it took to keep Creed fresh for the splits that were bound to ensue. With the pack at only a minute and some change back at that point, the new lead group worked together fairly well to extend our lead to something that would stick. Everyone in the group was playing a different hand of cards. Jason and Greg were driving for Creed, Seldman and Carhart both doing a fair amount of work for solo representation in the move, Nordemeyer never seemed to miss a pull, and Team Bling Bling's three riders were pulling with the not-so-clydesdale like force of one.

This scenario played out until the fifth lap when Seldman and Nordemeyer started conspiring to split the group up some. An attack by the both of them, a regrouping, and an immediate counter by Josh saw him ride off alone. Halfway through the sixth and last lap, the moto came back to tell  us that Josh had a fifty second gap. As if on cue, Nordmeyer dropped the hammer. 
Creed immediately responded, as did two, if not three of the Bling Bling baggage (there's something to be said for sitting on). Greg was unable to respond,  and Jason flatted, leaving Creed to fend for himself. Consistent attacks and counters
within that group saw Nordemeyer riding in solo (winning the race, but not the champion's jersey, as he's a Tennessee resident), and Creed going to the line in a drag race with Seldman and a BlingBling rider. Josh Seldman took the sprint and the championship, and Creed took the bronze medal on the day. Congratulations to them both!

Time Trial:

Thanks to Genesis Cycling for choosing a great course for the time trial. The course was well-paved, and constantly undulating, with minimal traffic. Trek/VW/Freeflite's representatives for the race of truth were Greg  App, Creed Sewell, Michael Wolf, and Curtis Baker. Michael Wolf,  fresh off of a successful high school graduation on Saturday, was the first of our team to go, racing in the junior(17-18) category. He produced the not-often-seen graduation/state time trial championship double. Congratlations Mike!

After the organizers re-tooled for the 21+ mile senior distance, all  categories were sent off before the I/II/III's. Racing in these categories were Trek/VW/Freeflite sponsor Kito DeSantot(Moon Brothers, Inc.), team director Mike Barman, and
club members Dub Smith and Scott Cochran, who along with their  children who raced in the junior division, represented the red, white and blue team kit well.

The Trek/VW/Freeflite elite's finished the day in style. Curtis did fifth fastest time in the I/II/III's. Creed followed up his bronze in the road race with another bronze in the time trial. Greg had the pleasure of  pulling the Georgia State Time Trial Champion's jersey over his head at the end  of the day, after completing the course at almost 27 mph! As a note, 
Greg's time was third fastest on the day, behind uber-time trialists David Grice (Cane Creek, NC), and Todd Nordemeyer (Backyard Burgers, TN), who showed that his road race performance was no fluke.