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Atlanta, Georgia, January 26, 2005--The OTR Cycling-Strenflex cycling team announces its 2005 roster. Composed of amateur racers from the Atlanta, Georgia area, OTR Cycling will concentrate on the Georgia Cup series and other races throughout the Southeast.

OTR Cycling brings several up and coming riders to racing in Georgia. Josh Arwood moves up to Cat. 3 after starting to race less than 9 months ago. Ryan Pumpian and masters and top criterium rider Richie Hunt round out the Cat. 3 squad. The Cat. 4 team will be defending their wins at several Georgia races in 2004. Ranked at the top of the NORBA Sport Women’s standings, Cat. 3 Trish Albert will focus on East Coast UCI Cyclocross races in the fall.

OTR Cycling is sponsored by Ace Industries, a leader in the crane and hoist industry. Its flagship product is Strenflex Synthetic Crane Slings, the market standard for rigging accessories and products. Southeasterncycling.com is the leading website in the Southeast for racing information. Boneshaker Bicycles will be providing mechanical support. Gu Sports will fuel the riders of OTR Cycling while racing, and Maxxis tires will keep them rolling.

Sponsors: Strenflex Synthetic Crane Slings, Ace Industries, Southeasterncycling.com, Boneshaker Bicycles, CM Hoists, Harrington Hoists and Chains, Maxxis, Gu Sports.

Roster
Cat. 3
Josh Arwood, Atlanta, GA
Richie Hunt, Powder Springs GA
Ryan Pumpian, Atlanta, GA

Cat. 4
Doug Gravino, Roswell, GA
Chris Hurst, Atlanta, GA

Cat. 5
Daniel Arwood, Atlanta, GA
Brad Moulard, Alpharetta, GA
Jeff Wheeler, Atlanta, GA

Women-Cat. 3
Trish Albert, Smyrna, GA

3-9-2005 Starting the Season The OTR Cycling team has been doing Super Secret training in preparation for the start to the 2005 race season. On February 26th Chris, Doug, and Jeff got a headstart on racing at the Greenville Training Series. All three finished in the middle of very large packs of over 80 riders. This weekend Richie, Doug, Chris, and Jeff will be racing at the Brooks Spring Omnium. Trish starts her mountain bike season at the Yard Sale race in Athens. 

3-12-2005 Brad Proves Wife Wrong! Brad Moulard proved his loving wife wrong today. He will smile for the camera! Brad's mug was captured at the Brooks road race in a rare moment. He obviously had not battled the 30 mph winds yet.

3-13-2005 Yard Sale MTB Race by Trish I'm off to the same start I was last year with a big DNF at the Yard Sale GAP race in Athens, GA. Of course, it involved a trip to the Athens Emergency Room last year and meeting my insurance deductible earlier than normal. Several broken drive side spokes on my rear wheel a mile into the Expert section on my second lap ended my day. I could have finished but decided not to destroy my rear wheel since it's the only one that I have. I opted to walk/ride out instead and enjoy seeing friends that I had not seen since last year. Randy at Boneshakers will have my wheel back up and going this week.

I'm a little disappointed because I was on my way to a Top 5 in Master Women Sport. I felt pretty good but am still lacking some power and top end speed that I'll have in another month. Oh well! This was my first race of the year and was only meant to be fun and a fast training ride anyway.
 

I'm still waiting to hear how the boys did at Brooks.

3-17-2005 Brooks Chris Hurst, Cat. 4, checks in with the guys' Brooks Race report. They did well for the first race of the season.

3-24-2005 The team is busy training. Chris and the Big J are trying to beat each other up on the hills. They had the Jeff, Daniel, and the Cycleworks team chasing them on the hills on Wednesday's training ride. They were not to be caught. Doug has been doing secret mountain training. Richie hooked up with the Green Team for some riding closer to home. Brad is on a plane somewhere. Ryan has been hiding. Trish has been sick and is practicing her couch surfing and Girl Scout cookie eating. Next up for the team is Rock Hill April 2-3. Happy Easter!

4-1-2005 Rock Hill Chris and Jeff are heading to Rock Hill this weekend. Trish is doing the Macon Madness mtb race in Macon. Doug is forsaking his bike and will be running in a 10K with friends. The Big J claims he is not in race shape. Yeah, right! Daniel thinks he still has a bike. Richie has been spotted on the Vinings rides. Ryan and Brad are MIA. (Ryan has a good excuse!)
 

4-4-2005 Macon and Rock Hill This is my race report from the Macon Madness GAP race:

Break fast from the line, break first into the singletrack. Take the lead through 1/2 of the first
lap. Feeling great! Love the flat courses! Misshift 10+ times within 4 minutes. Have nearly everyone pass you. Break Frame. Walk out. Go home and cry.

My poor frame! Thanks to a VERY generous friend, I will have a bike to race :) Also, thanks to our great bike shop sponsor BONESHAKER BICYCLES for getting the frame off to Kelly Bikes so quickly.

I heard Jeff got Top 10 in the Cat. 5 crit in Rock Hill. I heard he was middle of the pack in the
RR. Chris was top 20 in the crit and middle of the pack in the mass sprint in the Cat. 4 RR. I'll have exact placings in a few days.

4-15-2005 OTR Update The OTR Cycling team has been busy racing lately, too busy to update our website! Jeff, Doug, Trish, and Chris traveled to Savannah last weekend for the Savannah Georgia Cup race, which was two crits and a time trial. The official results have not been posted, so these are approximate results.

Saturday Crit-Competitive Cat. 4/5
Chris-12th
Jeff-off the back after getting caught behind several crashes
Saturday TT
Competitive Cat. 4/5
Jeff-22nd
Doug-23rd
Women 1/2/3
Trish-17th
Sunday Crit
Competitive Cat. 4/5
Jeff-9th
Chris-15th
Women 1/2/3
Trish-17th


Upcoming OTR Events The weekend of April 16-17 will see OTR scattered over the Southeast. Doug is doing the Lake Lanier Duathlon. Jeff and Daniel are heading to the Cheaha Crit in Alabama, Chris will test his climbing legs at the Raccoon Mountain RR in Chattanooga, Trish is going to Clemson, SC for an AMBC mountain bike race, and Josh and Daniel will be “racing” at Tucker in Atlanta. The team is looking forward to watching the Tour De Georgia come through April 19-24th. Several team members are planning to race Twilight and Roswell at the end of the month.

Chris Hurst rides in Saturday's 4/5 crit in Savannah
 

4-17-2005 Cheaha Crit by Jeff Wheeler. So, it was a beautiful morning. Daniel and Jeff get out of Atlanta on time at 11am and arrived in Anniston at 12:30, grabbed a bite to eat, and headed over to get numbers. The sun is out and its getting warm, so we pick a nice shade tree and set up the trainers. its about 1:30pm and we start at 3:40. We decide to relax for awhile. 2:40 rolls around so we get suited up and get on the bikes to warm up. Wait a minute we're in Central time zone!!!!! oops... so we ride the course 2 hrs early.. head back to the shade tree and relax.. The Cat 5's look tough.. we get in good position for the start... Bang!! the gun goes off and so does Jeff,,,,,Daniel and the group swallow Jeff after about 5 minutes and Daniel gives some good advice.."Calm Down".. So I do, catch my breath and get back into the pack. Daniel continues calmly about 10 deep,,,then ring ring ring goes the prem bell,,, Daniel takes off around the last corner like a bat outta hell,, and blisters the pack to win a pair of tubes.. Jeff works his way back to Daniels wheel and hangs out for a few laps.... There he goes again.. Jeff takes the lead and tries a break.. doesnt work.. there goes someone else trying to break.. the pack lets him go.. then Jeff decides he's getting to far away.. and bridges the gap.. Daniel continues his calm collective good position.. Jeff gets back in the pack. This continues.... then 3 laps to go,, Jeff gets up front and tries to stay up there.. some old guy takes off and no one chases.. Daniel gets in great position,, Jeff is right behind. No one goes for the old guy..The group sprints but cant catch the old guy... Daniel pulls off an impressive 5th place and Jeff gets another 9th finish.....

Tiger Rag AMBC Trish took her first win of the year at the Tiger Rag AMBC race in the Sport Women 30-39 division. The Isaqueena Trails in Clemson, SC is one of Trish's favorite race courses. Trish wants to thank Mary M. for loaning her a bike in order to defend her win from last year at this race.

4-19-2005 OTR Makes 11:00 News! OTR-Cycling Strenflex cyclists Chris Hurst and Jeff Wheeler were spotted on the 11 Alive 11:00 pm News on Monday, April 18th. 11 Alive filmed the Vinings Recovery Ride for a short news story about Lance Armstrong's retirement. Chris had several full body shots both off and on the bike showing the Strenflex logo. His helmet was also prominently featured while he was getting ready. Two local riders were also interviewed-Mary McEneaney and Don Dutson. 

4-27-2005 OTR News Several members of the OTR Cycling team will be at the Roswell and Twilight races this weekend. Jeff and Daniel will be in the 4/5 crit at Roswell. Richie is racing with the 3's and Masters at Twilight, and Chris will be in the 4's at Twilight, too.

The OTR Crew of Trish, Josh, Ryan, and Chris watched Stage 4 of the Tour De Georgia. Josh and Chris arrived early to set up our EZ Up tent and picnic. The tent proved very popular when the thunderstorms and hail hit.

The OTR Crew on Woody's Gap during the Tour De Georgia. Ryan Pumpian, Josh Arwood, Chris Hurst, Trish Albert

Jeff Moves Up OTR Is proud to announce that its first team member has moved up this year. Jeff upgraded to Cat. 4 this week.

5-1-2005 Weekend Results The OTR Cycling team was busy this weekend! Jeff and Chris raced in the Cat. 4 race at Athens on Saturday morning in the pouring rain. Unfortunately, both got caught behind a wreck on the last lap and finished 36th and 22nd, respectively. Richie qualified for the USCF finals in the evening. He got caught up in the first wreck, which was caused by someone sliding out and hitting the haybales in a corner. He took a free lap, got a wheel change, and got back in. Unfortunately, the neutral support forgot to tighten his quick release, and Richie took another fall and has road rash from head to toe.

Sunday was the Nalley Historic Roswell crit. Jeff did the 4/5 race and was 10th out of a full field of 80 riders! Trish did one of the few road events she does per year and was 19th in the Cat. 3/4 women. Alas, she had a breathing attack about 11 minutes into the race or she might have done better. Doug came out to take photos and provide moral support for the team.

Jeff Wheeler races in the Cat. 4/5 crit in Roswell. Photo by Doug Gravino.

5-7-2005 OTR Rides for Charity Josh Arwood, Trish Albert, Chris Hurst, Doug Gravino, and Brad Moulard rode the Biking for Burns charity ride benefiting the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation today. Josh and Chris led the century option and were the first in. Doug and Brad also completed the century while Trish opted for the metric.

The team will be out next weekend for the Union City Series 7 race.

5-16-2005 OTR Weekend Recap Josh scored the first win of the year for the guys this weekend at the Union City Cat. 4 Men's crit. Chris was 9th. Great job guys! (Trish got the team's first win of the year at the Tiger Rag AMBC Mountain bike race in April.)

Josh on the top step of the podium for the Union City Cat. 4 Men's crit

Trish reports on her century Saturday: "I did the 65 miler at the Up the Creek Without a Pedal
Century today. I was with the B group until a few of us heard a loud scream behind us at about mile 42 A rider fell badly, and I went to the nearest house to call for an ambulance as he wasn't getting up. (Cell phones don't work in the middle of nowhere.). Three of us stayed with him until help arrived. He busted his knee, and the EMT's weren't sure if anything was broken. I finished with an average speed of 19.2, which is great for me!"

Chris is also leading the KOM for the Competitive Category for the Georgia Cup.

Chris's Union City Report

Well it was another weekend of cat 4 racing for team OTR. This weekend was a short drive down to Union City for the crit which takes place in the back of the Shannon Mall parking lot and the road race which goes back and forth several time along S. Fulton Industrial Pkwy.

So, Saturday was the crit course and the team was represented by Jeff, myself, and our fearless leader, Josh, who was making his first race appearance for the year. While warming up on the trainers the team discussed strategy and the objective was to have the three of us ride smart for most of the race and start to bunch up with 5 laps to go, on the last lap we had hoped to get all three of us on the front with Jeff doing the lead out into the first turn, Josh taking the last turn and hill up through to the finish approach, and leading out Chris who would hopefully have strong finish. With three laps to go Chris and Josh pulled within each other in about fifth and sixth wheel and then as we passed the second turn of the last lap, Jeff comes moving up quickly from the back of the pack on the left side. Chris sees Jeff approaching and moves slightly over to the left to screen out any riders coming off from his wheel. At this point Josh is directly in front of Chris. As Jeff passes Josh, Josh grabs his wheel and Chris falls in. Jeff then lays down the heat it and the peloton is STRUNG out! As we approach the third turn which merges quickly into the fourth turn, Jeff pulls aside and then Josh goes, with regret Chris is unprepared for this burst of speed and allows a gap to open between Josh and himself. At this point Josh is taking the turn at about 30 and going into the fourth turn which is a uphill grade to the finish approach. Chris tries to gain in an effort to catch Josh at the top of the hill but finds that he is not in the optimal gear. At the top of the hill (fourth turn), Josh catches a solo break away rider that had been off for two laps. At this point several other riders come by Chris who is just keeping his head above water. Amazingly, and with a great display of strength Josh powers on and holds off the attackers to win the crit, while Chris pushed it enough to finish ninth. In short, we looked awesome as a team coming along the finish lap and it felt great to be a winning move for the team.

On Sunday, Jeff and Chris went just a little further down the road to give the approximately 60 mile road race a shot. Chris had done this race last year and knew that the winning moves would take place at the approach to the final sections of streets where the road narrowed down. But, before this was to come up the guys had to go up and down the parkway three times. The morning started with steady rain which changed to intermittent showers for the first hour and half of the race. As expected, not much happened in the race for a little while. During the second lap there was an effort by a L5Flyers rider and an Appalachian State rider to make a break going into the third lap. After hearing they were a minute up, Chris, Jeff, a Cycleworks rider, and three other riders formed up and started rotating through to bring the peloton speed up to close this break down. The L5Flyers had a total of five riders in the race, and it became obvious that two of these guys were on the front trying to slow down the pack to help this break stick. With some effort these riders were able to close down this break and then various small attacks started to take place. All of these efforts were controlled and the pack never came apart again. As the peloton turned off the parkway and started to return to the finish area, Chris and Jeff made efforts to move to the front third of the group. Jeff was able to move up much faster since he was on the right side which was rotating through while the left side continued to be locked down. Chris saw he was near the very back and then saw that the right side open up, he surged through while on a mild climb and found himself at the very front. Chris moved back over to the far left and slowed up waiting for other riders to pull through, nothing happened for several minutes and the another attack came from the right and the peloton surged behind. Chris got caught daydreaming and did not go fast enough and once again found himself near the back. At this point the race entered the section of narrow neighborhood streets and the pace picked up. With no room to move Chris hoped to find better openings in the next to last section of city street prior to the final turn onto the finish sprint straight away. Jeff ended up running out of gas after spending too much time on the front during the lap section of the race. At this point the pace kicked up another notch and riders started to bonk, Chris tried to move through these slowing riders but was too far out of the hunt. Making the final turn Chris was still in mid pack and had no hope of finishing well and just ride steady for a pack finish. Chris and Jeff realized that both of them expended too much energy during the race and spent too much time on the front.  

5-22-2005 Weekend Report The OTR Cycling Team spent this weekend training. The East Side guys hit the Tucker ride. Trish and friends beat up on the NARC and TNT riders. Chris did Six Flags and killed everyone on the climbs. Sunday Ryan, Josh, and Chris did the Sunday/Secret Handshake ride in Forsyth County. 70 miles with a 22 mph average later, they finished at Subway for lunch. Trish joined several of her friends on the L5 Flyers Sunday ride from Outback Bicycles. Memorial Day will be another off weekend for the team before they gear up for mountain bike races and several local road races in June.

5-30-2005 Weekend Report Saturday Ryan and Chris checked out 3 Gap clockwise for the upcoming Georgia Cup race. Josh and the rest of the crew hit the Tucker ride for some in-town action. Sunday, Josh and Chris headed to the Secret Handshake ride to train with the big boys. They took their turns at the front and averaged 24 mph to finish with the group. Trish and Doug opted for some low key rides this weekend to get in distance. The team's bike shop sponsor, Boneshaker Bicycles, finished the rebuild of Trish's mountain bike, and she spent a few hours Sunday afternoon tweaking it at Blanket's Creek.

6-6-2005 Bump N Grind Trish went to the AMBC Bump N Grind race in Birmingham, AL on Sunday. She placed 2nd in the Sport Master Women 30-39. The trail was very slick in places and quite muddy in others, which made the times slower than in years past.

Other Happenings Again, a good portion of the team went to the Tucker ride on Saturday to test their legs against the big boys. A good race, er ride, is always fun. The team agrees that the rain needs to stop. Everyone is tired of riding their trainers by themselves in their basements.

One very tired Trish Albert (OTR Cycling-Strenflex) won 2nd at Bump N Grind in Sport Master Women 30-39

6-16-2005 OTR Update The OTR Cat. 4 team hit the Georgia Cup in Dahlonega in force. In the Three Gap Road Race, Ryan was 8th, Chris was 18th, and Josh was around 23rd. Jeff vowed never to do another mountain RR again, but he hung in there and finished. The placings are estimates because the Georgia Cup has not posted results yet. In Sunday's TT, Chris was 10th, and Ryan was 11th.

This weekend Chris, Ritchie, and Jeff will be doing the Suwannee crits. Chris is going to do his first Masters race, so that Ritchie can finally ride with someone else on the team.

On the mountain bike side, if Trish can recover from oral surgery earlier this week, she will be heading to Macon for the SERC race. The rest of the team will be doing the Tucker ride. 

6-20-2005 Suwanee Crit by Chris Jeff, Ritchie and I showed up for the Suwanee crit, which was more of a circuit race. The crowds were not huge but larger than expected with about 40 in the cat 4 field and 40 in the combined master field. Once again, there was not a scoring/finish line camera. The course was fairly decent with a couple of moderate/easy climbs, three turns, one long downhill, and nice smooth asphalt. Jeff and I established good position early on in the cat 4 race and held our ground for the first 20 minutes. There were several attacks with one group of five making a real threat to break off after passing the start/finish lap hill with about 10 minutes to go. Jeff went to try and chase them down and made a good effort but wasn't able to stick it out. I moved up and tried to give a Jeff a breather and have him grab my wheel but he had to drop further back. I then spent the next half lap trying to catch this break, which I thought might stick, but after coming through the start/finish hill the group of five slowed up and let the pack catch them at the top of the hill. After this I continued to try and hold a good position toward the front for the finish sprint. On the final lap up the start/finish lap I allowed myself to drift back and then found myself trying to move forward on the downhill, which wasn't happening. As we made the final turn up the moderate hill to the finish line I was unable to gain and finished around 16/17th. Jeff was just a bit behind me. Average speed was 22/23.

About an hour and a half later Ritchie and I lined up for the Masters 35, 45+ race. The field appeared to be small but many of the races who did the 1, 2, 3 just before this sat in for the race as well. The first lap was fairly settled, but within a bit the pace picked up. There was one attack effort about 10 minutes into the race, and at this point I thought Ritchie told me to go get it. Ritchie and I had been staying around 10th wheel at this point. Prior to this, every time I started to move up a bit Ritchie gave me some words to hold back. So when I thought this break would make it, and thinking Ritchie wanted me to go, I picked up the pace and again hoped to bridge on. This effort took place coming into the second turn and the downhill portion of the course. I was pushing around 35 mph trying to catch these guys, and gained on them, but wasn't able to close the gap. As we made the third turn up the start/finish hill I thought I might get on to the group I was chasing but had to ease off as we passed the finish line. At this point the rest of the field was back on and others were going around me. Ritchie yelled for me to grab his wheel, but my pace was off and I had to catch the end of the pack as it made the first turn. At this point the break group eased up (for some reason?) and the field reformed. I stayed in the back for a short while and then made my way back toward the front to let Ritchie know I was still in. After this the two of us stayed in a decent position and waited for the final sprint. With three laps to go there were a couple of brief attacks, but the field kept anything from going. So, with a lap to go Ritchie and I found ourselves in about sixth and seventh wheel. During the downhill approach to the final turn for the finish climb several riders came around us. At the final turn, I let Ritchie get away from me and then the sprint started to build. Just prior to this final turn, two riders bumped coming out of the turn and went down, disrupting some of those behind us. Ritchie poured the gas on, and passed a few riders and believes he finished 7th or 8th place. I came in around 14th since I was unable to accelerate enough. Since there was no finish camera and both the 35+ and 45+ racers had similar series numbers (3##), it was difficult to establish a final position. So depending on the number of 45+ racers in front of us, and there were a few, our final positions will be a little higher. However, it was still a very good race and even though the Master race was faster it was much smoother. I am also hear to tell you that Ritchie has very good race senses and if/when him and Josh line up together at a crit, they will dominate!!!! Avg speed 25.

Great racing today team!!

6-27-2005 Cartersville Century Trish and Doug rode the Cartersville Century on Saturday. The ride benefited the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bartow County. The route was rolling with a few good climbs. Doug finished the 100 miler in a little over 5 hours, and Trish hammered with the NARC girls to finish the 55 in just over 2:45.

Perry-Roubaix The OTR guys rocked the Cat. 4 crit at Perry Roubaix. Executing their plan perfectly, the team launched Jeff Wheeler across the line for the win. Josh came in second much to the delight of his future in-laws, who were watching the race. Chris finished 6th. Chris then sat in the Masters crit and finished 10th. In the Road Race, mechanicals and crashes took their toll on the OTR men. Ryan finished 4th.

Perry In Jeff's Words "The Perry Crit for Cat 4 was a smaller crowd, about 30-35 riders, with RBM attending in full force. They had about 5 guys lining up. Josh, Chris and Jeff put together a similar strategy as the Union City Crit. Stay up front, but let RBM work. Position the Three of us on the last lap to be 3rd, 4th, and 5th spot til the back straight away. Chris came up on the right side and opened up a lane for Josh to turn on the steam. Jeff Grabbed Josh's wheel and Chris jumped on Jeff's wheel.. We cruised by the 3 RBM guys going into the final turns. Josh's pedal snagged the pavement, Jeff, luckily, was on the right side as Josh popped off left... Josh yells "go go go" ... Jeff takes off for the final two turns and Chris's pedal catches the pavement also.. Jeff finishes across the finish line for the win as Josh was able to keep off the chase group and finish 2nd ...Chris was in great position to finish 3rd but the pavement grabbed is pedal and that allowed 3 riders to catch him as he finishes 6th."

Jeff "Meat Biscuit" Wheeler wins the Cat. 4 crit at the Perry-Roubaix.

7-11-2005 Georgia Games The Georgia Games were this weekend. At the road race in White, GA, Josh Arwood claimed first in the Cat. 4 race. In the Master's race, Ritchie Hunt made his RR debut for the year. At the crit in Marietta, which was held at THE Marietta Crit, Jeff Wheeler was 9th in the Cat. 4 race, and Chris Hurst was 11th. Chris also placed in the pack in the Master's race.

Other Team Members Doug Gravino is somewhere in France getting ready to participate in the 100 mile+ Etape Du Tour ride and then spend some time following the Tour. Trish is doing long rides and dreaming of the start of cyclocross season. Brad and Ryan are both training hard.

7-12-2005 Georgia Games-In Chris's Words "Ok, Here is what happened over the weekend. Saturday in the Cat 4 race, RBM spent most of the day on the front making things easy for the pack most of the time until the end. Chris ended up getting stuck out a front for a short bit near the end but some other riders finally came around and started to drive the pace up. Josh won (again!!), Chris was in good position to finish well until a young rider got squirrely and crashed taking out Chris and about 9 others, Chris extracted his bike from the pile and rode in for a 31st place finish, Jeff ran out of gas after trying to make a break stick, and then had a flat and had to walk the bike for about three miles.

On Sunday, Jeff and Chris raced the Cat 4. Things went pretty well but RBM only spent part of the time on the front (dang..they must be learning). There were several attacks, but all of them were controlled. At the finish Jeff and Chris waited a bit too late to get closer to the front and Jeff finished 9th and Chris finished 11th. Chris raced the Masters crit a few hours later and spent a lot of time chasing numerous breaks and tried on two occasions to get on breaks, with 10 minutes to go one break of three riders made it stick and these three rolled in for the podium. Due to the hard efforts, Chris finished mid pack with no energy left for the sprint for 4th place on down. Why did Chris chase the breaks?, Why did Chris go on a solo break on the third lap in the race?, Why did Chris work his butt off for no good reason....??? If you find an answer, other than some strange desire to pay approximately $.50/minute to get a hard workout in, please forward it to Chris!"

7-17-2005 Doug in France Every year, the Tour De France puts on a ride/race called the Etape Du Tour. It covers an entire stage of the Tour De France and is open to amateur riders. Doug Gravino (OTR Cycling) rode in this year's edition and wrote this report.

7-20-2005 Bishop Cycling Classic This past weekend the Jeff and Chris did the crits at the Bishop Cycling Classic in Athens, GA. Jeff finished 6th in the Cat. 4; Chris was in the middle of the pack. Coming back strong, Chris finished 5th in the Master race.

The team was also busy preparing for the Team Time Trial at Rome this weekend.

7-25-2005 Rome GA Cup The Rome Georgia Cup was a success for OTR Cycling! First, the team race in the Team Time Trial in the Competitive division. Ryan "Counsel" Pumpian, Josh "Sponsor" Arwood, Chris "Sand Squirrel" Hurst, Jeff "Meat Biscuit" Wheeler, and Trish "The Chick" Albert rode to a second place. (ok, Trish got dropped but still finished). In the crit, the team took Ryan to the victory-Perfection! The win landed Ryan in the leader's jersey. Josh was second, and Jeff and Chris finished midpack after working for Ryan all evening. The road race was held in blistering temperatures. An ill timed flat for Ryan nearly cost the team the omnium, but showing true teamwork, Chris gave Ryan his rear wheel. Josh paced Ryan back up, and Ryan finished 10th and won the omnium. Chris finished midpack after pulling back to the group. This is one of the most successful weekend ever for OTR Cycling!

Josh Arwood and Omnium Winner Ryan Pumpian celebrate a great weekend at the Rome Georgia Cup.

8-28-2005 Updates It's been a fun summer for the OTR Cycling Team. On August 13 Richie, Jeff., and Chris raced in the Masters 30+ crit at the GA State Crit Championships. Unfortunately, Lady Luck did not smile upon the team and all finished midpack.

Fast forward two weeks, the team looked to make up for the State Championships. At the Cycleworks Classic Crit in Marietta Chris, Josh, Jeff, and Ryan teamed up in the Cat. 4 crit. This writer is not sure what the plan was, but whatever it was, it worked. Chris got away with another rider and lapped the field. Ryan tried to lead Chris out, but Chris got caught in the peloton and rolled in for second place. Josh was off the front on his own and was 3rd. Ryan and Jeff worked early and finished in the field.

The L5 Flyers Dog Days crit would be another all OTR Cycling affair. Chris, Jeff, Ryan, and Josh were once again on the starting line of the Cat. 4 race. Chris and Ryan covered the early attacks and won 4 primes in the process. Josh tried to lead Ryan out for the win, but Ryan was boxed in during the sprint. Josh sat up about 20 feet before the finish line but still maintained his momentum and won. Ryan was able to come around for third. Chris and Jeff finished as well. Great job guys!

Trish is recovering from an injury in early August that tore and severely sprained some lower back muscles. With some peer pressure from her friends on the L5 and Forum teams, she decided to line up for the Cat. 3/4 Women's crit despite very little riding in August. It is rare in Georgia for their to be a 3/4 Women's crit. Tracy Hambrick (GTC) attacked off the line, and the field was shattered. Trish got in with Jennifer Will (L5) and Grace ? (Atlanta Multisport), and they worked together until they got lapped. Trish and Jenn jumped in with a small group and hung on. Trish won the sprint for 10th, which she was happy with given her injury and the heat.

OTR Cycling is looking forward to the Gainesville Georgia Cup race Labor Day weekend. Nearly the entire men's team is expected to show up to support the team as we go for the overall Georgia Cup in Men's Cat. 4.  

9-5-2005 Gainesville Georgia Cup OTR Cycling did it again! Josh won the Cat. 4 crit at the Gainesville Georgia Cup on Saturday night. Ryan and Jeff were both in the Top 10. Chris and Brad worked for the team early in the race. Unfortunately, the night ended on a sad note for the team. A rider hit Richie from behind in the Master race, sending himself several other riders to the ground. Richie's broken arm is on the mend. Get better soon "Old Guy"!

The crit organizers suggested that any team that wanted to could donate their winnings to the American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina relief fund. Red Cross representatives were onsite for donations. OTR donated its winning monies to the Red Cross.

OTR Cycling working on the front of the peloton in the Cat. 4 Crit in Gainesville

Share the Road Century Chris and Trish participated in the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign's Share the Road Century on Labor Day. The ABC is the cyclist's political advocacy voice in Atlanta. Proceeds will aid in those efforts.

What's Coming Up The team is looking to go for the Overall Jersey in Cat. 4 in the Georgia Cup series. Will the guys take it? Stay tuned! The men will be racing next in LaGrange.

Trish is preparing for cyclocross season. Her bike is ready to go, the cob webs are washed off, and practices start this week in Marietta.

9-7-2005 Another Broken Bone Ryan Pumpian reported that he accidentally broke a toe around his house.

9-13-2005 DLV Festival of Speed Congratulations to OTR Cycling's Ryan Pumpian! Saturday night Ryan won the Cat. 3/4 men's overall at the Festival of Speed at the Dick Lane Velodrome. Ryan also won the final scratch race that saw the Top 5 riders facing off for a cash prize.

Ryan Pumpian works hard in the Points Race at the Festival of Speed at the Dick Lane Velodrome

9-18-2005 Au Tour de Lac Georgia Cup OTR Cycling did it again! Ryan "Counsel" Pumpian won the omnium at the Tour de Lac Georgia Cup this weekend in LaGrange, GA. Ryan was second in the Cat. 4 Men's Crit and won the RR. Chris, Josh, and Jeff rode in support of Ryan. Laura won the Cat. 4 Women's race.

10-3-2005 Georgia Cup-Atlanta This is Chris's report from the Suwanee Circuit Race: "The team worked well again today and Josh won, Ryan took fourth, and Jeff and Chris placed top 25. Chris made a couple of strong attacks during the race and tried to stick a break but was hampered by a SUV in the road. Jeff worked to help set up Josh and Ryan at the end. We were able to
neutralize the rider currently in third place in the series and limit him to a fifth place finish, thus pretty much guaranteeing 1st and 2nd in the GA Cup series for Ryan and Josh. Our goal for tomorrow is to win every prime and take the top 3 spots and place all four of us in the top 5. We are going to go out with the intention of driving hard and attacking repetitively and blow out the season."

Georgia Cup Overall Goes to OTR Cycling! OTR Cycling won the Georgia Cup Overall for 2005 in the Cat. 4 Men's division. Ryan Pumpian took first place, and Josh Arwood took second place. Congratulations guys!

Ryan Pumpian waves to the crowd as he is awarded the Georgia Cup Cat. 4 Men's Leader's Jersey
 

What's Next OTR Cycling isn't done for the year! We will be copromoting a cyclocross race (aka volunteering as warm bodies to do what we can to help).

Trish is training for the Cyclocross National Championships in Rhode Island in December. She will be racing either in Georgia or out of state every weekend starting October 16th.

The rest of the team will be riding until the time change. Several guys plan to take a break after that.

10-8-2005 Chris did his first Cat. 3 race at the Series 7 Finale in East Point. This is his race report: "I tried to get off on a break at about the half way mark and ended up riding three or four laps on my own and could not hold it. A short while later a group of four went and I was not with them. This group of four was able to lap the field which was just four persons including me, the other riders had bailed out at this point. The final eight riders had a field sprint and I was only able to place 7th in the field and 7th overall. All of the fields for every race were small....The venue was good since there was festival going on at the same time. There were several craft vendors, music, and food/beer tents and overall it was a good event, just a small turnout."

10-23-2005 OTR Updates The team is preparing to copromote the Indian Springs Cyclocross race on Sat., Oct. 29th. Come down to Indian Springs State Park and race! See the Georgia Cyclocross website for all the details.

Trish has done the first two races of the Georgia Cyclocross Series in the Women's A Category. She was 7th at Ft. Yargo and 8th at Macon in the largest Women's A fields the series has ever seen. If it weren't for back pain, Trish may have been able to hold onto 6th place in Macon. She had to slow down the last 2 laps.

Doug has been preparing for the Chateau Elan Duathlon on Oct. 30th. 

Josh has been getting ready to be married soon to the love of his life (no, not his bike!). The webgeek hears that frosty adult beverages have been prevalent the last few weekends. Jeff, Chris, and Brad have been helping Josh train for the long walk down the aisle as they have all been there before.

OTR Cycling's 2005 Photos are here.

11-6-2005 OTR Update The team is well into the off season except for Trish. She has been racing the Georgia Cyclocross Series. Trish has gotten two 5th places at Indian Creek State Park and Augusta.

OTR Cycling helped to put on the Indian Springs cyclocross race on October 30th. We provided volunteers for registration, course break down, and official's helpers.

Congratulations Josh and Leigh! I mean, Kristy and Clay. On November 5th, Josh "The Sponsor" Arwood married the love of his life, Leigh Majors, in Atlanta in a beautiful ceremony. Josh looked dashing, and Leigh was absolutely stunning in a white wedding gown with gold brocade. Congratulations!

The team's next task is to get Leigh on a bike. :)

11-13-2005 Marietta Cyclocross Chris tried his first cyclocross today in Marietta in the Masters 35+ men. He had a good time and did not finish last.

Trish got her third top 5 in a row with a 5th place in a tough A Women's field. She loved the rain at the first two laps of the race, the first tough of of Belgian weather for the Georgia Cross Series.

The rest of the team is in hibernation until base miles start soon.

11-28-2005 Thanksgiving On Thanksgiving, Josh hosted a ride from his house. Brad, Trish, Chris, Josh, Ryan, and friend of the team-Beth rode through Emory, the Highlands, Peachtree Street, and Centennial Park. It was holiday pace and just enough to work up an appetite for turkey.

Cyclocross Trish scored her highest placing this year at the Covington Cyclocross race on Nov. 27 when she was 3rd in the A Women's race. There are two races left in the series, which are next weekend in Monroe, GA.

Covington Cyclocross A Women's Podium: 4th-Holly Longley (NARC), 2nd-Kari Linder (Bad Lasses), 1st-Samanta Williams (Alan Factory), 3rd-Trish Albert (OTR-Strenflex), 5th-Stephanie Gamble (Outspokin)

Other Team News Most of the team has started base miles for next year. Look for us on the Airport Ride, the Tucker ride, and the WBL in Athens. The roster is being finalized for 2006.

12-19-2006 Cyclocross National Championships Trish and Chris competed in the cyclocross national championships December 9-11 in Providence, RI. Trish's goal was a Top 10 in Master Women 30-34 and a decent placing in a huge field in the Women's B. Chris wanted to finish the race in one piece. Trish's report is here.

Chris's report: "The first day of CX nats was epic! To be honest I didn't have any goals for racing today other than not wipe anyone else out or hurt myself to badly and I achieved this goal. Late last night the snow started and continued through the morning. At about 11:00 the temperatures warmed up to around 34 and the snow turned to sleet and then rain. My race (Mast 35-40) started at 1:00 pm and we only had about 130 racers line up. There were reportedly 180 registered.

I was the last one across the start line and was racing on Trish's mountain bike which was actually a good thing to ride in the slush/mud/water puddles. My goal was to stay upright and see how long I could stay in. The course itself was pretty darn cool with lots of off camber lines, several obstacles and run-ups, and several short downhill and climbs. The course was not too bad earlier, but after the rain started things softened up a lot. Many folks were sliding out on the down hills as they tried to make the turns at the bottoms of the descends. As I said the weather switched to rain for about 40 minutes at the start of the race but after the first lap the temperatures dropped. The rain turned to sleet and the wind became fierce. I was seeing pop-up tents getting ripped apart and as was rolling by the start/finish line one of the PA stands blew over along with most all of the barriers. The sleet was very painful on the face and at the point my fingers were burning from being soaked and freezing. Again, I was pretty much on the back and was just hoping to last until the end. I was starting to get pretty miserable being soaked, freezing, and having stinging freezing rain pelting me in the face. Fortunately, I was pulled at the end of my second lap and retreated to the car to commence shivering and pulling off my wet clothes. I have to say these were the worst conditions in which I have ever ridden a bicycle in.

When I was lapped by the leaders on my second lap there was one single rider moving very well followed by a single chase rider and then a group of three after him. It would have loved to seen some of the action today with the epic conditions but after getting pulled I could think about was warming up!

Trish will race tomorrow afternoon and she hopes the weather stays crappy : ) I look forward to drinking hot coffee, watching the remaining races, and staying warm. The big guns will race Saturday and Sunday and I look forward to seeing Page, Johnson, and the rookie Horner in action.
 

Georgia State CX Series Trish finished the year 4th overall in the Women's A division in the Georgia State Cyclocross series. She did all of the races, including 2 UCI races in Hendersonville, NC. Her top placing was 3rd at Covington.

Other Team News The roster for 2006 is almost final, and OTR Cycling will nearly double in size. The Board of Directors is working on the jersey design for next year. Team members are trying to figure out how to hide how much they spent on team clothing from their wives. Most team members have started long, slow base mile rides. A few are braving the Tucker ride and the occasional WBL.

OTR Cycling and friends Thanksgiving ride 2005. Left to right: Beth Wilcher, Chris, Brad, Josh "I Gained 5 Pounds on my Honeymoon", Trish, and Ryan.

2006 OTR Cycling Team

3-20-2006 Brooks Report Here is Chris's Brooks Report:" The Cat 3 road race at Brooks came down to a pack sprint involving pretty much the entire field of about 70. There were a couple of small wrecks during the race, one person hit a reflector and lost control of his bike and went down and another couple of folks tangled up with each other and took a spill. I followed Josh's advice and only tried to go with one break early on and then tried to get away with about 8 miles to go but the Aarons and Camp Highlands guys were not allowing anything to go. I did a pretty good job of holding position up to the 200K mark but then some bumping took place in front of me slowing up the flow just enough before I could move around. I finished around 19th in the field sprint. Distance was 80 miles and avg speed was 24mph."

Wildman Sprint Triathlon Laura Sconyers got 3rd overall Female at the Wildflower Sprint Triathlon in Orlando, FL this weekend. Congratulations, Laura!

GA SS Championships Trish Albert won second place in the Sport Women's division at the Georgia Single Speed Championships on Sunday in Athens, GA.

Trish's Second Place-GA SS MTB Championships

4-10-2006 This weekend was really busy for the team! Racing season is finally getting underway!

Gainesville Georgia Cup From Chris: "Josh was caught in a crash last night at the Gainesville crit and has broken his left humurous bone above the elbow. As the crit was winding up for the final lap sprint finish, Josh got tangled with another rider who was fading and they hooked handle bars. Josh lost control of his bike and it slid sideways for a brief moment and then friction took control and flipped him over the high side. He initially landed on his left arm and then flipped over and skidded on his right side and on his helmet. He was able to walk on his own a short bit after the crash and went over the side of the road and laid down but immediately knew his arm was in bad shape since we he first was laying there he could see it at a 45 degree angle from his body and it was limp." Josh was taken to the hospital, had the break confirmed, and is scheduled for surgery this week. He also has quite a bit of road rash and 6 stitches near his elbow.

"As for the race Chris and Jeff fell off the pace of the crit very quickly and were pulled. Ryan and Josh looked to be in good position for the final sprint but were a few riders too far back to make a move to podium. Josh went down just a few hundred yards outside of the final turn while he was starting to wind up the sprint. Ryan was ready to go with him when Josh went down and Ryan was able to swerve around and keep going but lost to much to podium. So, Gainesville has now claimed two OTR riders in two years."

Andy Diffenderfer placed 2nd in the Cat. 5 TT and 5th in the Cat. 5 Road Race. Great job, Andy!

Andy Diffenderfer got 2nd in the Gainesville TT, Cat. 5

Adventure Race Brett Goldenberg did an adventure race. Doug Gravino provided support. The webchick has not heard how Brett's team placed.

Tsali SERC The AMBC/SERC race at Tsali in Bryson City, NC is one of the oldest and largest races in the Southeast. Some divisions had over 100 riders! Trish did the Women Sport. She had a VCD breathing attack in the first two miles but was able to recover and pass about half a dozen riders in the next few miles. Trish has never done very well at this race, but she had fun. The trail was really wet from the rains the previous day's rain. With 50 entries, she was happy with her middle of the pack placing.

Upcoming Events The team is planning to watch the Tour De Georgia in two weeks. They are also training together several times per week now that the time has changed. Most of the roadies will be heading to Twilight and Roswell. The mountain bikers may be doing the GCS race at Dauset and the SERC race in Clemson, SC.

7-5-2006 Early July Update The last few weeks have been quiet for the OTR boys and ladies. Trish raced the Helen, GA GCS race on June 23rd, but her race was cut short by a flat. She laid her CO2 inflator with other equipment pre-race but forgot to pick it up and put it in her jersey. The mountain bike team will be heading to the Carter's Lake Mountain Bike race on July 9th.

The Men's 3 team has been practicing their Team Time Trial for the Rome Georgia Cup in late July if there is a TTT this year. Several of the men will be racing the Georgia Games RR this coming Saturday.

Ryan Pumpian crosstrains chasing his son, Cole.

OTR Cycling held its summer party a few weeks ago. Check out the photos.

7-9-2006 Georgia Games RR by Chris Hurst
GA State Games RR Report - Cat 3

OTR had the numbers in the Cat 3 field for the first time in many months with 4 guys ready to race. The plan was for Mike or Chris to look for break opportunities and cover other teams/riders on the front. Ryan and whomever was there at the end with decent legs were going to lead Richie out for the final sprint was a slight uphill roller. The distance was around 60 miles (5 laps on S. Fulton Parkway) on rollers with a clear wide open view, which always makes it difficult for breaks to stick. Chris and Mike both put in strong efforts on the front either setting tempo, covering attacks, or going on breaks. Chris tried to get away on two different times during the race and ended up falling apart with cramps in both legs on the final turn around heading back to the finish line about 7 miles out. From what was reported, Ryan ended up getting buried too far away from Richie to set him up for the lead out, and Mike was the only one available. Mike went but could not keep it going, leaving Richie to finish off the sprint a little too far out. Richie ended up in 5th and Ryan and Mike finished top 20.

Next up, Rome!

Carter's Lake MTB Classic by Trish Albert

My only goal of this race was to FINISH. I have not finished a GCS/Gone Riding race this year as I've had a really bad VCD attack or a major mechanical at each race. I decided to ride very conservatively and have fun. They took us up the road and down the last mile of the trail for a parade lap before doing 2 full laps of the traditional Carter's Lake course. It seemed smoother than in years past, or I'm just getting older and more experienced. I took my traditional place towards the back of the pack at the top of the climb. I took the first lap really easy. I had to stop twice when my seatpost slipped, but that was expected because it was new. I felt really good and didn't ever feel like I was breathing hard. I was spending more time in easier gears than I normally do. My goal was to finish, not race hard. I didn't eat between breakfast and the race, and I was really hungry even though I ate a gel on the first lap. I hit a second gel at the start of the second lap and then again half way through. My hunger did not affect my race. I spun up the first hill in the middle ring and then geared down for the next few hills. My back started bothering me really badly after the first downhill, probably because I am not using my broken Thudbuster. My back doesn't take a pounding well because of my chronic back injury. I spun up the rest of the hills and flew down the downhills; I was having fun! I wound up in 6th place and was not last. My bike and I were in one piece. The spell was broken! I finished!

The OTR Team gets ready for the final turn around in the Rome Georgia Cup Team Time Trial.

OTR Cycling debuted the Strenflex Racing Golf Cart with bike rack at the Rome Georgia Cup.

7-24-2006 Rome Georgia Cup The entire Cat. 3 team raced in the Elite Team Time Trial at the Rome Georgia Cup this weekend. We were 5th, less than 20 seconds out of 3rd.The TTT marked Josh's return to racing after breaking his elbow in April. Ryan, Michael, Chris, and Richie lined up for the crit. Unfortunately, it started raining during the preceeding crit. The plan was to try to get Michael off early in a break. Richie attacked from the starting line, but the course was too slick. Everyone kept sliding around. Within the first 10 minutes, there was a crash that Michael and Chris got caught behind. It would be the first of several crashed that marred the race. Ryan was the only OTR racer to come out unscathed, and he placed 7th.

Sunday was the road race and the climb up Horn Mountain. Chris and Michael worked early on. Mike finished 7th, and Ryan was 12th . Ryan finished the weekend 8th in the Omnium.

Andrew Diffenderfer,  Josh Arwood (OTR Cycling), Chris Hurst (not pictured), and Mike Steimle (not pictured) finished the Covington Century in 3 hours, 57 minutes on August 6. Way to go guys!

Early August Update 8-6-2006 Six members of OTR Cycling rode in the Covington Century on August 6th. Covington is traditionally one of the largest centuries in Georgia. In years past, it was really flat, but this year the Conyers Covington Cycling Club helped Project Adventure change the routes to include more hills. Andrew Diffenderfer,  Josh Arwood , Chris Hurst , and Mike Steimle finished the Covington Century with the A pack in 3 hours, 57 minutes. Travis Cross hung in strongly until about mile 70. Trish Albert opted for the 50 miler, but a wrong turned turned it into 55 miles. Mike and Andrew, the 2 trigeeks, finished the day with a 20 minute run. As the road racers watched them take off, their thoughts turned to how crazy Andrew and Mike are. The OTR Gang had a great time.

Some of the guys are planning to race the state championships in Augusta in two weeks. Jeff and Laura report that wakeboarding in Florida is going well. Cycling Jeff...what about cycling? Doug has been cross training repainting the interior of his house. Brett, Travis C., and Don have begun training for the 24 Hours of Adrenalin in October. Trish hates the heat and cannot wait until cyclocross season. Daniel was spotted riding his much neglected bike on the Bellyache within the last few weeks.

OTR Cycling Update Mid-August. The team is busy training for upcoming races. Andy Diffenderfer is racing at the Ironman Canada this weekend. The Men's Cat. 3 team is setting their sights on the River Gorge Road Race in Chattanooga on Sept. 9th and the final Georgia Cup in Atlanta at the end of next month. Trish has started training for cyclocross and will be helping Sorella Cycling put on a Women's Only CX clinic this Saturday in Conyers. Andy D., Travis Cross, Don Coscia, and Brett Goldenberg have begun training hard for the 24 Hours of Adrenalin in October. They are out to win the 5 person team and better last year's second place.

9-6-2006 OTR Happenings Chris and Brad rode the Share the Road Century on Labor Day. Over 450 riders showed their support for the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign. Brad completed his first century of the year; Chris did the 70 miler.

Ironman Canada  Andy Diffenderfer raced Ironman Canada on Sept. 3rd. He finished in 11 hours, 12 minutes and was in 57th place of over 200 racers in the Men's 30-34 age group. Congratulations on a great placing, Andy!

From Andy: "My goal was to break 12 hours, with a "shoot for the moon" goal of breaking 11 hours. Here's how the race went: The weather was cool in the morning, but got pretty hot and windy in the afternoon. The swim went well. It was a mass start of 2,300 people, so a
little crazy at first. I quickly found a good swimmer to draft behind and got in a groove (for those who don't swim - drafting in the water is totally legal and has almost as much advantage as drafting on the bike). I came out of the swim in good position and had a smooth transition to the bike. The bike course was nothing less than amazing. The Canadian mountains are so awesome and really take your mind off the pain. There were mostly rollers, with two major mountain passes. The passes were long
(one was 11k) but not very steep. Training in the Gaps here helped. I was happy with the bike time, keeping right around 20mph average. I started the run at 6 hours, 48 minutes, meaning a reasonable 4:11 marathon would get me a finish time under 11 hours. It was an out and back and I felt great for the first 16 miles. Then at mile 17 my stomach turned over. It stopped me in my tracks. I tried to throw up but just couldn't. I felt horrible, and the worst part was that my stomach couldn't handle any more calories - which I desperately needed at that point. So the last 9 miles were kind of a dazed, shuffling hobble to the finish. Even though I didn't break 11 hours, I still had a personal best and am very happy with the finish."
 

9-25-2006 Race Reports by Ryan Pumpian:

River Gorge

This may have been the hardest race I have ever done. I have felt worse at the end of other races to be sure, but the suffering involved in this one was both intense and long lasting. Four OTR riders (Chris, Richie, Michael and me) took the start of the Cat 1/2/3 race set for 60 miles with two major climbs and two intermediate KOMs. The approximately 50 rider field (probably half 3s), while strong, was not as intimidating as I expected. Three obviously dangerous riders were Daniel Karnis of Aaron's, a world masters champion in the TT from TN, and a real pro from Priority Health (who apparently resides/trains in Chattanooga - uh oh). As an aside, Saul Raisin saw us off at the start, which was cool.

The race opened with a 2-3 mile neutral zone, but this was not a sufficient warm up. When the green flag officially went down, the attempts at getting into an early break started promptly. The first KOM was approximately 10 miles in and was at the top of a series of curvy, stair-step climbs. With no established break at this point, the pace up these stair-steps was fast. I was thrilled to finally see the KOM line as that meant, I thought, a rest. Richie was apparently not having a good day, as he popped somewhere on this climb. Has anyone seen him since?

Several strong riders attacked on the descent off the first KOM and a 5 man break was established. Karnis and the world masters champ were in it, which meant trouble. With the break established, there was a settling in on the approach to the 2nd KOM, a 2.5 mile climb up Sand Mtn. The race profile shows only two major climbs, Sand Mountain at approximately mile 30 and 3.5 mile Racoon Mtn to finish - this is deceptive. The first KOM hurt and there were many, many "unrated" climbs in between.

I estimate the break had approximately 3 minutes when we hit the base of Sand Mtn. The pace was fine for the first half-mile up, and we were climbing 3 abreast. Then the Priority Health guy went to the front, and the peloton slowly strung out to single file, then gaps started to form, then legs broke off, including Chris'.

I hit the top just a little off the Priority Health guy's group and thinking that I needed only to push hard for a minute to get back on and then I would get to rest. I was wrong, and Michael, who was not far off from me and thinking the same thing was wrong too. Sand Mtn is somewhat unusual in that once you hit the top there is a ridgeline that goes for a couple miles before plunging back down to the TVA lakes. The Priority Health guy took this opportunity to seriously drill it, right when everyone was exhausted (a great tactic if you can do it). I went from my 39/27 to my 53/12 within 10 seconds of the KOM line and proceeded to suffer like a dog for the entire ridgeline to stay on terms with the lead group of chasers. Michael got no cooperation from others and his chance at glory was gone. By the bottom of the descent, there were 3 or 4 in the break, the Priority Health guy bridging solo, and about 15 of us "chasing." One indication of the amount of suffering is that during this time, there was approximately 45 minutes of zero talking (though there was probably plenty of drooling).

Heading back toward Raccoon Mtn, there was a series of climbs that further zapped our legs. Everytime the road pitched up, somebody had a go. Various muscles in my legs started to twinge from the surges, and I knew I was in trouble.

By the time we hit the bottom of the finishing climb, the break had been whittled to 2 or 3, and the chase group was together. I needed a steady, consistent pace in order to survive, but a half mile up as I stood to accelerate, my right hamstring seized, almost sending me to the road given our 8-9 mph pace. After a brief scream, I stopped in the middle of the road and tried to force my leg to staighten. The pack disappeared up the road.

After what felt like an eternity, the muscle finally let go and I started going again (my computer said I stopped for only 40 seconds, but that must have been in dog seconds). I limped in without being passed by what was left in the field and finished 8th in the 3s and 19th overall. Michael was not far behind and Chris fought hard to finish as well. Oh yeah, in case you had any doubt, the Priority Health guy caught the break and won, with Karnis 2nd and the world masters champ 3rd.


Sept 24, 2006 Festival of Speed

The Festival of Speed consists of a series of short distance and sprint races. I raced the 3/4 events and watched the Pro/1/2 events. There are payouts for each individual race as well as points that go toward an overall omnium. I qualified 2nd (tie) in the flying 200 meter, which meant I got to race in the match sprints (one v. one) later in the night.

There is definitely a youth movement in the GA/TN race scene, and it is just as apparent on the track as it is on the road. My first match sprint was against a 14 year old who had recently returned from junior nationals, oh joy. He disposed of me quickly. I did, however, win the loser's bracket and came in 3rd in the match sprint. I got 2nd place in two of the other four events and finished 2nd in the omnium to yet another teenager, but at least this one is old enough to drive (18).

As usual, my 3.5 year-old Dylan thoroughly enjoyed himself and won fan of the night for his chants of "bridge up" and "go go go." Let's get some more folks down to the track next season. The more, the merrier.

Team Update Chris and Trish just got back from a vacation and 4 days of horseback riding. Chris is gearing up for the Buckhead crits. Trish is nursing a broken or sprained hand. Brad was spotted riding with a bunch of trigeeks at the Brewery on Sat. Ryan has been busy racing. Mike is preparing for an Ironman (yes, he's another crazy OTR Ironman racer), Travis and Brett are training for the 24 Hours of Adrenalin. The team wished Andy farewell as he joined Laura and Jeff (no, he is living with his wife, not L and J) in Florida. Good luck, Andy! Doug was last seen chasing his new dog around the house.