Sunshine and Rain, Pleasure and Pain
by Chance Regina (Team Cycleworks)
Date: May 17-18
Event: Shelby County Stage Race
Place: Montevallo, AL
The Cycleworks Team loaded up the caravan and headed to our neighboring state of Alabama to take on the Shelby County Stage race this past weekend.
Last year the team faired well with Chance Regina taking second in every Cat IV event from the TT to the GC, so the team looked to expand on its winnings this year. With 6 riders in the IV's, one rider in the 5's and a masters
rider we were sure to have plenty of opportunity to shine. The race directors had done a fantastic job the year before and the pay out was great
so plenty of folks made the journey back to the tiny town of Montevallo, AL (about 20 minutes south of Birmingham) for the 2.1 mile cobble stone Time Trial, 45 mile rolling hill Road Race and the .9 mile circuit that made up
the Criterium course. Last year the event was held in August under blistering hot skies and boiling humidity and race coordinators moved the
race to late May this year hoping to make the riding conditions a little
more enjoyable.
Sunshine
The TT (Time Trial) got underway early for the IV's with a 7:03AM start time for Leigh Foti who was the first Cycleworks rider off the line. When the
dust settled 30 minutes later the entire field of IV's had taken their jaunt over the cobbles and were ready to get some breakfast. The team came away
well with Chance posting the second fastest time on the day, riding at just
over 25 mph he finished the loop in 5:08. A far cry from the 4:38 set by the Pro,1,2 rider who was fastest on the day. Bryan Holloway was the next
Cycleworks rider on the list and he was 6th overall and within striking distance of the lead. Rick Richardson, Tim Johnson, Shawn Fleming and Leigh
all finished up the course in good position and set up for the Road Race.
That is when the sunshine came into play. While they (the race directors) were hoping the move to late May from August would provide cooler
temps...they were wrong. By the time we rolled off the line at 11:15 it was a nice toasty 80+ and the humidity was at least that high. The first lap of
three was uneventful as the 52 man filed managed to complete the 15 mile
loop without any crashes or breakaways. With time bonuses on the line for the first three positions across the line at the end of the first lap, the
last 2 Kilometers got spicy with Chance leading the way. Last year Chance missed the break and was not able to go for the time bonus, ultimately
costing him the GC (General Classification, or overall standings). As the field bombed down the finishing straight away hill for the time bonus sprint
Chance was in a nice spot. Then he hit a dip in the road and his saddle slid forward and the nose dropped about 2 inches. Momentarily stunned he
was off the pedals and 5 guys flew by him, yet again no time bonus for Chance. As the field regrouped to start the second lap Bryan went to the
front and began to work the tempo. About 1 mile into each lap there is a 2K long climb. It is nothing huge, but steep and long enough that it can hurt
if someone is riding tempo. Which Bryan was doing and doing early. About two thirds of the way up the climb there was a break taking place with "Big
Hoss" driving it. There were about 5 guys desperately hanging on to the big
mans wheel while the rest of the field slowly slipped 10 meters back. Chance realized the opportunity was there for a break to get away and went
to work. Chance was asked about the deciding moment after the race and recanted the story, "I knew this could be the winning move. I just kept
looking up and watching Bryan hammer away and the entire time I kept thinking to myself 'when is he going to stop killing us'. But he just kept
going and going." As the climb began to level off Chance slowed the pace and tried to "grow the gap".
The field followed the pack over the crest about 10 seconds behind and while the lead group began to hammer the pack took about 10 seconds to regain
their legs, lungs and to roll up their tongues and put them back in their mouths. This 10 second lapse was just long enough to give the lead group a
gap that was too big for anyone to just jump across. It would now take some organized work to regain the 15 to 20 seconds to the 6 leaders. Several
riders realized their team had missed this crucial opportunity and began to move forward. About three riders took to the front and began to take 30
second pulls and work the gap back down. However, with Bryan in the break the Cycleworks boys would have none of that. Chance sat himself right at
the front of the group and began to patrol everything that moved. As the second of the three men working to bridge the gap pulled off the front to
allow Chance a pull, Chance just eased the tempo and threw a monkey wrench
in the guys plans. A few seconds would pass and the same three would try again only to have Chance or one of the riders from GCCycling (he had two
riders in the break) disrupt their efforts by refusing to pull through to the front. Then the group began to realize the race was going away from
them. The leaders were at least 100 meters in front and barely visible to
the main field. Cries of "We have to chase now" and "if we don't work together we won't catch them" began to go up. It fell on the deaf ears of
Team Cycleworks. Then a Backyard Burgers rider made a huge move, taking off with some real gas. With the field close enough to still see the leaders a
bridge was possible, yet unlikely unless several riders organized. Chance
screamed at the BYB rider to sit down and asked him what the hell he was doing. The BYB rider failed to witness the fact that his team had placed a
guy in the break as well. The BYB rider sat back down and was absorbed by the pack as soon as it was brought to his attention. From that moment on
the break was safe. The riders from GCCycling and the BYB rider worked with Cycleworks to guarantee the success of the 6 attackers. Chance maintained
his presence at the front of the group quarterbacking the efforts to disrupt the chase efforts. Every time a rider or two would try to escape Tim, Rick,
Leigh, Shawn, Chance or a rider from BYB and GCCycling would quickly take up the third position in the effort and just sit on the chasers.
With a little over half of the race completed the lead group had over a minute and 15 seconds on the main field and the margin was growing. As the
third and final lap began Leigh had a mechanical and couldn't get his bike out of the big ring. With the heat and humidity Foti was not up for
climbing in the big ring and called it a day. The field continued to mosey towards the line giving away almost 3 minutes to the leaders being driven by
Bryan. As the final 5 K of the race neared several guys tried to get away but all attempts remained futile with the exception of one as the field was
willing to let him go, knowing he couldn't make it to the leaders with only 3 miles remaining.
The lead group began to blow apart a little on the final climb before the fast and furious down hill final kilometer. Bryan again lead the way on
this climb and as the lead group came down to the finish Bryan was able to sprint to 2nd place in the road race, garnering a time bonus along the way.
Nearly two and half minutes later the field stormed the line with the
Cycleworks boys going 1(Chance), 2 (Tim) and 4 (Rick) in the field sprint with Shawn placing 16th putting the entire team in the top 20 of the race.
The team loaded up and headed back to the hotel with no idea what the GC looked like. They knew Bryan would be very close to the lead and Chance
would be in the top 10. There were hopes of Rick and Tim making the top 15
as the payouts went that deep.
Rain
Sunday came and so did the rains. Tornados were seen in the area over night and the rain was hard, heavy and constant. At least it wouldn't be brain
frying hot like the road race! The team arrived to find out Bryan was third on GC only 9 seconds out of first place. Bryan assured the team he was
rested and ready especially after his fifteen pound bowl of pasta as dinner
the night before. With 10 seconds time bonus on the line for the Crit winner, Bryan could feasibly take over the GC. He would have to win and
have to win the race and the guys in front of him on the GC would have to miss the top 3. With 5 inches of water standing in turn one and four it was
going to be interesting to say the least.
The race got started with Bryan and Tim taking a few turns at the front to settle things in for the 45 minute race. There were 5 primes (pronounced
preeeme) for a total of $200 on the line through out the race. For those who are unfamiliar with primes, it is a mid race sprint for prizes. About 5
laps in the bell rang for the first prime and with Chance being out of the running for the overall GC he was out to make some money. He went for the
first prime and missed by one spot. The second prime was only minutes later and all of the Cycleworks guys were too far back in the field except for
Bryan who was being vigilant near the front protecting his GC spot. On the third prime it clicked and Chance came away a winner. The fourth prime saw
the Cycleworks Team rewarded for being at the front of the race. Rick Richardson had gone to the front of the field just before turn 4 and was
cruising along about 10 meters in front of the field when they rang the bell for the 4th prime. Chance dove to the front of the filed before the first
turn and slowed to give Rick some more room, the gap was 30 meters after the
field cleared the swamp like turn. The group headed up the small hill on the back side of the loop and one rider jumped clear to go after Rick. As
they neared the crest of the hill Chance screamed from the pack for Rick to "GO, GO!". Rick looked back and realized he was still 30 meters clear of
the group and 20 meters clear of the chaser. With a steady tempo down the
backside and into the 4th turn Rick was able to take the 4th prime without even having to go all out or sprint. With only 15 minutes remaining in the
race Cycleworks was looking good. One last prime and the field would wind it up to the finish.
Chance worked up to Bryan and told him to get into the final turn of the race in first position no matter what and that on the last lap Bryan just
needed to grab his wheel and he would take him there. Chance had watched all the primes and remembered back to his 2nd place finish the year before,
when he tried to come from third wheel only to lose by half a foot. The guy leading in the final turn had taken every single match up. Just then they
rang the bell for the final prime and again Chance marked the leader of the group, moved to first wheel 10 meters before the first turn and took the
prime with ease.
Pleasure
All that was left was three laps and the finish. The tempo quickened and the Cycleworks boys were a little off the front in about 20th spot. Going
into the final turn Tim had Chance and Bryan in tow and made a big move up the hill on the inside of the group to take Bryan to about 10th. Going over
the top and down the backside Chance picked up where Tim had delivered the goods. Chance made a push to the inside and pulled to within 5th place but
then things were getting hairy with guys running off the road and bumping left and right. After the chicane chance made one more push for Bryan who
shot by on the inside and muscled his way to the front only meters before the turn. Coming out of the turn Bryan looked back
momentarily and then started to hammer for the line. Two guys were chasing, one on each side
with the rest of the field spread wide across the road. Chance, Tim and Shawn were sprinting and trying to watch for the finish at the same time as
the two riders closed on Bryan. In the end Big Hoss sealed the deal and held all chargers at bay taking home the 10 second bonus and taking his
first ever race victory as a Cat IV.
Pain
The rest of the team finished strong and secured their spots on GC with Chance 9th, Tim 11th and Shawn 20th. After Rick's prime win he was taken
out of the race by a brick. Yep, a brick. With all of the rain and water on the course debris had been washing out into the street and Rick hit part
of a brick and flatted within the last three laps meaning he could not take
a free lap. Rick was relegated to the back of the field plus a 2 minute penalty which painfully knocked him out of the top 15 on GC and the money.
Victory and Teamwork
When the results were finally tabulated it was Bryan "Big Hoss" Holloway who was on top of the GC. By winning the Crit he had gained the 10 second bonus
and the other two riders in front of him at the start of the day had missed out on the time bonuses thus launching Bryan to the top of the race. When
asked about how he had stayed so calm and collected in the heat of battle and was able to rise to the occasion on the final day of the stage race he
rambled on about some engineering feat he had accomplished years ago and how it all tied back to the side burns which had allowed him to soak up a little
extra rain thus helping he keep the tires on the ground a little better in the wet conditions.......then asked something about when we would eat again.
The Cycleworks Team has really come together as a big family and it showed this weekend with a 2nd and 6th in the TT; 2nd, 8th, 9th and 11th in the RR;
1st, 9th and 11th and 3 of the 5 primes in the Crit. But the biggest win (aside from the $430 in prize money the team won) came from placing 4 guys
in the top 20 on GC with Bryan 1st , Chance 7th, Tim 17th and Shawn 19th.
Of course none of this would have been possible without the help of T-bone and Prego our lovely support crew. Thanks ladies!
Chance Regina takes the sprint in the crit.
Also we would like to thank all of our sponsors for their help this season as well and we ask that all of you remember them when you are purchasing an
item or service in their field.
Cycleworks For all of your cycling needs from BMX to Road racing and home to the best selection of Trek products.
KitchenWorks Custom Cabinetry and more.
Cox Enterprises Media
Specialty Finishes For all of your commercial wall covering needs
Eclipse Di Luna Restaurant and Tapas bar
Northwestern Mutual Financial network
Rudy Project USA Eyewear
Accutrack Systems Acoustical Wall Panels and wall coverings
Xtrem Energy Drink
Hincapie Professional Cycling Apparel
Maxxis Tires for bicycles, cars, trucks, ATVs and more
FSA Full Speed Ahead bicycle components