TIME Pro Cycling BLOG!

Guttenplan Wins Glencoe GP!

2008-08-19T07:02:00.003-04:00

David Guttenplan and Tom Soladay suited up for the 2nd annual Glencoe Grandprix just north of Chicago, IL this past Sunday. It was a flat 75-minute everyman for themselves criterium. After coming close to wins at both races of the Marion Classic the two previous days, the Time riders had only the win on their minds. In the first 15 minutes of the race Soladay found Guttenplan on his wheel and drove the pace, Guttenplan pulled through and did the same. This, forming the winning break of David Guttenplan (TIME), Tom Soladay (TIME), Andy Crater (Wheel & Sprocket), Chad Hartley (Jittery Joes) and two riders from ABD. Soladay immediately attacked for 5 laps to only have Guttenplan join him as the 4 other riders rotated to get back on terms. Before the two Time riders were brought back Soladay attacked again while Guttenplan again sat on the four riders. When Soladay was finally brought back Guttenplan attacked within the next lap, bringing with him last years champion from ABD. Hartley and Crater were tired of chasing as a Time rider sat on. Guttenplan dragged the ABD rider to the field as Soladay sat up from the break to pilot Guttenplan to the line by hitting the front for the last half of the final lap. Into a headwind, Gutt started his sprint from 250 meters to take the win over his break companion in a photo finish.

Say no to spellcheck!

2008-08-09T10:20:00.001-04:00

TIME Pro Cycling has taken a pricupled stand against the use of
spellcheck. We encourage you allto do the same. Just let your fingers
fly and let the letters fall where they may!

Ramsey wins, then Ramsey wins, then Ramsey wins again.

2008-07-28T00:35:00.002-04:00

It was three in a row in the opening weekend of the Crossroads Series (http://www.crossroadscyclingclassic.com/).

Daniel Ramsey won the first night in Taylorsville, NC then followed that up with another in Lenoir, NC and then again in Morganton, NC...

The series takes a break monday then comes back tuesday, culminating sunday with the Hanes Park Classic NRC event in our home town Winston-Salem, NC.

Saturday night we are looking forward to the Presbyterian Healthcare Classic in Charlotte, NC where we will be working to widen Adam Myerson's narrow lead and score more team points to get closer to overtaking Toshiba-Santos in that competition as well.

Adam's Recap: Gastown, Burnaby, Boise

2008-07-23T05:47:00.000-04:00

How come whenever I get a good result lately, you have to go digging for the results? It’s like there’s a plot against me.

Finally found results for the second day at Louisville.

Monday we flew to Seattle, and then had a nice day Tuesday riding around the city a bit and checking things out, as well as doing a cool opening up workout around Mercer Island with our host Chris Daifuku from the Hagen-Berman team.

Wednesday night in Vancouver was a bit of “what if.” I knew right from the start I felt incredible. I thought I would be called up and so was staged in the back, and ended up starting there when it felt like every rider but me got introduced. It didn’t take me long to move up, and I never felt under pressure as I rode around rider after rider who got popped off the back. Huge splits were happening, and was able to just ride straight across them.

All of a sudden, though, once I’d gotten to the front, I started to struggle. I couldn’t figure it out, but thought maybe I had started overheating or done too much to move up. After about 5 laps of questioning myself and gradually dropping back, someone pointed out that I had broken a spoke and my wheel was rubbing my brakes badly. Duh. I took a free lap, got a new wheel, got in at the back of a greatly reduced field, and was back at the front two laps later.

Tom was ripping it up, too, constantly surfing the front and rolling with moves, and I was happy to finally be able to join him. With about 10 laps to go we hooked up for the sprint and he started piloting me around. Gastown is part of the USA Crit Series, and being 3rd overall, it was crucial to get a good result. Tom was totally committed to helping me do that.

And again, all of a sudden, I started to struggle. I was losing wheels in and out of turns, especially when I was coasting. I kept having to jump back around to Tom’s wheel, and it was taking it’s toll. I thought again that I must just be at my limit, and kept fighting. With 1/2 lap to go, I made it back up to Tom’s wheel one last time, as he covered Chris Horner who was attacking up the left around the Symmetrics train. I couldn’t believe how well Tom was riding, and how lucky I was to slot in behind him. But in the chaos of the last two corners, I couldn’t hold his wheel. Tom held on for 6th place, and could have put me in position to win if I had stayed on. I faded, sprinting as hard as I could, all the way back to 18th!

We crossed the line and took a cooldown lap. When we stopped at the pit to get my wheel back, I knew my bike didn’t feel right. I looked back to see my rear brake pulled to one side and wedged full against the rim. Are you kidding me? I did the last two laps with my brakes on. Awesome. At least Tom put a really great ride together.

The next day was another $10K crit in Vancouver, the Giro di Burnaby. The course reminded me a lot of Charlotte; long s/f stretch, followed by two squares at each end, with a short back stretch on the same main street, all on the side of a hill. Tom and I were on it all night, just slotting in with every move that went. A few things were promising, but in the end, Horner brought it all back together for a field sprint. It hadn’t taken us long that he was combining with Hilton Clarke from Toyota, as they were both the only guys there from their respective teams.

Symmetrics put all their guys on the front for the leadout, and Tom did an amazing job of keeping me right on the back of their train. We had to battle a little bit with Clark and Health Net, but Tom would just take me right back over the top whenever it got crowded. With 1 to go, Svein Tuft hit it hard, and Tom go over the rest of the Symmetrics guys with me on his week. We rode most of the last lap in 2nd and 3rd spot, until the rest of the train came back over us going into the last 3 turns. I covered it, Tom let me in and followed me, and I hit the last corner 4th wheel behind 3 Symmetrics. I couldn’t believe it, but Tom had put me in the winning position again, and I had the legs to go when I needed to.

It’s been so long since I’ve been in this spot so regularly. I’m so used to being pinned at this point of the race, I’m not used to being there and still having legs to hit out and go for the win. So once again, I sat there, watching, waiting for the right moment to come out from the train. And once again, the right moment passed me by. It was a downhill sprint, and when I passed at going a little early, I never got another chance. I came around 1 Symmetrics rider, but Kirk O’Bee and Clarke both came around me, and I finished 5th. So close I could taste it.

And again, I had to dig up results. Tom’s leadouts are so good now, he’s still getting in the top 10 after he pulls off. That’s fucking pro if you ask me.

Tonight we’re in Boise, ID, for the Boise Twilight crit, another round in the USA Crits. I’m in 3rd place now by 200ish points, and the first two riders overall are not here. It’s a big chance for me to take the lead, but I really just need to focus on getting the best result I can, period.

After this we, drive back to Seattle on Sunday, then fly home on Monday. Even though the racing is going well and I’ve really enjoyed the cities we’ve been in, I simply cannot wait to get home.

Adam's Iron Hill Recap and MORE!

2008-07-23T05:42:00.000-04:00

As I’ve said here before, sometimes you’re too busy living life to stop and reflect on it, which is too bad; that’s often when the most exciting or interesting things are happening. Last week I managed to finally win my first race of the season, move into 3rd place overall in the USA Crit Series, pick up another NRC top 10 result, and then win another race the next day! Since I’m trapped on a plane for a few hours, it’s time for a recap.

Last weekend I skipped Fitchburg to head down to the Iron Hill criterium in West Chester, PA. I did this race for the first time last year and was blown away by the awesome crowds, the great local brewery/restaurant at the start/finish line that’s the title sponsor of the event, and the difficulty of the course. On the other hand, I absolutely despise everything about Fitchburg save the criterium, and typically suffer through the other stages for that sweet reward. When Iron Hill turned out to conflict with Fitchburg this year, it was a pretty easy choice for me to drive down to PA, especially since I was doing well in the USA Crit series, of which Iron Hill is a part.

The race was hard, hard, hard, as usual. It’s a 1K, rectangular course, with a long, gradual uphill to the s/f line, and a long, gradual downhill to the crucial 3rd corner. We had a full squad of 8 Time Pro Cycling riders to throw down with, and I was confident in our ability to race for the win in almost any scenario.

In our pre-race meeting, we talked about racing for a field sprint as our best options for both a win and a good result for the USA Crit standings, but that we needed to take our chances covering breakaways, and trying to win from them as well. I named only one rider as someone we had to pay special attention to, and that was Mark Hekman from Toshiba-Santos. Well, if you read the race coverage, you know Mark got away from the field solo in the first 10 laps, and none of my guys were able to get across to him. When he finally had 45 seconds, we put 6 guys on the front to chase, which only seemed to backfire. Stoop, Guttenplan, Frey, Baker, and Soladay drove the front of the race and blew the field to pieces in the process, with barely 40 guys able to even hang on while they drilled it. Hekman was close enough to lapping already to then leapfrog through the groups of guys going backwards as he went forward, and in an amazing display, out-pursuited all 6 of our guys who were chasing. Mark is one of my favorite guys in the peloton, and he couldn’t have earned the win more convincingly. Chapeau to Mark, as they say.

From there, though, we still had to keep our heads up and focus on racing for second. Gut managed to get away late with Travieso from Toshiba and out sprint him for 2nd, while Stoop covered another late counter and out sprinted his group for 7th. Nick Frey came back up after all that work to lead me out for the final two laps, and I was 3rd in the field sprint for 13th place overall. In the end, we turned a bit of a disaster into a great final result, with Gut on the podium for the race, me on the podium for USA Crits, and Stoop in the top three for the U25 standings.

The next day, there was a small criterium in Marlton, NJ, on the way home from West Chester. I was the only pro, but local races are never easy in that case, and I knew the three Battley Harley Davidson riders who had also stuck around would make it even more difficult. It was a 40-mile race, which is rare for a local crit, so I was excited to take advantage of it for training if nothing else.

The course was slightly rolling, with sweeping turns, lots of wind, and a small uphill finish that curved all the way to the line. I tried to sit back and let the race happen, hopefully let people forget I was there so I wasn’t as marked, and bridge across to only the most dangerous moves. It took a full hour before things started sticking, and with about 15 laps to go, I decided to counter something myself.

For the next 15 minutes, I absolutely drove it with 3 other riders, who impressed me with how strong they were able to come through. I was taking full minute turns at about 400 watts, so I knew I was going really well, and that we were going really fast. I was worried about doing too much and putting the other guys in a position where they wouldn’t be able to pull, but every guy gave 100 percent. Without a Battley rider, however, we had our work cut out for us, and we finally came back with only 8 laps to go.

I sat back and tried to recover as much as a I could, and only came back up for the sprint at the last minute, with about 3 laps to go. I didn’t make any aggressive moves, instead just trying to float and take some chances by waiting for other people around me to go up, rather than panic and do it myself. With ½ lap to go, I found myself in 2nd wheel behind Dave Fuentes from Battery, on the front a little too soon. Fortunately another rider tried to attack from there, Fuentes latched on, and I followed. As we came up on the last sweeping bend, I hit out from 3rd wheel, but had to go the long way around the curve and into the wind, only just getting Fuentes at the line for my first win of the season, however small.

I was encouraged by how my legs felt all weekend, and as I mentioned in my last post, I recovered Monday and did a cracking motorpacing session on Tuesday with Dan Vaillancourt while I was up in Portland, Maine, visiting my girlfriend. I kept having to tell Dan “Up! More! Up!,” until at one point he actually had to get in a tuck to get a little more out of his scooter. We were ripping along at almost 35 mph, and I felt like I was floating. Dan said I was going fast, and seemed as excited about it as I was!

Two more days of recovery followed, before flying on Friday to Louisville, KY, for the $15,000 NRC criterium there on Saturday, and another $5000 race nearby on Sunday. Despite what preconception you may have about Kentucky, Louisville totally rocks. They have a really good punk scene there, a ton of places to see music, awesome coffee shops, vegetarian restaurants, great architecture, and a growing, enthusiastic cycling scene. My life is made sweeter by tattooed, punk rock baristas who like to flirt while they foam my soymilk, and there was no shortage of that in Louisville.

We were also lucky enough to be treated like real pros by the race organizer, as well as a few friends I have here in town now. Brian Segal andDoug Roemer are two local racers who answered our call last fall for help in the pits at the USGP round that was here in town, and have now turned into rabid ‘cross riders, and a couple of our biggest fans. I link to their blog “Love The Pain” in the sidebar here, so check it out. Thanks to those guys for taking us on rides, telling us where to eat, running back to our hotel for our spare wheels right before the start of our race, and arranging concubines for the team. No, not really.

I had some problems with my bike when I got it back from the airline, and I didn’t quite have all the tools I needed to get things operational again. Brian took me over to see Aaron at Cycler’s Café, who hung around for an extra hour after work to retrofit a new cable guide under my bottom bracket and replace my shifter cable. The shop was really interesting, as they have a café and burrito bar built into the showroom.

Mike Hewitt is the race organizer for this weekend as well as the Louisville USGP. He helped us out with hotels and entries, and put us up in the Galt House Hotel right downtown. It was a great location, almost too nice a hotel for a bunch of bike racers to hang around. We were able to ride to both races, as well as walk to bars and restaurants. Not that we ever go to bars when we’re at bike races. Especially not the “3rd Street Dive” a few blocks away. Never. Thanks to Mike for taking care of us and making sure we were welcome in Louisville.

As for the racing, we ripped it. It takes half the season for a new team to really click, and we’re finally starting to get it together. Our pre-race meetings are shorter and shorter, and have started to consist of “everyone knows their job today, right?” Saturday’s NRC race was a short, flat, technical, windy course, with a somewhat small field and only a couple of full teams. We were definitely racing to win, and things looked good when we put two riders in a group of 6 that went clear about 1/3rd of the way in.

We lost the plot at bit at some point, however. One of us got popped from the break, while at almost the same moment, a 3rd rider from the Texas Roadhouse team managed to pop across without us. That left Nick Frey up there to fend for himself against those three, as well as an Inferno rider, and Hilton Clarke from Toyota. Back in the field, things had shattered, leaving me as the only other Time rider left. Smartly, Nick started sitting on, until the break finally lapped the field. I piloted him around for the field sprint, and hoped for the best. Nick is a powerhouse – he’s the current U23 National Time Trial Champion, and we call him “Frey-Train,” but he’s only been racing a few years. To have a big, strapping TT guy like him trying to follow a crafty old field sprinter like me is a challenge. I had to pause and pick him back up a few times, but he hung tough. Roadhouse blew the field apart on the last lap with their leadout, and while Nick lost my wheel at that point, he battled back to come on to me going through the final corner. I took a few strokes and then got out of the way, finishing 8th overall while Nick “sprinted” his way to 3rd place with a powerful last hundred meters, still in the saddle, but passing riders all the way to the line. I was impressed.

Sunday was a smaller race, but still with $5000 in prize money, and obviously worth taking seriously. This was about 15 miles out of Louisville, in a “new town” called Norton Commons. It was like a new village was being grown from a seed planted in a field, with all new streets and homes and a downtown shops. Perfect for a criterium, and reminiscent of the “ION Village Smackdown” race in South Carolina that I’ve done in the past.

The boys were pretty motivated to make up for Saturday, and we didn’t miss a move all day long. Nick was impressive again, racing aggressively at the front along with Stoop and Soladay. I tried to fill the gaps and stay active, realizing that I’m riding well enough to be in the breakaway, but not wanting to spend any energy I’d need for the final sprint actually making the breakaway happen.

A number of promising moves went clear, until our “Frey-Train” derailed and put a damper on the attacking mood of the field. Nick managed to hit a pedal in a fast turn, high-sided, and went down hard, rolling both his clincher tires and smacking his head on the pavement. He lay in the road for a few laps, which kind of brought out a group caution flag. Once he was up and about and off the course (and ok in the end), it was a little too late in the race to reapply the pressure needed for a move to jump clear.

Texas Roadhouse had 10 riders left in the field, and sent every one of them to the front to lead out their best sprinter, Chad Burdzilauskas. I had Tom looking after me, trying to ride the back of their train from about 10 laps to go. With 7 to go, Stoop managed to claw his way back to the front, and relieve some pressure on Tom. Stoop was amazing. He took Tom and I about halfway up the 10-rider Roadhouse leadout, and just rode next to their train, in the wind, for about 5 laps. 3 Roadhouse guys finished their pulls and pulled out while Stoop continued to just ride in the wind next to them, keeping Tom and I fresh for the finish.

With about 3 to go, the battle got hot, and Roadhouse started taking up a little more space, bringing Stoop to the curb as they were setting up for turns. That was the sign for Tom to take over, who just banged his way in and made room for both of us. As we hit the last lap, Tom went over the top of the Roadhouse train completely, and we hit the second turn in first and second. Tom knew right away that this was too early to go, but it was better to be on the front than fighting a few guys back. He eased up out of the turn rather than getting excited and going from so far out, and Roadhouse took the bait. Kirk Albers went back over the top of Tom and me full gas with Chad on his wheel, and Tom latched on without difficulty.

We let Roadhouse take the long backstretch in the wind, as well as the last 4 technical corners that lead into the long start/finish stretch. Albers went fast enough that no one was coming up on me and I could be patient, while Tom was just waiting to pounce. Kirk was tiring out of the last left-hand corner, and Chad was forced to go fairly early, into a cross-headwind from the right side. Tom was able to hold his wheel, until I shouted with about 200 meters to go that I was coming through on the left, against the curb, and sheltered from the wind. Tom moved over the let me through and started screaming at me as I came full on to Chad’s wheel. Chad was well positioned against the curb, so I had to go back out into the wind on the right side to come around him. I had enough momentum and legs left at that point, though, that I was able to punch through for a clear win. I could hardly believe I had pulled it off, and paid my teammates back for doing so much work for me in the last laps. I was so blasted from Albers’ ripping last lap, I didn’t have the strength to even get my arms fully up over my head for the victory salute. Tom took me so close to the finish that he was able to coast over the line and still get 6th place!

So now the adventure continues. Today I’m flying from Louisville to Seattle. Wednesday we’ll drive 3 hours up to British Columbia for the Gastown GP in Vancouver, which is the next stop on the USA Crit circuit. There’s another race in Vancouver on Thursday, after which we’ll head back to Seattle for the night before driving 7 more hours to Boise on Friday. Saturday is another USA Crit, the Boise Twilight, where I’m really excited to meet up with my old friend John Foster, and hopefully try to take the lead in the series. Sunday we’ll drive back to Seattle, and finally, fly home on Monday.

If you’re still here, you’re a trooper. As long as this entry is, there’s so much I left out. What beer I drank (La Chouffe on tap at Bistro 31, as well as a local Louisville BBC Bourbon-Barrel Ale and a Delirium Tremens on tap at Ramsi’s), the great double soy latte I had, served with a friendly, flirty smile at Highland Coffee on Bardstown Road, and the amazing breakfast and good coffee we had at Toast on Market Street downtown. If it weren’t for food tourism, waitresses and baristas, make-out parties, text messaging, and phone cam pics, bike racing would be absolutely unbearable.

Nature Valley Update

2008-06-13T16:17:00.002-04:00

We're three stages done through the six that make up the Nature Valley GP.

Stage 1: St. Paul Crit
Stage 2: Cannon Falls Road Race
Stage 3: 6-Mile TT
Stage 4: Minneapolis Crit
Stage 5: Mankato Road Race
Stage 6: Stillwater Crit

Stage 1 was a wild, wet, and slippery criterium. The large field didn't stand a chance on the wet roads and crashes were often and numerous. The race didn't even make it to the halfway point before it was called due to a motorbike crashing into a rider through a turn.

Stage 2 was the normally windy, windy, windy Cannon Falls Road Race, but the winds never materialized and the group stayed mostly together heading into the circuits. Frey and Guttenplan were well placed for the circuits and finished well with Guttenplan in 18th after getting stuck behind a crash with half a lap to go.

The Stage 3 time trial was different than in years past - longer and harder - finishing on top of a tough climb. Ramsey led the team home with a sub-13 minute time that should definitely see him in the top 15 for the day, whilst Nick Frey was the next best, somewhere in the 14-minute range. Duncan, Gruber, and Guttenplan rode their TTs on road bikes and managed to do the necessary - make the time cut.

Tonight is the Minneapolis Downtown Criterium, which always draws a huge crowd. We're all looking forward to that, and hopefully a good result, as everyone seems to be going very well at the moment.

The weekend will see the two most important days though...

CSC Invitational

2008-06-02T19:49:00.002-04:00

Sunday's CSC Invitational in Arlington, Virginia is one of the hardest criteriums of the year, and this year lived up to its reputation, as the usual starting list of the country's best showed up along with riders from High Road, CSC, and Slipstream.

A break of 13 went up the road early led by Magnus Backstedt, and eventually lapped the field.

Mike Stoop rode a solid race and made a hard effort to try and make it across to the break, CyclingNews has two pictures of the effort...HERE and HERE.

In the end, five riders from TIME finished, of which three managed to finish in the money - all in order - 23rd for Stoop, 24th for Guttenplan, and 25th for Myerson. Tom Soladay finished just outside of the money in 33rd and Jackie Simes managed to hold on to the end for 60th.

Colavita's Luca Damiani took the win over Toyota's Dominique Rollin and HealthNet's Karl Menzies.

Solid Night At Ricola Twilight

2008-06-02T19:39:00.005-04:00

Though a midweek race, Ricola Twilight always manages to bring a great field to the town of Basking Ridge, New Jersey. This year the field was better than ever and the racing, understandably, aggressive.

In the end, after countless attacks and counterattacks, a field sprint was in order which saw Eric Barlevav to 10th place and Mike Stoop to 20th.

Dominique Rollin took the win over Inferno's Jeff Hopkins with Martin Gilbert rounding out the podium.

Bike Jam and Somerville

2008-05-26T23:18:00.002-04:00

For the Memorial Day weekend, there were two big races on the docket - Kelly Cup/Bike Jam in Baltimore on Saturday and then the Tour of Somerville in New Jersey on Monday.

Bike Jam saw the team racing aggressively at the beginning of the race, but when the crucial move of 12 went up the road, there was not a TIME rider in the mix, so the team massed at the front and began trying to rectify the damage. In the end, 8 of the riders returned to the fold, but four managed to hold off the field after a once again almost perfect chase from TIME. Adam Myerson had been kept in reserve and duly produced a solid top 10 with 9th on the day. Kelly's David Veilleux took the win.

TIME's willingness to take up the reins and chase was duly noted by all in attendance and with it quite a few pictures, check out these pictures from CyclingNews: Mike Stoop, Mike Stoop again, Tom Soladay, David Guttenplan, David Duncan, and Jon Hamblen.

It was another good effort, but an effort that we hope would be used to win a bike race and not salvage it - that was soon to come.

Monday's Tour of Somerville would be the opportunity. The team had the opportunity to finally set up to race for the win and with nine laps to go the boys hit the front and took the race into their own hands. The leadout was great, and even when Colavita tried to come over the top, TIME was able to take over again and continue the leadout. The sprinting part of the leadout fell apart unfortunately due to various problems: a broken bike, a wreck, pulling out of a pedal, and in the end the result did not match the effort, but the demonstration of sheer force on the front of the bike race was immense. Myerson called it one of the best leadouts he has ever been a part of.

A big result does not seem far off for TIME, and there are definitely opportunities in the near future starting first with Ricola Twilight on Wednesday, then the CSC Invitational over the weekend, and finally the biggest week of the year: Philly Week.

8th For Adam, 6th For Guttenplan

2008-05-20T11:45:00.002-04:00

Adam catches us up on his weekend in New Hampshire:

On Saturday, I opted to stay close to home to take a break from travel, get some training in before Philly week, and race a local New England classic, the Lake Sunapee Bike Race in New Hampshire.

The race has been around for 35 years, and follows a 23 mile loop around Lake Sunapee, finishing at the top of the climb to the Mt. Sunapee ski area. The p/1/2 race did 3 laps, so it was a good distance to be able to get some hard, hilly racing in.

There were lots of attacks, but it was difficult to make anything stick in the first circuit where many of the riders were still fresh enough to chase moves down on descents, but not strong enough to really counterattack. On the second lap, a number of individual riders snuck away one at a time. Any move by me elicited a strong reaction by the field, so I opted to watch and wait for my chance. Eventually the individuals connected and turned into a strong breakaway.

On the final lap, the Mechanical Services/Cycle Mania team put their riders on the front in an attempt to bring the move back, with some help from NorEast Cycling. It was clear the break wasn't coming back fast enough, though. On the final climb of the day, I opted to try to split the field, since attacking only meant I'd end up alone and not making any progress. I was able to drive it from the bottom to top, bringing 6 guys clear including Al Donahue from Team Nerac, and we were finally gone and in pursuit of the break.

It was a good move, but too little, too late. On the final climb to the finish, we picked up the tail end of riders who had been dropped from the break. I won the "sprint" up the climb from our group, just catching another rider from the break on the finish line but not getting by him, to finish 8th.

It was an ok result on a course that doesn't suit me, and was encouraging for the hard races we have coming up in the next two weeks.

Results here:

http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2008/05/17-Lake-Sunapee-Bike-Race.asp

David Guttenplan is hard at work far down the East Coast from Adam in Florida:

I placed 6th in the Florida State Criterium Championship on Sunday May 18th. Obviously, nothing special but I road aggressive and made the break of 5 that went in the first few laps with 2 Toshiba-Santos and the other 2 big teams. We got caught by a few guys with a few laps to go, and I missed one of the many counters eventually getting third out of a group of 13 on the hard uphill sprint. I rode 2.5 hard hours home after the hot crit champs to prepare for Philly with another 6 hour hard ride tomorrow...

Bank Of America Wilmington GP

2008-05-19T19:36:00.003-04:00

For the NRC Bank of America Wilmington GP, TIME Pro Cycling sent the contingent of Tom Soladay, Jackie Simes, David Duncan, Jon Hamblen, Andy Baker, and Mike Stoop.

Tom had previously won the race in 2005, which was good enough for a call-up to start the race off nicely. Colavita, Kelly, Bissell, Battley, and Richmond were all in attendance on the tough, windy course and the racing was blazing from the start. Duncan and Stoop were active for the first part of the race, but as they started to fade a bit, the crucial moment of the day occurred and the break of 12 formed with 4 Colavita riders, and 3 Kelly riders, so this was it. Hamblen recognized the danger and bridged right across. Stoop tried the same, but couldn't quite make it.

Hamblen of course sat on in this group, and the team was justifiably not satisfied with the numbers, so the call was made to chase, and chase they did. Baker, Simes, Duncan, and Stoop formed on the front and set about the business of the chase. Soladay sat waiting for the finale.

The gap came down gradually, but consistently, but so did the energy stores as first Baker and then Simes fell victim to the hard effort, which saw much of the remaining field put under pressure. Eventually, Soladay started working as well in hopes of adding that extra bit of horsepower, but it was too much for Duncan and Stoop and the junction wasn't quite made - but it was close.

Up ahead, Hamblen had been sitting on, and attacked with 2 to go. Bissell's Scott Zwizanski made it across and rode through as Hamblen sat up, as the effort was seemingly for naught. Unfortunately, the break eased up as they caught Hamblen and Zwizanski managed to stay away for the win, whilst Hamblen took 7th. It was a frustrating finale in some respects, but also a huge encouragement for the team, as victory was oh so close.

The team looks forward to the upcoming races, as we know for sure now that we can contend for the win in these races.

Success Comes Rolling In

2008-05-12T10:07:00.002-04:00

The TIME Team had one of their first "off" weekends in a long while over the past few days.

The last week was a tremendous week for the team though with great performances at the US Air Force GP and the final days of Speedweek.

At the UCI 1.2 ranked US Air Force GP the team managed a 9th and an 11th place via Tom Soloday and Eric Barlevav respectively. The racing was incredibly aggressive throughout the day along the circuit which coursed through Arlington, Virginia and around the Pentagon. Nick Frey, Daniel Ramsey, Andy Baker, and Jon Hamblen were all active throughout leading the way for the solid finishes from Tom and Eric.

As Speedweek drew to a close, the results kept rolling in, notably with a 3rd place from Adam Myerson in Spartanburg. After the final stage in Sandy Springs, Georgia, which saw a tremendous ride from Mike Stoop in the break of the day, the team had netted the overall best team award with 3871 points to TOSHIBA/Santo's 3438. The team overall honors were helped by overall individual finishes of 4th, 7th, 11th from David Guttenplan, Adam Myerson, and Mike Stoop respectively.

Up next for the team is the Bank of America Wilmington GP, followed by the Kelly Cup, Tour of Somerville, CSC Invitational, and much more!

Good Racing At Sea Otter

2008-04-22T13:40:00.003-04:00

Sea Otter was the final stop in our month-long California expedition. We had great hopes of a big result, and why not, we had last year's winner in Daniel Ramsey!

We all had a really solid lead-up to the race, actually got some training in, and were fired up to finish the California Swing with a great race.

It didn't quite work out that way, but we did show that we were there to race. The day of the race was cold and super super windy. I don't know how to describe the wind without apparently exaggerating - but I'm not, it was something akin to a gale.

The race started with a group of two going off quickly, I tried to follow and burned through my full book of matches within a lap or so and came back in a bad way. After the first foray of aggressiveness, the race got down to business and the wind and consistently tough pace did a number on the 120 starter field. Every lap riders were coming off. The big hill was made even worse, as it enjoyed a violent crosswind over the top, and the normally super fast descent through the corkscrew was made precarious at best with the insane winds.

Barlevav, Myerson, and I didn't have the best of days, but Soladay, Stoop, Guttenplan, and Ramsey rode ably.

Tom nearly made it across to the winning break at one point with a fantastic bridging attempt, but didn't quite make it. Ramsey made the superstar break with Borrajo, Sutherland, et al. and rode very well in it. It looked for awhile that the group of 10ish might go across to the four leaders that spent the whole day out front, but it didn't quite happen.

Stoop, out in California just for Sea Otter, showed he was ready to play and bridged across to this select group. He was behind the infamous eight ball after the effort though and was popped after Borrajo went nutty up the hill. Guttenplan was up to his normal tricks and stayed in the race quietly and efficiently.

Through it all though, it looked like Ramsey was going to come through with the big result, because once again, he looked strong and very capable in the groups he was in. Unfortunately, some bad cramps put paid to any chances in the final few laps, and we finished the day with Ramsey in 21st and Guttenplan in 22nd.

The results don't quite show it, but for anyone who saw it, TIME raced their bikes, and it was quite a show to watch.

Garrett Lemire GP

2008-04-22T13:39:00.002-04:00

Garrett Lemire was a bit rough on us. Ojai was incredibly hot and the 45 laps on the tough course were going to sledgehammer the field.

As is often the case with bike races, the racing was 'on from the gun.' Tom Soladay and Daniel Ramsey were particularly active in the early goings, making it into some solid groups and searching for the inevitable break.

Meanwhile in the field, Adam Myerson, David Guttenplan, and Eric Barlevav were sitting comfortably in hopes of a big finish.

The inevitable break did in fact end up going, but it went with a LOT of riders in it - nearly 30, and unfortunately for us, we only had one rider in it, Adam Myerson. We were of course, happy to have at least somebody in there, but it was disappointing not to get more in there. It's hard when only a few guys are actually racing - I know I for one was completely useless, and that makes it hard on the rest of the team, especially for a rider like Daniel who is going well, but no matter how well you're going, there's a physical limit as to how many moves you can actually cover before there's one that you miss.

Adam was going strong in the break, riding smart as per the norm and all set up for a big finish. Behind, the field had shut down completely and Daniel attacked in hopes of making it across to the break. Daniel made good ground, but never quite made it across, leaving it up to Adam in the final lap...

With three turns to go, the final time up the hill, the sprint opened and Adam was in ideal position, somewhere around 5th or 6th wheel. It was looking fantastic for a big result, but Adam found a big chunk of misfortune by way of Kayle Leogrande. Kayle's bike malfunctioned, Adam thinks it was gear skippage, and Kayle went into Adam's front wheel, taking out some spokes and sending Adam straight over the bars and directly on to his elbow. Race over. Bad news for the elbow.

It was a really unfortunate crash, and resulted in a trip to the hospital, but thankfully Adam was ok, no broken bones, just a deep gash.

Another race that saw us close to a big result...it'll come soon enough.

Back East: Walnut Grove

2008-04-15T10:59:00.000-04:00

After Stoop's and Duncan's success on Saturday it was hard to get motivated for a 8:00AM road race. Saturday had definitely taken its toll on everyone and no one really wanted to get up at 5:30. We all had several reasons/excuses for not racing. With almost a perfect record Stoop definitely was feeling some pressure to deliver once again. With Jamie present and excited he was to be part of the mix we mustered the troops and set off for the race.

Knowing that Stoop was feeling some pressure to perform and Duncan really wanting to perform it was an easy game plan. We planned to sit back relax, not own the race, and see how it unfolded and see where we could set David up. Marco Polo was really active and we could see that they were here to race. It was interesting to see that Stoop was clearly a marked man. I do not know if he saw it but from where I was it was easy to see that every time he moved he would have everyone react. It was obvious that people now knew who he was. A side affect to this was that Duncan was also marked .

On the courses longest hill (about 1k) Andrew Erskine (Team Nine) and a Marco Polo rider went clear. When we started the second of three laps (27 mile per lap) the duo had a gap of about 4 minutes. The always aggressive Justin Beard (Black Sheep) dangled about 30 seconds back hoping for some relief, either from the field or catching the break. A chase soon formed that was organized by Ted King (Bissell), Nick Reistad (Jelly Belly), and Scott Jackson (DLP). Ted was putting some pressure on Stoop to pull and he just readily obliged. I knew we were all tired and I knew we should probably have someone contribute to the chase so I took over for Mike. It should be made clear that I did not really want to. It took about 20 miles for the 4 of us to catch everyone.

The entire time I was hoping that someone would decide to come up and help and I honestly thought that when we caught the group my day would be done. As we caught the groups up the road there was a flurry of attacks. I honestly did not see much because at this point I had retreated to the back to drink some water and eat something. When I reemerged somewhere in the last lap there was one Marco Polo rider up the road. The field had gotten smaller and we were definitely going up the hills a little slower. Did I mention that the course was just plain hard! It was rolling all the time and it was very windy. According to Stoop this is the windiest and wettest racing season ever! I have raced this course or variations of it several times. I had a vague memory of the area but an acute vivid memory of the last 5 miles and the pain I had felt on those occasions. Today was not going to be an exception.

With one Marco Polo up the road and a field not very interested in chasing it seemed we were racing for second. With about 5 miles to go Stoop was feeling alright and asked me to lead him out. I said I was almost on empty and would protect him but I was not sure what I could do. Not more than 20 seconds after that conversation a Marco Polo rider attacked and I covered it. I did not anticipate that we would be given any room. I guess this is another lesson for that even though Stoop and Duncan are marked, I am not. The Marco Polo rider looked back a couple times, jumped a couple of times and then just put his head down. When I looked back we had a pretty big gap and he was just driving it. I was doing what I could but I was also doing what I could to not cramp. In the end I sat up (got dropped) with about a 1k to go and rode in comfortably for 3rd.

Right on my heels Duncan was leading Stoop out. The communication between the guys was good and Stoop may have just waited an instant too long to start his sprint as one of the Marco Polo riders beat him to the punch and nipped him on the line for 4th.

Overall it was a great weekend. We had Jamie with us and he was racing. We have to make that happen more often. Stoop made some real impressions on the Marco Polo riders and staff and it was a real opportunity/test to show them his and the teams value. Duncan also had a some good rides and continues to make really important contributions. I think he is fitter than he believes and once we find a way to sharpen him up, watch out. Personally, one of his biggest contributions to me, is that he makes going to the races fun. It was also great racing with the Marco Polo team. We wish them every success at the Tour of Georgia and I think everyone in attendance at the race this weekend will be looking for them.

Back East: Donaldson Center

2008-04-15T10:53:00.000-04:00

Seems we have been caught some sort of weather bad luck because this was the fifth wet and nasty condition race was have done in a row. Like usual it was nice and wind out at the Donaldson center and a nice thunderstorm dumped rain on us for getting dressed and warming up. The race even got postponed due to some lightening. Lucky for me I got to enjoy the heated seats of Jamie’s BMW 5 series to keep me warm.

We knew that the race was going to be tough because there was a full Marco Polo squad who is over in the US preparing for the Tour of Georgia, plus Ted King from Bissel, Robbie King of Rite Aid and a few DLP guys. Pat told Duncan and me that we probably wouldn’t be put in ideal situation today and might have to settle for second because the possibility to get out manned.

The race was 8 laps and near the end of the second one a group got up the road. Coming up the hill by the start finish area I bridged the gap. Once in the group everyone was working hard to stay away and the super windy conditions where putting a hurting on everyone. After a handful of laps being up the road and fairly large group made its way up to us and boy was I happy to see Duncan in that. I figured I’d get to relax a little.

I was wrong because not very long after the two groups combined a fresh Marco Polo guy attacked and Ted King went with him. Seeing that Duncan had just pulled reacted and jumped to Ted’s wheel. The three of us quickly got a good gap and were heading into the last lap. Each of us was hesitant to pull hard because we knew it was going to be a fight at the end and the wind could be a big factor.

With two miles to go the Marco Polo guy showed his cards and attacked into the cross wind section. Ted quickly followed and made his way to the wheel and I was on Ted’s. From there on, no one would really pull and it was imminent that there would be a match sprint. With no one willing to lead the sprint out it seemed like it took for ever to get to the line.

I held the right side of the road while watching the two over my left shoulder. About 250 meters out the Marco Polo guy jumped and got in front of me while Ted was on the left of me so I was essentially boxed in. I slowed for a moment to move around them to my life and then popped probably the best sprint of my life to get them with my bike throw at the line. It was one of the best feelings as a bike racer I’ve ever had.

The second group came down to a sprint with Duncan ending up 6th. Pat said that the race was so hard that not many people finished and he was one of the last guys finishing up at 16th. The next day someone told me there should have been UCI points for that race. It was awesome that the east coast group has had continued success holding it down!

Two Wins At Rock Hill!

2008-04-10T16:17:00.003-04:00

OLD TOWN CRIT
On a chilly and rainy day and a full Inferno squad that boasted heavy hitters like Jeff Hopkins and Rich Harper, our three man squad (Pat Raines, David Duncan, Mike Stoop) prepared for a good battle. The course had six turns, one of which was on a quick downhill to a narrowing one lane right turn with painted lines, reflectors and a median to factor into your turning equation in the rain.

We knew that if we hit it hard from the gun that many people would get dropped because of the slick conditions. So I went to the front on the first couple laps and kept the pace high. With in a couple laps a break group had established with about 8 riders, two of which were Inferno guys. Due to the slick conditions Pat and Duncan were sidelined.

Manager's note... I told the guys that after 10 laps most guys over 30 would have quit. In fact a lot of guys with a job and family did not start. Duncan is a professional rider and should not have been in that group. He needed to be out there racing and I was surprised to see him fall apart in a local race.

Soon after our break away group had gotten up the road the race announcer started ringing the bell for primes. I managed to take 3 primes from the inferno guys by beating them heads up in sprint for the line.

Manager's note.... None of which were not worth losing the race for. These were merchandise primes and giving them up could have lured his competition into a false sense of security. Going for and handily taking them could have showed what cards he had. On the other hand if these had been cash.....

Some point in the race I lost focus and went down but managed to surf on my cleats and didn't get hurt. Pat kept me calm and went to the pit with me for a quick wheel change then pushed me back into the break group.

Manager's note... Stoop really panicked. For a guy a who really has such a cool demeanor most of the time I was really surprised to see him so shaken up. He needed to realize that mishaps happen and you can take your time to relax and compose yourself while taking care of the business to get back in the race.

Getting near the end of the race we ended up lapping the field. I was hoping we wouldn't because I knew the inferno guys would get help from their lapped teammates. That is what happed; Rich Harper went to the front to set up a perfect lead out. I glued myself to his wheel and got a free ride most of the last 2 laps.

Just before that tricky turn I came around Harper and his teammates were following me. I led into the last turn and got to start my sprint first. I powered away from everyone in the sprint and the inferno guys ended up 3rd and 5th.

PATRIOT'S TRAIL ROAD RACE
90 miles, the first long road race of the season for the east coast squad. The race was held in historic Brattonsville SC. This was where a revolutionary battle had taken place and the movie the Patriot had been filmed. Pat exclaimed this is where the bratwurst had originated but I felt like he was pulling my leg when he said they filled up old socks from Valley Forge with the meat.

Another overcast and rainy day stayed with us the entire 90 miles. Because I had won the crit we started the road race in the lead of the omnium. We wanted to keep the overall because that was were the bulk of the payout would be.

Lucky for Pat and Me, Duncan got himself into a move with Scotty Weiss early on which had gotten 4 minutes on the field. It took the inferno squad at least 45 miles to pull the pair back. Duncan had given Pat and me the right to relax and do no work.

Manager's note.... This was a great contribution by Duncan and really did take the pressure off. The Inferno team did a good job of pulling the duo back. They rode strong and were committed to the task. When they caught the break they had not wrecked their team and I was impressed. With a full team though I was little surprised to see them let the duo roll up the road. This race rarely finishes in a field sprint and I think they would have done more damage by putting a guy in the break.

Once the breakaway pair had been pulled back the races started to fire with attacks and counters. Pat and Duncan were mixing it up and allowing me to save myself. I don't think there was a break in the last 35 miles that Pat wasn't in. Eventually a group of 8 had established itself with about 10k to go. Seeing that the gap was gaining time and the race was going up the road, I launched a counter off of Duncan's well executed attack. I managed to make my way across the gap, where Pat was sitting on the back of the break waiting for me.

In the last 5k Pat was keeping the pace high to keep everyone together. He covered the last two attacks of the day. A priority health guy attacked with a mile left and Pat stayed on the front and motored him down. As soon as he was brought back an inferno guy opened up the sprit. I quickly reacted and got on his wheel. With 250 meters to go I jumped around him for the win. Pat in his historian mode told me "not to start my sprint until I saw the whites of their eyes." It was funny because the finish was deceivingly long and to be patient was the key.

It was a successful weekend for us because the three of us handled a 6 man inferno squad through well executed team tactics. It was really rewarding to see the race unfold in our favor and for us to capture the overall omnium win. It wouldn't have happened without teamwork.

Redlands Wrap, Part II

2008-04-09T12:03:00.004-04:00

After the tough Beaumont circuit, we were down to five riders for the crit. Adam's presence would be sorely missed on the technical and demanding course, which he had found success at last year.

David, Tom, and Eric rode well all day, with David getting some time off the front as well as a couple of primes. In the finale, David and Eric stuck it out during Toyota's ferocious leadout to pull off two Top 20s - 13th and 15th.

The final day Sunset Loop circuit is by most accounts the hardest race of the year, and of this hardest race of the year, the approach to the first climb and the first time up the climb are some of the hardest and most critical moments we'll come across in 2008.

With that in mind, you can understand how disappointing and frustrating it was when three of us went down in a wreck on the APPROACH to the circuit maybe 15 minutes into the race, probably more like 10. Daniel, Tom, and I went down as we were starting to get together at the front to get ready for the awful first climb. Somewhere towards the front of the field people started falling and unfortunately we were in the middle of it. By the time we were up and ready, the race was over for us.

Eric and David made it through just fine though and both started the climb in great position. Neither were able to make the front group of 40ish, but David managed the 2nd group, while Eric got into the 3rd. Eric called it a day about halfway through and got his pro-rated time for a good finish to his first ever Redlands, while David managed to make it all the way through for something one might call a 'character building experience.'

Overall, Redlands was a good one for us. We are all looking forward to a little rest this week and then hopefully something good in Ojai next Sunday at the Garrett Lemire GP.

Redlands Wrap, Part I

2008-04-09T09:38:00.003-04:00

The four days in Redlands provided TIME Pro Cycling with a very good idea of what it's like to race in the best field America has to offer.

The Prologue was highlighted by a fantastic ride on the tough 5k course from Daniel Ramsey who steamrolled to 22nd out of the 194 rider field. Three of us, Tom, Eric, and I followed within 1.5 seconds of each other.

Stage 1 changed things up a bit compared to year's past: the mountaintop finish on Oak Glen was out, and a tough, undulating 17 mile circuit in Beaumont was its replacement. The race was 5 laps, and the pace was outrageous from the start. Adam was on a very bad day and had to call it quits early.

The goal on the day was twofold: 1. For Tom and I to go with moves and hopefully make the break, 2. While Eric and David were to protect Daniel and make sure he was in a good position for the climb midway through each lap.

The making the break goal for the day kinda blew out the window early on with the full throttle racing...and the fact that the break rolled away in that first fireworking hour didn't help either. After that setback, the focus was on Daniel and just making it through the day.

That was a task all by itself...even the easiest lap (#3) almost saw me tossed off the back in a cross tailwind section where we were all completely spun out in our 11s desperately trying to make it back to the headwind. Every lap seemed like a huge adventure...like on Lap 4 when I blew to pieces and went from the first ten straight back through almost 150 riders, but still managed to catch on after a chase led by Henk Vogels.

The team goals were taken care of and pretty much everything was in place heading into the final lap and one more trip up the climb. I once again fell apart, whilst Daniel just didn't quite have it the final time up. He made it over in the second group with Tom. Guttenplan, however, rode very well to make the front group and then sprint to 10th on the day with third-ish in the field sprint behind the break. It was a great result for the team.

Mechanic wanted.

2008-04-06T10:08:00.001-04:00

We are looking for a mechanic for the team to work May 4th and if possible
a three week shot from Philly week to Nature Valley. If you are
interested e mail eriksaunders@timeprocycling.com

NO MORE SKYBUS!!! TEAM STRANDED IN CALI!

2008-04-05T23:34:00.004-04:00

the low cost carrier skybus folded, stranding our team in cali...

what can we do now?... they did LA to greensboro DIRECT for under 200 bucks round trip!... i guess we wont be going back to cali that often...

The GUTT is tenth photo on cnews

2008-04-04T23:59:00.001-04:00

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos.php?id=/photos/2008/apr08/redlands08/redlands082/JD_08rdlndsstg2043

this is a great photo from my fellow virginian made good john devich on cyclingnews.com...

check it out...

Redlands Prologue

2008-04-04T01:00:00.003-04:00

Ramsey, Barlevav, Soladay, Gruber, Guttenplan, and Myerson is the squad for Redlands this week.

The 5k Prologue was a pretty good day for the team as Daniel Ramsey rode to a very fine 22nd, putting him well within shouting distance of a shot at GC, especially considering that he has been 11th on the infamous Sunset Loop in the past. His possibilities on GC will definitely play into our race strategy over the next few days.

Barlevav, Soladay, and I were all within a second. Well, Eric and Tom tied at 11:05 and 100th place, and I was a second behind in 106th.

Guttenplan had a solid go of it a little bit back and Adam rode super smart and easy - he's got big hopes for some good stage finishes this week.

Tomorrow the circuit looks to be wild: another tough, narrow run-in to a hard KOM followed by a wide open rest of the circuit nicely amenable to whatever wind is blowing. Tomorrow's race could absolutely shatter. Let's hope that HealthNet is thinking of setting a kind tempo with a nice early break - of which we'd hope to be a part of.

Final March Weekend

2008-03-31T22:38:00.003-04:00

Stoop Gets Two More
The weekend in North Carolina was punctuated by a CycleSafe rodeo on Saturday, which was attended by JON HAMBLEN (who recently fell off his bike and broke a rib as well as injuring a few tendons in his shoulder and leg but nonetheless rode the trainer everyday last week and made some incredibly handsome life size stand up posters for the rodeo), Andy Baker and David Duncan. Mike Stoop had some car troubles (?) and got to race in Greenville, North Carolina instead with Pat Raines... and he won.

The next day, Andy and David joined in and once again, it was all Mike Stoop. In the final sprint, Duncan was narrowly beaten by Rich Harper to take 3rd.

San Dimas
At San Dimas, things weren't nearly as smooth or dominant, but still a good effort and some good signs for next week at Redlands.

The TT wasn't too much to write home about. Oscar Sevilla had a mechanical and still blew everybody's doors off. He big ringed the climb. Another guy big ringed the climb, but apparently his big ring is different than theirs. He was 91st. Daniel Ramsey was our best finisher in 30th, just inside a minute of Sevilla.

Stage 2's circuit race was a ball-buster. The circuit was technical, dicey, fast, hard, you name it, the circuit had it, including a tough climb preceded by a Philly-like lead-up to the hill...each lap...12 times.

The racing was incredibly aggressive, and TIME was always at the front and present especially leading into the climb. Barlevav was taken out early after having his rear derailleur torn off in a second lap wreck. Some guy followed suit with a flat 7 laps later, and there was no hope of getting back on after a mechanical.

Up ahead, the race blew to pieces on the final lap, with the field splitting in half the last time up the hill. None of us made it into the final selection, but it was still a hard fought day.

Sunday's crit was a GC battle for the leaders, with everyone taking dead aim at Rock and eventually getting the better of them. A two-up break defined the latter half of the race, and a once again active TIME team was present at the front in the crucial finishing laps. All looked good for a possible breakout result, but a crash in the last lap in front of our team put paid to any chances of that. Myerson hopped into a front yard, whilst Guttenplan tried a track stand. Guttenplan got going again well enough to finish 18th.

It was a tough weekend with a first rate field, but we definitely have big hopes for Redlands starting on Thursday.

Final March Weekend

2008-03-31T20:09:00.004-04:00

Stoop Gets Two More
The weekend in North Carolina was punctuated by a CycleSafe rodeo on Saturday, which was attended by Andy Baker and David Duncan. Mike Stoop had some car troubles and got to race in Greenville, North Carolina instead with Pat Raines...and he won.

The next day, Andy and David joined in and once again, it was all Mike Stoop. In the final sprint, Duncan was narrowly beaten by Rich Harper to take 3rd.

San Dimas
At San Dimas, things weren't nearly as smooth or dominant, but still a good effort and some good signs for next week at Redlands.

The TT wasn't too much to write home about. Oscar Sevilla had a mechanical and still blew everybody's doors off. He big ringed the climb. I also big ringed the climb, but apparently his big ring is different than mine. I was 91st. Daniel Ramsey was our best finisher in 30th, just inside a minute of Sevilla.

Stage 2's circuit race was a ball-buster. The circuit was technical, dicey, fast, hard, you name it, the circuit had it, including a tough climb preceded by a Philly-like lead-up to the hill...each lap...12 times.

The racing was incredibly aggressive, and TIME was always at the front and present especially leading into the climb. Barlevav was taken out early after having his rear derailleur torn off in a second lap wreck. I followed suit with a flat 7 laps later, and there was no hope of getting back on after a mechanical.

Up ahead, the race blew to pieces on the final lap, with the field splitting in half the last time up the hill. None of us made it into the final selection, but it was still a hard fought day.

Sunday's crit was a GC battle for the leaders, with everyone taking dead aim at Rock and eventually getting the better of them. A two-up break defined the latter half of the race, and a once again active TIME team was present at the front in the crucial finishing laps. All looked good for a possible breakout result, but a crash in the last lap in front of our team put paid to any chances of that. Myerson hopped into a front yard, whilst Guttenplan tried a track stand. Guttenplan got going again well enough to finish 18th.

It was a tough weekend with a first rate field, but we definitely have big hopes for Redlands starting on Thursday.