The Big Weekend

So Montana had a BIG weekend indeed. We had the annual Riverbank Run and the (Inaugural) Speedwagon Classic competitive cycling event in Polson. Peaks to Prairie went off on Sunday and I did none of them. And let me tell you, it about killed me. But I desperately needed a weekend to get some things done at the homestead and I passed on the events.

Looks like the Bank Run drew a very competitive field and the men in particular, threw down some blazing times. Whew, I would've been left in the dust! The Trifecta has become "The Race" and lots of Stampeders took on the challenge. Riki Peacock has been running strong and her time of 1:15:13 showed. The Sunday Long Runs must have payed off! Congrats to Justin Cloute for his Top 10 finish in the 5K at 17:53. And am I seeing what I think I'm seeing? Former/current cyclists, Heidi Stamm and Becky Broeder ran the 10K! OMG.

The men blazed with Zack Strong running a 31:48 in the 10K leg, going on to win the trifecta at 51:43! Wow. Primo Latino ran himself into a respectable 15th place and lots of other familiar names came out. Way to go boys.

Peaks to Prairie was on my race schedule. I raced it two years ago and loved it. I wanted to get back there and race it again, but wouldn't do it with my sea kayak. I gave up 17 minutes with my slow boat and didn't want a repeat. But we DID have two Stampeders make the long trip to eastern Montana to represent, David and Alison (Forney) Gorman. I don't have all the details, except that Alison WON the elite women's solo division and David WON the men's masters solo division. Right on guys! I can't wait to hear more about it.

And last, but certainly not least, the cyclists headed up to the Seeley's in Polson for the Speedwagon Classic. Nothing like a tough 50 miler, half on loose gravel roads to knock some sense into you, right Miles? Per Matt's email, it sounded like pain and fun was had by all. I do hope that I can race it next year. Congrats to the "winner" Bill Martin. This is the guy you're going to have to watch out for on the MTB circuit.

So there you have it. It's never a dull moment here in the Garden City and you can always find somebody doing something.

Tour of the Bitterroot - sponsored by The Bitterroot Land Trust

May is fast approaching and the 2008 bicycle racing season is heating up. While Europe may have the Giro, we here in Western Montana look forward to the Tour of the Bitterroot. This year's edition will include the popular Stevensville Road Race, including the climb up El Capitan, a sweet Criterium in downtown Hamilton and will be followed by a "tour-worthy" time trial. Be sure to click on the link to the Official website!

Last year was a blast. The Bitterroot Land Trust put on a top-notch event that was fun for racers and spectators alike. This year will not disappoint, so start your planning for the biggest race of the spring! I'll post more press soon!

The Tour of Walla Walla Report

This past weekend was the Banner Bank, Tour of Walla Walla. This is the first big, regional stage race of the year and has become ultra popular. And I can see why. The race was excellent. It was a well organized event that sold out WEEKS ahead of time and Five Valley Velo had a small team of Cat 4's to represent. Our team consisted of Kyle Shannon, Ely Wilkinson, Willy Zellmer and myself. Dan Gager was slated to go, but was unable and was truly missed.

The Cat 4 race consisted of a Time Trial, a Road Race and the Downtown Criterium on Sunday morning. This was also a stage race, which meant that cumulative time would determine the GC leader and not points like at Frozen Flatlands. We were all pumped up and ready to go Friday night, on our way to WW for the Saturday AM TT.

Saturday began as a big question mark in my mind. Would the weather hold? How would we do? It was cold and windy as we warmed up. Willy Z. would be first off, then Kyle, myself and Ely. I rode hard, but didn't feel strong in my legs. Maybe it was the long drive the night before. Who knows, but I came in 2;00+ behind the leaders and I immediately realized that this was going to be harder than I thought. On my way up to the line at the TT I saw Willy just after he came in, snot dripping from his nose. I asked him how it felt and he said, "okay." Well that okay turned out to be the best time for the team, coming in at 17:22. My nose didn't run, I came in at 18:03. Kyle and Ely were down another minute. Great job from our junior teammate!

2pm marked the beginning of our 60 mile road race, but I immediately felt better. I made sure to rest and stay off my feet during the 3+ hours in between the stages. Things started off slowly and really didn't pick up. There were a couple of spots that sped up, but the race was being run very conservatively. Two big teams, Starbucks and Cucina Fresca, both from Seattle, were running the show. I worked my way to the front at the climb to begin lap 2 and forced a gap, but the teams quickly sat up and allowed the peloton to rejoin. Frustrated I moved ahead before the biggest climb on the backside of the course and was joined by a junior from O'boy Oberto. We had a gap of 45 seconds to a minute and they weren't going to chase, so I made the plan to climb ahead of the peloton at tempo, but not too hard, with hopes that a break would happen to catch us at the top. And that's exactly what happened. With about a half mile to go, all of the GC contenders sprung free from the peloton and came by us. Junior and I latched on and pushed it over the top. Three riders got away, but only by seconds, as we descended to the valley floor. "Hot damn," I thought. I was in the chase group and the peloton was behind me. Maybe this would play out well for me. But as we hit the flats and began to motor towards the finishing climb ( a 3K slog uphill) I quickly noticed that my legs were failing me. I hoped to hold on until the final 3K, but got popped at the 10K marker. I had no legs left. Steve Zellmer (NRO) caught me just before the final climb, also dropped and frustrated with himself, and we climbed the hill. My legs gone, I lost 4 more minutes from the leaders and finished 26th. Kyle was another 32 seconds and Willy 1:13 down. Ely rode hard but lost 20 minutes. 72 of the 90 starters finished!

Saturday night was not for cryin' in your beer, it was just for beer (and burgers.) We had some good pub fare with Tamara's family and our adopted teammate Steve Zellmer. After all, he is Willy's dad! Dinner followed an early to bed and rest up for Sunday's race.

The Crit was awesome. The remaining 72 riders lined up for a fast and furious, forty minute race. I was just hoping to keep it upright, 'cause in a group of 70+ Cat 4's there's bound to be some carnage. The race was fast and clean for the most part. Willy, Steve and I tried to stay up front where the race was more predictable, and my legs felt good. Kyle and Ely got caught in the back and soon the peloton split. After 20 minutes the back half of the peloton was pulled, leaving about 40+/- to duke it out. With 3 laps to go, things started to heat up and on the last lap I was sitting about 12th, but couldn't move up. I took 14th, Steve 19th and Willy 21st. It was our strongest showing of the weekend and was good to see Montana in there with the rest of them.

Walla Walla was the first stage race for most of us and was a real learning experience. And even though we didn't place, we had a great time racing in a beautiful setting and I know that I'll be back next year, if only to redeem myself. Hope to see more teammates in the peloton next year!

Good job to all the Montana boys and girls for showing off, especially our 'cross town competitors in green! Here's a shot of B. Presta rounding corner #1 in the Cat3 Crit. This was the adrenaline-charged event of the weekend.

Erik

Rocky Mountain Roubaix - A Day in the Sun

To all you cycling fans and competitors out there, welcome.

This year's edition of the Rocky Mountain Roubaix was the largest that I've seen in recent years. The excellent weather and all of the hype payed off and we had well over a hundred racers come from all over the state, Washington and Idaho in order to participate in what is arguably the greatest local road race put on. And a big thanks for the Northern Rockies Orthopedic Team for putting on such a top notch event!

I couldn't believe all of the team vans, tents and banners when I arrived at 9 am. I swear that this looked more like a regional event than a local one. Cyclists were warming up, music was playing and the sun was shining. Today was going to be a GREAT day for a bike race.

Tamara, Steve, Shaun and Bob were running the show and the categories were growing by the minute. I counted 40 guys in the Cat4/5 field, and we would also be riding with the Masters! "There's nothing like sharing half of a dirt road with 60+ other riders", I thought. Looked like fun.

The Roubaix has been going for 20 years or so, started by veteran road racer Carl Ammons and some of the early Five Valley Velo riders. Over the years it has taken a variety of different forms, but for the past 3 years has been in Frenchtown, Montana. The race is held on the same day as the infamous Paris-Roubaix road race. Paris-Roubaix is known for its rough, cobblestone roads, inclimate weather and viscous attacks from the riders. It is a test of your resolve and good fortune, and it seems that the riders with both are those who reign victorious.

So on this brilliant Sunday, we all came to the line with the same thoughts on our minds: Would our legs hold? Would we have good luck? The next two hours would tell...

My plan was simple. Right before the gun went off I was chatting with Elliot and said that I would go off the front and force a chase. I doubted that anyone would want to chase me so early in the race and I was right. We all but rolled out and were still easing up to speed when I took off. No body responded and I was soon heading up the road alone. Nice! I got so far up the road that the lead car had to come up to me and I was riding my own race. My legs were feeling pretty good, so I kept it up. I thought, "If I could only get over the 6 Mile hill and drop down into the 9 Mile Valley, they would surely have to chase." I was right, and in the process, some strain was starting to be put onto the peloton.

I stayed away for about 12 miles when I was caught by the chase group, containing 3 of my teammates, Elliot, Brendan and Adam Jensen. Toby (NRO) and Brian (GAS) made is a lead group of six. The race was essentially over at this point as the rest of the group was perhaps a minute arrears and we had 6 strong riders. Only problem was that we had Jensen...and I was in desperate need of some recovery time for my legs, so after about 3 miles in the lead group, I was off the back. But I was feeling good. I had successfully launched 3 of my teammates up the road and likely to the win. I rode two more solo miles and then was caught by the group for some needed rest. For me the rest of the race was easy. Five Valley Velo was sitting pretty up front and my boys were content to keep the peloton rolling along...just not fast enough to catch the break.

We climbed up the hill on 9 Mile Rd. and there was a crash. One of the Muleterro riders crossed wheels and went down. Travis Howard (5VV) and possibly Greg Larsen were taken down, too.

Lap 2 also included a hard crash on the pavement of the westside road. We lost Willie Zelmer and NRO's riders Doug Shryock and Jeremy.

Five Valley Velo stayed to the front of the peloton and drove up over the 9 Mile and 6 Mile hills. At one point we were two minutes down from the leaders, but on the frontage road they were within 30 seconds!!! What were they doing? It was a good thing that the peloton could not get organized, or we would've caught them. Jeff Twohig was chompin' at the bit on the final stretch and wanted to be right on my wheel for the final climb up to the finish. I lead the guys onto Roman Creek Rd and up the lower stretches of the hill until guys started to go. Howard (GNC) Rob Gillespie and Kyle (5VV) and a Spokane Rocket Velo guy shot past me. I kept thinking to myself to hang on 'til the end. I did and we took the next 3 spots: Gillespie 4th, Kyle 5th and myself 6th. The Cat 4/5 results were five of six places belonging to Five Valley Velo. Elliot took the win, Brendan 2nd and Brian Frykman (GAS) 3rd. The rest of our guys including Twohig, Miles Key, Ely, Tom Sullivan and Dan Gager were all close behind. Excellent job team!

The Men's Cat 1/2/3 played out in similar fashion with an early breakaway, but this guy (Cat3) stayed with the lead group and took the "W" for the 3's, I believe. His teammate Eric Anderson took it for the 1/2's. Sportsman's Clint Mulfield took 2nd, and NRO's Josh Tack held it together for 3rd. I'm sorry, but I do not have the standings for the women, but Danyele, Joey, Nadia and Geraldine were all riding very well. Maybe we'll get a women's report...

So the 2008 version of Roubaix was a success in every way, except the weather, but no one was complaining. As promised, but maybe a little late, I've finally got the pictures posted for this weekend's Roubaix. Check out the photo album, Susan got some pretty sweet shots!

Looks like the big boys got their day in the sun, too. Check out Boonen.

The Grizzly Recap

Congratulations to all of you who competed in yesterday's 20th Anniversary Grizzly Triathlon! I know that there were a ton of you who made your debut as a triathlete and you should be proud of yourselves. Good job Andie Rassmussen, you looked like a pro out there. I hope you come back to run your next triathlon soon.

Saturday was a banner day for racing. Some may argue that it was a little warm, but I enjoyed the warmth of the sun and it looks like you all did too.

Big Congratulations to Jen Luebke for taking the 'W'. You looked strong the whole way and made it look easy. Alison Forney-Gorman came from behind with a blistering T2 to take 2nd place, Stephanie Fisher 3rd and Emily Kipp 4th. Rhea Fuller rounded it out in 5th.

Men's reigning champion, Ben Hoffman, three-peated for the win. When I saw him come in on the bike I knew that no body would be catching him! Adam Jenson took 2nd, and Brendan Halpin ran like a man possessed to take 3rd. Young Matt Shryock rocked his usual, lightening fast run for fourth and Graham Meng held onto 5th place. It's tough racing against the Missoula boys, isn't it?

The Grizzly was as awesome as usual thanks to Race Directors Giles Thelen and Elliot Bassett. You guys really pulled all the stops and I received a ton of compliments on the food, music and overall organization. Kudos.

I had the privilege to work the food booth with Kyle, Megan, and Elliot, and they were kind enough to let me sneak away to take a few photos. I'm bummed that my wife (the real photographer in the family) wasn't able to be there, but I still got some snapshots. As an aside, she WAS at the Roubaix today (to shoot her hubby) and captured some amazing shots! I'm in the process of getting my pictures up on Flickr (due to the large # of shots), but will also make a small album on Yahoogroups, too. I'm hoping to get the Roubaix shots up in a day or two.

As always, feel free to comment on your experiences and/or send me photos.

I have lots of photos and took pictures of many folks I don't know, so be sure to check it out...you may just be there. http://www.flickr.com/photos/56809415@N00/sets/72157604525433807/

Sorry, but you'll have to rotate the photos yourselves.

Well the beginning of the Montana Racing Season is finally here and it started with quite a bang! I'll write a post about the Roubaix later tonight or tomorrow. It was just as fine of a day today.

Grizzly Weekend and a Dry Roubaix

Hello all you Triathlon fans and participants. Are you ready to rumble? Looks like tomorrow is shaping up to be a terrific day for racing. With highs expected to be near 70 degrees, you can expect the elite heats to be sweating it out and racing hard!

Thanks to everyone for voting. I'm going to have to say that it looks like you may have just picked a trifecta...My money is on Mr. Halpin for the win. This guy never ceases to amaze me. It seems that every time I see him, he's looking more ripped and fit than the last time I saw him. I don't think this boy's physiology knows when to quit! I think that if he gets into a groove that no body's gonna be able to catch him. My next bet will be on Ben Hoffman. Although he'll be trying to defend his Griz title from last year, he will have to run like an escaped convict to beat Brendan. Third goes to Todd Struckman. You guys may not remember, but Dr. Struck man ran a 3hr marathon in Seattle and took top 3 in the Garden City Triathlon last year, WHILE IN MEDICAL SCHOOL! Oops!

I'm not too familiar with the women, but have heard good things about Jen Lubke and Emily VonJentzen. Good luck to all the women and I hope the course record falls on what should be a great day of racing.

And don't forget the Roubaix on Sunday! Open Road is having a Pre-registration Party from 5 til 7pm tomorrow night. Come on over to sign up and have your one (or three) pre-race beers! This is a good time to check out the comp. start talking about how tired you are after racing the Griz and to whet your whistle before going over to the After Griz Party! I hope to see a whole truck load of you sign up for the Roubaix. Also, looks like there will be a fair amount of Spokane boys coming over here in an attempt to steal our thunder...seeing how well we did last week at Frozen Flatlands. Let's be sure to keep the medals (and bragging rights local, y'all)

Just in case there is anyone who wants to watch. A great vantage point will be at the Nine Mile Ranger Station on Nine Mile Rd. Be sure to get there by 10 am as the race will be rushing by about 10:15 am and you won't want to be in the way. Park OFF of the course and set up for some sketchy and very fast cornering on the DIRT. It will definitely be something to see!

See you this weekend "at the races."

Brendan at the 2007 Griz!!!

Frozen Flatlands 2008

This year's edition of the Tour of Frozen Flatlands lived up to its foreboding name. The two day omnium consisted of a 60 minute Circuit Race on Saturday, followed by a 50 mile Road Race on Sunday. Our team has sent riders over to Spokane for several years with varying degrees of success. Last year was my first year and I loved the course (and the sun) so much that we made a point of racing for both days again this year.

Spring racing in the Pacific Northwest can be wet, cold, windy and just downright miserable. And after checking the weather forecast on Friday night, I was expecting the worst. The forecast was for rain and snow overnight, clearing in the pm and then more rain and wind on Sunday...joy. But we packed up the team van and Jeff's car for our early departure. Spokane or Bust! Along the way I was phoned by Nadia White from NRO saying that the race was iffy at best, due to an inch+ of snow on the ground. She'd keep me posted. Turned out they got a snow plow for the road and postponed the races all by two hours. So finally after our 9:30 am arrival, the Cat 3's were racing by 12:30 pm. 5VV wasn't represented in the 3's (not yet anyway), so we had to wait another 3 hours for our race to go off.

Our Team is currently composed of Cat 4's and 5's and we are now getting quite a team. I'm ready to upgrade to Cat 3 and I hope my teamies Elliot Bassett and Brendan Halpin will do so as well. Grant Kier, Alex Gallego and Matt Seeley are our Cat 1/2 men.

Okay, so back to the racing! The Circuit Race is like a giant Criterium, run on a winding, 2.3 mile course. There were a couple of hairpin turns to keep us on our toes and a BIG headwind coming into the final stretch. Put all these ingredients together in a Cat 4/5 race and what do you have? A totally sketchy, dangerous and ugly race that will make most any spectator cringe. Yep, that's what it was! Casualty number one was our newest member, Rob Gillespie. Welcome to the team Rob! Rob went down in a pile up on lap 3 or so. I didn't even know what had happened, but I was told that it sounded and looked really bad. Rob survived without too much road rash and a bike good enough to keep riding, so he trailed for the rest of the race.

The race was run hot. The Cat 4/5's rode the fastest lap at ~5:30 and our overall average was 24.3 mph. After getting home I downloaded my HR info and had a 161 average HR. I maxed out at 173. Ouch. I wasn't feeling that good at first, but got into a rhythm and did okay. Everyone else looked great. Elliot was pushing the pace with Jason Ames and several times I saw Willy riding IN FRONT OF ME. Good job Willy, you're doing great. So of course, like any 4/5 race, every breakaway was almost immediately chased down, that was until 2 riders got of the front with 4 laps or so to go. Five Valley Velo came up front and we reeled them in, but then another solo rider took off and Jason reeled him in. Last lap and all of the main group (~45 riders) were together. We came around the last corner and into the straight away for the sprint. Jeff Twohig and I were caught in the middle and had to wait to get free. Elliot's line was better. Elliot takes 6th, I get 9th and Twohig about 15th. Only the top ten got points and were officially scored. Our adopted son, Jason Ames took it after a MONSTER sprint. And he says he can't sprint.

Sunday's race started on time despite the wind and the rain. It was about 40 degrees, raining and windy when the Men's 1/2 pack rolled out. We were warming up on the trainers, under the tent and were the last to go at 11 am. Our Sunday Squad was 11 riders strong. Elliot and I were the de facto leaders after the prior day's results, but we were getting the fresh legs of Dean McGovern, John Melvin, Greg Larsen and Dave Cook. Ely Wilkerson, Kyle Shannon, Jeff Twohig, Rob Gillespie and Willy Zellmer were ready to put the hammer down and get some nice results for the team. Let's go boys.

Fast forward to the 15 mile marker and the driving hail storm into our faces as we headed into the wind. Can anyone say "Tour of Flanders?" We turn the corner at ~18.5 mile and now have a strong side wind.

At mile 20 there begins a set of rolling hills that will take us to "the Wall" at mile 40. Hill number one, I test the field by going off the front and upping the tempo a little. Will anyone follow? Then Jeff rushes up to me and says, "Let's do this" and the race was on. Next came two Spokane boys and then Elliot and Rob. We had a break on this first, long and gradual climb, in the middle of a sleet and hail storm!

There were 8 or 9 of us in all, 4 5VV, 2 Spokane Rocket Velo, 2 Emde riders and one other. Word has it that Dean and John Melvin did a good job disrupting the flow back in the peloton and slowed them enough for us to get away. Thanks guys.

We raced over each of the next several hills and I thought that we'd be caught. Another 2 or 3 riders bridged us, but not Jason (the Omnium Leader). We worked the best we could in the wind until we hit the wall. I charged up it with Elliot on my wheel and he got away with three other riders. I was next with two others and the rest were scattered down the hill. The chase was on with 8 miles to go to the line.

So it was beginning to look like 4 guys in the top 10 and maybe Elliot would win this bastard. I was going for fourth and not chasing him down. He was ~10 to 15 seconds ahead and 4 miles from the finish when he flatted, so as I passed him I yelled to get a wheel and began the chase for the leaders. Michael Sirott and I reeled the two ahead of us in with ~3 to go and the five of us raced to the 3k sign. At ~1.5km I was in front and no one would come around. I began to spin and my mph began to slow. I was hoping for an early jump and just inside 1k, two guys went and I was now 5th wheel. Perfect! At 200 mtrs they began to fade and the real sprint was on. I came from third to take the sprint! But I had 2nd overall as one of the three Elliott was with had ridden off the front and we couldn't get him. Racing just behind me were my teammates Jeff Twohig and Rob Gillespie, finishing a respectable 7th and 8th. Awesome work in the 30 mile breakaway, boys!

The rest of the peloton had shattered after chasing us and riders were coming in for a while. Talk about an epic race!

Thanks again team for a great showing and some nice results to boot. If you click the title of this blog you will get the website for results and pictures. I'll put up an album in a day, too.

Check out our new team banner. This baby caught a lot of stares and even more comments. It also doubled as shelter from the elements. The guys thought it was great and really made us look like a team.


Be sure to do business with all of our AWESOME sponsors! And be sure to thank them for supporting our team. We couldn't do this without them.

Who Will Win The Grizzly Triathlon?

So who is it gonna be? The Griz is fast approaching and there has been lots of speculation. So who has got what it takes? I've been liking all of the trash talk on the list serve and this coming Saturday will decide it all! More to come tomorrow about this weekend's road race in Spokane and be sure to go over to the Grizzly Pool tomorrow, 6 pm, for the Transitions Clinic. It's free and very informative.

~out~

Get Ready to Rumble

April is here and so is Team Stampede. Get ready to see total domination in all of the local and regional Triathlons and Road Races. The courses will be alive with orange and our trademark cowboy hats. It all starts with Frozen Flatlands this weekend. Five Valley Velo has 12 guys and 1 gal on their roster and Montana is going to show Washington State just how dominant we are!

The Grizzly Triathlon next weekend is creating quite the buzz with its usual banter about who will kick whose butt. The bets are coming in and I can't wait to see how it will play out.

And arguably this year's most exciting and nail biting event has to be Northern Rockies' Roubaix. If ever there was a time to come out and watch the speed and adrenaline of a road race, this is it!

Upcoming events include a Triathlon Transition Clinic next Monday, 6pm, I think. It will take place at the Grizzly Transition area, just outside of the pool. This one is not to be missed!

Also, be sure to attend Alex Gallego's Spring Kick off at Missoula Bike Works, Thursday, April 2nd, from 6-9pm or maybe later...Good Times! We'll be sure to make our Team Ride short and sweet so that we can get there before all the beer is gone.

Look out, here we come.