It's early morning and Roy and I are just hanging out and starting our day. I'm all ready packed up and ready to start my journey home. Duty calls and I have to take care of business early Monday morning. It's a bummer as I'd really like to be able to see the final stage of the race and be there for the team. But, that's life and the race has gone well up to this point. 

I'll give you a quick recap of yesterdays stage. The Menonomie Road race is 101 hilly miles of back country roads in Wisconsin. Temps were around 76 and it was humid. The race started and Adam and Colton got in the first move of the day. 12 riders were in the break and they soon rolled out to a significant gap. From my view point this is where the day started getting a little crazy. Since we had riders in the break and the field we were jumping back and forth between the two feeding and relaying information. Pushing the limits of our little Ford rental car became the order of the day. 

About the 50 mile mark the field suddenly made a move to bring the break back and soon the field was all back together. It didn't take long before another break formed and this time Heath was in it and this one looked like it was going to stick. The time gap kept growing and soon I got a lesson on calculating where the other riders were on the GC in relation to Heath. All while filling bottles, feeding riders, and listening to a barely functioning race radio (that's a whole story in itself).

In the end the break stuck and Heath was 12th. He made a big jump up the GC.

Time to get moving. I have to finish prepping the bikes before I load them back into the trailer. Here's the results from yesterday and where the guys stand overall. I think there's a link to today's live coverage on Velo.com

Stage:

12th Heath

29th Alberto

30th Nate

80th Colton

81st Adam

Overall:

6th  Heath @:37

48th Nate  @13:43

50th Alberto @14:28

74th Colton @39:23

80th Adam @57:36

Photos courtesy of Matthew Moses/ Moses Images

Up early today after another late night getting back to the house. Yesterdays race, the Uptown Criterium start time was 7:50PM so by time we pack up, eat, and drive......well you get the picture. From my point of view the race went pretty well. Even though 4 of our 6 riders got caught up in a crash nobody got hurt and there was no damage to the bikes. I does make your heart skip a beat when you hear there was a big crash on the back side of the course. You just have to wait for the field to come around and see who's left. I started prepping for wheel/bike changes as the field came into sight but everybody went to pit 2 and our guys were OK. The rest of the race was clean for us with no other incidents.

Uptown Results:
Alberto 17th
Zach      22nd
Nate      43rd
Heath    46th
Adam    74th
Colton    79th

Overall:
Heath 19th @:51
Zach   21st @1:00
Nate    56th@4:23
Alberto 59th@5:08
Colton   64th@5:38
Adam    80th@23:42

So today is a much earlier start for the 101 mile Menomonie Road Race. Leaving the house at 10:30am for a 1:30pm race. This is traditionally where the General Classification really shakes out the contenders for the win. At the moment it raining but it's supposed to clear off for the race. Hope so, rain makes for a pretty hectic day in the caravan. Here's some pictures from yesterday.

Loaded a ready to roll

Gus and Kansas native/cycling legend Scott Moninger

I using this super cool chain guide from Park Tool. the roller can move as shift the derailleur.

Zach was making friends with some the local kids before the race.

Sometimes it's tough to find food at 10pm. We ended up in a Fusion Bar/restaurant.

Zach attempting to bridge up to the break. So close.....

Alberto is so excited to race.

That's it for today, time to get to work!

It's a nice quiet morning here in Minneapolis. It's just Roy the dog and myself sipping coffee (Roy chose not to partake) and catching up on the computer. Today is going to start out slow and then finish with a rush. The plan is to get the team out for a ride this morning at 10:30 and then race tonight at 7:50PM. That means it will be another late night by time we race, feed the guys, and drive back home. The race is 40 laps so it will be fast and furious the whole time.

Today my job is to get the bikes out this morning and wash/inspect the bikes before they ride(I get to ride too!!!). After the ride there a few mechanical issues I need to look at before we load the trailer up and leave for the race. Once we arrive at the race I'll set up the tent and chairs, unload and prep bikes, get spare bikes and wheels to the wheel pit, and then it's race time! Once the race is over I load it all up and look for food!

Heath attacking with 2 to go on the finishing circuits.

One of my jobs during a road stage is to write down information as it comes over race radio. I have a rider list so I can tell  our director who's scoring points in the KOM or Sprint competitions. We also get the numbers of riders in the break so we can relay information to our riders when they come back to the car for bottles.

Alberto was right on the front of the group on the finishing circuits. Elevate is in the red helmets with blue/black kits.

My friend Joe Schmalz is racing here for his team Hincapie Racing. He crashed in yesterdays criterium and lost a ton of time so his only goal is to win a stage. He made a valiant effort today but came up short.

My view from the back seat of the car rolling along in the caravan.

Gus studying the course pre-meeting

Gustavo Carrillo is our Director for the race. He's been in the bike racing world as long as myself. We can talk about the old days when I first started racing. He's been directing teams for quite a while and works with USA Cycling, the Columbian National team, and many others. Needless to say, I'm learning a few new tricks.

Well that's what I have for today, time to get to work. 

 It's been a while since I've posted but I've been lacking in material so what can I say. The road season has been a bust so I took a little time off before prep for the cross season starts. I'm finishing up my break from riding by wrenching for the @ElevateCycling Team at the North Star Grand Prix. Yesterday was Day 1, a double stage day with a TT in the morning and a criterium in the evening. It was a long day with a 6am wake up call, race and go back to the house. Then the Criterium start time was 7:45,  so we had to reload, reset, and race. After the race we had to find some food, finally arriving back home at the host house around 11pm. Overall it was a good day as the guys all rode well and we came home with skin and bikes intact.

Today is the Cannon Falls Road Race. 95 hilly miles for the guys and 3 hours or so for me riding in the caravan. If you've watched the Tour deFrance you've seen the race caravan. For the mechanic it can be hours of boredom rolling down the road at 25-30 mph, followed by 30 second of chaos when your car gets a call over race radio. Hopefully we won't have much action but who knows, I'll let you know tomorrow. Gotta go now. Time to look over the bikes and prep bottles for today's stage.

Sweet service course at our host house

Pre-race TT Meeting

Hanging with Roy

Heath and Gus discussing strategy for the criterium.

Pre-race team meeting

Post race meeting, need food!

Time to get to work!