Joe Martin Stage Race, Stage 3

Boy, where to start with this post. I,m sitting here in Ft.Smith AR looking out the window at sunny sky's contemplating how Nick and I will make our way up to Fayettville for today's final stage of the race. Since we both went out of the race on stage 2 we are doing training rides instead of racing. It's a huge bummer but at least training on the roads around here softens the blow a bit.

Before I move on to stage 3 I'll have to explain what happened on stage 2. As a team we were riding well, we had guys in all the breaks and everybody else was working on the front covering anybody that tried to join them. About 20 miles into the race Dillon flatted and both Jason and I went to the back of the field to make sure he got back on. Once Dillon came around the officials car I went back fort him and pulled him backup to the field. For the first 50 miles or so we were going straight into a stiff headwind so it was tough sledding to get back on. All three of worked our way back up to the front of the field after a few miles and then I flatted. I actually hit a huge rock in the road that exploded my tire and threw my wheel off to the right. I had to unclip from my pedal and tripod it for a few moments before I could start going straight. My save earned major kudo's for not crashing and taking out half of the field but now I had to get a wheel change. The wheel truck was right there but unfortunately it was staffed by a inexperienced guy and his son. I stopped and the kid came running up with a wheel that was all ready flat and tried to put it in my bike. Then he ran back and got another wheel and had a hard time getting it past the lawyer tabs(dumb UCI rule). The end result, a 3-4 minute wheel change and the field was completely out of sight. For miles I chased because the field really wasn't going that fast and eventually I caught up to the wheel truck, ambulance, and officials car. As I reached each car I rested for a second and then jumped up to the next one. as I got behind the officials car I tried to jump up to the field and got so close, maybe 50ft, and just couldn't do it. For the next 20 mile I continued to chase about a 1/4 mile behind the field until I finally blew going up the feed zone climb.

At this point I was pretty much mentally crushed but I figured I should continue on for training. What a mistake. 20 more miles into the wind with plenty of rolling hills thrown in and I was totally shattered. To top it off there was no sign that I was actually still on course and I had been riding by myself for over and hour. Eventually I came to a spot were the course turned and saw a race worked so I continued on. I was thinking at this that I am never going to make the time cut so my race is over so I just need to make it to the next feed zone and get a ride in. The only problem with this is that when I hit the first feed zone there was nobody there but volunteers. All of the people that were helping the Mercy team had all ready left. All I could think is that there would be nobody there at the 2nd feed and I was going to arrive at the finish sometime after dark. So I'm crawling along up the 9 mile climb up to the 2nd feed when a guy with a pickup truck rolls up beside me and asks me if I need a ride. I must of looked like a ghost that was about to fall off my bike at that point so I said ok since my race was over anyway. So this guy takes me to his destination which was only on the other side of the mountain. 4 miles was all I was in the truck and I still had 25 miles to go when I got back on my bike. 4 miles.....and I felt like a new man when I got back on my bike. Mentally refreshed I rolled to the finish with another rider for company.

When I crossed the line I immediately went to the officials to let them know what happened. Apparently they felt sorry for me and did not DQ me for hitching a ride. So I could of raced stage 3 but that's just not how the game is played and I don't want anybody to discount the performance of the rest of the team because I was allowed to continue the race.

Nick also had issues on Stage 2 with dehydration and ended up with an IV in his arm by the end of the day.

So yesterday was a great day for the Mercy Team. We had guys in the breakaway all day and the break only got caught on the final run in to the finish. Then the guys got it together to position our sprinter Zach for the finish. At the line it was a photo finish and he lost by the width of a tire. Missing the win was a bummer but the time bonus moved him from 4th at 11 seconds to 2nd at 5 seconds. Today's criterium is going to be pretty interesting.

So I have to get going. Time to get packed up and head out for our training ride.

Early break in the Pro race

Pro race leader Mancebo rolling through the feed zone

Pro Race caravan

The sprint in the 1-2 race. If you blow it way up you can see Zach coming from way back.

After race carnage, the boys were tired after 90 miles in the heat and humidity.

Joe Martin SR, Stage 2

In a bit of a rush this morning so this is going to be short. Good and bad day for the Mercy Team yesterday. We now have 3 guys in the top 13 with Zach only 11 seconds out of the lead. But we are down to 5 riders with Nick and I both out of the race. No worries, we are not injured but it's a long story that I'll have to tell in tonights post. Right now Nick and I are doing a training ride up to the stage start in Fayetville, meet up with the guys and then work the feed zone. Total powertanning day.

Joe Martin Stage Race, Stage 1

Hanging out this morning at the hotel waiting to head out to Stage 2 of the race. Yesterday's Stage 1 Uphill Time Trial was both good and bad for our crew. The results were not as good as they were last year but we still have 4 guys in the top 25 and all are within a minute of the leader. I really don't know why I have such a difficult time with the TT but I just can't seem to get it right. I suppose part of the problem is just that I really have no chance of placing well and my job on the team is to help our best placed riders. Kinda keeps you from going too hard so you have a little more energy for today's stage.

Speaking of today's stage, 110 miles with plenty of climbing thrown in. I'm hoping our young guns can ride well and be in the front when we hit the grind up Mt Gaylor. For me it's just a game of survival mixed in with riding at the front and making sure nothing gets away without one of our guys.

On a side note, the bummer of the day was Tradewind Energy's Steve Tilford going down while warming up for the TT and suffering a badly separated shoulder. I'm not sure what happened but wish Steve a speedy recovery.

As usual Mercy Hospital is treating us right. A posh hotel in Ft. Smith and meals at the hospital.

Yesterday's setup. Probably go for Bontrager XXX lite wheels today to save a little weight. I'll need all the help I can get.

Nick pinning up his number.

Nice day for a TT.

Ok, time to head oout and get loaded up, more after today's stage.

Hillsboro-Roubaix

Last weekend part of the Mercy Cycling crew headed off to Illinois for the Hillsboro-Roubaix road race. Adam and I decided to head out late Friday morning in hopes of going for a ride when we arrived at our host house. An early start was out of the question because I decided to take JoBro to the doctor just to make sure nothing would go wrong while I was out of town. Mission accomplished and we were off. After a easy drive we arrived just as the rain started, bummer, no ride today. So it continued to rain all night and was still raining when we woke up. After a leisurely breakfast we decide to head out to the race. After about an hour drive we arrived at the race site to .....you guessed it, more rain. Whatever, 50 degrees, rain, and a 100 rider field, bring it! With no warm up of any kind we rolled to the line to start the race. Off we went into the rain and it was actually not too bad. In a wise move we decided to wear the old red kit instead to the new white kit, saved some clothes since we were riding on narrow country roads that were full of dirt and mud from the farm fields.

Photo: Elizabeth Rangel, (Thanks!)

The race itself didn't go as we had hoped for the team. While we were all riding pretty well and in good position the wet roads would take their toll. Austin was our strongest rider so we were all looking to help him. Unfortunately, Austin flatted just before there was a huge crash in the field. Nick and I were ahead of Austin when he flatted but Adam was there to wait and pace him back up to the field. Here's where the unfortunate part comes in. The wheel truck is right behind the field but it's now the 2nd of 3 laps and all but 2 of the wheels in the truck are flat. By time the guy finds a working wheel the 30 sec wheel change has now taken 3 minutes. Game over for Austin and Adam.

Nick and I continued to ride near the front of the field to keep out of trouble. Nearing the end of the race I was actually feeling pretty good but was just happy to finish the race. I never thought about going for a good finish and didn't look behind me. If I had I would of seen that the field had gotten much smaller on the last lap. Rolling up to the last climb into town I knew that you have to be near the front to get a good finish. Well.......I was nowhere near the front as the climb began and ended up picking my way through riders all the way up the climb. In the end I ended up 26th. Better than last year but still leaves me wondering if I could of finished better.

Oh well, since the race in St.Louis got cancelled we loaded up the van and headed for home. Kind of nice to race and then have a family day on Sunday. Lot's of long weekends coming up and races to do.

Last weekend

Maybe I should start with the week, the week that could not end soon enough! Mathgeek had the end of the quarter workload, pretty much a 8-8 day, everyday. The kids were sick, and the shop was overlaoded with work. I guess you could say the the shop was fine, I was overloaded. I just kept reminding myself that it's just the spring rush that happens every year. By Friday I was just completely fried, I actually came home and took a nap, and I never nap. So I rolled into the weekend with one ride all week and a race on Saturday. I woke up Saturday morning looking at a radar showing rain at the race site but after a fair amount of second guessing I got loaded up and headed out.

Got to the race and got signed up, suited up, and out to warm up. Considering how late I got there it wasn't long before we lined up to start. I was a little surprised that they separated the 50+ and the Women from the rest of the Cat 1 riders but whatever, I just wanted to get a race in. Actually, I just wanted to finish a MTB race. The fact was that I had not finished a MTB race in over 2 years. crashes and mechanical in the few races I've done took me out so I really wanted to finish this one.

So the race started and it didn't take long to catch some the the Cat 1's that started a minute before our race. This was a huge bummer, it is well known that if you get caught by the leaders of another race you move over and let them pass. I let these guys know I was coming but there was no way they were going to let me by with out a fight. It took a while but I managed to get by these guys without getting too aggressive. I will say that it is tough to pass on the River Trails course, but really guys, slow down jump off the line for just a second to let the leaders by, then jump back on. It's way faster to do that than have both of us riding off line in the weeds.

Anyway, after that it was pretty smooth sailing, a few waits to get around a lapped riders and long 2 wheel drift that had me on the ground in the end. Good times just ripping around the trails for the last 2 laps. In the end I won the 50+ race and was 4th overall for the Cat 1's. Pretty happy with the race considering the week I had and looking at the lap times I wasn't too far off the fast guys times.

So here's this weeks pictures.......

The start up on the levy, the old guys are off!

Zach sporting the new Mercy Cycling kit on his TREK team bike,

He did us proud taking 2nd at the CSU crit in the Pro 1-2 race

Rocking the State wheels as well

Yea buddy, Hot wheels are still under a buck! I was working the MOPAR collection  but I had to get the Mooneyes car last week.

Sunday was Easter. Plenty of eggs were decorated and now the egg wars have begun.

Time to get to bed, got to get rested up for Tuesday nite Worlds crit. Sounds like it's going to be pain full. Heard the one they call "Joe" is going to be there and he's bringing a former Pro rider with him......

Spring craziness

Wow, it's just been nuts since my last post. In my last post I spent part of a week with the kids during their spring break from school and then headed of the the Mercy Cycling team camp. Good times, relaxing, and I returned worn out but ready to get back to the real world of work, school, and family life. I just was not quite ready to get slammed at the shop. I walked in and there were repair bikes everywhere, in the back, up front, filling the break room, it was nuts! I'm not complaining, and it's all most amusing that after 2 weeks the bikes keep rolling in and out the door at the same pace. We still have bikes in the break room but we are only 1 day out on repairs. Classic story in the bike shop, schedule a full week of repairs over the weekend, fix them during the week and maybe pick off a few repairs for the next week, and hope they get picked up during the weekend as the new repairs cycle in. During week 3 I'm hoping we will get in a groove and things will settle down. It would be nice to not have to move bikes to get to the microwave and refrigerator.

So let's see what else is new....

The Mercy team will be sporting new colors this season. Going for Blue and White on the kits and bikes . Nice to be back with TREK bikes and Verge clothes again. Tried and true products that all ways works right.

More tales from the bike shop, this bike probably came from a sporting goods store and looks like it's been off road a bit. The funny part is that the piece of black plastic hanging off the rear axle is packing material from when it was shipped new. Can't believe it's still there, they usually fall off just taking the bike out of the box.

THE NEW HOT WHEELS ARE OUT!!!!! Yep, still collecting Hot wheels after all these years. I took some time off collecting cars when I didn't care for their designs but the new batch is pretty good.

Cross season may be over but Belgian Waffle time is forever

Just for the record, I did ride a gravel road last weekend. I can't remember the last time I rode gravel but it was kinda fun.

Two  things here you may notice, one is that it's just a bit flatter terrain here than the last post. Second is that field is full of alfalfa blossoms. Every thing is blooming here so if you have allergies you are miserable. Today the tires on my bike were yellow from all the pollen when I was rolling home with Curly.

Looks like Joe and the Elbows boys are getting some notice these days. They got some press in the pages of Road Bike Action magazine recently. Joe had a great race at San Dimas and the team rode well at Redlands.

So now it's nearly April Fools day and time for Flanders. One of the biggest of the Spring Classics and it's live on NBC sports Sunday morning. Yahoo!!!!

Training Camp-Hell's Kitchen Road Race

The road season has finally kicked off last weekend with training camp and ending with the Hell's Kitchen Road Race. The Mercy Cycling Team is lucky to have a very supportive sponsor that sets us up in a hotel next to the Mercy Hospital and Health center. During camp we get is some high mileage training but camp is much, much more. During camp we had time to hang out and get to know the new guys, but most of the time off the bike was spent with sponsors and club members. This may sound boring but we had a great time with a team presentation dinner one night and a club night the next. Good times on and off the bike made for a great camp! On our last day we loaded up and headed up to Fayettville to do the Hell's Kitchen Road Race. This year we had a change in tactics and decided to do the whole club ride on Saturday instead of 120 mountainous miles like last year. The hope was that we could recover from our 7hr, 118mi, 5000ft climbing ride from the day before.

In the race we went to the start with a plan. As a team we knew who was riding well and who needed to do the work to help them win. From the gun the race took off and as planned we had the right riders in the breakaway. Unfortunately the rest day just wasn't enough for me to recover so I did what I could to help the team but only made it 2 of the 3.5 laps. It was pretty hot for this time of the year so I rode back to the car and got back to the feed zone before they came back around to help with hand ups. Pretty sweet at the finish to see Colton roll up the hill solo for the win with Dillon close behind in 3rd. After a bit of a wait along came Austin soloing in ahead of his group for 4th. Adam led his group in for 8th. After working for the guys Shadd, Zach, Nick, and Jason, rolled in with the rest of the riders. Great results for the first race of the year for the team!

Colton with the coveted pitchfork for the win.

I think Colton was too tired to raise both hands.

Spending time with sponsors and club members is part of the deal and a great learning experience for the young guys. It's all part of moving these guys up to the next level.

I love this road. They said they tried to make a tunnel but it collapsed so they just blew it up and hauled it away.

Stopped near the top of a 1500ft climb for water and food. Near the top? Why not on the top? Well, that's where the Forest Ranger was with our water. It's a long story.

Team presentation

One of my favorite pictures, we ended up on top of that mountain in the background.

Heading out on Saturdays club ride. We had a great time hanging out with 40+ Mercy Club riders.

Rolling the Arkansas hills

Nemo at his best, Nick is attempting to escape.

Stopped at a really rustic gas station/quick shop near Sugarloaf. That's Zach's bike hanging from the fish/deer/whatever scale. Must kill some big stuff to need that winch.

So camp is over and I am a train wreck. We did more hours on the bike in 3 days than I normally do in a week so I am feeling it. Funny how people recover from training. On the team the ages range from 20 to 52. The 20 something guys seem to recover overnight and it progressively takes longer as you get older. I knew that was the case but it was really interesting to watch it play out right in front of me. Not complaining, it's just another part of the puzzle I have to take into account and watch as the important races come up in the next 2 months.