Wrenching – Page 2 – PROBIKEWRENCH

Tour of Utah Recap – Stages 4-6

Back to the story…

Stage 4 – Lehi to Salt Lake City (134.3 miles)

We started about 25 miles into Stage 4. Because it was a 134 mile stage, and it had a “lollipop” in it, we had to push forward to get as far into the stage as we could before getting held up by the pros coming through. Our start point was in the middle of the Utah desert. Seriously… it was the desert. The stage profile was very flat, so the riders made pretty good time. Unfortunately, because it was the desert, there was very little scenery. I did snap a few shots of the flat landscape and some Pony Express landmarks, though.

We did get caught by the pros on the lollipop, but we made it almost to the “end of the stick” before heading north, towards Salt Lake City. It was a very long day, and I blame it mostly on the lack of scenery for the first several hours of the ride. The week, so far, had been uneventful, as far as mechanical or rider support issues, which was good.

Stage 5 – Newpark Town Center to Snowbird (101.1 miles)

This stage was the queen stage of the Tour of Utah, with around 10,000 feet of climbing. There were some serious climbs ahead of the guys, but we were more concerned about the start of the ride. We were scheduled to have a ceremonial start at Newpark Town Center in the midst of a gran fondo that rode the entire race course. Instead of the “ceremonial start” we were supposed to get, we ended up getting thrown in amongst the fondo riders. In case you weren’t aware of it, support for an event like ours gets a lot harder when you add an extra 700 RIDERS to the road…

The extra riders added to the confusion, for sure. At our first rest stop, I tried to speed up to get going and beat a group of fondo riders back onto the road, and forgot to shut the tailgate of the truck. Looking in the rear-view mirror, I saw my big cooler come out of the truck and go spinning into the highway, rocketing bottles all over the place… I cleaned up the mess, drove to a grocery store to replenish my ice and water, and continued on. Everything was good in the end, but for about 45 minutes, I was pretty panic-stricken.

As we continued on, I had to fight my way through the fondo traffic up and down the intermediate KOM climbs to keep up with my group. The climbs were tight and twisty, and it was very difficult with two-way bike traffic and auto traffic. We managed to make it through the KOM’s, through the small towns where sprints were located, then approached the climb to Snowbird. I had visited Snowbird before for a Specialized dealer event, about 3 years ago, so I knew the climb up to the resort. It was a long, somewhat steep climb, and coming at the end of a 100-mile day, it was going to be no easy feat for our guys.

I made the decision to give the guys bottle hand-ups from the roadside on the way up the hill. They would ditch their empty bottles, I’d give them a fresh bottle, then I’d give them a spray of water on their back or head and give them a push up the road. This made a huge difference to them. They were able to shed a bottle, get a little reprieve from the heat, and get a friendly boost up the road. Helped for a second, at least…

All the guys made it up the climb, except one coach, Colin Izzard. He had the legs to go up the climb, but one of the riders suffered a broken spoke, so he sacrificed his rear wheel and helped me sag the guys up the hill. I definitely needed the help that day. It was hot, and we did a lot of work on that last climb, making sure all the guys were okay.

Stage 6 – Park City to Park City (77 miles)

This was the final day of the Tour of Utah, and had some of the steepest climbing I had ever seen. The ride was pretty chill for a long while, except for scrambling around for some odd course markings on some smaller, sketchier roads. A lot of times, we headed out earlier than the course marking crews, so sometimes we miss turns if the numbers in the race bible get jumbled. We had two or three odd turns that weren’t marked well, so we had to figure that out before moving forward. Once we got back on the main road, we found our way.

There were a few major climbs in this stage. The first was through a gated neighborhood, Wolf Creek Ranch, usually closed to the public. Once we turned on the climb, we one of the steepest pitches I had ever seen. After 5 days of riding, I know the guys were begging for it to stop, but the climbing continued… The boys started “paperboy-ing” (weaving side to side to take the edge off the climb), so I got out of the truck to give them little pushes through some of the turns. Unfortunately, this was only the first major climb of the day…

The guys continued on, rolling comfortably until we approached Empire Pass. Empire Pass was hand-selected by Levi Leipheimer for this race, due to it’s length and difficulty, and probably because Levi knew the climb inside and out (Levi won Stage 6 on this day, after our athletes finished). Needless to say, this climb was a huge obstacle for the athletes, regardless of their fitness. Less than 500 meters into the climb, the “paperboy-ing” started again… I knew we were in for it.

Strangely, one of our athletes, Shannon Lawrence from Bermuda, started stretching his legs a bit. He was very nervous going into the day, and said for the first 40 miles of the ride that his legs were feeling very heavy. On Empire Pass, he had evidently worked all the kinks out, because he steadily motored away from the rest of the group. I don’t know what got into him, but he changed from flatlander to climbing machine that day. It made things a bit difficult for me, though… he was so far up the road, I would have to zoom ahead in the truck to take care of him, then wait or drive back down the mountain to feed and push the other riders. It was definitely a test of my abilities, not as a mechanic, but as a sag driver (NOTE: My legs were sore the next day from running and pushing riders up 20% grade hills for two days… just sayin’…).

Shannon made it to the top first, and the rest of the group followed shortly thereafter. There was a nice, long, windy descent with one minor little kick in it before the finish in Park City. All the group descended into town together and finished the CTS Tour of Utah Race Experience together. All the guys made it, and like most of the CTS events I’ve been to, they seem to have forged a bond and developed a sense of team accomplishment that I have only seen in my days in the Marines. All the guys are friends, and seem to have gained a brotherly bond over the course of the week.

After we returned back down to Salt Lake City, I began packing bikes for the riders’ journeys home. Once completed, we organized the trucks to travel to their respective destinations, then got ready for our team dinner and departure. Another race week in the books. Next up, four days off, then back out west for the Tour of Colorado… STAY TUNED!

Repair Stand Roulette

After working USPRO Championships with Team Exergy in May, I sold my trusty Park Tool PRS-21 repair stand to a buddy back home, so I could purchase a new stand I had seen on some cycling blogs, the Feedback Sports Sprint repair stand. The SRAM NRS West Coast crew and Josh from Team Exergy had already been using the Sprint stand since Sea Otter, and being a fan of the fork-mounted repair stand, I wanted to get my hands on one. I called Feedback, and placed one on backorder to ensure delivery as quickly as possible.

Fast forward a few months… no Sprint Stand yet. I called back and forth to Feedback to see if there were any updates, and they told me that they had received some feedback (pardon the pun) on the stands from the prototype units that had been sent to the race teams, and were making improvements before they put them to market. I completely understand that, and as an end-user, I’d rather not hassle with additional modifications needing to be made after the initial purchase. It should be as simple as pulling the stand out of the box and getting to work.

Unfortunately, the delivery date on the Sprint stand is August 9th-10th, and I’m flying out for the Tour of Utah on the 5th of August, so… I had to make a switch. This time around, I had to pass on the Sprint stand for the good ol’ Feedback Pro-Elite stand. I’ve used the Pro-Elite in the past at several events, and used the same clamp in a Park floor-mounted shop stand before. It works well, and I’ve had no issues with the ones I’ve dealt with on previous occasions, so I don’t mind making the switch. It will be here next week, just in time for the Utah trip.

Thanks to Feedback Sports for not compromising the integrity of the product by pushing it to market before it is ready, and ultimately looking after the customer. Even though the outcome isn’t exactly what I had hoped for, I appreciate the honesty and the willingness to work with me to get me taken care of in a pinch. I look forward to dealing with Feedback Sports again in the future, because of their great products, but more importantly, because of their amazing customer service.

(Another quick customer service note about Feedback Sports: Earlier this year, at the CTS Bucket List Tour of California Race Experience, we didn’t have any racks to hang the bikes from before or after rides, and were in a bind. We had been leaning the bikes against the truck and trailer for the first two days of the event, which was not very safe, especially with the quality of the bikes that the CTS clients were riding. One of our mechanics, Mike Hetrick (Mr. Goodbike, Gainesville, FL) called his friend Doug (founder/president of Feedback) and he was able to ship us two A-Frame portable event stands NEXT DAY from Colorado, allowing us to be safe with the bikes, and to be more efficient in our work for the remainder of the trip. This is one reason I decided to choose Feedback Sports for my repair stand purchase. Kudos to the staff of Feedback Sports for all their good work!)

Down Time

I’ve had the last few weeks off, and I’ve been collecting my thoughts and trying to figure out what’s next for me. Last week, Niki and I dropped the kids off at my folks’ house and we spent a couple of days in Asheville, NC. She surprised me with a ziplining trip at Asheville Zipline Canopy Adventures. I wasn’t expecting it, but enjoyed it thoroughly. Our guides, Joe and Jamie were AMAZING! If you’re ever in Asheville, visit the Crowne Plaza Resort and check them out!

The next day, we visited my buddy Andy Grabowski’s shop, Chainheart Cycling Studio, on Riverside Drive in Asheville. I’ve been telling him for the last several years that I would come up and visit, and I finally made good on my threat! Andy and his partner, Chad, run a sweet little cycling studio (not your ordinary bike shop…) that caters to higher-end and professional clients from all over. Andy’s been a good friend since he worked for SRAM and I was Head Mechanic for the Aaron’s Women’s Team. The last time I saw him was this year at USPRO Championships, where he and Chad worked for Team Liquigas riders Ted King, and eventual USPRO Champion, Timmy Duggan. Andy’s work wins races… big ones. If you’re ever in Asheville, go see Andy.

We had to drive home quickly, because the following day was the Georgia Games Road Race. It was the Georgia State Championship Road Race this year, and it was the goal I set for riding and getting back into some form of shape lately. The most fun part for me was that it was going to be my wife’s first bike race… EVER! We met as a result of cycling and she’s been involved with it for 9 years, but had never done a bike race herself. She was extremely nervous, but I was proud of her for just starting the race. The first one is definitely the hardest. She finished one of two laps, with a very strong women’s field (they averaged 21mph for Cat 4 Women!!!), and I was super-proud.

My race (Cat 4 Men) was a decent race for me. I was riding with my friend Harvey’s Lifetime Bikes/Loganville Ford team. Since I left my previous shop, I had no real team affiliation, so Harvey brought me a kit for the day’s racing. I missed my start by a few seconds because I had forgotten my energy gels, but was able to catch the peloton within the first half mile, so no reason for panic. We started out with a really fast first lap, in which my teammate and friend, Stephen Baxter, was taken out by a crash. He survived, but had to pop his shoulder back in place before his race on Sunday…

It was a pretty quick pace throughout the race, and got progressively hotter as the race went on. At the start of lap 3, one of our Lifetime Bikes/Loganville Ford teammates attacked right before the start/finish, and I was sitting about 4th wheel. I tried to get on the front and slow down the pace, but he didn’t have the energy to sustain a solo break with 45 other riders chasing not too far behind him. Right after the last turn on the last lap, some idiot decided to take a drink from his bottle and hit a reflector in the road, causing a massive crash. We were less than 2 miles from the finish at that point… any smart racer would have already fueled up for the finish by that point and been ready to turn on the gas. As we neared the finish, our aggressive motoref pulled EXTREMELY close to the field with less than 500m to go and tried to start relegating more people. It got too dangerous for my tastes, and my legs were worked from the race, so I pedaled across the line for 28th place out of 65 racers. My goals were accomplished: Finish with the field, and don’t crash.

A good friend I made at the Carmichael Training Systems Tour of California Race Experience, Will Williamson, came up and raced his first road race and criterium over the weekend. He and his wife, Jenny, came up from Alabama the previous weekend with the kids to hang out and for us to pre-ride the race course. They left the kids at home with the grandparents, so we had a chance to hang out with them after the road race. We didn’t really have any plans on Saturday, so we went down to East Point and watched the action at the Dick Lane Velodrome. They were having a big race weekend, and Outback Bikes had free tickets available, so we got the chance to introduce them to the track. Bumped into Jeff Hopkins (one of my former Jittery Joe’s riders, and track operator), Scott Patton (race announcer, and overall good guy), Joe Eldridge (Racer and Friend, Team Type 1), and Jon Woodroof (TwoToneATL.com, Bike Blogger, Instagram hero). Good times had by all.

Since Monday, I’ve been helping Harvey out over at Lifetime Bikes in Loganville, GA. One of his mechanics is on vacation, so I’ve been getting my hands dirty a little bit. If you haven’t made the trek over to Loganville, you most definitely should. The shop does a little bit of everything, but based on the cyclists coming in the door, I’d say it’s mostly a road shop. There are LOTS of group road rides that leave FROM THE SHOP (key to a successful road following), and Harvey’s got a passion for getting out there and cycling, himself. He competed in the road race and criterium this past weekend and pulled off a 2nd place in the Cat 5 crit at West Oak. Not bad for the owner of the bike shop, huh?

I’ve had a great time over here, and I’ve got one day left. Tomorrow is my 32nd birthday, and I get to spend it doing something I love. Working on bikes. I’ve said enough for now. I’ll catch up later.

Motorized Doping – Both Sides of the Story

It’s the buzz right now in cycling… did Fabian Cancellara use “motorized doping” to win Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders this year? Since this is PROBIKEWRENCH.COM… let’s discuss this interesting piece of technological buzz. First things first… let’s explain what we mean when we use the term “motorized doping.”

The phrase “motorized doping” refers to the a bike racer’s use of a bicycle with an internal electric-assist motor to gain an advantage over the competition. There’s a video on YouTube with over 1.5 million views that shows how a motorized system (in this case, the Gruber Assist) works and, in a roundabout way, shows “video proof” of strange hand movements and their accompanied accelerations by Fabian Cancellara during his two Classics’ wins this year. It doesn’t outright say that Cancellara used the system, but it does an amazing job of creating that assumption. Here’s the video:

You’ve seen the “evidence,” now take a look at this great read by freelance cycling journalist Jered Gruber in regards to his photo documentation and personal handling of Cancellara’s bike during his reporting following the Spring Classics. He does a great job explaining what he observed, and also why the mechanical assist system would not technically work in Fabian Cancellara’s race-winning Specialized Roubaix. Here’s the link to the article:

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/4415/Fabian-Cancellaras-so-called-motorized-doping-debunked.aspx

It’s a pretty convincing read, but the video can be persuasive, as well. It really depends on who you pull for in this certain situation. If you’re a Cancellara fan, you have to wish that this had never been brought up and you believe what you’ve seen… including his many amazing time trial performances and winning a TdF stage solo from a 1k attack while in the Maillot Jaune. If you’re a conspiracy theorist, and you still think there was a second gunman on the grassy knoll, then you may believe the Italian-produced YouTube clip in its entirety.

As of right now, the UCI is not pursuing Cancellara for any charges or accusations related to motorized doping, however… they do see this as a possible form of sporting fraud and are taking measures to address the fact that this technology be found in competition bikes. Roundtable meetings with all of the major manufacturers representatives are being scheduled, as we speak, to figure out how to check bikes for this and hopefully squash this form of cheating before it becomes rampant.

I have a sneaking suspicion that, due to lack of testing and UCI/USA Cycling rules being checked for in domestic races, “motorized doping” will make its way to the US domestic and amateur scene before long. People will do whatever they can to sneak in under the radar and get a win. Mark my words… someone will get caught trying to slip this one by race officials soon.

Athens/Roswell Recap, Part 2

On Sunday morning after Twilight, we departed the Hotel Indigo in Athens en route to Roswell, GA, for the Roswell Criterium. After an hour fifteen in the caravan with the rest of Mavic‘s volunteer mechanic crew, we made it to the race course. It was easy to find. The traditional race course is only half an hour from my house and I had raced the criterium for the past 5 years. You could say I was kind of familiar with the area…

We set up the pit area alongside Roswell Bicycles and I visited with my boss, Kevin, and one of my co-workers, Doug, who had set up the Out Spokin’ Sprinter Van and tent for the tailgate party. They had the gas grill out and were already into “party mode” after their morning ride around Roswell/Alpharetta.

At the persuasion of most of my Mavic buddies, I signed up for the Cat 4/5 race. I wasn’t going to do it unless I had enough cash in my pocket to sign up. Race day entry was $50 (which is ridiculous, in my opinion), and I had $53… so I was in. I worked a few races, then warmed up for my 1:55pm start.

If you’ve never raced Roswell, then you don’t know about the “race to the start.” Staging area for this race is beyond the 250m mark behind the finish line. Once the gate opens, you have to get clipped in and make a mad dash to the start to get the best position possible. It’s pretty crazy, but necessary to get in the first two rows, or you’ll have crappy starting position, and in most cases, a crappy race. Myself and my two teammates, Lonnie “The Legend” and Baxter, had a great “race to the start” and were all positioned in the second and third row.

My plan for the race was to conserve as much energy as possible, then see where I was at for the finish. There is never usually a breakaway in the 4/5 race… that’s just how it is. If there was a move, I wanted to be near the front to cover it and go with it, if need be. I also wanted to keep an eye on my computer. In a 40 minute criterium, the first 10 minutes is crucial. If you can make it through the first 10 minutes, you can settle and hang. If you’re in distress before that point, you should probably pack it up and call it a day.

I had a really good race. I avoided crashes, stayed near the front, and didn’t take ANY pulls. I downshifted before turns so I could pedal through without getting out of the saddle and expending any extra energy. I had no idea where my teammates were. I didn’t see them for quite some time. I think we lapped Lonnie at one point. He got stuck behind some crashes and got separated from the main field. I was consistently in the top ten throughout the race, so I figured a good sprint finish was in the cards.

I had good position for the field sprint, so I went for it. I probably took off a little too early. Roswell’s finishing straight is deceptively long, and I was running a 12t small cog. If I had an 11t (my own stupid fault), I may have had enough gear to finish in the money. I still managed ninth place. Top ten is nothing to complain about.

After the race, it was back to work with Mavic. We worked through the rest of the day’s racing, then packed up and headed to the house. Lots of little sidebar stories throughout the weekend. Ran into a lot of old friends and racers I have wrenched for in the past. Made some new acquaintances, too. All in all a good weekend of racing and fun.