A day in the life

I am really starting to enjoy the change from bike racer to manager. I think...

Today at the Tour of Ohio my day started at 5:00am. I get up and shower, getting dressed in standard manager wear: shorts, sneaks and logo polo shirt.

Then I clean the dorm rooms and kitchen. These kids eat more than a small country. It is absolutely amazing. After that I gather the water bottles and head over to the dorm kitchen to get them washed. I am good at sweet talk and get that done.

Then I clean out the car, fill the tank and plan the day's transfer to the stage and route. At about 7:30 I head to each of the rooms and wake up the riders. There are 9 in all for this race and that takes some time as they just dont want to get out of bed. I have to do this again. After a while all of the team meets in my suite and we head over to the chow hall to get them fed.

I had already filled out the meal vouchers for all of them and they eat under while I watch: not too much and not too little. Then when it is time, I make a subtle hint and we head back to the rooms.

Yesterday I get them kitted up and drove the car behind them for an hour or so for a nice recovery ride from the drive. Today, I just make sure they are getting dressed while I fill up 50 bottles of Cytomax and water, plus Cokes and food. Today is a long road stage and they will need it.

I then load up the car with bike and riders. This is not easy. Each athlete is on a different clock and has a different plan for their morning; the trick is getting them on my plan. Not easy.

We drive to the race where I hand out radios, make sure the officials are on board and get them to the start. Once that is all set I get in the car and drive in the caravan. This is a little tricky as we are the second car in the line and have to fight to keep this spot. That might mean a few dings in the paint (sorry Ellen!).

After a few hours of excitement, the race is over. I then have to drag these pour kids into the car kicking and screaming as they just want to sit and talk about the race. This is fun but there a lot of days left and they have to eat and go to bed.

Back at the college I unload the bikes and get them washed. Then laundry, wash the bottles and make lunch. Get the riders off for naps and try to catch up on some stuff. I call the girl, email the sponsor and buy a bottle of wine. No news on whether I will share it.

After that trip, I meet the cat 2 rider from another team I am trying to steal. I make some secret deals. It could work.

After that, I make dinner. As luck would have it, one of the riders likes to cook and he helps. Then, clean up, get them ready for bed and then in bed.

I stay late, email the sponsors and book the expenses. Send some notes to the promoters and try to get to bed around 1am. A few hours later, the alarm rings.

I think racing was easier.

Fitchburg here we come!

It's awesome to see us mentioned in a recent press release for the upcoming Fitchburg/Longsjo Classic Stage Race during the 4th of July weekend. We love this race and the organizers are great.

We hope to do well in the cat 2 event and score in the NRC pro race (high aspirations)!

Hope to see all of you there!

Rules?...

Greetings from Day Two of the Tour of Ohio. As you might remember, the U-25/Elite team is out here for a five day stage race. I am not going to lie to you, it is a little disappointing and strange. As you may remember from yesterday's email, Justin was amazing in the criterium with da' Bomb, No Nickname Nate, Leero and Big Craig also rode well. With only about 25 finishers, you would think I was super psyched as manager. Well, the promoters decided to make the race prologue event, and only score the top three finishers with 20, 10 and 5 second bonuses for their placings. Every other rider gets the same GC time, whether they finished or not.

This is a bummer. We absolutely owned this event. The team was amazing. So instead of Justin being minutes and minutes ahead of the rest of the field, he had exactly the same time. Ugh.

The race is being governed by the rules of the American Bicycle Racing Association, not USA Cycling as we are used to seeing. That basically means there are no rules and they can change them without impact; why not? Back to today: a 70 mile hilly road race in southeastern Ohio starting in a big local state park. Things are weird here as they line up at the start line 15 minutes before the stage even starts. If this was back home, Tony would still be in bed! Really though...

Things get exciting quickly as someone who constantly campaigns that everyone but him is a bad sport attacks in the neutral section of the race. Way to make friends there buddy. TARGETRAINING wastes no time and go to the front with Stylin' Ben and BFD Dave to keep everything in control. I am in the caravan behind the race when I see the Inferno team get a mechanical and sit up. I shout to "go" in the radio and the pace goes up as the entire team attacks into a headwind ala CSC. Nice.

And then, chaos. Just as we crest the first KOH (hills, no mountains in Ohio) Justin gets a flat front tire. He pulls over and Adam Bomb calls the team over the radio: Justin has a flat, all hands on deck. Dave, Will and Adam drop back and get Justin no problem. I peel off for the feed zone to get them all drinks.

The zone is 20 miles later and surprise: Justin is off the front in a 3 man breakaway. We are so happy. He grabs a bottle but drops it 50 feet later. Disaster. I get in the car to chase, but the official wont let me by him. The move doesn't stick but now he and Lee are away with a ten man move. It is super negative so it doesnt work and a counter gets away. Craigman chases and tries to launch Lee and Justin again on the final climb. They do tremendous damage to the race, but miss the win.

Ordinarily you would think that this was good. But here in Ohio with the ABA, there are no rules. The promoter says that if you attempted to race, then you get to finish. What? Is this T-ball? There should only be 25 riders left in the race, and at least 4 of them are wearing the green and blue. What is happening?

Well, tomorrow is another lumpy 60 mile road race. We will continue to be aggressive, but instead of letting the course dictate the splits, we will make things happen. Look for updates as I am off to make dinner again. Second dinner. All they do is eat!
Thanks!

Its the Tour of Something!

I am becoming less enchanted with the Tour of Ohio.

It all started bad when the initial race description labeled the race as 61 miles with no points sprint line and no feed zones. The lads of the TARGETRAINING U-25/Elite Bicycle Racing team were prepared to work with me in the caravan for bottles and not to worry about our new nemesis Inferno Racing. Instead, the promoter stated that there would be two feed zones, but while the riders were on the start line! What? Now what do we do? Where is the feed? When? No help. Then, a points sprint about 50k in. This was not in the description! Was he drunk? We decide to go with the original plan.

The race itself was amazing. The team was absolutely amazing. Despite a neutral section contested at about 40mph a small break gets up the road. The lads miss the move, but BFD Dave and Stylin' Ben Zawacki go to the front and work to bring it in. As you might have guessed from my earlier posts, the other teams here are not so pleased with us as we are making the race super hard and not letting anyone get away with coasting to a victory.

This particular move was super strong and it takes BFD and Stylin' about 20 miles to bring it in. Ouch. Let me tell you right now that Ben Zawacki was incredible. He worked the hardest I have ever seen anyone in my life. Constantly at the front and constantly working to keep this break in site. Wow.

Finally, the chasing works and the field comes back together only to see a move go up the road. Who do you think it is? Hmmm....guess yet? Yup, it is Justin Wolverine Lindine with a Kenda, plus Decanio and two pesky Inferno riders. Justin is dropping them on the hills so the Inferno guys ask him to sit up and they will work with him to the finish. "Nice", thinks Justin, "this could work".

Meanwhile, back in the field, the rest of the squad is working like crazy. Nate is tired from humping bottles all day and Ben is blown from the work at the front. As the Wolverine Attack gets up past two minutes, the race leader starts to chase as now Justin is winning the overall on the road.

In the Volvo, I hear BFD asK "what do I do?". Before I can respond, a quiet calm voice from the Adam Bomb states:

"follow the yellow jersey". Brilliant.

BFD immediately latches on to the chase and kills it hard. Up front, the Inferno guys have realized that they do not stand a chance against Justin in the finish and sit up and wait for the field. Once back in the field, they actually help drive the pace with the rest of their teammates to bring the remaining breakaway back together again. What whooses. This is the stupid and most "tool" move we have ever seen. You do not make a deal and then welch on it if you expect to ever get it done again. Jerks. Tools. Freds.

So now the race is approaching mile 60 (it was supposed to be 61). Only, we pass a sign that says Gambier: 13 miles. Holy crap. No one knows what to do. The promoter has mis judged the length of the stage by over 20 kilometers. The lads start to work to set up Lee for the finishing climb hoping for a stage win, but the end never comes. How much longer? What the hell is happening here in Ohio? Is it Marty McFly all over again?

Well, the field is nervous and bunching together and the inevitable happens: crash. About 1500 meters from the finish line every cat 3 wannabe Fred in the midwest decides they can win the race and there is a huge crash at the front of the race. Da' Bomb goes down but seems to actually land upright about 20 feet from his bike. There are bodies everywhere. Justin and Craig have to put a foot down and try to get around the crash and someone is actually on the wrong side of the barriers. I put the Volvo in park (at 35 mph, sorry Ellen!) and help get Adam going again. The race is over for us but they certainly tried.

We absolutely owned this stage again. Either we were in the moves, or made the reaction to them when necessary. The team was perfect in every respect and they did a great job. It was great to see and all the other teams (except Inferno) thought we were great. Unfortunately, we are racing in an event that allows the stages to be of an indeterminate length and the promoter can change things as he wishes. Crazy. Talk after the race was about how the USCF threw him out for not doing the right thing in the past. Too bad as the courses are awesome and the local people have been super cool and nice and excited about the racing. Even those shifty Mennonites have been cheering us! We have learned our lesson again.

Tomorrow is a 40 mile criterium and we plan on making the entire field regret waking up. Everyone is feeling great and getting in better shape every day. So much fun. Tune in tomorrow to hear how the da Bomb, Wolverine, big Craig, Leero, BFD, Stylin, Will, Josh, No Nickname and even me get through the day.Thanks!

Kyle WolfeManager, TARGETRAINING Racing Teams
http://www.targetraining.com/

Let me tell you about a little Bomb I know

One of our favorite riders on the TARGETRAINING U-25/Elite Bicycle Racing Team is Adam St. Germain.

Let me first describe him: Adam is about 5'7" tall, 135 pounds and has a shaved head. Not the cool Telly Savalas shaved head, but the creaper Robert DeNiro in Taxi Driver head. We expect him to any minute say something like "everything is clear now".

Adam has piercings and lots of tattoos. And Adam St Germain is the funniest person you will ever meet and keeps the spirits of the team high at all times. Craziness.

He is also a good bicycle racer. Just this week here at the Tour of Changing Rules, Adam came up to me before the start of the first stage and stated: "this is a criterium made in heaven". He then proceeded to help split the race into a million pieces. He was awesome.

At yesterday's stage three, Adam was able to take care of Justin, come back for bottles and still make everyone laugh. He is one of the best descenders in Ohio and always tries to do his best.

Now, about the nickname. Adam is from Providence, RI and that whole area is a small cycling community and a local race announcer made the reference as if he were an Atom Bomb to his competition. I redirected the moniker when it always seemed as if he exploded about three hours into a race. Unfortunately, this was even if the race was 4 hours long. Oh well.

Last year Adam was famous for forcing the Fitchburg breakaway that gained the team the Green Sprint jersey as well as being heads up at the criterium the next day.

This year he has been much more fit and is a valuable part of the team. He even has a blog at http://www.kingoftheapplies.blogspot.com/

Check it out and whenever things get tough, think of da' Bomb!