Time machines and mid west fun
Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at 11:29PM Greetings from Ohio!
Yesterday I took the U-25/Elite team on a long drive in the country out here to Granville, OH for the Tour of Ohio. A five day stage race in Southeastern Ohio with a decent field and some solid team exposure. Racing this week is Justin, Adam, Lee, Craig, Ben, Will, David, Nathanial and Josh Jamner. I am here to make sure they stay out of trouble.
The drive took almost 12 hours as we constantly had to stop to feed Lee and let Adam go the bathroom. This guy can drink a lot of water!! Also, we took the TARGETRAINING team Volvo with the trailer, and the maximum allowable (and safe) speed is about 27 mph! It was almost completely uneventful except when we were passed in West Virginia by three Delorean sports cars. It was some sort of Marty McFly nightmare!
We are staying here in Granville at Denison University. It is a super quaint school in the hills and we are in some nice rooms complete with kitchens and everything. All of the stages are in the area, so it is a good deal. All of the race is staying here, including our arch enemies Kenda/Raleigh! There goes the neighborhood!
This morning we got up, had breakfast and went on an awesome easy ride to open up the legs from the long drive. The farm roads are amazing and with almost no traffic. We had lunch (what is Nutello?) and got ready for the race.
Today was stage 1, a 60 lap criterium of a 0.5 mile, 9 corner loop with a cool hill in downtown Mt Vernon, OH. The race started fast with some locals trying to get things going until the Adam Bomb and Justin Wolverine Lindine went crazy. Justin attacked over and over again and once he stopped, the Bomb took over. After about 8 laps, the officials had to pull over 50 of the original 120 starters as they had all been dropped by the green machine!
Finally Justin countered an amazing Bomb move and stayed away solo for about 35 laps. Adam came super close to bridging up with local guy who just couldn't keep up and they got caught by the field. With No Nickname Nate and Craig-man covering every chase move like a wet blanket and Leero pulling up the rear, Justin stayed away and absolutely charmed the heck out of this small town. Nate even crashed and got back into the race no problem. These guys are motivated!
Finally however, three criterium experts bridged up despite our efforts and they outsprinted Justin despite his last lap attack. It was amazing to watch them all in action as they worked together well and handled every move perfectly.
Tomorrow is a hilly 70 mile road race with a one mile finishing climb. The riders here all seem to be strong criterium dudes, so our big plan is to let the Wolverine wreck havoc on the bumps as normal. They are no where enough prepared to experience the hurt that this team is going to give! All the other teams are very impressed and jealous of our camaraderie and strength. Cool!
Everyone is doing great and are eating well thanks to some pots and pans on loan from Try-Lyn. Thanks! Well, its off to the dorm kitchen to try to talk the night shift into washing our water bottles. Wish me luck! More tomorrow!
Reader Comments (1)
I forgot to mention that they Justin finished this 30 mile criterium in under 1 hour. Do the math!