Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Stage 3 Crash Description
by Eric Coppock
Cipo described it best:
All that in the space of about 5 seconds. Pretty succinct description of what happened.
Something more in the way of a play-by-play (subjective eyewitness account as best I remember it):
Things started out very briskly from Cherryvale, thanks to Matson. I didn't much care whether we had a nice warm-up or dropped the hammer, I was feeling pretty good either way. Maybe that's because I had Jon's wheel, and when you have that, life is good. :) Matson and the Z got a little gap momentarily, but Uberdomestique Jeb "see you when I get back from France" Dunnuck duly brought it all back together. Jon countered and Jeb and I parked ourselves on the front to watch our him go away. It was fine with me twp ways ... my GC leader is up the road, and there'll be a lot less reason for everybody to get aggro for the 2nd place sprint points. We rolled a very comfortable tempo up to the top of the little climb and leveled off toward Costco.
As expected, the pace picked up over the top. Fraze rolled through on my left and moved over to take the front spot on the white line. Lots more movement on the left as Mike, Matson, Cipo, and finally Erin and Jeb came forward. Mike was lifting the pace as he came through at the front. This is on the downhill just as the road starts to bend right ... not in view of Costco yet. I noticed Bill moving up sharply on the far left; something about the body language suggested that desperate/aggressive surge of adrenaline was kicking in and he had his mind set on leading out the sprint. Had a little tingle of the spider sense, but that was probably more a case of "how am I gonna get over to Jeb's wheel and get forward to answer this" rather than a genuine sense of foreboding.
I was watching from an angle at this point ... I'm on the white line and all the action is on the far left as the road bends right. Matson had the bird's-eye view of what actually happened at T=0. What I could see is just as Bill started to overtake Mike on the left, Mike moved around a little pothole. Didn't look to me like an erratic move, just a little shift to the left and a point down with the right hand. However big the move was, Bill's front wheel didn't have enough room for it. That was it, next thing I knew there were bikes in the air. You know how sometimes people just kind of tip over and it's not that spectacular, and sometimes there's a lot of energy and violence? This was one angry crash. Bill and Matson immediately went into the blender. Erin was just ahead of me on my left, and was taken down sharply by some part of the Bill/Matson slurry. Bill's bike came spinning across the road and clipped Jason, who went down just to my right. I have no idea how, but I slalomed a little 2" shifting gap between Erin, Jason, and Bill's bike and came to a stop untouched.
Bill's initial contact was probably 6' to the left of the white line, and when he stopped he was to the right of the white line, feet pointed in the direction of travel. I don't have all that figured out. Everybody else got up, but it didn't take more than a minute or two to figure out Bill was missing some collarbone, and another minute or two to figure out there was a decent concussion going on.
"Bill, what day is it?"
"Um.... I don't know. Where are we?"
"Between Marshall and Superior on 170. Bill, who's leading the Tour de France?"
"Um.... uh, I don't know."
"Ha, trick question. It's nobody you ever heard of before this week!" ;)
There wasn't much to do at this point ... Mr. Bill was stable and as comfortable as you could get given the circumstances, so we hung out, waited for the fancy white van, and tried to keep talking. Bill said "I'm so sorry" and "whoa, I think I lost some time there" about a dozen times each. I got to have that really fun conversation with Sheri on the phone (thanks Mike for bringing a phone!), and she seemed relieved in a sort of sarcastic way ... "last time I got one of these calls it was a broken back" she offered in the way of encouragement. Then the ambulance left for Avista and we were all just standing by the side of the road with nothing much to say, and our heads full of shock and super-slow-mo replays.
Summary ruminations (open for debate): crashes don't have to happen. What could have helped prevent this one?
Eric
by Eric Coppock
Cipo described it best:
- F*(!@%!&*@#&$!!!!!!
- Whew (for those still standing)
- Race is over
All that in the space of about 5 seconds. Pretty succinct description of what happened.
Something more in the way of a play-by-play (subjective eyewitness account as best I remember it):
Things started out very briskly from Cherryvale, thanks to Matson. I didn't much care whether we had a nice warm-up or dropped the hammer, I was feeling pretty good either way. Maybe that's because I had Jon's wheel, and when you have that, life is good. :) Matson and the Z got a little gap momentarily, but Uberdomestique Jeb "see you when I get back from France" Dunnuck duly brought it all back together. Jon countered and Jeb and I parked ourselves on the front to watch our him go away. It was fine with me twp ways ... my GC leader is up the road, and there'll be a lot less reason for everybody to get aggro for the 2nd place sprint points. We rolled a very comfortable tempo up to the top of the little climb and leveled off toward Costco.
As expected, the pace picked up over the top. Fraze rolled through on my left and moved over to take the front spot on the white line. Lots more movement on the left as Mike, Matson, Cipo, and finally Erin and Jeb came forward. Mike was lifting the pace as he came through at the front. This is on the downhill just as the road starts to bend right ... not in view of Costco yet. I noticed Bill moving up sharply on the far left; something about the body language suggested that desperate/aggressive surge of adrenaline was kicking in and he had his mind set on leading out the sprint. Had a little tingle of the spider sense, but that was probably more a case of "how am I gonna get over to Jeb's wheel and get forward to answer this" rather than a genuine sense of foreboding.
I was watching from an angle at this point ... I'm on the white line and all the action is on the far left as the road bends right. Matson had the bird's-eye view of what actually happened at T=0. What I could see is just as Bill started to overtake Mike on the left, Mike moved around a little pothole. Didn't look to me like an erratic move, just a little shift to the left and a point down with the right hand. However big the move was, Bill's front wheel didn't have enough room for it. That was it, next thing I knew there were bikes in the air. You know how sometimes people just kind of tip over and it's not that spectacular, and sometimes there's a lot of energy and violence? This was one angry crash. Bill and Matson immediately went into the blender. Erin was just ahead of me on my left, and was taken down sharply by some part of the Bill/Matson slurry. Bill's bike came spinning across the road and clipped Jason, who went down just to my right. I have no idea how, but I slalomed a little 2" shifting gap between Erin, Jason, and Bill's bike and came to a stop untouched.
Bill's initial contact was probably 6' to the left of the white line, and when he stopped he was to the right of the white line, feet pointed in the direction of travel. I don't have all that figured out. Everybody else got up, but it didn't take more than a minute or two to figure out Bill was missing some collarbone, and another minute or two to figure out there was a decent concussion going on.
"Bill, what day is it?"
"Um.... I don't know. Where are we?"
"Between Marshall and Superior on 170. Bill, who's leading the Tour de France?"
"Um.... uh, I don't know."
"Ha, trick question. It's nobody you ever heard of before this week!" ;)
There wasn't much to do at this point ... Mr. Bill was stable and as comfortable as you could get given the circumstances, so we hung out, waited for the fancy white van, and tried to keep talking. Bill said "I'm so sorry" and "whoa, I think I lost some time there" about a dozen times each. I got to have that really fun conversation with Sheri on the phone (thanks Mike for bringing a phone!), and she seemed relieved in a sort of sarcastic way ... "last time I got one of these calls it was a broken back" she offered in the way of encouragement. Then the ambulance left for Avista and we were all just standing by the side of the road with nothing much to say, and our heads full of shock and super-slow-mo replays.
Summary ruminations (open for debate): crashes don't have to happen. What could have helped prevent this one?
- Awareness of other riders is critical in group riding. Some things about the body language I can recall just before the crash indicated that people were more concentrated on the upcoming sprint than anything else. Riding pack-smart when the race is full-on is a difficult art to master.
- I never ride with music, just as a personal preference thing. But I gotta say, wearing an Ipod in a pack, especially one that's riding competitively, ain't a good idea. It's hard to be aware of the people around you with sensory blinders on.
- Oldest rule in the book (and also impossible to follow 100% of the time): don't overlap wheels.
- Look ahead. If you're back in the group, you can anticipate what the person in front of you will do next by watching what the people in front of them are doing. You can anticipate what the folks in the front are going to do if you know what's in the road ahead.
- It's often tempting to entertain thoughts of whom should really be up there mixing it up, i.e. Stuey O'Grady's complaint that Scott Sunderland inhibited his line in a sprint and "shouldn't have been up there." I don't necessarily agree with this line of reasoning. There's no legit way to decide who the select group of experienced contenders should be that everyone else should get out of the way of. Try your hardest, mix it up to gain experience mixing it up ... but do it with awareness and smarts.
Eric
Sunday, July 18, 2004
State Criterium Championships
by Eric Coppock
I had a couple of expectations going into the State Crit on Sunday morning up in Longmont. I expected crashes. I expected my legs to be fully fueled and ready to explode, thanks to a perfect sprint session at the Staz with Couch on Thursday. Predicting a couple of non-threatening 2-man breakaways that never stayed for more than a lap was a no-brainer. I expected it would be easy to get to the front with 5 to go, but harder to stay there. I expected a big ol' Swanky's leadout train at the front on the last lap. I expected a long sprint, and I knew if I could get a jump on Swanky's they'd have a hard time handling it.
Well, I got what I expected, except there was this one guy...
I'd brought my rollers along for the warmup this morning, and it was just the ticket. It's hard to really get warmed up riding around in the cool morning air, but a few bursts of cadence on the rollers and I was nicely steamed up. I staged Couch-style, 15 feet off the back. The start/finish line is 4 lanes wide in Longmont, so the staging crowd was 3 rows deep and 30 yards wide. All the room at the back is ideal for avoiding the folks who miss their pedals, and for sliding up on whichever side of the bunch accelerates first.
There was a good-sized pocket of blue shirts right in the middle, and less than the usual 20-25 swankys guys. Looked to be maybe 50 riders or so ... definitely manageable. OK, here we go.
I totally camped at the back for the first 20-25 minutes of the race. Staying at the front is a nice idea except in the 4s the crashes happen at the front too ... in fact they're more likely near the front where the nervous folks who aren't strong enough to drive the pace hang out. So I was sitting tall at the back with a lot of room in front of me, and would only move up if I say people starting to cook. Preme laps were a welcome thing, as each time things would thin out at the back and I'd get an easy chance to move up.
All along Jerome and Troy kept watch near the front, representin' and taking shots at premes. After one long sprint, Jerome slid back a little, and we hooked up. We were just moving forward at about 15 minutes to go when the day's big crash happened. Where? On the huge wide straightaway of course. We were just where we needed to be and rode easily by on the left. We both moved up; Jerome took advantage of the mayhem and went right back to the front.
So far so good ... no matches burned, no skin lost, and ... 5 laps to go riders, 5 laps to go.
The pace had been easy enough I hadn't yet used anything bigger than 53:15, but that was about to change. I found Troy on the back side and said 'hey, time to go ride at the front eh?' We made a big move right to the front as we passed the 4-to-go sign, and led 1-2 through turn 1. I soft-pedaled the turn and Troy got a gap ... we were rewarded with lots of "hey he's got blocking!!" and a quick acceleration around me. Troy kept the pace high for most of lap 4 as I settled in around 5th wheel and started eyeballing to see who looked strong. This is perfect ... I'm right where I want to be and as long as the pace stays up and I don't get swarmed, I'm going to be able to set this up just the way I want...
Troy exhausts his boosters on the front straight, and the pace drops slightly. There a bit of a swarm coming up on the side. Just as I start to get nervous about being boxed in, another blue shirt arrives at the front and starts to drive it!! Jerome, with the perfect timing! The pace lifts again, the line strings out, and I'm right back in the catbird seat with room to move. Jerome keeps us lined out for lap 3. Oh yeah.
3 Swankys arrive at the front at 2 to go as Jerome pulls off. Could this be any better? If the gray grain drives it for the next 2 laps, I've got a free ride coming and I can probably take their sprinter. Somebody from Rio Grande takes a solo flyer but a Swanky and one other guy shut him down in half a lap.
Ring the bell, boyz!!! 1 to go and I'm fully loaded...
Now's the weird part. Another rider goes solo coming out of turn 1. There are 3 Swankys on the front, and maybe I'm just amped on adrenaline but it feels like the pace is *dropping*. Come on gray train, light it up. A 5 meter gap becomes 10, and after the chicane on the back side it looks more like 15. Swankys is letting the race get away and it's still the same guy parked on the front. What gives?
At 3 turns and half a lap to go, I realize I have to jump 'em. If I wait 'till the finish straight, I'll be sprinting for 2nd. Not that I necessarily want to lead out the bunch, but we're out of time. Still in the 15, I slide up on the rivet, move to the outside for the final two right-handers, and punch it. I'm even with 4th wheel entering 2 turns to go, but I've got velocity on the boys inside. On the half-block straight I come clean on the front, clicking 14 ..... 13 .... the turbo is audibly winding up and I rail the last corner with the throttle wide open. The Swanky's express is kind enough to leave me a nice gap, and their race is effectively over right there.
Now I only have 2 problems. It's 325 m to the line, and there's this one guy...
I spot him coming out of the corner and the gap looks like maybe 20, 25 meters. Oh jeez, this is gonna be hard... maybe I've left it too late. Bam, I'm in the 12 and I go like it's Smackdown day and I've got a prayer against Fabio. Head down and winding it up, right down the middle of the road. I steal another glance over to the left gutter and he's still up there, but he's coming back. Is it fast enough? Where's the line? Head down, a few more strokes, a quick glance under both arms just to make sure there's nobody there. Nope, it's just the two of us...
I spot the line again and take one more look at the gutter. I can't feel anything, I can't hear anything ... am I holding my breath or blowing like a steam engine? Can't tell. The poor guy is deliriously blown and I smoke him with not more than 15m to the line. Suddenly it dawns on me ... I just won the state crit.
I should be in pain, but I'm not. In 10 seconds or less, I think:
1) somebody tell Jeb I did it. Couch too.
2) Thank you Troy and Jerome!!!! You made it easy for me to set up the sprint.
3) Hey, my parents just saw me do that. Too bad the kids didn't make it too.
4) D'ya think they changed the ugly champ's jacket design? (no, they didn't) ;)
So again, gracias to the team for enough help at just the right time. Now *that* was a fun ride.
EC
by Eric Coppock
I had a couple of expectations going into the State Crit on Sunday morning up in Longmont. I expected crashes. I expected my legs to be fully fueled and ready to explode, thanks to a perfect sprint session at the Staz with Couch on Thursday. Predicting a couple of non-threatening 2-man breakaways that never stayed for more than a lap was a no-brainer. I expected it would be easy to get to the front with 5 to go, but harder to stay there. I expected a big ol' Swanky's leadout train at the front on the last lap. I expected a long sprint, and I knew if I could get a jump on Swanky's they'd have a hard time handling it.
Well, I got what I expected, except there was this one guy...
I'd brought my rollers along for the warmup this morning, and it was just the ticket. It's hard to really get warmed up riding around in the cool morning air, but a few bursts of cadence on the rollers and I was nicely steamed up. I staged Couch-style, 15 feet off the back. The start/finish line is 4 lanes wide in Longmont, so the staging crowd was 3 rows deep and 30 yards wide. All the room at the back is ideal for avoiding the folks who miss their pedals, and for sliding up on whichever side of the bunch accelerates first.
There was a good-sized pocket of blue shirts right in the middle, and less than the usual 20-25 swankys guys. Looked to be maybe 50 riders or so ... definitely manageable. OK, here we go.
I totally camped at the back for the first 20-25 minutes of the race. Staying at the front is a nice idea except in the 4s the crashes happen at the front too ... in fact they're more likely near the front where the nervous folks who aren't strong enough to drive the pace hang out. So I was sitting tall at the back with a lot of room in front of me, and would only move up if I say people starting to cook. Preme laps were a welcome thing, as each time things would thin out at the back and I'd get an easy chance to move up.
All along Jerome and Troy kept watch near the front, representin' and taking shots at premes. After one long sprint, Jerome slid back a little, and we hooked up. We were just moving forward at about 15 minutes to go when the day's big crash happened. Where? On the huge wide straightaway of course. We were just where we needed to be and rode easily by on the left. We both moved up; Jerome took advantage of the mayhem and went right back to the front.
So far so good ... no matches burned, no skin lost, and ... 5 laps to go riders, 5 laps to go.
The pace had been easy enough I hadn't yet used anything bigger than 53:15, but that was about to change. I found Troy on the back side and said 'hey, time to go ride at the front eh?' We made a big move right to the front as we passed the 4-to-go sign, and led 1-2 through turn 1. I soft-pedaled the turn and Troy got a gap ... we were rewarded with lots of "hey he's got blocking!!" and a quick acceleration around me. Troy kept the pace high for most of lap 4 as I settled in around 5th wheel and started eyeballing to see who looked strong. This is perfect ... I'm right where I want to be and as long as the pace stays up and I don't get swarmed, I'm going to be able to set this up just the way I want...
Troy exhausts his boosters on the front straight, and the pace drops slightly. There a bit of a swarm coming up on the side. Just as I start to get nervous about being boxed in, another blue shirt arrives at the front and starts to drive it!! Jerome, with the perfect timing! The pace lifts again, the line strings out, and I'm right back in the catbird seat with room to move. Jerome keeps us lined out for lap 3. Oh yeah.
3 Swankys arrive at the front at 2 to go as Jerome pulls off. Could this be any better? If the gray grain drives it for the next 2 laps, I've got a free ride coming and I can probably take their sprinter. Somebody from Rio Grande takes a solo flyer but a Swanky and one other guy shut him down in half a lap.
Ring the bell, boyz!!! 1 to go and I'm fully loaded...
Now's the weird part. Another rider goes solo coming out of turn 1. There are 3 Swankys on the front, and maybe I'm just amped on adrenaline but it feels like the pace is *dropping*. Come on gray train, light it up. A 5 meter gap becomes 10, and after the chicane on the back side it looks more like 15. Swankys is letting the race get away and it's still the same guy parked on the front. What gives?
At 3 turns and half a lap to go, I realize I have to jump 'em. If I wait 'till the finish straight, I'll be sprinting for 2nd. Not that I necessarily want to lead out the bunch, but we're out of time. Still in the 15, I slide up on the rivet, move to the outside for the final two right-handers, and punch it. I'm even with 4th wheel entering 2 turns to go, but I've got velocity on the boys inside. On the half-block straight I come clean on the front, clicking 14 ..... 13 .... the turbo is audibly winding up and I rail the last corner with the throttle wide open. The Swanky's express is kind enough to leave me a nice gap, and their race is effectively over right there.
Now I only have 2 problems. It's 325 m to the line, and there's this one guy...
I spot him coming out of the corner and the gap looks like maybe 20, 25 meters. Oh jeez, this is gonna be hard... maybe I've left it too late. Bam, I'm in the 12 and I go like it's Smackdown day and I've got a prayer against Fabio. Head down and winding it up, right down the middle of the road. I steal another glance over to the left gutter and he's still up there, but he's coming back. Is it fast enough? Where's the line? Head down, a few more strokes, a quick glance under both arms just to make sure there's nobody there. Nope, it's just the two of us...
I spot the line again and take one more look at the gutter. I can't feel anything, I can't hear anything ... am I holding my breath or blowing like a steam engine? Can't tell. The poor guy is deliriously blown and I smoke him with not more than 15m to the line. Suddenly it dawns on me ... I just won the state crit.
I should be in pain, but I'm not. In 10 seconds or less, I think:
1) somebody tell Jeb I did it. Couch too.
2) Thank you Troy and Jerome!!!! You made it easy for me to set up the sprint.
3) Hey, my parents just saw me do that. Too bad the kids didn't make it too.
4) D'ya think they changed the ugly champ's jacket design? (no, they didn't) ;)
So again, gracias to the team for enough help at just the right time. Now *that* was a fun ride.
EC
Monday, July 12, 2004
Tour de Boulder is on! See here for details and results: Tour de Boulder
Sunday, July 11, 2004
Ed Burk Crit (Cat. 3)
by Jeb Dunnuck
the race flyer says...
The course is 1 mile long, each race is a timed event. Technically challenging course. This course contains a
deceptive climb followed by a quick decent! This new course promises to be both aerobically and technically challenging
Free lap rules in effect. Wheels in wheels out.
Deceptive climb huh? Well, for some reason I took this to mean a false flat or something close.. hahaha... This SOB climb was a granny gear (for me anyway), steep as hell suffer fest that went up some rutted out golf cart path (Eric, you'd of loved it!). Oh yea, there was also a 160 degree corner right at the bottom so any momentum you had was killed and lucky you had to start the hill from a stand still. After the hill was a short flat/roller section followed by a very technical and fast descent. All in all a sweet but brutal course.
Andy and Jon Garcia were the only other RM's in the field of 45 or so riders. Andy and I start from the front and basically rode together the whole race. We were always near the front (pretty much anyway) and while I was suffering, Andy looked smooth and relaxed the whole race. He attacked at the top of the hill once and I took a couple years off my life trying to follow wheels while people chased him down. I didn't see Jon until about midway through the race and I assumed he was getting lapped since I never saw him go off the front. He rode with us for a while and then jumped off the front. I thought he just didn't want to get lapped and was going to try and lap us or something weird. Andy had some front derailleur problems and rode the climb in his big ring every time. Ha, not me. I alternated between standing up and trying to spin up the climb every other time and I was definitely in my 39.
A couple guys were off the front early on but we kept picking people up and the announcer said something about everything being back together. The count down clock was torturing me. 21 minutes to go... 19 to go.. .. 14 to go... I'm thinking the blessed 5 to go will come out next (yes, it's 2 minute laps and easy to see now but my IQ takes a serious drop at threshold) 12 minutes to go and I want to cry! Would they just have mercy on us and put that damn 5 laps to go out?? It finally comes out and I'd say everyone in the pack is equally tired. Sprint the hill, gasp and soft pedal at the top, wait for someone to pick the pace up, etc. etc. Last lap, two curves before the finish, I'm in 5th or 6th wheel and feel pretty good. At the second to last corner, the guy in second or third rolls a tire and goes down hard. Sucks to be him but thanks for getting outta my way. He slides to the outside of the corner and I scoot around on the left and then jump through the next corner and win the sprint. I thought I won but damn it to hell, there were still 4 guys off the front so I get 5th. Andy came in right behind me in 9th. Jon had apparently got a free lap for, of all things, a dropped chain?!?! How the hell is that possible? I'm still confused as to what the hell happened or when he went off the font. Either way, the dude was super strong and won the race so we had 3 RM's in the top 10. Pretty sweet!
Nice riding everyone at the Horgan and hope you had a great weekend!
Ciao,
Jeb
by Jeb Dunnuck
the race flyer says...
The course is 1 mile long, each race is a timed event. Technically challenging course. This course contains a
deceptive climb followed by a quick decent! This new course promises to be both aerobically and technically challenging
Free lap rules in effect. Wheels in wheels out.
Deceptive climb huh? Well, for some reason I took this to mean a false flat or something close.. hahaha... This SOB climb was a granny gear (for me anyway), steep as hell suffer fest that went up some rutted out golf cart path (Eric, you'd of loved it!). Oh yea, there was also a 160 degree corner right at the bottom so any momentum you had was killed and lucky you had to start the hill from a stand still. After the hill was a short flat/roller section followed by a very technical and fast descent. All in all a sweet but brutal course.
Andy and Jon Garcia were the only other RM's in the field of 45 or so riders. Andy and I start from the front and basically rode together the whole race. We were always near the front (pretty much anyway) and while I was suffering, Andy looked smooth and relaxed the whole race. He attacked at the top of the hill once and I took a couple years off my life trying to follow wheels while people chased him down. I didn't see Jon until about midway through the race and I assumed he was getting lapped since I never saw him go off the front. He rode with us for a while and then jumped off the front. I thought he just didn't want to get lapped and was going to try and lap us or something weird. Andy had some front derailleur problems and rode the climb in his big ring every time. Ha, not me. I alternated between standing up and trying to spin up the climb every other time and I was definitely in my 39.
A couple guys were off the front early on but we kept picking people up and the announcer said something about everything being back together. The count down clock was torturing me. 21 minutes to go... 19 to go.. .. 14 to go... I'm thinking the blessed 5 to go will come out next (yes, it's 2 minute laps and easy to see now but my IQ takes a serious drop at threshold) 12 minutes to go and I want to cry! Would they just have mercy on us and put that damn 5 laps to go out?? It finally comes out and I'd say everyone in the pack is equally tired. Sprint the hill, gasp and soft pedal at the top, wait for someone to pick the pace up, etc. etc. Last lap, two curves before the finish, I'm in 5th or 6th wheel and feel pretty good. At the second to last corner, the guy in second or third rolls a tire and goes down hard. Sucks to be him but thanks for getting outta my way. He slides to the outside of the corner and I scoot around on the left and then jump through the next corner and win the sprint. I thought I won but damn it to hell, there were still 4 guys off the front so I get 5th. Andy came in right behind me in 9th. Jon had apparently got a free lap for, of all things, a dropped chain?!?! How the hell is that possible? I'm still confused as to what the hell happened or when he went off the font. Either way, the dude was super strong and won the race so we had 3 RM's in the top 10. Pretty sweet!
Nice riding everyone at the Horgan and hope you had a great weekend!
Ciao,
Jeb
Saturday, July 10, 2004
Friday, July 09, 2004
Rest Day at the Tour de Boulder
Hello, readers. John Wilcocktosen reporting live from the bubble. It's the first rest day of LeTdB 2004. Here's an update on what's happening here in the shadow of the Flatirons.
The battle for the maillot jaundice is on fire, right from the start of the tour. Markus Schwab (doesn't take much to make that sound German) claimed the prologue with blistering effort up NCAR. Stage 1 saw der Kaiser light up a long breakaway, taking along Cipo Zdawczynski and Don Powell for company. "I died a thousand deaths" reported the Wily Z, but he managed to wile enough sprint bonuses in the process to take over the leader's coveted tunic. In stage 2's ITT, Schwab turned the tables again with another stage-winning effort, though these 3 combatants are separated by less than 30s at the top of the GC standings.
Thanks to his sprintapalooza efforts in stage 1, The Wily Z retains a healthy lead in the points competition. The greatly hyped sprinting tandem of Dunnuck and Coppock came up empty-handed in the sprints. "I lay the blame squarely at the feet of my lead-out man" Coppock snapped when asked about his performance at the press conference. "Maybe I'll just go home. I never liked the Tour's management anyhow."
Fortunately Coppock stayed in the race long enough to post a sizzler in Stage 2's ITT, taking 4th behind the "big 3" and moving up a spot on GC. Until some more fast people send in their TT times anyway. Oh well. "I got the priviledge of chasing down Bill. Passing him was a sweet moment for me ... it satisfied my need to be cruel and competitive. He was yelling things to me when I went by so you know he couldn't have been going all that hard" reported the surly time trialist.
The big hoss Matson Tew still holds the maillot pois of best climber, even though he has no idea where the course goes or what time it is. While nobody debates that Matson would rightly spank my backside in a fair TT contest, well, we already know that TT rules ain't fair this year, right? Check with Gilberto Simoni and Carlos Sastre on that one, and count your blessings.
As is fitting for a race of this stature, the early week was marred with a big ol' pileup. Sustaining the most physical damage was Kevin HC Cawley, still not recovered from his legendary skin-surfing episode at the Dauphine LeBustop. "It's OK, I didn't like the first set of scabs anyhow" HC reported. But the heaviest guilt trip falls to Marko Krebestino ... the sponsors are still working to keep his pistons in the race in the face of slipping morale.
That's all I know and I ain't had enough caffiene to make up any more. Signing off from the Bubble,
JW alias EC
Hello, readers. John Wilcocktosen reporting live from the bubble. It's the first rest day of LeTdB 2004. Here's an update on what's happening here in the shadow of the Flatirons.
The battle for the maillot jaundice is on fire, right from the start of the tour. Markus Schwab (doesn't take much to make that sound German) claimed the prologue with blistering effort up NCAR. Stage 1 saw der Kaiser light up a long breakaway, taking along Cipo Zdawczynski and Don Powell for company. "I died a thousand deaths" reported the Wily Z, but he managed to wile enough sprint bonuses in the process to take over the leader's coveted tunic. In stage 2's ITT, Schwab turned the tables again with another stage-winning effort, though these 3 combatants are separated by less than 30s at the top of the GC standings.
Thanks to his sprintapalooza efforts in stage 1, The Wily Z retains a healthy lead in the points competition. The greatly hyped sprinting tandem of Dunnuck and Coppock came up empty-handed in the sprints. "I lay the blame squarely at the feet of my lead-out man" Coppock snapped when asked about his performance at the press conference. "Maybe I'll just go home. I never liked the Tour's management anyhow."
Fortunately Coppock stayed in the race long enough to post a sizzler in Stage 2's ITT, taking 4th behind the "big 3" and moving up a spot on GC. Until some more fast people send in their TT times anyway. Oh well. "I got the priviledge of chasing down Bill. Passing him was a sweet moment for me ... it satisfied my need to be cruel and competitive. He was yelling things to me when I went by so you know he couldn't have been going all that hard" reported the surly time trialist.
The big hoss Matson Tew still holds the maillot pois of best climber, even though he has no idea where the course goes or what time it is. While nobody debates that Matson would rightly spank my backside in a fair TT contest, well, we already know that TT rules ain't fair this year, right? Check with Gilberto Simoni and Carlos Sastre on that one, and count your blessings.
As is fitting for a race of this stature, the early week was marred with a big ol' pileup. Sustaining the most physical damage was Kevin HC Cawley, still not recovered from his legendary skin-surfing episode at the Dauphine LeBustop. "It's OK, I didn't like the first set of scabs anyhow" HC reported. But the heaviest guilt trip falls to Marko Krebestino ... the sponsors are still working to keep his pistons in the race in the face of slipping morale.
That's all I know and I ain't had enough caffiene to make up any more. Signing off from the Bubble,
JW alias EC
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Stage One Perspective
by Steve Z.
that hurt so goddamn bad. you know how I always breathe quiet and stealthy? Well, I was sucking wind like an asthmatic in a shopping bag for 30 min out there. Mark is a beast, he pulled 80%. I honestly wasn't sure I was going to make it, if he wanted to drop me he could have at any second. At the Lagerman sprint Don went for it, I gave it to them because I was afraid of getting dropped. Mark decided not to contest the final sprint, and was winding it up for us. I did a similar amount of work as Don in the last few miles, so I felt it was fair to go for it. I jumped from Marks wheel and took it.
Now my right calf is in a ball, my face is flushed, my throat and lungs are raw, and I have a headache.
I thought this was supposed to be the easy stage? I won't go that hard in the TT tomorrow, thats for sure!
At Lagerman it was Don, Mark, me. Final Me, Don, Mark. I was too lactic to stop my clock so I don't have a time.
by Steve Z.
that hurt so goddamn bad. you know how I always breathe quiet and stealthy? Well, I was sucking wind like an asthmatic in a shopping bag for 30 min out there. Mark is a beast, he pulled 80%. I honestly wasn't sure I was going to make it, if he wanted to drop me he could have at any second. At the Lagerman sprint Don went for it, I gave it to them because I was afraid of getting dropped. Mark decided not to contest the final sprint, and was winding it up for us. I did a similar amount of work as Don in the last few miles, so I felt it was fair to go for it. I jumped from Marks wheel and took it.
Now my right calf is in a ball, my face is flushed, my throat and lungs are raw, and I have a headache.
I thought this was supposed to be the easy stage? I won't go that hard in the TT tomorrow, thats for sure!
At Lagerman it was Don, Mark, me. Final Me, Don, Mark. I was too lactic to stop my clock so I don't have a time.
Stage 1 Crash Perspective
by Darren Berns
Thought I would add some perspective on the pile-up in today's stage. Given that I was at the bottom of the pile of 3-4 guys I thought I would tell y'all what I know.
Just after the first sprint location the group was coming back together but in a very jumpy way. I don't know what happened in front of me but the guy with no shirt (I think this is Mark Krebs - sorry about my lack of name knowledge) locks up the brakes hard. I have no choice but to crank on the brakes as well and look for an out. I try to move to the left but my front wheel is already engaged in the rear wheel in front of me. For my safety and the safety of the peloton behind me I try to keep it upright. All is well until I get locked up from behind. I go down and the pile up ensues. Someone was in the ditch and 3 or 4 guys were on top of me once all the momentum was consumed. I popped a rear tire due to the skidding, shredded a rear fiber spoke, and knarled up my front rim. Some road rash, a stiff neck, and some lost plastic from the bike but overall okay.
I concur with the comments of others - Mark K, come out for tomorrow's stage and try it again. Crashes suck but it comes with the territory.
by Darren Berns
Thought I would add some perspective on the pile-up in today's stage. Given that I was at the bottom of the pile of 3-4 guys I thought I would tell y'all what I know.
Just after the first sprint location the group was coming back together but in a very jumpy way. I don't know what happened in front of me but the guy with no shirt (I think this is Mark Krebs - sorry about my lack of name knowledge) locks up the brakes hard. I have no choice but to crank on the brakes as well and look for an out. I try to move to the left but my front wheel is already engaged in the rear wheel in front of me. For my safety and the safety of the peloton behind me I try to keep it upright. All is well until I get locked up from behind. I go down and the pile up ensues. Someone was in the ditch and 3 or 4 guys were on top of me once all the momentum was consumed. I popped a rear tire due to the skidding, shredded a rear fiber spoke, and knarled up my front rim. Some road rash, a stiff neck, and some lost plastic from the bike but overall okay.
I concur with the comments of others - Mark K, come out for tomorrow's stage and try it again. Crashes suck but it comes with the territory.
Stage One Crash Perspective
by Kevin Cawley
from the man who took the brunt of the hit... shit happens. mark, don't sweat it - i would hang in there if i were you. the same type of thing happened last night on the bus stop ride w/ guys who have a bunch of experience. it was almost like a carbon copy of the previous evening... me over the bars and getting smacked up, road rash, jacking up the bike, etc.. etc... except today i got a bonus prize. didn't land on my head this time, but as i'm laying on the deck, i see a wheel ride clear on top and over my bum leg. right on the hip that is loaded w/ road rash and hurts like shit. now it hurts like double shit - ouch!
what the hell are the odds of that happening... two wrecks in two days and getting run over in the hot spot? damn, that's like hitting a dear at 50 mph or something.... wait a second that happened to me as well.
if the bike is road worthy and i can walk, i'll see you guys tomorrow.
btw, i picked up a blue watch in the mayhem...
by Kevin Cawley
from the man who took the brunt of the hit... shit happens. mark, don't sweat it - i would hang in there if i were you. the same type of thing happened last night on the bus stop ride w/ guys who have a bunch of experience. it was almost like a carbon copy of the previous evening... me over the bars and getting smacked up, road rash, jacking up the bike, etc.. etc... except today i got a bonus prize. didn't land on my head this time, but as i'm laying on the deck, i see a wheel ride clear on top and over my bum leg. right on the hip that is loaded w/ road rash and hurts like shit. now it hurts like double shit - ouch!
what the hell are the odds of that happening... two wrecks in two days and getting run over in the hot spot? damn, that's like hitting a dear at 50 mph or something.... wait a second that happened to me as well.
if the bike is road worthy and i can walk, i'll see you guys tomorrow.
btw, i picked up a blue watch in the mayhem...
Stage One Crash Perspective
by Mark Krebs
The story: two guys in front of me braked, the second one real hard, coming back to my front axle. I braked hard too, too late and hard I suppose. Somebody then hit My wheel pretty firmly and the crash followed.
I feel partly responsible for it, and am withdrawing from TDB, to stop the chance of a recurrence, a move I hope will encourage you better riders to stay in this cool event.
The race was nontheless fun today. Maybe time and experience will improve my riding.
Again, my apologies.
mark
by Mark Krebs
The story: two guys in front of me braked, the second one real hard, coming back to my front axle. I braked hard too, too late and hard I suppose. Somebody then hit My wheel pretty firmly and the crash followed.
I feel partly responsible for it, and am withdrawing from TDB, to stop the chance of a recurrence, a move I hope will encourage you better riders to stay in this cool event.
The race was nontheless fun today. Maybe time and experience will improve my riding.
Again, my apologies.
mark
More on Tour de Boulder's Stage One
Oh yea, I know. We're setting around soft pedaling waiting on everyone to catch back up. When they do, they blow right by and everyone takes off up the hill right past nelson. Everything goes to hell and it's nothing but gaps everywhere. I take off with rob and bernard on my wheel and catch one group. That group splits and I do nothing but close gaps until I catch Jon's group. Ugh, that was without a doubt the hardest part of the stage for me.
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Wright [mailto:bwright@RedPlanetConsulting.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 3:38 PM
To: Dunnuck, Jeb; Coppock, Eric
Subject: RE: time bonus
Thanks, Jeb. My lead-out and 2nd place in the second prime cost
me that first break, though. I was on, but was blown! So I got
dropped...
Fun stuff, though.
I was surprised not to see you or Eric up there. I guess you
weren't contending them because you'd have won them if you were,
but what about Eric? Good for me, but surprising. I guess we
shelled the peloton with these moves though. Do either of you
guys know when things blew apart back there? Jeb said things
were shattered back there at one point.
Bill
Oh yea, I know. We're setting around soft pedaling waiting on everyone to catch back up. When they do, they blow right by and everyone takes off up the hill right past nelson. Everything goes to hell and it's nothing but gaps everywhere. I take off with rob and bernard on my wheel and catch one group. That group splits and I do nothing but close gaps until I catch Jon's group. Ugh, that was without a doubt the hardest part of the stage for me.
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Wright [mailto:bwright@RedPlanetConsulting.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 3:38 PM
To: Dunnuck, Jeb; Coppock, Eric
Subject: RE: time bonus
Thanks, Jeb. My lead-out and 2nd place in the second prime cost
me that first break, though. I was on, but was blown! So I got
dropped...
Fun stuff, though.
I was surprised not to see you or Eric up there. I guess you
weren't contending them because you'd have won them if you were,
but what about Eric? Good for me, but surprising. I guess we
shelled the peloton with these moves though. Do either of you
guys know when things blew apart back there? Jeb said things
were shattered back there at one point.
Bill
