Two Wins At Rock Hill!
OLD TOWN CRIT
On a chilly and rainy day and a full Inferno squad that boasted heavy hitters like Jeff Hopkins and Rich Harper, our three man squad (Pat Raines, David Duncan, Mike Stoop) prepared for a good battle. The course had six turns, one of which was on a quick downhill to a narrowing one lane right turn with painted lines, reflectors and a median to factor into your turning equation in the rain.
We knew that if we hit it hard from the gun that many people would get dropped because of the slick conditions. So I went to the front on the first couple laps and kept the pace high. With in a couple laps a break group had established with about 8 riders, two of which were Inferno guys. Due to the slick conditions Pat and Duncan were sidelined.
Manager's note... I told the guys that after 10 laps most guys over 30 would have quit. In fact a lot of guys with a job and family did not start. Duncan is a professional rider and should not have been in that group. He needed to be out there racing and I was surprised to see him fall apart in a local race.
Soon after our break away group had gotten up the road the race announcer started ringing the bell for primes. I managed to take 3 primes from the inferno guys by beating them heads up in sprint for the line.
Manager's note.... None of which were not worth losing the race for. These were merchandise primes and giving them up could have lured his competition into a false sense of security. Going for and handily taking them could have showed what cards he had. On the other hand if these had been cash.....
Some point in the race I lost focus and went down but managed to surf on my cleats and didn't get hurt. Pat kept me calm and went to the pit with me for a quick wheel change then pushed me back into the break group.
Manager's note... Stoop really panicked. For a guy a who really has such a cool demeanor most of the time I was really surprised to see him so shaken up. He needed to realize that mishaps happen and you can take your time to relax and compose yourself while taking care of the business to get back in the race.
Getting near the end of the race we ended up lapping the field. I was hoping we wouldn't because I knew the inferno guys would get help from their lapped teammates. That is what happed; Rich Harper went to the front to set up a perfect lead out. I glued myself to his wheel and got a free ride most of the last 2 laps.
Just before that tricky turn I came around Harper and his teammates were following me. I led into the last turn and got to start my sprint first. I powered away from everyone in the sprint and the inferno guys ended up 3rd and 5th.
PATRIOT'S TRAIL ROAD RACE
90 miles, the first long road race of the season for the east coast squad. The race was held in historic Brattonsville SC. This was where a revolutionary battle had taken place and the movie the Patriot had been filmed. Pat exclaimed this is where the bratwurst had originated but I felt like he was pulling my leg when he said they filled up old socks from Valley Forge with the meat.
Another overcast and rainy day stayed with us the entire 90 miles. Because I had won the crit we started the road race in the lead of the omnium. We wanted to keep the overall because that was were the bulk of the payout would be.
Lucky for Pat and Me, Duncan got himself into a move with Scotty Weiss early on which had gotten 4 minutes on the field. It took the inferno squad at least 45 miles to pull the pair back. Duncan had given Pat and me the right to relax and do no work.
Manager's note.... This was a great contribution by Duncan and really did take the pressure off. The Inferno team did a good job of pulling the duo back. They rode strong and were committed to the task. When they caught the break they had not wrecked their team and I was impressed. With a full team though I was little surprised to see them let the duo roll up the road. This race rarely finishes in a field sprint and I think they would have done more damage by putting a guy in the break.
Once the breakaway pair had been pulled back the races started to fire with attacks and counters. Pat and Duncan were mixing it up and allowing me to save myself. I don't think there was a break in the last 35 miles that Pat wasn't in. Eventually a group of 8 had established itself with about 10k to go. Seeing that the gap was gaining time and the race was going up the road, I launched a counter off of Duncan's well executed attack. I managed to make my way across the gap, where Pat was sitting on the back of the break waiting for me.
In the last 5k Pat was keeping the pace high to keep everyone together. He covered the last two attacks of the day. A priority health guy attacked with a mile left and Pat stayed on the front and motored him down. As soon as he was brought back an inferno guy opened up the sprit. I quickly reacted and got on his wheel. With 250 meters to go I jumped around him for the win. Pat in his historian mode told me "not to start my sprint until I saw the whites of their eyes." It was funny because the finish was deceivingly long and to be patient was the key.
It was a successful weekend for us because the three of us handled a 6 man inferno squad through well executed team tactics. It was really rewarding to see the race unfold in our favor and for us to capture the overall omnium win. It wouldn't have happened without teamwork.
On a chilly and rainy day and a full Inferno squad that boasted heavy hitters like Jeff Hopkins and Rich Harper, our three man squad (Pat Raines, David Duncan, Mike Stoop) prepared for a good battle. The course had six turns, one of which was on a quick downhill to a narrowing one lane right turn with painted lines, reflectors and a median to factor into your turning equation in the rain.
We knew that if we hit it hard from the gun that many people would get dropped because of the slick conditions. So I went to the front on the first couple laps and kept the pace high. With in a couple laps a break group had established with about 8 riders, two of which were Inferno guys. Due to the slick conditions Pat and Duncan were sidelined.
Manager's note... I told the guys that after 10 laps most guys over 30 would have quit. In fact a lot of guys with a job and family did not start. Duncan is a professional rider and should not have been in that group. He needed to be out there racing and I was surprised to see him fall apart in a local race.
Soon after our break away group had gotten up the road the race announcer started ringing the bell for primes. I managed to take 3 primes from the inferno guys by beating them heads up in sprint for the line.
Manager's note.... None of which were not worth losing the race for. These were merchandise primes and giving them up could have lured his competition into a false sense of security. Going for and handily taking them could have showed what cards he had. On the other hand if these had been cash.....
Some point in the race I lost focus and went down but managed to surf on my cleats and didn't get hurt. Pat kept me calm and went to the pit with me for a quick wheel change then pushed me back into the break group.
Manager's note... Stoop really panicked. For a guy a who really has such a cool demeanor most of the time I was really surprised to see him so shaken up. He needed to realize that mishaps happen and you can take your time to relax and compose yourself while taking care of the business to get back in the race.
Getting near the end of the race we ended up lapping the field. I was hoping we wouldn't because I knew the inferno guys would get help from their lapped teammates. That is what happed; Rich Harper went to the front to set up a perfect lead out. I glued myself to his wheel and got a free ride most of the last 2 laps.
Just before that tricky turn I came around Harper and his teammates were following me. I led into the last turn and got to start my sprint first. I powered away from everyone in the sprint and the inferno guys ended up 3rd and 5th.
PATRIOT'S TRAIL ROAD RACE
90 miles, the first long road race of the season for the east coast squad. The race was held in historic Brattonsville SC. This was where a revolutionary battle had taken place and the movie the Patriot had been filmed. Pat exclaimed this is where the bratwurst had originated but I felt like he was pulling my leg when he said they filled up old socks from Valley Forge with the meat.
Another overcast and rainy day stayed with us the entire 90 miles. Because I had won the crit we started the road race in the lead of the omnium. We wanted to keep the overall because that was were the bulk of the payout would be.
Lucky for Pat and Me, Duncan got himself into a move with Scotty Weiss early on which had gotten 4 minutes on the field. It took the inferno squad at least 45 miles to pull the pair back. Duncan had given Pat and me the right to relax and do no work.
Manager's note.... This was a great contribution by Duncan and really did take the pressure off. The Inferno team did a good job of pulling the duo back. They rode strong and were committed to the task. When they caught the break they had not wrecked their team and I was impressed. With a full team though I was little surprised to see them let the duo roll up the road. This race rarely finishes in a field sprint and I think they would have done more damage by putting a guy in the break.
Once the breakaway pair had been pulled back the races started to fire with attacks and counters. Pat and Duncan were mixing it up and allowing me to save myself. I don't think there was a break in the last 35 miles that Pat wasn't in. Eventually a group of 8 had established itself with about 10k to go. Seeing that the gap was gaining time and the race was going up the road, I launched a counter off of Duncan's well executed attack. I managed to make my way across the gap, where Pat was sitting on the back of the break waiting for me.
In the last 5k Pat was keeping the pace high to keep everyone together. He covered the last two attacks of the day. A priority health guy attacked with a mile left and Pat stayed on the front and motored him down. As soon as he was brought back an inferno guy opened up the sprit. I quickly reacted and got on his wheel. With 250 meters to go I jumped around him for the win. Pat in his historian mode told me "not to start my sprint until I saw the whites of their eyes." It was funny because the finish was deceivingly long and to be patient was the key.
It was a successful weekend for us because the three of us handled a 6 man inferno squad through well executed team tactics. It was really rewarding to see the race unfold in our favor and for us to capture the overall omnium win. It wouldn't have happened without teamwork.
posted by Jered at
4:17 PM
6 Comments:
There are some pictures of your team at http://stores.ebay.com/phots-by-mj.
Good job Stoop- way to punk down everyone!
JB
No mention of the fact that the Hincapie/Coca-Cola/Barkley team were at the front all day right behing Inferno when our two guys were off the front early, and the fact that we also had guys going at all times. Kudos to you guys for racing a hard race with three teammates.
Priority Health? Really in 2008.... don't thinks so guys. That team was done at the end of 07.
Thanks for your scrupulous reporting! By simply reading the posted rock hill results we did a huge disservice to the cycling community and, by extension, the world. We will more thoroughly check our facts before making future posts. Again, we apologize to our loyal readers.
Also, thanks for the photo link. There is a missing o in it though. The correct link is: http://stores.ebay.com/Photos-By-MJ
Priority Health still has an amateur team...
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