In Tents!

A team is like 

a family. 

As 

you approach your team's area, friends 

in 

the parking lot 

kindly say 

"hi." 

But when you get over to your Team tent, they say "hi" and give you food!

Two Columns on Terwiliger

Congratulations!!

Congratulations to America.

Congratulations to the World.

Congratulations to Cyclisme.

Barton Park Race Report, by Greg

There were lots of crashes, I personally participated in 3:

One in the woods section after the asphalt parking lot where a guy went down right in front of me and I almost rode up and over him, but not quite.

One where I landed at low speed on Junior racer who was attempting to ride (but didn't quite make it) up the short steep rise onto the dike. I felt really bad after this one. We both made sure each other was OK, then raced on.

One where I lost it on the entry to the woods section (right in front of another rider). This one kind of hurt and I lost places and momentum.

I went from about 12th-15th place from the start drag race (and was close behind Kenji when he crashed), to 9th-10th place in the second lap before I got all sloppy.

I was chasing J Serna when there was an injured Junior on the uphill gravel rise to the starting flat straight. The kid was crying and in pain and scared. Justin didn't hesitate to pull off the race course to go help the kid out, and some other adults came from the side as well. Very helpful, classy and benevolent move by Justin.

I slowed down to make sure the medics were coming, and a couple guys came up behind me and said that there really must be a better way to have the juniors race but also be in a safer environment. I agree. The 3 of us then started hammering again.

At this point my head wasn't fully into the race, and then I came up on the major crash that Fergus was helping with. I finished the final lap by crashing on the woods section and getting a little banged and scraped up. I'm sore today.

Jeff had the Cyclisme move of the day as he sprinted (as in running, carrying his bike)across the line all the way from the run-up, displaying his high school 50 yard dash skills are still there.

I love the venue, and had a great time, but not such a good race. As the results show, Trevor really is going well in the B's. Jeff and I had a good time "cheering" on Fergus and Dave during their race. I also gave some good screaming to ex Cyclismite Darren Pennington. I may have jinxed him though, as he went backwards a little bit after that.

Greg

Barton Park Race Report, by Mike

My race report:

I liked it - surprisingly a lot, considering the 2 pre-race laps I was able to get in had me a little spooked. Some pretty technical stuff and some pretty fast stretches.

I had a mid-pack start. For the most part I like the system they have in place. My pre-season goal was to be able to finish consistently in the top half, and Barlow seemed to confirm I had the fitness. But at this point in the season, with no points to my name, I have to modify that. With about 35 guys or so getting call-ups, and the rest of us in the lottery, it just ain't gonna happen, so I'm satisfied with racing the guys I find myself next to - and staying on my bike, which seemed to challenge plenty of folks at Barton. From the pre-ride I figured my best strategy was going to be to ride the mud and corners carefully, and hammer the uphills and flats, and it seemed to work OK. So far I'm 4 for 4 this year on dropping my chain once on the first lap - not sure how it happened, but there was a bottleneck on the left hand into the woods so I was forced to dismount (I rode it the other laps) and when I came out of the woods, my chain was off and a bunch of guys passed me - I think Jeff was one. After that I rode clean, was able to ride the short hill onto the dike and the 2 downhills fine, though there was a "yellow flag" on the diagonal one for the last 2 laps (injury Fergus was talking about) so we were asked to take it slow.

Tactical error: I was riding 40+ lbs and should have been lower - I intended to bleed some off but forgot. I noticed it coming down that corner after the long gravel straight. Ah well. Up on the dike where it was rocks, mud, rocks, mud, repeat I was having difficulty holding a line. Jeff suggested that at the finish it might be advantageous to run it out rather than remount in a close race. I was side by side with a guy on the run-up and thought what the heck. It worked.

I noticed my overall time was about 38 minutes. The leaders around 34. Technically we had time for another lap. I had it in me. I think they ended our race early because they needed to bring paramedics in - I know they were stopping the juniors at the same time they were telling us "one lap."

On my third lap I saw three riders down being attended by others on three different parts of the course. Yikes.

I also had a brief thought of catting down to Master C - until I saw the size of Fergus's field. Holy crap.

Mike

Race Report-Barton Park, by Fergus

Here is a pic of Greg doing very well as always in the Master Bs.

I came in 110th in the Master Cs. That would seem terrible, but for two and half excuses.

One: there were almost 160 riders.

Two: I started in the back. I was in second to last place going into the first corner.

half a reason: Some weird mechanical issue. (read on)

I liked the course. I didn't love it. There were few places to pass and some bottlenecks.

I managed to pass some guys here and there, while recovering as best I could during the times I was caught behind someone.

And then I had a weird mechanical where my left brake cable appeared on the wrong side of my head tube. This issue presented itself after I became all tangled up with some dudes who couldn't ride their bikes over the that small section of up and down/through the woods (on the back side). Anyway, the cable was on the wrong side and I couldn't figure it out. It was rubbing. I calculated the coast of a new cable and jumped back on my bike after about 10 people had passed me. (It had taken so long to pass those guys.) There was half a lap left and I limped in.

Then as I was walking back to Greg's van when I some people pointed out that a rider had just crashed. I went over to see what was up and then I ended up helping the medical person and some other people take care of the guy. He had face-planted at the bottom of the small off camber hill before the run-up to the finish line. The cut on his chin was deep. It went through to the inside of his face. It was a ragged and dirty cut. The space between the nose and the upper lip was also busted open. His neck seemed alright, though supposedly the way he fell could have been very injurious.

I helped out by getting a sleeping bag and holding the umbrella and opening some gauze packets. It was fun. When I first saw his mangled face, I turned away. Then I became used to it.

Fergus

Big Team Meeting

Surge,

Shock,

and

Awe!

November 1st

2008

Vangardsmen:

Greg O.

Glen GoMe

Al

T. Spahr

Mr.Hilderbrandt

Dishes

Fergus

Csaba,

Dave Wingard,

Randy Word

Topics:

1.Dues

2.Finances

3.Uniforms

4.Training

5.Team Officers

It was soon apparent to all of us that we were the first team ever in the history of cycling, to address issues like these in a "meeting" setting. It was cutting edge spitfire maverick ACTION in a bold new century.