A Weekend of Crits

This past weekend I went down to Charleston to do the Low Country Volkswagen crits. It was a blast. On Saturday I did 3 crits. I did the Juniors in the morning, the cat 2/3 in the afternoon followed by the cat 3/4 directly after. Sunday I did the Juniors and the cat 3.

Saturday
The Junior race was the first race of the day. It started at 8:00. The plan for this race was to attack and if I could get off the front then sweet if not then I would just sit in and contest the sprint. I never was able to get off the front and stay there even though I tried a couple of times. On one of th laps I heard Prime lap and I was like sweet! So I manged to pick up a 20 dollar prime. I was feeling strong and was at the front of the group for the last lap. Actually I had been at the front for almost the whole race. I camp around the last turn following Josh Antleys wheel and put the power to the cranks and flew past him getting myself a first place finish. I would have 5 hours until the next race.

The Podium

The cat 2/3 race was much harder. I managed to hang in pretty good until about halfway through when I got gapped on one of the turns. Somebody bumped me and about took me out and It took a lot of energy to catch back on. Once I did get back on I started to fall off and never could really recover. I bailed out with 5 laps to go and decided I was going to race the cat 3/4 race which was right after the 2/3 race.

I felt a lot better in the 3/4 race. I have no idea how I manged to still have energy and the legs to do a 3rd race of the day but I did. I didnt get the best starting postition but I knew that I would be able to move up to the front easily and thats exactly what I did. I got in the top 10 and staye there. I felt great. I was covering attacks and sitting in saving energy. We came around to the start finish line and I heard 3 laps to go! I kept my position up in the front and tried to find the strongest guy in the field so I could get on his wheel. With 1 lap to go people were getting crazy and making really dangerous moves. I got passed by about 10 guys and was now sitting in about 20th. We came around the final turn and I could see the Finish line. The group started to sprint and I went around 7 guys and ended up with 13th. I was happy with the finish and was looking forward to Sundays race.

Sunday
Today was the SC Crit championships. I would be doing the Juniors race in the morining and the Cat 3 race in the afernoon. The Junior field had a pretty good sized field. There was a team called Carolina Cyclones and they had 5 guys working for one guy. I knew they were going to be attacking every chance they got and I was prepared to cover them. We lined up for the start and the official told us that the last turn was wet and that we needed to be careful. Then he said the magic words "go". We were off, The Carolina Cyclones had a guy go off the front from the get go. Robert Antley covered that one and that would be the last one he covered. Once that guy got caught Carolina Cyclones did it again! They attacked the whole race until they manged to get their man off the front. I tried my best to bring him back but no one was interested in helping me. He stayed away and it came down to a field sprint for second place. I got passed by one guy and got third. If it was not for all the work I did I think I would have came away with second but I was still happy with the results.

The cat 3 race felt like it was a lot easier. This time it would be Land Rover controlling the race. They had a guy in a break the whole race. I was able to stay in the front easily and even manged to get in a couple of breaks. None of them stuck though. I rode really strong and was happy with how I was able to cover the attacks and get on peoples wheel easily. I was sitting about 12th wheel coming out of the final turn and I knew I wold be able to get around some guys and get a top 10 finish. Well just my luck and accident happend right in from of me. I managed to go around it but also got passed by about 8 guys. I was still really happy with the race and feel that my fitness is coming around.

My next race will be in Athens GA, followed by the Dillworth Crit. All for now

-Andre.

Going to Charleston

Im leaving for Charleston this afternoon to race. I am feeling good and hope to come home with soem good results. I will post the report this weekend. All for now

-Andre

Running Errands

Since the gas prices are getting so high and the fact that I have a Jeep that gets about 15-17 miles per gallon I have decided im going to start running my errands on the bike. Today was just that.

Some Stats:
Ride Time:3:26:18
Distance: 60
Avg Speed: 17.3
Avg HR: 150

I decided to take a self-portrait while riding.



Henderson county is known for its apples, off to the right
are some apple trees that are bare. During the summer
its nice to stop and eat one.

My Early Cycling Days

The First 2 Wheel Bike I Had

I Hate

Being sick. For the past 2 days I have been off the bike due to a sinus infection. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day I will get back into the swing of things and get back on the bike. My next race is next week in Charleston for the Low Country Volts wagon race. All for now

Rock Hill Omnium

So my first weekend as a Cat 3 went great. I rode down to Rock Hill SC, to do the Omnium even know the weekend called for a 100% chance of rain. I rode down with Frank Obusek. Frank and I rode to a lot of races together in 2006. Friday night would be the White Rose Sprints Saturday would be the Old Town Crit and Sunday would be the Patritots Trail Road Race.

Friday Night
The sprints in the Rock Hill Omnium are unlike any other Omnium I have done. Most Omniums consist of a Time Trial, Road Race, and a Criterium. I was scheduled to go off at 7:40 in a heat with 7 other guys and 1st and 2nd would automatically make it to the final heat while 3rd,4th and 5th would get a second chance to try and make it. Frank went off an hour before me and told me the best thing to do would be sit 3rd wheel until about 200 meters out. I did exactly that and came around two guys to take the win advancing me to the final round. The final round would not start until 8:25 but do to a strong thunderstorm system the start got pushed back until 9 P.M. I went down to the start line and got clipped in while someone held my seat. The rain started coming down again and I was getting ancy as I did not want to get soaked. The official blew the whistle and we were off! I found myself leading the group of 7 guys and with the rain starting to pour I hit it as hard as I could 300 meters out and managed to hold everyone off. I got 120 bucks for the win and I was now the leader of the Omnium.

Saturday
I was registered to do the Juniors but skipped out in order to save myself for the crit that would follow later in the afternoon. I would have my Strong teammate Adam Penny to help me out and try to keep my first place overall. The rain held off and we were off at 11:45. With the course being went and slippery from the rain the night before I knew the chance of a crash was high so I would be very careful. The race would be 25 laps. I was feeling pretty good until a crash happend in one of the turns. My teammate Adam went down in the crash but was not hurt. He went to the Wheel pit and got his free lap. After the crash I had to chase down the leaders and after I caught them I was hurting bad and I would suffer the rest of the race. A breakaway of 3 guys went up the road with 2 laps to go and Adam did an Incredible job to bring them back and help me get a 7th place finish. I made 45 dollars for that place and gave Adam 20 for all the hard work he did.

Sunday
Sitting 3rd overall in the Omnuim only 1 point out of second place the plan today was for Adam to bring back breaks and protect me. The race would be 90 miles. Two 45 mile laps. About 7 miles in a 4 man break was established and they had a 5 minute lead by mile marker 35. When we came around and finished the first lap I grabbed a water bottle from my girlfriend Morgan and found out that the break was only 3 minutes ahead. Now the real race would start. Adam went to the front and was working extremely hard so the break would not stay away. Adam is such a hard rider and a great training partner. The break eventually got caught at mile 70 and the Peleton was Groupo Compacto(All together). A 2 man break went up the rode with 10 miles to go and they would never be seen again. Adam was cracked because of all the hard work he had been doing all day. I needed to get a good finish. My legs felt great and I knew that if I could get to the front of the group I could do really well in the sprint. As we turned on the finishing road and had only 1 Kilometer to go I was finding it hard to move to the front. At 400 meters the group started sprinting. I flew around a lot of guys but only enough to get 15th. I got 5 dollars for 15th. As of right now im not sure if I lost my Omnium spot but I probably did. Overall it was a great weekend and I am feeling really strong. Its great to have a strong teammate such as Adam and be able to come away with results. My next race will be in 2 weeks down in Charleston SC.

Warm Weather and A Nice Ride

Adam and I rode together today and did some hill work. It was pretty tough but I felt good on the bike. We climbed Terrys Gap, Locust Grove twice, and Hutch Mtn. For those of you that dont know these climbs Locust Grove is a beastly climb. It hurts, especially on the second time up. My legs are feeling good so far this year and my training is going good. I hope all the hard work pays off. I would out pictures up but my computer is being stupid and it wont let me.