Iris Stagner Memorial Stage Race

16-17 February 2013- Iris Stagner Memorial Stage Race (formally known as Mineral Wells Stage Race)

After coming off a big training week at camp it was a few "easy" days back in Texas and then off to a Stage Race for the weekend.  I was interested to see how the body was going to respond after the big week at camp and I quickly got my answer during the Crit.  The race was 3 stages, points based, and team based.  Unfortunately you had to have 3 people for the team category, and unfortunately we only had two.  The race schedule was a 60 minute crit in the AM and 7 mile TT mid day on Saturday and then a 72 mile road race on Sunday.

The Crit-

Since the main focus of this year is triathlon the cycling races are just serving as good solid hard training days on the bike.  Going into these races I know what courses are going to take a beating on me, and the crit course was going to definitely do just that.  Since I have not been training like a cyclist I have noticed all of my power for 2 minutes and under is suffering, but my endurance state efforts are doing alright, not as high as last year mid summer but still respectable.  I have basically lost my "snap" and "jump", or whatever little bit of that I had ;)

The crit was a 6 turn technical bumpy crit with a 1/2 block section that hit 10+%.  Not to mention it was right after a rough 90 degree turn.  I knew this was going to be tough for me but thought I would at least be able to hang on for dear life.  Well the whistle blew and I didn't get clipped in right away, and after messing with my pedal for 5 seconds I was already hanging onto the back of the pack.  About 10 minutes later I was off the back of the pack, and then 10 minutes later I was pulled from the race.  Of the 60 minute crit I lasted a whopping 20 minutes and started of the Stage Race with NEGATIVE 5 points.  If you made it past the half way you lost 1 point, and within 5 laps no points were lost.


Category: Elite CAT2-
Results: Pulled/DNF out of 41 (http://www.teambicyclesinc.org/MWSR%2011/ISMSR%2013/ISMSR_2013_Saturday%20Crit.pdf)
Link to ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/41162185

The TT -

Now here is something that I felt comfortable with a 7 mile TT, but the problem was it wasn't flat.  No worries a few rolling hills and a little bit of wind.  I just put my head down and went hard, since I had some ground to make up from the crit, figured I had nothing to lose, other than my 30 minute run off the bike might hurt a little more than normal.  More on that crazy running stuff later on.

I put down what I considered a solid effort and felt good about the power output.  I wasn't all that happy with my placing, but according to some of the "local" Texas guys we had a stacked field of TT'ers.  I ended up 10th and made my way from dead last to 24th in the GC Standings.

Category: Elite CAT2-
Results: 10th out of 40 (http://www.teambicyclesinc.org/MWSR%2011/ISMSR%2013/ISMSR_2013_Saturday%20TT.pdf)
GC Standings after Stage 2: 24th out of 41 (http://www.teambicyclesinc.org/MWSR%2011/ISMSR%2013/ISMSR_2013_Saturday%20Ind%20GC.pdf)
Link to ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/41162178

The RR-

I knew I had some ground to make up in the GC but wasn't really worried about my finishing position overall since I was pulled from the crit.  I also knew that I wouldn't be marked since I wasn't a threat to the GC finish so I figured getting into a break would be my best bet.  The race was pretty calm the first lap, other than one solo getting up the road.  The course was 3 laps and at the finish line on every lap there was bonus points for the first 3 across the line.  I was sitting up in the top 10 coming in for the first lap and a handful of guys sprinted for the points and the solo was up the road sitting up at this point.  We went through the feed zone a few hundred meters down the road and right as we brought back the guys that sprinted for the bonus points I attacked.  I got away from the group and had one guy with me.  I kept drilling it and once we caught the solo guy he didn't want to come with so I kept pushing it.  The other guy did not want to work at all, so I looked back and we had a chase group coming.  I set into tempo and then finally just sat up and waited for the chase group.  The chase group brought 6 guys, so we had a total of 8 guys and 48 miles to go.

I thought if we worked together well we might stand a chance as the break was well represented by the big teams with Garmin Devo Kids from Austin and DNA from Oklahoma having 3 guys total in the break.  There was a short climb on the backside of the loop about 10 miles from the finish, it was the "KOM" on the second lap.  Prior to getting to the hill we sorted out who was going for the bonus points and agreed to re group at the top.  Only 2 of the guys actually wanted the points so we just rode tempo up the hill and started pushing again at the top.

We stayed away for the whole second lap and a few of the guys sprinted for the bonus points at the finish line again.  With 24 miles to go we had about a 2 minute gap.  We were still working well together and kept pushing through.  5 miles from the "climb" the race referee told us we had 2'30".  Right before the climb he came back and said "You aren't going to believe this, you have 4 minutes".  So once again we just set tempo up the climb re grouped at the top and pushed on, minus one guy dropped off the back and we waited for a bit but he never re joined so we had to push on.

In our break was a friend of a friend who was looking for upgrade points.  I knew he needed them and he knew I would help him but we didn't talk much in the break, it was just an understanding I think.  Coming into the final stretch we were still away and there was a strong cross wind on the finishing stretch.  The whole race was a rolling enclosure convoy, which meant we had the whole road, which was amazing.  The lady that made that happen was Iris Stagner, who the race was named after.  She was recently killed in a cycling accident.  I can't thank her enough for how amazing it was to be able to have the whole road to race on.  Only thing was the finishing 1K was yellow line rule due to congestion of traffic in that area.  No big deal.  I was sitting first wheel at 1K to go, not ideal at all.  I figured people would start playing games but it didn't happen and next thing I know we were at 500m.  I had the friend of the friend on my wheel and that is when I put the hammer down.  I drilled it to the left side of the road, one bike length from the yellow line, leaving him room to catch a break from the cross wind.  We opened up about a car length of a gap and I dropped him off around 200m.  I tried to hop back on his wheel but he was in a full sprint and I couldn't hang on.  Off he went and 2 more guys came around and I was able to hold on to 4th place and he took the win by half a wheel.

The great thing about bike racing is strategy and team work and if need be you can help someone else win, preferably your teammate but not having one and knowing this guy needed the upgrade points it felt like the right thing to do, and being a friend of Andy Chocha and his buddy needing the points, figured it was the least I could do.

Category: Elite CAT2-
Results: 4th out of 40 (http://www.teambicyclesinc.org/MWSR%2011/ISMSR%2013/MWSR_2013_Sunday%20RR_Final.pdf)
GC Standings after Stage 2: 15th out of 41 (http://www.teambicyclesinc.org/MWSR%2011/ISMSR%2013/MWSR_2013_Sunday_Final%20GC.pdf)
Link to ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/41301055

Overall it was a solid weekend of racing and got in some great training.  Now back to my comment about running off the bike after the TT.  I have a great relationship with my coach and although he doesn't not like me racing the bike, I like it and we make it work.  By that I mean I sometimes have to run after the race and I am never really rested for the race like most people "rest" before a bike race.  I then will normally get hammered with a big run set on Monday after the race as my "punishment", but honestly it is just our way of doing things.

Last year at the Tour de Korea I had the chance to talk to Brad Huff and Jeremy Powers a few times throughout the week.  I was talking to Brad about the differences in triathlon and cycling and how at that point I really didn't know what I wanted to focus on and I enjoyed both sports.  He looked at me and told me "If you really want to be good at one of them you are going to have to forget about the other one", those words stuck with me and at the end of last year I made the decision that Triathlon would be the focus.  That didn't mean I was going to drop bike racing though, it just meant it wasn't "THE" focus.  I still see bike racing beneficial to my training and I really enjoy it.  I have come to realize though that racing in the CAT2 field or P/1/2 field I will not see great results nor do I expect great results.  When I toe the start line of bike races now I am looking to A) help teammates succeed and B) Get a solid workout in with the best cyclist in the area.  It is hard to find great and talented riders to train with, especially in big groups, so lining up on a P/1/2 start line gives me that opportunity.

Overall it was a great weekend and a great race.  I can't thank the crew that put on the race enough, Andy and the whole crew did an amazing job.  Great race and venue and look forward to racing the race next year as well as all of their future events.

Below are some great photos from Lee McDaniel, A.Stevens, and Biff Stephens, thanks for the amazing photos!

Chuncheon Hill Climb aka Missed Start & Crash

13 May-

Coming off of the win yesterday I was feeling really good about today.  It was broken down in age groups of 10 year increments.  Most Korean races are either open with everyone or age groups of 10 year increments, yesterday was rare to have Under 40 and Over 40.  Either way I know most of the guys in the 20's and I was going to be fighting for 2nd, with my teammate JY the favorite for our AG and the whole race.

We left the shop early in the morning and got to the race about 8, which we though was 1 hour prior to start.  No worries, plenty of time to get everything ready, not much time to warmup but luckily it was 13K of rolling terrain prior to hitting the 9K climb.  I planned to just sit in and get the legs woken up.  In order to do that you actually have to make it to the start on time.  So here comes the start of what I will describe as the "shit show", pardon my french.  I will pre face the next portions of this with, this might be a vent session about how Korean races are ran and mis managed.

I missed my start, the race started at 8:47, 13 minutes early.  One of my teammates came to the van and told me to hurry up they were starting soon, so I headed to the line and they were already off so I had to play catch up.  About 400m down the road I was doing about 25mph trying to catch up, not knowing how much work I would have to do but I was pissed off and that means riding hard.  I get to the first intersection, cops standing there hands in pockets not pointing to turn, and stopping a car from coming into the road, must mean I need to keep going straight.  Can't see anybody up the road so I figured I had a lot of work to do.  I kept hammering away and about 3 minutes later I started to realize I couldn't be on the course, so I turned around and went back to that first intersection.  Once again they are standing there with their hands in their pockets and don't have a clue what is going on.

By this point I know I am 6 minutes down plus however much I missed the start by.  I figured I would just get a good solo workout in and see how well I could climb the climb.  I kept hammering away and was just about to the climb when all craziness broke out.  I came up to an intersection that had a lot going on in it.  I have a picture below which shows what was going on and there was a lot of confusion.  I was in the process of passing a guy on the left and trying to figure out how I was going to make it through this intersection.  There was people getting off a bus yelling at the traffic cops and the cops walking back and forth on the straight section trying to get the people back on the bus.  I was focusing on that and all the sudden the guy I am passing decides that he wants to make a hard left to the road that is to our left.  Come to find out that is where we were suppose to turn.  No cop or marshal standing at the corner pointing left, no sign, just a few small chalk marks on the ground, that are not visible when doing 20+mph.  Our bars locked and the guys in experience completely destroyed any chance of us staying up.  I have learned to be calm in these situations and if not in a peloton to just slow down and then un hook the bars.  This guy decided to start violently shaking his bars thinking it would solve the issue, well that was not the case and next thing I know I am on the ground and my front wheel is destroyed.  According to my Garmin 800, impact speed was about 15mph.

 (CLICK TO ENLARGE PICTURE)

Many of you from the states or other areas probably are wondering why people were cutting the corner short and so on.  In Korea all the races I have done have been closed roads, for at least the side of the road you are racing on or the lane you are racing in.  The yellow line rule does not exist and it is ride at your own risk if you choose to go into the other lane, however the lead moto will make cars in the on coming lane move off the road.  This is the norm here.  I am a firm believer in you should know the course, but when the maps are not detailed and there are no signs or marshaller's paying attention I get very frustrated with the race organizers.  It would be one thing if I could understand the street signs, or the maps they provided even provided street names.  My biggest complaint was this was two days in a row this had happened with poor marshalling and course markings.  Yesterday I benefited from it today I was a victim of it.

As a country, Korea is completely behind in the whole cycling spectrum.  The problem is they hold very few races, although each year there seems to be more.  Most of the racers only race the Tour de Korea, which creates a lack of racing experience.  They have no category system and at best you get age groups, which really solves nothing.  There Pro racing system is completely segregated from the amateur scene, if you are not in it from a young age you cannot get into it.  The pros are not allowed to race with amateurs, unlike the US where we have P/1/2 races.  Something needs to be done but it seems they just like to keep throwing money at these races which draws strong riders with not a lot of ability to show up to the start line attempting to cash in on a paycheck and instead cause craziness in the group.

As the race organizers are throwing big money at the races they need to start doing the little stuff well before doing the big stuff well.  The Crit this past October had $15,000 in prize money, all kinds of cameras and big screens, but not all that well organized of an event.  The race on Saturday paid $500,$300,$200 in 8 different categories, that is $8,000, and the race was horrible in terms of organization and course markings and having people to direct you where to go.

I am not sure what it is going to take to fix the cycling scene out here, it is not far off from being a good racing scene, they just need to start following suit with some other countries and start doing things "right".  I absolutely love racing over here, it just seems lately things have not been working out well and becoming quite poor, compared to mediocre like before.  I enjoy riding with all the riders out here, there are some very strong riders and then the crazy ones that you have to watch out for, just like anywhere else.  I hope things can take a turn for the better soon, because Korea can offer a lot from a training and racing experience for ExPats that come over here to live.

In the end I had a bad day, but the rest of my teammates did quite well.  As expected JY won our AG, Stpehen won the 40's and Elmer took 3rd in the 30's.  Good day for the team and a strong showing on the weekend.  Looking forward to this coming weekend where I will be trying to defend my WIN from last year, the DMZ race has been moved from October to May this year.  The course is absolutely beautiful with two great climbs.

Thanks again for the continued support!

 JY, Stephen, and Elmer with their certificates.

 The Wheel is destroyed

 Can't seem to figure out exactly how this happened.  Luckily HED has great customer service and a crash replacement plan.  A new wheel is already in the mail and headed out my way.  Very impressed with the whole HED crew and how quick they were to help me out.