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!

SuperFrog Half=First Big Win in US!

30 September-

Originally I had planned on doing this race as a backup to Kona if I was not selected for the Air Force slot.  Luckily all of that played out right and I got the Air Force slot, but my travel plans back from Korea changed as well.  It just so happened that this race still lined up on my schedule other than it was a bit close to Kona, 13 days to be exact.  I talked it over with my coach and he thought it was a good idea to race it so I registered for it, about 2 weeks prior to Lance signing up.  With him signing up it ended up not being a USAT race which was a bad thing for me as I was hoping that it would be my 3rd USAT race of the year which would make me eligible for All American or Honorable Mention.  So now with it not being a USAT event it just means I have to sign up for another race after Kona.

I came into the race after a long flight back from Korea and then a quick 2.5 days at home.  Needless to say I hadn't got much training in and was a little jet lagged but for the most part my body adapts quite well to all the travel.  I got down to San Diego on Friday and stayed with some friends and had a quiet night.  Then Saturday night I stayed with some old friends from and went out to the Giants/Padres baseball game.  It was a nice relaxing night prior to the race and it was the first time I had been to a ball game in quite some time.

Woke up race morning with a not so restful night of sleep, not sure why I couldn't sleep it wasn't a big race for me or anything.  My pre race nutrition was sub par to say the least, I was able to at least get a Honey Stinger Protein bar down and a banana, but that is not my usual pre race meal as I like the usual oatmeal.  I was feeling alright going into the race with all the training in the past 9 weeks, but the days leading into the race weren't ideal.

Swim-

For not being a swimmer I was a little skeptical on the ocean swim, especially considering the size of the swell, someone reported 6ft, so yeah I was a little worried.  I struggled a little bit on the first of 2 laps to make it through the surf but eventually got out and into a rhythm.  Coming in from the first lap I caught a small wave in and it bridged the gap that I had between 2 guys.  I followed them out for the second lap and made it through the surf with them.  I figured if guys were ahead of me they had a little more experience in the ocean so I just followed their lead.  I missed a wave on the way back in but still felt I had a good swim.  I didn't really know how bad or how good my swim went, but felt pretty solid with it.

T1-

Uneventful as usual, other than I have been struggling to get my wetsuit off, so I need to work on that prior to next year.  Once out of the wetsuit everything went smoothly.  I make it a very simple T1; shoes are on the bike and my glasses are looped around my cables and I don't put them on till a few miles into the bike.  Saves a little time in my opinion.

Bike-

This was the area where I knew I could make up some ground to the fast swimmers.  I just settled into the bike and took it fairly "easy" for the first 1h30m and just slowly increased my power and effort through the whole ride.  The pro's started 15mins ahead of us so I was a little worried about getting "Lance'd" I mean lapped.  Luckily I would just see him with the other pros at the turn around and made it without getting lapped, other than by the relay team cyclist who was flying.  He was a little surprised when after he passed me I gave him his distance then came back around him to ask him if he was an AG'er or not.  We exchanged a few words and then off he went.  As I started my last lap Lance and the rest of the pros were just entering T2.  The last lap I really put my head down and put in a solid effort.  Felt good coming into T2 and knew I had a solid ride a little under 2:15, right where I wanted to be.

T2-

Left the shoes clipped in and came off the bike at a decent pace right into my run.  No problems getting the shoes on, the Zoots are great for transitions.  I carry my watch, visor, and glasses with me out of T2 and put them on while running.  Once again trying to save some time.

Run-

Really wanted to hold back here with Kona being 2 weeks out.  I talked to my coach and we came up with the plan to just run IM pace, little did either of us know how much sand would be involved in the run.  I kept it at IM pace but felt the effort was comfortable but a little harder than I expected due to the sand.  I think there was about 5 to 6 miles of soft and hard sand over the whole run.  I stopped once to use the bathroom, which I had already done on the bike as well, I guess I was well hydrated.  I felt really solid with my run and felt that if I wanted to push it a bit harder I had plenty in the tank to run in the mid to low 1:20's.  Overall I was really happy with my run and it was a huge confidence builder going into Kona, as well as a huge PR for my half IM run.

Overall-

I was extremely happy with how the race went and couldn't of asked for a better race leading into Kona.  I was a little skeptical about racing this race 2 weeks out but felt like it did a lot of good, and only time will tell if it did any damage.  It felt really good to show up to a military event, primarily Navy and Marines and be able to win for the Military and the Air Force, as well as being able to represent Team RWB.

Swim- 31:17 5th in AG/20th Amateur/26th Overall
Bike- 2:13:28 1st in AG/1st Amateur/5th Overall
Strava Link: http://app.strava.com/rides/23647362
Run- 1:29:27 1st in AG/1st Amateur/5th Overall
Strava Link: http://app.strava.com/runs/23648400
Overall- 4:13:48 1st in AG/1st Amateur/6th Overall

Here are some pics from the event

 

Love or Hate the guy he is still the one person to put Cycling on the map in the USA  and is making a huge impact with LiveStrong and triathlon these days.  I think the race director of SuperFrog said it best with something along the lines of "For every hater he has he has 20 more people that support him".

Hoengseong Half IM- 1st Long Course OA WIN!

26 Aug-

It had been 4 weeks since my last race and I was ready to race again.  The last race was the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Oregon.  I was a little worn out by that point as I had been racing for quite a few weeks in a row and I had been back in the states for 4 weeks by that time.  It was also my first race as a CAT2, and needless to say I got a taste of what racing with the fast guys was all about.  I came back to Korea and got right back after it.  I started my training focus for Kona and picked back up with my tri coach Scott.  We had 10 weeks to work with and came up with a solid idea of where things needed to be fine tuned and we got right to work.

I had been lacking the run mileage with the heavy cycling focus over the last month so we were a little worried about that.  Over the 4 weeks leading into this race though the miles started adding up and the legs came around quite quickly.  I was feeling good with the 4 week block and was excited to see where I was at in terms of Long Course shape.

The race was a first year race, so it was quite a small race.  They had 111 people finish and I would estimate about 150 on the start line.  One of my teammates from my Korean cycling team is also a triathlete and didn't show up as he was aiming for a full IM in a few weeks, I was bummed as it would of been a great race between the two of us.

Swim- 1.9K- 30:29

My swim has been coming around so I was looking forward to see how I would perform in the race.  I had a good starting position and went out hard for the first 200m.  I opened up a nice gap and just continued to build on it throughout the swim.  It was a 2 lap swim, but you didn't exit the water and just swam around the buoy.  Luckily I didn't have to deal with lapping anyone, but I stayed out front the whole swim.  I came out of the water with about a minute lead, yes very rare for me to be leading out of the water.  Second time this year that has happened out here in Korea ;)

Bike- 91K- 2:40:36

I had seen the bike course profile and wasn't really worried about it.  I knew it was going to be hilly and was thankful for that.  With the bike being one of the stronger points of my race it is nice to have a tough course which helps keep the others from drafting, which is common out here in Korea.  What I didn't know is how brutal the bike course would be.  I brought an 11-28 for the rear and was still struggling for the last 1K of a 5K climb, it ended up being a CAT2 climb according to Strava.  Later on I had heard that there were a lot of people walking up that section.  The plan going into the race was to hammer the bike and just see what happened from there.  I felt good on the bike and held on to the lead throughout the whole bike, I actually never saw anyone.  Looking at the results I out rode the 2nd fastest bike split by 17 minutes, so that would explain that.

Run- 21K- 1:35:57

Prior to the race I had talked to my coach and we had a conversation about the race.  He told me to cruise the run, but also said if I was in a position to win I had the green light to go for it.  Well I didn't know how big my lead was getting off the bike so I came off the bike and ran hard.  The problem was it was super hot and humid out, heat index of 97*F.  I came of the bike running well holding 6:30-6:40 pace for the first 3 miles.  Then I decided to back off into "cruise" mode and stopped at all the aid stations and shoved ice down my suit and took in some calories.  It was a 2 loop run course and I turned around at 5.5K and ended up not seeing anyone for another 8 minutes, and it was a relay runner.  At that point I knew I had a huge lead but still wanted to get a solid workout in.  I just ran between each aid station at a comfortable pace and got in a solid workout.

Total Time- 4:49:43

Swim- 30:29-1st
Bike- 2:40:36-1st  Link to Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/19765308
Run- 1:35:57-1st  Link to Strava:http://app.strava.com/runs/19766179
Total- 4:49:43

Overall I was really happy with how the race played out and I was just happy to walk away with the overall win.  Even though it was a small field it was still nice to have a great race and execute the plan we laid out prior to the race.  It was by far the toughest course I have done for a half, not the toughest race as 70.3 China and 70.3 Germany were really tough days for me, but overall it was a tough day.

Thanks again to everyone for all of the support.  Special Thanks to: Honey Stinger, FRS Healthy Performance, HED Cycling and all of my family and friends!

If you would like information on my nutrition plan for this race please email me at: airforcebadbrad@yahoo.com

A few pictures from the race:

 O how I am going to miss Korea and the friends that I have made!

 Coming in from the bike.

 Out on the run just having fun.

 The bike setup, P5???? Phhhhh Going Old School and taking the fastest bike split with a P3!

 The "Bull" Trophy and an ice chest of BEEF!  Ahhh the things you win in Korea!

The Overall Podium!

Race for Humaity Road Race and Crit

Race for Humanity 11-12 February

Saturday Road Race-

With a big week in the legs from camp I wasn't expecting much but deep down I wanted to have a good race.  I was racing in the combined CAT3/4 race as a CAT4.  We had 7 people total in the race, including 2 CAT3's, 4 CAT4's and a CAT2 Women, Peggy, who is super strong.  Once we got up to the start line they called up our whole team to the front and thanked us for our military service and we got a good round of applause from the few fans and the rest of the racers.  We by far had one of the larger teams in the filled which ended up not working in our favor.  A solo rider went off the front from the gun and never looked back, he ended up winning the race.  With not being a local I didn't know who the strong riders were, and I had already been given the green light to race "freely" by our team manager and director.  I was told if I liked something to go after it.  About 3/4 of the way through the first of 3 laps on the 17 mile course I found myself in a nice 5 man break.  We were doing a good job of opening up the gap and slowly working on bringing the solo guy up front back in.  We stayed away for quite a while and then got pulled back in.  When we got caught 3 guys went off the front again and I wasn't too worried about it as everything kept get brought back in so I didn't think much of it.  They slowly started opening up a gap and for some reason no one else wanted to pull it back in.  By this time we were starting into the third lap and they had 2-3 mins on us.

I knew we needed to get our guys up front as the peloton was expecting us to pull them back.  Well come to find out there were only 3 of us left in the main group so we tried to do some work up front and get some others to join in.  I don't know what it was but no one else wanted to work, it was like they were satisfied to field sprint for 5th.  I made a few attempts to get away in hopes that someone would bridge up with me and we could get away from the group.  Every time I would get off and open up a gap no one would bridge or they would just bring the whole group back, it go frustrating so eventually I just sat in.  With 1.5K to go I attempted to make a move but it didn't stick and at that point I just went off the back and coasted in.  There was no reason to be in a 3/4 field sprint in February for 5th place, besides I still had the crit the following day to get back after it.

After the race I hung out at the race to watch everyone else race.  I went over to help Frank our mechanic out in the feed zone for the P/1/2 race, which all of our elite guys were racing in, the guys I trained with all week.  So I was hanging out with Frank and he was talking to an athletic, good looking girl.  I overheard some talk about the Olympics and asked Frank if I heard that correctly.  He said yeah she is going for Triathlon, I just chuckled, looked at her and said "O you must be Gwen Jorgensen".  She seemed a little shocked that I knew who she was and I told her that I am more a triathlete than a cyclist and that I follow the sport.  So during the rest of the race I was able to talk with her here and there, and I have never found a "bad" pro triathlete to talk with, but she was by far one of the most down to earth triathletes I have talked with.  It was really funny how shocked she was that I knew he she was, I guess it must not of quite sunk in how big of a deal it is to be the top contender for a medal in womens triathlon yet.

After the elite guys finished up myself and Gunny (Don), packed up his car and headed up to Ocala to watch Bryan Clauson race his sprint car.  I grew up racing with Bryan and the last time I saw him race was in Madera back in 2009 I believe.  It was awesome to catch up with him and his Dad, Tim.  I hadn't seen Tim since March of 2007 when Bryan made his Late Model debut in the ARCA car, in of all place FLORIDA.  The running joke now is that I just randomly show up across the country to watch Bryan race, and it is pretty much the truth.  Bryan is set to make his Indy Car debut this year at the Indy 500, now if only I could figure out how to make it there...................Bryan ended up taking 2nd and putting on a great show.

 At the start of the race

 In the 5 man break early on

 Gwen Jorgensen, the Olympic Triathlete who will WIN in London!

At the races with BC and Tim

Sunday Crit-

With a disappointing race the day prior I was excited to get out and race again.  Probably the best part about bike racing other than the team aspect is the ability to race back to back days or multiple days in a row.  This is the one race that I was not expected to do exceptionally well at, I mean I am a "triathlete" and all, which means I am not suppose to have great handling skills ;)  The course was 1/2 mile long with 6 corners, a brick section and a pretty rough corner.  Not the most ideal course for me, but I figured if I was back in the states I was going to race as much as I could.

The race started off pretty slow and then the attacks started happening.  Within the first 10 minutes I found myself in a 4 man break, which turned into a 5 man break when a solo guy bridged up.  We were working quite well minus one guy, and then I started yelling.  There was no way I was going to work my butt off to lap the field and have this guy take the free ride.  The interesting thing with crit racing is once you lap the field you are all on the same lap, except the guys that lap the field will be sprinting for 1st-X (however many people lap the field) and everyone else will be sprinting for the rest of the spots.  So with us being in a break I wanted to make sure we ended up lapping the field and not get brought back in.  This guy continued to not work and was more of liability to our group.  I kept yelling at him and my final words to him were "If you don't start working I am going to ensure you get dropped out of our group".  He looked back as we entered a corner to say something back and well karma must not of liked him in our group because he slid out in the corner right in front of me.  Another interesting part of crit racing, if you go down you get a "free lap" and join back in the race with the group you were in and stay on the same lap as them.

Just so happened when he went down was during the time period that we lapped the field.  So we still had 5 guys sprinting for the win, not all that ideal.  Once we lapped the field we still had about 10 minutes left until we hit the 5 laps to go.  I slowly worked my way back up front and tried to slow the race down and keep it under control.  There was no reason to get taken out at this point, so I wanted to be up front but not to far up front.  Well by sitting up front and controlling the race I found myself in that no so ideal position.  With a lap to go I was still at the front and no one wanted to come around.  I attacked with about 500m to go and 4 corners to go on a slight false flat.  I got a small gap but by the next corner a guy from our break was with me.  Into the next corner I grabbed quite a bit of brake and then accelerated out of the corner to open up another gap and gave it the go from there.  I had 2 more corners to go and just had to go for it.  My sprinting skills in my opinion had been decent in the past, but I am not quite sure what got into me during this race.  The winning sprint of the day found me fully seated and on top of the horns, definitely didn't maximize my sprinting abilities nor did I win any stylish points, however a win is a win.

It was nice to be able to pick up the first win of the year this early in the season, even though it was a CAT4 race.  I look forward to being able learn from this experience and hopefully next time I am in the states I will have some other races here in Korea under my belt so that I can upgrade and be racing with the CAT3's.

Huge thanks to all of the sponsors and supporters of the US Military Cycling Team fueled by FRS: FRS Healthy Performance, American Classic, Lazer Helmets, Chamois Butt'r, Primal Wear, Challenge Tires, SRAM, QUARQ, and Van Dessel.

 

Leading our 5 man break

 Coming through the corner

Putting the US Military Cycling Kit on top of the podium for the first time in 2012!