Box of Nuts

Enjoy the literary stylings of our very own Kerry Duggan.

Forrest Gump's mother said that life (like a cat 3/4 race) is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get.

In Sundays Spring Fling RR too many of the chocolates were rancid or full of dangerous nuts - and the box was way too full. Narrow roads and Nazi officials created a 90 something nervously careening anaconda peleton that snaked back at least 100 yards.

I was impossible to move up without crossing the yellow line of death. It took Eric, James and I about 3 of the 6, seven-mile laps just to move up close to Roger, who for some reason had no problem staying in the front dozen or so.

After abusing 2' wide gutters and sprinting into blowing headwind sections we managed to claw our way to the front and effected a few breakaway attempts or chasedowns. Unfortunately it became clear that, like most cat 3 races - ain't nobody goin' nowhere no how.

When the final sprint loomed up like a cliff before a herd of drunken lemmings, we watched 80 - $5000. bicycles try to squeeze into 8 slots worth a total of $200. in their bid for glory. I think Eric placed well but us older guys did the math and backed out of the mele. Bok, bok, bok. No worries eh Jayson? In the end we all advanced our fitness, tempered our terror and even managed to work as a team a little. And.......nobody crashed. At least this race.

That's good enough for me.

Best wishes to Ron and Jayson.

As a long time master's racer who hasn't done a cat 3/4 race in 20 years, it was amazing to observe the antics of hyper, brain dead youngsters taking stupid risks - safe in their certainty of immortality. Unfortunately once you have the bug.......there is nothing else that will do.

K-Dogg

The bad news and the good news...

The good news is we are all still alive and kicking. some not kicking as hard as they normally would, but kicking nonetheless with both feet.

Last week, Jayson O'mahoney got tangled up with a piece of furniture in the road while on a group ride in Gainesville. He was carted off by the local EMT's and checked out at the hospital. He will be in a neck brace for a few weeks, and tending to some road rash for a little while but as I said, he's still kicking with both feet. I believe by now he is recovering at home.

submitted by the victim himself
Actually, I didn't touch any "furniture" on the road. Rather, another rider on the Hipp ride did - or at least that is what I heard. All I remember is seeing a rider on the ground in front of me with nowhere to go at 30pmh. Gary Yates counted eight riders down at this crash. Without a doubt it was the worst crash I've ever had the misfortune of being involved with. I didn't go to the ER that night but after prompting by several people I headed there on Friday, April 11. I believe the guy who caused the crash may have flicked something up from the side of the road which brought him down. Unfortunately I have nothing but bad thoughts for him. He is an inexperienced, weaker rider who had no business partaking in the Hipp ride - on this occasion and prior.

I have road rash on both hips, left knee, left hand, left cheek, right ear, left side of nose and some minor spots elsewhere. The ER staff at North Florida ran a CAT scan and determined I have 2 x vertebrae compression fractures. I count myself as very lucky; I quite possibly could have ended up as a quadraplegic because of this crash. I will be seeing a neurosurgeon next week but initial prognosis is no surgery is required. My beloved Kestrel EMS 300 frameset has a broken right side chainstay. Craig Calfee of Calfee Design should be able to repair it but I have managed to find another such bike new old stock
in a bike shop far from Gainesville. At least the bike is repairable / replaceable.

My primary focus now is to heal for my trip to Australia in three weeks. At this stage I think I will be forgoing the State Time Trial due to lack of training time.

Jayson

In today's circuit race in Deland, Ron Palsgrove got roped into a 4 to 6 bike pile up that occurred directly in front of him. I could have sworn he was clear until two bikes slid right in front of him. Ron, too was provided a ride by the local EMT's. After a couple hours in the hospital, and a dip into a barf bag, Ron was released with only a mild concussion, a sprained shoulder, and a little bit of road rash. I must say, I believe Ron saved me from getting involved because the two bikes that slid in front of him were headed straight towards me. Ron, while I appreciate the effort, that is not what we mean by "taking one for the team".

I'm sure I speak for everyone in saying we wish you both a speedy recovery and we look forward to seeing you on the bikes as soon as your healing permits.

Some more good news:
Cycle-Logic has picked up two new memebers!!
Mike Arena: currently a category 5 racer. You may recognize the name from the messenger bag donated by him during the Bring It On Series earlier this year.
Eric Stubbs: A strong Category 4 racer with impressive results in some tough events.
We look forward to riding and racing with both of you.

JP/CL

The Move!

submitted by James Penrod
Ahh!! Racing in your home town. There’s nothing like it. And, as with anyone who has ever performed in front of the home town fans, I wanted to impress them like no other.

THE EVENT:
Sunday’s event would be a road race just outside of Tallahassee where I spent the majority of my formative years, riding my bike, causing trouble, MAKING A NAME FOR MYSELF. The course was hilly, and the field small, but hey!! I grew up here!! I’m a hill climber!! These other chumps don’t stand a chance (not even that tall lanky guy with the orange and grey kit who always stays on the front of the pack).

I got this!!

So, I secretly scoped out the course with my own personal DS/ Massage Therapist (Ms. Veronica Geist). As I suspected, the course was hilly (I think I already said that). I could see where I would make my moves, and where I would break away from the pack.

THE RACE:
The morning of the race, it was a little cool, with rain just on the edge of town, but not reaching us quite yet. It wouldn’t rain all day, but I wasn’t going to let anyone else know that little tidbit of information. We lined up at the start. These chumps don’t understand who I AM!! I’m the birthday BOOYYYYYYEEEE!!!!! We descended the first hill in a tight pack, and climbed the other side. The legs were getting warm, these weapons were ready to fire at any moment. It was hard to keep them in check. We descended the next hill then climbed again, this time I got on the front just to give them a taste of the pain they were about to be inflicted with. That tall lanky dude was right behind me, and it seemed like I couldn’t shake him.

THE MOVE:
Over the next few miles I shot off the front a couple of times just to get my heart rate up and the lactic acid coursing through my legs. I knew that wasn’t going to work. My plan was much more cunning. My plan had NEVER been done before.

As we approached the steepest of the climbs, I knew this was the spot. As I eased gradually back into the pack, resting myself for what was to come, I slowly made my way to the very last position and just as we started to climb, BAM!! I did it. I took them all by total surprise!!

I attacked off the back as they sped up the climb with no response from the peloton. They were afraid to chase backwards!! I did it!! It worked!!

I watched from behind as my lead off the back grew while they climbed this monstrous hill. It was tough, but I had to keep them well ahead of me if my plan was to work.

With the adrenaline coursing through my veins, I soloed around the course for the next lap and a half, making sure no one else was going to explode out of the back of the pack to catch me. I watched as the pack steadily lost site of me from behind.

After almost an hour of solo riding, one rider caught me, and we worked together keeping the main group at bay in front of us, knowing if we started playing games, it would mean the end of what could be the sweetest finish for the two of us.

We came in together in a blaze of glory and the home town fans cheered as we sprinted for the finish.
I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER.

ps: you won’t see me in the results because they only recorded the first 35 riders, but I was there!!

I was there.


Seriously though, congratulations to those that raced this past weekend. The courses weren’t easy for anyone, although some of you made them look much easier than they really were.

See you chumps next weekend!!

Bike America Cycling Festival - Miami

Alright, whomever said there were no hills in South Florida was lying through their teeth!!

James Penrod, Ron Palsgrove, Scott Pfaff, and Ken Sallot arrived at the Vista View Park circuit race in Davie Florida last weekend wondering what it was going to be like racing on a retired garbage dump. I mean, how hard could it be, right?

Although the view from the parking lot appeared a little intimidating, I think we still had hopeful thoughts that the grade would be a gradual one to get to the top. To my surprise, the approach on the back side of the hill was straight up with only a slight downhill, followed by an immediate climb to the sky. With a minimal flat headwind to recover, the subsequent laps progressively tore at our legs, dwindling the lead pack at what seemed like every pedal stroke.

In the 4’s race, James Penrod lasted a total of 3 laps (15 minutes) with the lead pack, and then battled the hills against a 12 year-old. "In my own defense, the kid probably weighed less than his bike, so obviously it was easier for him to climb the hills than me," stated Penrod in his own defense.

Ron and Ken stayed in the lead pack the entire race, and although a pack of approximately 10 stayed off the front, Ron and Ken finished 12th and 13th respectively and James finished 27th with a total of only 40 riders finishing in the 4’s.

Good job guys!!