Webster-Roubaix

*This race report was written and submitted by our resident Australian, Jayson O'Mahoney. When reading the following report, be sure to use a "Crocodile Dundee" accent and disregard his South-of-the-Equator spelling of tires (tyres)...G'Day Mate.

Rob Robins, Jayson O'Mahoney and Roger Montes kick back with a couple of cold ones and reflect on the hard and dirty Webster-Roubaix race

For those not aware, the Webster-Roubaix road race is a 9.5 mile loop that takes in the cattle country around the little town of Webster, Florida. Webster is also known for it's flea market, as attributed to the advertising found along I-75. What makes this race so different from other races on the Florida scene is the dirt road section, which is approximately 2.5 miles in length. This section of road is strewn with potholes, loose gravel and lots of dirt and dust.

(left) O'Mahoney flying around the Webster-Roubaix course.

The promoters (who did a great job at this race in my opinion) combined the Cat 3 field with Cat 4 making for a field of 110 riders - according to the announcement by Tim Molyneaux at the start. Race distance was approximately 65 miles or seven laps of the course. The promoters were nice enough to have a neutral rollout from the start / finish line (on the dirt road) to allow fair play and that sort of thing. The race was underway as soon as the last rider made it to the first paved road.

During the neutral rollout it was a mad panic to clip in and try and move up in the bunch without being obvious about it. As soon as the bunch hit the first paved road, the first attacks of the day went. I have no idea of the carnage behind me; I was concentrating on the wheels in front of me and trying to hold position among the first 20 - 30 riders. It was also nice to see two of my teammates alongside me - Rob Robins and Roger Montes were right up there. I'm not sure what happened to James and Ron in that first hectic lap.

Everyone was fighting for position to hold themselves near the front. As the bunch approached the dirt for the first time, it was almost a sprint-like situation to be positioned appropriately. I found myself around 25th wheel heading in for the first time. Being that far back meant I was covered in clouds of dust and the like. It was a little unnerving the first time over the dirt; the speeds were holding around 25 - 26mph. Everything on the bike was being pounded. I was glad I spent the time preparing the bike and test riding on dirt roads a few weeks before. Installing some older American Classic aluminium bottle cages complete with blue loctite on the cage bolts kept my fluid supply secure. Beefy 32 spoke wheels and 24mm+ tyres were the order of the day!

As soon as the first dirt road pass was made, the hammer went down again on the regular paved roads. It was obvious that riders were going to be shelled here. In these first early laps each corner on the road course was punctuated by a fast increase in speed which really stretched the bunch out. The constant shuffling around in the bunch near the front continued for the entire race, as did the almost sprint like positioning to hit the dirt road first.

During the 3rd or 4th? pass over the dirt road, Roger suffered a slow leaking flat (as I found out post race). I was sitting on his wheel through the dirt (he is an awesome MTB rider and has great handling skills) so I was surprised to see him going rapidly backwards. I was feeling much more comfortable by this point of the race on the dirt road section. It was almost as if I was in a "groove". I found myself riding a 53 x 15 or 53 x 14 gear, sitting right back on the saddle with my hands on the tops of the bars. This combined with my Vittoria 24mm Pave tyres (shameless plug there) gave the bike a comfy ride - if that was possible.

During the final lap, two guys managed to get off the front. That was surprising as the main pack was not letting anyone go. A couple of guys tried to bridge across (including Ben Page) but this break was snuffed out and a pack sprint on dirt was in the cards. I thought about launching an immediate suicide counter-attack but one rider against the might of the bunch intent on sprinting cancelled that idea. Fighting for position at this point was much more intense. I also took a brief look behind me and saw that our once large pack was down to ~ 40 riders. Coming into the dirt for the final time I managed to slot myself in the top 15, very close to Rob Robins, Ben Page and Eric Stubbs. Unfortunately for me a rider in front of me hit the big pothole right after the turn onto the dirt which killed his momentum. It also killed mine as I was on his wheel :( However, I managed to salvage things somewhat and stayed within 20 metres of the sprinting pack. I rolled across the line for 19th place in Cat 3. Rob Robins took 5th in Cat 4 which was a stellar effort. Ironically a Cat 4 guy won the race... this seems to be a regular happening when 3's and 4's are combined.

I loved this race. I really wish the distance had've been longer as it would've played out better for me. Perhaps for the 2009 edition the promoters will combine the 3's with Pro 1-2 as they did for the 2007 edition. At the end of the race just about everyone resembled a West Virgina coal miner. I looked pretty bad myself, not helped by the five day beard coated with sweat, dirt, snot, etc. We had a bit of a team get together afterwards to down a few brews (thanks to Vern and James!), talk about the race and marvel at the condition of our bikes.

Over and out.

Take Stock in Children century - 2008

A recap of this year's Take Stock in Children ride contributed by our very own Rob Robins:

For what was originally conceived as another fun day on the bike, as the date for the 2008 Take Stock in Children Century approached, the outlook was starting to get a bit grim. The forecast called for steady twenty to twenty-five mph winds out of the WSW with gusts in excess of 40 mph. Moreover, hi-temps were expected only to reach 60 degrees (that's cold by my standards!) before beginning a rapid decline. The night before the ride my phone rang and delivered unexpected news: last minute cancellations by two riders. The loss of strong teammates from what was expected to be an already small field, coupled with the forecast of unyielding winds, meant this would be no easy century and certainly not a fast one.

But that is the thing about cycling: Just when you think it is going to be more of a drag than a good time, the sport has a way of reminding you that the fun is in the challenge and the reward is succeeding at the challenge through camaraderie and teamwork. This year's Take Stock in Children Century would deliver the goods, dishing out a huge helping of satisfaction to the riders who took part.

I arrived at the Martin Luther King Center in Ocala and met up with fellow cyclists from Cycle Logic and Gainesville in general. Mike Robinson (aka, "Dr. Pain)", Anthony Musallo, Paul Messal, Ron Palsgrove, John Duggan, Doug and Leslie Folkerth, and Jan Pfaff were among the many friendly faces. As anticipated there were very few riders signed up to do the 100 mile route and other than my teammates I recognized no one from the Florida Cycling race circuit. And by my definition, it was cold, so on went the jacket, on went the gloves.

Given the go ahead by the event promoter we began the standard, somewhat languorous departure of early morning century riders everywhere, tooling along at low effort, feeling the legs. No more than a mile into our journey did Paul Messal alert us to the fact that Anthony Musallo was nowhere to be found and in all likelihood was still in the can, back at the start. Paul made the call for us to group together and wait for Anthony so that we could pace him up to the main field and we obliged.

Some three or four minutes later and Anthony could be seen charging along from the direction we all had come. With Anthony in rotation, lighter than he had begun the day, we began a steady, hard effort to catch the lead group. Given the wind and the fact that many of us had just rolled out of bed a short while before, the spirited pace of the chase was something of a shock to the system. Arriving at the front of the ride a short while later, we were fewer in number but warmed up and raring to go. Perhaps not surprisingly, in that we were still agitated from the chase, we formed an accidental breakaway of 5 or 6 riders at a point less than 10 miles into the century, leaving behind the main field of 15 or 20. Fully cognizant of the fact that to continue to ride hard would mean a long day of steady work with no help other than from ourselves, we charged on: Anthony Musallo, Ron Palsgrove, Mike Robinson, yours truly, and a Citrus Cycling rider. (Later we would be joined by another rider who had originally set out to do 50 but caught on with us and attempted the 100).

And for the large part, that is how the day would go: A five to six man echelon, fighting the wind, dodging the dead fall from the trees -- both already on the ground and en route to terra firma from above -- and occasionally riding two abreast to chit-chat, but all the while working hard to get back to home base. The gusts of winds were as fierce as anticipated and on a number of occasions were strong enough to blow the whole echelon several feet in any given direction. Good bike handling practice for sure!

We stopped just once, at the 45 mile mark at Boulware Springs and enjoyed a leisurely lunch at a SAG stop that has surely spoiled me for all other SAG stops to come. The Take Stock folks provided sandwiches from Crispers and a variety of cold drinks, even some gels for the rest of the ride. Here I had been conditioned by all previous centuries to expect peanut butter and maybe some fig newtons, yet there was turkey on rye and potato chips in abundance! Another luxury that the Take Stock Century afforded us was a police escort that stopped traffic at every intersection so that our little group of 5 or 6 riders could pass through unimpeded. Now that is pulling out all the stops! (I am certain we got some puzzled if not indignant looks from the motorists who were made to wait).

We averaged a modest 20.3 mph for the day, benefited from a tailwind near the end (A century first for me! It is always a headwind at the end of centuries, never a tailwind!) and arrived at the MLK center well ahead of the rest of the field and pretty well wiped out, but with a feeling of having accomplished a goal and of having had a great time in the process.

 

A "Haile" of a race!

It was a great day for racing for at the Southeastern Regional Championship mountain bike race in Gainesville, FL at Gatorback - Hailes Trails. And Team Cycle Logic had a great race!

This course was extremely technical, two laps for a total of 10.5 miles, with steep rooty climbs, heart stopping drops, and gravely rutted limerock climbs and descents. If you didn’t pick the right line, the slightest error could send you tumbling into the deep quarries below.

Justin Pfaff proved his bike handling skills, and with his endurance from road racing, placed 3rd in his class, leaving the remainder of the field nowhere in sight. [Justin raced in the 11-14 age group, Justin is only 11 - editor]

And Doug Folkerth’s road training and winter stadiums paid off, as he sprinted the last 200 yards to a 3rd place finish, outpacing the guy on his back the entire way by 20 seconds!

Way to go, guys – you rock!

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