Monday, March 31, 2008

Tour de Tuscaloosa- Justin



TDT 2008 is behind us now and sadly the beginning of a huge lull in road and crit racing for the state of Alabama until the Sunny King Crit in Anniston, AL. The TDT crit on Saturday proved to be "the hardest crit in Alabama" all because of "the climb". The 90 degree right turn into a 10% grade is just not right. You go from gasing it on a flat to hitting the brakes and shifting down all in one motion.



Herring, Garner and Fish were the CCR reps for this year's crit. Herring finished 24th in the 35 masters, Garner finished 27th and Fish brought a strong 10th although the results show him at 17th because of a confusion with a lapped rider. Garner gets the man points for this week, racing both the crit and road race with a pretty bad sinus infection.



Sunday was the TDT road race. This was my first time to enter the road race and the sources that I relied on stated that this course is very similar to the training race course from the start of the season. Needless to say those sources are no longer going to be used. This course was a climbers course vs. the sprinters training course, not even in the same category.



Herring raced 35+ Cat 4 not finishing because of a flat on the 3rd lap. Renfroe's rear derailleur exploded about a mile from the start in the Cat 4 race. Fish, Garner and I raced Men's 5's taking 25th, 41st and 31st. Stacey and Alli raced with a strong womens Cat 4 field finishing 5th and 10th.



Altogether it was a great event, no one crashed and the rain held off.

Crit Report(s): Mike
Road Report(s): Mike, Justin
Photos Crit: CCR, Velo City
Photos Road: Velo City

Friday, March 28, 2008

Kits Are In!- Justin


Chris Storie, Ashley Renfroe, Josh Powell, Mike Garner, Todd Tropeano and Brad Fish

Our new kits came in on Wednesday and are looking some kinda sweet! The guys pictured above couldn't wait to give them a test run so they kicked off our Thursday night training ride at Oak Mountain State Park in"buddery" style and fashion.

We'd like to thank American Safety Tread, Stanley Steamer, Cahaba Cycles, Alabama Neurological Institute and Beljum Budder for making all this possible, you guys are a blessing. Please show our sponsors on the right some L-O-V-E.

Also, Monday started our conditioning for mountain bike season. The Spit-N-Grit Time Trials have been introduced to Oak Mountain via Team CCR. We will log everyone's time and watch to see how much we improve our times throughout the season.

Tour de Tuscaloosa is this coming Sat and Sun. We are sending a few guys and gals to see what we can do with the new kits. I sware it's going to make us faster, I just know it. Stay tuned for some serious TDT race reports!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Ride to Live 2008- by Justin


Pic Courtesy of Ride to Live Race.com

This weekend was the second annual Ride to Live at the Barber Motorsports Park. Most fields were filled with riders from all across the southeast, as well as a couple of guys from Europe. For those that salivate when the word "Criterium" is mentioned, you better grab a napkin.


Pic Courtesy of Ride to Live Race.com

The track was a 2.38 mile road race track, 45' wide, with 16 flowing turns and 80' of elevation change. This tracks primary use is world renowned superbike and sports car racing. So, when a crit rider hangs a turn, traction is optimal.


Pic Courtesy of Ride to Live Race.com of Tria Market- Daryl Seelhorst and Brent Marshal
Team CCR had four participants: Larry, Brad, Stacey and Robyn. Larry and Brad toed Cat 5 and Stacey and Robyn toed Cat 4. The Cat 5 men's race was packed with 50+ riders as always and things were definitely interesting. Towards the end of the race the middle had some squirliness and resulted in a pile of carbon bikes and one broken collarbone. Fortunately, Larry was in front of the pile and Brad was behind far enough to avoid the pile. Larry continued on to chase the front runners and Brad backed off because of the flash backs from last week. Larry finished 30th after a hard push on the last climb and Brad finished soon after.


Pic Courtesy of Ride to Live Race.com

The women's Cat 4 race went out hard. Two ladies from the Medplan set the initial pace along with Team BooKoo. Team BooKoo tried to make a break but it didn't stick. One of the ladies broke out but the ladies blowed it off thinking she was a decoy. Well, she won the race. Stacey finished 6th and Robyn experienced her first road race.

All the proceeds from the Ride to Live race benefit UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center and
the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Reports: Stacey, Robyn, Larry

Monday, March 17, 2008

Spokes for Strokes- by Justin Poland



This weekend was a huge beginning to a small idea expressed by one of our own, Josh Powell. You see, Josh's mom suffered a stroke a while back causing her to endure the effects. In preparing for the 2008 season he wanted to participate in an event that contributed to the very thing that he has watched his mother endure but the closest event that he could get information on was in Canada. So, he felt the urge to possibly make something happen here on the local scene not knowing that it would all culminate into what is now known as Spokes for Strokes.



Saturday's Hoover Crit brought rain, tornado warnings, sun, rain again and ended with a blue bird sky. Nerves were on edge to see who would show for our first Spokes for Strokes event because prior to the event only 40-50 riders were pre-registered. Well, to our surprise about 200 riders would show to support the third leading cause of death in the US, now that speaks volumes about the cycling community.



When I say the race was on, the off button was nowhere to be found. The Masters men started things off right with a few heated laps to show us young lads how to "bring it"! Then the ladies toed the line to prove that this is not just a man's sport. After the masters race it was time for the CATs to line-up. Larry, Brad, Mike and Justin entered a field of about 42 hungry CAT 5 riders- this was the first crit experience for Larry, Brad, Mike and Justin. Larry and Brad started in the front while Mike and Justin hung back to see how things would play out. They played out alright. Larry and Brad held on to the lead pack for a while until an over anxious rider took out Brad's front wheel...notice the road rash in the top pic. Larry stayed strong up front, Mike held on as long as possible and Justin was humbled by the intensity of the sport. Larry finished 9th.



Stacey brought a strong effort to the womens CAT 3/4 race while the other Qwik Chix were there for event support. Thanks ladies!

The Spokes for Strokes series ended on Sunday with the F.A.S.T. Century-one hundred miles of the most beautiful countryside one could imagine. One hundred and five zealous riders showed to tweak their early century fitness. That brings this weekends event to a close with a head count of about 300 riders, tell me one man's vision is a small thing. This was for you Mrs. Susan Powell!

To add to this already long post I would like to announce that we are going to attempt posting individual race reports, as they are submitted, for each event that we participate in. The reports and pics will be posted at the end each post. Thanks for reading, Justin.

Reports: Mike
Pics and more pics

Monday, March 10, 2008

Victoire! - by Mike Garner



The French word meaning "Victory". After a snow day canceled practice on Saturday, Team CCR showed in force for Sundays race. It was a picture post card perfect day. Not a cloud in the sky, a little brisk at the start, but just a perfect day for us to show the mettle and determination that brought us all together to start CCR. As the race started it was unlike the other 2, a sign of things to come maybe? There was no full on sprint, maybe everyone was tight because it was cold, and may a little jet lagged because of day light savings. None the less it allowed Team CCR to put it together.



On the first lap we had a little scare when a dog dive bombed the peleton taking out a rider at Mike's 11 o'clock. Josh, maybe it was a blessing, stopped to help, got back on, and promptly blew the side wall out of his rear tire ending his day. Chris starting his first race, and fighting the crud going around, put in 2 solid laps, before getting hung up behind a missed-shift from Chain Reaction guy, lost the peleton and hung it up to fight another day. The rest worked doggedly. We chased down a small two man break. Brad, our field general, stood up looking over the peleton barked the orders to not let it get away. Away we went gobbling up the small break. After we blew by them we made the turn, and our boys, Brad and Larry went off the front, and I mean way off the front. What a beautifull sight it was watching your colors dance away. That splintered the field. Brad and Larry on the break. Chase 1, and Chase 2 containing Stacey, Mike, Justin and 3 other riders. Chase 2 did everything we could to bridge up to Chase 1, but to no avail. Chase 2 hung together till the last mile or two. Mike put in a solid pull to try and set Stacey up to bring home the Chase 2 victory. In the end 5 riders in the top 15 from CCR. Podium finishes went to Larry(Malliot Jaune), and Brad finishing a rock solid 3rd. Stacey ended the day in 8th, Mike in 12th and Justin rocking the new Tourmalet finished 13th. Our first victory. Everyone worked there tails off to bring this home. We can all pat ourselves on the back. Enjoy the moment, because next week it is time to get back to work. Looking foward to a week of recovery, and this weekends first official race of the season, Hoover Crit March 15th.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Winter Training Series Part II

Yo Team CCR fans! I know, you've been waiting so patiently for an update, we apologize.

Well, I guess we can start with team practice on Saturday. The team met at Spain Park High School in Hoover, AL @ 7 am CST. Spain Park is the primere location of the finest criterium known to man, the Hoover Crit.







Some of our teammates are new to the crit scene and some are still not sure if they if they want to race the crit. So, we made about 8 laps around the course to get a feel for what's coming on March 15th. Keith Kittinger, our Tri-guy, was zipping around on his Cervelo time trialing with a broke collarbone making us all look a little ridiculous. After practice Brad, Larry and Wes went for a longer ride through Oak Mountain State Park to do some endurance training while Mike and Justin continued with a good tempo ride around the school. The Quik Chix had other reservations so they went their seperate ways and that was saturdays practice!



Fast forward about 30 hours and Team CCR was at the starting line of the Winter Training Series Part II. We raced the "C" class on a beautiful day hovering around 70 degrees.



The race started out relatively slow because the mileage increased to 30 this week and no one really had a gauge on how hard to peg it. The pack sorted out after the first lap and it was time to focus on who wanted the win bad enough. During the second lap there were two guys that wanted to break out but the peloton remained constant crusing around 30 mph at most. Near the end of lap two we were well represented up front with Brad, Larry and Stacey but there was one strange thing. Justin was there! What in the world is Justin doing in the front on his first road race ever on a borrowed Lemond Zurich, he's a mountain biker. So, somehow Justin is the lead man for like......ummmm......a second. Then, you guessed it, he gets swollowed by the peloton, AMATEUR! The third lap was pretty much the same but we lost Justin. It all came down to the sprint and Brad, Larry and Stacey all finished in the top 10 and Justin, Josh and Mike called it a good training day. Good job guys! Photos