Adam Baskin of CatOne Fitness offered his coaching and tour guide services to us all week-end. The camp started at 2 pm on Friday with a 40 miler to get the legs going a little bit. Adam suggested a local Thai restaurant for the Team Dinner. It was definitely a dining experience that none of us will ever forget.  If you’re in the area, just look up Thai and Friends and ask for Otto! Saturday was jam packed with a 50 mile team ride that included Sugar Loaf Mountain and Buck Hills best climbs and some crit practice at a local undeveloped subdivision.  Once we made it back to the resort and had lunch, we had a Q&A session with Adam where we learned ALOT about our training and the things that we need to correct this season. Then it was off to the crit course again for some cone drills, bike handling exercises and cornering work. The last team exercise for the day was a 20 minute core workout that I put the guys through…lots of work to be done in that area. Our week-end ended on Sunday with another 40 miler before we packed up and headed back home. It was a very good week-end…… we learned alot, we laughed alot and we rode alot….all the things a team training camp should be. Look for good things from the PCP Race Team this season.

Eighteen riders met at Cycle World this morning for the last ride of the WTS. We had a very special guest ride up with Melody Ellis shortly before the ride began.  Jeff Haire and Melody rode 25 miles early this morning and came by the shop at the end of their ride. It was great to see Jeff back on the bike after his long recovery from last year’s accident. He and Melody rode with us from Cycle World and headed back to their starting point at Breakaway Cycles. At that point, sixteen riders headed down Ledo Road for the start of a long, windy day on the bike.  The winds were out of the southwest so the ride to Leesburg and up to Stripling’s at the Veteran’s State Park was nice. We had a nice 22-26 mph pace most of the way and nobody seemed to struggle at all. We did the first half of the race course on the way up to Stripling’s….through Leesburg, out 32 to Mossy Dell, left on New York, right on Leslie Highway, right on Chokee to Cutts and Pryor.  We lost two riders on the way out as Andy Cooper and Steve Julian headed back early.  The KOM (and the first opportunity for the guys to get some of those double points) was the KOM of the road race on Pryor Road.  The KOM wasn’t very long but it was enough to make you have to work. Our top three KOM finishers were Selby Holler, Ray Fararo and Ryan Couture.  Even carrying an extra bagel, Selby can climb!

The group made their way on to Highway 280, across the bridge and into Stripling’s parking lot. The best part of the store stop for me was the lady who asked if our bikes cost about $600 because she saw some like that on “The Price Is Right” the other day and that’s what they said the price was.  After some of Kent’s now famous rice cakes and refills, we were back on the road and ready to tackle a 20+ mph headwind for 45 miles. Props to Gage for an awesome save as we made our way down Highway 280… not sure what happened but I was right behind him and I just knew he was going down as he swerved sideways and his bike started to come out from under him. He saved it without ever hitting the pavement.  The group hunkered down as we headed back toward the race course and the wind was directly in our face. As we made our way down New York Road, we picked up Bill Riddle and an extra set of legs to help fight the wind. We were spread out single file and fighting the wind when Alan B. and Company showed up to SAG for the remainder of the ride.  The attack zone, the second chance for points, started as we turned left onto Mossy Dell and ended at the “Stop Ahead” warning sign at the end of the road race course. As soon as we turned onto Mossy Dell, Ryan Couture took a chance and attacked. Nobody jumped with him. I stayed back and began to wonder why nobody went with him.  Were they thinking that he couldn’t hold it? Were they waiting for somebody else to put in the effort to try to catch him? I can’t say for sure but I can say that Ryan put in a huge effort and it paid off.  The chase group couldn’t get a good rotation going to reel Ryan in.  Mark Miller got tired of wasting his effort with the group and tried to solo off the front. He would’ve held it and taken second if it hadn’t of been for the efforts of Bill “Work Horse” Riddle. Bill came to the front of the chase group and nailed it. He pulled the group to Mark Miller just before the small hill up to the finish.  Ryan easily took first, but second and third came down to a sprint finish with Selby and Ray taking second and third, respectively.

We regrouped at the end of Mossy Dell and headed to Grave Springs. I had tried to stay out of the way during all of the attacks, but I wanted to push myself a little bit. I rolled ahead of the group on Grave Springs and decided to do some work. Kent bridged up to me while the guys stayed back to recover from their attack zone efforts. Kent pulled a little but then he backed off and let me take it all the way down Grave Springs.  The guys eventually picked up their pace, caught us and jumped on behind Kent. Alan had gone ahead of us on Grave Springs, snapped some pics of us in action and then continued as our SAG vehicle.  We took Forrester to Lover’s Lane to Century Road. The final sprint was at the end of Century Road just before the intersection at Palmyra. We crossed Highway 19 and the guys regrouped. I rolled ahead so I could see the finish, and I realized that Hal Carter was with me. He said that he had no intention of sprinting at the end so we rolled on. Alan motor paced Kent to the finish so he would be in place to video. I looked back over my shoulder as I made my way up the hill by the church and I saw one lone rider on the attack with the rest of the group way back. Who was that?? Then I realized that it was Trey Griffin, and he was on a mission. Trey had his head down and was pedaling like his life depended on it. Trey is one of our newer riders so I was excited to see him taking a chance like that. I started yelling at him and encouraging him to stay strong. I noticed the chase group was gaining ground on him and I didn’t know if he could hold it all the way down Century.  He had a pretty big gap, but the Work Horse came to the front again and laid it all on the line. Bill gave it one last hard effort and brought the group to the first set of cones (about the 200 meter mark).  Selby, Ray, Mark T. and the rest of the group hit it at that point and the race was on. Mark T and Selby nipped Trey at the line with Ray right behind them.  Mark Miller and Chip Carter rolled in next.  By the time I crossed the line with Bill, the guys were already protesting that Trey had jumped early and didn’t wait on everyone. I told them that they would be given 15 minutes to protest before the final results were posted. We made our way in on Palmyra and took it through the neighborhoods on our way back to Cycle World.

Mark Thompson was our Final Sprint Winner for the day, and he took home a nice prize box filled with goodies compliments of the PCP Race Team, Bike Warehouse and Cycle World. After I presented Mark with his prize for the day, it was time for the podium ceremony.  Ray Fararo took 3^rd place and $50 with 290 total points; Selby Holler took 2^nd place and $75 with 315 points and Mark Thompson took 1^st place, $100 and the Leader’s Jersey with 450 points. Awesome job!! Ryan Couture and Josh Fix took 4^th and 5^th place, respectively with 155 points each. Ryan finished ahead of Josh because he participated in more of the WTS rides than Josh. 

For those of you who were unable to participate in the WTS, I hope you enjoyed following it every week through my reports and the pictures that Kent posted on Facebook.  As I said before, I hope to make this an annual event.  Until next year, Peace out.

The route took us south out to Spring Flats, South County Line Road, Moultrie Road, Nelms Road and Gravel Hill Road before we hit 112 and headed back toward Sylvester. The group stayed together and tried to warm up during the first part of the ride. Nothing super exciting happened as we started to make our way to Sylvester and prepare for the attack zone on Massey Airport Road. We lost one rider around the 36 mile mark. Down to fourteen. Once on Massey Airport Road, I broke out my whistle and the attacks began. Mark Thompson took off first with Selby, Ryan, Mark M, Thomas and several others right behind him. I jumped with them but realized that my legs weren’t feeling it and decided to play it smart and stay back with Ray, Chip C, Collin and the rest of the crew. Mark Thompson, Selby Holler and Ryan Couture took the points in the attack zone. Look at the Alabama boys coming over and stealing the points!

Steady pace into Sylvester and a much needed store stop at the 51 mile mark. Everyone stood in the sun and tried to stay warm as they scarfed down their goodies. I saw bagels with apricot jam & peanut butter, Sprees, Elfin cookies, Snickers, Red Bulls…. refill the bottles and we were off again.  We headed out of Sylvester and onto some roads that I had never ridden (Lundy, Strangward, Isabella Terrell, Medders). We ended up back in familiar territory as we turned onto Red Rock Road and prepared for the final sprint. The guys asked where the sprint started and I told them wherever they thought could take it from. I didn’t care if they took off right at the beginning of Red Rock but I would be very surprised if they could hold off the group for that long. That being said, I decided to put in a few efforts by myself and work on my fitness. I took off ahead of the group and got in a steady rhythm. Red Rock is a fun, winding road with a few small little hills and some nice downhill sections. I had gone for a few miles before I realized that I had company. Collin Enfinger and Ray Fararo had bridged up to me. I pulled off the front and the three of us began to rotate through around 20-23 mph pace.  Not really fast or slow…. just steady. I looked behind us expecting to see the rest of the group and the group was nowhere to be seen. Ray, Collin and I kept our little rotation going and I started wondering if the rest of the group was going to be able to catch them. I started thinking that I should probably get out of the rotation because I’m not really supposed to do anything in the attack or sprint zones but stay out of the way. As I was thinking about all of this, Ray glanced back and saw them chasing and closing the gap. I got in the back of our group and kept an eye on the chase group. Selby, Ryan, Mark M and Mark T were pushing the pace as hard as they could to catch us. Kent was with them and I found out later that Kent was blocking everytime he was in the front. It took the guys a little while to realize that Kent wasn’t helping them out and the four of them had to start working together if they were going to catch us before the final sprint. Kent’s reason for not helping them? His teammate (ME) was up the road and he had no reason to chase us down. Nice teamwork. The chase group caught us a couple of miles before the final sprint. Ray and Collin jumped in with the other four guys and the tactics began. I stayed in the back and watched it go down as Kent sprinted ahead to the finish to take pictures. Mark Miller tried to attack early but Ray chased him down. Then a little cat and mouse game as nobody wanted to be the first to go…. It came down to the very end with Ray having a strong final sprint and taking the 50 points. Selby, Collin, Ryan and Mark M rounded out the Top 5. Mark Thompson rolled in right after Mark M with the rest of the guys a little farther back.  We took North County Line Road and Fleming Road back to the Marine Base and rolled into the parking lot with 85 miles in our legs. Once again, Chip Battle and Mitch Mercer took home the Overachiever’s Award. Wikipedia defines overachievers as “individuals who perform better or achieve more success than expected”. The two of them rode to and from their homes today and added an extra 20ish miles to our 85 miler. Yep, 105+ miles!  And a big Happy Birthday to Chip!!

Congrats to Ray for winning the final sprint today and taking home a gift certificate from Harvest Moon. A big thank you to Bo Henry for sponsoring today’s ride. Please support our sponsors…. Harvest Moon, The Catch or Henry Campbell’s Steakhouse.  All are great places to eat! Mark Thompson’s domination in the GC continued as he will wear the Leader’s Jersey in the Winter Training Series Finale next week. Mark has held the Leader’s Jersey the entire series. He has ridden every week and has been very aggressive. Kent said that Mark deserved the MAR today. Unfortunately, we don’t give awards for that but he would have won it if we did. Good Job Mark! 

Our GC after Week 7: 1. Mark Thompson (350 points)  2. Ray Fararo (200 points) 3. Selby Holler (185 points) 4. Josh Fix (155 points) 5. Collin Enfinger (125 points) 

Next week is the Winter Training Series Finale!! The PCP Race Team will sponsor next week’s ride which will leave from Cycle World at 10am. Double points with an attack zone,  KOM and final sprint. We will tackle the SB&T Road Race course with a little extra mileage just for fun. Looks like we’ll end up with right around 90 miles.  Check out the Winter Training Series page for all of the details. Don’t miss the last week-end of the WTS!!

1. Collin Enfinger & Trey Griffin representing Cat 7 Racing                                                                                                                                   

2. Selby Holler & Steve- O Julian representing Team No Name

3. Mitch Mercer & Chip Battle representing Team Brevet (they both rode 20 miles BEFORE our ride!)

4. Ray Fararo & Mitchell Smith representing Velo Viagra

5. Mark Miller representing Team Tuff Luck (Mark’s teammate, Steve Woolard, ended up going short)

6. Mark Thompson & Josh Fix representing Landscape Solutions

The morning started off a little foggy and cold as the clouds kept the sun away for the first 15 miles.  We took off down Palmyra to Highway 32. Once the sun came out, the group had to make a pit stop at Callis Road to pee and undress. The arm warmers, knee warmers and base layers had to go! The ride continued into Sasser as we crossed over Highway 82 and headed toward Herrod. Some of the guys got a little ansy and tried to pick the pace up as we headed toward Nothing Fancy.  I had to break out my whistle a couple of times to keep the pace down. Elaine Mercer, Thomas Talley and Steve Woolard decided to take Gillionville in once we reached Nothing Fancy. The rest of the group continued across Gillionville, kept a moderate pace for about 2 miles and then hit the attack zone that took us into Leary. The attack zone was a little over 4 miles long. This was the first opportunity that the teams had to really work together and make things happen. My goal was to stay with the front group and just hang toward the back. As the host of the WTS, I am ineligible for points, but I wanted to start working on increasing my power with some hard intervals. I got what I wanted. The guys took off and the attacks began. Mark Thompson and Josh Fix had already planned to alternate attacks and wear everyone down by the end. This is how the attack zone went…… Attack, chase, slow up…… attack, chase, slow up…..hard and steady….Selby tried a crazy solo attack thinking that the sign he saw was the finish (it was not)…. the group swallowed him up…. attack, chase, hard pace…… sprint like a mad man….. Thank God that’s over.  The pace was around 27-28 mph for a good bit of that section. Several of the guys got dropped throught that section. I was proud of myself and stayed with the front group. Getting stronger!! 1000 points for me today!  Attack zone finish?  1. Josh  2. Ray 3. Collin

Our store stop was in Leary. Red Bull, water, Gatorade, Power Bars, Pop Tarts, Elfin cookies, Peanut Bars, Peppermint……. we had a little of everything. Another pee break and we were off to Morgan. Around the square in the big city and onto Gillionville for the ride in. Let me add that up to this point, we had a headwind and/or funky crosswind the entire ride. The ride in on Gillionville was the best part of the ride to me…. favorable winds, smooth road, nice/steady pace….. I only had to blow my whistle 1 time! We even got to see Walt in his stealthy Calhoun County Sheriff’s car. He followed us for a while and protected us from those impatient motorists that fly down Gillionville. The group took a right onto Flowing Well, formed a single pace line and prepared for the mid-ride sprint.  Josh ended up pulling a large part of Flowing Well so I assumed that Landscape Solutions had a plan for Mark Thompson to sprint for the win. Mark Thompson jumped as we got close to the final stretch but went REALLY early. Mitchell jumped on his wheel with a good plan but neither could hold it all the way to the finish. Everyone else had jumped in behind them but it was Josh, Ray and Selby that took the points. We took it fairly easy down Eight Mile as the guys tried to recover from that sprint and prepare for the final sprint and the Big Points. Once on Gillionville again, we kept it steady to Lockett Station. Kent jumped ahead of everyone and went to the finish so he could video. The group went through the light together and then the hammer got dropped. Josh took off like a bat out of hell with everyone shifting and pedaling like crazy to get a good position in the pace line behind him. I jumped in and we were off! The pace was fast and it was all I could do to dangle on the back of the front group without getting in anyone’s way. I’m not quite sure how it went down but Selby, Josh, Collin, Ray and Mitchell were the first five to the finish. Since Ray and Mitchell were representing Velo Viagra, Mark Miller earned fifth place honors as he finished right behind Mitchell. Good job to all of the guys!! We eased back to Breakaway Cycles with just over 80 miles, had some more goodies, let Gene play with Mark Thompson’s nipples, watched Selby get the Final Sprint winner’s prize and loaded up the cars. An awesome ride, great weather and fun times on the bike!!

The top five in our General Classification after today??? 1. Mark “You Can’t Beat Me” Thompson  2. Josh Fix  3. Ray Fararo  4. Selby Holler  5. Tony Luchetti

There are only 70 points separating 2nd through 9th place!! We’ve got 2 more week-ends and another chance at double points in the Series Finale! It’s going to be a close one.  Can Josh and Ray hold onto 2nd and 3rd?? Things may get interesting over the next 2 weeks. 

Lastly, I am proud to announce that the Top 3 Finishers of the PCP Winter Training Series will be awarded cash prizes compliments of our very own Pecan City Pedalers Bike Club. Thank you to the PCP for such a generous donation! $225 will be disbursed to the top 3 in the GC as follows: 1st Place = $100 plus the Leader’s Jersey; 2nd Place = $75 plus a high five; 3rd Place = $50

The WTS moves to the Marine Corps Logistics Base next week. If you want those points, you’re going to have to come get them. We will leave from the lot beside the main gate on Fleming Road at 10 am. Harvest Moon has graciously agreed to be our sponsor and has already given me the prize. I tried to convince Bo to come represent in spandex but it wasn’t happening. Eat before you come or bring it with you. No pre-ride goodies provided …just alot of smack in the parking lot. We’re doing another 80 miler in the rollers of Worth County!! Bring what you got!  Peace out.

Remember Keep the skinny side down!

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,600 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 60 trips to carry that many people.

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