July 18, 2008
July 15, 2008
July 14, 2008
Piedmont Triad Omnium
This weekend i got to try my hand in a pro 1,2,3 omnium
Friday night was the crit in downtown Lexington. first of all this was my first 3 race let alone a 1,2,3 race and it was under the lights i didn’t expect it to be so fun. the whole race i sat around 15-30 position but, with 5 laps to go i found my self sitting on Rich Harpers wheel 6 position back but then a 100$ preem was rung and he launched an attack i tryed to stay on his wheel but the field gobbled me up. i finished the race 30th, the race had started with 75 people and finished with 47 it was a beat down hard race.
Saturday afternoon was the road race. it was 60 miles with 2 good sized hills on each of the 5 laps oh yah and the race was at 3pm the hottest time of the day. I finished 26 on the day. same as the night before tho 70 started and only 44 finished another beat down race.
finally the last day and the time trial 10 miles of rolling hell at least i had an early start time before it got hot and it got hot. placed 19th.
I’m super excited to race some pure 3 races now with this under my belt.
fitchburg stage race
This past fourth of july weekend the team and i set off for the Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic; a four day stage race consiting of a time trial, road race, circuit race, and a criterium.
DAY 1
The time trial was 6.5 miles of gradual uphill and bad roads. The roads where so bad that there was not one line in fact there wasn’t a line. They started the race on a ramp, that was really cool.
DAY 2
The road race, four 12 mile loops with a mountian top finish and a screaming descent on each lap. We where hitting 55+mph on a down hill that wasn’t even part of the mountain. this course suited me very well with over 6500 feet of climbing in the entire 46 miles. one early break went away and stayed away consisting of 8 riders. during the race i stayed about 15 riders back in the field knowing thats where i needed to be when we hit the base of the mountain. when we finaly hit the base of the mountain the field shattered i was in the lead group for the finish, placing 16th.
DAY 3
The circuit race, a 5km course that looped around part of downtown Fitchburg. i had a mechanical on the first lap got a wheel change and had to solo for 7 laps(19 miles) loosing 6 minutes to the field but i finished thank god thats over.
DAY 4
The Crit, a three turn course with two 90 degree turns and a half round about a very easy course i got a good start sitting in the front 10 people but, after about 15 min there wasn’t going to be a break that would stick i slid back to the middle of the field i didnt want to get caught up in any crazy crashes in the sprint good thing because there where 2 big crashes on the last lap.
Thank you Ethan for setting up are trip and making this all happen
June 23, 2008
lose the training wheels
first off i want to say Lose the Training Wheels is a great organization that teaches handicapped and disabled kids how to ride bikes. last Monday i was down in Charlotte volunteering with the team at lose the training wheels. Spencer and i got paired up with hunter. It was really amazing to see in an hour and a half how hunter went from being frustrated on the bike to being comfortable and doing 3 laps in the arena.
here is a link to their website, i would urge you to volunteer if there is a camp in your area.
http://www.losethetrainingwheels.org/default.aspx?Lev=1&ID=7
-jake
welcome Leverage Lending Group!
I would like to welcome Leverage Lending Group as part of the black sheep family, and we are excited to have you sponsoring our team.
-jake
June 19, 2008
Another Sheep Down – Dixie Classic
Race Report for Dixie- the race started with 35 people. On the small end for the race. On the first lap, a break of 3 went up the road. No one wanted to chase it down. 2 of the guys in the break have both won in breaks before but I didn’t go, it still being the first lap and all. The break stayed away for about 13 laps then came back. Last I saw of those 3. After that it was attack after attack till at one point I chased one attack back and kept that speed up for a half lap. Then pulled off and saw that, in fact 7 or so of us had a gap of 10 seconds with 35min of a 45 min race to go. Eventually we stayed away till the field gave up chasing about 15 minutes later. Then we lapped the field! I sat at the back of the field for one lap and watched my fellow break men. Then I moved to the front. Very quickly I had 2 of them on my wheel and the rest to the right and left of me. I felt as if I was being stalked. Two of them had team mates in the race which where sent to the front to keep tempo and the field together. That’s how it played out till 5 laps to go when the bell rang and I heard preem and all of a sudden guys go sprinting left and right. I tried to stay at the front of the field to make sure no one in the early break with myself got away. But I got sandwiched in the middle of the field heading into the first corner. Apparently, someone had tried to move up on the inside, hit the gravel, slid out and pushed everyone to the outside while at the same time the outside was pushing to the inside and I got trapped and taken down by a rider on my right who I eventually landed on. Immediately knowing that the free lap rule had expired, I jumped up, put my chain on, opened up my rear brake, not knowing my wheel swayed from one side of the seat stay to the other. When I realized this I ran over to the wheel pit, pulled my rear wheel out and put a new one in and checked with the official and was back in the race with blood gushing from my left knee and elbow. We did a couple neutral laps then the chief ref stopped us at the finish line to reset the race. 2 guys where up the road, one of which was in the break with me. He gave them an 8 second gap, then released the field with 5 laps to go. It was a mad dash. The last 5 laps, with 5 of the breakmen on the front, myself being number five in line for the sprint. The last 300 meters to the finish had a strong head wind. Not my kind of sprint, I knew this with 3 laps to go, but with blood gushing from my arm and leg, I didn’t have the energy to attack. I decided to try my luck at the sprint. I got around one guy but just couldn’t squeak past the next guy and got 5TH. Not too bad after my crash. I sure didn’t get the worst of it though, with one guy going to the hospital, and the guy I fell on having a chainring in his side when I stood up. All in all, I feel like I am really coming into form for Fitchburg next month.
-Jake
May 19, 2008
U23 Performance Camp Weekend
Thank you to the Eric Saunders, Pat Raines, Jamie Bennett, all of Time Pro Cycling, and all the guys at Per4mance Training for putting on a great camp.
We started at Per4mance Training in Pineville for testing on the Computrainers. I did not think I was even going to the camp and at 12:45pm I found out I could go. 30 minutes later, we were in the car for the drive down to Charlotte. Of course we got stuck in traffic and arrived at Per4ormance at 4:45pm with just enough time to get changed and jump on the computrainer. Then off to dinner with the other riders and then to Winston Salem to settle in for the night.
The trip to Winston Salem was an experience in itself. Spencer was driving. Max, me and Logan from California were passengers. We missed the turn off to Winston Salem and headed to Greensboro. At Greensboro we missed the new bypass to Winston Salem, we turned around a couple of times and kept missing the turn off. Finally, we headed in the right direction towards Winston Salem. Once in Winston Salem, we got lost for a while until we found the hotel. We still managed to get there before the rest of the guys from the camp.
Saturday morning we were up at 5:45am for breakfast and out the door for our ride at 7am. After the ride, they let us loose for lunch. Mellow Mushroom in downtown Winston Salem. After lunch we had discussions about being on a pro team, what it takes to be on a pro team, what the Time team is about, and nutrition. Some down time came next and then off to Mellow Mushroom for dinner. After dinner, we were exhausted and went to the room, watched Evan Almighty and went to sleep.
Sunday morning, early rise again and out the door at 7am. We rode to Pilot Mountain where we then all stopped at the bottom where Pat told us we were now going to race to the top. I beat Spencer in the last couple hundred meters and I am looking forward that rematch Spencer! After we rode back to the hotel, it was off to Mellow Mushroom (after a quick shower) again for lunch. Discussions after lunch included Ronnie Hinson talking to us about his racing career, and a wrap up about the weekend.
All in all I learned a lot about cycling for a pro team and had a lot of fun.
-Jake
May 17, 2008
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