Colavita South
Part of the most active cycling club in the U.S.
Virginia State TT
Virginia State TT Championships were held June 22 in Stony Creek, south of Richmond. Dean Wagner cruised to a 7th place finish with a sub 60 minute ride.
Dean Wagner is the U. S. Paralympics National RR Champion
Making his way to Colorado for the Paralympics Cycling Team try-outs and the Rocky Mountain Omnium, Dean started the long weekend with a 14k TT, placing 1st in the LC1 category and 3rd out of the up-right cyclists.
The Colorado State TT Championships course was out in the open, on the north end of the Denver Airport. The course had a few tough hills and the headwinds averaged 17 mph. With a time of 56:44, Dean placed 1st of all Paralympics up-right cyclists, 1st in LC1, and 5th place for 35+ SM4.
The Road race at Table Mountain was held on the west side of Denver,
at the Denver State Patrol training track. Averaging 42kph, Dean and
one other rider dropped the field and lapped everyone but two other
riders. The race ended in a two man sprint with Dean earning 1st
place overall, the National Jersey, a gold medal and the Rocky
Mountain Omnium.
Marc Crouch - Georgia State RR Champion
Marc Crouch, Bill Kelly and Jerry Andrick made their way to Union
City, GA for the state championship RR. Marc decided at the last
minute to go, after feeling great after the "pizza ride". Must have
been some pizza!
The course was narrow single lane roads that kept everyone bunched up and made it difficult to move up. The only time there was breathing room and the opportunity to move up was on the KOM section of the course.
With 1/4 mile to the finish and Marc twenty people back, the double
pace line moved left and opened the right side up. It was into the
headwind, but it was open. Marc started his sprint from 5th place,
positioning himself at the front going into the final turn with a
bike length over the next rider. Head down and peddling with all he
had, Marc held off any challengers for the win and the State
Championship.
Tour of Atlanta
The Tour of Atlanta offered a three weeks worth of racing in four
days. Marc Crouch seemed to enjoy it though.
Two 6th, a 7th and a 9th place finish for the week. No sweat!
Bike Jam
Tony Moreno was jamming at the Bike Jam in Baltimore. The 30+ race
wasn't enough for him, so an hour later his was in the Cat 2/3 race.
Photo courtesy of Jim
Wilson
Gold and Silver in the Dirt
The Ridlehubers hit the dirt in Spartanburg for the Stump Jump MTB
race.
Richard took the gold in the Clydesdale and 4th overall.
Will grabbed the silver, while placing 3rd overall.
Cyclingnews.com tests the Xenith SL
Check it out!
Georgia Cup - Cumming
Another good weekend for the "Oil Boys".
The weekend started with a time trial with Graham Foster placing
6th. Later the same day for the road race was Graham taking 4th and
Bill Bruning flying through the group to grab 2nd. To finish out the
weekend, Graham took 2nd in the criterium.
Twilight Greenway
Marc Crouch finished 4th in the Masters 35+ 4/5s, while Joe Rembling finished 15th.
Safety Fair
Limestone-Central Elementary School's annual safety fair benefiting over 355 students. This was a well organized event, with students broken down into small groups, giving each presenter the opportunity to speak to the students one-on-one.
Walnut Grove Road Race
Junior member Parker Kyzer finished 17th in the Cat 4 race, while Scott McNeal placed 14th in the Cat 5.
South Carolina Youth Triathlon Championship
Will Ridlehuber took 1st place in his age group and 6th overall in
the South Carolina Youth Triathlon Championship Saturday, April 12.
The triathlon consisted of a 100 yard swim, 3 miles on the bike and
a 1 mile run with over 100 competitors.
Rock Hill, Gainesville, Walkersville and DC
What a weekend!!
If the guys weren't in the top ten, they were working to make sure
their team mates were.
Starting in Rock Hill.
Richard Ridlehuber started the weekend off on Friday night with the downtown sprints, placing 10th. Zero to wide open in seconds, then it's over. The sprints moved along well this year, allowing participants to get home earlier than last year.
Will put in a great ride again this year at "The Rock". Even
though he was up against some older guys in his Junior race, he
finished a strong 4th. Next up was Parker in the second Junior race.
Parker was going with all the right moves and keeping himself in
position for a podium spot. With three laps to go, a guy crashes in
front of Parker and takes him out.
Next was Joey, Geoff,
Greg and Mike in
the Masters crit. A lone rider got away early and held off the group
for the win, with Joey taking the bunch sprint for 2nd. Geoff rode
one of the best races I've seen him ride, taking 9th. Greg and
Mike dodged one
crash early, only to have to dodge another in the closing laps. Both
times causing them to lose several positions.
New member Wade Greene survived the Cat 5 race. With the wet roads and technical course, that's an accomplishment in itself.
On Sunday, the road race started with Parker trying his hand at the
Cat 4 road race. Parker, looking for revenge from Saturday, rode
another perfect race to finish 4th.
Joey, Greg, Geoff and Mike lined up for the second day in a row.
With some great teamwork, Joey was delivered safely to the line for
a first place finish, followed by Greg Kyzer and Mike Dale for 3rd
and 7th. The 2nd place Saturday and 1st Sunday gave Joey the omnium
win.
Gainesville started out with Marc Crouch and Joe Remling in the TT. Bill Bruning, Jim Phillips, Bill Kelly and Jerry Andrick joined them later in the day for the road race. Bill launched an attack halfway through the second lap and almost stayed away. Another example of great teamwork saw Marc finish 6th and Bruning 10th.
Sunday's weather was a welcomed change from Saturday's wet weather. Marc and Joe lined up for the circuit race. No breaks today. Marc took 4th in the bunch sprint, with Joe finishing 17th.
No, that's not all.
Tony Moreno lined up for the Walkersville Road Race in Maryland.
There were attacks throughout the whole race and only one stayed
away for any amount of time, but were brought back with two miles to
go. Tony, having to fight hard to move up through the pack, finished
an impressive 10th.
Then there's DC and Matt Braughler. Matt took on the rest of the Cat 5 filed in the Tyson's Crit. When it was all said and done, Matt finished on the podium with 3rd.
Must be something in the oil.
Impressive weekend!
Rouge-Roubaix
The race starts in St. Francisville, LA and ends some 100 miles later. The course takes you over every kind of terrain imaginable. Three long sections of gravel roads, steep hills and just plain bad roads. You know it has to be bad when the organizers place three rest stops along the route. Kevin Porter must have been training on South Carolina roads to prepare for this one. With a 2nd place finish in this one. I'd say he was prepared.
Jamis
Some of the guys are getting their bikes.
Here's a look at Richard and Will's new steeds.
Atlanta Pasta Party
The guys in the Atlanta area had a little pasta party and tried on
their new kits. Pretty sporty huh?
Greenville Spring Training Series
The first races of the year are behind us.
The fields were huge and the weather was pretty good to the racers.
Several races were held at the Donaldson Center and it's always
windy there.
Parker had two top ten finishes and Joey had a 4th on the last race
of the series. The rest of the guys made a strong showing too, with
several top 20 places.
I went to
Jim Gibson
Fit Solutions
864-909-3380
Jgibson4"at"bellsouth.net
2008
The new year brings with it a few changes.
The roster has more than doubled, so "Oil Boys and Girls" will be
everywhere. Check out the list on the "Roster"
page.
Downtown Greenville Classic
The last race of the season and big money on the line. Scott McNeal raced early and it wasn't a slow race. Immediately people were dropping off the back. With a $1999 purse, everybody wanted a piece of it.
Parker and Will raced both days in the Junior categories. Both
races races were crazy fast. How they could score a race like that
is beyond me.
New member Justin Dozier had a good weekend, finishing 11th in
Sunday's race. Both days Justin spent most of his time near the
front. The effort and smooth riding paid off.
Great job guys!
SC State TT Championships
Jimmy Gibson is hooked!
Jimmy's first race was the state TT championship. He's been training
religiously all year and it paid off. He wasn't sure what to think
about time trialing, but with him taking the gold, he's hooked.
Will Ridlehuber took silver again this year, after finishing first in a triathlon last weekend. I'd say Will likes time trialing too.
NC/SC State RR Championships
Greg K, Parker, Jared and myself headed for the state championships in Greenville. The weather started out cool and overcast, but by the early afternoon, the sun was heating things up again.
The Masters 45+ race was like a local cookie ride. Nobody wanted to do anything but follow someone else's wheel. So we followed each other around for a while. The Cat 4 race was about the same.
Jared and Parker had the best finishes for the day. Jared 16th and Parker 14th. Both Junior groups lit it up early and hard. The guys held in there for the finish though. Great ride guys!
NC/SC State Track Championships
Richard Ridlehuber took the gold in the scratch race, the 3k pursuit and the 1k. What if he'd had a track bike?
Way to go Richard!
Dahlonega
Dahlonega always promises pain and this year was no different. Greg Phillips and Bill Kelly made their way to the "gaps" for another taste. The racing is always fast and the climbing is hard. The accelerations for the KOM blew it apart. Greg fought back over and over, but it wasn't happening today. If it was hard for Greg, it was a hard race. Bill must be a glutton for punishment. After crashing during a training ride and having to replace his helmet, he dives in head first for the fun weekend too.
Gwinnett Bike Fest
Four days of racin'.
This seemed to be a well organized event, and that was a nice change
from some we've been to lately.
Thursday was the Road Atlanta course. It's been twenty years since I
raced motorcycles there and they've made some major changes down
there. I don't remember all those hills though. Even the segments
that I remember as being flat aren't flat. It was fun do do laps
around the again. It's a little slower on the bike though.
The crit on Friday was nice too. Due to the high number of entries, they split us into age categories. That gave everyone some breathing room. I did alot of breathing and got slower every time I went up that hill. It was a fun course on the backside though. Lots of fast corners and on a slight downhill.
Saturday and Sunday brought more races, and Greg and Parker were sitting well until the hills took their toll. Sunday was better for both, more like the Donaldson route in Greenville.
Virginia State RR Champ!
Steve Soltes took the gold in the 40+ category in the Virginia
State Road Race Championships.
Way to go Steve! He'll be going for
gold again soon for the crit championship.
French Broad Classic
Not much to tell. Friday was cooler than years past and everything was perfect for a TT. Bad thing was that the scoring was messed up, so the times were a little off. Ridlehuber rode well and sang an old Muddy Waters song about having his mojo workin'.
The morning of the road race was cool, but it didn't help me get up that hill. I was at threshold when we started it. Parker was pushed off into the grass, just a couple of scrapes, and lost the pack. By the time Greg's race came around, it was HOT. The group picked up the pace to chase a break and that was it.
Bee Buzzin'
It's not a race, but it's always fast. Richard R., Jimmy G., Rick
C., Parker, Greg K., and myself made the trip down to Greenwood for
this one. It started fast and ended the same way.
http://www.indexjournal.com/news/20070624b_n.html
Crystal City Classic
Steve Soltes had another great weekend finishing it with a 4th and 5th place. He'll be coming down for some warmer weather in July for the race in Gwinnett. Cruising along.
Union City
Jerry Andrick and Bill Kelly headed to the Union City race for a hot weekend of racing. Jerry placed 4th in the criterium and 9th in the road race. Bill placed 22nd while still recovering from earlier injuries.
Sandy Springs Classic
Greg Philips made a bold attack in the RR with 3k to go, but with a fast charging pack and a downhill finish, Greg was caught 20 meters from the line. He held on for 4th. Great job by Jerry and Bill at controlling race.
Or so we thought. Seems that someone forgot to turn on the camera at the finish line, so they tried to use the "honor" system. So how was that mess resolved? DNF'd the whole field! Yep. No refunds, no payouts, nothing.
Jerry Andrick took 3rd in the fast morning TT and 5th in the crit
Sunday.
He was smoking!
Steve Soltes 4th
Steve Soltes placed 4th in the 14th Annual Carl Dolan Memorial Spring Classic in Columbia, Maryland. Steve was up against some strong teams, but still placed just off of the podium.
Strong ride Steve!
Gov. Mark Sanford's
Fitness Challenge
Greg K., Parker K., Jared and myself participated in Governor Mark Sanford's 4th annual Family Fitness Challenge. South Carolina ranks as one of the worst states in health and fitness. The Fitness Challenge hopes to raise awareness to this fact and help to encourage healthier decisions in our lives.
Jared hooked up with Greg and Parker to complete the whole route
of 71.5 miles. That's Jared's longest ride yet. Parker and Greg were
constantly shoving bananas at Jared, hoping to prevent him from
bonking. He made it, though I did see a small trail of olive oil on
the roads. The gaskets had started to leak, but he held it together
for the finish.
Rock Hill and Chattanooga
The Friday night sprints were long.
Not in distance, only a short but very painful 500 meters.
Greg and Richard placed third in their heats and didn't make it to
the finals. That probably was a good thing, in a way. As they got to
go home early.
There were only seven in my race, so no heats. That was good and
bad. One race and it's over. Good thing.
Bad thing. The race wasn't until 10:20 PM.
Wasn't sure if I got second or third. As soon as the race was over,
Jared and I headed straight for the car.
The Downtown Crits were fast, like always. Matt, Will, Parker and
Jared were there. Jared and Will hooked up towards the end with Will
taking 1st in the 10-12 yr old group. Jared finished
6th in the 13-14 yr olds. Matt seemed to be enjoying the race more than anyone. That guy
was smiling the whole time. This was Matt's first race and he
finished 7th, smiling all the way. "Mr. Cool" Parker finished 12th in a chase
group. His race that was flying. This was probably the fastest race he has
been in. He handled it very well. He just needed a couple of Parker
sized hills in it.
Greg's race was fast as well. It never slowed, only seemed to get faster. When there's no chance of getting back and you're racing the next day, you save the legs.
Sunday wasn't looking good, but it turned out to be perfect racing weather, until the afternoon. The winding started gusting to around 50 MPH and Parker was out there alone after being caught behind a crash. Well he did have one guy that sat on his wheel the whole way back, then sprinted around Parker at the finish.
Richard, Greg K, Bill B, Rick, Greg P and myself raced in the combined Masters 35+ and 45+. It was a slow start. Everyone was taking it easy, waiting for the hills. It was boring until then. After the week I'd had, I was surprised to still be with the group. I was there, but not for long. I checked out Bill B and Greg P, they were looking very comfortable.
With hit the first climb and the speed was still low. They weren't pushing it at all, but I started dropping back. Everyone else was holding their ground. Except Rick.
The further we went, the further up front Rick moved. When we hit the top and mad a right, he didn't give them time to recover and hit them again. I was done at that point. The group stayed together for a sprint finish with Greg P 5th and Bill B 8th.
Those Rock Hill guys know how to put on a race. We can't wait for next year.
Bill Kelly made the trip to Chattanooga.
The weather was brutal, but with 4-5 layers of clothing, if you are
in a crash, you probably won't get hurt. :)
It rained, it snowed, 39 degrees with the wind at 22 mph. People
were being bounced off of each other by the wind. The two mile climb
at mile 17 blew the race apart. Bill finished 14th.
Next:
Piedmont Triad
French Broad Cycling Classic
Gwinnett