News from the Peloton

Hello Gang,

This week in Vegas, all the hype was for the big showdown at the Silverman.
Some of the top time trialists in the area were out in force to contest the
event and they did not disppoint. There were a lot of notable performances
and that I will get in too later. I wanted to take a moment to say how
impressed I was with the level of organization that it took to put this
event on. I can not believe the amount of volunteers and support from the
community as half of Henderson was shut down for the Road events. I have
never been a big Tri fan but that was pretty cool. I hope that some day we
can see that kind of support behind some local bike races. Nice job
Silverman. I also wanted to high light Dave Ellis. His company was a
notable sponsor and most of the team members of CES were out to either race
in the event or volunteer as a worker. Lots of praise out to those guys
for supporting a local event.

NEWS FLASH:

The Arctic Squirrel has arrived. He landed in Vegas via the Audi Turbo
Express on Saturday. He looks fit but looks can be deceiving. Let me know
if there are any Jay sightings on the road.

Silverman Report:

There were lots of Vegas notables involved with the race and I apologize
that I did not see everyone or get your specific times. I did see the
Wolfman in the half iron man looking pretty cool in a Air Force Kit. The
big showdown in the Relay TT of 112 miles was a great event to watch. The
boss was first on the road and maintained his position as the best Time
Trialists in Vegas. We all take for granted his abilities in this event
but he improved his time over last year by 14 minutes and had the fastest
bike time of the day with a 5:08:03. Chicken was second in the Valley with
a time of 5:33:30. Louie's team won the overall relay and the Mens relay.
Chicken team won the coed relay team. Nice job guys. Hansel had a great
showing with a time of 5:52:37. I did not get the ladies time splits
because I was not able to get their team names but I know Hilary was out on
the road with a good effort as well. Big Ryan and Brandon Cunningham both
had good times to support their relay teams as well. I was in the
transition area and it was obvious, every one left it on the table. Dave
Ellis looked pretty sharp on his X-lab TT bike.

Non PT Retrospective

As promised, I am sitting here at my desk and going over all the great
performances of the past year by non-PT riders. It has been a long season
so this is going to be from the best of my memory. If I forgot someone or
did not quite get a fact right, I apologize now. It is much easier for me
to remember races I was in so here we go.

I will start with one of the most impressive riders in the City, Little
Hurt. Andy had an incredible year with many accolades to his credit. From
getting his Cat I to taking on the Zoolander boys at LA College, he has
been solid all year. I think one of his most impressive performances was
taking out Kayle LeoGrand at West LA College. Even before that, the way he
gutted out the finish in Boulevard this year against arguably the best
field that race has ever seen. Not many of us would be willing to line up
in crit against most of those riders, he did it in a tough ass road race
and was one of the top non-pro finishers. Great season Andy.

How could we forget Greg Christian. Now most uf us know that Gregg checked
out after the first part of the season, but before he did he was notching
up some serious placings against some NRC caliber racers. His ride at Red
Trolley was inspiring and he certainly got Lance excited. I recently spoke
with him at Red Rock and he may start racing again. Lets hope so! We need
somebody to give Jay some competition.

Spider Monkey has had a tough year. From going to school to getting plowed
by a car, he was not able to salvage very much of his season. For that
reason I will have to remember him as being a great antagonist at TNW. The
one thing I love about Ryan is he is unafraid. From attacking Burke
Swindlehurst in Utah to trying to disrupt the PT train at TNW, I can always
count on Spider Monkey to mix it up. i know he is training for a big year
next year so keep an eye on him.

Mr Dark Cloud (Tony Gebbia) had a good year in the early part of the
season. He was getting some good placing in the early season crits in
Socal. Again I do not have specifics as I was not at a lot of the CBR
stuff. I will also say that between him and Luna, the two of them have the
sweetest peddle stroke in Vegas. They pedal like glass. The guy just
looks pro. Nice!!

Pitter Pat impressed the hell out of me at the Mt Charleston hill climb. I
know what you are thinking, he is supposed to go uphill fast. He passed me
like i was falling backwards off a ladder. Nice ride on the Mountain Pat!!

One of the biggest character's in the peloton, Troll, had an awesome year.
I love the way he gave it up for his teammates in Indio but his all time
best achivement this year was taking the 4-up sprint at TNW. It looks like
all those videos he had been watching of tactics paid off. Than he goes
down to Socal the next week and wins a crit. That was a breakthrough ride.
Good luck with the new baby!!

Hansel made a great return to the Peloton this year. After a year in
absence he rode strong all year with quite a few crit placings to his
resume in masters races. He has steadily been improving his TT again to
his former level. I am looking for some great battles on the road this
year. He had one of his best rides at the St Valentine's day race. He was
the power in a two up break. Nice job Chris.

Gagne has been improving his sprint all year and doing well at TNW. I have
to say my best memory of Chris this year involved the Tour De Gap. I know
he may not agree but he had a breakthrough ride in the first days road
race. I know we always talk about placings, but sometimes it is the
challenge of a hard event that will take you to a new level. Gutting out
the finish on those climbs that day when your body was telling you to stop,
changed you as a rider and I am sure it will pay off. If he keeps taking
his game to that level, he will be one tough rider in the future. Nice job
at Gap getting over those hills. Trust me when I tell you that you
impressed me and my teammates that day.

I was not at this race but Ryan J had a great day down in Phoenix at the
beginning of the year. He did a crit that had rain, snow and sleet. I
talked to some of the people from that area that were at the race and very
few people finished. Ryan had a good day to get a top 20 finish in the Pro
1-2 crit and tough out the weather. He also just stepped up and completed
the 112 mile Silverman TT. Can you say tough guy!!

Little Nathan, what can we say. This kid is smoking hot this year with
none other that a state title to his name. He has steadily been improving
and it all culminated with a break away win at state. I thought that was
impressive until Charleston. This kid smoked most of the elite field to
have one of the best times in the city, and he does not even have muscles
yet. Keep an eye on him and lets hope he gets picked up by a good
development team for next year.

Hillary had the race of her life at Indio to win some big money. I watched
her come out of the last corner and accelerate to the line for a well
foughtout win. I was laughing all the way home that day thinking about how
she won more money than any of the guys from vegas that placed that day
including myself. here is another vegas athlete that had breakthrough
year to become a threat in almost any race. Awesome!!

Alicia goes right along with that. You would think that she would only be
a sprinter but she actually placed well in quite a few road races including
San Luis Rey. She was also the best finisher in the Pro Crit here in Vegas
at Mandalay Bay. Look for bigger things for her this year.

Last but not least, Big Lance. Always the sprinter, he spent most of the
season working his ass off for members of his team. He stepped up and did
an entire season with arguably one of the best local teams in Socal. Along
the way he was able to win a masters crit and provide lead out after lead
out for his sprinters. It was tough to hold his wheel and even tougher to
beat him at his race, the local TNW. He was by far the dominate winner of
the belt. I am hoping that the rumor of his retirement is just that and we
will have many epic battle to come.

On that note, I am sorry if I forgot you. You are always welcome to add in
your own memory.

Random Thoughts:

Happy Birthday Hileman. I am not gay and Chicken wrote the card!!

Again, special props out to CES for their sponsorship of the Silverman.
How about a Road Race next year??

Is it the training or the P3??? Nice job Boss!!

Tucson is this weekend. It is on Bitches!! I hope I can hang in for the
finish.

See ya next week.

Jim Robbins

News from the Peloton (The Retrospective)

Hey Gang,

I am stuck here at my office working on  a Sunday so I decided to kill some
time by getting the newlsetter out.  I have to say the weather this weekend
has been awesome so I am sure you are all out riding and enjoying our mild
temps.  As i sit and ponder the season that we just finished, I thought I
would go through and highlight some of the best moments from the year past
and of course get your mind wandering to good things to come for the next
season.

Special Announcement:  Today is the Chickens 41st B-day.  If you see him
out on his TT bike today be sure and wish him a happy birthday and buy him
some calf muscles.  He will need them next weekend for the Silverman.   By
the way his bar age is now 31.

January:

The only racing in January was a TT put on by the gang at ProCyclery.   That
same weekend some of us PT Riders escaped the ass kicking cold and went dow
to SoCal for a weekend of long miles.  Our training camp consisted of a 110
mile day on Saturday from Papa's house to San Diego and back again the next
day.  I think the highlight of that trip was just spending time with my
bro's and coming into San Diego right at sunset and checking out the
skyline after a long day in the saddle.  That little trip showed me how
good we were going to be this year as you could just tell the team was
clicking.  OHHHH I forgot the TT.  Louie smoked them like usual, but the
real accomplishment was riding in those 17 degree temps.  Damn that is
cold.  Mark is laughing in Utah at us desert dwellers but I am sure he
wants to be here in Winter.

February:

The first race of the year was Boulevard.  I have to say, that race set the
tone for the season.  The teamwork was awesome and with all the major teams
there to show off, Louie showed why he is feared on any climb.  With
Chicken working like a whore, he set the boss up for a podium placing.
kircher was incedible in the beginning chase on lap one and the team worked
hard.  Valley of the Sun was next.  Louie, Mark and Balch took on the 45+
race and won the overall.  I will never forget how RS got his nickname that
day.  With myself, Chicken, and Kenny blocking like mothers he took a well
deserved 4th in the road race and than did another lap just to show how bad
ass he is.  Than just to make sure we new the boss was the boss, he kicks
ass in the Crit and takes another podium.  I finally saw the Cuban sprint.
I will say the boss owned February, but RS gets the MVP for this month for
making me laugh my ass off.  Run Scared Bitch

March:

March was jam packed with the lead up to San Dimas Stage Race.  We all went
down to McClane to race with the long lost squirrel.  The crit was insane
and the boss and Chicken were in a nasty pile up in the Pro Crit.  The
masters crit did not go as planned and we all were lucky to survive without
major injy.  The best moment of that weekend was Jay telling the Pro
Woman's T--Mobile team how they need to win the race with his sweats pulled
up around his chest and his skinny ankles sticking out underneath.  TOO
FUNNY.  Murrietta was next and Kircher, RS and me tried like hell to get a
break to stick.  RS was an animal that weekend and worked his ass off to
help me try and get a placing.  Next was SanDimas and what a race we had.
To Podium at arguably one of the toughest stage races of the year in terms
of competition was awesome.  The team worked like a well oiled machine.   I
will never forget Louie after the TT at dinner.  His quote of the night,
"who the hell wants 9th, tomorrow we go for the win and this is how we are
going to do it."  Of course the strategy is a closely guarded secret but
Kenny launched the Chicken with a blistering acceleration up the side of
the field and that was the last we saw if him.  That race, I was never more
proud to be on this team.  With Jay winning preems in the Crit to poor
Mark, coughing up his lungs but fighting to stay in the race so he could
help the team.  I give the MVP for this month to Kenny for his unselfish
riding and teamwork and Chicken for finally cracking that big podium.
Maybe you two should team up more often!!!!!

April:

For me this month had some highs and lows.  On a high note, I went down to
Indio and finally got to race in a true Pro Crit with a stacked field.   I
got 8th in the masters to win some cash and than busted my ass for 90
minutes just to say I raced Henk Vogels.  FUN STUFF.  San Diego Omnium was
a blast for me, Chicken and Kircher.  I am very proud of this race because
we had to fight so hard to get a placing when all of us were arguably not
on.  Kircher was completely dominate in the crit and helped me lead out
Chicken three times to make sure we could get bonus points and a finish to
stay in the money.  The boss, Kenny and Mr. Freeze went down to Tucson and
completely dominated the AZ boys for another GC win.  Mr Freeze and Kenny
were a two man wrecking crew for the boss and I am sure that Mr Freeze
absolutely gets the award for the MVP for that ride.  I am sure Louie felt
like he was on a Mack diesel riding behind that wind tunnel.  The low was
Conquer the Canyon.  We did not ride well as a team but learned some
valuable lessons.  Louie came back strong on the last day road race but it
was not the highlight of our calendar.

May:

Two big highlights in May.  I went down an raced Bario Logan and tried to
get in every break I could just so I could miss the winning attack by
Bordine for the state championships.  the next day was San Luis Rey RR.
The boss had some great form, but we let Kircher attack early and
unfortunately he was not able to stick with the break.  Not our best day
but we took a shot on our long break away specialist and I have to say this
was good training for what Kircher did later in the season.  RS was bad ass
in the 4 race and picked up 2nd to get the balance of his upgrade points.
Damn he is strong.  I forgot to mention he won Punch Bowl in the 4s.   All
of this while he was actually a Cat 5.  Go Figure.  Summit Center was at
the end of the month and what a battle.  It was touch and go and man did
the team work well.  With Kircher kicking ass in the crit (he had a solid
ride that day and spent more time off of the front), Louie taking the 100
preem, and getting the lead out of his life from his team, he was able to
stay in first after the first day.  The circuit race saw the whole team
take teams protecting Louie and than launcing him in the break.  The last
day RR we had a narrow margin of victory and the Ride Clean team came out
swinging.  Louie put us all on the front and Kenny set a sweet tempo to
keep anyone from attacking.  We just rode any attacks down and set up our
climbers on the last climb to go for the win.  Chicken flew the coop to get
a W and boss rode awesome to defend his lead.  Freeze was incredibel in the
cross winds and showed strength that I shall not soon challenge.  Balch did
the 45+ and one almost every stage including lapping the field in the Crit
to put all GC hopes for his competitors out of sight.  My MVP for May is
the return of the Balchesaurus.

June:

I finally got up to race with Mark Schaefer up in Utah at the High Uintas.
I will just say that by far this was my best race of the year and Mark is
the badest man in Utah.  Enough said.  I had a personal break through with
my TT and Mark completely dominated the RR to put the GC out of sight.   If
you could have seen the cross winds he had to fight coming into Evanston,
and he put 4 minutes on the field solo.  DAMN!!  Louie was riding well and
unselfishly worked for Mark.  Just to make sure he did not get bored, I led
him out for the crit and he took another sprint win.  Are you sure you are
not a Crit Racer??  RS was an awesome teammate that weekend and he reallys
et me and Louie up for a good placing in the crit.  The week before that,
the resurrection of Robo Cop was completed.  He went to the state RR
championships and with the most unselfish riding of the year by Louie,
secured 3rd place for a bronze metal.  Louie was awesome to patrol the
front and Kircher started his own break and than powered it for the rest of
the day to stay away for third.  Kircher and Schafer are the MVP for June
with an assist for Louie for his domestic duties.

July:

Of course July is the month for Nationals and Louie and Mark did not
disappoint.  They took a silver in the tandem TT and Gold in the RR.
Another National Championship and a hard fought battle to get it.
AWESOME!!  The two of them went to Cascade with me after that.  They were
both exhausted and still had great rides with Mark getting 4th on GC in the
45+ race.  OK again I will say that is a bad man.  Louie got third in the
last day circuit race and rode a very solid stage race considering he was
exhausted from Nats.  Just when i thought the Squirrel had gone into
hibernation, he calls me up to Carson for the NorCal Crit Champs.  He laid
out a plan and we gave it everyhing to try and win another championship.
He rode a very good race to secure a 5th against one of the toughest crit
racing teams I have been up against this year.  Nice way to end July
squirel.  MVP for July is the two National Champs Louie and Mark.  Jay gets
honorable mention for one awesome sprint in Carson.

August:

Apparently August is Kircher's favorite month.  He started by going out to
another state championship in Sisquoc and getting another bronze, his third
of the year.  Ohhh and just to show you he is bad ass, he did it by
himself, no teammates with him on this trip.  Tour De Gap was on tap and
the 45+ guys stepped up with the return of Polocko to the peloton.   Him,
Balch, and Schaefer lit up the field to take the GC for the 45+.  The boss
whooped ass in the 35+ to take another stage race win with a lot of great
riding by his team.  The set up on the first days RR by his climbers,
Polocko, Balch, Chicken, RS was incredible.  The crit was te scene of the
famous PT Team Time Trial and I have to sat it is harder getting a placing
on this team because my team mates attack befoe I get a chance too.  I am
talking about RS taking off 8 miles in the last RR never to be seen again.
The TT was a true test and I am glad to say that I had another break
through ride.  After sweeping both categorys you would think that Utah was
ready for us, but the next week Kircher, Chicken and I went down and did
the San Pete RR and Kircher took another win.  Chicken rode a good race to
thwart any chasers and I busted my ass in the break to make sure we stayed
away,  It was a nice way to end the season.

I know that was long but damn, we race a lot.  All in all we have had a
great year.  I would like to thank all the sponsors, significant others,
and support staff that helped make this a great season.  I hope this got
all of you dreaming of big wins and good times for next year.  Sorry this
is PT specific for all of you that get this that are not on the team.   I
will highlight some other Vegas notable next week for not PT.  Just too
much too write in one letter.

Random Thoughts:

How does Chicken look so young???  I will tell you his major secret.   He
spend almost all of his free time lying around the house in his pajamas.
He will only leave the house to ride, work, or go to a party.  He literally
has no other activities beyond this.  Truly amazing

Rock Racing is talking with Mario Cipollini to ride for them for next year.
WOW, can you imagine that CipoLilge may actually get to race Cipolini.   I
will lead you out Jay but you better start doing some intervals.

The Silverman is next weekend, come on down and watch local favorites
Chicken, the Boss, Hansel, and Big Ryan battle it out for TT Supremecy

Working on a Sunday Sucks.  Thank god I can do this so I do not go crazy.

The roster has not been finalised for PT for next year.  I am told that
several of us are on the bubble.  I will be at Louie's house next week to
atone for my sins by washing his RV.  Chicken will be assigned to clean out
the shit tank.  Hopefully we make the cut.

There are some new races coming out on the national calendar.  It appears
that our sport is still healthy in the US.  I am looking forward to our
local stage race.  Rumor has it that the Nelson's Landing RR is going to be
back.  I guess we can count out the various ALL Crit All Stars.  You boys
better start doing some climbing.  I am sure there will be some no name
crit in Phoenix you can do that weekend.  Seriously, if we have a local
race, lets get out and support it.  If promoters do not get good turn out,
they do not have an incentive to keep the race going or try and do more
races.  If we want a healthy race scene in Vegas, we need more races here.

See you out on the roads

Jim Robbins

News from the Peloton

Hey Gang,

I have been swamped at work and this nagging knee injury has kept me off
the bike longer than I expected.  That being said the official start of the
winter off season started this last weekend with the Las Vegas Century.
The weather has chilled and is ideal for training.  I am sure that the
vegas gang will be super strong come December since the weather is so good
for training right now.  Here is the latest news and romors floating around
the peloton.

Las Vegas Century:

The local 100 miler had most of the PT team in attendance except for the
Fat Man, PT, and the Arctic Squirrel.  The Big Boss was raong in Surfers
Paradise and the Squirrel has yet to show his bushy tail in Vegas.  I was
sitting at home waiting for my *&^&^$#%&^& knee to stop hurting.  As usual
the local 100 miler was a chance fot the PT Team to show a little team
strength.  I was told that the attacks started at the 33 hole and all the
guys regrouped at the top of Boulder and did a Team TT the rest of the day.
The Boss had the guys set a wicked pace in the cross winds and burned most
of the field off of their wheels.  I was told that some of the pace making
done by Mr. Freeze, Balchesaurus, Polocko, and the boss made this "fun"
ride seem like a death march to anyone not ready for our usual pace.
Needless to say the team rode as a unit which meant they spent the day on
the front with few riders holding the pace.  Good Job Gang.  Team cohesion
will be a strong asset in the coming season.  Sorry I could not be there.

Sunday Ride:  Charity Ride for Brooke

Sunday I was able to get out and do a local charity ride.  A woman who
works in my building has a little girl that has a brain tumor and is
undergoing chemo therapy.  Her freinds and family organized a charity ride
to raise money for the family.  I attended as well as Ryan Jarrell,
Chicken, and Mark from Pro Cyclery.  I want to thank all those who attended
as it meant a lot to her family and they were able to raise some money to
help out with their expenses.  Ryan went well above the call of duty and
was able to bring a check from his team's sponsor for the family.   Ryan,
you and your team are a class act any many thanks go out to you.  My knee
is still bothering me but I was able to get in 40 miles and call it a day.

Random Thoughts:

Tour de Tucson is coming.  Can you feel it??  News on the street is that
Hansel is gunning for our title.  Every year the first competitor to cross
the line from each state gets a trophy as the fastest man from that state.
Team PT, spcifically the Chicken has four of these sitting at training
house.  Good luck Chris!!  I am training hard to make sure we keep this in
house.  I would like the trophy room at training house (that is my
residence) to continue to be home to this title.  I am told they are
bringing a few guys to help him out.  So far we have myself, Chicken, Sweet
Legs, and Macgoo heading down.  Anyone else???

What is with the Goof!!  Just an FYI for those of you in the peloton.
Every member of Team PT that did the Century paid for the full 100 mile
ride.  I am not sure why he is monitoring us, but I really do not care.
Ohh, and that is not our team money.  Yes, I am jealous of your big budget
because it has obviously generated some incredible results for your team.
You are shining example of how a big budget race team spending money on
slackers can turn bad riders into exceptional athletes.  AWESOME JOB THIS
YEAR!!

Big Ryan advised me that Collins secured a new title sponsor for next year
and will remain with most of the same players.  Glad you guys are still in
the hunt.  I am looking forward to some epic battles on the road next year.
I hope you guys step up your racing program next year so we have more
chances to go head to head.

I was told that Mr. Freeze was his normal pleasant self this weekend and
tried to rip every one's legs off.  I love that guy!!

Jay, COME HOME

Spidermonkey, I heard about your strategy at the Century.  You have learned
well young one.  You have proven yourself smarter and more savvy than most.
Good Job.

I checked my biological passport and it shows that I am inferior to most of
you.  I read Louie's and sanctions are coming.  Balchesaurus is hiding from
the testers and Chicken's blood is laced with Jagermeister and Capt Morgan.
Must be the off season.

News from the Peloton

Hey Gang,
>
> Just because race season ended, do not think for a minute that I would
> stop my weekly dose of self therapy.  For most of us racing has ended
> and some are taking a break while the x-mas stars are gearing up for the
> all important Fun-ride season.  God help us if we do not win the Las
> Vegas Century.  I took a little vacation to Hawaii last week just to
> rest my tired bones and eat a lot of seafood.  It was a little weird not
> having my bike for 5 days and I am paying for it now.  When I came back
> I did a hard training ride and somehow injured my left knee.  I am
> nursing myself through recovery and hopefully will be back up to full
> speed soon.  Since we are now officially in the offseason, the local
> news and rumors will be the only thing to report on for a while.  Keep
> in mind that these are my personal opinions and views so if you do not
> like it or get offended, feel freeto chime in.
>
> I heard a rumor that McGhies will not have a team next year.  I do not
> know the reason but I was told it had something to do with sponsors.
> Again, this is a rumor and I am not an investigative reporter, but it
> got me thinking.  I just wanted to say remember your sponsors and all
> the sponsors in your everyday choices.  I have T-mobile because they
> sponsor cycling, if they did not I would change.  I try to go to local
> shops that sponsor rides and racers.  I can not afford a Porsche but if
> I could I would buy one from Gaudin because they sponsor the sea of
> yellow.  I drink Monster because it is the best shit on earth.  Money in
> this sport is hard to come by so make sure you thank all of those people
> that make racing possible.  On another note, if you ever get some tech
> support at a race, make sure you drop a 20 on the mechanic and let him
> know you care.  It kills me to see guys at races that get free service
> and parts and than bitch because it took them too long or it did not
> work right.  You would be surprised at how much a little gratitude will
> get you the next time you are in need.  I have seen Shimano work on
> Louie's bike for hours because they know that he cares and is one hell
> of a spokesperson for them.
>
> THE CHICKEN REPORT
>
> Detective Michael Anderson of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department
> participated in the Western States Fire and Police Games in Phoenix AZ
> last week.  In true Paul Tracy fashion, he dominated the event.  He won
> all of the stages as well as the overall for his category and the
> overall for the whole competition.  I know he was very proud of hit TT
> performance as he took out Mike Williams from Cal Pools.  If you are not
> sure who Mike is, he was part of their state championship TT team.  Gret
> Job Chicky.
>
> Mike and I went to Socal this weekend to train.  On Saturday we headed
> out for 85 miles of tempo work.  As we were rolling down PCH, a fit
> looking female rider passed us in Laguna.  Now most of the time this
> would not register on my radar as we were just out doing tempo work, but
> both of us noticed the Flexpoint Jersey right away.  We were very
> surprised to see none other than Amber Neben out doing some spinning.
> Now if you have not heard of Amber she is one of the few American Woman
> actually making a decent living as a Euro Pro.  She is one of the best
> riders in the world and the smooth spin gave her away.  We rolled down
> PCH talking about her outstanding season.  I think she was more
> surprised that we knew her and recognized her as she rarely races in the
> US and not many of us follow the woman's pro scene in Europe .  Chicken
> asked her the usual training questions about what she was doing this
> time of year and than she left us on PCH to go do the canyon.  We looped
> back around to Newport and than back to Papa's house for dinner.
>
> Sunday was spinning with Papa to try and loosen up my knee.  We kept the
> ride easy and had a good time letting Papa pull us around so he could go
> home and tell mama that he stretched our necks.  I have to say that for
> a 70 year old man, he can still get the legs rolling pretty good.  on
> the way home me and Chicken had to push a little to stay with his old
> ass as he kept upping the pace on us.  I do not think he liked our jokes
> about him being gay!!
>
> I did not hear much about any of the local training rides but I am sure
> I will have plenty to report on once the Las Vegas Century is completed.
> Hope to see all of you out at the Century.  Hopefully my knee will be
> better and i will be out to the ride.
>
> Random Thoughts:
>
> WOW, what a week Horner had.  He was 5th in the Copa Sabatini and than
> he goes podium with a third a couple of days later in the Emillia.  I
> guess the Paul Tracy spirit wore off on him.  I sure hope that Cadel
> lets him have some freedom to go for the win in Lombardy .  Cadel is only
> a few points behind Di Luca in the Pro Tour standings and could win if
> he places higher than Di Luca.  That might not be good news for Horner
> as he may have to be team bitch.  I know the feeling my brother but
> soldier on.  Some of you probably have no ides who I am talking about
> because it does not involve Tuesday Night Worlds.  Do not worry, you are
> better than these riders and the Pro tour can not hold a candle to TNW.
> Keep the faith.
>
> Mrs Diamond has been out training with some of the riders from Rock
> Racing over the weekend.  She has also gotten the services of a very
> good coach.
> Look for big things from her this year.
>
> Got a rumor down in Socal that Thurlow and Strickler left Sonance to do
> their own masters team with Giant.  Of course this is a rumor but it was
> from a pretty good source.  Those of you in the 45+ category, pay
> attention.  There may be some different teams to battle with next year.
>
> Tour de Tucson is right around the corner.  I heard that Collins was
> taking a large group of guys to take the title.  Fastest man in Nevada
> up for grabs.  Hey jay,  are you going to come out and play??
>
> Did you see the lay out for the Tour of Utah.  This could be the
> toughest race in America next year and Burke got the nod to be the tech
> advisor.
> Mark, let him know we need a masters stage race to go with the Pros like
> Cascade so we can come up and play.
>
> Boss says the new Uni's are going to be sweet.  hey Boss, can you send
> out a preview so we can check them out???
>
> Anyone know when Jay is supposed to get here and pretend like he lives
> in Vegas so he can get all that freee swag from the team??
>
> Keep training and I will see you on the roads.
>
> Jim Robbins
>

Fw: News from the Peloton

Hello Gang,

I have lots to talk about this week with news from the show, Everest
Challenge, the UCI Cyclocross race, and the US Crit Finals here in Vegas,
as well as some local news on teams and rides and all kinds of stuff.  It
is that time of year for the Christmas Stars to start searching for teams
for next year and the rumor mill is just beginning.

Everest Challenge:

Once again the boss and Schafer proved that they are two of the best
climbers on the West Coast.  This year's event was epic with the weather
and cold being as much of a factor as the course and the racers.  In the
35+ race we had the Fatman and the Boss to go for the win.  In the 45+ race
we were well represented with Magoo, Balchesaurus, and the Desciple Mark
Schaefer.  The first day saw scattered storms with rain and hail as well as
cold temps on the peak.  Louie took off on the first climb with a skinny
guy from Team Spine never to be seen again the rest of the day.  The two of
them crested each of the peaks together until the last climb where the Boss
put on the gas to put two minutes into his opponent to take the W.  Mark
was caught up in an epic battle with Zimbleman from Team Z.  The Z launched
an attack on the first climb with Mark in hot pusuit.  In typical PT style,
Mark let him fry and than put a ton of minutes on him when he cracked on
the last climb to take the win.  Balch and Magoo both had strong rides to
finish not far behind and I dragged in dead last just to make sure our team
did not look too dominating.

The second day was exceptionaly hard with the promoter adding in some extra
distance to make up for having to shorten the first climb on the first day.
Mark and Louie both won their respective races as well as the overall for
both categories for the stage race.  Balch and Magoo had solid rides to get
in the finish.  I cracked like humpty dumpty with three miles left on the
last climb to take home a very rare DNF for the Fatman.  It looks like I
will be going back again next year cause I can not end on that note.  DAMN

Other Vegas notables were Dave Ellis from CES.  He had a very good first
day to get in the finish but was unable to complete the second day.  He
rode hard but the mountain was not kind to those of us with that did not
prepare well.  There was a guy from Allegiant in the Cat 4 field.  I know
he completed the first day but I did not see if he finished the second day.
if anyone knows who this guy is, drop me a line and give him a pat on the
back for accepting the challenge.

Cyclocross race:

The UCI put on a bad ass cyclocross race here in Vegas with some of the
best riders in the world coming down to Vegas during the show to contest
this first race for UCI points.  I have never been to a cyclocross race but
i am now truly a fan.  THAT WAS AWESOME TO WATCH!!!  Our own Little Hurt,
Andy B, was able to secure a spot in the race.  He did an awesome job to
stay in that stacked field.  The elite group at the front applied a ton of
pressure to the group and Little Hurt got caught behind an initial crash
that split the field.  He hung in as long as possible and lasted much
longer than some of his competition.  GREAT JOB ANDY.  The race was won by
Ryan Trebon and I think I speak for everyone when I say props go out to
Little Hurt for a great effort against this top field.

US Crit Finals:

The US Crit finals were here in vegas on Thursday night.  It was a tight
course set up in the parking lot of the Mandalay Bay and held at night
under the lights.  Vegas locals in the womans race included Ashley Diamond,
Alicia Boland, and Hillary Crowley.  Top sprinter Laura Van Gilder was in
the field with her Cheerwine team fully stacked to go for the win.  Alicia
did a great job of moving up during the race on the tight course and ended
up around 25th place for the best placing out of the local girls.  NICE
JOB.  I am sure that is the best field she has been up against and their
pace was hot.  Hillary and Ashley both finished in the main field and had a
good race to come in without a mishap and to finish with the group.  Laura
Van Gilder took the win behind a solid lead out train by her team.

The mens race had Little Hurt, Lance Coburn, the Boss, and Chicken all
representing Vegas.  The call up was a who's who in the crit world with
some of the top sprinters in the Nation here to go for the win and the
Title.  The men had to do 60 laps and the pace was insane from the
beginning.  Lance must have floated some bling bling to the promoter to get
a call up and start on the front so he had the best position at the start.
With a crash on lap one to shuffle any stragglers to the back the PT boys
were tailgunning the rear of the field with Little Hurt holding great
position in the middle of the field.  About 30 minutes into the race Little
Hurt had an unfortunate crash on corner two to get taken out of the race.
Lance exited a little before that which left Chicken and the Boss to fight
to the finish.  The pace was insane and they both did an incredible job to
avoid crashes and stay in for a much deserved 44th place for the Chicken
and Louie in 55th.  Amazing that these two hard core climbers were able to
knock boots with some of the best crit riders in the country.  GOOD JOB
BOYS!!  I guess all that road racing must be good training for crits.  Go
Figure

Saturday Ride.

WOW what a day.   I am still a little smitten.  The PT gang ended up doing
80 miles of tempo climbing with arguably one of the best stage race riders
in the US, Mr Chris Horner.  He could not have been more gracious as we did
mile after mile swapping stories, talking tactics and laughing the morning
away.  We ended up doing loop Potosi loop.  Horner was very cool to ride at
our pace and no question was off limits.  He got a good look into why our
team is so tight and I am sure he enjoyed hearing all the stories about how
everyone got their nick names.  Talking tactics and getting the inside
scoop on how to ride as a team was awesome and I know I walked away from
the ride, just a little more savvy than when I started.  I am not sure if
chris will end up racing on the domestic scene or back in Europe fighting
it out in big stage races, but I am glad that he took the time to make our
ride just that much better on Saturday.  I have tons of stories from that
day, but the most interesting was the pride he took in being Cadel's
lieutenant in the Tour.  You can tell that he takes his job seriously and
how important his role is.  That is what builds team character and helps
put W's on the books.

Sunday Ride

Myself, Chicken, and Robocop rode out to Green Valley to check out the
Treadmill ride to Jean and Goodsprings.  I saw some new faces as well as
some of the old crew out for the ride.  It was a good group and the pace
was moderate until Spider Monkey started pushing the pace on the road to
Jean.  As the group split, we had a small group pushing the pace with most
of the field content to spin easy behind us.  On the rise to the railroad
crossing the Chicken decided to attack with me and Jeffon in tow.  As we
pulled away from the field on the descent, a rider from McGhies bridged
with Robocop on his wheel.  When he made the bridge he promptly decided to
start screaming his praises at the top of his lungs.  Squack Box kept
screaming about how bad ass his bridge was so Chicken promptly attacked and
we left him to twist in the wind byhimself in peloton time out.  The pace
to Goodsprings was hot with Chicken putting up a killer tempo.  We all
regrouped at the gas station and than had a nice leisure ride back to Vegas
in a stiff headwind.

Random Thoughts:

The show was exhausting as usual but the team did a good job of securing
our sponsors for next year and it looks like we should be able to build on
the foundation already started.

How bad ass did Cipo look in the Industry Cup race.  I swear he was smiling
the whole time, right up until he got clipped and went down.  I am sure he
could have used some of the alcohol he had the night before to clean up the
road rash.

Mark Schafer and Louie are insane climbers.  Everest was epic and as usual,
it tests your mental strength more than your physical.  I failed the test
this year so I will be going back again next year.

best wishes out to Little Hurt on a speedy recovery.  He had the best
position of all the vegas gang in the race and really looked good before
his crash.  The Cat I status that you earned was confirmed this weekend.
GREAT JOB ANDY.  Can not wait to see you back on the bike.

Chuck from Allegiant had a lot of veins popping out of those skinny legs.
Somebody has been training.  Look forward to big things from this kid if he
can get some good training.

It was nice to see Terry out on his retro rider on Sunday.  Viva Steel
bikes baby!!

Spider Monkey is starting to look good again.  Good to have you back to
training boy.

Mrs. Diamond has secured a spot on the Rock Racing womans team for next
year.  Not quite pro but a damn good ride with a lot more perks than most
of us get.  Wish her the best of luck as she makes the attempt to go pro.

Jonathan, how did you like that 16 hours on the trainer???  RS rules.

Jim Robbins

News from the Peloton

Hey gang,

Sorry this is a little late but I have been buried at work.  I will start
by congratulating all the participants in the Mt. Charleston Hill Climb.
This was the only local race of the year that was sanctioned and I was
happy to see a lot of local riders that I do not normally see out at the
races in California come out to support.  To the rest of you so called
racers and teams that did not come out to participate, to hell with you.  I
hate climbing and I was dragging my fat butt up that hill because I feel
very strongly about supporting the local scene.  The Red Burro, McGhies,
and Pro Cyclery gang did a nice job of putting on the race and supporting
it.  Kudos out to them and all the Vegas racers that showed up to suffer.
I even got to sneak in a burger before the food nazi tore it out of my fat
fingers.

TNW:

This week was the last TNW of the year for the PT Team.  The boss put out
the order to run a team TT on the front of the field and that is exactly
what we did.  It reminded me very much of the strong performances of the
Health Net Team where they stack the front and keep that pace so high that
no one can make any kind of attack that will stick.  Lance put together a
nice move with Danny Murphy and Jeffon.  Poor Spider Monkey could not keep
the pace of the break and was dispatched back into the field.  Don't worry
Ryan, we know you will punish us next year.  We let the small attack dangle
for a couple of laps until the boss told Kircher to shut it down.  In true
Robo Cop fashion he pinned them back in a half lap and than the Chicken
launched to attempt the solo bid for the win.  He was caught and Kircher
countered.  Once he was caught I will be damned if the silly chicken did
not go again with Pitter pat in tow.  They almost made it to the line if
not for the power of a monster Lance pull at the end.  Double Chip rode
Lance to bridge and nipped the break at the line for the win.

Mt Charelston:

The MtC hill climb is 18 miles of straight climbing.  We start as a mass
start but it quickly becomes a TT once every one gets sorted out to their
specific abilities.  That being said, I did not see a lot of action at the
front but I will post some results and go over some highlights.  Chris
Walker showed up in the Pro 1-2 and scorched the field to put in the best
time of the day.  The Boss was bad ass to stay with Walker for much of the
climb and put in a hot time to win the 35+ and another championship.  Balch
is back and smoked everyone on the PT team to take second in the 45+.  Opi
was incredible to put in a great time to take second in the Cat III.  He
does not even have muscles in his legs yet and he just put in one of the
best times in Vegas.  Nice to see McGoo out racing as well and Bill
Billota.  I appreciate that you guys are supporting the local race.  Marek
was just behind Bruce in the 45+ and is climbing really well.  Bingham beat
his time from last year and placed 7th in the 35+.  Great ride Kenny.  Dr
Stan set a great pace and showed why tall skinny guys can climb.  Nice time
Stan.  Chicken secured the bronze medal in the 35+ and improved on his time
from next year.

results:

35+  1st The Boss  1:20:32
         3rd The Chicken 1:27:33
         7th  Bingleheimer  1:38:10
45+  2nd Balchesaurus  1:26:19
         3rd  Marek      1:31:37
Pro 1-2 1st  Vampy   1:17:23
                5th  Spin Dr (Luna) 1:55:46
Cat 3  2nd  Opi  1:24:15
            3rd Hileman 1:25:01

Utah Report:

As reported by Mark Schafer

This weekend was a race of truth (which means low turn out here in Utah,
all the pretenders were no shows) The Skull Valley TT, A 40K TT.  I have
not been training for this type of race, but if someone is going to put on
a true 40K TT you have to support it. Nice day little wind and a flat to
slight rolling course. I finished 2nd in the masters and one of the top
times of the day a 54:40. Not one of my best but felt good about it. Up
next is the big LOTOJA this weekend and then the EC, look out here I
come......
Disciple

Lance and Jay did the Giro Di San Francisco.  It was relayed to me that
they did not place and the course has brutal road conditions.  You can
check Jay's blog spot for an in depth report.

Random Thoughts:

Mt Charleston was the climbing championships for our district this year so
the boss gets another jersey.  DAMN!!  I want to win a jersey.  The Chicken
gets a bronze with polocko and Balch gets the silver.  NICE

Where was the rest of the Vegas racers????  Props go out to all the
non-climbers of the world that showed up to celebrate racing in Vegas.

Everest looms in my mind.  The pain of that ride haunts me.  Are you
ready??

Vampy is sick!!!!  That old man just put in a close to record time up the
mountain.  I put Balch in that same category.  The Boss had a sub par
performance (that is a joke).  No really, Louie is climbing out of his
mind.

How about that Team TT at TNW.  I liked it.  It was nice to stretch some
legs.  Kircher's pull was a little ridiculous.  By the way Kircher, do not
take longer pulls to keep me in the wind.  I am weak and I can not keep
your pace.  I am not worthy.

Opi was impressive.  That kid is going places.  Keep up the good work and
make sure you do not get injured doing that running crap.  Cycling is your
true calling boy.

Dr Stan and Bingleheimer would not wait for me and dropped me like a stone
on the Mountain.  Nice job.  Kenny had a good rythym and Stan climbed
better than I have ever seen him.

Look for the next issue.  Next week will be the season in review and the
top ten list.  Don't miss it.  I am sure that it will piss somebody off.
It will also include a list of updated and amended nick names for all the
characters in the peloton.  I am sure the Goof is not going to like that
but it makes for great reading.  Bythe way, the Goof beat me up the
mountain so good job.  I like when the legs do the talking.


Jim Robbins

Fw: News from the Peloton

Hey gang,

Monday here in Vegas and the local thunderstorms have kept me busy. I got
lots to talk about this week. It seems some of you are not ready to let
the season end. Here is the latest.

TNW Report:

Last week saw the PT team a little exhausted from the weekend of racing in
Utah and you could tell. It seems that nobody had the power to get away
and most of the chasing and attacks were feeble at best. The field stayed
together and Lance showed off what he does best. He covered multiple
attacks and than lit up the field sprint to take the belt for another week.
Did you get a good look at the lead out speed at the end of the race. That
was none other than the Chicken ramping up the pace.

San Pete RR

The fat man, the chicken and Robocop went up to Utah for another dose of
road racing. We decided it was time that the Utah boys got introduced to
Robocop. We had a lot of pressure going in as Chicken pointed out that we
needed to prove we could close the deal without the boss there to put in
the finishing touches. It was a 70 mile loop which circled around a scenic
farm valley. The terrain was rolling with some nice headwinds just to make
the course interesting. We started with 8 miles of single file pacing
behind Steve. One of the Canyon guys rolled up to me and asked when Steve
was going to come off of the front and I replied he might just pull all
day. I attacked at the 9 mile mark and got a good gap quickly. Of course
I did not pay attention at the start and took the wrong turn at the Y in th
road. I had to turn around and come back which allowed the field to catch
me. At this point Kircher attacked and all the Utah gang were left looking
at each other to try and decide if they should chase since we still had 60
miles left in the race. Bruce from Canyon tried to bridge and was about
half way to Kircher when I launched to bridge up with one of his riders in
tow. I told them that if we caught Steve, this was the break and we would
take the day. Steve stopped at a Y in the road and the 4 of us got
together and said goodbye to the field for good. I am not sure if Bruce
was in for 55 miles of break away riding but Steve was focused like I have
never seen him. Robocop pulled like a machine and made sure that he was
not going to be caught. At the end of the race Bruce's team mate from
Canyon was dropped and Bruce put in a nice attack to pop me out of the
break. Kircher answered by upping the pace at the last kilometer to drop
Bruce and solo in for the win. Bruce from Canyon was second and I dragged
ass to come in for third. You think that would be a good performance but
the Chicken would not be denied. He did a great job of monitoring the
field for 60 miles and than pulled out some serious speed to take the field
sprint for 5th. NICE!!

AZ Skull Valley RR

Polocko convinced the Boss to head down to AZ to do some more racing. The
boss did the 35+ race and Polocko got in the 50+ race. I did not know that
Polocko was 50 so his latest shows of strength is damn impressive. Polocko
punked the AZ riders to take another win for Paul Tracy. I am sure they
were all scratching there heads when he attacked and went off the front.
It seems that Polocko has a distinct racing style called "pound you into
submission". He soloed for a strong win. Louie did the 35+ race. Him
being so well known, the field allowed a break of two riders to get away
and than all sat on the boss to wait for him to chase. He decided to let
them hang themselves and placed 3rd in the field sprint to get 5th overall.
Nice job considering he did not have any help in the race.

Ontario crit:

It seems Lance is still riding on some excellent form. He took the win in
the 30+ race. I also saw that Mikey Houtz from Collins placed 18th. Nice
job Lance. In the 40+ race Anthony Luna wa 14th. I did not see any other
riders of note but please feel free to add in if I missed anyone. I know
Lance has been gunning hard for an end of season win. GOOD JOB!!

Random Thoughts:

OH MY GOD!!! Kircher is killing it right now. Not only did he ride out of
his mind in the race Saturday, he dragged me up Potosi on Sunday and than
fed me to the coyotes in the loop. My legs are scarred and empty from
being gnawed on by carrion. Just kill me now!!

Mark, we took it to your utah boys. Let me know what comments you hear.

The Chicken had a nice sprint on Saturday. It seems that he is on top of
his game right now. I am curious to see how the hill climb goes this
weekend.

Lance looks like he is flying. I wonder how those legs are going to do on
the Mountain. Should be fun to see if those sprint miles had helped his
climbing.

Polocko is back. Nice win!! Louie told me you crushed those guys.
Awesome!!

Boss, you are off the team! You are not allowed to race without your
troops.

Little inside scoop. We had a nice chat with Burke Swindlehurst. He will
be on a different team next year. So will Jeff Louder. I can not put it
in print but see me at the crit if you want to know where they will end up.
Burke is riding well. Look for him to be strong this weekend at the US Pro
RR Championships.

Hope to see all of you on the mountain. I will be the fat guy begging
Kircher to push me up the mountain.

Nice to see Mikey Houtz out racing. He is a class guy. Pokey, hope to see
more of you in the peloton next year.

Jim Robbins

News from the Peloton

Hey Gang,

What a great weekend of racing up in the cooler temps of UT. I have a lot
to go over this week and some of the reports may be brief because I am not
in too writing novels. If I get some of the placings off a little, chill
out. I could not keep track of everyone racing and exactly what they
placed and there was no posting of results on the internet for Tour De Gap
so this will be from the best of my recollection. Keep in mind that I
spent the entire weekend in O2 debt so my mind was probably not very clear.

TNW

This week a lot of guys on the PT Team were resting up for the big weekend
of racing in UT. About half way into the race, Hansel from Collins went
sliding off the front with me in tow. We got a gap and started working.
As we started to get rolling, Chicken and Miguel rolled up and the fix was
in. We kept the pace steady to stay away and Miguel sat on the back and
waited for the sprint. He punked us in the end by having the freshest legs
so he has the belt until tomorrow.

Ladera Ranch Grand Prix

I was not at this race but here are the placings I noticed. Lance was 13th
in the 30+ race and Ashley Diamond was 14th in the Pro woman with Hilary
right behind in 20th. Not a Vegas guy but definitely a friend of the Paul
Tracy team, Jason Bausch won the Pro race and Dotsie was third in the Pro
Woman.

Tour De Gap:

We split the team for this race with myself, Kenny Sweet Legs, The Arctic
Squirrel, Chicken, The Boss, and RS in the 35+ race. Schaefer,
Balchesaurus and Polocko were in the 45+ race. Michelle was rocking the
house in the woman Cat 4. Here is how it went down.

Stage 1: Climb like a Billy Goat stage

They combined the two fields for the climbing stage. You start off at 9k
and go up to 10.5 in the first mile. Ridiculous. Than you desend for ever
and start climbing back up to the finish. The Boss, RS, Chicken,
Balchesaurus, Schaefer, and Polocko all made the front group that came
together on the desent. On the climb past Duck Creek the fireworks started
as Mexican Snaggle Tooth was off the front with Bruce Bilado. Polocko and
Balch went to the front and started to do mad tempo to bring the break
back. On the climb to Duck Creek, Louie and Schaefer were trading pulls
like prize fighters to soften up the field for a major attack. Schafer
attacked and went up the road with another rider from Utah (Armstrong).
They ended up staying away and Schafer attacked him at the end to take the
win. Behind him the 35+ race was yet to be decided. With the CES gang
trying to figure out what kind of hell they had entered into, Chicken and
Jonathan went to the front to keep the speed high. Louie attacked and the
game was on. Chicken was not far behind and Louie ended up winning the
stage with Chicken right behind for second. RS was sitting just behind
third place on time so the GC was definitely not decided. The rest of us
finished ready to roll for the next stage.

Michelle took third in the road race for a nice podium for the PT ladies

Stage 2: The Crit Show

45+ Balch and Schafer were sitting in and watched Polocko get a nice gap
with Ken Louder (that is Jeff Louder from Health Net's dad). They were
working awesome when they picked up a lapped CES rider. This goof got in
the break and messed up their rythym. This killed the break and the field
ended up catching them. It came down to a field sprint with Balch on the
front pinning it on the last lap, Schafer goes fying up the outside before
the last corner to take the win with Balch hanging on for second. WOW, who
new Mark could sprint??

35+ We started with the Mexican Snaggle Tooth going from the gun and we let
him twist in the wind for 5 or 6 laps. Once he threw in the towel, Louie
and Chicken going flying by me and started putting time on the field. How
do you let 1 and 2 on GC get away is beyond me but that is exactly what
happend. Slow Tony bridged up with third on GC and we were just sitting in
the field watching the show when the Arctic Squirrel showed off some of
that legendary leg speed and bridged to the break. Once he got there, they
anounced the time bonus preem and poor Jay did have any time to recover and
got disconnected with the sprint for the bonus. Kenny was patroling the
front and keeping every one in check until the Boss and Chicken dropped the
Slow Tony from the break and lapped the field to get to us. At this point
Kenny ramped up the pace and we started a team time trial to lap the rest
of the field. Louie and Chicken ended up lapping the entire field and than
got to contest the sprint with Chicken coming out on top for the W. Louie
was second and I think jay was third.

Michelle was mixed in with the Pro field and rode a tough race to get third
and win a preem.

Stage 3: Gap Road Race

45+ Balch attacked early but was eventually brought back. He attacked
again and got a nice gap. At this point Don Armstrong bridged the gap with
Schafer in tow. Schaefer got a free ride and now there were 2 PT boys in
the break. At this point Balch took one of his famous strong man pulls in
the break and this created a little gap, Mark let the gap grow and Balch
ended up staying away to solo in for the RR win and moved into third on GC.

35+ You got to love RS. He has the strength of an OX. He picked an early
attack by Bruce Bilodo to cover and never looked back. Andre a local racer
from Brian Head bridged to them and that was the last we saw of them. CES
attempted a few futile chases but they were negated by nice tempo riding by
Jay and Kenny. We wanted RS to get at least three minutes to move into 3rd
on GC. He was pounding it hard to get that time and we jsut rode temp at
the front. The third place rider realised that he might lose his placing
and put in a serious attack. We let him dangle and Jay and Kenny did an
awesome job to ride tempo at the front and keep the lone attacker at a
reasonable distant. When we hit the road back into town the lone attacker
started to pull away and the boss put out the order to bring him back.
Then myself, Jay and Kenny turned the pain dial to rivet and pinned it hard
to bring him back. That was a hard chase and I was very glad when the job
was done. We ramped up the pace when we came into town to get ready for
the finish. RS stayed away to take the win. I made a mistake on the
approach into town and took a wrong turn. The turn caused a crash behind
me that took Slow Tony down. Chicken and Louie got out safe and took the
last couple of placings in the race. Good race, sorry about the crash!!

Michelle did some hard riding in the wind to take third place.

Stage 4: TT Hell

The TT was an out and back with a wicked head wind on the way back. RS
needed to do a good time to keep his third as the guy he bumped can really
TT. The wind was howling which made for a real leg burner. The guy from
Canyon that was in a fourth put in a scorching time of 22 flat to win the
TT stage. louie posted a 22:06 for second and Chicken was the one second
brides maid at 22:07 for third. RS was a little tired from his efforts and
came in tough but not enough to hang onto third, but ended up fourth
overall. That was 1st on GC for the Boss, Second for the Chicken, and
fourth for RS.

The 45+ guys had good times with Mark winning the stage with a 22:15.
bruce hung tough to end up 4th on GC.

Michelle did a good ride to secure her third place overall on GC for the PT
ladies.

Other Cats of note:

Gagne took second in the Cat III crit. Nathan rode a solid race. He was
third in the first road race, and should have been third in the second road
race if not for a bad direction by a race volunteer. I did not get to see
his final placing but this was a tough field of Cat III and he showed why
he is up and coming. He should be ready for a Cat II upgrade in the near
future.

Spider Monkey contested the Pro race and placed 5th in the TT. I did not
get to see the rest of his placings but I know he rode a solid race
considering he is coming back from injury.

Random Thoughts:

If you are a lapped rider in a Crit, stay the *&&^%$$#%$&%& out of the
break. That was just a bullshit move in the 45+ crit. On what planet do
you think you are on if you get dropped that you can go pull for pull with
the guys that dropped you???

My sincerest apologies go out to Tony Gonzales. I never want to be
involved in a crash, much less contribute to one. I hope you recover
quickly.

Simo and Alda were great this weekend. Nothing like coming back from a
hard race to a home cooked Italian meal and a good glass of wine with the
best team mates in Vegas. NICE!!! That house was off the hook. Kenny
nice job with the house. I know you went to a lot of trouble to organize
that.

Special Thanks to all the assorted wives, girlfriends, significant others.
That means you Steph, Mylene (i hope the spelling is right), Melissa, Jen,
Arlene, and Alda. The way all of you support us washed up old guys chasing
our youth is truly amazing and all the help, advice, and good food is very
much appreciated.

How about local girl Caroline toughing out the stages to finish. She
killed herself to make sure she finished every stage. She was the last
person on the course both days and dug deep to finish. Now that was
impressive. You got courage girl.

Keep an eye on Nathan. That kid is rocking. Props out to the Williams
family for coming out to support their boy. Opi could use a little sun.
Those pasty white legs are a little scary when he gets rockin on a climb.

Polocko is back. he smoked me on the climb and was rock solid all weekend.
Mix in some meat and some junk food. That bowl of salad was ridiculous.

Mark is a climbing fool. Than he comes out and wins a crit in the
afternoon. I thought you could not sprint. LIAR

Balchesaurus pounded the Gap RR. Can you say just getting started. I feel
sorry for you guys next year when he really is in shape.

The Chicken has finally found his climbing legs again. Ohhh and did you
hear he can TT with them also. Just to add to the placing from this
weekend, Kircher and Mike competed in the police games on Thursday and
Friday with chicken winning the TT and Kircher in second, than kircher won
the rr with Mike in second.

Jay showed off some incredible speed in the crit to make that bridge. I do
not think I could have made that bridge. Not only did he close the gap but
he did it at warp speed.

Kenny was a solid rider all weekend. Nice job patroling the front. He
worked constantly to limit losses, keep the boss out of the wind and
control the field. All this while he was stressed out that we would wreck
the cabin and leave him with the bill. Nice job

RS, you amaze me. I am sure that Bilodo was wondering what kind of Tiger
he had latched onto. I was the first to say it was too early and no way
you would make it to the end. I stand corrected. Kick ass break away.

The Boss. You always earn your title. More impressive than your placings,
was your ability to direct the team and teach all of us how to control a
race. Again it is rare occasion that you receive praise from me because
you set the bar so high we just expect you to win. Thanks for all the
advice and guidance. We all get a little benefit from you every race,
Where is my hundy???

Jim Robbins

Week of Aug 14

Sorry this is a day late but I actually do have a full time job that I need to pay my race fees since Louie cut my salary for not placing in my lastrace. I want to start by reminding some of our readers of a cardinal rulethat you are not allowed to break as a bike racer. Per the USCF rule book,you are not allowed to take you hands or feet off of your bike and strikeanother rider. Under no circumstances is this ever allowed or appropriate.The rules call for an automatic suspension in the event that a riderviolates these rules. That being said, a lot of things happen in thecourse of a bike race and we can all let our tempers and drive forcompetition outweigh our common sense. Just make sure you do not violatethis rule. This goes for starting it and any kind of retaliation. All ofus have a stake in keeping races as safe as possible.

TNW:This week saw a break start early with the Balchesaurus driving like he wason a crusade. The others in the break (Troll, Opi (this is Nathans nickname until I come up with something better), myself, and Big Eric were allhanging on for dear life hoping that Balch was going to slow down soon sowe could catch our breath. just when I thought life was going to getbetter, up comes the Chicken with Lance and Hansel. Now things got reallyinteresting with the big horses driving the break and stragglers droppingoff like flies. It was a good break and after a few mishaps with somebumping and grinding between the chicken and troll, we settled down to pullaway from the field. The break ended up with Mexican Snaggle Tooth,Chicken,Ryan, Lance, Fatman, Hansel, Double Chip, and Balch. The PT gangwas blocking like crazy and the break stayed away. We tried to set up Lance with a couple of attacks towards the end but he prevailed to win the sprint and take the belt home for another week.

Utah report as written by Mark Schaefer:Another great weekend of racing in Utah. The course was hard but beautifu lMt road racing. I raced the masters with all the usual suspects. Like most weeks BM gang had one rider off the front alone. It was Don Armstrong I wasnot going to respond (I had a lot of long hard miles training this week),Don is a good guy, ok with me if he can do it. A couple of riders started working at the front but not seriously the gap to Don was growing. We gotto the first climb and it was time to go to the front for me and start myworkout for the day. Half way up the climb one of Don's team mates (the P)attacked me, one other rider glued to his wheel. I looked around and no oneelse was there. I let them have their gap 20-50M and just watched to seewhat would happen it stayed that way over the top so time to bridge the gapon the descent. We had closed some of the gap to Don by the turn around.The second climb with the P and other glued to my wheel (more like a tandemimpossible for them to come around) back to my workout for the day tempo upthe climb. I figured to catch Don by the top that should hold off attacks from the P. Riding well I caught Don with about 2 miles to the top. Noattacks.... Don and I pushed it to the top, four of us over together. Lots of booty shakin on the descent (go figure). OK unlike last week I blew this one, 5K to go there was a short leg breaker hill Don went hard at it andpulled off I continued at that same pace ( I was a dumb ass I should have attacked) I got to the top and had a gap I rolled hard but not quite ableto hold them off. The good part of this was that the BM guys (to busy withme) got jumped at 500M by the other rider, yes BM does not win and I got3rd....I have them all set up for the Gap, they will all be watching me and teamPT can roll'em.

Myself and Chicken went down to Socal this weekend to hang out with Simo and get in some miles before Gap. On Sunday we did the Como Street ride.I must say a lot of respect was given out to the PT jerseys this week aswe were congratulated on the season our team has had and the performance ofRoboCop the week before at State. Chicken was marked on the hills and heattacked the field to show off why he is called a climber. He rode off the front for most of the ride to show off some of the form he has been building for GAP. It was a good weekend and it was really nice to hear the compliments to the team and how interested people were in what our plans for the next year are. Wear that PT jersey with pride, people notice.

Random Thoughts:
Gap is this weekend. Who will come out on top??? Only your legs will beable to tell you now.

Has anyone thought of some kind of anger management class for cyclists??Can't we all just get along?? I guess it is the nature of racing to becompetitive but lets make sure we keep it safe. This sport is dangerous enough.

From the mind of the Chicken: How can i shake the Mexican Snaggle Tooth.He haunts my dreams. Why will he not pull through?? Is he after mywoman?? i must destroy him and make him pay for his insolence.

Dotsie Bausch is looking to get into track racing and will try her hand at the 3k pursuit for nationals. Can you see a run for the Olympic Games inBeijing?? KB better brush up on his chinese.

I am doing the Pro 1-2 race called the SanPete Classic in Spring City UT next Saturday. Let me know if you are interested in going with. I can switch to masters 35+ if Mark would like up to help him whip some ass onhis UT boys. Let me know.

Levi, Devolder and Gusev have contacted Louie about racing on PT next year.We advised them they are not old enough and we already have some champions.

The show is coming!!! Just a thought to some of you looters out there. Remember that we are privileged to have the industry bike show in our cityand most of us find a way to get in. For some of us this is an importanttime for us to secure sponsors and represent our teams. Remember toconduct yourself with some class. I have heard stories in the past of guysat the show buying gear and misrepresenting who they are and what they aredoing, equipped with made up resumes and tall stories about races won.This is just a ploy to get free and discounted gear and purchase equipmentand components to sell. It ends up being sold to local cyclists andcompeting with local bike shops. This is bull shit and should not happen.We need to support local shops. If you think you are turning an easy buckand it does not hurt anything, you are wrong. It is important that we do not abuse the good will that is provided by sponsors to support racers

Jimmy Robbins

News from the Peloton

Hey Gang,

I guess this was the championship weekend for several of you racers out
there.  I have quite a few placings to go over.  On that note I want to
comment on the amount of guys and gals still racing.  I am excited that
many of you have not ended your seasons already like years past and there
was a large contingent of Vegas guys out racing this weekend.  That is good
news for the health of the Vegas peloton.  Keep the placings coming.

I received an e-mail from Nathan's dad.  It was a copy of a press release
sent out to the RJ about this weekend's junior championships.  It was well
written and lets hope it gets posted.  The more good press we can generate
for our up an coming racers the better it will be for our sport and our
ability to grow the racing community in the Vegas Valley.  Here it is in
its entirety.  Notice how he highlights the sponsor.  That is how you give
back to the people that support your team.  Nice Job!!  Nathan, if you ever
need rides to races, feel free to ask.  The more you can get out and
represent the better it will be for your racing career.  You have our
support and our respect.


After winning the Review Journals 2007 All Sports Award  for Cross Country
4A Athlete of the Year, Nathan Williams set another mark, on Saturday
August 4th 2007 but this time, in the world of cycling. Nathan, riding for
the McGhie's-Coronado Investments-Money First Team took the state title in
the 15-16 age category at the 10th annual Sisquoc Road Race and Southern
California/Nevada Masters and Juniors State Championships, held in Santa
Maria, California. The course, a 32.25 mile route is set in the hills just
outside of the Santa Barbara area and had some of the best Junior riders
from California and Nevada competing for the title. There were two other
riders from Nevada that competed in the championships as well. Las Vegan,
Ryan Maile rode in the race in the 13-14 age category for the Nu-Vision
CyclingTeam. His brother, Kristopher Maile also of Nu-Vision, took the
state title in the 10-12 age category. Both Nathan Williams and Kristopher
Maile will now be allowed to wear the California/Nevada State Champion
Jerseys whenever and wherever they ride. This is a great day for future of
the Las Vegas Cycling community, the State of Nevada and the City of Las
Vegas. The seedlings for the future have been planted, can Las Vegans come
to the plate for a Junior Cycling Development Team?

TNW Report

This week saw a break away with the Fat Man and Hansel burning a couple of
other riders off of their wheel and staying away for most of the race.  The
field was still hungry for a sprint finish and the Chicken with a little
help from Spider Monkey showed off some of his TT power to bring back the
break.  Lance exhibited some of his good form fresh off of Super Week and
won the field sprint.

Rancho Sisquoc RR

I have already highlighted the Junior racers.  Great job and I hope I get
to see that Championship Jersey worn proudly as it is well deserved.  I do
not know the exact details of Nathan's win but we are all very proud of the
way he has represented his team and sponsors this year.  Special thanks go
out to Nathan's dad for support that goes beyond the normal.  I am looking
forward to watching Nathan progress in years to come.

The Masters 40+ race was also a state championship contest.  Robo Cop went
down to battle SoCal's best all by his lonesome.  I was told that the
Collins Team was well represented with Hansel in the field.  I am not sure
about the other riders from Vegas in the field.  Kircher started his own
break early (Shocking) and just kept it going.  Several prominent SoCal all
stars made the bridge and that was the break of the day.  Kircher lost
contact with some of the break during the last laps due to cramping and
than was able to get off his bike, stretch, and than come back strong to
secure third place.  That is three state championship races this year for
Kircher and three bronze medals.  Nice!!!

Utah Report

Here is the latest from Mark in Utah.  I would say he is a little motivated

I raced the Huntsville 100 RR this weekend. Great course and beautiful
ride. I raced the masters it was 100K, 30 miles up 30 miles down....it
starts off climbing and gets steeper every 5 miles. With the BM gang making
up half the field I knew how it would go, like last week, attack and beat
up on the PT guy. No matter to me I had a plan, I will get to the top first
and alone! As thought BM gang had riders off the front from the gun (like I
cared) I knew no matter what I would be up front all day anyway. So it will
be at my tempo, first 5 miles, I look back the field is smaller all ready I
see the break, pass them. Next 5 miles little harder tempo look back well
only 8 riders or so left good, next 5 mile harder look back only 3 riders
left and yes 2 were BM gang (so weak they could not even think of attacking
me). Next 5 miles the plan goes into action (harder) oh ya to the top first
and alone (I win) except for the 30 miles down hill. I only had just over a
minute gap and not far from the turn 2 guys caught up. Dirk and one BM
gang, they were looking like they had to work real hard. Well in true BM
form BM rider would not work he stated "waitng for a team mate" pussy was
waiting (crying) for his mommy. No one is going to catch Dirk and I in the
down hill, so we rode our bikes towing the pussy. Dirk in his own world
dreaming about worlds forgot that it was about not letting the pussy win,
he left me to attack and have to sprint at 200 M. The pussy nipped me by a
half a wheel at the line. Pussy first me 2nd and Dirk 3rd trailing behind
in his own world. To me I feel I won, I did what I planned and I ride for a
team that races their bikes (sorry but I have no respect for the sit in
thing).
I am so looking forward to the Gap.....bring it on guys I am ready for the
PT train to steam roll Utah!!!!

CBR Race

I was not in attendance but I got an e-mail from Gagne this morning.  He
notched a win in the Masters 30+ 3-4. It is rare indeed to win a sprint and
I am told this was good field.   You got to love a W.  Good Job Chris

Lance was third in the 35+ race.  Two more podiums for the Vegas gang.

I did not get any other results because there were no postings so if I
missed someone, drop me a line and let me know how you did.

Random Thoughts:

Does Kircher have a sick fetish for Bronze???  Nice job Kirch.  I am sure
that when you went up the road the other racers who were not at the other
Sate Championships (Collins) did not think that you would last.  Drink some
&%$#@$$$$%$* electrolytes!!!!  You can not let Kircher roll up the road.
Turn the pain dial to rivet.

Mark is killing them in Utah and he is doing it all by himself.  I have
been told that the Bountiful Mazda gang is all coming to Sisquoc.  Wait
till they get a load of Balchesaurus and Polocko.

Louie and Chicken have been training.  Can you say O2 debt on the first
climb in Gap.

Check out the quote from Frank Schleck in the latest Velo News.  He says he
never feels good when he is in the front group because they are always
going so hard.  Words to think about next time you are off the front and
you think you are hurting.  Note to self:  You are supposed to be hurting,
its called racing!!!!

Lance looks like he is in form for Gap.  Will the epic showdown between the
squirrel and Popeye actually happen??  We shall see.

Nathan, thank your dad every day.  I can tell you that almost all of us at
one point in our racing career have wished that we started racing when we
were 16 and had someone to support us and help chase the dream.

Who is going to Gap???  Collins are you in or did Kircher punish you into
submission in Sisquoc??  Lance, can you get to the crit stage???  Will the
Sea of Yellow show up to a race with their cool kits and expensive team
tent??  Will the fat man be able to stay with the climbers on the first
stage??  Can the Balchesaurus thwart the evil Bountiful Mazda team in their
quest to gang up on poor Mark Schaefer???  Can Spider Monkey return to the
form that saw him going toe to toe with Burke Swindlehurst??  Will any of
his teammates show up to the race??  Will Gagne broaden his skills and
contest a stage race??  Will the Troll show off the much talked about but
seldom seen climbing skills?? Can the much anticipated rumor of the arctic
squirrels return to the Vegas Peloton be true?? All in fun but I can not
wait to get to racing again.  See ya tomorrow night!!

Jim Robbins
Team Leader

Fw: News from the Peloton

Hello Gang,

I want to start off with some past business. First I found out that last
week I was remiss in not mentioning that Nathan Williams placed 7th in the
Cat 15-16 junior race in Ontario. Good Job Nathan. Keep up the good work.

Our very own RS (Jonathan Edwards) was able to get his Cat III upgrade. It
seems that RS in typical RS fashion has actually been winning Cat 4 races
and he was a Cat 5 the entire time. When he sent in his resume he was
warned by the official but the quality of his resume prevailed and he was
granted his upgrade. He got it just in time to do a Pro 1,2,3 race in
Washington state. It appears that we have not given Jonathan the credit he
is due for Crit racing as he placed second in this race and Louie advised
me that there were quite a few top level Cat 1 and 2's in the race. Damn
Jonathan. At this pace he will have his Cat 1 before he gets his cat II.
I have to ask if you had your helmet on straight for the podium photo??

TNW

It was basicly rained out this week. The Chicken was there with a few
hardy souls but most of us opted to avoid the thunderstorms and catch up on
any tour scandals. Amazing that the Chicken will race at TNW in a
thunderstorm but has not been to a USCF race since Flagstaff. That is a
lot of training miles under the belt just to try and win the belt. It
seems TNW is more important than I thought.

Diamond Valley Road Race

I made the trek up to Reno this weekend to support the arctic squirrel in
his quest to become the NorCal state champion. The RR course was awesome
with two nice climbs in succesion. They were about the distance of the
first climb in the loop with a small descent in between. We had six laps
so that was six attempts to survive. The field was stacked with all the
top guys from Norcal there including teams from Discovery, Z-Team, EMC, and
Safeway. The first lap was tame with some long-haired hippy from Webcor
off the front. He got a nice gap when Discovery put six guys on the front
and shut it down. On lap three the ref relegated me to the back right at
the base of the climb for center line rule and I ended up getting gapped by
slower riders on the climb. I chased like a son of a bitch and got back on
to the field before the 4th time up the climb. I was tired from chasing
and ended up losing contact again on the false flat and had to finish in a
chase group. After all that I pulled my chase group around. With 3k to go
this moron from Marin started attacking the group. I told him that I was
not pleased that he decided to play Tour De France so I jumped him for the
field sprint with 500 m left and won. I ended up in 18th place for my
effort at winning the chase group sprint. Jay had a good ride and saved
his energy for the crit the next day for good reason. A Safeway rider won
the RR solo off the front.

Carson Valley Classic Crit

This was a great course with all new pavement and lots of corners and a
chicane just before the final straightaway. Discovery was all pissed that
they got beat the previous day and the field was stacked again. I was at
Jay's disposal for the day. The plan was to take him through the last
couple of corners and the chicane and drop him off for the sprint. I did a
lot of work early to negate some breaks and the attacks between Safeway and
Discovery were constant. This was by far one of the fastest Crits I have
done all year. There was a crash about midway through the race that Jay
was involved in but he was able to take his lap and get back in. I was on
the front riding tempo to let Jay recover and than it was get ready for the
finish. Mike Hernandez from Safeway and a Discovery rider took the crash
as an opportunity to get a break off of the front. The gap started to grow
and no one was chasing. I went to the front and rode some tempo to limit
our losses when Hernandez clipped a pedal and crashed out of the break.
This left the Discovery rider out on his own and Safeway had to chase. I
put Jay on my wheel and on the last lap we launched our attack to take over
the front. Sometimes things do not go as planned. I sprinted hard but
could not pass the Discovery lead out train but was able to get next to
them to put Jay about 5 wheels back from the front rider going through the
chicane. He sprinted out of the corner and placed 5th in the race. Nice
job. That was one hell of a train by Discovery. I just got put in my
place as I was pretty confident I can take over the front in most races but
it was not to be today. Jay did a hell of job to get himself in position
to place.

I did not get any other results this week and I know there was a race in
Long Beach and Lance was supposed to go to Super Week. If you have
anything to add go ahead and chime in.

Random Thoughts:

If you are in a chase group and the placings are up the road, attacking the
guys that have dragged you around for two laps is not cool. I would
normaly not sprint for an 18th place when all the money is up the road but
there is no way I would let that guy get the satisfaction of telling his
teammates how he soloed away from us after he sat on for two laps. Learn
some cycling etiquette. a

Jay has been battling the NorCal teams all year and doing well. I was
impressed with the level of competition at this race. That was a no joke
sprint. I will be looking forward to doing that race again. Great Job Jay
to get in the mix and get that placing. 8 on 1 is tough to beat.

Much respect was given to the squirrel this weekend by other riders. It
was easy to see that he has been showing off his sprinting abilities as I
heard several riders point him out as a fast guy to watch. I am quite
certain they were perplexed by the fat guy at your side. Lets take that
speed to Socal next year and win some money.

Chicken was out with the climbers this weekend getting ready for Gap. I
think he actually may want to avenge his loss to me from two years ago in
the BrianHead RR.

Mayo just got popped for EPO in the tour. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!! At this
rate, the PT gang may get an invite next year. I am not sure that Jonathan
will pass the blood test but we can not do worse than these clowns.

RS, the Chicken has a warrant out for your arrest for impersonating a Cat
I. Please turn in all steroids and doping paraphanalia to Bruce Balch and
continue racing in the 4's.

Ohhhhh did I tell you that the Squirrel is coming to Gap. Are you ready
Lance. You should be fresh off of Superweek and ready to play sprinter
guy. bring some of your team and lets make this race fun.

Did you see the photos of Chris DeMarchi in Road Magazine. Nice that a
National Publication gave some local racers some press time.

Special thanks go out to Jay's parents for the pasta, Tri-Tip and support
at the race. I am sure if Louie was there he would have hid all the food
in the house but since he was not I got to eat and actually rode a decent
road race. I will be practicing for the midget bike TT for next year so i
can win the bottle of wine. Jay's dad set up a course around the driveway
and gave us a midget clown bike to race on. Best time wins a bottle of two
buck chuck. Damn that squirrel beat me. RINGER

Jim Robbins
Team Leader

Weekly Report

Hey Gang,
I busted ass to get back from Cascade just to make my newsletter deadlinebecause I know you all are waiting by your computers to hear the latest.Here it is hot off of the presses.Let's first start out with a healthy round of applause for Little Hurt.Andy Bestwick recently achieved his Cat I upgrade. This is the ultimatelevel in our sport and this allows Mr Bestwick to race at all elite levelevents in the US as well as qualify to go to the Olympic Trials Road Race.AWESOME JOB ANDY. While we are on the subject let me take a moment topoint out how rare this accomplishment is. The following is the list ofCat I's in Vegas that I am aware of that are actively riding and racing.If I miss someone please correct me but you should notate these individualsas they may have some knowledge about racing or riding that you are notaware of:Andy Bestwick aka Little HurtMichael Anderson aka The ChickenBrandon Cunningham aka yet to be determinedLouie Amelburu aka The BossAs you can see this is an elite club. Give them their due respect. Thereare a couple of others in Vegas but they are currently not active in thepeloton.
TNW:
This week was the return of Mark Henry. While the PT riders and Lance went tow to tow, Mark quietly followed wheels and nipped us all for the win atthe line. That is Mark's third win of the season and he is doing itvirtually with no help from any teammates. Can you say Savvy Rider!! Goodjob Mark!!San Marcos Circuit Race:I was not out to see this one since I was up in Oregon but I can attest tohow tough this race is. It has a nice little sprinters hill in it and thiscourse is known as a tough man's course. The following are the placingsthat I am aware of:Pro 1-2 Andy Bestwick in 14th and Lance in 19th. Two top 20 for Vegas in the Pro 1-2 field Junior Our own Nathan Williams brought home the W. That kid is starting to come into his own. Good Job Nathan Pro 1-2 Woman Asley Diamond in 9th place. Did you get that pro contract yet?? Woman Cat 4 Michelle King of the Paul Tracy Team brings home a 3rd place.NICE JOB MICHELLE. She has been knocking on the door all season and that Wis just around the corner.

Cascade Classic, Bend Or
I will open by once again singing the praises of this race. This is a full blown NRC race for the Pro and they treat all the categories just like the Pro Men. The organizer does an awesome job and for all you crit stars outthere that think you have been to some big crits, keep dreaming. I am not kidding when I put the spectator count at about 10-15 thousand peoplelining the course. Here is the stage by stage for the Master 35+ and 45+contested by myself, the boss, and the disciple Mark SchaeferStage 1: TT This was an out and back TT with 7.5 miles uphill and 7.5 back down. The grade goes from 3 to 6 percent and was a really good course to testyourself on. Mark had the best time of the three of us with a 35.27 to put him in 5th for the 45+. Louie posted a 35.51 for 19th in the 35+ and I hada 37.17 for a wopping 32nd place. Just to give you an idea of the level ofcompetition, the winner of the 35+ TT was a guy from Nebraska with a timethat would have been 15th in the Pro 1 race. Greg Leibert was leading the45+ raceStage 2: Downtown CritWOW, what a stage. Twilight crit with tons of spectators with a lot oftechnical corners and lots of preems. It was an awesome race. Louie was riding the front all day and looking for any opportunity to get away. Mark was keeping himself out of trouble and I was trying to maintain calm for the finish. At the half way point I got in a break and we got 20 seconds up on the field. We stayed away for 6 laps but the guys in the break keptsprinting for the various cash preems and we were doomed to get caught. We were caught with 20 minutes left in the race and I just tried to maintainthe front for a good finish. With two laps to go there was a big crash inthe corner and I barely came out of it w/out going down. Louie and Mark got caught behind and had to chase to make sure they did not lose any time.I was in awesome position going into the second to last corner when a riderin front of me lost it in the corner and i had to dive inside to avoidgoing down. I lost quite a few spots but came back to place 14th in the race. Louie and Mark both came home in the field and Mark moved into 4th on GC.Stage 3: Mt Bachelor RRYou like climbing, well here you go. You start with a 4 mile climb to thetop of Mt Bachelor, and than descend into the Cascade Lakes Valley to do abig loop around the Valley. On the way back you have a finishing climb of 8 miles back up the the finish at Mt Bachelor. The field stayed mostlytogether on the first climb. In the Valley two riders got away and startedworking to get a good gap on the feild. We kept Louie and Mark out of thewind and I monitored the front to see if there were any opportunities. TheGC leaders teams started to chase but after the second time through thefeed zone they had not made the catch yet. Myself and Greg Leibertfinished the chase and the break was caught at the base of the climb. Atthat point Louie and Mark took over and kicked some butt to put Mark on thepodium in third place in the RR and 4th overall on GC. Louie did a nicejob of leading Mark out to maintain his position and placed 11th in the RRand moved into 10th on GC. I dropped down on GC, enough said on thatsubject.Stage 4: Tough as Hell CircuitI have to say that by far this was the toughest race I have done all year.We do a 17 mile loop 4 times with two climbs in it. The KOM climb has tokick up to 15% grade and this is after three stages of racing. My legswere fried but the Boss and Mark kicked ass. Louie was vigilant at thefront all day and was in the final selection to finish 4th in the Circuitand moved up to 8th on GC. Mark finished just behind in 5th for hiscategory andf maintained his 4th on GC. I dragged myself home well behindthem but very happy to finish and ended up 37th on GC. Both Louie and Markget the Iron Man award this weekend as they basicly flew in from Nats,drove to Cascade exhausted, and both placed in the money in a very toughstage race.
Random Thoughts:
Damn, I wish I was a Cat I. Andy's Cat I Happy Hour will be announced inthe next day or two and I would suggest you all come out and buy the LittleHurt a drink. This is one hell of an accomplishment and he has worked veryhard to be at that level.Michelle King rocking the house in Socal. I smell an upgrade. Keep it upgirl Oregon guys can not corner, but damn they can climb. And how about a guy from Nebraska, the flattest state in the Union, coming up to the mountains and putting on one hell of a show of strength. Apparently you do not haveto be a skinny guy to climb. This guy looked like a little tank. Troll,there is hope for you yet.I have studied the boss all week and I now know that he is not human. hedoes not eat, he does not sleep, and he takes pleasure in denying me foodafter races. he is the food Nazi. I will be filing a complaint withAmnesty International for my poor treatment this weekend. Can any onespare a cheeseburger for the fatman. Jay, I have booked my plane ticketsand my trusty steed Saphire is waiting in Reno for my return. All I ask isthat I get to eat after the race and you have my services.I will be registering for Tour De Gap this week. Drop me a line and let meknow who else is going. I am calling all of you out. We need to supportthis race. Come out for the fun. Almost the entire PT team will be there.What about you Allegiant, McGhies, CES (sea of yellow), Pro Cyclery,Collins Motorsports (All Crit All Stars)???If you guys think the boss is bad ass, you are right, he is. But I need to point out that no matter what, anytime he races tandem, mark always finishes first!!I will finish with my sincerest thanks to the Boss and Mark for coming to Oregon. They were both exhausted from doing Nationals but came out to support me at Cascade as I said at the beginning of the season that I wanted to do this race, and as always, I had an awesome time. The fact that both of you placed in the money is nothing short of a miracle and itwas apparent that you were both vey tired. I will once again point out to some of you big budget teams out there, you are missing out by not doingsome of these events. I like local crits just as much as the next guy butif you want to take your game to the next level, you are going to have tostep up to some higher competition.