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