News from the Peloton

Hey Gang,

WOW, the UCI and ASO need a good old fashion fight and get this thing hashed out. I am thinking three rounds in the UFC. This conflict is killing the sport and mark my words, it is really going to effect some of these teams in the long run when they start looking for sponsors.

This week our lesson in the peloton is about setting up a sprint. I am notsure what happened in the pro race in Murrieta but with four to go Kelly Benefits had 8 guys on the front running a train for their sprint. For an unknown reason these guys just slowed up coming down the finish straightinto turn one which allowed a huge mushroom of riders to hit the corner at once. You can guess the outcome, Kablammo!!!! Looking at this develop it just reminded me about some good and bad lead out trains I have seen in the past. If you want to win races and put your sprinter in position to win,You have to keep the pace hot. Just your tip of the week. Most of us amateurs really do not know how to put together a good lead out but when itis done right it is a thing of beauty.

Tour De Murrieta

The Murrieta race is a two stage omnium with a really fast crit and acircuit race the next day. Every finish counts for points so the betteryou place the more chances you have to win. Time does not count, just placing.

In the 35+ race it was myself, Chicken, Arctic Squirrel, and RoboCop to represent PT. It was a stacked field with most of the major teams in Socalwith good representation including Cynergy, Cal Pools, Schroeder, DeWalt and the all star Amgen Team. In the crit we were ready to give it up for Jay if it stayed together and hunt breaks to make sure we were represented. Chicken was covering early. Kircher was trying to get anything to go. Atthe midpoint I covered a move that had Leibert, Gustavo from Cynergy,Ferretti, and Weiss from Cal Pools. the five of us started working and we got a decent gap. At this point Chicken started doing everything he couldto block and with 5 to go it looked like the break would make it. The CalPools rider took the last two laps off and I honestly thought he was fried. Leibert jumped early before the last corner and the Cal Pools guy covered with me and Gustavo chasing. The finish ended with CalPools first, Leibert second, Gustavo third, me 4th and Feretti 5th. Mark Scott andThurlow were tops in the field sprint so besides Dewalt and Schroeder, all the teams were still in it for the omnium. Chicken did a find job to place 15th after doing all that work on the front. Kircher tried to come in a chase group but did not quite make it.

Other Vegas notables were Jeff Squawk Box Edwards did a good ride in theCat 4 crit to take 7th.

In the RR we knew Thurlow and Pat Caro would be the key. Cal Pools stacked the front for the first part of the race and did a good job of negating anyearly moves. The blew their wad a little early as later in the race they did not have the tickets to bring back the last break. I covered Thurlow three times with Chicken taking him on once. As usual, when the winning move went I was not close enough to get out of the tight field to cover and Thurlow, Mark Scott and pat Caro were up the road before I even saw they were gone. Cal Pools began to chase but they were not getting it done. With two to go, Chicken and Kircher went straight to the front and showed how to chase. They were taking chunks of time and by the last few cornershad almost brought back the break. I set myself yp to try and sprint forthe best placing I could. I ended up 13th in large part to the work that kircher did to string out the field on the last section before the corner to I could move up. That put me in 7th overall for the omnium. Kircher and Chicken sheltered me like a baby bird in the nest and did a great jobto set me up for the finish. Other vegas notables would be Squawk Box took 5th in his cat 4 RR and ended up 4th in the omnium. I would think we should be announcing another catIII upgrade soon.

Random Thoughts:

Holy Shit Karl Bordine is a bad man. He crashed in the Pro crit and chasedback on and took over the front on the last lap. He comes back the nextday and wins the road race. I pay homage to Karl. AWESOME

Damn Thurlow. Not only is he strong but I can not even tell you how he gotaway. I was covering his every move and than he shook us. Sneaky oldworld champion. We hates him my precious.

Good advice from Simo in the break. He said dont pull too hard, you are not Kircher.

I will say it again. as a team we are strong, as an individual your just part of the crowd. Thanks again to my teammates this weekend.

Squawk Box is making his run for Cat III and beyond. Just remember thewise words of my Cat I gurus. Do not let your mind upgrade you to whereyour body is not ready to grow. You got to train like a Cat I to be a CatI. Louie says you got to go to school and graduate before you can get to the next grade. Keep the faith and keep rocking.

Cynergy and Amgen have sick teams. Mark Scott did the deal with the devil to let Thurlow have the win so he could get the second and secure second overall. That is crafty riding. Very impressive riding by both teams toschool Cal Pools and me. San Dimas is just around the corner and the stageis set for some epic battles.

Ben Day of Toyota United has been a guest of RS all weekend. I heard he took the boss for a nice ride up the Boulder climb and than promptly turned on the turbo switch. Look for RS to be strong in some upcoming races. Nothing like training with a NRC pro to get you strong.

I am taking a week off from racing to train for San Dimas. Need to recharge and get ready for TNW. Look for the first report next week.

Jim Robbins