MK Livin'

The pressure was on in California as Luke, Neil, Clay and Ben lined-up in a stacked field for the NCC Dana Point Grand Prix. With the race just down the road from SmartStop headquarters the guys were very hungry to show the team’s appreciation of such an awesome sponsor by delivering a good show. The race was blistering fast, but the miles in the legs from Speedweek seemed to be doing the guys a great service. They seemed game from the start. With just four riders, it was going to be a tall order to not miss any key breakaways and to be able to bring Luke to the front in the likely event of a field sprint which would be lead-out by a very strong 6 man United Healthcare squad hungry to protect the NCC lead of Hilton Clarke.

Just past half way 20 riders split off the front of the group. Neil, who had bridged to an earlier dangerous move made the decision to head to the front at what seemed just the right time to keep things from getting out of hand and helped to pull the large group back. His effort kept the guys in the running to take on the sprint with good numbers. With 5 laps to go the race kicked into another gear and it was time to get to the front. With one lap to go Neil buried himself yet again to bring Luke up to the front and left him on the back of the UnitedHealthcare train before pulling off, something that he has become very proficient at over the last few weeks and has contributed largely to the increase in top results for the team’s other sprinters. The last lap was fast. At 1:12 seconds it was nearly 8 full seconds faster than any other lap of the race. It was nearly a 35 miles per hour average the whole lap topping out over 45mph in the downhill drag race to the line. Luke came home a very respectable 6th surrounded by some of the country’s very best including the current NCC leader Hilton Clarke of United Healthcare and Ken Hanson of Jelly Belly.

Being able to see the guys race now on two Saturday evenings via live streaming has been awesome. If only they would get rid of the ICTV color commentator and lets us watch more of the race.

We went into the race in Tucson with one goal, win the race. Not to have a sprint finish, or even defend the USA CRITS overall leaders jersey, but to win the race. We spent most of the evening watching Jim Stemper (Kenda Pro Cycling) fight to stay off the front of the men’s field before the guys finally got it together and solicited enough help to get him under control in the waning laps.  Jim was one guy the team talked about not giving  too much leash, but unfortunately the 6 rider roster limitation that helped us so much in Delray Beach ended up hurting us a little in Tucson. The live broadcast showed the team doing its best to chase the lone Kenda rider down and it showed that chase to be a little disorganized, but what it did not show was that real effort being exerted by riders like Clay and Adam. Adam and Clay were both a little under the weather and out of the view of the camera each time Clay went to the front he had to go to the back of the field where he got sick! Realizing his team’s need he would muster his strength, return to the front and give it everything he had once again. He did this repeatedly. When you have 6 riders in total and two are sick we were really at risk and the Kenda team, unknowingly found the one way to exploit that. In the end the guys got enough help and support from other teams to bring Stemper under control and set the race up for an imminent field sprint finish.

We just reached the middle point of our Camp/team gathering.  It has been exciting and the energy level is really high. Someone recently wrote me and mentioned the anticipation they felt waiting for the racing season to awaken. After being here with the guys that is exactly the mood and feel that is here. This year, we do not slide or ramp up into the heart of the racing season, we are being shot out of the blocks. We have only 2 days left until we start the USA Crits Series in Del Rey Florida. How can that be, we are still in the middle of camp doing photos, training, having meeting. Sometimes we forget that as we try to fit a lot of stuff in for these guys, but I can assure you it is on the riders’ minds and they are absolutely ready for our season to come to life. The anticipation level for that starting gun to be fired is really high.

Wow, that went fast! Two more great weeks of racing are in the books. Very happy to say we’ve had so much good news since our last update we are hard pressed where to start! But, in the interest of our beloved I.T. guru, we will be sticking to chronological order. We can’t thank you all enough for your support this year. Our goal was to put together a true ‘cross dream team, and reporting results like these let us know that we are certainly on the way! We are quite proud of everything this team has accomplished, and feel very positive about our future; hope this message finds you all feeling the same way. We are charging up the standings; take a look at the USICX!

http://www.usacycling.org/forms/cnc/2011-USICX-Standings-Elite-Men.pdf

North Carolina Cyclocross series race #1 Pinehurst, NC Saturday October 22nd Saturday’s series kick-off race in North Carolina was certainly not short on drama with Jon Hamblen bringing excitement on both ends of the race. After taking the whole shot, (…)

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