Dauset 6 Hour Solo - Jeff Clayton

I raced the Dauset 6-hr solo mountain bike marathon race Saturday, 3 October. It was originally set for 19 September, but that would have been a complete mud-fest after all the rain the week prior. Conditions were perfect, as far as temperature, and no mud. The Dauset trails are known for being rough and rooty and did not disappoint. My secret weapon was a full suspension bike borrowed from my buddy Asa Marshall. The start was the typical "Lemans" where you run to your bike...in this case about 200 yards. What I didn't realize until I'd placed my bike prior to the start was that there was an immediate hard turn onto the singletrack course instead of a long uphill stretch as in the past. By the time I made it to my bike it was in a tangled mess of riders already on their bikes fighting for position. That, and a loose seat that I had to stop and tighten a lap in, made my race start slower than expected. Good thing about a 6 hr race is that you have plenty of time to make up ground. I really enjoyed the race--I was able to fly down rough hills and over multiple masses of roots like never before because of the full suspension ride. My goal was to win (I won last year), but I knew that was going to be unlikely. Jafer Beizer was racing, and although I edged him out last year at this race, he is racing at pro speeds now (he won 2009 Nationals for 20-29 age). He was the only racer to make the time cutoff for an 8th lap...he was about 9 minutes ahead of me at that point. I ended up in 3rd place, completely physically spent, just a couple of minutes behind Josh Fix--a super rider from Albany GA (darn slow start!). Results are here: http://www.3csoftware.com/grog/12HoDSolo.htm

Track Racing at Dick Lane Velodrome - Atlanta

I can’t really call this a race report, ‘cause there were only six riders at the Dick Lane Velodrome Tuesday races due to threatening rain and last race of the season; and three of them were me, Trey, and Drew. But it was a blast whatever you want to call it.

We first warmed up with a 20-lap paceline.

Our first race was a 5-lap Scratch Race: very simple, just 5 laps and the first across the line is the winner. We rolled out at a pretty mellow speed, looking at one another to see what would happen. On turn 1 of lap 2, I took a high line up near the boards. When we got to turn 2, I dove down and attacked the back straight, trying to get away so I wouldn’t have to sprint against the better sprinters. That’s when I found out that when I attacked on the track I couldn’t see what was happening behind me. I thought I had a gap, but I couldn’t be sure. It’s not like on the road where you can just turn your head around and look (at least not for rookies). When going into turns 3 and 4 at full speed, it takes all your concentration and attention to hold the bike down in the pole lane (at speeds over 30mph, centrifugal force wants to pull the top of the bike up the slope and you have to lean down and push to stay at the bottom of the track). I eventually got a glimpse and realize I was maintaining a little gap. I held it till the end of lap 3 or beginning of lap 4, when Trey and Drew caught me. Trey attacked in Lap 4, turn 2. Drew jumped on Trey’s wheel and beat him in the sprint. Drew 1st, Trey 2nd, me 3rd.

Our second race was an unknown distance race: same as a scratch race, but only the ref knew how many laps it would be. We cat and moused some for the first lap or two. At lap 6 I had a feeling I should go, so I attacked in turn 2 again. I held a gap around the front stretch and into lap 7. But no bell – oh crap. I was caught on lap 8 by Drew and Trey again. We finished together – Drew 1st, Trey 2nd, me 3rd.

Our third race was a Snowball. This was fun due to the increased strategy required. It’s a 10-lap race. The winner of the first lap gets 1 point, 2nd lap, 2 points, 3rd lap, 3 points, and so forth until the winner of lap 10 gets 10 points. Rider with the most points at the end wins. We rolled out, got the bell after a short neutral, and I took off at a moderate speed (not really an attack, just a surge to make it hard for riders to come around me). I took laps 1, 2, and 3 by doing that; so I had 6 points. Drew attacked and took laps 4, I think. I won one more lap – maybe lap 6 or 7. After one of Drew’s attacks, we gapped Trey a little bit. I knew I had 2nd locked up if we could shake him, so I went to the front to do all the work and keep Trey from bridging back up. Drew took all the sprints easily till the last, where we had a very hard sprint and he nipped me by about a foot a the line. And I learned lesson number 473 of track racing: DO NOT THROW YOUR BIKE AT THE LINE! I almost ended up sitting on my handlebars, but salvaged it. So Drew took like 40 points or something, I had 12 or 13, and no one else took any. Track lesson number 474: sometimes a 1st lap attack and then sitting in the pack will get you onto the podium.

The last race was a 15-lap points race. There are sprints at laps 5, 10, and 15 with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd riders across the line getting 3, 2, and 1 point each. The first time across, Drew won the sprint with Trey second and me third. At lap 10, it was Drew 1st, me 2nd, and Trey 3rd. Lap 15 was the same as 10, I think. So for the last race it was Drew 1st, me 2nd, and Trey 3rd.

I might have some of that confused, but all of it was fun. Any of you that haven’t been on the track really should consider going up there for a beginners class so we can do some racing next year. Leave Macon at 5:15, race 4 times, and be home before 11. I’m sure I’ll do it a few times in 2010.

Robert

Jeff Clayton Wins Again at Black Bear Rampage

Black Bear Rampage is an interesting name for a mountain bike race, and another "highly recommended" marathon race, so I headed up to the Ocoee Whitewater Center (site of the whitewater kayaking in '96 Olympics). I brought my son Mark with me--thought it would be a good opportunity to introduce him to "mountain" mountain biking vs. "hilly" mountain biking (like we have in Cent. GA). He survived the warm up ride Saturday and enjoyed hanging out with Dad in the Cherokee National Forest. The race on Sunday was broken into several classes, but the only differences was that all Pros and Men's Experts went 60 miles and the rest went 40 miles. This was fine, except that the 60 mile race joined up with the 40 mile race for much of the course, which made for lots of nervous high-speed passing (for the passed riders as well as the passing riders). The course was awesome, with hard climbs and rough but fast descents (including the famous Thunder Rock Express). I had a great race, with no flats and no crashes and virtually no cramping. I definitely was stronger on the climbs than the descents--but that is normal for me. I pulled off a first place podium, and managed to beat a few pros too. Results are here:

http://scottsbikes.com/page.cfm?pageid=422

-Jeff Clayton

US 100k Classic

Team Director Eddie Hudspeth and Jake Andrews traveled up Atlanta to race in the 10k Classic Pro-Am Race on Labor Day. The race starts very early in the morning and actually plays second fiddle to the 13,000 participant 10 kilometer foot race. The Pro-Am men do 100 kilometers through 11 laps on a rolling, but blazing fast course. The average speed was around 28mph in the end. There was a crazy downhill, 50mph sprint that niether Eddie or Jake wanted any part and let the pros have at it. Both riders stayed in the field and moved up when they could and had a good race.

More on the race can be read on Velo-News at http://www.velonews.com/article/97574/travieso-wins-us-100k-classic

River Gorge Omnium - Chattanooga, TN

Weekend race results at link below....bottom line: One podium appearance--Bill in the TT. It was a hard race indeed. In the RR, Robert and I stayed out of trouble and in the peloton to the bottom of Sand, and then were gapped by about half the field up the climb. We joined with some other riders who were shredded to form a group of 7 or 8 and rolled along pretty well (the descent off Sand was still a hoot, even if we were close to 4 minutes back). Robert and a couple others parted company with our chase group as we motored over the bumps on the way to the "stair-step" climbs to the pumping station turn-off. The group pretty much settled into "let's get it done without getting caught by anyone else" mode. I ended up leading up the entire stair-step climb.
Raccoon Mtn climb was tough, but I managed to maintain off the front of our group of 6, to finish 15th in 40+. The TT was along the road at the top of Raccoon. A couple of shallow rollers with a sizable climb, bombing descent and then flat along the dam and out to Laurel Point. We all felt good about our rides, but it took a mid 8 minute (not low-mid 9 minute like Robert and I had) to place well in Masters. Bill retained Georgia Cycling's honor by winning 50+ Masters at just over 9 minutes.
Lining up for the crit, I had it in my head that I would race mid-pack "for awhile", and that's what I did "for the whole race". I was moving up with 3 to go, when a guy in front of me clipped a cone, slowing me to a crawl--stuck me in chase to stay on the back mode. Psychologically, I'd relegated myself to a pack finish anyway, so I got what I'd expected. Robert got stopped behind an Economy Honda dude with poor bike handling skills and was gapped irrevocably by the field. Bill, in his words, went from 1st to 10th (of 10 riders) on the finishing stretch. Fun (and humbling) weekend.

http://www.sceniccityvelo.com/content.php?id=rivergorge

-Jeff Clayton

Oak Ridge Velo Classic Pro-1-2 Race

Jake Andrews went up to Oak Ridge Velo Classic in Oak Ridge Tennessee, near Knoxville this past weekend to represent the team in his first Pro-1-2 race. It was very hard, very fast and very tactful racing. Results are as follows:

88 mile Road Race (Tennessee State RR Champs): 9th place (2nd in field sprint)

Time Trial: 11th

Criterium: 11th (9th in field sprint)

Overall Omnium: 8th

Category 2 Omnium Bonus: 3rd

Team Director, Eddie Hudspeth Also went up to work for his Chattanooga based team, Economy Honda, for the State Championship in the Masters division, and ended up being the only team member that made it over the climbs with teh front group, and got a top 10 in the field sprint, showing he is coming into some anticipated, and expected late season form.

Final Sprint in Crit

The Crit StartLining up early for the crit...the guy on the far left is former world masters, current national and PanAm champion (among a load of other results), Kent Bostick. Those world champion stripes on the sleeves are earned, not bought. He is over 55, and he DID attack...hard...more than once...and honestly did scare a bunch of young Cat 1-2's. They reacted like nutso when he went.

Clayton Victorious at Camp Wahsega!

Race Report from the team's mountain biker, Jeff "Stoney" Clayton:

Success! I haven't had too many mountain biking (or road biking, come to think of it) victories this year, but Saturday I did, and it was sweet. The race kicked off at 7:15 am from Camp Wahsega NW of Dahlonega. I don't know how many started, but there were about 175 registered in the 50 mile race, 124 in the men's open. It was a beautiful morning, and the course was dry, so probably not too many DNS's. Also nice was the company of local Macon racers Mike Brown and Asa Marshall and their friends/family from FL. My buddy and arch-nemesis "Wild Bill" Lanzilotta was there, so it was game-on! The pace was high right from the start with about 8 of us off the front quickly, led by wild Bill. I gapped the lead group after about 20 minutes, and was feeling great...up until I heard the dreaded pffff sound of a flat bombing down a rough gravel road. No panic, and I managed to get it fixed in about 5 minutes, as a bunch of guys passed me--including Bill with as "that's a shame!" call-out. Back on the gas on a somewhat squishy rear tire, I passed a bunch more 100 miler racers (they started 15 minutes before us) before rolling up on Bill fixing a broken chain...damn the luck! He was quickly back on my wheel though, and we rode together for awhile, but eventually I gassed it and that was the last I saw him. The rest of the race was pretty smooth--no crashes (for me), and lots of fun single track interspersed with dirt forest roads. I eventually rolled up on Bill's teammate (they are sponsored by Terrapin Brewery--how great is that?!), and asked him how many were still ahead..."just you and me, man" was the response I got, and was hoping for. With that I upshifted and pulled away. The last few miles had a bunch of stream crossings and log crossings (cyclocross warm-up). I still wasn't 100% sure I'd really bagged the win when I crossed the finish line...no big cheer, and Eddie O'Dea just slapped my hand and gave me a bar of soap...yes I need a shower, but the race also had a soap sponsor. About 5 minutes later he came and told me I won. I guess it was a little confusing with the 100 milers passing through the start/finish area also, and some of them were quicker over the first 50 miles than I was (hey, did you think I would be faster than Caesar Grajales?). Just over 4 hours, with 2nd coming in about five minutes later (Wild Bill was 3rd). Mike and Asa took 15th/16th. The party/picnic afterwards was excellent with lots of food and refreshments. It was great to have a victory and spend some time up in the N. GA mountains with friends on a beautiful day.

-Jeff Clayton

Another great weekend on the bike for Stoney

Another road/mountain bike combo weekend. Saturday morning's TTT in Monroe with Robert, Trey , and Chad was very successful with us taking 1st in the 140+ division, and 2nd overall. I then drove up to Unicoi State Park to pre-ride the 8 mile MTB course. Traffic in Helen was crawling and the place was absolutely overrun with tourists. I don't know how they came up with the idea of changing the town name and the German theme...but it works. Back to the race...the course was nice and hilly, with a good dose of power climbs and high-speed descents. My goals were: podium, beat "Wild Bill"--my arch nemesis, and take 3rd overall for the series. The race started at 11:40 on Sunday, and it was brutally hot...standard Georgia August weather. I raced very well: my form was good, and I held my own on the technical parts. I made all my goals, demolishing Wild Bill, taking 3rd in the race and the series. My only regret is that I just barely missed taking 2nd in the race. In mountain biking, more so than road racing, your competitors can be out of sight for a long time, yet only be seconds ahead. As I finished the last climb and came out onto the grass field of the finish area, 2nd was just ahead...I sprinted, but came up about 12 seconds short. In all, it was a great series again this year, with the 40+ expert class being faster overall and more competitive than the 20+ and 30+ expert classes.

-Jeff Clayton

Clayton's Long Road and Mountain Bike Race Weekend = Big Mtb Result

Stoney had yet another weekend of racing going on. He dominated the mountain bike scene (again) scene and used the Road bike as a warm-up to do so. This time was the Assault on Mt. Mitchell, which is a biggie! below is the description of his races in his own words:


Thursday afternoon, I drove straight from the airport to the Gwinnett Center to race the Cat 3 crit. It was a big field, since they combined the Cat 3 and Masters fields. Although the race didn't start until 5:30, it was still plenty hot and humid. The course was set up in a parking lot (my first parking lot crit), so all of the corners were pretty wide and smooth. The attacks started right off the bat, and I covered them all--or more accurately covered the guys that covered them! Marking Doug Pomeranz, Andy Lougher, and Steve Middleton was great fun for a while (if you don't know who they are, ask Eddie--he can provide you with their race biographies). If I have realized anything about my "racing legs" lately, it is that they are better at "dieseling" than surging. So, after about 25 minutes, I watched those 3 guys get away, and let the group decide what to do...the chases that resulted were too disjointed to bring them back, although we were never far off. Jake executed his plan to a "T", hanging back until mid-race when he moved to the front for the final sprint--well, at least until the last lap, when he got shuffled back a little too far. He still had a strong finish though...about 7th I think.

Friday's race was at 12:15--actually more like 1:00 since they were running late. Hot again, and I was feeling not so spunky. There was an early 2-man break and Jake really wanted me to attack, or at least bridge (maybe to cement his plan to hold back again--can't chase a teammate!). I didn't have confidence that the break would last 60 miles (especially as one guy in the break fell back), nor that I had the legs to last with them anyway. As luck would have it about 20 miles in, another big attack ensued, quickly covered by John Stowe and Jake and a few others. I was at absolute redline staying with them. Shortly after that on the next hill I quickly decided that I'd had enough...news flash--"Stoney abandons!" My first race I've ever quit. I'm glad I did. Even if I'd finished, it would have been mediocre at best. Bottom line is that the 2 days of racing were meant to be a warm-up for Sunday's spectacular Off Road Assault on Mount Mitchell (ORAMM). So by quitting Friday's race I got an early start on the drive to Old Fort NC, and was able to set up camp and swim in the creek before sunset. Saturday, I felt much better and did a morning ride up the dirt road to the Blue Ridge Parkway and then along the parkway to the high point that looks out on Mt Mitchell.
Sunday's race started at 8:00 sharp. 350 or so riders (definitely not all "racing") toed the line for the 10th annual ORAMM. The pace was super fast up the first 5 miles or so on pavement to the singletrack. Some of the top regional players were there and it was fun to mark them for a little while. My race went well. Knowing the course (my 3rd year) helped, as I knew how to pace myself. I also think the long training, and proper nutrition on the bike helped a lot. I took 4th, and may have snagged 2nd or 3rd if I hadn't had a flat that took 15-20 minutes to fix (need to practice with CO2). It was still a podium (places to 5th), and bettered my time last year by about 10 minutes. It was a blast to pass dozens of riders on the climbs, especially those that bombed by me on the descents. Racing in the Pisgah NF is, I think, a mountain bike racer's ultimate challenge--rocks and roots everywhere, crazy steep pitches with multiple drop-offs, and tight switchbacks test one's skills (and bike) to the max.

Clayton Snags Another Podium

Jeff Clayton once again exceled on the mountain bike at Falling Waters Lodge, near Elliay, Georgia. Below is an account of his racing in his own words:

"I took 3rd at the Georgia State Championship series MTB race at Falling Waters Lodge, near Ellijay Ga, this Sunday. Small turnout--probably a combination of intimidating course and MTB Nationals this weekend. The course was both physically challenging and technically imposing...thankfully not at the same time. With over 1000 feet of climbing per 4.5 mile lap it was a lung-buster! The first 1.4 miles on pavement was most of the climb, followed by some rolling trail and then steep, rocky, off-camber descent. The final portion was reminiscent of cyclocross, with some twisty hiking trail, wooden bridge crossings, and steep pitched trails through grass. I'm told that MTB National courses are usually like this--lots of climbing followed by bombing descents on a relatively short course. One more lap and I might have snagged second place, as my lap times were improving, and I finished a minute back."

Stoney returns to the mountain biking podium

Stoney's description of his mountain bike race is as follows:

After a couple of 5th and 6th place races, I placed 3rd this last weekend at Lawrence Shoals Recreation Area (Rock Hawk Effigy) on lake Oconee. My main deficit when MTB racing is cornering/technical--since most trails in GA are twisty/rooty/rocky, this presents a problem. I tend to try to take a smooth road racing line, and on a mountain bike there is a lot of drift/slipping. While the Rock Hawk trail is very twisty and rocky, I managed to keep decent speed and "only" crashed twice. It also had long stretches of aerobic, but not too technical, climbs that I could power over and pass my rivals on.

Macon Race Pics Cont'd

Macon Race Pics Con't

Macon Race Pics Cont'd

Macon Race - Set 4

Macon Crit Set 3

Macon Crierium - Set 2

Macon Criterium Photos - Set 1

MACON STATE CRITERIUM CHAMPIONSHIP

An absolutely phenomenal weekend of racing in and around the City of Macon took place this past weekend. The riders came out in full force ready to take on the Georgia State Criterium Championship Saturday afternoon. This weekend was a culmination of months of planning and went off without a hitch thanks to local volunteers and the help of Security Bank and all of our other sponsors and supporters. Security Bank Cycling Team would like to thank everyone, ESPECIALLY the volunteers, for helping us put on these races. It was an awesome example of a cycling community working together to put on a show for everyone in attendance. We hope the racers and attendees alike were impressed by what the City of Macon racing venue had to offer. There is no way the team alone could have done it without all of your help. A sincere and resounding “Thank You” from us is in order to our title sponsor Security Bank, the local Macon Chain Gang cycling club, the local OMBA mountain bike scene, wives of the volunteers and racers, Georgia Cup, and everyone who supported this race in many ways behind the scene that you will never see in an event this large. Again, Thank you very much! Hopefully we can keep this race going for years to come and it becomes a staple of road bike racing in the Southeast.

PROLOGUE
The first race was a speedy prologue that took place in downtown Macon with the start/finish at the 3rd Street-Mulberry Street intersection and wound its way with a slight incline through the streets of Cotton, Cherry and Poplar and finished up with a fast, swooping descent down Mulberry and Walnut Street. The overall winning time from DLP professional racer Tiago Depaula was 3 minutes 36 seconds with an average speed of 27.5 mph. Security Bank’s Drew Slocum drew first blood for the team with a thigh busting first place finish in Category 4 with a time of 3:54 and average speed of 25.3 mph, which was also 6th place overall. Brian Walter, who was guest riding for the team scored a podium finish as well with a 2nd place in Category 5. Betty Jean Jordan guest riding in the women’s category placed 3rd, just behind adopted Maconite and Mercer student Elizabeth Lee of Kudzu.com/FFCC. Ron Hill also snagged a podium with a 3rd place finish in the Masters division, stomping out a time 4:04 in inspiring fashion!

JUNIOR CRITERIUM
Once the prologue was finished up, it was time to get on down to business with the juniors in the Georgia State Criterium Championship. Many young bike racers showed up for a crack at the chance to claim the state criterium championship jersey. All of the junior categories were combined and sent of together, but scored differently. Junior racing is extremely important because it is the future of cycling in the area. Frazier Cycling Team had a huge presence and does a great job of providing support for junior cyclists. Matt Lipscomb of Fulton Flyers won the overall junior boys criterium and the 15-16 age group jersey, with Abigail Aldridge snagging the win for the junior girls and the 10-12 jersey. Also of note was Alex Spook of Florida, who placed second overall in the Juniors, but was out of contention for a jersey, not being from Georgia. Below is a short breakdown of all the junior age group winners:

Boys:
10-12 Broderick Hartley
13-14 Andrew Macrae
15-16 Matt Lipscomb
17-18 Dylan Deagan
Girls
10-12 Abigail Aldridge
13-14 Zoe Frazier
15-16 Stephanie Cucaz

WOMEN’S CRITERIUM
Betty Jean Jordan, guest riding in the women’s races for Security Bank was poised for a great criterium and we were excited to have a women’s race. Many times women racers are not able to race due to low participation and are forced to race their respective category with the men. However there was a relatively good turnout for the women’s crit and Security Bank Cycling Team was intent on catering to the women for their own race. Also in the field, as with the prologue, was Elizabeth Lee. The field stayed together the entire allotted time for the race up until the last lap. Michelle Bird jumped clear and free of the field with an impressive attack for a solo win, with Zoe Frazier taking 2nd and Kitty Wickes 3rd in the field sprint. Jordan placed 6th int eh sprint, with Elizabeth Lee milli-seconds later in 7th.

CATEGORY 5 CRITERIUM
Brian Walter and Payton Sassaman, both guest riding for Security Bank, raced the 5 race. Brian and Payton both were racing in their very first criterium, and were anxious from the start. This was an excellent course and opportunity to learn. Speed and cornering is not an issue for Payton, having been a professional moto racer for 2 years. And sprinting is a strength for Brian, so both riders were expected to do well and they both rode exceptional to represent the blue and white of Security Bank. The field stayed together for the entire race up to the last lap. The pace picked up on the back side and strung the field out somewhat, but a field sprint was inevitable as the field sliced the apex of turn 4 3 wide. Brian opened up his sprint with 100m to go just out of the corner and scored a decisive 2 bike length 2rd place, only 0.7 seconds off of the winner, Travis Turner. So Brian has 2 podiums in 2 races already for the day at that point. Sassaman was mere seconds behind in 6th place. Both of these results are excellent. Few riders in their first criterium even finish, let alone get a top 10, making Brian’s podium and Payton’s finish all the more exciting. Excellent job guys!

CATEGORY 4 CRITERIUM

Drew Slocum and Trey Gavin were gunning for a good result with Drew as the sprinter in the end. Trey did a phenomenal job keeping everything together and the attacks at bay throughout the race. Every time an attack or move would go up the road of any significance, Trey would take the initiative on the front of the race and work to bring it back. The 4 crit lasted 45 minutes and Drew was in good position throughout the entire race, sitting towards the front and waiting for the field sprint like a tiger waiting in the grass to punce on a rabbit. the race went to laps and Matt Ragan (Columbus Bike Racing) took a notable dig and stayed out by himself. But the field sprint was inevitable. Matt was reeled in by Trey and the other teams in the field and it was strung out coming into turn 4. The field swung wide out all the way to the curb on Mulberry Street for the finishing stretch with blazing speed and Drew came up on the inside with 100 meters to go in the sprint positioined perfectly. He snaked around a few riders and opened up a full on sprint to snag 3rd place! So that was Drew's second podium on the day. The impeccable and unselfish teamwork from Trey was rewarded by a great result.

MASTERS CRITERIUM

Ron Hill, Jeff Clayton and Robert Jordan of Security Bank entered the masters crit with Ron having a very legitimate shot for the 55+ state championship jersey. Also of not was local racer Chad Madan (Pacesetter p/b Litespeed), who was gunning for the 35-39 state championship with a lot of team support. The pace was furious from the start and the crit was to last 1 hour. Chad made an early initial solo move and stayed out of reach of the field for a bit, but was reeled back. Clayton stayed in good position toward the front of the race and even made it across to a small group of multiple riders once, but the riders were not cohesive enough to make anything work to stay. Robert Jordan got to teh front at one point during a lull in the action and gave it everything he had, while Ron sat safely in the field to maintain good position for a jersey. Finally, in a late race move, Eric Murphy (Myogenenisis Nutrition) struck out alone. Chad Madan managed to get across and the 2 riders worked up a gap of 20+ seconds on the field in quick fashion. That was the winning move of the race at that point it seemed because Murphy and Madan together definitely had the strength to survive, and Madan had his team working for him back in the field. Also, both were in different age categories, so both had motivation to take it to the line. At around the 5-to-go point, Murphy was forced to attack Madan and did so, which resulted in a solo ride to the finish for the overall masters race win and the state championship jersey in his age group. Madan was caught by Ryan Leech (Visitpa.com) trying to bridge up. So Madan ended up third place, but still managed to hold off the main field and snag the state championship jersey for his age group, which will be placed next to his state championship road race jersey won earlier this year for 35-39. Ron Hill finished with the field and captured the 55+ state championship criterium jersey. Excellent job Ron!

CATEGORY 3 CRITERIUM

Jake Andrews and Douglas Ott were the SBCT hopefuls in the Cat 3 crit. Andrews was very motivated and had been training and getting ready specifically for this race in front of the hometown crowd. With teams like Reality Bikes, Iron Data, Jittery Joe's U25 and Aaron's who all had the numbers on their side, Andrews and Ott would have to rely not just on strong legs, but tactics to obtain a result. the race was strung out at a furious pace from the gun, and it was very clear that there were some extremely motivated riders in the field aiming for the state championship jersey. Andrews contributed a small amount to chase the initial moves and did a small attack, but was conserving the gas in the tank for the late race moves that always seem to survive. Around mid-race, Ott got in a big 7 rider move which gained around 10 seconds on the field at one point. Andrews played the team role and gumed up a chase, until the field finally brought the break back and everything came back together. Andrews was positioned well in the field and was able to respond to an attack from John Stowe (Columbus Bike Racing) who drew a Mountain Khakis rider with him. Eric Neely (Reality Bikes) emerged from the field between turns 2 and 3 in a tailwind section to bridge. This was very smart by Reality because they had the numbers to prevent a chase. Andrews happened to be near the front and snapped up to Neely's wheel and the 2 worked together to get across in around 1.5 laps. Eventually several pairs of riders came together, to make the escape 8 strong with all the teams represented, leaving little in the field to chase. Among the riders were Matt Lipscomb(Fulton Flyers), who had won the junior crit earlier in the day, Matt Miller (Jittery Joes), Nate Sibly (Aaron's), all of which were strong riders. Andrews had burned a match or two getting across and helping to initialize the break and but did not want to get caught, so rested a little, then pulled through. The gap got up to around 26 seconds and it became clear that it would survive. Lipscomb rolled through the paceline very hard once, and only 2 riders could respond. Miller and a Myogenesis rider rolled off of the break with him, leaving 5 to chase. at that point the race had gone to laps and the break was shattering. With around 3 to go, Nate Sibly attacked, taking 2 more riders with him, leaving Andrews and Neely, who had both bridged, as well as contributed to increasing the gap, to hang between the shattered break and the strung out chasing field. So at that point there was a 3 man front group, a 3 man chase group, and a 2 man chase group, then the field, all with 5-10 seconds bewteen. Lipscomb took the win with Morgan Hunter (Myogenesis Nutrition) taking second and Miller taking third. Andrews and Neely managed to hold off the field, with Andrews placing 7th with the main pack nipping their heels. It was a hard and tactful race, but satisfying result in front of the hometown crowd. Security Bank was represented in the move of the day.

PROFESSIONAL-CATEGORY 1/2 CRITERIUM

Chad Madan (Pacesetter p/b Litespeed) was the only Maconite racing in the P12 crit, hoping to do compund on his success in the earlier masters race. There were lots of attacks, as there always are in this category. Chad Andrews, who was announcing the crit tried to shake things up several times with primes, including a $100 cash prime, which Eric Murphy (Myogenesis Nutrition) claimed. The move of the day was and attack by pro racer Tiago Depaula (DLP), which drew young Nick Housley (Myogenesis Nutrition) out of the field. The two worked up a large gap and it became apparent that it would last to the end. with one lap to go, Depaula forced Housley to the front on the back stretch, and Depaula came around for the win. However, Tiago was out of the running for the state championship jersey because of his professional license. This put Housley, as an amateur, into the state championship Cat 1 jersey. Mitchell Askew took the field sprint, as well as the category 2 state championship jersey to round out the podium.

The next day was the road race starting from GEICO Office Complex located on Ocmulgee East Blvd, just off of I-16. The theme of the day was Heat and Hills. Several area cyclists from the Macon Chain Gang rode in the Cat 5 race including Shane Bridges, Brett Barron, Beau Donner, Andy Tice and Dale Vaughn. Brian Walter was once again a guest rider for Security Bank and did not dissapoint. The field stayed together for the duration of the race, and Brian placed 7th in the field sprint.

The Cat 4 race had Drew Slocum and Trey Gavin and once again it was Trey who unselfishly helped Drew out by covering moves off the front of the field when Drew strategically was placed in a 3 man break that survived. The finish of the Cat 4 race was a 3-up sprint, led out by Ken Wood (AVX) and Drew took the win! Excellent job Drew! Trey finished with the field in 11th place for an excellent result considering the work he did for Drew.

In the Masters race, things got fast and furious from the start with multiple 1 and 2 rider attacks, until a 2-rider break containing well known GA masters racer, Doug Pomeranz, got away for about 10 miles. The peloton slowly brought the 2 back, aided significantly by SBCT teammembers Robert Jordan and Ronnie Hill. A counterattack quickly ensued, with SBCT's Jeff Clayton bridging up to a group of about 7 riders. Unfortunately, despite Clayton's and a couple other riders efforts, the break fell apart and was caught by the now smaller peloton--the intense heat and humidity was taking its toll.
Another few attacks resulted in another break which Robert again chased, depositing Jeff fresh to bridge on a nice climb (the course was essentially a series of undulating climbs). Jeff's two break-mates tired, and again they were caught in a few miles. It was beginning to look like the race would turn into a group ride to the sprint...not favoring a podium for SBCT. So it was with minimal hope that Jeff chased a solo break at about mile 28. Apparently between an angry rider (the guy who initiated the break) and a determined rider (Jeff) and a worn out peloton, the game "was set". The duo slowly made time.
Eventually, feeling as though he was entering heat exhaustion (after 1.5 hours and 4 water bottles) Jeff was dropped by the other rider. Never one to give up, Jeff kept his effort "on the limiter" for another 30 minutes and crossed the finish line in second place. The encouragement of the Macon area cycling community volunteers doing course marshalling gave Jeff the extra boost to "Never Give Up!".

The category 3 race was absolutely brutal, with 3 laps on the hilly course and temps soaring into the 90's. Jake and Doug were in several moves throughout the day, but it turned out to be a race of attrition in the end. Doug attacked on the 1st lap and was brought back, then Jake attacked and brought 4 other riders with him, quickly gaining 16 seconds on the field. However, IronData was not represented in the break, and brought everything all back together before the start of the second lap. Doug attacked at that point again, and created a sizable gap with several other riders. IronData once again tried to bring it back, but ended up shattering the field with their paceline instead. Eventually there were only 10-12 riders up the road and the main field was in pieces and everyone was suffering. Doug pulled out of the race while in the break, so that left Jake as the only SBCT representation. After hanging between the field and break for what seemed like forever, he conceded to battling though the temperatures with a few other riders content on sticking it out. He ended up finishing by himself in 13th, way off the back of the lead group, which was also in pieces. All in all, out of 35 riders that started that morning for the 3 race, only 13 finished, with 22 riders pulling out of the race. Suffering alone on the hills and rollers in 95 degrees and Georgia humidity with dehydration and cramps is not fun, but Jake was able to push to the finish from the cheers of local volunteers out on the course and several bottles of cold water to pour on his head from fellow racers who pulled out and the feed zone angels. Thats bike racing.

The pro-1-2 race went much like the 3 race, with roughly half the field pulling out. Daniel Karnis took the win, with Brendan Sullivan and Geoff Mina taking second and third respectively in a 3 man breakaway. Tiago Depaula, the criterium winner from the day before took 4th.

Georgia State Criterium Championship Weekend

Championship Cycling Weekend Comes To Macon June 13-14 Macon, Ga. – May 22, 2009 – Security Bank Cycling Team and Georgia Cup, in cooperation with NewTown Macon and the City of Macon, will host the Georgia state criterium championship cycling weekend on Saturday and Sunday, June 13-14. The showcase event is the Saturday afternoon downtown criterium race, a high-speed, intense, spectator-friendly bicycle race of multiple laps on a short course, suitable for the whole family to enjoy. Master of ceremonies for this event will be Chad Andrews, the nation’s top cycling commentator. Top amateur race teams from Georgia and the southeast attack the 0.6-mile, two city block course on Macon’s downtown streets of Mulberry, Second, Walnut, and Broadway. Hundreds of riders will contest a total of eight races, starting with juniors at 12:30 pm and concluding with the grand finale at 6:00 pm. “Think bicycle racing in a NASCAR format,” says Eddie Hudspeth, director of the Security Bank Cycling Team. “It’s action packed and fun to watch even if you’re not familiar with all the high-speed strategies and race tactics. If you’ve never seen one, you’ll be in awe of the biking speed. Like the famous Athens Twilight Race, which brings so much business to downtown Athens, we’re also hoping to raise awareness and enthusiasts for this spectacular sport.” Saturday morning at 9:00, riders will test their legs in a 2-mile, twisting prologue course around downtown Macon. This preliminary is an individual race against the clock where every second will count and riders will power through turns and straightaways at high speed in an effort to gain points to win the overall race weekend victory. The race will also put on a 'Kidz Kritz' event, and encourage parents to bring their children's (all ages) bicycles and helmets, to line up in turn 4 of the criterium course and race for the finish line. The weekend concludes Sunday morning with an EPIC road race through the kaolin hills of eastern Bibb, Twiggs, and Wilkinson Counties starting at 9:00 am at GEICO Insurance on Ocmulgee East Boulevard in eastern Bibb. The Sunday road race is the climax of a weekend of bike racing in and around Macon, showcasing the area to visitors from the state and region.

Macon’s Security Bank Cycling Team is charging into its second year representing many local Macon businesses in events throughout the southeast and growing the great sport of cycling in middle Georgia.

Championship Weekend Schedule Saturday, June 13:

9:00 am Individual Time Trials (all categories) - Downtown Macon

12:30 pm Criterium race – Juniors (14 – 18) Downtown Macon
1:00 pm Criterium race – Women Downtown Macon
1:45 pm Criterium race – Men – category 5 Downtown Macon
2:30 pm Criterium race – Men – category 4 Downtown Macon
3:30 pm Criterium race – Masters (30+) Downtown Macon
4:45 pm Criterium race – Men – category 3 Downtown Macon
"Kidz Kritz" between category 3 and Pro races
6:00 pm Criterium race – Men – category 1, 2 Downtown Macon

Sunday, June 14 9:00 am Road Race – all categories GEICO Office Center Ocmulgee East Blvd.

Davies wins State Championship

Chad Davies set a goal at the beginning of the season and trained for an entire 18 months for this one goal, to win a state championship in the time trial. The statae championship took place 40 kilometer out and back course in the low country around Beaufort, South Carolina. Chad clocked a time of 0:58:36.38, besting the next best time in his age group by 1:10, which is phenominal. Great job Chad on representing the team and our sponsors well with another win. Below is a description from Chad in his own words about the performance:

"I managed to make it to the top of the podium again and this time it was for a big result. For the last 18 months or so I've had my training set on one goal: to win the Georgia State Time Trial Championship for the second time and the first time in a Master's class. Last year I was coming back to racing after a lengthly lay-off and while I had some good form at times, I wasn't able to hold it all the way out to the October date for the championship. When it was announced that this year's event would be in June I knew I had a good shot at doing well.Most of my racing this year has been to hone my form and practice the pacing and the like to get ready for the full hour long effort that would be required to win. The Georgia Cup TT series events were perfect as they were all over 18 miles in length and lent themselves for building form. Since I last wrote I had two build-up events. One was an afternoon TT up in Gillsville and the other was a hill TT near Dahlonega. I took second in Gillsville after warming up too hard in the heat and then I won in Dahlonega. The only downside was that I came down with a cold a week before the big race because I overtrained heading into the Dahlonega race.On a side note, the Dahlonega race has to be the coolest weekend I've ever done. The TT course was epic in that it was swoopy and ran through beautiful countryside. It even beat the Nationals course a few years back out on Antelope Island in Salt Lake a few years back. The circuit course and the road race were run through the Montaluce winery property (how cool is that...we raced on the Mountain of Light) with its Tuscan architecture and short steep climbs. In fact, that was feeling I had for the whole weekend: I felt like I was racing in a sort of mini-Giro d'Italia. I'll go back every year if I can.So, back to the point. I babied my cold and medicated into submission while I tapered into race day. We actually raced just over the South Carolina border in order to combine our event with the South Carolina TT Championship. I've raced the course once before but I had forgotten that the roads where pretty "heavy". That means they were rough and sticky in a sense. Not helping things was that it was warm and humid making the air heavy too. In my warm-up I felt good, best in over a month and I did a couple of harder intervals without much suffering.One thing about a time trial is that it's a mental effort in some ways in as much as it's a physical effort. It takes a certain focus to tell your body to suffer just a certain amount without either letting up or pushing too hard. It's funny how the body will want to do that sometimes; just go really hard and then blow up after about five minutes. This focus is especially hard when you're physically tired or haven't had enough sleep. For me it was an issue because I never sleep really well the night before a big race. So when I got to the start line I tried to keep the butterflies down and focus on the task at hand. At the countdown came I took a big breath and shot out of the start house with a burst. After 100 meters I throttled back to catch my breath and settle into a rhythm. What bothered me at first was that I couldn't get my heart rate up over 160 which meant that my body wasn't going to put out the effort I needed. However, about a mile into the route I hit a highway overpass and that climb took me up to 172 beats per minute which is where it stayed for the next 55 minutes.Six minutes into the ride I caught the rider who went of thirty seconds before me and I caught my 90 second man at 15 minutes. My minute man was a good rider and it took me almost to the turnaround at 29 minutes to pass him and I caught my 2 minute man almost immediately afterwards. The last rider I caught was my 2:30 man who wasn't going to let me pass without a fight. We dueled back and forth for about 4 miles and 10 minutes. I knew he couldn't keep up with me for the entire trip back as I had already put a lot of time into him just by catching him. Still, by racing me pedal stroke for pedal stroke, he kept me from letting up and forced me to stay focused on being just on my limit through what is traditionally a hard part of the race for me. When he finally blew up and dropped off I was in the last 12 km of the ride and I could smell the barn. I was ticking off 1:27 kilometers at this point and at 5 km to go I started to push myself harder. I had lost an overall podium spot in Gillsville by five seconds I was determined that I wasn't going to lose something here by that much. At 3 km I went into VO2Max territory and started seeing dead relatives. As I crossed the line I was ready to yak and was completely spent.Back at my warm-up tent I was sure I hadn't done well enough to win. My time was right around 58:30 and I had expected that I would need to better that by at least to minutes to win. When the results were posted I was shocked to see that not only had I won the 40-44 age group but that I beat all the 35-39 riders and took second overall in the entire Master's field with only Shawn Tyrrell beating my by a mere 12 seconds. Lucky for me he was racing in the 45-49 group which he won."

Tour of Atlanta Road Race

Jake Andrews, Jeff Clayton and Team Director Eddie Hudspeth drove up to the Tour of Atlanta Road Race in the Dawsonville area on Memorial Day. Eddie raced in the combined masters field and Jeff and Jake raced Category 3. Eddie rode very smart and attacked on the final climb to get 7th overall, and 3rd place in the masters 45+ field. Excellent result for 'Eduardo'! Jeff went with the early move in the Cat 3 race and Jake was left to cover the moves off the front. nearly every team in the field was represented in the initial break, so the writing was on the wall that the break was probably going to survive, as there was really no one left to chase in the field. A sole rider made a bridge attempt, and Jake jumped on. Another rider was picked up hanging between the break and the field, and Jake sat on while the 2 riders towed him across to the break in textbook fashion, not doing a lick of work to help either rider. The break was initially large with around 13 riders, and had plenty of motivation to work together to stay away. The break slowly whittled down for the remainder of the race, as riders fell off on the rollers, the false flats throughout the course and steep King Of The Mountain climb, which was also the finish. Jeff was very strong and Jake was riding on empty legs in the end after giving his food to Jeff, who was obviously the stronger rider for the team at that point. At the finish, the escapees had ridden clear of the field for 60 miles, and eventually ended up with 9 coming into the final climb. Jake did a small attack to try and set up Jeff for the finish, but didn't have anything to speak of in the legs, and he had been sitting on the break for the last 5(ish) miles. Jeff stayed with the front group until the last little uphill, and ended up 5th, which is a great team result. Jake sat up after the climb, as his work was done, and came across 9th. So 3 top 10's for the team, and two riders in the cat 3 break made for an excellent day of racing.

Drew takes 2nd in John's Creek Criterium

Drew "crit monster" Slocum snagged a podium the day after the Georgia State Road Rad, at the John's Creek Criterium. The criterium course was pretty technical and he stormed to the line in 2nd place!

Georgia State Road Race

The Georgia State road race took place up in the Canton, Ga area on a rolling fast course with little hills. A short description is as follows for each category:

Masters:
All of the masters categories from 35+ and up raced together, but were scored in 5yr. increments (example - 35-39, 40-44, etc.) It was a hard, fast race, with the majority of the team registering for this field. Bill Causey broke his rear derailluer cable, therefore forced to mash his pedals the entire course, and he placed up 3rd in the 55+ category, which is ridiculousy impressive. Eddie did well in the 45+ category , Robert and Ron ran into some difficulty during the race, but pushed through it for a finish. Jeff "Stoney" Clayton got in a break with about 9 miles to go. He dropped his two break-mates and soloed to the 500m point, where he was caught and swamped by the peloton. Also of note: fellow rider and training partner Chad Madan from Macon finished 5th overall in the sprint, taking 1st in M35-40 for his Pacesetter Cycling Team.

Category 4:
Drew sprinted for 4th place, narrowly missing the podium, despite not having in teammates for a leadout with him. Excellent job Drew!

Category 3:
Jake went down 10 miles from the finish of his roughly 70 mile race at the front of the peleton in a big high speed crash when a rider attacked in the right gutter and clipped his bars and front wheel. Jake got a little road rash and a broken derailluer but considered himself lucky considering the amount of damage other riders sustained.

Thunderbolt Classic Mountain Bike Race - Clayton 1st!!

It was a busy weekend for SBCT member Jeff Clayton. After contesting the Georgia State Road Race Championship on Saturday, Jeff put his mountain biking shoes on and raced a super tough middle Georgia course on Sunday. The event was put on as a fund raiser for Boy Scouts at the Camp Thunder Boy Scout Camp near Woodbury GA on the Flint river. The expert race consisted of 3 laps of an 11 mile course over rugged, steep (2100 feet of climbing per lap), and very beautiful terrain. Despite sore legs Jeff WON the Expert 40+ division, with a 10 minute advantage over his closest rival. Nice work Jeff!!

Juliette Time Trial

Chad Davies continued his domination of all things time trial this year with an overall podium at the Juliette Time Trial, placing third on the day amongst all riders. This time trial was a part of the Georgia Cup Time Trial Series, which Chad has been competing in throughout the spring season, and will continue to compete in into summer months. This is an especially important result because it is a local race, therefore our local sponsors, who graciously help us out as a team, were represented well. Chad's knack for time trialing and suffering in the race against the clock is continually impressive and he is looking to be on very good form for the Georgia State Time Trial Championship, coming up in a couple of weeks in June. Robert Jordan also raced the Juliette TT, plcing well in his age category, despite a sore back.

Also, Betty Jean Jordan donned a SBCT skinsuit and represented in the women's field for the time trial, placing second overall. This is the team's one and only women's podium and result in the short history of Security Bank Cycling Team!

Athens, Roswell, Sunny King & Anniston Crits

Over the past couple of weekends, some Security Bank team members have competed in crits in the Atlanta, Athens and north eastern Alabama area. Short descriptions of the goings on at the races are below:

Athens Greenway Critertium - Twilight Qualifier Crit - Athens, GA:
Jeff Clayton and Jake Andrews attempted to qualify for the Amatuer finals in Athens Twilight criterium, which is the biggest amatuer criterium in the southeast, possibly the east coast, arguably the US. Despite a mid race solo move by Jake, niether rider qualified. The field was 90+ riders and the top 20 qualify for the finals. both SBCT riders were somewhat out of position coming into the final corner, while a 3 man break away kept the field at bay. So both riders finished mid-pack. Also of note was team director Eddie Hudspeth's mid-pack finish in the masters criterium, racing for his Economy Honda masters team, based out of Chattanooga, TN.

Roswell Criterium - Roswell, GA:
Drew Slocum did the double at Roswell, racing the 4/5 crit and the 3/4 category crits, finishing mid-pack in each, but gaining valuable experience and getting great fitness benefits by doubling up with these races. Jake Andrews raced the category 2-3 crit that afternoon, trying to move up throughout the race after starting in the back, and pretty much staying there. the speed was high, course was tight, making it hard to do so. With one lap to go, Jake ended up in a 20 rider pile up after turn 1, and escaped with only torn bar tape, and not a scratch, and was able to roll around the to the line and finish the race, despite being way, way, off the back because of the crash.

Sunny King Criterium - Anniston, AL:
Jake Andrews raced the Sunny King Criertium in Anniston, Alabama in front of a lot of friends and family. He got to the front and tried to follow several moves, and was able to stay near the front, close to the action a good bit. $100 and $50 primes being thrown out left and right by race announcer Frankie Andreou, which made the racing extremely aggressive and fast. Jake finished mid-pack and was satisfied with the result, impoving greatly over last years race result on the same course.

Sandy Springs Criterium - Sandy Springs, GA:
Jake Andrews finished midpack again in a very fast, 6-turn L-shaped course. He attacked when a break was brought back, but couldn't quite hold the effort to keep the pack at bay. The speed were high, with 2 sweeping slightly downhill turns and one uphill power climb on the finish stretch, which seemed to get longer each lap and wear on the legs.

Fort Yargo MTB - Dirty Spokes - Clayton 3rd

On May 2nd Security Bank Cycling Team member Jeff Clayton competed in the Dirty Spokes Productions mountain bike endurance race at Fort Yargo State Park, Winder GA. Jeff placed 3rd in the men’s expert 6-hour solo class. The race was held on an undulating, technical 12 mile trail, which became more of a stream when a thunderstorm moved through starting at about the 3 –hour point. The dynamics of the race changed to favor “mud riding” experts, causing Clayton who is admittedly skittish about riding in conditions more conducive to mud bogging, to fade from the lead to 3rd…perhaps his Northern (Yankee) upbringing is to blame!

Podium photo coming shortly

Flat Rock MTB Race

On Sunday, 19 April, Jeff Clayton competed in the GA State Championship Series race #2, at Flat Rock park outside Columbus, GA. The course was a 10 mile loop with a variety of technical features, but very little climbing. Jeff took 4th place in his class, besting nearly all racers in younger classes. Although many of the fields were small due to predicted bad weather (come on folks this is MOUNTAIN BIKING!!), the expert 40+ class was stacked with talented riders. Kudos to the Columbus Cycling Club for preparing the trail, and acting as course marshals. CCC team member and Friend of Security Bank Cycling Team, Steve Murray, provided enthusiastic cheering for Clayton who is the sole SBCT mountain bike racer. The next race in the GSC Series is on 26 April at Fort Yargo State Park, GA.

Link to results: http://www.goneriding.com/2009/GSC/02-Columbus/results/09-GSC-2-YELLOW.htm

Gillsville Time Trial - Davies snags another podium

Time trial specialist Chad Davis mustered up another podium this past Saturday in Gillsville, GA, placing second in the 40-49 division. Maybe more impressive is his overall result of 4th out of all of the time trialists present at the race. Thus, he missed the overall podium by seconds with a very impressive ride. All results can be found HERE

Chattanooga Omnium

Security Bank Cycling Team members Chad Davies, Bill Causey, Ron Hill, Jeff Clayton, Robert Jordan and Jake Andrews all took part in the bike racing action this weekend up in the scenic city Chattanooga Tennessee. This is a great race with a rolling out and back time trial in the small town of Apison, an L-shaped 6-corner criterium in the heart of downtown Chattanooga, and a road race just south of Chattanooga in the Chickamauga area with beautiful scenery through rolling green pastureland.

The weekend started with the time trial, and it went as usual, with Chad Davies mashing (or should we say spinning, in this modern age of training for efficiency with power meters) his way to another win once again, this time in the masters 35+ category. Bill Causey and Jeff Clayton also did the time trial in the masters 45+ and 35+ division, respectively, with Jeff placing 7th in 35+ and Bill riding to 7th in 45+. So SBCT had another great showing in "la gara della verita" (the race of truth...Italian).



Next up was the fast a furious criterium down Market Street in downtown. This is an excellent venue and great place to watch a crit. Unfortunately the masters crit was plagued with a couple of pretty horrific crashes with riders sustaining pretty severe injuries. The field basically stayed together for the duration of the race despite attacks from a lot of riders. Clayton and Davies both were able to hang in there to get 4th and 8th, which was great.

In the category 3 crit, Jake Andrews tried a couple of attacks and was able to stay away for a lap or two, just a few seconds off the front. But with the field chasing the omnium points they were not willing to let anything get up the road and around the corner too far. So Jake wasn’t in the greatest position to set up for a field sprint in the last corner and he finished towards the back. But it was a fun race. When is diving through a 90 degree corner off the front at 25+ mph and dodging man hole covers and big cracks at race speed NOT fun? Even with the knowledge of the fact that you will get reeled back in by the field, that is always a blast. Crit racers’ dreams are haunted by the over the shoulder glimpse of a field lined out and cranking hard, chasing you back for the counter attack once they make contact. Also of note in the Pro-1-2 crit, Chad Madan, racing for Pacesetter Steel, went across to a 4-man break, making it 5 strong. He worked it up to a 40+ second gap and made it stick. He made a big effort and got across to some of his break-mates after the gloves came off and the break started attacking itself into pieces with 2 laps to go. He finished 4th in a tough race. Nice work Chad.


The road race on Sunday, through the rolling hills and pastureland of northwest Georgia went off around 9AM. It consisted of multiple laps on a 23(ish) mile circuit with the masters field doing 2 laps at 46 miles and the Cat.3 doing 3 for 68(ish) miles. The masters race had Ron, Bill, Chad, Robert and Jeff for a strong SBCT presence. Also in the race was Team Director Eddie Hudspeth, racing for his Chattanooga based team SCV/Economy Honda. The race stayed together for the most part, with several attacks going and chased back. The field was “gruppo compacto” at the turn for the line and with 1k to go, so a field sprint was in the works. At around 200 meters to go, a tap of wheels sent bikes flying and riders sliding. Among them Jeff, who did the tuck and roll into the grass on the side of the road. Luckily he sustained no structural damage. Just road rash on the elbows and a ‘strawberry’, thankfully. All the other SBCT guys got away unscathed, ping-ponging through the pile-up caused by the crash, including ‘ole Steady Eddie.

For the Cat 3 road race, Jake was the only SBCT rider in the field, so he had to play his cards right and watch who was up the road, and for the right time to go. After the 2nd king of the mountain climb, and with all of the omnium placings/points pretty much wrapped up, and the bigger teams content to possibly let something go, he attacked pretty hard and had a decent gap. Pacesetter p/b Litespeed rider, Tres Courdin, came across to him and the two worked very well together for a lap and a half, around 25(ish) miles, getting a time gap of 1 minute, 50 seconds at one point. Both riders were able to make it stick and stayed away for the rest of the race with some ‘friendly’ help in the field and the Pacesetter team riders doing work to slow the pace of any chase efforts. Jake was lucky to come across the line in first place, capping off a great weekend of racing for Security Bank Cycling Team.

Gainesville Omnium: The 1-2 Masters TT Punch

Ron Hill and Bill Causey placed 1st and 2nd respectively in the Masters field this morning in the time trial in Gainesville. This is a great result, not only because it put 2 more podium spots on the results sheet for SBCT, but because it is Causey's first race this season after a collar-bone break and tendon rupture which required a very involved surgery from a late off-season crash in a training ride. This shows Causey's big time toughness and commitment. Ron's effort once again showed his time trial prowess on his Cervelo with SRAM components. Drew Slocum also had a great ride, placing 7th in Category 4.

The road race for the masters division went off this morning with a 4 rider strong SBCT contingent with Jeff Clayton, Robert Jordan, Ron Hill, and Bill Causey. Strong winds weren't letting anything survive by way of an escape, so the field finish all together with all of our guys finishing mid-pack. Hopefully the yellow is still on the back of either Ron or Bill going into the circuit race.

Jake Andrews as the sole SBCT rider in the 3 field. He countered a break late in the race, but it was not meant to be and Jake finished mid-pack in a sketchy one lane slight uphill sprint while avoiding airbone bicycles. Some guy ended up in the ditch after his "Go-Go-Gadget-Wings" button apparently failed...

Trey Gavin and Drew Slocum went up for the Category 4 RR as well, with Trey getting in a move off the front, but it seemed the theme of the day for all the races was a sprint finish. So the 4 field followed suit and both riders finished mid-pack.

The circuit race that afternoon was a 9 mile loop with 20+ mph gusting winds and the legs were tired from the mornings racing. It was going to be a tough one, but everybody that raced that morning stayed to press on despite fatigue and finish up for the weekend, and it was a good thing they did. Jeff "Stoney" Clayton escaped on the last lap and won the masters race on a rolling punchy course that suited him well, nice job Stoney! Bill Causey held on to his 1st place overall placing and won the 45+ masters road race and omnium both with Ron Hill coming a close second in the omnium. Robert placed 6th in the 35+ masters circuit race with a great effort at the finish. Bill, Robert, and Ron all made a late race 10(ish) rider selection when the winds did a number on the field, with Ron making a huge effort to stay in contact with that selection until the finish. Trey and Drew finished mid-pack in the Category 4 circuit race with Drew dropping a chain and having to chase back on the field in the last lap, thus tiring his legs out for the sprint. Jake got in a 3 man chase group after 2 riders got up the road early on, attacking from from the gun at kilometer 0. He didn't get across to the break, but ended up finishing 4th by himself, battling the crosswinds for the last 10k, after the chase group split on the last lap. It should be noted that the time between the field and the break in the Cat 3 race was upwards of 3 minutes on just the second lap of 4 and over 10 minutes at the finish and the race was only 36 miles, an insane time gap. The top 9 finishers trickled in at 1+ minute intervals.
The bigger teams with top omnium spots were obviously just watching who was up the road and protecting the overall.

Next up on the calendar is a race in the cool town of Chattanooga. Keep watching the blog for reports! Thanks for reading.

Union City Omnium

3 SBCT riders went to Union City Omnium this past weekend. Chad Davies continued in his winning ways in the Time Trials, placing first in category 4. We are going to run out of adjectives to describe his time trialing abilities. You can bet that when Davies enters a time trial, he is most like going to winor do very well. That's just all there is to it. Jake and Todd also raced in the time trial and finished mid-pack in their categories. Later that afternoon was the criterium in Union City at the Shannon Mall area. The category 4 field had several solo efforts from different riders, but ended up as a field sprint finish with Davies and Todd amongst the pack. Jake tried to get away a few times, but it was destined to be a field sprint with the bigger teams and their sprinters in control and Jake finished mid-pack.

The road race the next day at 8:30AM was somewhat chilly at the start. Union City is one of the few races that finish in a downtown venue. 2 90 degree turns make positioning important if a sprint is in store for a finish. Davies and Jake were the only SBCT riders ain any of the fields. Davies came into a little difficulty after 5 weekends of racing and wasn't able to finish with the field. Jake got into 3 breaks, including a 2-man move with fellow 'friendly' John Stowe of Columbus, which got out of sight of the field and lasted around 45 minutes and held at 30 seconds. But it was reeled in shortly by the bigger teams. Despite getting into other moves off the front and trying to instigate other escapes, Jake finished 11th in the field sprint.

The Rain in Rome: Updated

Saturday there was a criterium in downtown Rome. Crits in the rain are not fun. Wet corners and high speed turns do not usually mix. However Drew Slocum placed 4th in Cat 4 with an impressive sprint showing good early season form. Chad Davies finished with the field, maintaining his Omnium placing in the overall, after winning yet another time trial that morning in the same conditions. Sunday was the road race and Jake Andrews, Ron Hill, Doug Ott and Jeff Clayton drove up to race in this race only. The forecast when that decision was made called for only a 10% chance of rain, but the low pressure system hanging over the entire southeast decided to slow down and continue to dump rain in northeast Georgia. 42 degrees and raining is never ideal for a bike race. But all 7 SBCT riders suited up with multiple layers to suffer through the conditions. Pretty much all the fields had the same idea for the race...wait for the climb up Horn Mtn, a 10 to 15 minute climb with a section at roughly 8% grade. This is not a killer climb, but the race is decided here. After the first climb, another lap finishes the race on the same climb. The quick rundown is as follows for each field:

Masters:
Ron Hill was the sole Masters Security Bank rider, however, SBCT director, Eddie Hudspeth was in the race, racing for his long time Economy Honda masters team. Ron found climbing legs beneath him and managed to stay with the field over the first and second climbs despite being extremely cold and questioning his sanity.

Category 4:
Drew, as stated placed 4th in the crit, and Davies won the time trial, so both riders were well placed in the overall coming into the road race. Drew and Davies finished 8th and 10th respectively, maintaining Chad's 3rd place omnium placing for the weekend and moving Drew to 4th overall after the points were tallied. Robert Jordan showed huge teamwork by giving Davies his wheel when Davies flatted during the race. If not for that, Davies would not have finished, or stayed in 3rd overall. Very nice work Robert.

Category 3:
This is Doug's kind of race...climbing. He made it over the climb with the front group and stayed with that group until the final climb to the finish, placing 5th, despite trying to bridge to 2 riders who rode off the front while the field wasa apparently sleeping. Jeff Clayton stayed in a chase group all day after the first climb, finishing 16th on a hard day. Jake flatted 6 miles into the race and did not finish. There are no wheel trucks in Georgia Cup races.

Union City Stage Race is next up for SBCT this coming weekend...hopefully with absolutely no rain, mid 70's, and bluebird skies for the forecast. Fingers crossed...

All the results for the weekend are on the Georgia Cup website here.

Albany RR and Adairsville TT

SBCT continued the racing on Sunday after the Prologue and criterium in Albany at the road race in Leesburg, just north of Albany on a pancake flat course. Trey Gavin, Drew Slocum and Chad Davies raced in the Cat 4/5 -35, Doug Ott and Jake Andrews raced in the Cat 3, and Ron Hill and Jeff Clayton raced Masters 40+.

There were tons of individual efforts in each race throughout, and the short versions of all these are as follows:

Masters 40+: In the 62 mile, 2 lap race, Ron tried to help Jeff get a victory by getting in a break early, and despite a solo counter attack not far from the line, a headwind kept Jeff from staying away on the solo effort. Both riders finished with the field.

Cat 4/5 -35: 1 lap, 31 miles. Drew got in a break that was pulled back. The race ended in a field sprint with Drew finishing 7th, and Trey and Davies finishing witht he field.

Cat 3: 2 laps, 62 miles. Jake got in a break early before the second lap, got caught 6 miles from the finish due to the headwind and despite Doug trying to gum up a chase, immediatley countered upon getting caught and took another rider with him, then got caught again 150m from the line.

Also, as the team's time trial specialist, Chad Davies stormed through another Georgia Cup Series Time Trial in Adairsville, winning his division and getting 4th overall, including amongst the Pro-1-2 riders. Extremely impressive early season form from Davies, who is in the hunt for the Georgia state championship coming up in June.

Rome is this coming up this weekend with a 10 mile Time trial, Downtown Criterium, and hilly Road race. Stay tuned for a write up.

Bike Racing is a Fragile Sport

Bike racing is a fragile sport. One day you can be at the top of your fitness feeling great and the next you can be sick because your body has a taxed immune system from training to race. One minute you can be warming up for a prologue at a race checking out the course and then be face down in the concrete gutter wondering what the heck just happened.

7 Security Bank Cycling Team members made the trek down to Albany for the Regions Bank Stage Race, promoted by Swagger.us. I don't really know how to report this without coming out of the third person reporter's voice. So I'll just make this a personal account of what happened, which should be good enough to give you guys an idea of the crash. Doug and I stayed with some friends from Columbus who were racing as well. We got there Friday night, registered, unpacked, went to sleep, and woke up about 6am the next morning t race. We had some espresso and a bite to eat, and out the hotel door to the first race of the stage out of 3: an out and back, short, twisty prologue time trial with 11 turns, a criterium on basically the same course as the prologue, and a road race out in the suburb of Leesburg, just north of Albany. I got my skinsuit on, inflated my tires and went out to pre-ride the prologue on my TT bike. Robert, Drew, Jeff, Trey, Doug, Ron and myself were all out there on the course at the same time, just different places. After a couple of laps, Robert was right up in front of me, and I pulled up next to him in the left lane…which was the correct lane to be in. Robert and I both had decided to ride the time trial bikes this weekend, and we were both sort of wondering if it was the right decision. So I pulled up next to him between the last 2 turns of the prologue going back to the finish line, and said “So whad’ya think about the TT bike? He said “I think it will be ok, I just wonder if they’ll change that turn back there.” There was another rider from Marx and Bensorf sitting next to us, so we were 3 abreast riding up the hill. The next thing that happened is I hear someone yell, “GET OUT OF THE WAY”, I looked up and saw a girl flying down the hill already trying to veer out of the way. I went right with the other guy, and Robert went left. But left was the way she was going too. She flashed past be about 6 feet away, and I looked over my left shoulder and saw her collide, full speed directly into Robert. It was insane. Seriously. Robert was knocked out cold face down in the concrete gutter when I looked back. After I turned around and got over to him, he was sort of moving slowly, shifting around on the road. The right side of his helmet was crushed in, he was bleeding from his head from somewhere I didn’t know and his front HED tri-spoke wheel was taco-ed. All of these things were running through my mind like wildfire…“Is his neck broken? What do I do? How are his legs? His legs look ok. His shoulder? His arm? His hands are cut up. Can he sit up? Call an ambulance! The girl is knocked out too. She is not moving.” The policeman closest immediately radioed two ambulances in and the prologue course was shutdown. All I could do was just stand behind him and let him lean on my knees while he was sitting there. He was very disoriented and had no idea what was going on for about 5 minutes once he sat up. He asked me at leasat 20 times “Jake, was it my fault…Jake, don’t mess with me was it my fault.” I just kept answering “No man, it wasn’t your fault” as many times asa he asked. Ron got to the scene eventually and rode back to his car to get his wallet with insurance information, etc. Doug got in the ambulance with Robert and they headed off to the hospital. I felt sort of guilty for letting someone else go with him to the hospital, because I was the one 5 feet away from him when it happened. Doug didn’t care too much about the prologue, and I didn’t either at that point. I was just worried about Robert, nothing else. But only one person could ride, and Doug volunteered. I just stood there watching the ambulance drive away and then grabbed my TT bike and headed over to the tent with my trainer. All of the prologue times had been backed up about 20 minutes, so instead of 8:51, my start time was 9:11…great. I did about a 3 minute warm-up and went to the start-house. How the heck I was going to be able to rail 11 turns, I did not know. I went off at my starting time and all I could think about was my friend and teammate lying face down bleeding in the concrete gutter. I lilly-dipped those turns, because I had other things on my mind, like where the hospital was so I could get there afterwards. I finished somewhere mid-pack, but did not care, got in my truck and asked about 6 different people how to get to Palmyer Hospital emergency room, and eventually found my way there. Ron and Drew were already there in the waiting room, and Doug was in the back with Robert. I conned my way in the ER via the front desk lady, and was very relieved to see Robert sitting up on the bed, smiling when I got to his ER area. He wanted to know everything and asked a ton of questions, and he didn’t believe any of the time frame stuff. He obviously had his bell rung to say the least, but apparently no concussion. He’s a really smart guy, so maybe his brain is so big, it didn’t have room to shift in his cranium! So he got 5 total stitches in his ear and eyebrow, signed the paper work, was given an anti-biotic prescription, and walked out of the ER with his crushed time trial helmet in hand. A stark contrast to the way he arrived, on a stretcher with a neck brace on. Doug, Robert and I rode back to the crit course and hung around for a bit. Robert made the decision to stick around for the whole weekend and watch racing. I probably would have taken my stitched and banged up rear end back to the house. That just shows you what an unselfish teammate he is. The picture above shows how people apparently spell Jordan in Albany...with a 'G', not a 'J'. I think a few jokes came from the hospital staff about Crash Gordan paying them a visit.

I think Robert’s crash and concern for his safety pretty much put a fog over the racing we did that day, however Trey blasted out an awesome time in the prologue to get second place, showing great early season fitness as the team's brick house crit racer. Ron and Jeff had an active crit in the 40+ masaters, finishing mid-pack, as did Trey and Drew in the 4/5 -35 crit. Doug and I had mid-pack finishes as well in the cat 3 race. The first crit of the year is usually an eye opener for an un-trained anaerobic system, and at least I had to learn how to stop braking through turns again and just handle my bike. But it was fun once I re-learned how to pedal through the turns and got in the groove. Afterwards, we all got packed up after the crit and headed back to the hotel, and went out to eat Italian that night.

The girl that collided with Robert was a category 1 racer, from a team I did not recognize, and was ok for the most part. She seemed to have some head trauma, and underwent a CT scan, but the helmet she was wearing literally saved her life and was broken in half lengthwise upon being launched headlong into the same concrete curb Robert ended up in. She was at the same Italian restaurant that night as well. It is pretty amazing that both injured parties were walking around semi-normally that night, given the violence of the collision. I personally never want to see anything lik that again. Crashes are part of racing, and you have to accept the fact that if you race bikes, it is not a question of if you will, it is a question of when and/or how much. But crashes are not part of warming up!

That’s all I have in me for now. I’ll write up about the road race action on Sunday soon, as well as Chad Davies continuous domination in the Georgia Cup Time Trial Series. Stay tuned.

-Jake A.

Gainesville TT & Dacula RR Race Reports

Gainesville GA Cup TT Series #1 Race Report:

Robert Jordan and Chad Davies headed up to Gainesville Saturday morning for the first of many time trials promoted by Georgia Cup and sponsored by Tony Myers and ATS. The weather was not ideal, with rain, a blustery wind and the temps hovering in the low 50s. The course was 16.5 miles long and relatively flat. The rain made it tough to see but Jordansporting the new striped sleeved skinsuit, managed to catch a few riders on the way out and made the turn around at roughly 21 minutes and powered through the second half of the course, taking 4th in the 40-49 age group and 8th overall out of about 60 riders, proving once again his time trial prowess. Davies had the misfortune of a tire puncture at the turn around, so he wasn't able to finish, but luckily there was a road race to make up for it later in the day!

Davies Leaving the Start House

Dacula Road Race:

Jordan and Davies packed up the TT bikes after the Gainesville time trial and headed over to Dacula for the Saturday road race of the Topview Cycling Classic, promoted by Swagger that afternoon, despite the continuing bad weather conditions which got worse as the day went on. This made attendance very small in the field Jordan and Davies both entered. The RR course was 5 laps of 7.1 miles with a couple of hills. Davies attacked the field from kilometer 0, but the field had none of that and worked to bring him back. Jordan played off Davies' initial move and counter attacked swiflty once the field brought Davies back. He stayed out front for a few minutes, only to be brought back as well. The race stayed together for the most part until Davies once again attacked on lap 4, but was once again chased down. By the last lap, attrition and no doubt the weather had wittled the field down to 9 riders and Jordan and Davies was poised for the last acceleration coming into the final kilometers. Below is Jordan's own account of the last few k's:

"On the last lap nobody attacked on the longer, first hill – a little surprising. On the last climb it was full gas, and we were about a mile from the finish. Chad and a few others were gapped, but there was pause (or fatigue) enough at the top for Chad to fight his way back to the main group, which was now nine riders. At about ¼ mile to go, there was a very slight rise. I decided to do a little Cancellara-style attack and took off. Again, I didn’t expect to hold off the field, but I figured maybe the surge would drop three or four more guys, giving me better odds in the sprint. After cresting the rise I saw that the field was approaching. As they came by, I jumped in at about 5th of 9. By the time we got to 200m, Chad and I were sitting 7th and 8th. They opened up two lanes, which gave us plenty of room. I kept waiting for the field to jump, but as we approached 150 meters, they didn’t. Simultaneously, Chad and I decided we had to go around. He went left and I went right. We passed everyone except two guys. The slowest slow-twitch TT guys on the planet both performed the most dramatic bike throws at the line that you’ve ever seen.

We had no idea who’d snagged the podium spot. Chad thought I had, and I thought he had. It turns out that he nipped me by 0.003 second to take 3rd. That gave me 4th and $15 gas money to get home. Professor Davies is now a sprinting specialist – at least until the next race."

Congrats to Chad Davies for providing the team with the second podium in only 3 races he has done this year. We look forward to writing about manay more!

Coverage from the upcoming Albany Stage Race coming next weekend!

Snow in Georgia cancels bike race!

On another note, I am sitting inside Reporting Headquarters at the moment in Gray, watching SNOW fall out of the sky....in Georgia...in March. Word on the street is that another road race was scheduled today up near Atlanta in Winder. Bless those poor souls who went up to tough it out, for you are the hardmen that road bike racing lore is written about. Thankfully the race promoters cancelled and they may be enjoying a hot cup of tea or coffee and looking at a roaring fireplace...like I am at the moment. Thanks for reading.

-Jake A., team neo-reporter

New Team Clothing Has Arrived!!!

Several Boxes with the return address of a town in Columbia (as in the country) arrived at the clothier headquarters of Security Bank Cycling Team this past week. The boxes had Hincapie plastered all over, which only meant the teams new clothing for 2009 had arrived! Despite the scare of not getting the kits in time for the Greenville training races that went off this past weekend, a scramble was made to distribute the new threads so all the guys racing could look nice and shiny for the first mass start races of the year

There were no major clothing changes this year as far as the design of the kits. We stuck with the classic retro cycling jersey style, but did obtain some additional sponsors and moved some logos of returning sponsors to different parts of the jersey. One of the unique graphics on the jersey as well as a new sponsor for 2009 is the local restaurant Nu-Way added, with NuWay’s marquee food item, a hot dog shown sticking out of the rear pocket. Maybe Security Bank Cycling Team will have hot-dogs in the feed zone of the road races this year. Hot dogs…good for the legs eh? This item should make for great conversations with other racers while sitting in the peleton in races throughout the Southeast and training rides.

One item that did change quite a bit is the team’s aerodynamic skinsuit that is worn during time trials to cheat the wind. The suit is longsleeve for 2009 and has stripes all the way down the sleeves. With the sleeve design of these skinsuits, there is one thing for sure: Security Bank Cycling Team will be noticed at the start house of the time trials and prologues of 2009.

Also, the team made a helmet switch from the Bell Sweep R to the LAS Squalo. Our team shop, Bike Tech, came through with extremely cool LAS customized white and blue helmets that definitely complete our kit. They fit like a glove and look great. Please visit Bike Tech if you want to check out one of these sweet LAS helmets.

Below are pictures of the team’s new digs. Again, thanks to all our sponsors for everything they do for us, and especially Hincapie clothing, who came through in the clutch for the first road races of the year!

Greenville Road Races and Ocala 6 hour Mountain Bike

The spring season continued this past weekend as the majority of the Security Bank Cycling Team riders made the trip up to Greenville, South Carolina for road racing. These races are very well organized and put on by Hincapie Clothing, who supplies the team with racing clothing. Robert Jordan, Ron Hill, Drew Slocum, Trey Gavin, Doug Ott and Jake Andrews all raced on Saturday and finished with their respective fields. All of the team riders in attendance Saturday who were 35 or 45 and older “doubled up” with back to back races in the master’s race and their category race at 11:00 that morning morning, then immediately after at 1:00 that afternoon. The object of these races are to experience race speeds and get the legs accustomed to harder accelerations experienced while racing, which are hard to duplicate in training alone. The riders negotiated multiple 7 mile laps around the Donaldson Center area, just south of the Greenville city limits. There were no hills to speak of on the course, only a few short, punchy ‘rollers’ and crosswinds to deal with. The master’s fields and category fields were relatively un-eventful for our riders participating, although it was a great workout. The Category 3 race with Doug Ott and Jake Andrews stayed together despite Doug and Jake both trying to get into moves off the front. A downhill high speed crash in the middle of the pack of 60+ racers sent bikes flying, riders asphalt sliding and forced many riders off the road and split the field. Three crashes in the Cat. 3 race made Ott and Andrews realize that avoiding the crashes was the success of the day. Ott and Andrews stuck around in Greenville for racing on Sunday on the same course. Strong crosswinds plagued the race, resulting multiple splits and formation of gaps in the field. Ott toughed it out and finished with the main field, with Andrews falling victim to the winds and pulling out early.

As the sole mountain bike racer of the team, Jeff Clayton, raced at Santos trails in Ocala this weekend. The course was a 50 mile long "greenway" that starts near Ocala, FL, with 10 miles of a combination of twisty, short steep pitches, very technical rocky stuff with some killer drops and flowing pine forest. After pre-riding Friday, Jeff may have been questioning his registration, as the route was a tad bit technical for Jeff, who has been doing the majority of his training on the skinny tires of a road bike. There wasn't much climbing and Jeff signed up for the "open money" (Pro/expert) class, so it wasn't going to be easy. The perfect weather in Ocala made for good riding and around 300+ racers, with 100-ish in 6 hour solo class participated. Despite roughly 6 crashes, all in the technical forest trails, Clayton was able to take 7th overall (and 7th of about 20 in Pro). Great job once again on the knobby tires by Clayton.

Stay tuned for coverage of the Georgia Cup time trial series beginning next weekend.

Tundra Time Trial: Racing Season is Here!

The beginning of racing season has arrived for the Security Bank Cycling Team in the form of the Tundra Individual Time Trial, in Hiram, Georgia, just northwest of the big city of Atlanta. A time trial is a race against the clock and yourself and the time trial specialists of the team were licking their chops in anticipation of the 9 mile course on the Silver Comet Trail, a cycling/running path which extends westward into Alabama and is an old railroad track bed, converted for public use. The Security Bank riders present at the start were Robert Jordan, Ron Hill, Chad Davies, Todd Wilson, Jeff “Stoney” Clayton and the infamous Bill Causey in tow for support. Causey took the category 5 win last year, but was unable to compete for ’09 due to a crash on a recent training ride, resulting in a shattered clavicle requiring surgery and a very restrictive arm brace. So what does a good teammate do if he cannot race? He hops in the car to ride up and support the team!

The Tundra TT course is simple: fast and relatively flat, 4.5 miles of slight uphill out to a 180 degree turn-around and the same distance back to the start/finish line. This would translate into a sub-30 minute effort for the well trained legs of the team. The team set up shop close to the start line and commenced to warming up the legs for an all out effort on aero-dynamic bikes, made especially for time trials, coupled with aerodynamic wheels. These bikes are not made for exceptional handling as with normal road bikes; they are made for straight ahead speed by cheating the wind with air foil geometry. The temperature hovered in the 50’s and conditions were wet, so a proper warm-up was required to get the juices flowing and become mentally prepared for self infliction of pain! Our SBCT riders all went off close together at 30 second intervals from the start house, with the exception of Wilson, who had an earlier start time at around 8:30am. The negotiation of the turn in an out and back time trial is crucial and precious seconds can be lost with a bobble or mis-handling of the bike. Jordan is well aware of this with his mis-fortune of last year’s flat tire after over-cooking the turn-around at high speed during this same race in 2008. However, no mechanical difficulties were experienced by the team for this 2009 edition. Davies, a superb time trial specialist, powered through with a time of 22:17.55, which works out to an average speed of 25.5 miles per hour. This was good enough to get him the win in the category 4 division! Jordan was mere seconds back with a time of 22:32.69, which worked out to 3rd place in Cat. 4. So we have two podium spots already in less than 30 minutes of racing from the team thus far this year! However, if there was a “most aggressive rider” award to be given out by team vote, it would un-deniably be given to Ron Hill. Hill made equipment improvements over the past year, namely swapping a round tube frame (which by the way he made himself) for a wind slick Cervelo frame and carbon tubular wheels. But it takes legs to make a bike go fast and with the winter kilometers in his legs, the veteran racer clocked the fastest time on the team at 22:04.87 (25.8 mph). He entered the Masters 45+ division and resulted in a 5th place in that category, only 5 seconds off the podium, but would have won the Cat. 4 race by 13 seconds. Other notable race results were Clayton placing 14th in category 3 and Wilson placing 21st in category 4. A 22 minute workout was not enough and the guys enjoyed a 2 hour training ride after the race, and made it back to bask in the spotlight of the podium for the first of many expected times this season. We would like to thank Security Bank, Bike Tech and all of our sponsors, family and friends for the continued support for the upcoming season and races. This past weekend was an indicator of fitness and morale and we hope to be able to keep stepping on podiums throughout the southeast. Stay tuned for race reports from the Greenville Spring Training Races, coming up on February 21st and 22nd.