Tucson Bike Classic

Report by Kurt Garbe:  A full Aggress team turned out for the TBC.  Rick had a brilliant weekend and take  2nd overall in the 65+ category.  Jim was solo too in Cat 5b race; he took 5th overall with a very solid showing.  I had a very lucky ride and finished 11 seconds out of first in 7th place in the Cat 3 TT.   The team worked brilliantly for me and I fought for a very dangerous 8th in the RR and 3rd in the circuit.  I finished tied for 5th in time overall, but got 6th as the 5th place finisher had a better time in the TT.  Neil had a very solid ride finished right behind me in 7th in GC, with Brent slotting in at 12th, 24 seconds back.  Leo was 1:13 down in GC and worked hard to help advance me.  Jeremy and Bryan both worked hard for the team; Y is off the health mark, but did what he could to advance the team.  Thanks to Elliot for the effort, but he would tear off another deraileur and not start the road race.

 

Thanks to Brian, Doogie and The General for support.  You guys are awesome!    TBC RESULTS

Vic took an impressive win in  the Cat 2 road race and made it intoVelonews!  He was one second out of 1st!

North End Classic

From Elliot Anderson: Day 1 – Got 3rd (of 14) in the Cat 3 crit, a lot of turns, a kicker short hard
uphill on the back side of the course, rough bumpy terrain throughout (concrete, asphalt, tile, pot-holes) but Im good at technical turns and fast corners etc (8th in tour de gila technical crit and tucson wed night crits are similar) and the kid in front of me right before the final turn was cooking and wiped out hard (i knew he was going too fast for his own good,tired and sloppy, happens to everyone, but he looked dangerous right before he went down..) and almost hit him but then stayed upfront and got 3rd behind a short stocky Bicycle Ranch racer and a young kid was was strong all day (who also won 3 of the 4 primes’!!)
Day 2 – Y and Kurt were amazing out there today – attack after attack and solo TT to create chasing and a bad ass lead out totally delivering me to the line beautifully.  Got 6th in the day (4th and 5th were the same 1st and 2nd from day 1) and places 1-3rd today were yesterday’s finishers of 6th, 4th and 15th respectively, but enough to bump me from 3rd to 5th (even though there was a tie for 3rd).

Elijet and the podium babe

I learned a lot and felt honored to have the guys work for me.  Got 5th overall, $40 cash prise and 2 more points towards cat 2, only 22 to go!  ahahhhah!!!
2010 NEC Old Guy Crit report. By Rick Ellwanger
50+ and 60+ guys raced together; about 20 total.  The 10 turn course winds thru the historic “Old Town” district of Yuma and includes a 2 block long hill.  There were only a few other guys in the 60+ class and I made a point of keeping track of where they were.  At the start of the final lap I moved to the front of the peloton and started to gradually pick up the pace.  I knew I had only 1 serious competitor (Roy Quade from Calgary Canada who had finished 3rd gc in VOS) and he was at that moment 5-6 positions back.  I knew Bob Pongratz and other 50+ guys would pass me at some point  during the lap and my plan was to force my way onto a wheel as they went by and try and stay ahead of Roy.  No one challenged for the lead on the hill climb which surprised me a bit but since they didn’t I made sure I took the next 3 downhill turns at the highest speed I could muster to discourage passing.  Finally at the end of the longish straightaway going into the last 3 turns Bob Pongratz and 2 other guys overtook me.  I accelerated a bit to get on rider 3s wheel and then we were thru the penultimate turn heading for the last turn and continuing to accelerate.  I turned wide and carefully on the final turn and I was able to pedal all the way thru the turn at max effort and I just continued to grind across the finish line.  Turns out Roy was on my wheel going over the line but that was the best he could do.   Eureka, the plan worked!
In fairness, he enjoyed revenge the next day and beat me in the circuit race.

2010 Callville Bay Classic

Post by Jeremy Wilson

February 26 – 28, 2010

 

The TT was on Friday the 26 and it was up hill 3.6 miles with 4 – 5% grade with a kicker of 7% grade at the end. Names like Robert Shaw and Ryan La Pier were racing in Cat3. Shaw was the guy who won the TT and GC at VOS. His time was 31:11 at VOS. La Pier finished 4th in the GC at VOS and second in the RR. There were 56 starters for the day. I finished 37th. I dropped my chain near 3 miles into the race. When I looked over the power data I had to lost power for 15 seconds. I took me 3 seconds to get back up to power. I was a little disappointed but I knew the road race the next day would settle things.

The RR was brutal with steady winds, temps in the 40’s, and intermittent rain, let’s face it was mostly rain. The race started with the same up hill climb that was the TT. As a group, I believed we ascended faster up that climb then I did in the TT. I just sat in the middle of the pack and enjoyed the draft. The race continued on an undulating road with some long steep climbs. The race leaders were relentless. On the way north I was dropped about a half mile from the top of the first big climb. I didn’t panic and continue to ride strong to the top. I was telling my self “I could get back on if they just eased a little.” Plus, I was doing 420 watts when I was dropped. That’s 5.3 / kg for me. I knew they couldn’t hold that for much longer. I think the only thing that really rattled me was when the wheel truck passed. It’s as if they are saying “Oh, he’s off. He won’t get back on.” F— that! I hammered on the down side, through the slight flat, and passing the wheel truck back in the pack. I stopped pedaling once I was in the middle of the pack which was down to about 35 riders. The same shenanigans continue from the turn around heading south. This time I just watched for the head bobbles and was on it with any little acceleration. Somewhere about 40 miles into the race some guy took a flyer.The pack didn’t chase until the south turn around about 10 miles left. It was fast. I wasn’t up front during the turn around and that was a mistake. I ended up getting gapped, the wheel truck coming around, and me saying “F—!” No way was I going to be dropped 10 miles from the finish after working my ass off to stay on. I ended up dragging 5 others back up to the pack. I received a couple of thank you’s and one guy who told me I just saved his race. It felt fair enough to hear “thank you” but in all honesty I didn’t care who I was dragging back up. I just wanted to get back to the pack.  We ended up catching the guy who took the flyer.  Then two others managed to attack and stay off until the end. One guy was 29 seconds up the road and the other was 4 seconds. I ended up 26 in the pack. There were 52 finishers & 4 DNF’s.

The next day’s criterium was uninteresting. Only 46 guys showed up to race. 5 guys total were popped off and it was a group finish. One crash and of course it was on the last turn into the finish. I ended up 32nd and 25th on the GC.

  • Mission

    Aggress is a Tucson-based statewide / regional cycling team formed in January, 2004.
    As a developmental team for both road and mountain bike racing, Aggress continues to actively – yet carefully – recruit according to a philosophy that emphasizes teamwork in both training and racing tactics.
    Our focus is to race as a team, utilizing team tactics to get our man the win. We ride in support of our designated racer, with each member in turn supported in the key event(s) of his choosing.
    We are aggressive when we race, but we behave in a courteous and sportsmanlike manner at all times. We also have team training rides that we utilize throughout the season.

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