Arizona State Road Race 2015 : Team Aggress!

Arizona State Road Race 2015

2015StateRRHorn

Rich Horn – 2nd Place

Rick Ellwanger 1st Place!

Rick Ellwanger 1st Place!

Aggressors:
This RR includes a feature I really like; a neutral rollout thru the town of Show Low before the race actually starts. It allows the riders to get comfortable in a position and get rid of the start line stress that may have built up, thus reducing the likelihood of incidents when the race begins. I raced in a combined (60+) field of 22 and had only 2 competitors in my scoring group, neither of whom were known to me. I did memorize their kit during the rollout and at the first modest uphill pitch about 12 miles into the race (Juniper Ridge per Strava) I went off the front of the peloton and set a pretty good pace up the hill. As I summited, I pulled out and took a good look back down the hill at the stretched out peloton and neither of my guys were even visible so I knew my race was in the bag as long as I finished. Of course, I could not just “finish.” By then, I was feeling comfortable riding up front with Reggie, Phil, Dave Burke, and Bixby and decided to make it a good training ride so I made the effort to hang with them on the roller surges from Clay Springs to Pulp Mill Rd. On a couple of those, I had to dig pretty deep to output enough Watts to barely hang. After the turn to the South in Taylor, I went off the front with Dave Burke and we traded pulls up the first hill, only to be re-acquired by Reg, Phil, etc. after summiting. I think we numbered 13-14 at this point and I got gapped a little on both of the modest downhills following that first summit. I was able to re-acquire both times on the uphills that followed. About a mile from the finish where the climb flattens out Reg, Phil, and Bixby began seriously bumping the pace and I tried but in the end had to settle for hanging with the slower guys in that leading dozen. Nevertheless, a satisfying effort and by then I knew I had gotten a good workout.
I’ve identified a serious flaw in my racing toolkit that Reggie, in particular, is persistently exploiting. As I summit a hill climb, especially early in a race, Reg will begin hammering the descent as hard, and for as long as he possibly can, and I am barely able to output the Watts to hang. Without hill climbs following several such events in this race, I would have been dropped, for sure.
Representation in this State level event was good; CASTLE, CIASCA, ELLWANGER, HORN, MISEVCH, MICHAUD, STEINMANN. Podium capture was fair; ELLWANGER, HORN
Rick E.

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  • 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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