Colossal Cave Stage Race
Team Aggress co-sponsored this weekends events here in Tucson with Presteza and Summit Velo. Even with a large chunk of the team comitted to staffing the event, Aggress had a strong presence in the competition.
Mary-Ann Cleveland TT
There is no better way to start off a weekend of racing than heading downhill with a tailwind. And that is exactly what everyone got on Saturday morning, this was a very fast TT.
Fast Bryan lining up for his TT
Bryan Schlegel, Mike Puchowicz, Kurt Garbe, Elliot Anderson, and Rick Ellwanger were the Aggressors in the action this weekend. Stage 1 was highlighted with Kurt coming in 1 second out of 1st place for Cat.4, a very strong performance indeed.
Musselman Honda Criterium
This crit is not for the faint of heart, with 13 corners in 1.264 kilometers it requires some serious bike handling ability.
Mike and Bryan made the split into the lead group, and both fought hard for 6th and 7th place finishes. The last lap was amazingly fast, at 1 minute, 38 seconds. Don’t believe me? Watch for yourself.
Rick E. fought the good fight and finished 2nd in his class in the fast paced 55+/65+ crit. His MTB background seems to have helped him, as he had great confidence in the tight corners, and we can expect an even better result from him in the future.
The Cat. 4’s had an action packed race. Within the first lap the 30+ racers were strung out single file across the track. Kurt got tangled in a crash early on, but fought hard and got himself into the second group on the road. He finished in 12th place.
Kurt in the chase
Elliot hung in with the leaders and had a great shot at the sprint for the line. Everything got a little confusing after a crash in turn 13 took out two of the leaders with two laps to go, but Elliot stuck it out for 6th place.
Colossal Cave Road Race
This great course was home to the third and final stage this weekend. The race featured multiple laps on a 9 mile circuit. A downhill section starts the ride off right after the start/finish, followed by rollers, a few small climbs, then topped off by a sustained climb up Pistol Hill to the start/finish again.
“Feed Zone” on Pistol Hill
Rick missed a major split in the peloton in the 55+/65+ race, and ended up chasing with 6-7 others for the whole race. They were never able to regain the ground that was lost, but Rick finished third in his class all the same.
Elliot and Kurt put in a lot of work to keep the Cat.4 peloton together, and Kurt pulled off a great sprint move up Pistol Hill to take the field for 2nd place (Summit Velo’s Justin Orkney got away in the last few kilometers and took the stage win). Elliot finished with the pack in 11th.
Mike and Bryan missed the split with the lead group in the 3’s race, but Mike bridged solo and Bryan followed a short time later, setting themselves up well being the only team with 2 members represented in the break. The pace was brutally fast, but a Southwest Hand(?) rider managed to squeak off the front and take the victory. Our Cat.3 Aggressors finished 7th and 8th on the stage.
Aggress GC results
Rick Ellwanger – 2nd (65+)
Kurt Garbe – 2nd (Cat.4)
E{gg}lliot Anderson – 12th (Cat.4)
Bryan Schlegel – 7th (Cat.3)
Mike Puchowicz – 8th (Cat.3)
Superior RR
4 Aggressors were present for this Saturday’s Superior Road Race. The course was an out-and-back, with a rather large and steep mountain in the middle and rolling terrain for the rest. THE HILL created an amazingly fast descent on the way out (at speeds close to 60 mph) and an amazingly backbreaking climb on the way back.
Start/Finish locations are approximate.
Rick
Rick Ellwanger flew the flag, riding in the combined masters 50+/60+ field. An elite break containing Franz Hammer escaped on the east side of THE HILL on the way out, and the rest of the field could not react. The break was still out in front when the peloton returned to the western ascent of THE HILL. Rick got away with a Southwest Hand rider on the climb, but was reeled back in on the descent. He survived the dicey downtown sprint (the promoters needed to take more steps to ensure the safety of the finish) and was first across the line out of the peloton, finishing in 5th place.
The Cat.4’s had a strong team present, with Elliot Anderson, Victor Riquelme, Kurt Garbe, and the pledged support of Summit Velo’s Justin Orkney. The field was of good size, with over 35 racers at the start. Kurt was designated the leader for the day, and Vic and Justin were charged with protecting his interests. A 3 man break got away after the eastern descent of THE HILL. Riquelme and Orkney worked very hard at the front on the way back, and the break was within sight upon reaching the base of THE HILL. The main field was shattered by the climb. Kurt came in with a small group in 8th place, Elliot in the next group on the road finishing 12th, and Riquelme rolled in solo in 17th.
Know the bicycle laws
The Sheriff’s department has been targeting cyclists recently and issuing inappropriate tickets. Please read and understand the laws below and make sure to carry ID on your rides.
Here’s a link to a printable card to carry to hand out to aggressive motorists and uninformed police officers. I have cards printed of pages 24, 29, 30 & 33: adot STR061208
28-812. Applicability of traffic laws to bicycle riders
A person riding a bicycle on a roadway or on a shoulder adjoining a roadway is granted all of the rights and is subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle…
28-815. Riding on roadway and bicycle path; bicycle path usage
A. A person riding a bicycle on a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway, except under any of the following situations:
1. If overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.
2. If preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
3. If reasonably necessary to avoid conditions, including fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals or surface hazards.
4. If the lane in which the person is operating the bicycle is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.
B. Persons riding bicycles on a roadway shall not ride more than two abreast except on paths or parts of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles.
Sun Devil Criterium
Victor Riquelme and Elliot Anderson both made appearances flying the Aggress flag at the Sun Devil Criterium this morning.
The course had a straight flat stretch with the start/finish right in the middle of it, a long sweeping bend after the first corner, followed by a sharp right back to the start/finish. The road was wide, and in good condition.
The schedule called for a combined 40 minute Cat.4/5 race, but due to a large field size (and emergency personnel all over the course after a bad crash in the prior ladies crit) the races were split into two 25 minute single category events.
Elliot did well in the 4’s, positioning himself in the front half of the pack the whole time. The race started out slowly, but quickly picked up pace as the attacks started to pour on. The field stayed together, setting up for a bunch sprint. On the last lap Elliot attacked on the back stretch, but wasn’t the only rider with the idea. He got swarmed and boxed into the last corner, was forced to brake hard to avoid hitting the curb, and had to re-accelerate for the sprint to the finish. He finished 20th/36. His mother was on hand and was expecting a better result, but is still very proud of him
Elliot Bridging a gap
Riquelme was aggressive in the 5’s, sitting on the front for most of the race. 3/4 of the way through the crit there was a crash in the middle of the pack on the back stretch. On the same lap, while coming through turn 2 at 30+ mph, some *%#$ passed on the outside, then dove in and across his front wheel. He avoided a bike/bike collision but could not escape an unfortunate bike/curb encounter.
Vic took a tumble in the dirt, but luckily machine and rider were unscathed, and he was able to get rolling again. Thanks to anger, motivation, and a supportive crowd, he caught back up within a half lap and immediately moved into first position. The rest of the field was more than happy to let him break the wind, and he stayed in first until the sprint, where he had absolutely nothing left and finished the day 8th/39.
Just moments after the crash, Eggliot the cameraman couldn’t figure out what Vic was doing so far off the back
Within two laps, Vic was leading out the field.
The Cat.5 finish
One would think that a course with only 2 corners and wide roads would create a safer race, but the inexperienced Cat.5 racers just used the relative low technicality to push speeds to dangerous levels.
At the end of the day, though a little frazzled, our boys are home and happy to be alive.
Vulture Mine TT
Rugged, hilly terrain and mellow 70 degree temperatures set the stage for Elliot Anderson’s 40k TT this morning. The out and back course had a total of 1150 feet of elevation gain, and began with a 3 mile climb, then a 9 mile downhill, followed by the turnaround back to the finish.
Elliot passed the elder Cat.4 rider who started one minute before him on the first climb, but was overtaken by him on the downhill. He passed him again within the first mile after the turnaround, and held him off to the finish. Elliot clocked a solid time of 1:07:20, good for 2nd place out of 4 in his category, beating the 3rd place rider by 27 seconds, and 38 seconds from 1st.
Notably, his time was the 7th fastest out of all 17 men in all categories that competed in the 40k today.
Both of us stayed up till 2am the night before, and woke up at 5am to make the 3.5 hour trek from Tucson to Wickenburg, AZ.
Elliot getting warm in the shade of the Aggress tent
Vic pulled off an impressive 1st place finish in the sneaker and jean open category
2009 Valley Of The Sun
Bryan Schelgel, Elliot Anderson, and Kurt Garbe headed up to Phoenix this past weekend for the Valley Of The Sun stage race. The event featured a 22 kilometer TT on day one, a road race on day two, and a crit on day three.
Bryan was a minute and a half late to his TT start, but still finished at 35:07, 60th out of 91 in the Cat. 3’s. Out of the 91 Cat. 4’s Kurt finished with 35:24, good for 30th place. Elliot clocked 37:24, putting him at 62nd place.
The road race contained a 2.5 mile sustained climb with a steep kicker right at the end, before flattening out for the finish. Bryan finished 18th out of 88. Elliot pulled off 13th, and Kurt 42nd out of 83 Cat. 4’s. Here is a snippet from Elliots report of the day:
“So, justin, kurt and I were poised, when kurt came and softly said, lets attack at the next “ease-up” and before i knew it i was on Kurts tail passing the front 5 riders and by the time kurt pulled over for my turn to pull the group was reacting. 2 procons guys started to go with us and the group didnt like 2 doubles (aggress, procon) trying to break so right away I eased up after kurt said “nope”. then, 5 secs after i eased one of the procons guys said “gogogo!!” and I did for a little before not wasting anything more and re-grouping. Before I fell all the way back to draft, Kurt took a pull after the 2 procon guys and we both conserved before the final hill. right before the last turn up the hill Kurt popped through a gap out to the right to be in the top 10 going around the corner which was great to be up front for the beginning of the hill. Then, in a ridiculous display the dark skinned W.management rider leading us out randomly slowed way down, stood directly straight up with his hands on his hips as if saying “is anyone else gonna work, im doing everything”, i almost used the hilariously entertaining solution Kurt mentioned to use for any lacky riders the night before of sticking my pump into his spokes making him endo out of the pack.”
For the crit Bryan came in 52nd out of 72. Here is his recount of the event:
“I came into today 50th overall, moving up after pulling out a 17th in the sprint yesterday. Pre-race prep was perfect, legs felt good, bike was stellar. Raced the 80 other fuckers to the start for a spot in the 3rd row center. Crit started fucking fast and got faster. I was totally red lined for the first 15 minutes, completely pumped out, able to do nothing but hang on and drift back in the pack on a pace too fast for me. I recovered a bit half way into the race and moved up with ambitions of being able to do so each lap. The pace was so fast I could only move up in one 50 meter spot every other lap, and would continually fall off the pace on the climb each time around. The road was good, the corners wide, the group was predictable and felt safe. I fell off the back around 5 laps to go after giving the last big dig I had the lap before. I tried to stay close hoping the pace would slow but the end of the group quickly disappeared from sight. I was very quickly looking for the leaders approach from behind whilst time trialing to a non-lapped finish. I rode a lap or two solo before the referees whistled me off the course. I shot Mr. Striped Shirt the dirtiest look I could muster before pulling off and out of the way.”
Elliot and Kurt both managed to survive a very fast Cat.4 crit, respectively finishing 14th and 21st out of 68. Kurt had this to say:
“In my oxygen depraved fugue during the VOS crit, I thought FB yelling at me was Elliot who finished, exploded or???? and I thought, “THIS IS IT!” I launched everything I had taking the sprint. As I crossed the line, the judge put up two fingers indicating the remaining laps… Fuck me… I grabbed the end of the group for a second or so and popped. My German pride got the better of me and I focused on not getting pulled or lapped. On my last solo lap I had a motorcycle escort with a sympathy clap from the crowd. If I’d hung with the group I just spanked, I would have finished 14th overall. Nice comfort… Y got a good laugh.”
And finally, the official Aggress general classification results:
Cat. 3-
Bryan Schelgel-44th place, 4:27:07
Cat. 4-
Kurt Garbe-20th place, 3:00:30. Elliot Anderson-25th place, 3:01:29
*DVD of the three’s race to be released soon. Y doing a cardio time bomb starring himself.
Ready to Crit? Colossal Cave Weekend Coming to the P1 Kart Circuit.
Racers will be headed back to the the always fantastic P1 Kart Circuit Track. as part of the Colossal Cave stage race. Below are some highlights from last years Tucson Crit Serieshosted by Aggress.
Lead group from the Masters 30+ race.
Cat 4s go 3 wide into the big sweeper in the middle of the course, take a good line and you can pedal all the way through.
The gentle right into the S turns at the back.
Put your head down out of the S turns and drill it to..
The hair-pin at the far end of the track.
Reverse angle of racers coming out of the S turn at the back of the course.
Then some more shots from the sweeper.
The General was on hand at last year’s race with his fiery red locks.
Racers setting up for the S turn at the end of the back straight.
An attack on the back straight.
The pro,1,2,3, is that an argyle jersey in there?
These guys threw-down from the start.
They kept it strung it out through the S turn…
…and came out of the corner sprinting for position comming into the hairpin.
Strong legs and serious cornering skills reward the aggressive lead group.
Forcing the chase group to dig deep to catch back on.
One last parting shot of the midcourse sweeper.
