Whiskey Off Road

I was torn on racing the Whiskey this year because my heart was set on racing the Gila.  With a little peer pressure and some incentive, I was all in for the one of the best MTBiking events of the year. I had a couple of setbacks prior to the race, overcoming a sinus infection and then a pulled muscle in my back playing mashball with P and G,  less than a week out before go time.  With some Neproxin and visit to the Chiro, I was almost 100%. 
 
A quick look at the field of racers lining up for the Whiskey, I knew a tall order was on hand, with Evan Plews and Dax Massey (National champs)doing the event this year.  Unbenowith to me, my former 24hour SS Championship teammate, Cameron Chambers (former Gary Fisher Pro) showed up for a piece of the pie, I was supper stoked.  A great compadre and someone I have the utmost respect for in the world of cycling, once a 22-year-old who kicked Tinkers ass when Tinker was at  his prime during the 24 Solo at the OP. 
 
 
There was also alot of talk of Dejay riding super strong and my good friend Mike Melley, who was schooling every SS in the state.  Fuzzy, the course record holder was also racing.  Therefore, it set the stage for my hardest race of my life yet.  Running a smaller gear ratio than all of the above, I knew I would hit the pain cave early, hoping I could recover by the time with hit the first major climb.  Those who have raced Whiskey (Rick, IB) know that the first three miles of the race will most likely determine the outcome of the race!  With that in mind I had to do whatever it took to hang on.
 
The field size started somewhere in the vicinity of 350 riders and my biggest challenge was staying in front of the faster gear riders who lack in climbing ability or love their granny gear.
 
Once the race started  I was able to stick with the lead group that consisted of around 15 riders and included 7 SS, the pace was insane and I had already been above my heart rate threshhold when we hit the dirt.  I lost contact with all the SS and only had to gearys in front of me, but I could not recover with no power to pass.  Finally, halfway up the first climb I made my move and passed the two riders and closed in on Mike Hilleman (NV), five time Whiskey champ, I was stoked, because honestly he was the one I was gunning for, there is story behind that.  We rode together when we hit the first technical descent of the day, he let me pass and I said ”goodby to him,” in my mind anyways!  On the final descent after the first climb, I reconnected with Melley, I believe he had stopped because he dropped his chain.  We road out of the canyon together and caught up to Scott Morris right before the 25 mile junction turnoff(50ers turn down Skull Valley Rd).  I took lead down the road and opened up a gap, expecting both of them to catch me right away, but wasn’t the case.  Finally a couple of miles before the turnaround, Morris came flying by me and I jumped on his wheel.  He was cool and let me draft the rest of the way down.  A few minutes before we reached the turnaround at the bottom of Skull Valley, Kenny Wiens (No Tubes from CO) was setting the pace back up the climb with Dejay, Chambers, Massey, and Plew right behind.  Holly crap! I’m in 5th with Melley charging behind.  
 
The climb back up was long and brutal with some good head crosswind, which seemed blow harder on the steepest sections of the climb.   Halfway up the climb, 12 -mile climb I believe. I had Chambers in my sight.  He was laboring and I knew he was done!  I rode up to him, chatted for a sec and was on my way.  I had ran out of water a few minutes later and contemplated on stopping at the next feed station, a homey from SV was supposed to give me a feed at that point, but I wasn’t sure if he would be there on time. 
 
Once I reached the aid station, my friend was nowhere in sight, only faith was on my side because I took the risk of bypassing the aid.  When I road around the next bend on the road, he popped out of nowhere and gave me the best greeting that I have had in long time, perhaps because I was becoming dehydrated and he gave the best medicine of my life.  So far everything was going as planned, except that Melley had made a big surge and caught me.  Yet, not really disappointed because I had surpassed my expectations of even being anywhere close to him in the race and the fact that we had made contact with Dejay Birtch.  Dejay looked back and saw us charging and literally put the hammer down.  Mike and I worked together (it’s actually possible in a MTBike race) and closed the gap.  But, when we got off Skull Valley Road onto the last final downhill section of single track, he was gone.  We thought we were chasing a ghost, that man can descend, but we kept the pressure on.  Miracullously we reconnected wtih Dejay at ”Cramp Hill,” last and final steep-loose-rock climb (sound familiar).  Dejay was pushing his bike and was running scared, while Melley stomping on his pedals and cleaning that section like a man on a  mission.  I dabbed and hiked two or three steps before I jumped on my bike like a kid running away from something. 
 
Dejay and Mike had gapped me at that point and the pressure was on.  Yet, I kept Melley in sight.  Once we got back on the blacktop for the final stretch of the race, I had Melley and Dejay in sight but I knew at that point that I had the smallest gear and hope of catching them was slim.  Thinking of the shootout, I surged and surged until I caught Melley.  We worked together and pacelined until we had Dejay in sight, but it was too late, both of us realizing we could not close the gap with the finish line nearby.  Melley and I rode to the finish line together with neither one of us caring who took the next podium spot.  We actually had the same finish time. Evan Plews, Dax Massey, Dejay Birch, Melley and Mua respectively.  
 
I set a new PR for this course improving my time by 13 minutes and the old course record by 5 minutes. 
 
Meanwhile, Adam and Aaron were also killing out on the course.  Aaron finished 3rd in the 25 mile race which consists of the hardest section of the course and Adam, well, he litteraly destroyed his last years time by more than and hour I believe (he can report on that) and finished sub-four hours which would have put him on the podium all the previous years.  My teammates are very strong cyclist and great human beings, I feel honored to ride with them on our team and call them my friends.  All thought they might know it, they inspire me ride hard and represent AGGRESS!!  – Beto 50 proof
     I had no idea who my competition was in the 25 proof, but HOLY SMOKES, there was a lot of it! Beto made it clear that I needed to go out hard on the paved start so that I would beat the massive group of riders that would clog the singletrack. This meant I needed to be at the front for the start. The problem was that the start line began lining up 30 minutes before the race……so much for a good warm-up!!! I got right on the second row and shivered and twitched for 30 minutes, but when I looked back and saw the mass of close to 700 riders, I was glad I did! I have to say, there was some high dollar singlespeeds near the start and I had no idea who was fast and who wasn’t. Well, we finally started, and the front group started FAST, but I knew I needed to spin like a mad man to stay with the lead group of geared dudes. Thats exactly what I did, and managed to stay with the lead group of about ten until we hit the singletrack. I knew there was one singlespeeder ahead of me, Riley Post (Team OVB), who was with the very front, but I knew I hit the singletrack second. Hot on my heels were several other singlespeeders, including Dan Hight (Cross-fit), and Tobias Walker, both of whom were very strong local riders. They were chasing hard, but I managed to keep a small gap ahead of them for all of the first round of climbing all the way to the first long descent. I was moving really well down the long descent and thought I was ceating an even bigger gap, but much to my dismay, right at the bottom, Dan Hight caught up to me! The dude is one crazy fast descender! We rode for a while up the next round of steep climbing to the second aid station. Dan started to get a gap on me the further we went up. I was focusing on not blowing up, and I truly thought I would reel him in on the climbing after the second aid station. Unfortunately, this is where not having pre-ridden the course proved to be a mistake. the climbing got far less technical after the second aid station, and though I was climbing well, SO WAS DAN! Couldn’t close the gap, so I was now riding in the third place singlespeed spot and the 5th spot overall out of all the 25 proof riders (Geared or SS). The last part of the course was clogged with many of the 50 proof stragglers and slower riders, and I have to say they were a little possessive of their spots on the singletrack. I don’t blame them I suppose after coming so far. This made my chance at running down second place even less possible. It was a total blast bombing the last sections of singletrack to the pavement though. Once I got back to the pavement, it was time to spin like crazy again for the last few miles to the finish. I had three geared fellas pace-line it by me, which meant I was now sitting 8th overall, but I was more worried about the SS cat. anyhow. After a mile or so, I could tell someone was on my wheel, and when I turned around, IT WAS TOBIAS WALKER on his singlespeed! NOOOOOOOOOOO! I knew I had to make a move. Right as we were approaching the brink of a long downhil descent, I spun out as fast as I could, and then jumped way up over the front of my bars, and coasted away, PHEW! I wasnt leaving anything to chance, though, and I had my SS spun out until I crossed the finish line and claimed the Third spot on the podium!!! All in all in was an amazing weekend! I have to say though, I am like Beto, in that it is the friends and hanging out and re-hashing the races and riding experiences, that is the REAL RIDE!  – Aaron – 25 proof

May 12, 2011 · Filed Under Mountain Biking, Race Report

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Three Bears TT 5-1-11

Did the 30K Three Bears TT yesterday.  Shaved 2:52 minutes off my time from March 5.  Many thanks to Doug for installing his aerobars and Zipp wheels to my bike!!  Placed second under Candace Porter, who finished 22 seconds ahead of me.  -Liz
 
3 Bears TT yielded two more podium finishes for the Aggress resume.  Liz posted a 2nd place in her group and I posted a win in my group (by 0.01 sec, gotta love it!). – Rick
Congrats! 

May 1, 2011 · Filed Under Race Report

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Tour of the Tucson Mts.

I did TTM today and improved my time by 25 minutes from last year. I can live with that. – Kelly

May 1, 2011 · Filed Under Race Report

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State Crit 2011

Aggressors:
Did the State Crit.  First 10 minutes was nice; remaining 30 minutes was a decent into discomfort as the rain gradually turned to sleet.  Combined peloton had perhaps 15 guys.  The course was quite nice; new pavement, wide streets, 53 ft of elev gain per lap.  First lap was routine, rode in position 4.  Lap 2 half the peloton sprinted up the hill and all of a sudden I was in position 8 or 9.  I felt like it was a bit much, too soon, and might burn me if I tried to hang, so I let them go.  I started working with a 60+ Summit Velo rider and kept my HR just under threshold on the laps I pulled. We alternated pulls each lap.  With 3 laps to go we passed a couple of burnouts from the lap 2 sprint and kept rolling.  With 2 laps to go we were perhaps 300m back from the main group of half a dozen.  With 1 lap to go we were maybe 50m back and it was my pull so I drew close enough to be in the draught but tried to avoid being noticed.  Approaching the final turn I actually dropped back a little and then accelerated to the outside for the final turn, passed all of them in the turn, and then sprinted the remaining 100m to the line.  As I looked up after crossing the line I could see a 2 man break that had already crossed the line perhaps 5-7 seconds ahead of me and unfortunately one of them was in my group (William Hydinger), so I ended up 2nd.  Nevertheless, it was a good training event for me and I was able to keep my HR just below threshold pretty much the whole time I was pulling.

May 1, 2011 · Filed Under Race Report

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John Cooper Adventure Series – Prudler strikes again

http://www.svherald.com/content/sports/2011/04/16/john-cooper-adventure-series-rides

 
Published on The Sierra Vista Herald (http://www.svherald.com)

John Cooper Adventure Series rides on

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Aaron Prudler leads the group of mountain bikers at the start of the race on Saturday. (Liz Manring•Herald/Review)

HEREFORD — The Dawn to Dust Mountain Bike Club hosted the 13th annual John Cooper Adventure Series for hikers, bikers and runners on Saturday morning. The event is held each year to help support future trail building in the Huachuca Mountains and celebrate the life of Cooper, an avid mountain biker who died in a car accident in 1998.

April 19, 2011 · Filed Under Mountain Biking

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The Old Pueblo Grand Prix

Report via Rick
The Old Pueblo Grand Prix was a great event; a high energy rip around downtown Tucson on a Sunday afternoon.  Doug, Mike Leo and I represented, and were joined by other Aggressors (Liz, Kelly, Pete, BrYan) drawn to the Flames.
 
Master Men 55+, and most of the women, started the event off at 12:30, with heat and wind thrown in for some spice.  Course issues (pavement, turns, etc.) turned out to be less of a challenge than I was expecting.  The pace was the challenge.  There were 12 riders in the M55+ field and 5 of us were dropped on lap 2; I could not hold the pace.  A few laps later we picked up Doug, who had tried to hold the pace, but eventually got spit out.  For a brief moment I considered getting some rotation going to gradually close on the leaders, but then Norm Kibble and another rider dropped off the back and shortly DNFd, so we were 4.  There was one crash during our race; two of the women went down and for a few laps there were emergency vehicles and personnel at the edges of the course but the race continued.  I ended up pulling the chase group for most of the race and I felt good for the entire event but I cannot match the pace imposed by the likes of Dwight Nelson, Joe Suida, and Larry Hansen (Oh Well!).  Final result; 9/12. 
 

 

 

Doug on the front

 
Mike M: So on the last lap, I saw an opening on the right side at about the start/finish, and I gunned it. I gained about seven places, and was about to jump into the lead (and would have kept it) when the turn came up. iIliterally had no where to go, and touched my brake. Slid around the corner, and almost into Alex Strickland. By the time I righted myself, I was in the middle of the pack again. Finished 11th, one stupid place out of winning money. What a great day of awesome bike racing, though.
Leo:
I went 45+ and Cat 3 which was combined 3/4 (61 people).  Back to back.

I had been sick all of last week, a virus that felt like strep.

45+ was fast, with hard winds from the South as usual, which made the sections on Stone and Church the potential graveyards.  Lots of support from the Aggressors there, which really helped with the pain.

I went well in the pack, feeling great in the corners, but struggling with the accelerations on Congress, Church, and Stone.  I actually attacked at one point, merely setting Daly up for a prime!  At three laps to go Kroese went off the front for good, and I couldn’t hold the wheel anymore with one lap to go (half mind to rest for the next race).

This put me at the back of the 3/4 group for the start with no time to rest.  I managed to stay somewhat on for the first few laps, but having to go around all the guys popping corner after corner did me in.  Mike went super strong and must have placed.  Elliot was with me for awhile, but had the juice to get into the front group and stay there.  Great day!

Literary note:  I’ve been reading the Iliad, and there is an fantastic description of a chariot race toward the end in Chapter 23 (Lattimore translation).  Achilles’ buddy Patroklos gets killed, and Achilles puts on his funeral finally, including a feast and games before he goes and gets killed himself (which he knows is coming by the way).  He had vanquished Hector at this point and dragged his body back to camp to dis the Trojans.  They have a big funeral pyre, burning 12 Trojans along with Patroklos.  In any case, Achilles then puts some major booty on the line for a five up ’round the post chariot race.  Two wheeled carts with two horses.  This story is like 2500 years old, describing things that may have happened a thousand years before that, but it could be one of the races we do now.  Full on battle, crashes, cheating, fighting, cursing, but then when it’s over, the guys trade prizes, patch things up and move on to the boxing.  Really cool story.

April 19, 2011 · Filed Under Race Report

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Cravin’ the Cave

Aggress teamed with Prestza and Syncardia to promote Colossal Cave.  It was an excellent effort by all.

 

Race report: Leo
On the day of the TT I got a good warm up and was able to attack the course the whole time.  My goal was sub-15, and I came in at 15:23, for 17th out of 25 or so.  Pretty good, but I could get better.  I was really trashed at the end.

For the crit, I was on kid duty all day, and didn’t eat right or get sufficient rest.  I was planning to attack on the first lap as I’ve noticed this is common in Cat 3 this year.  I got a good spin, but my motivation was somewhat off due to my 17th place finish.  I was expecting slightly better. 

It was windy, from the Southwest as usual, making the finish tailwinded, and the hard corners danger zones, people actually getting blown off their bikes.

We started and I clipped in well but was nearly crashed out by the big Landis guy, I ended up at the back of the pack, and the leader proceeded to sprint the entire first lap at over 30mph, effectively ending my competition.  He never came back, and I got whistled off about half way through.  This hurt.

I got to the RR in the morning and drove the cat 5 race with Kurt, great time, and then half-heartedly dressed for the race as a 20+ mph SE wind rose up, full headwind on the Pistol Hill, with a nasty quarter tail on Loma, and a swirling cross on the main road.  Rotten conditions, but the same for everyone.  Norson sprinted for the first mile downhill, nearly killing me.

I got dropped on Loma on the first lap.  I could not ride 33mph in the group with a tailwind.  Something just not clicking.  I proceeded to watch at least 6 guys quit on the first lap, and tried to ride with a small group, all of whom quit.

I was going to ride until 12:30 and stop, but in the end I kept going until the end, getting lapped by the field on my sixth (their 7th) climb.  10 guys quit on the day.

I went from 17th to 22nd on the crit, but from 22nd to 15th on the RR.

April 19, 2011 · Filed Under Race Report

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TBC “The weekend in Hell!” Doug Perry

Looking Aggressive!

Kelly: I’m glad I did it because you all were right… the experience and what I’ve learned was well worth it.

Time trial – I started my tt feeling pretty good but ridiculously nervous. Of course I did the thing I was instructed NOT to do, which was to put too much effort into the first section of the course. When I realized my mistake I tried to back off but my legs already felt the burn. My time, 10:59 was a little slower than my best on practice runs. I was 24 out of 29.

Road race – I managed to hold onto the main field for a little more than half the race but couldn’t close the gap that was created when we surged past the women’s cat 3. I eventually teamed up with 5 other women also straggling behind. We came close to bridging the gap just before the right turn onto La Canada but just missed it as they made the turn south and slipped away again. The six of us continued to work to the finish.  I was in 16th Saturday night.

Circuit race – the first two laps I misjudged my gearing coming out of the turn onto Greasewood and had to work too hard mashing up that hill and against the wind to catch up. The third lap I over compensated with too easy of a gear and spun out. This, combined with the sprint for the bonus was my downfall. I lost the main field and finished out my two laps with another woman from 2 Wheel Jones. In the end she and I sprinted for the finish and I barely beat her across the line. My victory for the day! I ended up placing 20th.  

Doug ‘Wheelman’ Perry:

TT: On my way back to the tent to start my 35 minute warm-up, my rear disc wheel was wobbling … not good. Jim and Gus looked it over and it was determined that the hub had self-destructed and couldn’t be used. What to do now … I waited for Liz, to hopefully return to the tent, so I could grab her wheel. I had about a ten minute warm-up and headed for the start. I was focused, and tried to block out the wheel disappoint. I ended up finishing 46 seconds faster than last year (9:24 vs. 10:10) … a little off my best practice efforts of about 9:10. 15th out of 23.

For the road race I was pumped! As we started out, I remembered to stay near the front and was actually chasing down some of the early break attempts … feeling good and strong. Around mile seven, twenty short minutes into the ride, I hit a pothole near the double yellow lines. I rode for another mile noticing my front was a little wobbly.  I pulled over and waited for the wheel truck, got a wheel and started to chase. After 35 miles of soloing, chasing and catching no one, I finally finish. The result … lost about ten minutes and my Zipp 303 rim was cracked. Ugh! 23rd and dead last in GC.

Circuit race: what did I have to lose? During the second of our seven laps, a group of ten broke off and we never saw them again (many of the group were 55!). I was in the chase group and we worked together and for the first time ever, I took off several times (even though I was dead tired from my solo effort yesterday) and made the group catch me … fun! On the last lap, I was gapped on the last climb by several of the guys, but began to catch up on the Anklam downhill and Speedway flats. As we turned onto Greasewood, I followed Richard Duncan to the 200 meter mark and put the hammer down and went around him and beat him by four seconds. Result 16th place. Moved out of the bottom on GC and got to 21st.

Rick: 

TT:  Stuck to my plan, easy on the downhill, just below LT for the intermediate uphill, over LT for the final uphill pitch.  Finished 4/13.

RR:  Felt good physically but had a serious brainfart.  It would seem Gary DeVoss and his buddy from CA went off the front of the 55+ combined peloton uncontested a few km before the finish and I had no clue.  Incredible!!  I was riding Fritz Tomasello’s wheel at about position 10 in the  combined peleton planning to follow him to the line and then out sprint him across the line.  He didn’t notice DeVoss & Co off the front either. In the end he beat me over the line and we were initially posted as 1 & 2 for the 65+RR.  Next morning we are re-posted as 3 & 4.  What?  I can still hardly believe it. 

CR:  Went into this thinking I was 3rd in GC and just needed to hang unless someone got off the front.  No one did.  I finished 5th in the final sprint with Gary DeVoss just behind in 6th so I figured 3rd in gc was in the bag and nothing was going to change within the top 3.  I do recall a naggy little feeling in the back of my mind when I noticed that Gary DeVoss was wearing the yellow jersey; based on what I had seen on the Internet, Fritz Tomasello should have been wearing it……..Hmmmmm.

Didn’t much care for being consigned to the dirt next to the podium; oh well, there’s always next year…right?

Leo:  TT: I posted an 8:42, which was way faster than I was in training, and I was happy.  I could have gone 10 s faster.  I was 56 back, in 34th place.

RR: The race was sort of hard.  TJ T. was on the front punishing the field for miles and miles.  The group broke up a little on the second climb, after a fairly easy first lap.  I did some pulling, but no attacks.  I lost Mike and Jeremy on the second climb.  We turned onto the second trip to the rollers, and it got brutal for about 30 minutes.  TJ pulled the whole time, damaging the yellow jersey severely.

We hit the final climb, and I felt fluid and comfortable.  We sprinted into a headwind, and I was not tired, but did not assert myself, still going by several people at the line, which is rare for me, especially since I started in cat 3.  The initial results put me in 11th, moving to 29th place, fining me $20 for not signing in.  Later they put me at 17th (pack finish), and I stayed in 29th.

CR: the wind was starting to swirl.  It dawned on me on the third lap that we had a cross wind from the Southwest, so that we fought it on Anklam to the turn into the climbs, and then on Speedway heading to Greasewood, hitting a headwind on Greasewood.

The third lap sprint was not hard, but the cross wind on the 4th lap started to hurt.  I had to pass several guys who were cracking ON THE DOWNHILL, and nearly did so myself.  I don’t know how, but I climbed with the group past the feedzone and survived.  The fifth lap was worse, but not quite so hot, and probably 5 more guys were gone.  As we turned onto Greasewood on 5, three guys attacked, and stayed away.  The leader was cooked. TJ kept telling him to get on the front, which he did several times.  If you want to win, you better work.  We followed the attack for a lap, keeping a one minute gap.  Sixth lap done, three more guys got off the front on the downhill, and we could not get them back, and no one really wanted to help the yellow jersey.

We turned onto the last climb on Greasewood into gale force winds.  Another slow-mo sprint, which I came 25th, pack time behind six attackers, moving up to 22nd GC.

TJ took the yellow.  Hard core racing by simply outworking the leader with style and grit.

Jeremy:  Ok, it might have looked like I didn’t perform well at TBC.  However, in fact I did my best.  I embraced the pain and rode pretty well solo for 4 or 5 minutes of the race.  On both Saturday and Sunday I picked up and was picked up respectively which account for the other 10 minutes.  For the most part I didn’t want to quit (maybe when the wind picked up and every time I passed the start finish on Sunday).   I raced to have fun and prove to myself that I can still get out there a ride with these guys at least 95% of the time.  

Liz ‘Aggressette’ Perry: 

Time Trial – Like Doug, I had faithfully followed the Jimmy program and had practiced the TT route many, many times.  My biggest fear was going off the ramp!  Jimmy said to get there a bit early and see if I could do a trial run off the ramp.  I asked a random woman cyclist who was standing near the ramp, if she would hold me, so I could try the ramp.  She agreed and I went off with no problems.  I worked really hard and finished with a 11:17.

Road Race – Despite getting up at 4:00a.m. and leaving the house on time, Doug and I found ourselves really rushed.  I never even had time to warm up, which was crucial, because it was stinkin’ cold!  The Masters Women 45+, 55+, 65+, all started together and I started strong.   After about three miles, three of us got dropped and started to work together.  Then we lost another girl, so I was working with just one other, for the entire first lap of the race.  After I crossed the railroad tracks on the second lap, my calves started cramping; tried to stretch them out, but when I stood up, my quads started cramping as well.  I got dropped   😥   So, for about 19 miles, I rode alone, in severe pain.  I did finish, but it was tough.

Circuit Race – Again, another morning up early, but the time flew again and not nearly enough warm-up time.  This time, I was dropped immediately from the main field and rode the entire race alone!  I thought about waiting for two women that I knew were behind me, but I couldn’t even see them and just wanted to finish without crashing. Ended up getting 3rd in the GC  😀

Results

March 23, 2011 · Filed Under Race Report

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#4 in the MBAA Series

Report by Aaron
This last Saturday was race #4 in the MBAA state championship series, and it was held on Ft. Huachuca in Sierra Vista. The weather was awesome other than some wind, but hey, this is Arizona in March, right?? Besides, we were on mountain bikes! It was great to have Beto and Paula at the race this weekend, and they were the first ones up in the Marathon Open cat. at 8:00 am. Before the race, Beto had mentioned that he was content to just have a good race and get some good miles in, because he was, after all, competing on a single speed against some very strong riders on geared bikes! But for those of you who know Beto like I do, we know he is incapable of doing anything with less than everything he has. He leaves it all on the course EVERY time! And that’s exactly what he did. Despite being the ONLY man on a single speed, he proceeded to annihilate the field right from the get go (which required an incredible amount of “dig deepedness”)! He was the ONLY one to complete 8 laps of the brutal course, and brought home an inspiring 1st place finish against a tough field! AWESOME job, Beto – nator!

       

Paula was in the women’s open marathon class, and was ALSO riding a single speed. Not only did she finish in first place VERY handily, but she completed just as many laps as the 2nd and 3rd place finishers (on geared bikes) in the MEN’S open cat! WHAT?!?! Strong work, Paula!!!
Well……..I only wish my performance in the single speed open cat. had been so inspiring! I definitely had a rough race. Legs just were not having it on Saturday, and I dropped my chain several times during the race. But even with the mechanical snafu, I was clearly not the strongest rider that day, and couldn’t help but feel disappointed in my performance. I hit a wall early in the race with my legs, and no matter how hard I pushed, I couldn’t break through it. I had ridden extremely hard earlier in the week, and don’t think my legs had fully recovered. I am still learning so much every week, and that’s a great positive! Fortunately, I was still able to manage a 3rd place podium finish behind 2 very strong riders, and was able to maintain my lead in the series. And in spite of any of that, I had a great time with my amigos and my team mate! Thanks for the cheering and encouragement, Beto!! I know I speak for both of us when I say we are as driven as ever to work hard and succeed, and represent Aggress with integrity, strong racing, dedication, AND to have a WHOLE LOTTA FUN along the way! Ride on Aggressors!  Results

March 23, 2011 · Filed Under Race Report

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Tumacacori

Tumacacori

Leo: 10 laps on the course is a backbreaker in any condition.

21 cat threes came to the line.  I had water, a carrot, and a bunch of other food.  Turns out I needed every bit of it.  We started pretty mellow, Beto and I conversing about strategy on the first climb.  I was climbing really well in the group, watching guys do the funky slinky on and off the back lap after lap.

I figured there would be a major attack on the fourth climb, which there was.  It was two skinny kids from out of state and Darien doing most of the work.  We kept reconvening at the top.  The fifth climb was fine, and I took a bottle from Nippy.

We got to the sixth climb, and I exploded in the feed zone unexpectedly.  It was just over.

I was in such pain, I considered abandoning, but I could not bring myself to do it after the 7th climb.  Poblanski clawed his way up to me at some point, and he dropped me on maybe the 7th climb.  Next lap a Ride-clean guy caught me, having flatted the previous lap.  He dropped me too.

I was lapped twice by the pros, and got lapped by the winner from our field at the finish line.  The 10th lap was not that bad.  On the 9th I had pretty much locked up in both legs, but that went away with my carrot.

 

Beto:  The Cat 3 race had a good turnout, with Darien Newman and a Strada racer leading the way.  I had a little more motivation going into this years Tuma race.  For the first time, I had a teammate at Tumacacori, and a young gun from my short-stint former team from Minnesota in the race.  A 16-year-old junior who will be upgrading after this race and was this years CX national champ, plus all the hype from the Flanders camp in SV! 

 

The race consisted of 60 miles, 4500+ feet vertical, and 80 degree climate, either you were going to bail or get torched.  I am proud to report that no Aggressor on this day succumbed to the latter.  For those of you who have done this race, it is well known that the pace leading into the steep climbs is what makes or breaks you.  On this day the peloton stayed together until the 7th lap.  Five riders prevailed in opening a gap at the top of the last climb.  I was in the 7th spot and couldn’t make the break.  I figured we had a better chance regrouping with the help of the chase group.  A Landis rider and I did the bulk of the work at the front, with a pesky Team Coleen rider hooking the chasers for his teammate who was in the break (Flanders’ rider was also in the break!!).  I made numerous attempts to organize the chase, but nobody was willing to work.  At one point, I instructed the racers to get organized while I counter-blocked Newman’s teammate, still nobody was willing to cooperate.

Our chase group dwindled to 5.  The break also dropped several riders who were swallowed by our chase group but their efforts to stick the break rendered them useless and soon dropped from our group (Flanders kid was also part of the carnage).  The Landis rider and I pounded the pedals in attempt to drop our wheel suckers and reconnect with the leader, to no avail.  Although my endurance was starting to kick in and the climbs seemed to get easier, we had run out of time and a sprint to the finish was in order.  I was in the third spot 400 meters from the finish.  I held until one of the riders jumped.  I went around him to early and ran out of gas and finished  7th .  This was a race of attrition, Leo and I finished the race, which was the only thing that seemed to matter at the time, and will probably hold truth when it’s time to do it again next year!   Results

March 23, 2011 · Filed Under Race Report

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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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