News

April 9, 2008

It's Raining WINS!

4/6/08 NYC Spring Series Floyd Bennett Field (Brooklyn, NY)

The Floyd Bennett Field course features roads that are completely flat with a ton of wind. The longest stretch of road has a complete head wind, with the other stretches have significant cross and tailwinds. Floyd Bennett Field was in fact the first New York City airport and was used well into the 70’s as a Military airport. Today FBF is a state park.

The early part of the race was quiet until three riders including two from Sakonnet’s sister team CRCA/Foundation slipped off the front. Waiting for the right moment Gavi attacked hard on the tailwind section and established a big gap going into the crosswind section. Gavi was moving quickly and he passed one of the Foundation riders who had been dropped then he continued to bridge up to the second rider on the road Alberto Blanco (Foundation). Gavi and Alberto worked well together and brought back the 2 min 30 sec gap on the lead rider Jermaine Burrows (United).

Shortly after catching the lead rider the now three man break-away lapped the field. The other two riders had team mates in the field while Gavi did not and so on the last lap Gavi attacked in the same place on the tailwind section going into the crosswind section. The plan almost worked but another rider from United and Alberto were able to bridge to Gavi. Heading to the line Gavi out-sprinted Alberto for the win while the United rider was tailed off the back.

1st Gavi Epstein

4/6 Ivan Mukasa Memorial (Palo Pinto School, TX)

Ten miles into the race the break of the day was established. The break consisted of Travis and two other riders who road well together until 3 miles to go when the attacks started flying. With the major hill on the course coming up Travis waited and then charged away from his companions for another stellar solo victory.

1st Travis Burandt

4/5 NYC Spring Series Prospect Park (Brooklyn, NY)

It was a cold and rainy morning, With 9 laps left of the 3.3 mile circuit Gavi attacked solo. Shortly after Gavi’s move was established 3 riders bridged up to him including 2 from the same team. Five laps later one of the riders from Champion Systems (who had two) got dropped. The break had maybe a minute on the field the entire time. In the end Gavi jumped first but he was nipped at the line by John Durso (an ex-team mate of Matt Koschara's).

2nd Gavi Epstein

3/30 Ronde Von Manda Road Race (Austin, TX)

77 miles on a Texas plain with a criterium style start in the first mile coupled with hard crosswind creates an early break of 9 represented by all teams including Travis. Attacks in the break bring it down to six. A few more attacks bring it down to Travis, Stephan Rothe (Mercy), and Ian Dille (HealthCoach) in the last laps. With one to go Travis tests the waters a bit with some surges and both fall back so he know he's got it. After a final jump with one mile to go he rides in solo for the win.

1st Travis Burandt

3/30 Marblehead Circuit Race (Marblehead, MA)

In Danny’s own words – Editor
"Today, Dylan O’Sullivan and I raced the Marblehead circuit race. The race was very competitive, 100 riders started with four full teams there including Fuji, Fiora di Frutta, CCB Volkswagen, and Met Life. A few good breaks went up the road, Dylan managed to handle those well as I sat for the right one to go, but nothing containing the top riders went. As Dylan took me up front I waited for the finish and with one to go everyone started lining up their sprinters, it was difficult for me to stay up front but I fought hard to stay in place. In the sprint I went early as I had no choice and was just over taken at the line"

3rd Danny Estevez

03/29 Giro Della Primavera Spring Series (Rochester, NY)

In Cheyne’s own words – Editor
"It was a cold start to today’s spring Giro, around 20 degrees and sunny, but I wasn't going to let it spoil my only chance to race for the weekend. I decided to attack at the start just to warm up. I was brought back quickly and then there were a few attacks from other teams. They didn't amount to anything and the field was all back together by lap two. After a period of no attacking I decided it was time to get the race going again so towards the end of the second lap I lit it up and two of the stronger guys that were there went with me. We rode away for the last two laps with decent cooperation amongst the three of us. I attacked with a few miles to go but couldn't shake them so I sat up and waited until it was time to sprint. Coming into the sprint I was third man, but I struck first accelerating to the line for the win."

1st Cheyne Hoag

3/28-3/30 Tucson Bicycle Classic (Tucson, AZ)

After coming home from his Belizean adventure Ryan was ready to race again at this three stage event. Despite not having a TT bike he placed well in the prologue, in Stage 2 he raced hard for time bonuses and KOM points. In the final stage he narrowly finished runner up and had an overall good weekend.

Overall G.C. Results:

5th Ryan Baumann

Stage Results:

9th – Prologue - Ryan Baumann

2nd – Stage 3 Circuit Race - Ryan Baumann

3/22 Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycling Classic (Belize City, Belize)

In Ryan’s own words – Editor

“Today was absolutely crazy. I'll never forget it!

The 250 km race began at the god-awful time of 6 AM. Gavi and I ate such a huge dinner the night before the race, I couldn't even stomach my breakfast...ugh, not a good sign.

For the first hour it was flat and fast, with a small break up the road taking all the "station prizes", basically preems, that add up to many thousands of dollars over the course of the race. After 1 hour, I rolled with some attacks and got off the front with a group of eight. 1 guy attacked solo and got a good gap, which he held for the next 2 hours. A very impressive feat considering there was more than $6,000 in preems he won for the effort.

One of my Belizean teammates on Santinos, Froggy, bridged up to me before the turn around point, so my job was to mark all the dangerous Cuban and Columbian riders in the hills so that he could sit on and be fresh for the end. I did just that, making sure to conserve as much energy as possible.

After the crazy turn around point, surrounded by thousands of screaming Belizean people and crossing a narrow, one way metal bridge, the Columbian team motored to catch the solo break off the front. After we caught him, I had good legs. So I went on the attack. It was very hard to get away since the pace was not too high and riders were recovered enough to match every move.

At 50 miles to go, through the city of Belmopan, the riders attacked in the hills to get the big preems through the city. I counterattacked just after leaving Belmopan and got a big gap right away. I didn't really want to go that hard, so I just kept it steady and stayed aero. Fortunately the break did not chase me immediately, so my time gap grew quickly to 3 minutes. At 30 miles to go I still felt very good and my time gap continued to grow.

The break was caught with me off the front of the race solo with 25 miles to go, and now the time gap was up to 7 minutes. I knew it would be hard to do, but with that big of a gap, I knew I could win the race now. I downed as much water and food as I could, and the Chief (our director) poured 15-20 bottles of water over my head every couple of minutes to ward off the 90 degree heat.

With 11 miles to go, the legs just gave out and I was in horrible pain the entire rest of the ride. I could not eat or drink anymore since my stomach hurt so much. My power fell way down and I was just suffering. To combat the lower power, I focused on being as aero as possible and just staying at 40 km/hr. Coming into Belize City, I knew I had it won!

The chief told me to keep the gas on to set a new course record...but I didn't have much left. It hurt so bad at the end, but the energy of thousands of Belizean people screaming kept me going. In the end, I crossed the line more than 6 minutes ahead of the chase group, setting a new course record by 7 minutes.

My Sakonnet teammate Gavi snagged 5th place and another podium, along with Akau, our Guatemalan teammate, in 7th. So it was a successful day for the team.

Words cannot express how much the Belize people love cycling. I honestly kissed 10 babies, took 100 photos, signed 30 jerseys, and gave 10 interviews after the race.

I'm exhausted from this 6200 KJ day.”

1st Ryan Baumann

5th Gavi Epstein