4/9 Time Trial:

Strong and gusty cross-winds on the course led to lots of thinking about the right bike setup. I decided on the rear disc which turned out to be the right choice. When a gust hit, it felt uncomfortable in the front, not in the back. I hydrated well before the race because I don’t carry a bottle for the shorter distance and ate a bar and gel about 10 min before the race. It was good luck that the two strongest opponents were directly in front of me. It gave me a good sense of my relative pace and it is extremely motivating to close the gap and to pass them. Together with the partial tailwind it was very tempting to overdo it on the first few miles. So I paced myself a notch. Checking the time until I passed the other guys in opposite direction after the turnaround gave me confidence that I was still on track. I finished 1st.

4/10 Circuit Race:

This was my first mass start race and that’s why I chose a more passive strategy. The plan was to stay in touch with the front of the peloton and to see if I can follow if someone attacks. Half of the course was on gravel so I rode this section twice on the warmup in order to spot deep gravel sections and to become familiar with the best paths to navigate these 2 miles and particularly the corners on each lap. This proved to be very helpful during the race because I was able to focus on the other riders rather than the course. The first three laps were at a relatively moderate pace and nobody tried to get away or seriously attack. I stayed constantly at second to forth position and out of the wind. Two COS guys and the guy who placed 2nd in the TT tried to get away when we reached the dirt road for the forth time. I was able to catch up with them quickly and at first I didn’t think that the break was successful because there were guys from other categories mixed in on the course. But the rest of the group was indeed dropped. We got back on asphalt and the speed increased as we approached the last lap. That’s when I realized that my front wheel was wobbly and that I had a flat. I replaced the tube and finished the last lap by myself so that I still collected some points for the overall omnium.

4/11 Road Race:

The flat in the CR created a difficult situation for the RR. Before the race I was third in the overall omnium. Only if I won or placed 2nd and of course beat them both could I be sure to collect enough points to pass them. So the goal was to be part of a break away ideally with some guys from the cat 50+ 4 who were racing together with us. The wind completely destroyed the tactics. The only break happened right after we started heading north only about 10 miles into the race. The two guys didn’t even really intend to break but the peloton slowed down so much that they had more than a minute at some point. Things got only worse when we turned into the insane head and crosswind on the 10 mile stretch back east. Every time somebody tried to pull away or at least pull the peloton nobody would continue a pace line when he went to the side. The only team that had several riders in this race was COS and they always did just enough to close any gaps but otherwise slowed everything down. Nonetheless the two guys in the front were eventually caught and it looked like they intended that because they couldn’t survive by themselves in the wind. Turning south and therefore tailwind and downhill finally allowed to increase the pace significantly. I attached myself to the wheel of the front guy all the way to the last turn before the finish. Since he was going close to the centerline I constantly watched the guys to the right to find a gap to attack. I had planned to be first at the turn hoping that I could sustain the lead on the slight uphill to the finish. The first part of the plan worked but then I slowed down too much for the turn. Three other guys took the turn better and passed me right after it. Realizing that neither 1st or 2nd place was feasible anymore gave way to another rookie mistake to stop pedaling before the finish line. Lost another place and came in 5th. Luckily that didn’t affect my relative score in the overall omnium and I moved up to 2nd place.

Cascade Day 1

So today was definitely not our day. Justin flatted ~10 miles in on the third gravel section and had to chase solo for the next 38 miles. I was in the main group all together on the main climb of the day, when someone decided to started coasting and then cut into the should taking the people behind him down. I chased back right before the gravel climb but was gassed and did the last lap with the second group around 7 minutes down by the finish. We’re both feeling good though and we’re way inside time cut so now our focus is now just stages instead of the overall. Tomorrow is 60 miles with another gravel section and ~6000 feet of climbing so should be a tough one!

Cascade Day 2

Today was tough. I’m definitely riding a bit like a baby too far back in the field. I got caught behind two wrecks and Justin skirted one. The climbs have been real surgey and it popped me today as well. We had a real epic start today though with thunder and rain on the first ~10 mile descent. It cleared up and there were a lot of individual groups on the road.

Cascade Day 3

This race is not my jam. Looked to be a “calm” 96 mi RR that should favor a long breakaway with a shallow ish 7 mile climb to the finish.

30 some odd miles in the leader calls a pee break, a few attack the pee break, and we chase back on. Once we catch the field, we are neutralized and stopped because the P1 field was pointed in the wrong direction, ran into a bad gravel section that wasn’t part of the course, and there was flat carnage.

50 miles in we hit the 2 miles “gravel” section which is more like loose sand with lava rocks. Carnage ensures, multiple flats, people fishtailing, and my front wheel is slipping everywhere. Chris keeps better contact with the front and I slip back in the field scrubbing speed for other riders and trying to stay upright.

After chasing for a few miles with a Dean rider (@Nicholas Wirski their director says hi, he is a lively chap) we catch back on.

Second time through the “gravel section” sucked a bit less but I still got gapped from the leaders scrubbing speed and avoiding risks.

Emerging from the sand pit I can see the Peleton ahead of me with 15 mi to go, but knowing I won’t catch them I try and hold a steady tempo.

Chris pulled up with a chase group and we worked together for a bit until the climb started. Chris finished the climb about 3 min faster than me and that was the stage.

Chris finished 17th and I ended up 24th on the day.

11 riders have dropped out so far, only 43 left in the 2s race...

FWIW, that gravel section was a horrible idea. I’m all in for riding some hard packed stuff to liven up a race, but two passes of sandy rocky crap in a stage race was dangerous and claimed the majority of the wheels in the support car (the chief ref handed out 4 herself). In the P1 field neutral support ran out of wheels and had to start changing flats.

I’m sure the race will change the stage in years to come but most of the riders today won’t come back if they leave the “gravel” sections in the race.  

Here is the race profile for the day https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27186551

Tomorrow is a crit. Flat and figure 8.

Cascade Day 4

Fun figure 8 ish crit with a small hill. Fast for the first 10 minutes until a break was established. Paced slowed down about 20 minutes in, field was getting a bit tired.

There was more slowing in the corners than necessary in the middle of the race, but I figured someone up front was controlling the pace for the break.

Two crashes on the hill, a little bumping, a few people trying to make lines where they didn’t exist, but for the most part predictable riding from the group.

With 5 to go I thought about moving up but was fairly tired and content to finish mid pack, so I did.

I came in 24th, Chris at 18th.

Some Canadian semi pro lapped the field in a break to claw back time he lost to a breakaway yesterday. He is sitting 2nd and I’m betting on him to win.

We are down to 41 riders out of a starting 54...

Tomorrow is a crazy 90 minute circuit race with 23 corners and hills. With the GC situation (guy who will probably win the race 9 seconds back and current leader not looking like a good bike handler), I’m counting on it being all out.

Cascade Day 5.

90 minutes of a 5.8 mile circuit with 500 some feet of climbing per lap. Chris and I had the chance to pre ride a lap before our race which really helped to learn the corners on the downhill. The course was essentially a stair step uphill through a neighborhood with a downhill. Finish line was at the top KOM style.

Nothing too crazy happened, but a few people who didn’t pre ride over cooked a corner on the first downhill.

Uphill sucked, but was the tempo surged quite often with a variable grade which was better for my riding style than a steady climb would have been.

A break went with the Canadian rider and the peloton turned into a race of attrition attacking pretty regularly with no real success at separating.

I was hurting pretty bad on the climb leading up to 1 to go and gave it a go rolling off the front into the steepest section. At that point I knew I would make the time cut and I was kinda curious how far my legs could take me. That was a crappy short lived idea and I ended up popping myself within 2 minutes. I chased for a lap and ended up finishing 21st on the day.

Brutal race, only 33 “finished” the race of 54 starters and were given an overall GC time. I ended up 23rd overall some 40 minutes back in GC.

Canadian Guy won the stage and GC, a Rio Grande rider moved up into 2nd overall, and yesterday’s GC   Rider held on for 3rd overall.

Waaay harder than VOS or Chico as far as Cat 2 fields are concerned. I sorely underestimated this race. It also has deceptively more climbing than I thought.

Good times though, Bend is a cool place.

Tour of Gila Final Race Report: Mission accomplished. Zyggy got 1st GC and first on stage 4. Ryan was 3rd on the stage, 5th overall, Kyle 23rd on GC and 26 on the stage. The Gila Monster (not the real one) murdered our souls. Short report today. over and out

-Zyggy

Gila stage one race report: The race started on a neutral downhill of like 12% it was silly tbh. but then we rolled right into the first climb of the day which was pretty tamed, we all stayed together till the last half mile or so till the hill kicked up a bit and some guys got dropped. Ryan and Zyggy made the front into the SKETCHY AS BEEEPPPPPP down hill where zyggy got dropped and ryan over did a turn but caught back up, by the bottom of the hill Kyle reconnected to zyggy and eventually the peloton came back together after they slowed to slow speed. The sprint did not go the way we planned Ryan led kyle out but got caught behind the front line of riders and could not get around so he got 4th with a strong effort. The race settled back down and we cruised to around mile 40 where some attacks went off the front but were drawn back in. at this point Zyggys bladder was about to EXPLODE. about 3 miles from the base of hill a 2 man break fleewwww off the front but our boy kyle brought them back with a hard pull on the front. Zyggy is still hiding in the back doing nothing, classic. Then we made the right hander into the hill, all the primal guys are there. Zyggy goes to the front immediately and begins to push the pace from the start. The peloton starts to string out and riders are getting dropped, about 10 minutes into the climb there are 4 guys off the front, group of 5 behind them, and a group of 4 i think (ryan is there somewhere in the 2nd group) the front group works together super well to expand there lead on the downhills pace lining very well. As the rolling hills continued the group went down to 3 guys with a 1 minute lead over the field with zyggy in it. We continued to push to keep our lead going. We made the right hand turn into the final one K and we start to look around, some kid takes then front for a pull and then Zyggy is back to the front with 800 to go. we start to look at each other but zyggy keeps the pedal down, we hit the 500 meters to go mark and zyggy launches into an all out sprint for the line and hangs on for dear life to cross first. Great day out there, gonna letter rip tomorrow in the TT

-Zyggy

Race Report – Bazaar Road Race 4/14/2019

My birthday this year happened to line up with one of my favorite races. The Bazaar

Road Race is a 50 mile race up and down a scenic highway in the middle of the Flint

Hills of Kansas. The area has been made famous in cycling circles by the immense

popularity of the Dirty Kanza gravel race that takes place in the area every summer.

Before gravel grinding, there were old fashion road races on good old cement, which

I just happen to prefer. The season for me got off to an unusual start, I had a baby, I

didn’t sleep, but I did manage to get some trainer time in while on paternity leave

and apparently not sleeping and constant anxiety can really help you lose weight. I

had a descent result at the first crit of the year and things were looking up for

another good result. The course suited me, so I let myself dream of winning.

The biggest impediment to my imagined success was the eastern Kansas’s

equivalent of team Quickstep, the boiz of Olathe Subaru Cycling. Over the last few

years they’ve managed to recruit all the strongest riders from the Kansas City area

and have dominated the local racing scene as a result. This day was no different.

The race. Only ten guys had pre-registered for the race, so I didn’t have a clear

picture of what I was up against. I knew I’d be outnumbered. I did have some last-

minute support from a Kansas based teammate name Hunter. But Hunter was

coming off a knee injury that had hampered his training so neither of us were quite

sure of his form. Under normal circumstances, this would have been fine, but OSC

ended up bringing 5 riders, 4 of them Cat 1s. 30 total riders toed the line.

The course started out running south with a quartering tailwind.  OSC went straight

to the front of the race and formed a right to left echelon, guttering on the yellow

line. I wasn’t sure what their tactics would be at this point so I rode in the wind just

behind the echelon to keep an eye on any attacks. Although the pace was fairly

relaxed most of the field was working a bit harder than normal without the benefit

of a draft. The first 40 minutes to the south turnaround, I averaged 220w. Having

done this race in the past I knew that the south turnaround point was always a spot

for attacks. Hunter knew this too. About two miles from the turnaround the road

climbs out of the river valley and turns due west. This spot always has a strong

crosswind. Hunter attacked around the OSC echelon to try and break things up in

the crosswind. The attack reshuffled the deck but OSC managed to regain control of

the front of the race right before the turnaround cone. I was in decent position and

came through the 180 degree turn in 8th or 9th wheel. OSC immediately put on the

gas. One of the OSC guys let a gap go and I was forced to sprint around him to try

to tack on to the back of the front group of 4 OSC guys. I caught on but after about

2 minutes we made the turn back into the heavy crosswind and I was put into the

hard gutter. I was hanging on for dear life when one of the stronger OSC guys road

me off the back, I burned my last match to sprint back on but just couldn’t recover

in the gutter. I popped, and had to watch my chances of a podium ride up the road

in OSC red.

What I didn’t realize was the race behind me had completely blown into

smithereens. I kept chasing solo for a bit before getting picked up by a Quantum

Energy guy and the fifth OSC guy. The three of us started taking turns knowing that

the OSC guy would pull enough to try and keep from getting caught but not hard

enough to help catch the front group. The worked together pretty well rolling into

the cross headwind at 24.4 mph to next hour. At one point I thought we were going

to get caught by a regrouped peloton but after the last turn we had 4 miles to go

and a 40 second gap. Things started to get a little tactical in the last few K, and I

knew I had the worst sprint out of the three, so I went on the downhill finish with 1k

to go. I had a decent jump and slammed the sprint to the yellow line, but the draft

was enough at that speed, and I was overtaken by the line for 7th on the day. Two

hours of racing, 250w average watts, 280w normalized, 24.4 mph. OSC ended up

finishing 1 through 5, sweeping the podium and the prize money. Looking back, I’m

not sure there was anything I could have done differently. If I would have stayed in

the front group, they would have just attacked me until I couldn’t chase and I

probably would have ended up in the same place. I was outmanned and outgunned.

They say teamwork makes the dream work, it crushed mine that day. Excited to get

back home and get better, and race with some teammates, cause that sucked.

 - Danger Panda

Race Report: Boulder Roubaix SM-4

We started with an astounding 13 riders with 5 working for a podium spot. Early on Clayton helped calm things down and identified other strong riders in the peloton to watch. DMC helped deliver riders to the front where they could stay out of trouble. The gravel roads struck quickly and knocked out Trevor, DMC, and Jabez with flats in the first thirty minutes. The remainder of the race was all about taking clean lines and staying upright. I watched several riders go down right in front of me in loose gravel after taking a turn too fast on the first lap and I got loose a few times myself. A break was starting to establish halfway through the second lap and Neil single handedly pulled them back. Swanson, Neil, Kyle, Margolis, and myself were in the lead pack coming into the final rollers when the pace started to get serious, about 5K from the finish line. I threw out a test attack going up the first of the rollers and the group immediately followed, but it did allow me to get good position at the front, sitting in 3rd wheel for the remaining rollers and going into the final turn, with one kicker remaining before the long drag to the finish. I decided my best chance was to attack early instead of sprinting with the group and I made my bid up the kicker with about 1.5K remaining. I was able to put a small gap on the field and just managed to hold them off at the finish. Swanson sprinted to a clutch 4th place finish, cementing the team win despite a 2-3 finish from the rival Groove Subaru team. Super awesome to have a big group of teammates and Primal - Audi Denver supporters celebrating at the finish line. Margolis and Neil finished at the back of the lead group after putting in a ton of hard work on the final lap. Kyle was in good position in the lead pack until he flatted about 1.5 miles from the finish. Michael Welker, Clayton Leon, Brian Metz, Patrick Santino, and Robert Watkins rounded out the Primal - Audi Denver finishers for the day.

-Ryan Witt

Louisville SM4 race report:

The Louisville Criterium, the second local crit of the 2019 season, saw ten Primal - Audi Denver racers in the 50-man SM4 field. After the early-season jitters got the best of more than one racer struggling to clip in at the start line, the racers were treated to a wide, smooth course with fast turns and solid sight lines. From the gun, Ryan and Jabez were present at the front of the race and stayed put for the majority of the early laps. With only half-assed attacks coming from our adversaries, the Primal - Audi crew comfortably let the other riders burn their matches without becoming too alarmed.

Despite a great course and a general lack of action amongst the peloton, early-season disparities in fitness resulted in nearly 50% of starters being pulled from the course by race officials as they were lapped – a trend which was repeated in other races later in the day. Combined with a significant crash that took out teammate Kyle Dow, 26 of the original 50 starters DNF.

About halfway through the race, the first serious attack of the day was let loose on the slight 1% climb coming out of the slowest corner on course. Followed solely by an unknown rider wearing a previous year's Primal - Audi team kit, the pair gained about 10 seconds on the field in one lap. Under the impression we had a teammate up the road in a two-man break, we communicated with each other to carefully control the pace at the front of the race, allowing the gap to widen to 30 seconds.

Only when it became clear with five laps to go that we were now racing for 3rd place did Darren surge to the front of the pack and put the hammer down on the very same uphill section, with Jabez immediately glued to his wheel. Just testing out his March legs, Darren gave Jabez a strong leadout through the remainder of the lap before pulling off and dropping back to the pack. Jabez, virtually alone 10 seconds off the front of the pack, instantly took over where Darren left off and shook one rival racer before settling in to a pace sustainable for the last four laps.

Alone, the fast corners became even faster as Jabez pedaled through them and stayed as aero as possible in the straights to take the 3rd step on the podium. In the pack behind, Neil placed a solid 9th followed by Swanson, Witt, and Darren. In a strange twist, Jabez would be the only Primal - Audi Denver racer on the SM4 podium this day as it turned out the 2nd place "Primal imposter" wasn't actually on the team any more. A valuable lesson was learned by all cat 4s on this infamous day: never trust last year's kit.

SM 4/5 Crit- Race Report

The USA Air Force Criterium was the first race of the season for many of the Primal - Audi Denver men. Six guys came out for the Cat 4/5 crit hoping to showcase their winter fitness build-up on a sunny, mildly cold, and slightly windy day at the US Air Force Base down in Colorado Springs. The course sat at 7100ft to make breathing just that much more difficult and was fairly technical 0.8 mile loop that was relatively flat.

 All of the Primal - Audio Denver men were mid-to-back pack at the start causing a sense of urgency to make ground in the first few laps in order to not get left behind. That was a mistake. The plan of attack was to have Neil send a flyer out early, only to have that brought back in order for Trevor to counter and hold. Well, that plan lasted all of 30 seconds as the race blew into pieces the very first lap. It was extremely hard to make ground up as the course was very technical with tight corners. Trevor, Neil, DMC, and Grant found themselves slowly clawing their way up the field only to have Neil and Grant get caught behind a crash and DMC having trouble getting into position. Trevor had luck on his side and found himself in a lead group of about 10-15 riders.

Trevor found himself sitting 5th or 6th wheel for the majority of the race, but was outnumbered with three teams each having 2 guys in the lead pack. The dude that crashed because he thought he could go through the snowbank caused too big of gap to let Nail, Grant, or DMC stand a chance at getting back on. Burning through a lot of his matches, Trevor did what he could. Coming in with two laps to go, Trevor was third wheel but couldn't hold on as the collegiate racers from Iowa were playing games forcing him out of position. The last lap, Trevor's legs turned full potato, but was still able to hang on for top 15 or something insignificant like that.

SM 4/5 RR- Race Report

It was another beautiful day on the Front Range for the final event of the USA AFA Cycling Classic. Primal - Audi Denver brought out eight men for the road race in hopes of having at least one podium. The last-minute altered course ended up being around 12.5 miles with about 800ft of climbing per lap. The real test of the day was to hold one's ground on the 12 minute or so climb at the very end of the course.

The plan was to protect Jabez and Trevor and make sure that they were well-positioned going into the final climb in hopes of at least one of them finding a podium. Thankfully, this plan lasted much longer than yesterday's debacle in the crit. The race had a short neutral rollout and once the whistle blew, the Primal - Audi Denver men quickly took control of 75 riders. DMC kept a great tempo up the first few kickers that let the rest of the team settle in and find positioning. Soon enough, we had Neil, DMC, James, Trevor, Jabez, Swanson, and Zyggy all up towards the front for most of the first lap. A few attacks were thrown, all covered and taken back under control. James even did a dive bomb down the hill from the back to catch an attack, and most likely more than one of us said a quick prayer as he was going at least 40mph with a snowbank on one side and an entire peloton on the other. Nearing the first time up the big climb, Neil was keeping the group under control and then Zyggy became possessed to not only set pace and be the sole leader the first time up - but also the second.

The first time up this climb did cause the group to splinter, creating a lead pack of about 25 riders. The second lap Swanson was an incredible domestique for Jabez and Trevor, making sure that they expended as little energy as possible. Jabez and Trevor chatted about a creating possible break during the second lap, but as other teams tried, everything was getting reeled back in that they both negated it. This meant that it would come down to the final climb.

Again, Swanson made sure on the 3rd lap that Trevor and Jabez sat comfortably at the front of the peloton by taking huge pulls and controlling the riders behind. At the base of climb on the last lap, riders became twitchy and many knew that it would come down to this. A few mini-attacks were given to test some of the riders in the group. Trevor went with just to make sure nothing went away. After a few moments of recovery, Trevor went all in to create a 20-25 second gap that he was able to hold until the end for a solo victory. Jabez was able to finish just inside the top 10 with a strong 9th.

After yesterday's crapshoot of a crit, it was great to come back strong and unleash some serious team tactics. All in all, this win was possible because of unreal teamwork. There's a long season ahead, and Primal - Audi Denver is only getting started!

This weekend brought us the Littleton Twilight Criterium where 19 Primal-Audi Denver Team members braved the waning light, wind, and a little rain for a chance at glory in front of 10,000 spectators. Before the sun went down, the racing was hot as we saw Primal driving the front of the race and stringing out the peloton. Michael Still, was the benefactor by grabbing the second step in the 50+ 4s race.

This was all just a precursor for the main event, the Pro Men’s race, where we saw Matt DeAngelis, Ben LaForce, Tim Speciale, Adam Fivehouse, Matt Eberly, and Gabriel Murray go toe-to-toe with the best crit racers in the country. It was a barn burner which saw a breakaway of three take the top steps on the podium, and we saw our very own Matt DeAngelis take 5th in the field sprint for an impressive 8th overall.

On Sunday, 16 Primal-Audi Denver racers lined up for the Bannock Street Criterium. In the 4s the Primal pain train was in full force with Michael Welker and Clayton Leon leading a 5 man lead-out  with 3-laps to go stringing out the field and setting up Keith Abby, Brian Metz, and Nathan Landrey to go 3rd, 5th and 6th. Michael Still took another Podium in the 50+ 4s and Michael Margolis and Nathan Taynor went 6th and 7th in the 5s.   

Race report sm3-4 palmares stapleton crit.

Gathering around the Primal tent pre-race, the general atmosphere was light and the prevailing attitude was that everyone wanted to have a fun race and avoid crashing.  With a squad of about 10 guys, we had no cohesive plan and no dedicated leader, but did throw out the possibility of attempting a couple breaks.  

On lap 2, a break got away, but we weren't in it.  We were patient to let it come back and I sat near the front without ever having to do any time in the wind.  Just as I was about to take a turn, Phil Kealy, making his triumphant return to racing after a two year hiatus, came flying past and did strong work to help bring the break back.  At some point during this, the peloton got split in half, but I don’t know why or when.  

with 9 laps or so to go. I went on a pretty weak attack that got brought back within a lap.  Colin Zimmerman went on his own attack shortly after.  It was a good move, but also got pulled back.  When he got caught he just stayed on the front and drove the tempo for most of the last 5 laps.  Trevor got on the front to drive the pace near the end.  

At the last lap I was positioned perfectly, but someone moved left and hit my handlebars, sending  me into a bit of a wobble. I lost places and was about 15th wheel through the series of turns.  Coming out of turn 6, I made a quick hard move on the left and was able to move up to 5th, where I stayed through the final stretch until the finish.  

Meanwhile, Corey, making his own triumphant return to racing, outsprinted the rest to become champion of the grupetto!Overall, everything went exactly according to our plan to have fun.