Blog...

Who said Blogging was easy? Do people even keep up? Do people get excited over a new post?

I think I'm turning to just twittering...

You can follow me and stalk me here

twitter.com/strangeron

Enjoy...It will blow your mind...Yeah, THAT...just happened

Ronnie

Giro Di Jersey Road Trip

Travis Burandt and I took the plunge and drove to Burlington, NJ to race the Giro Di Jersey last week. The race was a 5 day stage race: Crit, Road Race, Time Trial, Road Race, & Circuit/Crit.

We left last Monday around 6am, I think it was more like 6:30 or 7 by the time we left. We were trying to get the bike racks working properly. As you read, we had problems down the road...

After a few arguments on which way we were going, when I say arguments, I mean with the Garmin Nuvi...Travis always insisted the Garmin was ALWAYS right...lol

Travis took the first drive shift. We traded off each gas tank, which is pretty difficult considering the VW got an average of 350-450 miles per tank and 30-35mpg...Lots of time before you stop again. Also, Travis and I were dehydrating ourselves to cancel out all the unnecessary stops =) Definitely not recommended.

Our first stop was somewhere near border of Louisiana and Mississippi. It was time for lunch, so we chowed down on some delicious tortellini pasta salad that Travis' mom made us...It was amazing! Thank you Travis' Mom!

As we started to eat our pasta, we had the sunroof open and I look up to see my Cervelo P3 time trial bike sliding off the bike rack on the roof of the car!! We pull over to fix the problem...Thule has this crappy design that wouldn't tighten enough to hold the bike rails on. We grabbed a bunji cord from the trunk and strapped it down. The journey continued, but with eyes up on the bikes the whole time...

The first day of driving we made it to Knoxville, TN. We make a phone call to KB to book a hotel for the night. Thanks KB!

Just as we arrive outside of Knoxville, we hit a parking lot of traffic at 10:30 at night!! Apparently they like to work on the freeways at night in TN.

The next morning, we woke up to get a easy hour ride in before we hit the road again. We didn't want the legs to stiffen up before a 5 day stage race. We went on a nice ride along some river, it was beautiful out there! We came across a pack of Labrador retrievers, which were definitely sprinters and not climbers...they were chasing us up a hill. We managed to get away with no injuries. We took a few photos along the way to keep the fans updated back home.

We made the return back to the hotel, only to come across the same pack of labs...they were on the hunt this time! This time we were going downhill, so we had them beat from the gun! Nice try Doggies!

We were on our way! Next stop, Burlington, NJ! We still had about 10-11hrs in today's drive.

We were drafting behind a trucker in Virginia somewhere, only to find him swerving to try and shake us off his tail...So as we're passing him, he flipped us the bird, and gave us some words of wisdom...haha...At that point, I thought he was for sure going to murder us at the next rest stop...I saw it in a movie once!

The day was narrowing down, so we made a nice stop at Macaroni Grill to fuel up with Carbs. We drew some nice photos and posted them for our twitter fans. It was us driving along...then a Dinosaur came out of no where!....then he ate us....the end

We finally made it to Burlington, NJ at the Promoters house, Tom and Erin Licker, with Red and Teddy the dogs. We survived the journey there!

Next up...Giro Di Jersey!

Racing Rapides - Alexandria, LA Day 2

Day 2 - Criterium

My legs felt kind of roasted from the solo bridging I attempted from yesterday. I had to help Travis win this Race! Time to suck it up! Travis had to win and Matt Davis had to get 3rd in order for Travis to win the Overall.

The Crit was only 60 minutes, so Travis and I decided to go from the gun and try and lap the field...Whistle blows, Travis is practically already in the first corner before I get clipped in!! haha

We hammer it for atleast 5 laps and just schredding the field! Travis and I have about a 30 second gap on the chase group of 8 guys with the pack 30 seconds behind following. After about 5 laps we were caught and everyone shut it down to 17mph...It was quite sad...

The race turned out to be a game of cat and mouse with WCC and LA'Sport...They had 6-7 guys, we had 2.5...I say 2.5 because Craig was only able to help pull a break back one time...Thanks Craig! Shawn and Eric dropped after the first 3 laps. They road hard.

Russ went on a solo flier with 10 minutes to go. He was half a lap up on the field...no one went with him...sad...With 2 laps to go, Kris French goes on a solo flier to try and get away from the field. We see Russ flatted with 2 laps to go...Sad for LA'Sport, now they have to pull Kris back.

Only one of there guys pulls and can't reel in Kris. I take over with 1 lap to go and Travis is on my wheel. I pulled Travis all the way to the end and we barely miss Kris at the line.

Results:
1st - Kris French
2nd - Matt Davis
3rd - Travis Burandt
4th - Ronnie Strange

Travis doesn't get the overall win. Tragic...Great weekend though

Overall Omnium:
1st - Matt Davis 55
2nd - Travis Burandt 45
3rd - Kris French 41
4th - Ronnie Strange 31

Thanks to the Promoter, Volunteers, and Officials for putting this event on. It was awesome!

I'm not sure what's to come...June seems to be a very slow month in racing.

Racing Rapides - Alexandria, LA

I went over to the Racing Rapides with the Woodlands Cycling Club Team - Shawn Harris, Eric Pendland, Craig Fitzgerald, and Travis Burandt. I have to say first, the WCC Team is a great group of guys! The whole weekend was a blast! I want to thank the Master Racers, Shawn, Eric, and Craig for putting themselves out there to help out Travis and I in this race. "Have you called your mother?" haha joke of the weekend

Day 1 - Time Trial and Road Race

We started off the day thinking our hotel had continental breakfast, only to find out it was $8 and the buffet was crap...So we decided to hit up IHOP.

We arrived at the race sight around 8:35 and our start time was 9:25...We still needed to unload the trailer full of bikes, get dressed, get pinned, etc...Panic mode!!

I was able to get about a 10 min warm up for the 3 mile time trial, which went pretty good considering the warm up.

Results:
1st - Matt Davis 6:02
2nd - Travis Burandt 6:09
3rd - Ronnie Strange 6:15

Road Race:

Travis and I planned to both get a breakaway and take 1/2, but it never works out that way. Russ "Big Daddy" Walker went off the front on the first lap and built up a 1-2 min gap on the pack. On the 2nd lap, I attacked to start a break, then Travis attacked...I followed others, but a gap was formed at the hill climb. I was cursing myself because I should have made the break...

I tried to bridge across after the hills, but only to pull others with me, so I shut it down. I waited and the pace slowed to a 18mph pace...the gap got bigger and bigger...We approached the feed zone and I grabbed my feed and accelerated to 30mph to try and bridge across.

I noticed a LASport guy and S3 guy were on my wheel, the LASport guy wouldn't work, so I dropped the hammer and dropped both of those guys. I ended up solo for 3 laps trying to bridge up to the breakaway...No dice...I was 2 minutes behind the break, and 2 minutes in front of the pack...What do you do?

I kept on trucking and finished 7th overall by myself. Travis was 2nd.

Omnium Standing after Day 1:
Matt Davis
Travis Burandt
Tracy Martin
Ronnie Strange
Kris French

Tomorrow is the Criterium

Texas State Crit Championships 2009

It seems like yesterday I was typing about the samething. As you can see from the photo, that was the 2008 State Crit Championships. I will be changing it soon.

It was a blistering day in Fort Worth, TX, as usual...Everyone decided they wanted to line up right as the Cat 3's finished, which was 15 minutes before the race actually started.

I kept rolling around and trying to stay warm. I chatted with the coach for a bit and started about mid-pack. As we were waiting for the call outs, Veggeburg (MS?), decides to start up, "lost that Lovin' Feeling" song...It was hilarious, just about everyone in the back joined in singing. Thanks Veggie, great icebreaker!

The race started off pretty quick as usual. Stefan Rothe went off the front solo for just about 20-30 or maybe longer, I couldn't remember. He racked in just about every Prime possible!! Great job Rothe!

He was finally pulled in and then TX Tough took over the front till attacks went off one by one. Carlos was in a break, it was pulled back, heath was in a break, pulled back.

With 5 laps to go, there was a 2 man break and Heath, the Motor, pulled that break back, another VW guy went off the front, Heath pulled him back with 4 laps to go...Then another VW guy went off the front and the Heath pulled him back too!!

Heath Blackgrove pulled back 3 different attacks with 5 laps to go and finally pulls off just before the last turn and yells, go Ronnie! I took off sprinting to lead Carlos out and I dive in to the last corner, but Chad Cagle cut me on the inside and I had to brake!!

Carlos was right next to him, so I was stoked! I just followed those two in and Carlos threw his bike just a bit further than Cagle and took the Texas State Crit Championship Win!! I finished 3rd. Not bad after a lead out!

1st Carlos Vargas
2nd Chad Cagle
3rd Ronnie Strange
4th Bryan Fawley
5th Kevin Kremke

Thanks again to all the promoters, volunteers, and officials!!

Texas State Criterium Weekend Day 1/2

I drove up to Dallas on Friday to enjoy a wonderful weekend with Momma Karen and the Ray family. They are truely amazing and I just want to thank you for everything Momma Karen does for cyclist!!



Day 1:



The first was Saturday and I decided to sit this one out. I was scoping out the competition to see who was wearing themselves down for the State Crit =P The key riders I saw who was riding strong was Craddock and Sol Frost. I think Europe is really paying off for Craddock, the kid is going to be pro in no time at all!



Dave Wenger took the win with his usual attack at the end and everyone let him go. My teammate for the weekend, Carlos Vargos finished 3rd.



Day 2:



This was the GS Tenzing Crit and it loops around a college near the Superdrome in Frisco. This course is pretty wide open with some nasty cross or headwinds.



I joined Barry Lee, Heath Blackgrove, and Carlos Vargas for the State Crit weekend on the Hotel San Jose Team. These guys are a great group of guys. About halfway through the race I noticed my tire was hoping in the corners...I thought I ran over a thumb tack or something and it was just stuck in there.

Heath got in to a 3 man breakaway with Ian Dille and Mitch Comardo. Heath rode away with the win, Carlos was 4th and I finished 15th. After the race I noticed my tire had a 'S' curve in the tire...I've never really seen that in a Continental 4000s tire...I was pretty disappointed with it. I should have won the pack sprint. Matrix Team had a pretty awesome train going, but no cigar.

State Crit Championship was the following day...

MATRIX CHALLENGE DAY 2

Thank you Momma Karen for being the best host ever known to mankind!!! You are by far the best cook too!! Thank you soooooo much!!!

Race Report:

Thank goodness we didn't have a hot 1st lap prime...Of course the race started off pretty quickly. I went for the first $100 prime and kept drilling it from there till we had a break going. I'm not sure how many people we started with, but the break grew to 12 guys and some BIG tymers in the break!! We had about a 30 second lead over the main group. For some odd reason people were attacking each other and no one wanted to work...Super Squadra even had 3 guys at one time in the break...So we were caught about halfway I think.

I tried going for multiple big time Primes, but missed each one. One of the primes was $300...yup...I missed that one too by 2 places...

My good buddy, Travis, started to lead me out with about 2 laps to go and was toasted about halfway through the last lap and I was 4th wheel. Wohlrabe was pulling, but he was toasted just trying to draft off Travis. Then the last lead out was Ian, he attacked on the last long straight and then I was swamped by 4-5 riders. I just tried to fight for position and took 5th place.

I wasn't too happy with my placing, but hey, I can't complain. I'm glad I stayed upright the whole weekend.

Till next time folks!

"Sugarland Criterium"

MATRIX CHALLENGE DAY 1

I want to start off with thanking the Promoters, Officials, and Volunteers of this event!! Thank you guys/gals!! You were all amazing!! The event couldn't have gone any more smooth!!

Race report:

The race started off with a Hot Lap Prime, of $140. I told Travis I was going for it. After the 3rd turn, I dove down in turn 4 and got about "30 degrees from the ground", as Travis described it later. I exploded out of the turn and no one came with me. I took the Prime and I decided to keep on truckin'! 2 laps later they called a $100 Prime and I was still off the front by 20 seconds! First 3 laps I already had $240 cash!! Sweet way to start off the race!

A few attacks went off here and there. Peter Carey was off the front for awhile and they called a Pack $100 Prime...I'll take this one! I attacked just as they called it and I bridged up to Peter, to capture the Prime...$$$

After Peter and I were pulled back, Wenger, Sol, and Christian attacked and got in a breakaway. At that time there was a nasty wreck on the up hill section. I believe the rider broke his collarbone, hope you get to feeling better guy. John Trujillo was also in the wreck and he didn't look too good the next day...Get some X-rays John!

At the time they were driving in the Ambulance and I was for sure they were going to stop the race. While all this was going on, Stefan Rothe, bridged up to the breakaway. There you have it, the 4 man break that got away.

There were several guys trying to bridge across, but no cigar. A 6 man chase group formed late in the race and some how I missed it. With only 3 laps to go, I had to make a move and try to bridge across. I barely missed the chase group and they attacked with 1 lap to go, so I just tempo'd in to the finish and took 11th place.

Congrats to Stefan Rothe to his victory, who is also owner of http://www.rothetraining.com/. Great Guy!

End of Day 1.

MS Gran Prix

The MS Gran Prix was a wonderful event! Thank you Promoters, Officials, and Volunteers! This race wouldn't happen without you guys!

I got an opportunity to race with Team San Jose this weekend. Carlos Vargas, Heath Blackgrove, and Barry Lee - What a great bunch of guys!

Heath was very talkative guy with a great heart to help someone out. He used to race for Toyota United last year. On the bike I had a hard time understanding his New Zealand accent. The only thing I understood was, Ronnie, to the front mate! lol

I've never really talked to Carlos off the bike before. It was great to get to know him off the bike. The only thing I remember from him last year was throwing a bottle at me at Super Week...haha He's definitely a different guy off the bike, very nice, and always cracking jokes.

Barry - If you were to know anyone, you should know Barry! Super great guy! Has tons of stories that will knock you off the edge of your seat...haha

Race Report:
Stage 1 - Friday night Crit

We started the race with more than 200 riders...It's a night crit! At the beginning of the race the officials advised us to stay to the middle of the road...the edge of the roads dropped off...scary...

As usual, attacks went off but nothing stuck. Finally Heath attacked and a few others went with. That was the break of the night that got away! Heath took the victory and Carlos finished 5th, I was 6th and Travis was 12th. Travis led me and Carlos out.

Stage 2 - 75 mile Road Race:

I have to say, in other states, they don't really enforce the yellowline rule has much as Texas does....lol We had tons of riders crossing the yellowline and nothing was done about it.

The course had a few rollers in it with a slightly long climb to the finish. We had to do 3 laps of a 25 mile loop. The start of the last lap, Carlos and Christian Helmig attacked an got off the front. By this time all the other teams were toasted from attacking so much early on, so that break wasn't going to get pulled back.

We were about half way around the last loop and somehow, Russ Walker, Travis, and I were about 20 meters off the front and I saw a potential opportunity to attack, which wasn't a great move, but I thought it might have been, sorry Heath, won't happen again =). Andrew Dahlhiem pulled the group up to me and he started yelling at me, and I was like, dude, you just pulled the whole group to me...

We were about to get to the last climb and Heath told me to attack up the hill as hard as I could. I did that and the group blew up and Heath and Travis attacked! Got in a break in pursuit to catch Carlos, Christian, and Peter Carey.

Carlos won and Heath was 2nd. Travis was 8th and I finished 11th. Not bad for the day =)

Stage 3 - TT 3.8miles
Great conditions, slight cross tailwind. I rolled the 1080 front wheel with the Sub 9 rear.
The times were real close. Heath won on a Road bike, Travis was 3rd, Carlos was 8th and I was 18th. We were all within 20-30secs of each other.

Stage 4 - Crit/Circuit Race 80 minutes
This was a fun crit. It started to pour down rain on us as we started to line up. I'm talking BIG phat rain!! The rain let up has the race started and the sun came out shining!

In this race, we had the overall wrapped up and the team overall wrapped up, as long as we didn't let anything get away. We just played a little cat and mouse.

Carlos and I took the time bonus halfway through the race. I was hoping Travis was going to get there, but he couldn't get there, so I took it from Christian...hehe

The race was coming to an end and I think we had only about 20-30 racers left out of the bunch. 2 laps to go, we had a train and VW was trying to crowd us and disrupt the train. Before the last lap, Heath, asked me to lead them out on the last lap. Come on Mate! Love it!

Bell Lap! I got on the front and started to hammer it on the backside. I ramp it up to 30mph up the false flat backside. Peter Carey tried to attack on the right and I went to pull off and block and Heath covered his attack. I looked back, Heath, Carlos, and Travis, all together and a gap after them, so I jumped in behind those guys...I was cramping by this time...haha

We took 1st, 2nd, & 3rd for the day and I finished 8th. Not bad after a lead out!

We won the Overall Team:
Heath - 1st
Carlos - 3rd
Travis - 4th
Ronnie - 13th
Barry- 21st

Ten Speed Drive Team

After Fort Davis, I decided to resign from the team and Travis Burandt followed suit. The teammates were a great group of guys, but the director and I did not see eye from the start.

There were no more Team events planned after Gila and I didn't see a reason to continue on Ten Speed Drive.

It was a great opportunity to race at San Dimas and Redlands.

As for the rest of the year I will be guest riding with teams Nationally.

My BH Team bike experience: This bike is definitely not built for racing with the relaxed upright geometry. You will probably have to get a negative stem just to get to the position you need to. After riding the BH and then going over to a Cervelo S2...The S2 is MUCH more stiffer and responsive than the BH. You can purchase your Cervelo at http://www.bayareaschwinn.com/

I recently put my Look 595 Ultra back together. I had to send it off to Calfee to get it repaired. She is as good as new!

Fort Davis Stage Race

A lot has been going on these past few weeks, that's why I haven't posted much.

Fort Davis:

When I got back from Redlands Classic, my body was just about wasted, so I didn't ride much before this race. It was about a 10 hour drive from Houston to a little town called Fort Davis. Thanks again to Kevin Burandt for driving me and Travis.

Race Report:

Stage 1 - Uphill Road Race
It was a chilly start, very windy in the town of Fort Davis. We had a neutral start through town and once we left town, things got rolling! A few attacks went off, but nothing got away. Carlos Vargas attacked with Sol Frost and Ian Dille...I was saw a great opportunity and went with it! The four of us started to hammer it and no one was chasing us down...Big mistake.

We worked up to about a 4 minute lead on the group. on the slight uphills Sol kept gaping me and wearing me down. When approached the first long hill climb, Sol attacked and I was done. It was up to the three amigos to try and stay away. I went in to my "own pace mode".

About the top of the first long climb, Heath Blackgrove, Chris Wherry, and Pat McCarty came flying by me like I was standing still! The main group was to follow a minute later. I jumped in with the main group and tried to hang on.

We finally got to the bottom of the straight up climb to the observatory and I was glad I had my compact crank!! haha I think I ended up finishing 1:30 behind the main group. Tough day.

Stage 2 - Time Trial:
The winds picked up to about 30 mph, gusting at 45+mph!! The course was pretty much an out and back course. Headwind going out and tailwind coming back! Crazy!! I did something before the race that no one should ever do and it's change your position on the TT bike. I put an adjustable stem on and slammed it down to get more aero...During the race, I couldn't even get low, I was cramping in butt the lower I got.

The way out on the TT course, I think I averaged 16mph and on the way back I averaged 45mph...Does that tell you something about the wind?? haha

Stage 3 - 75mile Road Race
We started at the Prude Ranch, which an awesome Ranch by the way. We were neutral all the way in to town. When we made the right turn down to the TT course, the attacks began! It was crazy attacking!! Attack after attack!! Stefan Rothe was one of them instigating all the attacks. Of course nothing got away. The group finally slowed after awhile and at one point we were all just rolling at 10mph!! haha

We approached the first climb...I have to say, when I was a Cat 4 doing this race, that climb felt like the longest climb I've ever done!! Doing this race as a Cat 1, after we crested over the top, I was surprised it was already over! I think they shortened the climb since then...hehe

I actually stayed with the group the whole race, which was a shocker to me. I didn't expect to finish with the main group. Correction, the last climb, I ended up off the back about 30 seconds from the main group.

Race done...then the drama begins...

Pro Racing: Vol 2

Redlands Classic Stage Race:

Once again, over in Redlands, CA. All the Domestic Pro team were here racing and wrecking shop! BMC brought there A game for this race! Even Floyd Landis was here racing in Redlands.

Prologue was the first race, 5K Time Trial: It was rolling hills for about 3.5K and straight uphill for 1.5K Not my cup of tea, but hey, what don't hurt you, makes you stronger!

Stage 1: Circuit Race: This was a 155Km road race. It was a very windy day and on the roll out, we were strolling at a nice 45+mph...that's right, 45+mph!! It was crazy fast! One thing I did love about this race was being able to draft off the team cars following like you see in the Tour De France! haha Not legal, but hey, who cares right?! I got dropped of the first climb, I dont' know what happened, I just went backwards! I did catch back on the second lap, thankfully everyone wanted to take a pee break. On the 3rd lap, I was dropped again on the climb...I tried to bridge back up, but i couldn't do it...the pace was blistering! I managed to make the time cut by 3 minutes!! haha unfortunely, only one other teammate of mine made the cut too and the others were cut or dropped. Josh, my teammate, T'd a car in an intersection...the cop let the cars go...he was ok though, just cut his nose. Felt, cracked in half though.

Stage 2: criterium: BMC controlled this race from the gun and finished 1st and 3rd...Pretty impressive! Avg'd about 29mph for the 90 min crit. I finished 51st.

stage 3: Sunset Loop: this race was UP and down...enough said about that one...Dropped from the group in the first lap...managed to finish 8 laps then lapped by the leaders. only 2 guys made it to the finishing loop of the race...We started with about 160 riders...Tells you anything about the course...

It was a wonderful weekend. I was very happy with the result...I came to Redlands to finish the race and that's what I did. Next year will be another story. i finished 98th GC Overall. I'm pretty stoked about that. Also, I beat Floyd Landis!! Not too many peeps can say that!

I would like to thank our WONDERFUL Host Tammy for putting up with us guys for a week!! She was a VERY wonderful lady and host!! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH for the hospitality!!

Till Next time! Fort Davis aka Hammerfest is next weekend.

So I've been traveling the West Coast a bit and doing some pretty intensive racing, if you've been following me on Twitter, then you already know what's been going on.

San Dimas Stage Race:

The race was stacked with just about every Domestic Pro team in the U.S. San Dimas was my first Pro Stage race. It started off with a 3.8 mile uphill time trial...I'm not much of a Climber and I'm starting to accept that with every hill I climb, but I'm letting it get me down. If I want to be a international Pro, I'll have to learn to make those climb with little effort and learn to make time cuts to make it till the end of a Stage race.

When the Road Race came around the next day, I felt ok, I was still sluggish from the Gila training the week before. I had just met the teammates for Ten Speed Drive also. Our goal was to try and set me up for the Sprint Points...I was lucky to even be at the front of the group. Fly V Australia Pro team got on the front of the group and shredded the field! Off the back, Ten Speed Drive!! Travis was the only guy on the team to make it with the front group. We got to the last lap and the officials cut us. It was quite sad, we had more than 12 guys in our group and about 5 of them wanted to work. All which were from our team.

Travis did really well and made the time cut and raced the Criterium, but had to pull out after 40 mins and didn't realize he should have got pulled from the officials to get a result. Live and you learn.

I think the new Ten Speed Drive team has great potential, we all have different views on things, but that's what makes a good team. There is one thing I think we lack, and it's Leadership. I think the team has a great director and I really like the passion he has to help out his team in trying to become Professional Cyclist. It's a long season and I see some great results in the near future!

Trip to Redlands, CA w/ Travis Burandt

Man what a drive! Travis and I woke up at the crack of Dawn! Made the 11 hour drive to Redlands from El Paso. We knew we made it to Cali when two drivers cut us off in the bus/van. It wasn't just a cut off...The car was within inches!! Then he continued to cut off other drivers.

Great host here in Redlands, Melissa and Dave. Melissa just took me to the Redlands TT course...EPIC!! Looks pretty tough! Definitely a climbers TT course!

More to come...Need rest...Feel like a zombie from the drive.

Gila Training

I flew out to El Paso and drove to Silver City, NM with my coach, Gaye Koenning from RPM Sports. We stayed with a lovely couple, Doug and Judy Fowler and their lovely dog Sam, who retrieves the newspaper EVERY morning! haha It's awesome!!

1st Day - Rode half of Stage 1 - started in Cliff and did the loop around the small town and rode up to Mogollon Climb, which is after a 90 mile road race...it's a 5.5 mile climb....about 2500ft of climbing!! the climb is up a small alpine road.

2nd Day - Stage 2 of the Gila Stage Race - I actually changed it up a bit. started at Fort bayard and rode up Pino Altos, which is 7000ft Elevation and it started sleeting on the way up...Then we came across the 'Gila Monster' and Gaye said we should go up...lol...So at 7500ft...The Desend was freaking awesome!! Barreling down a Mountain side at 50+ mph hitting 180 switchbacks!
I was done after that...I tried descending the Gila Monster, but it started to sleet REAL bad! I had to call it quits.

3rd day - Drove to the top of Pino Altos and descended down it and Gaye drove me to the top and descended down it. Rode through the Valley, which is part of Stage 2 and 5, I believe. Gaye aparrently went on a adventure to the Cliff Dwellings and forgot about me...haha We were running short on time and I was only able to get in 2 hours.

I just want to Thank Doug and Judy, they are a wonderful loving family who took in 2 complete strangers. Doug was a Race director for the Cotton Patch which they used to live in Dallas. Doug even let me borrow his saddle off his bike! haha the rails on my saddle broke at Rough Roubaix. I can't thank you guys enough!

Drove back to El Paso and put Gaye on a flight home. Thank you very much Gaye for coming out and following me around Silver City.

www.rpmsportstx.com

walburg and Pace Bend

So I decided not to post anything about Walburg or Pace Bend.

Walburg - finished 6th and my teammate Travis finished 4th. It was windy and it was UGLY!!

Pace Bend - travis dropped out due to cramping I think...and he drop his chain...he needs to fire his mechanic =) I finished somewhere in the pack...Travis and I did ALOT of work trying to bring back the breaks.

WALBUUURRRGGG!!

I wrote up a nice report and when I finished it, the stupid blogger froze up and I lost my report...I'll post it later.

Alsatian Omnium Day 2 Road Race

It was a nice beautiful WINDY morning...Winds at about 20-35mph, overcast for the rest of the afternoon and chances of some rain...

Going in to the Road Race I was 3rd in the Omnium GC, aka Overall Standing. Travis was somewhere in the top 10.

We had to legally start the race through town as a 'Parade' for the community, so they actually enforced us to wave at the town...We didn't have much of a crowd...lol

We start the race, people start attacking right out of the gate! We had a tailwind and I think everyone had way too much coffee, including me...So we're pushing 35-40 mph the first 5-10 mins of the race...I noticed my rear tire was squishy...IT WAS FLAT! I was aww $hit!

I yelled over to Chacho, 'Chacho, I have a flat!'

He yells back, (his Hispanic Voice) 'I have Campy!' (I laugh)

I yell back, 'Can you wait for me?!'

Chacho, 'Oh! Ok yes!'

Andy, my other teammate waited for me too.

I get the wheel, practically thrown at me...wheel truck doesn't even wait or help me out...So I Time Trial it to make it back on to the pack. Chacho and Andy try to help me out...we weave in and out of cars one by one. We weren't getting any closer...I yell to Andy, we have to get around these cars! Well, I got behind one vehicle and THANK GOD he was there...You know who you are! Got me back up to the pack, too bad for Andy and Chacho, they didn't make it back...Although Andy did make it back on from the same help of the vehicle that helped me. Chacho, wasn't so lucky...I apologized to both...

The race was brutal! Everyone was put in to the gutter, flirting with the centerline/yellow line rule...At one point we were all stretched out for 2 miles long and cars were passing us on the right & left side of the road...VERY DANGEROUS! Some people almost became hood ornaments...Tobin stops the race!! haha Yells at us about the yellowline rule and to start a new line...Race starts up again, but slowly...

Super Squadra pulled back a 3 man break just about 2-3 miles from the finish, thank you guys!

Travis tried to lead me out again for the finish...but this time it was a uphill finish...=( No good for Ronnie...I yelled at Travis to GO! I was cramping like no other! Stefan Rothe was yelling at him too...haha

Travis Finished 3rd, Kevin Kremke won the Road Race and also won the Overall Omnium.

Travis finished 4th overall and I finished 1 point behind for 5th overall. 3rd-5th was this close:

1st Kevin Kremke
2nd Dave Wenger
3rd Jason Short 33
4th Travis Burandt 32
5th Ronnie Strange 31

It was a pretty eventful and sucessful weekend...So far there hasn't been any wrecks in the P/1/2's that I know of, so that's a great start of the season.

Till Next time!

Alsatian Omnium Day 1 Criterium

After having a good recovery and lunch after the Time Trial, I was ready to rock out the Criterium that evening.

Criterium:

We started with about 77 racers and the course isn't that wide, so that made for hard moves on the outside of the pack. We had 3 corners total, one of those corners was a long sweeping corner to the finish.

The race started off at a decent pace, Kremke tried to get away with Patrick McCarty, yes, 'the Patrick McCarty from Ouch Maxxis' Pro Domestic Team, the team with Floyd Landis. He wasn't as strong as I thought he would be =P. Attacks went off here and there like usual, but nothing was going to stay away. I played it smart and tried not to do much work. 5 laps to go there were 4 guys off the front, Dave Rendon went off the front with 3 laps to go. The Bell lap....

The Bell Lap:

After the 2nd turn, Travis Burandt, tapped me to get on his wheel...He ramped it up to 35mph going down the back stretch! about 25 metres from the sweeping corner he wanted to pull off, I yelled at him to keep pulling to the corner! We go to the corner and Travis swung wide and swooped in behind me to slow up the riders behind me...

I sprinted out of the corner as hard as I could and rode away to my first victory in the Pro/1/2 race!!! I won by about 5 bike links and even had to time look back and celebrate before the finish line!!

Thanks again Travis! You are the man of ALL LEAD OUTS!!

Rest up, Road Race was the following morning...76 miles of brutal winds.

Alsatian Omnium Day 1 Time Trial

An Omnium is like a Stage Race, but it's based off points, not time. So you could skip out on one event and almost win the whole Omnium.

Time Trial:

The wind was blowing 20-30 mph out of the Southeast on the 10 mile Time Trial Course. So on the way out, I didn't push it too hard, I only averaged about 33mph...I should have went faster going out. I was pretty conservative on the way out.

Coming back, I struggled to get the bike over 20 mph...fighting a cross head wind on the way back was rough! I was able to hold 23-24 after awhile, but it wasn't enough to even place in the top 10. I finished 22nd in the TT, which I wasn't very happy with, but for not riding on the bike all winter break, I can't complain.

I was glad that was over. Dave Wenger won with a time of 20:15 and I rode a 21:50. My Teammate Travis Burandt placed 3rd, which was awesome.

Race 1 over. Crit was later that evening.

New Braunfels Grand Prix Road Race

Day 2 in New Braunfels.

Very beautiful WINDY day. We had 5 laps of 15 miles each lap. Travis and I talked about shredding the field going in to the cross wind of the 2nd lap. That we did...

The 2nd lap rolled around and the Pain Train rolled in! Travis and I put everyone in to the gutter, he and I just rotated...The wind was blowing from the left, so you would hear, move left! It wasn't going to happen! We kept hammering it till it was down to about 15 guys...pretty much only the strong survived!

On the 3rd lap, I pulled just about 3/4 of the lap, Travis pulled some, but he was kind of hurting...He was sick all week.

The 4th lap came and about 4 guys went off the front and we let them get up the road by a minute. At this point, I was just happy to still be with the group...my legs were TOASTED...

The 5th lap, Kremke took off and took another guy with him. Wenger, Brian Jones, Erik Benz, Josh Carter, Mitch, and another guy, were all left behind. As we approached the feed zone, wenger, mitch and erik attacked and I was DONE! The rest of us just coasted it.

Congrats Kremke on the win. I finished out 12th out of 22 that finished...We started with about 70 riders...

See ya next week at the Alsation Omnium!

Tour of New Braunfels Criterium 2009

The start of the 2009 Season has begun!!

I was very thankful to be able to stay with Misty's Parents house in New Braunfels with Shawn and Misty. Thank you VERY much for your hospitality!! I'm looking forward to seeing the new house for next year!

Race Report:
The race got off to a pretty slow start, of course you have your attacks off the front. Somehow Kremke and Mr. Frost were able to stay away for almost the entire race! With about 30 mins left in the race we were 45secs back from the breakaway. So I got on the front and started to pull the breakaway back. I got it down to 20-25 secs, I believe. Then everyone sat up again. I think John Trujillo helped me out some, thanks John! After that I just sat in till the end.

As the pace picked up the last 3 laps, Travis, my teammate, went off the front and the pack started to get a little crazy, people were firing off the front trying to bridge up graps.

BELL LAP!!
Kremke and the 2 other guys in the breakaway were in eye sight!! Wenger pulled the group to about the last 500m mark and then Drew from San Jose dropped the hammer to lead EVERYONE out! We caught the Breakaway with 250 meters to go!! Josh Carter comes flying around me, he found a good gap, I went chasing after him and took 2nd place!

Cooled down with Matt Seagrave, Trevor, Andy, and Travis...We picked up Drew, but I think he wanted water and we never saw him again...Nice 3.5 hours in that day.

Training

Howdy!

Just giving everyone an update on my training.

Training is going really well! I'm hitting all my power targets and it's only going up from there. I rode 6 hours yesterday and I have never felt better afterward! I didn't even take a nap...lol I did go to sleep at like 9:30 though and slept for 9 hours!

If you want to catch my training step by step, you can follow me on twitter.com

http://twitter.com/strangeron

Cheers!

Ronnie

Ten Speed Drive Semi-Pro Cycling Team

Howdy everyone!

Here are the press releases for the team I have joined for 2009, enjoy.

http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=13948

http://velonews.com/article/86340/ten-speed-driveellsworth-factory-cycling-team

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/jan09/jan07news
"Green Message for a New Team" (at the bottom of the article page)

Our First team race will be San Dimas, CA, I will keep everyone posted.

Cheers,

Ronnie