The Strange Natural

Blog...

2009-07-28T18:04:00.004-05:00

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

2009-06-24T10:17:00.003-05:00

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

2009-06-09T12:40:00.003-05:00

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

2009-06-09T12:18:00.003-05:00

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

2009-06-03T16:09:00.003-05:00

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

2009-06-02T10:27:00.003-05:00

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

2009-04-28T20:18:00.003-05:00

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

2009-04-28T12:28:00.005-05:00

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

2009-04-22T08:21:00.004-05:00

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

2009-04-22T08:14:00.005-05:00

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

2009-04-22T07:43:00.007-05:00

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

2009-03-30T21:15:00.003-05:00

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.

2009-03-30T21:14:00.001-05:00

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

2009-03-16T22:46:00.003-05:00

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

2009-03-13T22:40:00.004-05:00

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

2009-03-13T22:36:00.003-05:00

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!!

2009-02-23T11:22:00.004-06:00

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

2009-02-09T12:43:00.004-06:00

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

2009-02-09T12:19:00.002-06:00

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

2009-02-09T12:02:00.003-06:00

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

2009-02-02T16:22:00.003-06:00

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

2009-02-02T15:31:00.003-06:00

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

2009-01-18T09:21:00.002-06:00

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

2009-01-13T08:51:00.001-06:00

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

RPM Sports Grand Opening with John Cobb!!

2008-12-18T16:40:00.002-06:00

Howdy Everyone!!

RPM Sports will be having our Grand Opening January 23, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. with John Cobb!!

Where:
17629 El Camino Real, Ste. #150
Houston (Webster), TX 77058

When:
January 23 & 24, 2009

Time:
Jan 23rd - 7:00 p.m.
Jan 24th - 9:00 a.m.

Guest:
John Cobb will be giving a speech on aero fit on TT bike and Road Bike.

Free Food!!:
We will provide plenty of food and drinks (adult drinks).

Who:
EVERYONE IS INVITED who loves cycling or triathlons!!

Rocky Hill Roundup-Racing against Lance Armstrong

2008-11-09T21:48:00.002-06:00

What a wonderful weekend! Nice breezy afternoon with a very cold night. Lance Armstrong showed up to race the Pro race, which I will go in to detail in a minute.

I raced two races this weekend, which was a bit of a misstake...I raced the Cat 2 race to lock up the Overall Fall Series...Which I blew...

Cat 2 Race:

Started off great, I was winning by a great margin, but I wanted to take it easy, so I slowed up only to find a guy on my wheel. He thought I was hammering it...ha...about 1/2 way in to the 2nd and final lap I burped my tire (losing half your air in the tires). So I only had about half the pressure I was suppose to have.

I kept the 2nd place guy behind me up till I rolled the tire off the rim...I flew off the bike, luckily there were no trees around.

The race was over for me...I walked back and realized it was 10:30 and my race started at 11:00 for the Pro race, which Lance was going to be in.

I ran about 2-3 miles back to the camp site...I got there at 10:45, I had 15mins!!
I was pretty tired...I shouldn't have raced that race at all...Oh...and I lost the Overall by 1 point...

Pro Race:

I upgraded to the Pro Category so I could race against Lance Armstrong! I showed up to the line, no Lance in site...Where is he?! He shows up with 2 minutes before the start...It gets quiet before the start and someone yells out, "you nervous Lance?!" the kid next to him raises his arm, "I am!" lol Pretty funny.

Gun goes off! There is a huge pile up at the start! I just make it around. I'm one person behind Lance!! We go over a few hills and the guy in front of me puts a gap between Lance and I...I was like, crap! We get to a climb, which is just about impossible to climb, even Lance had to walk it...I walked it too and my legs were BLOWN!! Needless to say, I didn't see Lance again till the finish...

I had to drop out after 2 out of 3 Laps, I was dehydrated and cramping...

I got to see Lance win by 56 secs over 2nd.

I was 1 person away from getting his autograph...I was freaking pissed! I was like Lance, can you sign...then he got in his car and left...

Wonderful weekend, I'm not going to lie, I am pretty upset, I shouldn't have raced the 1st race...I might have had a chance =P

No more racing for awhile now...Train, train, and Train some more for next year...I may do some Marathon Mountain bike races, but I'm not sure.

Till February!

Piney Hills Classic Stage MTB Race 2008

2008-10-28T10:15:00.002-05:00

What a weekend! The weather was perfect, the trails were smooth! Note to self, if you ever go camping, make SURE you bring a sleeping bag, especially when it's 40 degrees at night in a tent!! LOL The first night in Ruston, LA at Lincoln Parish Park camping, all I had was a blanket...Man, I woke up with hypothermia almost! Lesson learned!

The Cat 2's (aka Sport) only raced the Time Trial and XC Race, why we didn't have a short track, I don't know...

I started to pre-ride the TT before my start and got stuck behind some slow guys and almost missed my TT start!! I was the next guy up when I showed up...The official was like, You almost missed your start...I said, nope, I'm here...

I finished 2nd in the TT, to a Nathan Skinner, I was like, who the heck is this guy??!

At the Start of the XC Race the next day I rolled up to the start and said, who's Nathan? They were like, we were saying the same about you, Ronnie! So I knew who Nathan was at the start...

The gun/whistle went off, I was the first one to the single track, with Nathan behind me. I pushed and drove as hard as I could for about 3/4 of the first lap, then I finally slowed up to let Nathan pass me, so I can see what this guy was made of. He was a better cornerer than I was, so I knew I had to keep him behind me at all times for the second lap.

When we rolled through the start for the start of the 2nd lap, people were saying we were up by 6.5 mins!! I was like...wow, is this course that difficult? Or are we just blazin'!!! Or we could just be a couple of sandbaggin' Roadies...hehe

We slowed up for the start of the 2nd lap and just talked for about 1/2 the lap...then we put the hammer down again. Nathan got in front of me about 3/4 of the way and was just killing me on the cornering, I thought I was done, but I wasn't giving up without a fight! Something happened with him and he almost endoed! (sigh of relief!) Thank you Pine needles!

We were about to approach the bat Cave and I passed him just before it. The climb was brutal!! I got over the top and put the hammer down and left him in the dust...He Cramped up on the Bat Cave climb and I beat him by 33 seconds...We beat the field by almost 6.5 mins!! Yup...Time for an upgrade...

Next up, Rocky Hill!! Nov 8th!

BTU Power Pedal Mountain Bike Race

2008-10-16T10:11:00.004-05:00

This Mountain bike was in my town of College Station, aka Aggieland! Well, it was actually at Lake Bryan, but who cares! =)

I went up to Lake Bryan, Friday morning to pre-ride the course and I taco'd my front wheel in a sandtrap!! lol So that ended my precious little Pre-ride...That was 30 minutes in to the ride.

I went to the local bike shop and they said they couldn't fix it...Too bad for them, they will never get referrals from me...I went back to Houston and got my awesome mechanic Ira to fix it, He and I are the only two that can touch my bikes, unless I go pro =) He got the wheel all straightened out, or the best he could do...

RACE!

I stayed with lovely Family friends of mine, Kirk Pearcy and his wonderful wife Natalie. They took care of me like I was one of their own!

The race started around 11am...I started off 2nd in to the single track, then we hit the levy and I took off like a cannon!! No one wanted to go with me! I was 30 secs up on the group by the start of the next single track and I never saw the group again.

The course was very nice! I heard it rained the previous day, so that helped alot for all the sand that is usually there. I kept running in to the Single speeders and 2 of the guys wouldn't let me pass for like 5 mins...I got pissed after awhile!

I won by 3 minutes and got a bunch heckling from the Expert riders who knew me, they all wanted to me cat up...Not till I win the series guys!

Ruston Mountain Bike Race is next week.

Next time we'll try and get Albert Einstein!! (Harry Carey) So long!

Camp Eagle MTB Race

2008-09-01T10:23:00.001-05:00

I went up to Camp Eagle this weekend and tried my luck at one of 'the most' difficult courses I have riden. When I was registering, the official was like, you have a UCI Cat 1 Road license and you're racing the Cat 2 MTB Race??? I was like, look, if you don't have the skills, you don't have the skills. Then he said, If you beat these guys by 5 mins or more, you know what's going to happen to this...

The weather was great, Gustav (Hurricane) was making it's way to Louisiana instead of Houston, thank you. Let me just tell you want kind of MTB I'm riding on before I begin...
I'm on a Cannondale HT, no name Dual Assualt? With a STOCK front fork, no adjustments aloud! I'm running tubes along with this rig...

The Cat 2 19-29 race starts out really well, I'm the first one up the long climbing hill...I had some trouble through the first section and I let 2 guys pass me, just because I wanted to see what I was working with here...

I passed them after about 10 mins of being behind them, they were going too slow...Go hard or go home! I was in front up till we got to the creek bed...it was so freaking bumpy in there, I was bouncing clear off my bike...HT's suck btw...

I passed the guy back, his chain came off, seemed to be a big issue with the guy...
I was in front for the rest of the race and I was in front by about a good half a mile. We did the South Loop, North loop and then the South Loop again. I flatted in the creek bed on the last loop... just before you get to the cross over wooden bridge...I rode the rest of the way on a flat...lol

The guy in second passed me on the very bumpy section of the creekbed and was like, I'm sorry I have to win this way dude...I was like...Well we won't say...

I rode on a flat the rest of the way and finihed 2nd...

I finished with enormous blisters on my hands and a busted up tire and rim...

It was a awesome weekend! MTB rocks!

Back to my Half-Ironman training.

Super Week Recovery

2008-08-06T08:27:00.002-05:00

It's been a week since I've been back from Super Week. I raced in the Texas State Individual/Team Time Trial this past weekend. The temperatures were unbearable, 100+ degrees! I started to cramp up half through the individual time trial and road home to a slow 57:57

The Team Time Trial, we had, Tom Kubicek, Jeremy Thomson, and Jason Bentley. We were rolling on the way out with a slight tailwind. Jeremy, not had race the day before, was cooking at 33mph on the way out while we were pushing 30mph. He muttered something to me while he was going to the back and then I didn't see him again...He blew up. He said he couldn't get comfortable on his saddle.

So Tom, Jason, and I had to work together on the way back. Those guys put in a strong effort and we finished out with a 51:57 to take 5th place in the P/1/2's.

I won't be racing road for the remainder of the year. I'm preparing for the Half-Ironman Miami Man...I should be getting my swim coach soon, so I'm not a dead weight in water.

I've been given a new nickname from the owner of Williams Cycling Wheels, "The Natural"

Till next time!

The Natural

Super Week 17 days Cont...

2008-07-30T11:06:00.003-05:00

After the Shorewood race, I told myself I was going to try and tap the top 5 overall in the Bianchi Sprint points.

I started to get adapted to the racing speeds and styles I was seeing out there. I became more aggressive and even started to race dirty like some of those guys from the Rock Racing Pro Team were doing, not to name and names...

My best placing was 20th in any of the races I did. I had multi top 25 finishes, but I found it real difficult to stay in the front after I've gone for the Bianchi Sprint points each time. I was very blessed that I never got in a wreck, out of the 14 races I did, and I never got a flat either.

The last few days of racing I was pretty must toasted on both sides, well done, and didn't know if I could finish a race...lol I was barely holding on to the 4th place position of the Bianchi Sprint points, but other people like Carlos Vargas thought otherwise and was getting pissed that I kept going for the points...Carlos Vargas was sitting 3rd and he was afraid I was going to pass him in the standings, but he had it locked up...

The 2nd to last night, Downer Ave Crit, there were over 20,000 spectators and a chance to win a $4,000 Super Prime...A Prime is usually a prized value lap in a race and is usually called out by ringing a bell...This Super Prime is considered a Crowd Prime, the crowd donates money throughout the race and they increased the pot to $7,200 by the end of the race...A guy from Rock Racing won the Super Prime...My friend Ryan Wohlrabe was 5th on that lap, but didn't have much of a sprint to come around him. Sorry I wasn't there Ryan...I dropped out of that race after I got my Sprint points.

I had to stick around the last day, due to a tight overall Sprint point standings. Ryan Wohlrabe went down to the big Chicago Criterium...

I locked up the 4th overall position for the Bianchi Sprint Points thanks to the guys from JetFuel Coffee, and yes, they're Canadian 'Eh! Daniele Defranceschi, Kevin Hazzard, Pete Morse, and Bryson Bowers. Those guys showed me what a true team is all about in cycling. I couldn't have asked for more teamwork those guys brought to the table. Pete and Daniele were helping me out with the sprint points. Kevin, held bottles for me and helped bring breakaway back. Bryson would bust his balls to bring the breakaways back to make sure I was still able to get points. Thank you guys! I couldn't have done it with out ya.

ICC and Super Week Pro Tour - It's where Legends are born...

Super Week 17 days

2008-07-30T10:34:00.002-05:00

Howdy!

I've been out of pocket for the past 21 days, so I haven't been able to post anything on here.

I was at the International Cycling Classic and Super Week Pro Tour up in Chicago and Wisconsin, which lasted for 17 days straight. I took 3 of those 17 days off.

I had a wonderful time racing up there, I will try and sum it up without boring you to death =)

The First race was a huge eye opener for me, I was just happy to finish the race, we averaged around 29mph for the first race for about 2.5 hours...The Weather was super hot and I ran out of water 40 miles in to the race with 20 more miles to go. I might have finished top 35.

Having the wonderful Kristen there, helped me finish the race, because I was ready to drop out.

I took 2 days off after that and did some sight-seeing with Kristen. I have never seen so much of a city in one day while enjoying every minute of it. If anyone ever wants to see every attraction of a city, take Kristen, she knows how it's done, and done right! =) Kristen and I were even able to fit in a Chicago Cubs game, which was a experience in itself. We had perfect weather the whole game and we even ate a CHICAGO DOG! haha It was so good! =P Too bad Harry Carey isn't around anymore, I think that would have been cool. "Let me hear ya everybody!"

Kristen flew back to H-Town and I continued my journey of cycling...

The next 3 days were tough, I got dropped in the next 2 races, which were the same course and then the 3rd day back, I finish like 50th...I was ready to go home...

We went up to Shorewood, WI and that's where I started to shine! I started to collect Bianchi Sprint points...The Bianchi SPrint points are points that you earn on laps 50, 40, 30, & 20. Only the top 7 can earn points and there is a Jersey for the overall leader. The Top 5 overall get paid out at the end of the event....

Memorial Park Crit wk 3

2008-06-18T22:54:00.002-05:00

What an Epic night! The clouds were rolling in and the skies were rumbling! This week is a pro week, a lot of pros are in town for the Amli Criterium this weekend in Austin. We had a La Grange and Successful Living guy from Cali, oh and Carlos Vargas decided to show too. The race started off with Travis B going off the front and setting the pace. Within 10 mins the La Grange guy went off the front with Kevin and I on his wheel. He pulled off the front and Kevin made a hard attempt and I just stayed on his wheel. Before I knew it, Kevin and I were all alone!! I was like, sweet!! I've always dreamed of this! We kept rotating and before we knew it, Carlos was bridging up to us! I was thinking...Freaking animal! We were rolling at 28mph already!

There you have it, the Trio tearing it up, Kevin, Carlos, and I...There's no catching us now! I was hurting pretty bad in the breakaway, I'm not going to lie...We had about a half a lap gap on the chase group. We had 1 lap to go and everyone took a pull, but on the backside...No one wanted to do anything...We were rolling at 10-13mph!! Kevin on the left, me in the middle, and Carlos on the right...Kevin comments, "I can do this all night boys"...The group was closing in fast! They were within 10 seconds!!! I was like...what the hell...I took off pulling the guys to the last corner and I pulled off to try to recover, but I was toast...I tried to jump on the back, but I couldn't hold on...

KK takes the win, Carlos 2nd, and Me 3rd.

Talk about working Lactic Threshold...We avg'd about 27mph and sorry can't share the wattage =)

Till next week Kevin!! Till Next week!!

Memorial Park Criterium Wk 2

2008-06-15T11:43:00.002-05:00

Another great training ride/race =)

We started off with about 40-50 racers. I sat in most of the first half of the race. About 30-40 mins in to the race I pulled hard for about 2 laps at about 28-30mph and won some pretty cool goggles for cycling? I don't know what they're for, I thought they were for swimming, but Kristen (friend of mine) made it clear they weren't swimming goggles....lol Anyhow, I shattered the field in to 2 groups after that long pull and we had about 10 guys in our breakaway and a nice 20 second gap with all the big dawgs! This break wasn't going to get caught!

Everyone took there pulls and nothing crazy happened in the Break. With 5 laps to go a Brandon and Ricky went off the front and I didn't react to the attack...Now they were 10-15 secs up the road and no one wanted to chase...Kremke on my wheel and everyone else sucking back there too....2 laps to go I tried to get Lowry to go, but he said he didn't "have anything left"...I waited with a lap to go then I attacked with about 3/4 of a lap to go...I was rolling at 37mph pulling Kremke with me, your welcome Kevin...We were closing on the breakaway fast! As we caught them just before the line, Kevin went flying by the break and I!

I finished out 4th, I couldn't come around the breakaway.

Till next week Kremke!

Memorial Park Criterium Series Wk 1

2008-06-05T22:43:00.002-05:00

It was a rather windy day at the first Memorial Park Crit race. The race started off at a good pace, not too fast. Bikebarn seems to be handing out jersey's to anyone who is a Cat 3 or better...We got about halfway through and I decided to see what everyone had in them, so I went to the front and started to hammer it for about 2 laps at about 28+mph...Then I hear, what I thought, a tire blow, but found out later it was my teammates carbon rim snapping in two places! haha Sorry jason.

We slowed up to make sure everyone was ok, then we picked the pace back up. There was 3 guys who got off the front and 2 of them were Bikebarn and the other was Greg from GCCA team. I tried pulling the group up to the breakaway and I pulled off to let someone else do the work, but Kremke made a smart remark, is that all you got strange?! and just smiled...I was like, am I the only one racing here?!

We never caught the break, I pulled the group to about 10 secs, but no one wanted to work. Greg ended up winning and it pissed Kremke off pretty bad...He was yelling at one of his teammates about it, so I chimed in and said...You should have done some work in the group Kevin, we might have caught the break =P he just looked at me like, you jerk...haha

I finish out in the top 15 I think, I didn't care about the finish, I just used this race as a hammer till I have nothing left and see who hangs on with me.

Till next week...I'll be getting ready for Super Week, which is in July, so no big June races for me.

Tulsa Tough Omnium - Oklahoma Criterium Series 3

2008-06-03T00:01:00.003-05:00

Day 3 of the Tulsa Tough

The morning started off pretty weird...There was a HUGE hail storm, Softball size!! I was told that the Tour ride got hammered!! One guy was hit hard with the hail and was bleeding all over and people were diving in to the ditches because there was about 50-60 mph winds!! They ended up cancelling all the minor Category races for the whole day...We started off at about 230...As we were driving to the course there were branches ALL over the place!! It looked like a tornado hit!

This course had a nasty hill climb in it, so that made it really hard for me...climbing sucks! Sprinting rocks!! They had a wonderful setup!! On the top of the hill they had a hill party!! It was like the Tour De Franc hill climb, there was guys wearing horns running up the hill with us and squirting us with water guns, screaming and banging on pots and pans!! Cow bells were ringing!! MORE COWBELL!!

It was really hot and I was just happy to finish the race. I finished out 13th in the race. I think there were about 80 that were in the race and 45 finished. There was a 4 man breakaway and they were about 30 secs up the road.

End of Day 3 and Tulsa Tough...

I'm going to be taking some time off from racing, most likely the whole month of June and just getting ready for Super Week in July 11-27.

I will be doing the Wednesday night crits some times.

Till next time...

Tulsa Tough Omnium - Oklahoma Criterium Series 2

2008-06-02T23:49:00.002-05:00

Day 2 of the Tulsa Tough

The race started off in the evening and the course was perfectly smooth! Thanks to the Oklahoma peeps, they repaved the roads just for the race! The crit was suppose to be a 70 min race but there was a nasty wreck in the Pro women's race before us, so we had to wait 10 mins for them to clear it, so it turned out to be 60 mins long.

The race was going really well, I felt good and I went off the front to only have the guy to ring the bell for a $100 prime lap, so I drove even harder to get the prime...only to have Nathan from VW to steal it from me right at the line...He later dropped out of the race like a jerk...

I sat up waiting for the group and sat in the group till the end...Joseph went for the $250 prime and just missed it...There was a 3 man breakaway up the road and I have yet understand how they got away from us...I tried to bridge up only for the 5 lap card to come out...I was getting closer and closer and got within 10 secs of the break...The group caught me with 1 lap to go, so I was pretty spent, so I got to the back of the group to rest...Halfway through the lap, I shot out the side and cut everyone off to get back to the front. Downhill to the finish and to the left and final stretch!! I finished out 12th in the field sprint...The 3 man break ended up staying away.

End of Day 2

Tulsa Tough Omnium - Oklahoma Criterium Series 1

2008-06-02T23:36:00.003-05:00

Day 1 of the Tulsa Tough

The race was a night race, so that made things interesting right from the start...We started with about 70 or 80 guys in the race. The course was a figure 8, but somewhat difficult due to the lights out. The race was only 50 minutes long, so it was quick!

The gun goes off and I can't get my left cleat in the pedal for the life of me...So I started in the back of the group...I raced with the GCCA (Gulf Coast Cycling Association) Team to try and win some cash money with a team...I moved to the front pretty quickly, the whole goal was to work for me and set me up for the win...As I'm going through the course, my back tire keeps skipping around the corner, so I'm trying not to lose it through each corner...

I get in a breakaway about 25-30 mins in to the race and it's going well...till this guy freaking walks out on the course and we almost nail the guy!! But we just barely miss him! 5 laps to go the group caught us and Joseph tells me, I got ya bro, don't worry...

2 laps to go we've made our way up to the front and I look up to see Joseph going off the front and no one is following him...I was like, what the heck?! lol The group doesn't respond and they aren't going any faster than he is...We're almost done with the race and he's still off the front! He ends up pulling off the win!! haha I ended up 22nd in the group.

End of Day 1...2 more to go...

Texas State Criterium Championships!!

2008-05-26T21:58:00.002-05:00

I'm pretty beat up...my butt hurt from Saturday, sun burn from Sunday, and legs are sore...Time to suck it up!

We start out with 110 guys!! I started in the back, because everyone decided to line up 15 mins early!! what's up with that?!!

The race starts off fast! The announcer said 50 mins left, I was about to say, 50 secs for me! I'm toasted! I stuck it out! It was a weird race today, everyone was disorganized! No was working for anyone, it seemed. It was 5 laps to go, Kremke had flatted, he wasn't looking good...Ryan Wohlebe, crashed early on in the race...and there are 6 guys up the road! I'm sitting top 10...2 laps to go, Stefan Rothe is working his butt off to pull the breakaway back...1 lap to go, we get to the back side of the course and Wenger pulls off! what's going on here?! So just before the last turn everyone sat up, so I darted out!! Hitting the turn hard! I catch 3 of the guys in the breakaway, but just short of the other 3.

I take 4th place in the State Championships! Not back for a one man team out there!

Great weekend of racing! Tulsa Tough look out!!

GS Tenzing Crit

2008-05-26T21:48:00.002-05:00

I'm feeling pretty good before the race, I mean, who wouldn't after having the best breakfast cooked for you by Corey's Mom! She is one heck of a cook!!

Corey and I checked out the Velodrome they have there in Dallas, it's pretty awesome! The banks on that track are insane!!

Gun goes off and they say, no feeding...YEA RIGHT! It's another hot and windy day. I had Corey and Taylor feeding me on the back side of the course. hehe

4 laps in to the race, Carlos Vargas goes, I go with and Brian follows us. Two San Jose guys and me in a break, we're joined by 5 others. We have a pretty stout breakaway here! Halfway through, we're 30 secs on the chase group! We just might hold'em off! We did, I think we ended up with about 45secs to a min gap on the chase group! We have 2 laps to go, Ryan Wohlebe, takes off, and I hesitate...Then Ian goes, then the group chases them down...1 lap to go, Ryan is still off the front! The group is blown up! I'm giving it all I have to catch Ian and Ryan, I barely miss Ian at the line and Ryan pulls off the win.

I end up 3rd! My best finish this year as a Cat 2! Whoop!!

End of Day 2

Gary Glickman Criterium

2008-05-26T21:40:00.003-05:00

Here we are, Texas State Crit weekend! It was a long boring drive out to Dallas that morning only to get in a race that was almost 100 degrees outside!!

We started out with about 70 racers, keep that in mind. The course was a up and down, hilly course, I wouldn't really call it a Crit course...You go around a building, down, then up and then down at 35 mph only to come to a complete stop, to 8 mph for a 180 turn and then back up the hill again!!

The race was going good, a few breaks went, but I just sat in and didn't do anything. It's about 45 mins in to the race and they open the feed zone, FINALLY! I thought I was about to pass out because of the heat. I didn't have anyone feeding me, so I saw a wonderful customer of mine in the crowd and signaled to him to GET ME SOME WATER!! Ahmed, saved my life!! Just before I got the feed I went down on the 180 turn, but was able to jump back on the back of pack, because they were all toasted!! haha

There was a Breakaway of about 5 guys and it splintered to about 2 and then Dave Wenger road away for the victory!

I finished out 17th, out of about 25 who finished!! We started with 70!! That's how hot it was!

Conclusion of Day 1

Houston Grand Crit 2008

2008-05-18T21:14:00.002-05:00

Today's race was intense! We averaged 28 mph for 90 mins!! The course was a long straight, out and back loop for 2.4 miles.

There was a 7-8 man breakaway about 30 mins in to the race. The guys were flying, because with about 30-40 mins to go, the break was broken down to only 4 people!! The Orven Mexico team had two guys in the break, with Kevin Kremke and Dave Wenger<<--animals...The pack was very disorganized, so I went for about 2 primes and ended up with one ($350 Shimano Custom fit shoes).

I tried bridging up on my own several times, but no cigar. 3 Laps to go, we cut the break down to 20 seconds and it was at 30 seconds. 2 laps to go, we're at 10 secs...the Break is getting tired, and one of the Orven guys tried to break from the breakaway. 1 lap to go, everyone is sitting up, so I attack and bridged up to the break...I get across only to see a ghostly, I'm toasted, look on Kevin and Dave's face...Then I see the group is coming up, Crap I'm toasted too...So I wait for the group and sit in for the last lap to rest. We're coming down the home stretch, I'm trying to get back in to position for a chance.

We come around the last corner and everyone is flying!! I finish 19th, the last payout spot =)

Great race, but felt like a oven for 90 minutes. I know I worked way too hard for nothing.

Next week...

Texas State Criterium Championships

Bear Creek Crit

2008-05-17T17:01:00.003-05:00

The weather was nice, couldn't ask for a better day of racing.

The race started out good, attacks were going off one by one. 7 guys ended up staying away in a breakaway, only to realize there was a guy from each team in the breakaway. So, no one would work to catch the group only to get lapped by the breakaway. Payout is only top 5, so there goes the race. 5 laps to go and the Orven team set up the train for the win. I'm not sure how the finish went...My teammate, Tom, was in front of me going in to the last lap. He went down in the last corner only leaving his arm out for me to run it over...Sorry Tom. I came unclipped and I threw in the towel after that. Tom was ok, but pretty upset.

Houston Grand Crit tomorrow.

Cycling

2008-05-16T22:23:00.000-05:00

This will be all about my cycling career.

Enjoy!