Monday, February 23, 2009
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.
Monday, February 9, 2009
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!
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.
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.
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.
Monday, February 2, 2009
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!
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.
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.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
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
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
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
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
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
Thursday, December 18, 2008
RPM Sports Grand Opening with John Cobb!!
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!!
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!!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Rocky Hill Roundup-Racing against Lance Armstrong
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!
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!
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