The Biowheel’s boys showed up with an impressive squad for the 2008 Highland Rim Omnium.  This year we had a total of 7 riders spanning 3 fields.  Racing in the Masters 30/40 field were: Chad Schoenhauer, Jason Smith, and Mike Small.  In the Cat. 3 field were: Andy Pooser, Chris Emory, and myself.  For the Cat. 4 races Travis Fender raced his second event since upgrading 1 month ago.

In the master’s race everyone made the break of about 20.  Crossing the line in 6th was Jason, with Chad 7th, and Mike taking 10th.  For our race Chris was the only one who could make the break.  Coming into the finale he sprinted to 3rd.  Andy and I settled for 15th and 22nd.  In Travis’s race he was able to make the breakaway, and finish 5th.  I don’t think it will be long before we see him racing as a Cat. 3!

After a brief nap at the hotel we were out warming up for the TT.  It would be a 2.5 mile climb up the plateau.  Chris continued to show his strength and won the Cat. 3 race.  Jason came in 7th, and Chad 9th for the masters.  Travis made a huge statement with a time so fast, he would have been 5th in the pro/1/2 race!  He settled for second though.  Andy and I continued our mediocre performances.

For Sunday’s crit. the masters were first.  Jason and Chad worked with Hugh Moran of Organic Athlete to control the break.   The break stuck and Chad got 8th(plus some primes), and Jason 10th.  In the Cat. 3 race Chris went for the money taking 3 primes and settling for 4th place.  Andy wasn’t feeling well so he sat out the race, and I blew up very early after going for a prime on lap 2.

This years Highland Rim Omnium turned out to be another great weekend for the BioWheels-Deltec team. 

Posted by:Zach Bannow

The weather for this somewhat local century turned out to be much better than predicted.  Also, with the Tour De Moore being several hours away the Burnsville Metric made a great fast training ride for local road racers.  Representing BioWheels-Deltec were Mike Small, Mike Jackson, Grant Gosch, and myself.   Once again we had the strongest group of guys in the event.  However, this time there were about 15 TCRC riders trying hard to use team tactics against us.

Century rides are always fun because there is a mix of fast “club” riders as well as road racers.  Everyone in the front ot the ride is pretty much “racing” in an effort to achieve bragging rights for the day.   These rides present many chances to practice the same tactical skills needed when racing.  However, we call these rides “cookie rides” simply because there is no money on the line.  So while competitve, we are all out to have fun and support the locals who make it happen.

So, from a racer’s perspective; here is how I saw the ride… From the start there was attack after attack from the TCRC guys.  With Mike Small having the abilaty to ride for sustained durations at 30 miles/hr there was never any panic.  At about mile 20 Mike S. decided to roll off the front.  By taking a TCRC guy with him, it prevented any of the other TCRC guys from chasing.  This set up a counter move from Mike Jackson, and 1 more TCRC guy.  They bridged up to the first break, and then they were all gone.  Back in the main field Grant and I were now stuck riding at 18-20 miles/hr.  At this point Grant was getting cagey.  He felt good, but missed the move.  Either of us would look like idiots if we chased down our own teamates.  If we wanted to get out of the group it would have to be a clean break, and hopefully we wouldn’t bring anyone too fast with us.  The opportunity happened on the first climb.  It was only about .5 miles long, but long enough to split the field.  Grant was finaly able to get up the road, but on the decent was caught by some bigger guys who descend faster.  Over the next third of the ride we rolled through beautiful ridges and pastures in Yancey county.  Eventually coming to a climb that allowed 5 of us to break free from those still left in the pack.  It was Grant, Chris (Youngblood Bikes), Art Schuster, a TCRC guy, and Me.  Once we got separation from the field I realized that the TCRC guy and Art were doing no work.  I knew Art was tired, but the TCRC guy was using us to drag him to the break up the road and his teamate.  He also apeared to be stronger than any of us.  Then we saw the break up the road.  Since they weren’t riding flat out, we caught them.  Coming into the final miles we tried several times to attack the TCRC riders, but the one who came with us was too strong.  Sprinting up the hill into town he finished first.  Mike Jackson was right behind in second, Grant third.  With me bringing up eigth, we had 4 guys in the top 8.  Compared to TCRC having a team of 15 and only 2 with the lead group, we showed some strength once again.

So that is the report from a racer’s point of view.  There were also at least 100 other riders of all ages and speeds who finished.  For some just finishing was the goal.  For others, maybe this was their first group ride.  At the end of the day I think the person who had the most fun is the real “winner”. 

written by: Zach Bannow

Grant,Zach and Mike J.

 The Upstate Race Weekend is held in the Greenville/Spartanburg area of South Carolina.  This year the first of the two race series was a road race on Saturday at the Donaldson Center.  Standouts for the day inlcuded Mike Small, Jason Smith, and Nicole Crane.  The Master’s 35+, and Master’s 45+ fields were combined.  This allowed Mike and Jason to work together.  On the final lap Mike rode off the front in a solo attack.  Jason and a few others were able to bridge up to Mike.  Then after a leadout from Mike, Jason sprinted to 4th place.  Nicole Crane decided to race the Women’s Pro/1/2/3 race and also did very well. 

Here is her report: 

I felt stellar. Missed my start due to a pee break and time trialed back onto the field. A perfect warmup actually and felt great the whole race. Lots of thunder and lightening and oh yeah, the ever present Donaldson Center wind and rain. My final effort began on lap 3 and I pretty much stayed up front the next 2 laps because I was too nervous to be behind people in the terrible thunderstorm (especially over the railroad tracks). One girl launched with 1 mile to go and no one countered and I had no jump left so I made a perfect lead out for the BMW women for the sprint for 2nd. I ended up 8th and the BMW girls were nice enough to pay me out for all the work I did for their benefit.

On Sunday the BioWheels Cat. 3 team showed up ready to battle at Walnut Grove.  The race was 55 miles long, consisting of 2 laps on a “rolling” course.  The course actually had several significant climbs.  Representing BioWheels were: Chris Emory, Andy Pooser, Mike Jackson, and myself.  We decided at the start that we were all working for Andy.  From the beginning there was attack after attack.  The field, including out team kept everything in check (mostly due to Chris).  The first lap was over after about 1:15.  With that out of the way it was time to start looking for the serious attacks.  They started as expected.  But with Chris working to shut things down, were all crushed.  I have to say; I have never seen the strongest guy at a race totally sell out for another guy.  Chris used all of his abilities to help Andy.  Very classy!  So with the race all back together we approached the final.  After rolling fast, suddenly the bunch slowed.  I was boxed in about 15 guys back.  We were about 1.5k from the finish.  I got cagey and decided to lead out the sprint.  Had I known how far out we were, I wouldn’t have gone, but hind sight is always 20/20.  I did get it strung out a bit to set up Andy.  He sprinted hard and took 4th place.

Nicole also raced Sunday, she said:

Our women’s field was speckled with talent: a few pros and teams with the power to control the field. We had a 55 mile race, Laura Bowles (Team Chapstick Advil) attacked on the first climb and no one thought she’d stay away. She had 2 women with her but it was so windy and we let them dangle for ages. I tried to bridge a few times but the wind was too much and I got back into the pack thinking surely with a field of 20 we will catch them and then I’ll counter attack. But, we never did catch them and I looked around and our field had popped into a small group of 8. We chased for rest of the race but with a BMW woman up the road and the rest of her team blocking in this chase field, not much got accomplished except dropping everyone else. I cramped and bonked with 10 miles to go and suffered to an 11th place finish. 

Posted by: Zach Bannow                          

The Rock Hill Spring Omnium is a classic series.  Friday night it all starts with the York Sprints.  They consist of a head to head drag race down the streets of downtown York SC.  Saturday brings the Critterium in downtown Rock Hill.  The Crit. has a nasty corner coming into the final turn.  Combined with the rain, this course demands respect.  I don’t know if it was the weather, or the early season, but this year the Biowheels Road squad decided to only race the road race on Sunday.

The Patriots Trail Road Race is unique.  The distance is somewhat long at 90 miles.  The course is very flat compared to most of the races we do during the season.  As an example; I was never out of my big chainring.  This makes for a fast race wich favors big powerfull riders.  With wind as our only enemy, the races started.

For the Cat. 3 race we had the biggest team in the field.  There was Chris Emory, Mike Jackson, Mike Small, Andy Pooser, and me.  We didn’t have much time to talk tactics beforehand.  After the race started Chris decided to ride up the road and join 3 others.  Since we were only at mile 2 (of 90) there was no reaction from the field.  The gap would continue to grow throughout the first lap.  The two Mikes worked very hard to control any chase attempts.  Andy and I did what we could, but we were trying to save some energy.  Coming through the feed at mile 45 the gap was at 6 minutes!  We were sure Chris would bag another win and started talking about the finnish.  But it would not be…  The 3 guys with Chris ended up popping forcing  Chris to to slow down.  We caught them with about 15 miles to go.  From there to the finnish we all tried to stay near the front and feel out the right time to attack next.  Mike Small took a flyer with 5 miles to go.  But the wolves were sensing the finnish and realed him in.  With 500 meters to go the sprint started.  I jumped hard and got tangled up with a guy.  The adrenaline and lack of speed forced me into oxygen dept.  My race was over.  As I was blowing, I looked over to see Andy going for it.  He looked like our best finnisher, at 10th.  The two Mikes and Chris also rolled through with the pack.  Our hard day finaly over.

Nicole Crane gave a report from her race,

Rock Hill RR: 45 miles, Cat 1, 2, 3. 50 degrees and drizzly at the start. We were called to the start line and then had to wait for 20 minutes because the officials were afraid we’d catch the men’s field in front of us. They should have done the same for the men’s field that started after us because……..I raced smart, didn’t take any major pulls or cover any breaks ( a miracle for me because usually I am too restless). We dropped some women right off the bat on the first climb and chased zillions of attempts of BMW and Hincapie women trying to get away. With 2 miles to go, I set myself up on a turn so I’d come into the finishing mile top 10. 500 meters to go I jumped onto a well known sprinters wheel and thought okay, 5 women in front of me, at 200 meters when we are allowed to cross the yellow line, I’m going for it. 200 meters, went left of center and “GET OUT OF THE WAY” is all I heard along with screaming, thundering bicycles and deeper voices than I’m used to in our field. The men’s Cat 4 field caught us at the 200 meter line and turned our final sprint into chaos. Needless to say, I became unglued and lost my line but saved myself from getting pummelled and ended up 18th. Why the course martials allowed this to happen is beyond me. Disappointment is an ugly state of mind to be in though so now I’m even more eager to do well in the next few races.

On another note, last year I did this race as a Cat 4 woman and got dropped about 20 miles into it.So hanging in for the final sprint in the 1, 2, 3 field with women half my age is progress!

Mark Ruscoe and Jason Smith also raced in their respective masters fields.  I think Mark was top ten for the 45 plus masters.  Jason told me he made some mistakes in the final sprint and settled for 16th.

A few of us were still in out kits for a quick photo.  After a long day we were all excited to get home and chill.  Next week Walnut Grove…
 

This year’s AOTC was the most epic day of my short cycling career.  It was already raining when I woke up at 6:30.  Fifteen minutes before leaving the house Mike Jackson called to tell me he wasn’t going to ride in the rain.  This would be the first of many cancelations leaving the field a bit smaller than I have seen in recent years.  But I was committed to riding.  The assault is my favorite century, so a little rain didn’t bother this ex-kayaker.
 
Once in Brevard the rain had stopped and the pavement was dry.  However, most riders rolled out bringing there rain capes for the changing conditions.  As I looked around I noticed some familiar faces including Chad Shoenauer, Chris Emory, Mark Ruscoe, Eric Krauss, Nicole Crain, Jason Smith, and Grant Gosch. (I also saw a few other Biowheels teammates that I didn’t recognize)  The first two significant climbs went as usual.  There were splits and regroups as expected.  Then it started to rain.  It was a consistent downpour for about an hour.  Descending in these conditions was either to hard or too risky for some.  Jason Smith was smart and got his rain gear on during the decent.  Mark Ruscoe sat up.  The rest of us pushed on.  At one point I was going so fast, and it was raining so hard, that I could barely see.  It was one of those days that if you are feeling good, it becomes an epic story.  But if you are feeling bad, you may hang the bike up for awhile after it’s over!
 
When we got to within 5 miles of Caesar’s Head the rain was subsiding.  I think the group was down to about 30 at that point.  As the climb began I found a nice rhythm and got the diesel going.  Today there would be no turbo, but also no bonk!  I was happy with my pace as I slowly passed a few others including Jason (cramping), and Grant (recently sick).  Chad and Chris continued to pull ahead in the lead group.  At the top I sat up a bit to let a group of 4 catch me.  However, after they failed to close the gap to me, I decided to roll.  I caught up to a big strong rider in front of me, and we started working to get to the finish.  We worked well together until we were directed right, instead of left off of 276.  This sent us down a 5 mile stretch of gravel!  Fifteen minutes later, completely lost, I found myself in downtown Pisgah Forrest!!  After asking directions (several times) I found my way back to the Brevard High school stopping the clock at 3:36.  This concluded my slowest assault ever, but also the longest at 71 miles.

written by: Zach Bannow

This year the Biowheels Cat 3 men came to River Falls to win.  The course is a 9 mile circuit with one short (2 min.) climb.  For the day we had Andy Pooser, Mike Small, and myself all working for Chris Emory.  Chris was coming into this race leading the series and was on great form.  On the first lap Chris went up the road and after no reaction from the field Mike did as well.  Five minutes later we turned the corner and they were gone!  From that point on Andy and I did what we could to stay at the front, and disrupt any attempts to pull the two back. 

Chris and Mike stayed away and took first and second.  This was Chris’s first win of the season.  I’m sure there will be more to come.  Everyone left in the pack knew they were racing for 3rd place.  Coming up the final hill we all sprinted. After a hard finnish Andy and I were left with a pack finnish.

written by:Zach Bannow