Calm before the storm (TDG Part 2)

Yesterday was a looooong day. Henk and I worked straight through the day (minus a 90 minute break to get a run in) stripping down the rest of the team bikes and building them up with the new Red groupsets. We don’t have a scale on site, but these bikes are for sure at about 15 lbs, and have very quick steering. The riders are out for about 2 hours right now checking out the new bikes, and will come back with comments. We’ll take notes on each rider’s bike, and spend today making corrections and getting them ready for tomorrow’s stage one.

The highlights of the day seem to happen as we’re wrapping things up. Not sure what the story was below, but apparently there were some cleat and pedal issues that required immediate hacksaw surgery on a set of Sidi Ergo 2’s. Hmmmmm…

Continue reading Calm before the storm (TDG Part 2)…

The Traveling Circus

We made the drive down from Atlanta this morning to the Tour de Georgia start on Tybee Island, just south of Savannah, GA. The guys got out for a short ride while Henk and I surveyed and organized the work before us.

Nine Trek Madones, all getting new Red groupos, new Aerolus wheelsets,…. and just two days to get it done. No problem - let’s start with the wheels?

Unpack wheels and their small parts from cardboard, lay out new Vredestein tires and tubes, Red cassettes, rim tape, rim tape?…. anyone see any rim tape?

Continue reading The Traveling Circus…

BioWheels Ready for Tour de Georgia

Racing? Nope, we’ll be wrenching, with BW-Cincy’s Mitch Graham working for China’s GE-Marco Polo Cycling Team. He flies down to Savannah tomorrow afternoon to join the team and start getting their bikes ready for Stage One on Tybee Island. He’ll be taking photos when possible and relaying stories you most likely won’t find anywhere else except for here. Stay tuned Sunday for the first update!

GE-Marco Polo Roster for Tour de Georgia

51 Leon Van Bon (Ned)
52 Jai Crawford (Aus)
53 Serguei Koudentsov (Rus)
54 Fuyu Li (Chn)
55 Yilin Liu (Chn)
56 Loh Sea Keong (Mas)
57 Rhys Pollock (Aus)
58 Yan Dong Xing (Chn)

BioWheels-Deltec Road Squad Wins at Upstate Race Weekend

4/13/08

 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. 

  Continue reading BioWheels-Deltec Road Squad Wins at Upstate Race Weekend…

BioWheels-Deltec Road Squad hits Rock Hill

Patriot’s Trail Road Race-4/6/08

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.

  Continue reading BioWheels-Deltec Road Squad hits Rock Hill…

BioWheels-Deltec Road Team at the Assault On The Carolinas 2008

3-29-08

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

UPGRADE FOR OVCX’s BioWheels/United Dairy Farmers CYCLOCROSS

UCI Elevates Cincinnati Area Race to C-1 Status

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

March 31, 2008; Conshohocken, PA, USA: “Harbin Park’s a C-1, baby!” That’s how Mitch Graham, promoter of the annual BioWheels/United Dairy Farmers Cyclocross in suburban Cincinnati Ohio, announced that the UCI had granted an upgrade for the race. Last year’s C2 race drew a who’s who of North American racers, punctuated by Barry Wicks and Katie Compton, who won the featured UCI races. This year, the race will be held on Sunday, October 12 as the capstone to a planned three-day weekend of UCI-sanctioned OVCX cyclocross racing in Ohio. It is the Midwest’s first-ever UCI C1 level cyclo-cross event.

The BioWheels/United Dairy Farmers is part of the Ohio Valley Cyclocross Series. Taking place in major Midwestern cities, the fourteen-event OVCX series is one of America’s largest series. And, with no fewer than five internationally sanctioned races (including the Louisville USGP weekend), it is also one of the most prestigious.

For more information on the BioWheels/United Dairy Farmers Cyclocross Race or the OVCX, the Midwest’s remarkable racing series, contact Mitch Graham at (513) 861-2453.

BioWheels-Deltec Road Squad took 1st & 2nd at River Falls RR

3-01-08

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

Industry Nine Road Team

Asheville has rekindled an elite road team for the 2008 season. Thanks to our title sponsor Industry Nine and other local sponsors including biowheels we put together a 5 member team consisting of myself chris ernst, jason sprouse, andrew erskine, adam ray, and chris larson who is moving to the area from virginia. We are racing cannondale’s system six purchased through biowheels and custom alloy road wheels from industry nine. Our kits should be here soon and we look forward to seeing you out on the road.

 chris ernst

Food Lion City Park Crit., Salisbury NC

Pro-1-2, 3-16-08

Day two of the Out Like A Lion race weekend. A very different day. Sunny, temp. in the high 50’s with a NNW wind that gave just enough chill to warrant the arm warmers.

The big guns showed up today with two Bissel pro’s, the entire Time Pro contingent, Adam Myerson of Santos-Toshiba, Team DLP, Hincapie Sports and the Lees-McRae collegiate team (complete with team tour bus) and Carolina Triathalon. I was riding solo as Jason decided to stay in A-town today. We started with a group of about 50-60.

The course consisted of a start at the top of a hill an immediate descent to a flat lakeside road where the crosswinds were in your face with 10-15mph breezes then a turn to the stair step ascent back to the S/F line. We ended up with 30 laps and 28 miles.

I started well and knew that the climb was going to determine the race. Sure enough, 15-20 minutes in the big move left and I didn’t think I would last so I just stayed in the pack.

The break ended up being 6 guys, all pro’s except for Ted king’s brother. They gained 50 seconds in no time due to the lack of an organized chase. This was surprizing because Hincapie Sports and Carolina Tri both missed out on the move.

That climb made me unsure of my staying power. My HR never went below 170bpm the entire race. I wanted to finish, not blow-up and drop out. These early races are low on the priority list. Just tough it out.

So the finish comes an hour and three minutes after the start. The field “sprint” was a group drag race up the climb. No results were posted anywhere on the web so I will take a guess that I finished somewhere between the 20’s and 30’s.

Fun Stats:

26.5mph Avg speed.  63 minutes of above LT FUN! 174bpm hr avg. 1245ft. ascent  28.5 miles  about 1 mile/lap

Till next time,

Chad Schoenauer

P.S. The results on the RR from 3-15-08 weren’t posted. Race called due to Tornado. YEAH!