The Frenchman to the Rescue & CC TT

This little guy rocked it on SAT:


But back to the Frenchman. We have this gentleman on the team, Francois Bru. He caught the cycling bug last year. He's the most energetic, organized, good-natured, hard-working and analytical rider I've ever known, and he LOVES time trials. It has been fun hanging out with Francois and his wife Valerie after some TT's earlier this year.

I've been giving Francois some grief lately - telling him to just relax and have fun with it. Well, thank god he didn't decide to change his ways this SAT! I pull what I think is my skinsuit out of my bag and it's actually just my long sleeve jersey. WTF! I look at Harrell and don't even bother asking him if he has an extra kit...like I'd fit in a small. Now Custer isn't giving up his YAH kit! (BTW- huge breakthrough performance by Custer!) What the hell am I going to do? Who the hell brings extra kits to a time trial?

WAIT! There is Francois. "Hey, Francois! You don't by chance have an extra kit do you?" I didn't really expect a yes, but in Francois fashion he responds with his french accent, "Of course, I bring extra of everything!" He tosses me his bib shorts and jersey. I'm now ready to roll! Whoosh...that was close. I'm not exactly sure what I would have done otherwise. The VALUE OF TEAMMATES showing up for races!

I really appreciate ABRT for putting on this TT, but man, this course has my number. I just haven't figured out how to attack it. I've been on death's door my first 3 attempts about 8k from the line. Not good! There's just no easy day on that course, regardless of how flat it is. Thankfully, I held it together enough to win the MABRA Cat 3 TT Championship which I'm happy about. This win was just icing on the cake after Millersburg.

And then we hit the most insane traffic ever on the way home...wow, that was a really long day of travel for ~55min of racing. Well worth it though.

Oh, yeah. As if one 40k TT isn't enough, we decided to go down to the VA Champs on SUN earlier this week. More on that one later...

Tour de Millersburg 2010 Road Race part II

Here we are, about to embark on the great adventure for all of the marbles, GC victory. Mother nature came out swinging, too, with a little added verocity...rain. Beautiful!

I won't lie here. It's a pretty damn cool feeling to wear the Yellow jersey and get a call up before the start of the race. As expected, this pretty much puts a target on your back, but it's an exhilarating feeling. You definitely have a certain sense of added motivation and pride to back up the fact that you are the leader of the race. I got a tiny taste of what it must feel like for a pro in a big stage race. Ok, that's an exaggeration. But today, I got my opportunity to *pretend* for a few hours I was "El Patron" of the peleton (tongue-in-cheek). And I had some soldiers ready to watch my back.







The road course is fast for sure. For the most part, the roads are wicked smooth with one small exception. I had no idea how fast we were going or avg speed of the race since my meter stopped working beforehand, but getting away was going to be hard.

I think it was on the first lap (17 miles) as the peleton was cruising along, I may have mentioned to Drew Armstrong (NCVC) as everyone appeared to be following the yellow line rule that it's always a strange feeling to have the whole road. It just doesn't feel natural. It took a good 10 miles or so before the field started making use of it in earnest.

I had a very basic strategy for the race:
A. STAY SAFE
B. Conserve - I had plenty of horses at my beckon call to do the dirty work if needed
C. Leave nothing to chance. Absolutely must beat the guys sitting 2, 3 & 4.
D. None of the guys top 5 in GC must be allowed to get away. We'd let others go. Other teams had to do the work to bring back moves.

Honestly, the first two loops were pretty uneventful. Yes, it was raining but I didn't think it was all that bad. Heck, I never even would have known if it had stopped because the water spray from wheels was never ending. I kept having to spit and remind myself to keep my damn mouth shut.

I was tucked in behind or very near my main Lieutenant, Nicholas, for most of the first two laps. I'd just roll with ebbs and flows of the bunch, never panicking if position was lost or trying to move up irrationally. There were attacks here or there but everyone was still way too fresh. It was like a pack of wolves chasing after rabbits. I had a constant eye searching for the contenders, but as I quickly assessed early on, so did my teammates. Damn, so much as a sneeze by a GC guy quickly garnered attention from the team. They were doing so well that it was almost bad for me. It was too easy to just unplug. I had to keep telling myself to pay attention. Good problems though.

It wasn't until the third and final loop where the race was going to provide some exciting drama. And holy sh!t was it a spectacle to behold.

Here's what I remember. It all happened SO fast but I do have a few vivid memories etched in my mind. I was near the front, maybe top 10-15. The speed was high and we were rounding a small curve in the road. I hear some commotion to my right. Like a dog, my sixth sense is acutely aroused. Then BLAMO! I "think" Nicholas was just slightly ahead of me on my right. I recall his bike being taken out from under him and all I see are his legs parallel in the air. SOMEHOW, I managed to barely miss him on the right and then a dude right in front of me just slides out for no apparent reason (he was in front of the freaking wreck for heaven's sake). I feel like I'm walking a tightrope at this point. I felt something slam into my left ankle as I go by but I'm able to hold it together. Holy crap! I think I was the very last rider to make it through before the HUGE pileup started. Jason Hall (Coppi) said he was right on my wheel, and sadly, he didn't fair so well, cracked frame and banged knees. I quickly integrated with the leaders but I did take one quick glance back and noticed what appeared to be a MOUND of riders in the road. CRAZY!

After I reintegrated, I was trying to assess who was there. In a strange twist, nobody really attacked right after the episode. I think everyone was still in a bit of awe at the enormity of it all. It was like everyone took a big deep breath and thanked the big man above. It wouldn't last for long.

After a brief period, I saw Andrew. As we rolled along together, I said to him, "Ok, Nicholas is out, so you are my guy." Andrew gave me the nod, enough said. I had total faith in him. I parked myself near the front and took inventory. Meurig (QCW sitting 2nd) present, Jameson (C3 sitting 3rd) not present, Wareham (Thru-it-all sitting 4th)present. Ok. Back to protecting GC.

I see a DVR rider up the road. I notice Ben Reynolds and Drew Armstrong attack along with a few other guys all of which aren't a threat to me on GC. Cool. I let Andrew know to let it go. And then out of nowhere I see Rusty charging up the left side. Down in the drops...fire in his eyes. I start yelling at him, "Rusty, let it go, let it go!" about 4 times before he stops foaming at the mouth and sits up. Only until after the race did I find out that Rusty had managed to catch back on after slaughtering himself to reattach. Awesome! I was very happy to see him.

So, the break now has 5 riders and is gradually stretching it out...5s..10s...20s. They are still in sight for most of the final lap, but it quickly becomes evident that the GC guys aren't going to help bring it back. It wasn't until afterward that I found out that Meurig had a teammate up the road, too. A somewhat ideal situation for me. At one point, I even mentioned to a guy who was asking me who was up there that I was happy with the break. If they didn't have a guy in it, his team needed to bring it back.

We hit the final stretch of road into town and a few riders tried to put in some big solo efforts but it was too late. As we were coming up the last gradual incline before hitting the flat/downhill descent into town, the next explosion occurred.

I'm not sure what precisely happened since I was hugging the yellow line, but all of the sudden there is a big pileup about 8 riders from the front right in the middle. I swerve off into the other lane and jump hard to reach the 6-7 riders up front. I see Andrew dropping off the back of that bunch to help me. As I'm storming up I start screaming, "GO, ANDREW, GO!" as loud as I can. The adrenaline was rushing through my veins. This was the last straw. It was on.

Andrew figured it out quick. We came up on the small group, came around and he just started unleashing hell. Kevin (DVR) had snuck on his wheel so I was sitting third wheel. After pulling all out for about 1.5 miles, Andrew takes the hard right hand downhill corner first. He's giving it everything he has left. As we get close to the traffic circle chicane, Andrew pulls off. I notice Kevin letting up and sliding left. I have no idea who is behind me and I never looked back to find out at any point.

I put in a seated surge right before the chicane coming through first. I took the turn rather gingerly, but I absolutely didn't want to slide out here of all places! After I knew I was through, I jumped out of the saddle and gave it everything I had. I remember Custer telling me that he tries to "break" his bike when he sprints. Well, that's exactly what I was trying to do. Those last ~250 meter felt like an eternity. I made it to the line and didn't see anyone come around...whew! 6th place, and most important, the GC win! (I've got some video I will add later)


VIDEO (catches the start and then finish with break of 5 then the field (what's left):

Tour de Millersburg Road Race 2010 Start-Finish from Peter Warner on Vimeo.

A huge rush of emotions hit me at that point. I was totally gassed from the effort but I felt on top of the world. It's amazing how quickly you can go from total fatigue to feeling like you haven't even raced when you win. The TEAM did it!

I can't express my gratitude enough to the team for standing behind me the entire event. It was an extremely special race and I will cherish the memories forever.



After getting cleaned up, we all headed over to Wayne's for beer, wings and coffee. I was buying whatever the heck the gang wanted to eat or drink. A small thank you for all the hard work.

We also donated the left over winnings ($100) to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Final Results posted HERE

I definitely plan on having the Yellow Jersey professionally mounted and framed. I'm gonna put that sucker in the pain cave for future motivation. And THANK YOU KENNETH LUNDGREN for guiding me this year. Your planning, guidance and constant reminders that I'd be ready to put together a storybook performance was brilliant.

I would also be in complete remiss if I didn't pay special thanks to my wife and her little brother for the incredible fan support and assistance throughout the weekend! I'm incredibly lucky to have her unyielding support!

Tour de Millersburg 2010

About midway through the season, Ken and I talked and we decided that Tour de Millersburg was getting a big old bulls eye on my race calendar. The one thing I really enjoy in being coached by Ken is the periodization we go through during the year. Going out and trying (thinking) you can win every race you enter just isn't realistic. You can't have great form all year long. It leads to massive burnout and the inability to attain a true peak in fitness. I've put total faith in the plan from day 1 (October 1) and followed my marching orders. I KNEW I was going to be on some special form for this race.

I did the race last year and had a blast. But this isn't just a race; IT'S AN EVENT! The entire community goes above and beyond to support the race and racer's. Really, I've never been a part of something like it. A smattering of emails between teammates and my coach throughout the week had me fired up to pull off something special.

Saturday morning was the first event. A hair under 10 mile Time Trial. I REALLY wanted to win this. I wanted that Yellow Jersey. I knew there was some stiff competition and it was going to take a near perfect ride to pull this off. I got in a perfect warmup. Got to the line ready to roll...er..sort of fumbled the start (see video below- good lesson on how NOT to start) but once I got rolling, the power was there and after about 5 mins I knew this was going to be a special ride. I just kept it pegged until the turnaround. Looked down at the time and knew I was faster than last year. I hammered the return and just emptied the tank the last two minutes. 20:15. Ended up 2nd. Close, but I needed that damn jersey and I wanted it bad.

Millersburg TT start from Peter Warner on Vimeo.

The crit started at 12:30 so we had a little downtime to chill out. It was fun hanging out with teammates and friends, just shooting the bull. The team got together and we hashed out a strategy. I need to make special mention here because the entire weekend wouldn't have resulted in the outcome it did without the devoted and motivated support from my teammate's; Nicholas, Rusty, Joe, Chris and Andrew. Everyone played their designated role to perfection to assist me with my GC aspirations. In a competitive stage race, it takes a team to win the GC. To be real though, you need to throw in a little bit of luck, too.

I get a callup for the crit so I get to stage right on the front. I wanted no part of being anywhere but the front for the first few laps with 97 guys towing the line. Right from the whistle I go hard. First through turn 1 and just stay on it. Crap, I'm actually off the front a few meters but the legs felt great so I went with it. I wanted to be safe for a bit longer. I scared my teammates a bit there, sorry about that! And then I hit a hiccup (see luck above). I flatted on lap 3, but thankfully, I was right next to the wheelpit. Jumped in, got the wheel changed and the ref told me I can go back in where I was at in the field. Cool. He told me I could jump back in at the front. Got going, grabbed Nicholas' wheel and pretty much stayed tucked in at the front the rest of the race. Nicholas was doing great work keeping me up there. I just kept repeating to myself every time we went up the climbing portion that I was going to murder this section on the last lap. Andrew was riding super strong as well. He'd make guest appearances here and there. A C3 rider snuck off the front and ended up getting about a 30s gap. Impressive.

With ~5 to go the attacks started. I saw Kevin (DVR) go with another guy, but I thought it was a little too far out. Kevin is strong as a bull and I didn't know who the other rider was that was with him, but the field started chomping at the bit. It was brought back after a few laps and then two others went. Hmmm, I still didn't think it had legs since they did get a gap but it wasn't growing. I reattached to Nicholas' wheel with 2 to go. Nicholas roared up the climb on the backside passing the two off the front. I looked back and saw the field strung out and that we had a small gap. I yelled at Nicholas, "We got a gap..GO,GO,GO." Nicholas just slammed it down the backside, through the S/F and through turn 1 and 2. I knew I had two guys on my wheel that I had to get rid of on the climb. I jumped right after the soft left turn leading to the uphill. Out of the saddle, all out effort. My lungs and legs were about to explode. I just told myself to get the hell to the top of the hill without anyone else. As I neared the top, I looked back and saw I had gapped them, and they were looking back for the field. I knew I had them at that point. BUT, wait, the C3 rider was now in sight! He was going backwards at the top of the climb. But once I hit the downhill I realized there was no catching him at this speed. I hit the final turn hard, looked back and was able to coast in for 2nd. Hats off to the C3 rider. Great ride. But most importantly, I now had the YELLOW JERSEY! The winner of the TT took 5th so I had a small 4pt GC lead on him with a few other guys not far behind. The RR was going to be a battle for sure.

Nicholas' charge with 2 to go was a PERFECT setup for me. I needed it to be fast and hard before I went. For him to get the separation from the field was unbelievable. And as far as teammates supporting a GC rider, Rusty did something very cagey. When he saw me flat, he drifted back in the field thinking he could help me move up when I got back in. Thankfully, I didn't have to start at the back, but it pretty much destroyed his race because the accordion effect was just insane at the back of the field. Extremely smart racing though. It's the little things and details that all add up throughout a stage race that make a difference.
Here's the video Igda shot:

Millersburg Crit 3/4 2010 from Peter Warner on Vimeo.

And here are video's Ben Reynolds (focusedcycling.com) took with his badass helmet cam:

2010 Tour of Millersburg Criterium Cat 3/4 Part 1 from Ben Reynolds on Vimeo.

2010 Tour of Millersburg Criterium Cat 3/4 Part 2 from Ben Reynolds on Vimeo.

We had a fun dinner at Wayne's (highly recommend this place..thanks Grayson for the tip) with Jenn Rist, Igda and Emi. I even had a few beers just to relax. We got to bed rather early, but honestly, I didn't sleep all that great and woke up at 5:00 a.m. Oh well. I was amped to get this Road Race going.

Oh boy, what's this? As I went out to put the bikes on the car, it started raining. Great! Well, sort of. Seriously, I race way better in cooler weather. I suffer in the heat. The nastier the better but not necessarily with 90+ guys who haven't had any results so far and all think they can win the road race. Yikes!

I didn't really get much of a warm-up in, but the legs felt super good. I'd use the first 5-10 miles of the race to warm-up. We all wrote the numbers of the GC threats on our arms. All I needed to do was stay out of trouble and let the fellas mark any threatening moves. I could sense everyone was excited and motivated to work as a team. I casually mentioned to a few other rider's that weren't a threat in overtaking me on GC that we wouldn't chase a break as long as it didn't have any of the top 5 GC riders. All I needed to focus on was beating the top 5 guys sitting on GC to the line in order to secure the overall.

stay tuned for RR report. I'll just say now that it was a wild adventure for sure...