The final laps of Ceraland were certainly “Nascar intense” (as usual).  My teammates worked their tails off covering dangerous moves as best as they could throughout the race – not to mention JK’s great effort in the winning break.  With three laps to go it was my turn to contribute.

There were still a handful of riders left in the field with a formidable sprint – and plenty of teammates to lead them out accordingly.  I could not key off of everyone – just not possible at this point in the race.  So, I had to pick a few wheels that I knew could navigate through the field and drill it at the end when necessary (Curtis T. and Kevin A. of TX RH).  As expected, others had the same strategy in mind.  With some careful acceleration through small gaps, a few bumps here and there, and judgment of where the wind was coming from – I was able stay on Kevin’s wheel (whom at this point was glued to Curtis).  Perfect – a locomotive leading out another locomotive (with me in tow).

With two laps go, it was clear that the main break of 7 has split into two.  Realizing that their man (Kehrberg) was no longer in the winning break (and still having a few guys that can sprint in the field) – DogFish formed a train at the front and drilled it for the next 1.5 laps.  This was a good thing.  The higher the speed the safer the ride into the finish (I know, it sounds ass-backwards, but it’s true).  At this point, the front of the field was in a single pace-line formation (the DogFish train, followed by the two TX RH demons, me and the rest of the field).

With a half a lap to go the DogFish train loses steam and Curtis takes over – drilling it hard with Kevin A. in tow followed by yours truly.  As this is happening, I hear behind me “JASON @$%!!!!!!” from Aaron Hubbell of Bacardi/Nuvo.  As I learned after the race:  unbenounced to Jason S. (Hubbell’s teammate), Todd C. (resident “pro” ridding in the colors of his former Subway team) was leading Hubbell out.  As Todd was cutting through the field (we were going 30+ mph at this point) with Hubbell in tow – they pass Jason.  Jason immediately slices in behind Todd (not knowing Hubbell was right behind Todd) almost taking each other down – that’s bike racing.  I really did not care what was happening behind me at this point.  My single focus was staying on the TX RH duo.

Fearing the “swarm” effect and realizing that the field sprint is now for 4th rather than 8th (part of the break is getting absorbed by the hard-charging field one by one now), Kevin A. unleashes a wicked jam sling-shooting himself out of CT’s draft into the sweeping turn (with me in tow).  With slight pause of the pedal – due to the high speed into the sweeping turn (clipping a pedal would have been disastrous at this point) – the sprint between Kevin and I begins up the slight rise.  Half way up the rise – a rider (reminisce of the break) is rocketing backwards faster than Kevin and I are propelling ourselves forward.  Kevin dodges the rider to the left as I dodge right – creating enough of a gap allowing Kevin A. of TX RH to take the field sprint for 4th (almost catching Declan Doyle of Bacardi/Nuvo at the line) followed by me for 5th.

Another 200 meters and we would have easily caught and passed the winning move.  Kudos go out to the Bacardi/Nuvo girls for the win and a special Kudos to my good friend Declan Doyle for the strong finish (we will swallow your ass next time Doyle).  I was pleased with my performance (considering it’s still early in the season) and more importantly with the team’s performance today.  We stuck to our pre-race plan and accomplished our goal of having a Tortugan in the top 5.  In the 18 years I have been racing – rarely have I seen a newly-formed team gel this nicely (without conflicting egos) in their first race together.  Yes, we could have made better decisions during the race – but that’s the nature of bike racing – always a work in progress.  Contrary to what some @#$%!? think out there (you know who you are) – Tortuga/Big Brothers is one of the main players this year.  Our next show is in Anderson.  See you then.

Man-up or get out of the way,

Karim

Ugly – the best one word description of the 2006 Ceraland Cat 1/2/3 race. I’m not sure if it would have been better to wear body armor or ear plugs. This certainly was no family event, although there were many times I heard about someone’s mother…

Bob’s race description was accurate, just missing the fine details of the verbage (or garbage) being strewn about the course. Understandably in the heat of battle, and man it was hot (86 degree temps fueled by a huge, fast field of flying testosterone), tempers can flare, but that should be it. Rumors of riders deliberately being bumped off the course and a post-race fist fight are way beyond the passion that should be seen by those competing on two wheels. We’re racing at an amateur level and it should be for fun.

Nonetheless, I had fun. The team rode well, and I heard post race satisfaction mixed with dissatisfaction from the squad, which is a good thing. I also know come race time that Tortuga will speak with our legs, not our mouths, and as the season unfolds it will get louder…

Well, I tried to post this last night, but evidently the cycling gods not only did not want me to be first across the line yesterday, they also did not want me to be first with the printed word. so here goes effort number 2.

Like the storms that tore thru Indy and other parts of the state Friday night, Saturday’s 1,2,3 race was ferocious. All the staple IRS squads were well represented. Bacardi/Nuvo and Texas Roadhouse were the animators of the race. Tortuga and Dog Fish were active, but clearly not as animated as the two aforementioned teams and that was reflected in the final result.

Congratulations to Bvg of the Bacardi/Nuvo squad for a hard earned win to open the season. Attacks and counters occurred for 54 minutes of racing when a group of 7 finally broke the elastic of the pack. The break contained BvG and Declan Doyle for Bacardi, a TRH rider, John Kelly (JK) of Tortuga, a Dog Fish rider and two others.

BvG, Doyle and the TRH rider escaped the other four with about a lap and a half to go with BvG powering to the line for the solid V. Unfortunately, the 4-some, which included JK, got swallowed up with about 300 meters to go.

The TRH rider took 2nd and Doyle just crossed the line ahead of the hard charging pack, led home by Kevin Atkisson of TRH in 4th and K-Man, Karim Abdelkader of Tortuga in 5th.

For the Tortuga Armada, the squad accomplished our modest goal of placing a man in the top 5, thanks to Karim’s crafty riding and fine sprint finish. Being our first race together as a full squad, the team realized going in that there will be some growing pains. Based on yesterday, the growing should not include much pain, as everyone gave great effort.

Chris and Vic were superlative in their continuous efforts to cover and go off the front throughout the race. Patrick Delisle also acquitted himself nicely by covering and providing a Tortuga presence whenever necessary. JK showed he still has what it takes despite riding less this season – he made the move that mattered near the end of the race.

Sean, Riggs, Brauner, T.Heff and Tim Davis each contributed as needed. Unfortunately, T.Heff suffered some injuries and equipment damage due to a crash with three laps to go. Crashing was rampant during the race. With so many teams well represented, tempers flared at times, causing certain riders to ride dangerously, which ended up costing some riders flesh and carbon.

My own performance yesterday was sub-par. While the effort was there, the savvy was severly lacking. I did not necessarily work any harder than I would in a Masters race. The difference however, is that the efforts I made in the 1,2s were merely to gain position rather than going off the front in an effort to set up teammates or create a break.

I did make it to the front once, after having spent two laps of energy wasting movement AROUND the pack rather than going through it. When I arrived in position, I found myself on THE Man, CT’s wheel. He launched, I followed, a few others bridged, and then I sucked phlegm for several laps.

The white knuckle, final 3 laps were nothing short of Nascar intense as riders surged the front every time the leaders let up, even slightly. The battle for position created more near and actual crashes. Karim is to be commended for holding position well enough to garner the 5th place.

As a team, the rest of us, especially me, can improve by working on positioning to better serve our teammates.

A big “great job” goes out to Geraint Parry who kept the crowd interested with insightful and colorful commentary as the MC for the 1,2,3 race. Nice job G.

This Wednesday is the upper paragon loop. Hope to see many of you there.