Fremont Bank Cycling Team

The Crit

This year would be different. That’s what I told myself, anyways, when registering for elite nationals road race and criterium back in March.

Last year had been about learning to navigate an unfamiliar race course in incredibly brutal conditions. It was also about learning how to race against 220 of the best non-pro riders in the country, and learning how to fight through a teeming mass of cyclists all singularly focused on one crowning objective: becoming a national champion.

One crucial thing I had learned from the previous year’s effort (29th in road race and 33rd in crit): when the stakes are this high, athletes lose their minds. Racing becomes war. And I don’t mean that bs type of war that is never actually declared a war and neither side ever concedes that the fighting has any “profound sociopolitical impact.” No, this athletic war is that type where all parties involved know what’s at stake, tell each other the same, and then go about trying to beat the opposing forces into bloody submission.

Anyways, barely cracking the top 30 in 2011 left me hungry for more. My goal for this season was a top 10. Ok, honestly, I wanted to win the damn thing. I always have. I think having lofty goals like that keeps me motivated year after year. But, I also approach nationals realistically. I understand how hard it is, how great you have to be on one given day, perhaps without support in the form of either feeds or teammates, and how a tiny and unforeseen mishap on the smallest scale can spell disaster. In short, the celestial bodies in the night sky have to align for that one day, for one rider, and not the other 200.

That said, the stars had not been aligning for me so far this year. I caught a bad cold right after Mt Hood, with 4 weeks until nationals, a time when sharpening that razor blade of fitness becomes mission critical. The taper has to include some focused work and concerted rest, not just rest. I had to take time off the bike to recover from the head cold. Then I started riding again only to feel worse. My cold morphed into a full blown sinus infection, and I was put on thumb-sized antibiotics for 10 days. I would ride briefly for 25 minutes a day trying to convince myself it was somehow keeping me fit and helping my body mobilize itself. In reality, my nationals plan and an entire build up to that one day was in doubt. On several occasions, I visited the United Airlines website and hovered my mouse over the “cancel flight” button.

I raced a local NorCal crit in 100 degree heat 6 days before the nationals criterium. My only goal was to evaluate whether or not I had recovered enough to make the trip to Georgia. My legs felt great from all the rest, but I had throat boogers making labored breathing and coughing a constant. “Eff-it, I already paid the reg fee, I’m going.”

The gun went off and 160 riders including myself started into the 50 mile crit. Yes, an hour and 45 minutes in 98 degree heat with sauna-like humidity. I don’t need to get into lap by lap accounts of how awful it was, but I seriously contemplated either dropping out or crashing myself into a bush and laying there for a few laps and then taking a free lap. It was miserably hot and the pace was just unthinkably high. My check engine light came on 4-5 times in the first hour alone, the wheel I was focused on directly in front of me would slip past my gaze, and I would slide back another 20 places instantly.

At some point it occurred to me that the next wheel I lost would be the last. I was sitting dead last. I stayed there for about 20 minutes. Criterium purgatory. Then I flicked on in my head that classic Prefontaine movie from ’98, Without Limits: Donald Sutherland/Bill Bowerman was talking to Pre (me in the mental adaption of the film) in the alley of a bar, and he was repeating a line “your talent is not some disembodied act of will Rob, it’s literally in your bones.”

It wasn’t the perfect line for my struggles to stay in the race, but it did distract me enough from the immediate agony of the task at hand while also reminding me that my legs, my heart, my lungs, were all suited for this type of effort. I just needed someone else’s voice, not necessarily even Bowerman’s, to assure me of this.

I finished 33rd and couldn’t believe I had made it up into the front half. The last 20 minutes were hazy. Literally. It was smoggy as hell and the streets had this horrendous chimney-type soot that stung the eyes and covered everything on bike and rider.

Saturday I slept until noon, rode for an hour, took a nap, ate some dinner, and then went to bed. Perfect rest day.

Sunday’s Road Race

I finished 14th. I put myself in a position to podium, and I fell just short.

176 guys started, and every single one thought he had a shot at winning. The course was a 14.7-mile loop around the Fort Gordon military base. We did 7 laps for a total of 104 miles of racing, with 6,500 ft of climbing. No section of it was flat, just endless rollers and wide, smooth roads.

It’s really a great course, in a less than great climate. It was about 90 degrees when the gun went off at 1pm, and that temperature would climb another few points later in the afternoon. The humidity was just crushing though. It literally felt like we were in a sauna. Living and training in Houston for over a year had prepared me for that type of weather, but a lot of guys who showed up simply had no idea what they were about to go through! There were some clouds this year, which helped a lot, but for the most part it was just zip the jersey open, drink a neutral bottle or 2 every 30 minutes, pour some water on the head, and eat salty things. I had salt pills, crackers, and GU Chomps keeping the cramps at bay, but unfortunately, I started to feel stomach pains about 40 miles in…

At first they were subtle blips on my physiological radar. Then the alarm bells sounded, and I felt like vomiting or worse (think ironmen runners with stuff dripping down their legs) was inevitable. I lost my will to eat anything, and still had another 60 miles of racing…I went to the back of the field just in case I needed to relieve myself. I think it was some bad yogurt. Or bad Mexican food. Or a combination of those things plus the extreme heat and extreme race intensity.

Whatever it was, I actually explained to myself that a bathroom stop was feasible: “Those toilets are so close to the start finish, you could just scoot over to one the next time through, do your thing, and then chase back on.” Except the next time around we just hammered through the start finish at 35 mph and I found myself at the tail end of a mile long snake of riders. And so it went each lap after that. I kept forcing myself to think about other things, and I tried to shift my focus to trees, clouds, sock patterns, time gaps, etc. I stopped eating though, which in retrospect was probably idiotic.

After some brutal pace fluctuations and earnest chasing of some Cal Giant solo attackers, we came up on 1 lap to go. I stuck my head down and moved from maybe 110th wheel up to 5th wheel. It took about 3 minutes or so of all-out effort to make that move, but I got where I needed to be, and with only 5K to go. I went with a 3 man move that was quickly shut down. I went with a 6 man move that was quickly shut down. I realized the great escape would have to happen on the final climb up to the line. We caught all except 2 of the remnants of the early break before the final climb. Some Mike’s Bikes guys swarmed me and brought a bunch of guys around me with 2K to go, pinching me into 25th or so at the base of the climb.

When we hit it though, I went apeshit crazy. It was steep enough to kill most of the fat sprinters, but not long enough to favor the anorexic climbers. In other words, it was exactly the type of finish I prefer. It was virtually the same as the Mt Hood opening road race finish, except for one important difference: In Augusta, the finish line was another flat 250 meters from the top of the kicker. After a minute of max effort and head down beast mode, I hit the top of the kicker in 3rd. So with 2 guys up the road that put me in 5th place, and virtually on the podium. And with 100 meters to go I was still there, and with 50 meters to go….a mass of 8 guys surged around me, wiping me off those podium steps. I finished 14th. I put myself in a position to podium, and I fell about 2 bike lengths short. I probably went too hard, too early, but I have no regrets. I worked hard and pushed through several distinct forms of physical agony in the process. There’s always next year…

Let’s send a squad to Madison and put someone on that podium! Training for it starts….now.

(I went to the bathroom and threw up after the race ended. I did other unspeakable things in there as well. I’m amazed my body held it all in for those hellish last 60 miles.)

Schef

Peter was one of the very first riders we recruited to our nascent Pro/1/2 program when it was still part of Contra Costa Cycling Club back in 2007. We had met Peter and his wife Cody at Sea Otter that year when Peter was still racing for Ritchey Design’s elite mountain bike team.

Peter, Adam Ross, former Aussie national track/road pro Ben Lindsay and Mark Deterline went up against the big teams in NorCal of that time, and Peter has continued to help make believers in our program ever since.

It goes without saying that Peter’s ability, determination and leadership have been invaluable, as well as Cody’s when she was part of our women’s program from 2009-2010.

Peter left us for a different upstart road program at the end of 2009, but came back in the fall of 2010 to help launch Team Leadout/Fremont Bank as one of our captains.

The thought of not having Peter an active part of the team is both strange and sad. He is an awesome husband and father, and will do other great things in his life that will inspire others, especially young people looking for good role models.

Peter has decided to take some time away from road bike racing. We believe that as a pro mountain biker and successful Cat1 roadie, Peter has nothing more to prove on a bike. That is something all of our riders hope to be able to say someday, should they ever choose to step away from cycling.

Peter and Cody have been exemplary ambassadors of our program and of the sport – as original squad riders, as leaders in both ability and conduct, and as supportive teammates. Friends like them have made all of the hard work we put into this team infinitely worthwhile.

We’ll miss you, Pete!

A competitive Fremont Bank women’s squad has always been a goal and key component of our program. 2012 represents a season of rebuilding for us.

We will continue to implement our proven model of bringing together accomplished veteran racers, such as Cat1 Catherine Robertson-Goodkin, with young up-and-comers like former 3-time Junior National Champion, and U23 and Collegiate National runner-up Jerika Hutchinson.

Our goal is to provide support and guidance on and off race courses, giving up-and-coming riders the opportunity to take cycling at the elite level as far as they are able.

Jerika finished 2nd at 2011 U23 TT Nationals to Peanut Butter & Co phenom, Tayler Wiles, as well as 2nd at 2011 Collegiate Track Nationals in the pursuit.

Jerika has trained with the US National Team and its director has great faith in her talent and potential. So have other elite team managers whose support is crucial.

We are looking to add more strong women over the coming months, providing Jerika the opportunity to develop her skills, as well as progress as an athlete.

We have followed Jerika over the years and have great respect and fondness for her and her parents. She is also a dedicated college student!

AJ Kennedy – 3rd

Michael Jasinski – 3rd GC

Peter, Nick, Michael, and AJ Kennedy gathered in Chico, CA for a 2 day, 3 event stage race that started with the Paskenta Road Race. About 5 miles into the race Webcor started the attacks. A  flurry of about five attacks all initiated by Webcor were followed by  an aggressive move by Eric Wohlberg of Form Fitness. Peter Graf was  quick to get on the move and they went up the road.  With no Webcor rider represented in the break,  it would be on them to do all of the chasing. Peter rode smart as  he was now in a move with two other form fitness riders. He said that  he did minimal work as to preserve himself since he was out numbered  two to one. The break moved out to a maximum gap of 1:25. This was  definitely good for us as it kept Michael still in the hunt based on 
the fact that we still had 60+ miles left to race. As we hit the 
gravel on the first lap, Michael moved to the front and was able to go 
clear with a small select group of riders in the gravel section. At 
the finish of the gravel sector, the gap had come down to 25 seconds 
and soon after the finish of the first lap, the break was caught. At 
about mile 60 or so, Adam Carr from Form Fitness went off the front 
solo and held the gap till about mile 75 when he was caught by a solo 
bridge effort by Michael.  Approaching the final climb before the down 
hill finish, Michael put in a series of attacks to go for the win 
solo. With a small gap over the summit and approaching the finish 
Michael went full gas, Adam was narrowly able to close the gap and 
catch Michael’s slipstream and come around him in the final meters for 
the win.

In the small group behind Peter was able to respond to a flurry of 
attacks over the last climb to the finish in the first chase group in 
5th place which was the first Category 2 rider to finish.

Aqua Frias TT – Going into the TT Michael was 2 seconds out of first 
place after the time bonuses from the RR. More importantly he had to 
deliver the TT of his life to stay on the podium racing against Roman 
Kilun of KENDA/GearGrinder & two time Canadian TT champ Eric Wohlberg. 
Michael rose to the occasion and finished third on the day to Roman 
and Eric. He passed Adam Carr on GC and was now in third place overall 
going into the Crit.

Chico Crit – “The Day of Reckoning” With AJ, Peter & Nic vowing to 
protect Michael’s overall the tactics for the crit were pretty 
straight forward and it was not going to be easy. With Roman on guard watching Eric Wohlberg, the task was to watch out for the fourth and fifth place riders on GC. This would prove challenging as the rider in fifth overall got 
into the breakaway with Patrick and Nic from the start of the race. This all changed when Nic got popped from the break  after taking the first time bonus to keep Michael’s lead in tact. Once  Nic came back the next half hour of racing was spent with Peter and AJ  talking half lap pulls with occasional help from two other riders. Nic  joined in after recovering. With about 15 laps to go Michael sensed  the danger as the gap began to grow and reached a maximum of 20 
seconds. At this point Michael started  taking monster pulls to protect his overall. With 5 laps to go the gap  was back down to 15 seconds and at the finish the break stayed away at  12 seconds. Michael’s third place overall was secure and he was on the  podium with two of Norcals best riders!

Peter Graf – 1st

Peter was joined by Nick Oliver and Mark Marquez for the cat2 race last weekend and raced against 34 other cat2 NorCal riders in Copperopolis, Ca. Mark started the attacking and was able to stay away for a few laps before being brought back by the group. Pete was in perfect position to follow the counter-attack and the break of 8 riders stayed away for the remainder of the race. Pete won and Nick Oliver finished 10th. Congrats on great team-work and another win for the Fremont Bank Cycling Team!

Mineral Wells, TX is located about 6hrs outside of Houston, TX and Rob Scheffler took the GC win for Fremont Bank last weekend. The event started with a criterium, where Rob found himself solo off the front and about 20 seconds up on the field with 45 minutes remaining. Despite a few moments of concern for such an effort so early in the event, his commitment was seemingly born anew once or twice per lap: once upon passing the cheerleader section and once upon passing the mariachi section. Apparently Mineral Wells, TX knows how to put on a bike race……              Later that afternoon, Rob placed 2nd in the 7 mile time trial and because it was point-based race, not a time based race, he was in a virtual dead-heat with one other rider going into the road race on Sunday.

Sunday’s road race put Rob to the test with an aggressive field and no teammates to help he was forced to be patient and watch potential GC contenders carefully. Although a break of 5 riders finally got away, Rob finished 2nd in the bunch sprint and had enough points for the win. Congrats on another great finish Rob!