I won the last of the STS races in Ann Arbor yesterday. There were about 50 guys in the A race which turned out to be 90 minutes. The weather was Belgian-like: cold, cloudy, with the occasional light rain. I eventually got into a decent break of 7, including Alan Antonuk (RGF) and Rob Foshag (Lathrup). I thought my chances were slim in a 7 up sprint, so I summoned the power of Greg Christian and attacked with 1.5 laps to go, into the headwind, on the inside curb. Got a huge gap pretty fast and was able to hold them off until the line. In honor of the final STS for the season and true to Belgian style, they had beer and brats after the race. Nice.
One of the things I enjoy most about being on the bike is the experience of many types of weather while riding. When I awoke on Saturday morning to the sound of rain smashing the roof and thunder in the background, I questioned my willingness to venture out into it. Nevertheless we loaded up the car and began our drive to Harrison, AR. A region of the state I had yet to experience, and had also only heard amazing things. The rolling, mountainous terrain presented us with a spectacular vista as we crested and serpentine through the countryside. Upon arrival to the race site I had a time crunch to inscribe, kit up, and assemble the bike for the race. With few minutes to spare myself and the team spun around waiting for the call to line up for race start. A total of seven had registered for the field of 1/2/3s; I assume many others had a much drearier outlook on the weather, which by then was improved. Ourselves, the officials and the 3/4’s all consented to combine the fields. Through the first few kilometers a few accelerations took place but everyone in the field knew it would stay together until the two long climbs minced apart the bunch. Along the stretch we hit patches of rain falling on already saturated roads that helped make the higher speed sections much more interesting.
We sliced into Jasper and reached the first test of the day, Mount Sherman. There was no time wasted in the climbs assault on the field, as my brother, Wes, and Noah were helping to set the pace on the front, the lesser climbers fell quickly. With a small group of three floating at 20m from the main group I let the gap mature planning to make a swift movement to them when the time was right. We were coming around a corner that you could see a considerable increase in gradient, and hearing an increase in labored breathing among the group I made my quick shift up and left behind the rest. Wes was falling off as I joined up and the other rider would soon crack as Noah maintained his hasty ascent. Feeling relaxed and calm I moved onto the front to help in our distancing from our pursuers. Reaching the top I had puncture and Noah went ahead to save our position on the road, and I would try to close the gap on my own. I had just came into view of the motorbike as I saw Noah’s hand fly into the air signaling he too had mechanical issues of his own. Deciding that if we were to remain separated too much time would be lost I slowed my pace and waited for him.
85 degrees and sun on Thursday gave way to 41 degrees and wind driven snow and ice pellets for race time Saturday. This was the kind of day where you question why you race a bike and why anyone else would either. But the roads were mostly dry, six of us from Team Panther showed up to race and so did about 45 others in the Cat 1,2,3 field. Andy Clarke, driven by an urgent need to generate heat to stay warm, covered the early break. Midway through the race, Kirk and I bridged up to the break, which was now about 12 riders, including some good sprinters from other teams. Andy and I took turns attacking the break, which got me into a 3 man group with Matt Weeks (Carbon) and Dave Chernosky (Cleve. Clinic). Knowing Dave is a fast finisher, Matt and I took turns jumping him and got away with two laps to go. I was able to take the win, Andy Clarke finished 6th and Kirk led out Andy Moskal and Brent to clean up the field sprint. Good teamwork in the bad weather.
All’s well that ends well – except that I decided to ride the 40km back home after the race, and that’s when it really started to rain. I love this sport…
This weekend there was a circuit race in Columbus, Indiana, the town in which I was spawned. With not much else racing going on around these parts, I figured I’d go check it out. The race didn’t start until 2pm, so I went over and did a few hours on the bike before and headed to the start line. When I arrived, I was greeted by a large but lop-sided field. The were 10 or so Texas Roadhouse riders, another 10 from Marian University and a handful of NUVO’s as well.
Traditionally the break goes pretty early on this 1.4 mile course, so I was on my toes from the gun. After a pretty aggressive 30 minutes the break finally had enough Roadhouse and Marian riders in in that they would let it go, luckily I was also included. The break was 14 rider large with 5 TRH and 5 Marian and a few others. I obviously didn’t like my chances so I tried to attack to get the numbers a bit more into my favor. Since the break had Roadhouse 2 best sprinters in it, it became pretty obvious they they were racing for a sprint. I figured they were working for John Grant and so I camped out on his wheel for the last few laps. When TRH strung the break out for the sprint I was in prime position. The sprint opened up and I just didn’t quite have the legs and had to settle for 3rd. I was hoping for better, but I guess I’ll take it.
The second Cuyahoga Valley Spring Race kicked off at 9am on Sunday
morning with temps in the lower 40’s and a bit of drizzle. A four man
move went early in the race, containing Andy Clarke, and continued to
motor on for the next five laps. The drizzle from the start
eventually turned to steady rain, numbing my hands and feet….not an
enjoyable sensation after riding in 70 degree weather for the majority
of the week.
With the breakaway returning with two laps to go, Brian
Batke of Carbon Racing decided to attack the field and gain a decent
gap. Looking like a good move to join, I bridged across to Brian and
worked with him to distance ourselves from the field by 2 minutes. We
stayed clear and I took the sprint for the win. After crossing the
finish line, I turned around to watch Andy, Paul and Erik give Brent
the perfect lead out for 3rd. Good work by everyone on the team and
way to stick it out in the nasty weather.
On a side note, my white saddle is still orange, but I’m not alone.
Andy Clarke also shares this problem as well. If anyone has an answer
for us….please let us know.
-Andy Moskal
Thanks to David Henderson for this GoPro video he had rolling during our race. You can view the final few kilometers where you see our team fall into place at the front of the race. As we hit the brick section of the final kilometer you can see the effects on the camera. Just before he falls towards the back you can see our final leadout train fall into position. After a perfect execution, Chris Uberti goes on to take the win. For the video below, you may need to pause it and give it a minute to load. You can also see the full length video here.
Andy, Erik, Brent and I raced the first Cuyahoga Valley Spring Series Race on Sunday, a 35 mile race on a 5 mile rolling loop in the National Park between Cleveland and Akron. We took turns covering moves from other teams and launching attacks of our own. About halfway through, Andy got caught in a crash that split the field right as the pace picked up. Despite several attempts to make a break stick, the remainder of the field came back together with one lap to go and we started to plan for a field sprint. Coming into a long straight headwind sprint with an uphill kick in the last 100 meters I knew not to jump too early, but I got antsy and went anyway, hoping to give Brent a leadout if nothing else. For the first 400 meters I thought I might hold on, but the last 100 meters was my undoing and I ended up 2nd, Brent was 6th. Good sprint training…
Saturday was the infamous Hillsboro Roubaix for the
Panther/Competitive cyclist squad. This was the first big weekend of
racing of the year with (almost) the full team, so It was going to be
interesting to see how we all raced together.
After everything I had heard of this race I was really preparing for a
three hour suffer fest of people attacking left and right out of the
125 person field. However that was not the case, the first two laps
went excruciatingly slow, the first lap putting down a blistering
average of just over 20 mph. So for the most part the massive field
was completely stacked on itself, making it virtually impossible to
move anywhere in the group. Even though I tried, I know that I didn’t
see the front of the field once the first lap of the race.
The second lap was more of the same. Running through the finish I made
sure to scope out the finishing circuit.
The second lap was largely like the first, everyone getting twitchy
but no one really wanting to open hostilities themselves.
Finally going into the third lap the race suddenly turned on, and went
from a big easy group ride to some really tough racing. As the course
twisted back out into the wind Panther was represented in nearly all
the moves. However, most of the groups, usually initiated by Texas
Roadhouse, would always lack riders from the Kenda Pro squad. So each
group would in turn get chased down by one their riders.
STS stands for Spring Training Series and I really approach these races with that in mind. I rode to the race in Ann Arbor from my parents’ house in Redford… a 2 hour spin. Tail-gunned the B race to get some extra miles/ speed and raced the A’s for real. I felt surprisingly good for my first race of the year and even took the first preme! In hindsight though, I probably raced a little too aggressive in the early part of the race to expect a decent sprint from my legs at the end. I was really playing my cards for a break, which never transpired. I had good position going into the sprint but nothing in the legs and ended up 8th of 50. I console myself with the fact that I had a ride time of 4 hours when I crossed the line… but that’s merely a cheap excuse. Rode back to my parents house for a total of 6 hours and what I imagine was well over a hundo (100 mi). Even got to stay for dinner. Nice.
"3pm start time and located in Oxford, Mississippi makes for 117 degree heat index!"
-Zach Spinhirne-Martin before the road race at The Oxford Endurance weekend.
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