Team Nature’s Path Racing Blog

ANDREW TROY
Wake Forest TT & Criterium 2/21 road race 3rd

Submitted by Marc Warner

Snowball #2 was held on Sunday under the beautiful sunny skies of Chesapeake, VA.  We traveled down with a small squad of 3 and were the benefactors of an extended warmup as none of the previous 3 fields could safely navigate the back corner with the bump on the inside and the sand on the outside.  The race started off in the usual fashion with my nose on the stem and my butt in the air staring intently at the wheel in front of me.  The usual early attacks went including a strong one by Mark Hardman who owns more Stars and Stripes jerseys than I own neckties.   Eventually a break of 5 formed that included Matt “shelly” Carlton who some of you might remember from last year when he was regularly breaking legs in the cat3 field.  Anyway, maybe because he had only been on his bike for 3 weeks, or maybe because he was worried that Dan King and myself were lonely, Matt decided to work himself off the back end of the break and into the front of the field.  Dan’s words of advice were the profound “uh-oh thats a problem”   Fortunately with the help of a guy coming in at 6’6″ and 350 pounds, we were able to both bridge up to the break at which point Goliath was dropped.
So now we are 30min in and have a solid break of 5.  Craig Dodson, Bill Collins, Gene Rutledge, Mike Hosang, Dan and myself.   Basically 2 sprinters, 2 all rounders, 1 mountain biker, and a guy who couldn’t outsprint Carolyn Goble if you put her on a beach cruiser. Despite the heady competition, with 2 in 6, our chances should be pretty good.   Everyone rotated through nicely until the break was well established at which point some of the folks started skipping pulls as the focus went from maintaining a break to winning the race.
At this point, Im going to editorialize, and you should probably skip it as Ive been riding a bike for 3 years and dont really know what Im talking about.  It concerns the topic of working during the race.  By the time one finishes with cat 5, one needs to realize that working during a race is for one purpose only, to promote you or your teammates chances of crossing the finish line first.   Pulling or riding hard for any other reason doesnt make you a good guy, it makes you a fool.  (Now if you never pull, it may help future chances, as no one will ever want to work with you again)  The flip side of that is that a guy who skips a pull because its in his best interest to do so is not a bad guy, he’s doing what he’s supposed to do.  If a sprinter is latched on to your break and is not working as hard as you are, that’s YOUR PROBLEM its not his.  Yelling, insulting or grabbing is just stupid and is very uncool.  (Although it always amazes me how people will change their game plan just because someone is yelling at them)
So the options as we saw it were 1) wait until the end at which point I can lead Dan out for the sprint 2) Insinuate myself between the lead of the break and the sprinters and “float” them off the back. 3) Attack the break, forcing the other riders to chase and giving a free ride to the teammate who subsequently finishes them off or 4) Wait until Dan gets to the front at which point I lay my bike down in one of the corners allowing him a free shot at the finish.  I dont think Im fast enough to be effective at 1) Marnie wouldnt like 4) and if I tried 2) I think the sprinters would just jump around me leaving me off the back by myself.  So we tried 3) which we had discussed before the race.  I would attack,  the other guys would close, Id wait a lap and attack again.  After the 3rd or 4th time I looked back and I was finally in the clear.  I settled into my sustainable pace and started thinking about where I was going to spend the prize money.  I felt a wobble in one of the corners which is not particularly unheard of with my bike handling skills, but then I noticed the speed falling off for the same power.  When I stood up to try to get it back, the bike washed out from under me.  1.5 laps to go and my steed is lame.  I asked a guy who we were lapping for the 4th time if I could borrow his bike, but he politely declined.  Fortunately, in the final stretch, the little guy emerged and finished off the deal, so not all was lost.  Ultimately a well executed first win of the season.
Respectfully submited

Submitted by Dan King

GREAT DAY! – Today was one of those team days were it just all came together…nice -
Started with the usual flurry of attacks- Warner & I managed to get into a great move that should have been the one that stuck…but Mark Hardman got on the front of the field and brought us back…pretty much by himself -
The counter move was it…Matt Carlton(aka Shelly) made that move so Warner and I surfed wheels and just managed the front of the field -the break was our of sight…not sure what happened but coming out of a turn I could see Carlton(Shelly) again??? He was out of the break- warner pounced immediately taking 1 guy with him – then I went with the next guy-he made it up to about 100yrds to warner then I jumped him and was clear to Marc…I tapped marc on the shoulder and we did a 2man tt(break was still out of sight) -drilled it until we caught the break -we had great momentum & rolled through the break and just kept jamming that resulted in dropping a few of the original members…now we were 2 in a group of 6- great odds.
Warner & discussed prior to the race what we would attempt in this situation-it was perfect-I knew a lead out wouldn’t work so we punched a few attacks forcing dodson/collins and the usuals to burn some legs bringing it back then with 5 to go I went to the front and drilled it-let Marc come around and sat up-riding easy tempo making a gap…Warner stayed in the saddle and pulled ‘the fuentez’…I just sat on the front saying…”he’s crazy let him go-he wont make it” – it worked no one chased…Warner was gone-nothing could stop him now-& my legs were feeling good-I thought we 1st&2nd today was in the bag -no way I going to lose the sprint-Im amped…and a little ticked @ the guys for sitting on the break-then going into the bell lap I see Warner standing on the side of the road…LAUGHING holding his hands up in the air-”what the heck” he flatted with a lap&half left!!!! – I managed to win the sprint for the win-despite being chopped into the 1 dangerous corner going into the sprint/not cool! – but Warner had it in the bag today…what bad luck & Shelly (matt) is getting his legs back & that was good to see-
We’re going to have a great season as long we keep riding together as a team

17- Jay Catlett
34- Dan Schmitt

The morning started as a cold, cloudy, and windy day.  I hopped on the trainer in full winter weight gear and started taking layers off as I got warm.  I ended up racing in just summer weight shorts, under armor cold gear and my TNP Jersey.  I was one of the only people on the starting line without warmers on.
I caught up to Dan Schmitt on some warm up laps and we talked for about 5 laps about what a great opportunity racing at RIR was.  I feel obligated to thank Chip, Carolyn, and all the others who made this race possible.  I will always remember this opportunity.
Dan and I started up front at the start line of the race.  As the race started up you could begin to tell what riders you were going to have to watch out for.  All through out the race the field was constantly being shuffled.  Dan seemed to be feeling pretty strong in the beginning and stayed up in the front pack for the first 25ish minutes.  I tried to stay in the middle of the pack and just concentrated on being safe.  After a few close calls with being squeezed in the turns I decided to try and stay on the outside line the rest of the race.  The race continued as planned all until turn 4 of the bell lap.
I had just gotten out of the saddle to build up what I thought would be a solid sprint to the finish when I rider in orange went down right in front of me.  I ripped my rear brake and slid my rear tire out to the right and some how managed to avoid a collision.  In the process I heard a loud bang and could feel my rim rolling on the pavement.  At that point I was so focused that I kept on hammering to the line.  Once I reached the line I made a left turn into the in field and some how managed to stay up right through the whole process.
Dan and I have decided that this race was a clear success for both of us because we kept it on two wheels and made it to the end with only one minor incident.  I hope at the next Crit to see a few more Cat 5s come out.  It was a great experience to be on the Nascar track.  I look forward to more success the rest of the season.

-Jay Catlett

Results from one of the emails that everyone received today:

15- Joel Miller
18-Tony Miller
27-Joe Panella
33-Frank Yeager
40-Oliver Dujua
49-Chris Tarczynski

Also represented, but not ranked:
Ed Baumgartner
Ed Bump
Rob Cook
Rick Levesque
Mike Yengling

From my point of view:

I was a little late to the line and started at the back of the pack.  I
started on an inside line and made very slow progress.  Tried the outside
with much more success.  I waited for people to make a break on the outside
and grabbed their wheel and managed to make much more headway that way.  I
saw several teammates floating in the pack, but I was so focused on the
task at hand that I made no attempt to join any attacks, etc.  I had a lot
of family at the race and I could here them get more and more excited each
lap as I moved up in position.  At the beginning of the last lap I found
myself in third place and heard Ed McNelis ask someone who I was.  At that
point I probably should have just made an attempt at an attack, but I let
myself get swallowed up by the pack.  Coming around the last bank I saw to
my right a guy start to stand to make a move, but I was a bit suprised when
he cut inside straight into my front wheel.  He either didn’t see me or the
bank just pulled him in.  We both went down and I had a beautiful slide
into home plate.  I ended up with a gash in the elbow (stiches), road rash,
and probably some modest bike expense.  Funny thing was that my friends and
family were probably more impressed with the memory of me at the front
instead of sucking wind at the back if I had finished, so things worked out
for the best (although I would take a wounded ego over a sore tailbone at
this point).  I loved the race and would do it again.  I am just pumped
that I was able to hang with my teammates for as long as I did!  Thanks to
the RIR people, Caroline, Chip, all the refs, and all the other volunteers
that put this race on!  It was a rush!  I would also like to thank Craig
Dodson for the first aid that he gave me before my trip to the ER and Dom
for giving me a hand with my bike after the race.  Looking forward to a
great year of racing!

-Ed Bump

Submitted by Ed McNelis.

Maria was out of town on Saturday, but Elizabeth Keith, one of our newest teammates, rode brilliantly winning the Women’s Cat 4 event in her first road race.   A great start to what should be a very strong season for TNP women.

Our juniors also came out of the gate strong with first place in Women’s 10-14 (Mallory McNelis outsprinted current State Champ Kristen Schaeffer in an exciting finish) and first place in the Women’s 15-18 where seventeen year old Abby McNelis took a page from Liz’s playbook to win her first road race as well.

On the men’s side, 13 year old Parker Brookfield finished 3rd behind International phenom, Jake King and some other equally gifted junior from another club.  Taylor Clarke road very strong and either won the boy’s 10-12, or finished right behind Parker in the boy’s 13-14.  (Dave – please chime in here regarding Taylor’s racing age.)

Kudos to all of the volunteers who came out even though you weren’t racing.   You all played a crucial role in making this event a great success.  Apart from several crashes, this event could not have gone better.   I am very proud of this event and our team!

As Joel Miller probably realizes giving an interesting blow by blow account of a bicycle race contested on a race track is fairly difficult.  At least its difficult to make it interesting.  The pro 123 race was a stacked field with full squads from Harley, Haymarket, TNP and Richmond pro being the big players.  Fresh from the Tour of Oman, Ben King was also in attendance and was clearly a man among boys.  Maybe a boy among men is more accurate, but clearly the stongest person in the race.  Like most speedway races with strong teams, it was very easy to sit in the field, but very hard to get off the front.  It amazes me that sitting in the middle of a field even at 35mph is really no problem, particularly if there are no turns and its a steady experienced field.  As Im starting to learn,  breakaway composition is all important.  If a good team isnt represented you will get an organized chase from behind.  If there are too few riders, you dont have the horsepower to make it stick.  If you have too many, the passenger to worker ratio gets too high.  Its funny how it seems to only take one guy to stop working and then one by one each rider checks out.  Anyway break after break was unsuccessful until about5-7 laps to go when a strong break of 5or so got off the front with Ben and all the teams except ours.  Unfortunately we had to burn alot of horsepower just to pull it back together and then didnt really get a result.  This was our first race with a full squad and all in all we did well with a few stategic things which require work..  One of the guys we race with regularly named Brian Vaughn from Haymarket likes to race with a helmet cam.  So here is what the race looks like if you were sitting on top of his head for the last 10 laps.

Elite Team

TT – Andrew Troy 5th

Criterium – Andrew Troy 4th

Andrew Troy- had a great weekend – in addition to his 3rd in the rr-

2/20 WAKE FOREST tt 5th
2/20 WAKE FOREST criterium 4th

Elite Team
Marc Warner – 5th, Dan King – 7th, Bill Malone – 9th, Chip Goble – 12th