Title 168

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="02c285a1erlcgo.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>REI Austin Cycling Team</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="REI Austin Cycling Team"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> back to  <A HREF="id164.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Race and Ride Reports"><U><B>Race and Ride Reports</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="02ad2c00dkelyh.gif"> <div> <A HREF="id164.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Race and Ride Reports"><U><IMG SRC="03b0e0e0.gif" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>   <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14">     <A HREF="id167.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Title 167"><U><IMG SRC="02f0e0e0.gif" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>  <A HREF="id169.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Title 169"><U><IMG SRC="0300e0e0.gif" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <B>Fort Davis </B></div> <div> <B>Stage Race</B></div> <div> <B> ...JT</B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> JT's Take on it....</div> <bR> <div> A great race to test yourself, but not one I suggest doing without </div> <div> some thought and preparation. I saw some Cat 5's signing up for </div> <div> their FIRST race ever.</div> <bR> <div> The TT was tough going out into the wind. The problem most people </div> <div> had was not having enough gears on the way back. You really had to </div> <div> push it hard going out to make good time. I conserved to much going </div> <div> out, which hurt my time. I was in about 20th after the TT.</div> <bR> <div> Stage 2 was more my style...climbing. Rusty Stover (I have raced him </div> <div> many times...he is a cycling freak) took off on the way up to the </div> <div> observatory. He would finish 1st on this stage by almost 5 minutes. </div> <div> Many people were shelled on this stage, but the REI contingent hung </div> <div> in there. I finished in the top 8 or so, but most importantly, </div> <div> pulled up to 12th place in the GC. 19 seconds seperated me from 9th </div> <div> after stage 2. This stage was ugly for a lot of racers. Many forced </div> <div> to walk up the hill, not go up at all (DNF), and/or throwing up at </div> <div> the top. The most amazing site was a youth racer pedeling up the </div> <div> observatory hill. Incredible!</div> <bR> <div> Stage 3 started off with the same climb minus the observatory. Most </div> <div> of the field stayed together for this climb as the pace was much </div> <div> lower than the previous day. Did I mention Zak was off the front? </div> <div> Splits were coming in that showed Zak GAINING time! David and I just </div> <div> hung on and at the turn-around found our group was down to about 12 </div> <div> or so. At this time, the top GC guys were getting nervous. UYS had </div> <div> 4 guys in this group so they put the hammer down. Rusty wasn't </div> <div> satisfied with that and rode off the front after Zak. UYS was trying </div> <div> to put their guy, Joe Chipuk in a position to attack after Zak. Good </div> <div> tactics by their team. They were looking at David and I for a turn </div> <div> in the rotation, but we just hung on. At about mile 55, after a </div> <div> miserable flat section at high speed, my left quad decided to tense </div> <div> up. That was all it took at this pace to roll of the back. </div> <div> Disappointed? Yes. I knew how many were up the road in that break, </div> <div> so I figured if noone else passed me, then my 12th would be secure. </div> <div> In the end, David finished with what was left of the lead group to </div> <div> move up several GC spots (10th). Zak got caught almost at the line </div> <div> by Chipuk (who did launch that attack) and Stover, but got 3rd on an </div> <div> amazing ride. He moved up to 4th in the GC. I managed to pass a </div> <div> couple of other guys who fell off and retained my 12th. Personally, </div> <div> I am pleased with my weekend. Especially after choosing Ft Davis as </div> <div> my first race in the 4's. It was interesting to see many of the 5's </div> <div> I had been racing at the beginning of the season Cat up for this race </div> <div> as well. </div> <bR> <div> One important note when racing a stage race...you must be able to TT </div> <div> if you want to be in the hunt. I learned this in Fayetteville and </div> <div> now in Ft Davis. You can get top 10's with an ok TT, but to contend </div> <div> you can't give away much time on this stage.</div> <bR> <div> As usual, it was fun hanging out with the other REI racers. We all </div> <div> get to know each other better race after race. As you can see from </div> <div> the other posts, everyone had a successful weekend. As Jaime said, </div> <div> this is one race to test yourself on. I for one am already looking </div> <div> forward to next year....and that darn TT.</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>