Ohio State Championships

It was an great great course a crazy one at that, it had a fun down hill a not so fun up hill but what can you say all three of us made it through it even though they told us on the flyer we had 3 laps but we only had 2 and poor bizz man she is a beast she made it through the course with not even half as many miles as i also i give it up to Adreania keepin bizz pumped i love it. Also thank you josh and woodford for giving us water and refuleing us and spraying us (josh). Thanks Todd for the hill training the sunday before felt like someone was pushing me up the hills. Thanks to all who yelled at me and who gave support (Mrs.Lamonte)it realy helped!!!

Brooke Crum

According to the results posted on the Web, I finished 6th, not 9th.

Got in an early break just a few miles into the race with one Torelli and two other riders. To my amazement, we got a big gap very quickly. We kept a rotation going, about 30 second pulls, for just over two laps when I looked back and saw the Torelli train coming up from behind. There were 3 Torelli guys, including O'Brian and Braumberger and 2 or 3 others (one was a Laurant Fignon look-alike). Once Torelli caught us, I quit working and sat on while Torelli and a couple of the others started a rotation. We rode as a group for another couple of miles before O'Brian took off with Braumberger quickly on his wheel. That left 6 or 7 of us and of course the remaining Torellis weren't going to chase, so the rest of us half-heartedly gave chase - until the 3rd time up the hill - at which point someone attacked and blew the group apart. I was the last one up the climb but soon caught one other remainder of the chase group. He and I rode the rest of the race together, eventually getting caught by the Cat 4s (we had passed them earlier on lap 2). Last time up the hill I was dangerously close to cramping so I let the other guy go and hobbled in - the last remnant of the first break of the day.

I know we weren’t the strongest team out there today, but we came to race and not make it any easier for the rest of the teams. I think Joe B and John O’D really planted a seed in the minds of others that SH came to race. I think we even gave the Torelli guys fits. John was the consummate team rider today, he gave it everything he had early in the race to close gaps and be there in the breaks.

After the initial break with our man Joe, Torelli could not get another guy off for what seemed like two laps. We burned almost every last match just trying to keep the race together- I did manage to save one to get me through the second half of the race.

For the last two laps, I literally just grabbed a wheel every time there was a surge and hoped I could recover before the next one. I know Larry on more than one occasion towed me back to the group with steady pulls. Will made his presents felt in the later stages of the race keeping the chase group going and covering moves.

I think today we made a significant step towards becoming a much stronger racing “team.” I think someone famous once said, “Rome was not built in one day.”- or something like that.

"There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain..."


There was a lot of pain out there today.

Kharma. Feng shui. Yin Yeng. Being in sync. Sympatico with the universe. Sailing through the metaphysical cosmos with the wind at your back. I didn't have it today. I was the functional equivalent of Ryan Rish's bike last week-out of whack with the Gods. Didn't matter that I trained hard Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and rested Thursday and Friday with a light spin on Saturday, got lots of sleep, ate right, packed everything carefully, got to the race in plenty of time, etc. etc. The thermometer may have read 82 but it felt like 102-I normally don't sweat much for a thin guy, but I was dripping wet in no time and the sweat mixed with suntan lotion was blinding me. I guess I need to start coming equipped with a Pantani pirate/doo rag like the old bald guys. First major break attempt was by a solo Dayton guy. I chased after him only to decide when he was only 20 feet away to let him go-he would never get far. He didn't look smooth on his bike and not knowing him, I made a guess. Bad guess-he rode on to win. I got gapped for no good reason here and there including being behind the wrong folks on the climb and time and time again and had to expend tons of energy getting back up. I chased after too many silly surges/attacks. In short I didn't race smart and didn't have any luck come my way either. My only consolation is knowing I rode hard, and it's not much in the way of consolation.

Keep under advisement: Never race with Bronchitis.

This was my second attempt at this course. I went in knowing what I was in for. Last year, I made it one lap before the dots in front of me were singing and dancing. I seemed to have missed the smurfs. My goal this year was to finish the race I started. I did.

I want to thank my incredible and encouraging team-mate Shari. You go girl. We did hang with the pack for most of the first lap. We almost had them again, but I learned from last year, you must drink. So, I slowed down in the feed zone to get another bottle. We were trying to catch the pack, but the two of us were hurting. So, we spent lap two all by ourselves.

Going around for lap three, I needed two bottles, and Jim taped a GU to the one. Just a small hint....I don't like to eat on the bike, it makes me sick. Shari stuck it out with me for most of lap three, until, like Gamm, I started getting a little fuzzy around my edges. The world got a little gray, and I got a little cold. Amazing, 90 degrees outside and I was freezing. This was after 100ozs of fluid. Hmmm...gotta figure out the drinking thing. I am disappointed that I didn't see the smurfs.

I finished the race. Next year, well, we'll just have to wait and see. To all the team and their significant others who cheered us on and encouraged us as they went on by, THANK YOU!! To Shari, for making not want to quit, THANK YOU.

A great day for a race with a HUGE turnout. I think over 300 riders total! It was warm and pretty windy and I don't think I've ever been so completely fried after a race. Thankfully I wasn't the only one that hurt today as the road was strewn with dropped and cramping racers. Thanks to everyone that came out to help with hand-ups. It made a big difference.

The Masters 35+ field was stacked with Torelli: Jeff Braumberger, Obrien Forbes, Tris Hopkins and ?Dave Chernosky?. These guys are strong, have been racing forever, and they all know the game pretty well. Even though Obrien hadn't even met some of his teammates before this race, the four of them still raced together like a well-oiled machine with each one working off of the other's moves.

Here's how it played out: The attacks from Torelli started early and were relentless until the first group got away. John'OD and StevieP did a fantastic job of covering breaks - we had a guy in almost every move. But JoeB drew the winning lottery card and covered the move that stuck.

With the early break gone and everyone happy with the mix, the field settled down for almost an entire lap. I knew it wasn't going to last long though. Torelli wouldn't be satisfied with just 1 guy in they break. They would want ALL their guys in the break. Sure enough, halfway into lap 2 Torelli started turning up the heat again. Braumberger attacked and got away in a three-man group. Once they were clear Obrien Forbes starting a relentless series of attacks that shattered the field into little pieces. This was the critical moment in the race. Someone from the team needed to be in this group so they could get up to help Joe. I kept bridging up to Obrien's group, which whittled down to 4 guys, but Obrien kept attacking. Eventually a rider was gapped in front of me and I couldn't cover. Tris came sailing by. He and Obrien joined Braumberger up the road with a few other riders hanging on. No one from Savage Hill made the chase group. So Joe would be on his own.

Slowly, what remained of the field reformed behind me. Over the next few laps we alternated between attacking each other and coasting, watching each other suspiciously. In my opinion both speeds hurt. My legs were fried. Eventually we caught several riders from the Braumberger group who were just shaking their heads about how badly they were worked over by Torelli. The good news was that the Braumberger group had not yet caught Joe's group.

Cramping on the finishing climb is my specialty in this race, and this year was no exception. As I pushed on the lower part of the climb both legs seized up simultaneously. I slowed to a crawl just feathering on the pedals trying to get to the top. Thanks to the people along the climb that were yelling encouragement. Larry was right behind me joking "look away...we're hideous". But it's always great to have support.

StevieP stayed in the pack over the final climb, then proceeded to lead out the sprint and get beat by everyone - whoops. JoeB was eventually worked over by Torelli, but stayed away from the field to take home a very respectable result after working the breaks the entire day.

7 weeks since I last raced, 14 Days removed from the Bahamas and about 10,000 training miles since I was pretty sure I would feel OK today…..but how good was the big question. Fish was my only company in the P/1/2’s because apparently Rish and Swain had more important things to do, what could be more important then mindlessly racing 100 miles through Ceaser Creek?!?!?!?!?!

Since I had good miles in my legs and no speed I played it safe and didn’t go for the break that went 15 miles into the race. In fact I even missed the break that went with 25 miles left and stuck, no that’s playin it safe! What I did do was go for a ridiculous break with about 15 miles left solo, first I bridged to a guy about 10 seconds good, dropped him, then caught 2 more about 45 seconds up, dropped them like 3rd period French, then got within sight of the large break……this is where things got ugly. I started to overheat, bad. My heartrate was between 196-199 the WHOLE time, this is a problem cuase I have only seen 202 three times in my life, ill let you do the math from there. So anyway I started getting tunnel vision, seeing smurffs cross the road, hearing voices, ect ect. I hit the hill about a mile before the finish and pretty much stopped, it was ugly. I got passed by most of the people in what was left of the field and limped to the line.

When I crossed the line my buddy Ryan had to turn in the AC full blast in his car, I took me about a half before 1) I stopped sweating profusely 2) could see straight/not double 3) could speaking using words from the English language in sentence form 4) stand.

On the bright side I felt good today and am confident for Tour of Ohio, woohooo.

The first miles were tame, even on the downhill. Wendy and I were near the back of the field of 35ish, and we avoided the crash that took out one of the Revolution women. We hit the hill. I began moving up the field, trying to keep a cadence I like while climbing, but I was expending too much energy, and already in my lowest gear--I wanted 2 more teeth at least. Flip side, I was passing people on the hill, still sitting.

By the top, I was hurting, and probably 6 women passed me right back as the attack began and they responded. The attack continued over the crest. I watched the field ride away. Wendy and I had intended to work together, and I knew she was somewhere behind me. I hesitated--chase, or continue recovering? I continued recovering, then decided to chase when I looked back and didn't see Wendy. I started working with another woman, closing the gap, but she lost her legs. I looked back again, saw Wendy was coming with a good head of steam and pulling two riders, so I slowed, let her get on my wheel, and resumed the chase. Wendy and I quickly dropped the other 3, and it was her and me chasing.

We were closing the gap up until the feed zone, but the need for bottle pick up made us lose ground. Then we were both hurting, and by the time my heart rate recovered enough for me to tell Wendy we could pick up the pace, the field was probably 300M away. Argh! Then the headwind hit, and she and I hurt so much we lost sight of the field. Double argh!

The second hill climb hurt. Wendy and I continued to work together. At the feed zone, I had to pick up two bottles, which shocked me. I run huge bottles, 33 oz, and I had drained both of them. When Wendy bonked, we said our farewells, and I put what energy I had left into the rest of the ride. That descent was really cool when you didn't have to worry about anyone else's line!

The third time up the hill, the only thing that kept me on the bike was the number of people who had lined the hill, and would have seen me walk. Then someone encouraged me, and that helped. Then I remembered my poor mom, who has to put herself through 60 min. of painful rehab every day for her knee replacement. Surely I could put up with a couple more minutes? Yep. I finished fairly strong, but not with a great all-around time. Gives me plenty of room for improvement next year.

Looking at the horses in the field while waiting for the start, we knew we were in for a tough day. The feeling was like waiting outside the assistant principal’s office, waiting for the inevitable punishment to be handed down: we knew it was coming, all we could do was suffer our best...

I hopped in the first move by a Torelli, and the two of us worked together to bring back a solo. Soon the field caught us, and Joe B. hopped on the next move. That one was never to be seen again. Great job, Joe.

I covered a couple more moves when the anticipated fireworks began on lap 2. (Steve, I realize I should have towed you up to one of those breaks instead of just jumping on it myself.) Shortly after that, the race blew apart. Larry came by and said, “My wheel,” but I was already cramping. By the time I got to the hill on lap 3, I was cramping so bad that my goal was to make it up without walking—I barely made it.

It is now three days after the race and my legs are still sore from the cramping. It feels like Rocco and Luigi worked them over with baseball bats.

Thanks, Jim M. and all the crew in the feed zone. Your work was essential.

It was just one of those days where the bike felt as if it did not fit. Of course, during the race, I was known as the guy with the squeaky chain. It tried to tell everyone that the sound was quite calming, almost bird like, but they did not agree especially after 4 hours.

Thanks to everyone in the feed zone. You all are the best!!

Remember. The last 10 miles are always the best. : )

Got done with the duathlon and quickly headed down to Ceasars Creek. Michelle and Woody had a nice spot staked out. Most of the handups were neutral support. Michelle and I handled the special bottles for the team then Woody stood a few meters up the road with a neutral support bottle as backup in case of a missed hand off. Todd, Sorry for the miscue. I thought I heard you say "gatorade next time by".