Tria Cycling presented by DonohooAuto

For our second week of points, we had lots of great action. Pat Allison wrote up a great summary on his blog (http://leaditout.com), and I’ve quoted it at the bottom of this post.

First, here’s my quick summary. In the first attack zone, things started off with Lennie Moon attacking, Darryl Seelhorst following, and Joe ? (Bob’s Bikes) bridging to make an initial break of three. These guys worked together for a short stretch, but Joe was crushing it and went off on his own before getting reeled back in. On the flat run-in to the hill, Lennie attacked forcing others to chase him down at the base of the hill where it was grupo compacto again. Then on the hill, Darryl launched first with me grabbing his wheel. Then Sammy came by with me switching to his wheel. Then as Sammy started to fade, I launched out pretty much right at the turn by the church. Pat came around just before the line, and I held on for second with Chris Allison behind for third followed by Jim Brock in fourth and Stuart Lamp flying into the picture for fifth.

The second attack zone was also our first KOM zone of the year. I attacked after following a strong pace set by a rider whose name I don’t know. He was chasing Joe (Bob’s) who had attacked at the bottom of the hill and gotten a bit of separation. When I attacked, I wanted to establish a selection of maybe 3 or 4 riders so I came from behind the rider I was following and hit it really hard not anticipating having to maintain that pace all the way to the finish. But when I saw it was just me and my teammate Stuart together, I kept the pace high. Stuart pulled through across the windy I-459 bridge sacrificing his chances to give me a short rest. I was hoping we could both stay away, but when I saw a hard charging Pat and Will, I had to drill it again. I was just able to stay away with Will and Pat coming up fast. Darryl, Wes, and Stuart battled it out for the 4th and 5th spots with Darryl and Wes coming out on top.

Great ride guys and gals. All-in-all, this week’s ride went really well. Thanks everyone! There were some jerks on Hwy 25 – but fortunately none were riding bikes, instead they were all driving cars. Maybe we could have a bit of a group discussion this week to talk about how best to approach Hwy 25 to minimize car frustration. Here’s 3 ideas:

1 – In Dunnavant (after crossing the train tracks), pull over to the side of the road in that parking/grassy area. Let all cars that have queued up behind us on the climb from Vandiver go by while we split up into roughly 3 groups of 20-25 riders each. Then each group could leave Dunnavant in 1-2 minute intervals to establish passing zones for cars so that they don’t have to try and pass the entire group of 75 riders at once. This would also apply when we add the Mimosa loop except we’ll break up into groups before re-entering Hwy 25.

2 – In Dunnavant (after crossing the train tracks), pull over to the side of the road in that parking/grassy area. Let all cars that have queued up behind us on the climb from Vandiver go by. Then re-enter the road and proceed as one large group.

3 – Use an alternative route (e.g., reverse the current route to traverse 25 in the opposite direction which may make it easier for cars to pass on the steep climb up Vandiver)

Just some food for thought – add your comments to this post if you have additional suggestions or preferences about what we should do.

Here’s Pat Allison’s recap of the ride today. Excellent recap – check it out on his website http://leaditout.com or copied below:

Standard loop again today with attack zones set on Sterret and Cemetary hill. Team Tria split up teams today, which made for very fast and exciting attack zones. Darryl Sealhorst kicked up the pace immediatly and created a nice gap, lennie moon also tried for a solo attack as well as Wes douglas. The group chased hard and were able to bring the finish down to a sprint. The stronger riders seemed to use the hill to move into position. Sammy Flores played the lead out role for Chris and Pat Allison to perfection. Darryl Sealhorse started early and hard but was swallowed up by Smmy followed by Brian Toone. Pat Allison came around Brian for the win with Chris Allison, Jim Brock and Stuart Lamp For third forth and Fifth. The pace was good and controlled until the second attack zone beginning at the Bottom of Cemetary Hill. The action heated up quickly with an attack by Brian Toone. Only teamate Stuart Lamp was able to match the attack. Pat Allison went for a solo bridge and was only able to catch Stuart. Brian Toone Just held off Will Hibberts, who came flying out of the chase group passing Stuart and Pat. The pack was splattered ending with Brian for the win, Will Hibberts for second, Pat for third, Wes douglas nipping Stuart at the line for forth and fifth. “Team Sprint” edged out “team climb” by just one point for the extra two bonus points. Funny it seems that the guys who want to push the pace on the hills outside of the attack zones never seem to make it to the finish when it counts. Touche!

Also – I have only included the women’s results from the first attack zone. Please let me know how all the women finished on the second attack zone. Thanks!