Leadout Racing

Cone Azalia Cat 3

Leadout Racing — Sat, 15 May 2010 04:04:44 +0000

I took 1st and Mark took a strong second place.

From the start I clipped in and started rolling and didn’t realize but by the 1st corner I had a large gap, I figured whatever lets see how this plays and kept rolling. Someone bridged and joined me and we began trading pulls, about 3/4 of the way through the 1st dirt section he flatted when he moved a little bit too far to the side to let me through. I kept rolling until around the corner on the cement where I felt the wind and had no desire to be out on my own in that wind on the 1st lap. The field rolled in and then shortly thereafter Mark went up front and was first into the dirt section. I don’t recall which time through everything happened, but Mark led through that section almost the entire way every lap. There were several times Jeremy would get antsy and attack and Mark or I would go with him every time. We’d roll easy but keep the pace up and force individuals to chase. I would usually start the 1st section 2nd wheel and then at some point i’d pull through so i could be 1st through the bumpy section. Being up there meant it was easier to dictate pace if we wanted and we could pick the nice lines. The race was pretty simple nobody wanted to do anything aside from Jeremy, Mark and I, so we just launched little attacks (which usually formed due to just gapping people in the dirt or corners) and we would spend some time away sharing pulls and upping the pace. There was one point were we had both mark and I and two guys from SC cycles (including Jeremy), but there were a few motivated individuals in the field who didn’t want this one to go and pulled us back. For the sprint Mark took the front almost immediately after the final turn and kept a real easy but steady pace. Mark slowly started ramping it up with about 1K to go as I recall, and then around 500M the TT1 guy jumped hard and early and Mark easily covered and held his wheel to the point where the TT1 guy ran out of Gas, then Mark hit it harder and brought the pace up fast and started the leadout in earnest. He kept it fast well into 100M to go where is about where I recall heading around him. While I would have enjoyed more action from the field it was fun being really active on the front.

Felt good after I flatted yesterday.

Peter

Fort Custer Stampede (Beginner 11-14) 2nd Place

Leadout Racing — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:16:24 +0000

While I was preparing for the race my sister (Kiersen) rammed into my deraileur. This caused a huge problem that I would find out about later in the day. As the waves before me were taking off I was talking to the other racers in my group about how the race could be won by the sprint at the beginning. At the start, me and a 13 year old took off and the race was going to be between him and I as we dropped the other racers right away. For the first half of the race we stayed right together. He was fast on the downhills, but I was able to catch up on the up hills. When we entered the amusement park I found out that my sister had wrecked my derailleur and I dropped my chain. I quickly got my chain back on, but by then the other kid was gone. I was far enough ahead that the other kids never caught me and for the rest of the race I was by myself except for a few adults. I pushed as hard as I could for the rest of the race, but was never able to catch the other kid. I finished with a time of 52:50 and in 2nd place. After I finished I found the other kid and congratulated him on his win. I look forward to more racing at Hanson Hills and once more I would like to thank Geoff for helping push me to do my best.
Keegan

Yankee Springs TT (Beginner 11-14)

Leadout Racing — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:41:59 +0000

Going into the race I didn’t think I was going to do so well with 14 year olds in my group. I started the race and I was doing better than I expected. Maybe because Geoff was following me and he said he would run me over if I used my brakes. During the race I passed many adults and some kids in my age group. At one point I was chasing someone down and in a sandpit they wiped out in front me and I had to walk around them. I had to run up 3 hills and walked zero. Near the end of the race I was feeling like giving in, but I didn’t because I really wanted to beat Billy for the first time. As the finish was getting closer I picked up the pace even more, pushing myself harder than I have before. I ended up crossing the finish line with a time of 1:19:53 and in 4th place. I was amazed at how well I did and had improved on last years time by over 25 minutes. Geoff kept me going through the whole race and I have to thank him for my improvement. I hope he can go with me at Fort Custer.

Keegan

Yankee Springs TT

Leadout Racing — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 04:20:10 +0000

The Korienek Clan represented with some sweet results and I got to chase Keegan through the woods. I believe he is claiming I said I would run him over if he touched his brakes on the downhills. At his point in time I will not confirm or deny such allegations. You can find my report of how things went here if you would like.

-GBK

Training in North Carolina

Leadout Racing — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 21:58:52 +0000

A training update from “the road,” so to speak. It’s my spring break from teaching, and my friend James and I decided to set up a training camp in Raleigh, NC, where our other friend Jordan lives.

Throughout the week, we’ve enjoyed sunny skies and temperautres that have been consistently in the 80’s…even a few 90’s.

The terrain around Raleigh is low elevation, but it’s anything but flat. Constant rollers are found throughout the area, so it’s a great spot to train once you get out of the city limits.

On Wednesday 4/7, we took the car ride west to Boone, NC to spend a day in the mountains. Although it was only 56 miles, it was one of the most exhausting days on the bike I’ve ever experienced.

We parked at a hotel in Boone, and climbed very gradually a couple miles to get out of town. Our reward was a long relatively straight descent of about 500 vertical feet. We finally got a chance to turn off the main road and did some true climbing – apx. 5 miles and 1200 feet – headed to Banner Elk. the road was never straight nor flat, with curves and switchbacks as far as could be seen. Following a brief descent into Banner Elk, we passed Lees McRae College, noted for their successful cycling program, and the alma-mater of local pro Brent Bookwalter. Shortly thereafter, we turned right onto Beech Mountain Parkway. This road turned out to be the steepest 3 miles of pavement ANY of us had ever done, including my experience with climbs in the Sierra, and Jordan’s experience with Brasstown Bald. The average was 9%, with many sections above 12%. Seated climbing was not an option!

We regrouped at the top, and descended back into Banner Elk, where we refueled at a gas station. From there, we climbed a bit more to the Eastern Continental divide (apx. 4000 feet), then did a huge descent to a road called Schulls Mills, which was a quiet gentle climb of about 5 miles – not nearly as steep as Beech. We decided to descend and climb it again, since we all agreed it was the best part of the ride, summitting at the Blue Ridge Pkwy.

Following some helpful directions from some locals, we found our route back to Boone, accompanied by some extra unexpected climbing.

Going to have to cut this post rather abruptly, since my laptop battery is almost dead. Below is a link to the route. We did about 56 miles, with 5300+ feet of climbing.

Awesome day in the saddle!

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/nc/boone/135127069433518750

Webster-Roubaix Road Race (Florida) Masters 35+

Leadout Racing — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 14:12:41 +0000

It was an awesome race. The start/finish line is right in the middle of the 2.5 miles of gravel. We did a neutral roll out on the gravel and the racing began once we hit pavement. As expected the games began right away and lasted the whole race. It was one attack after another. I stayed pretty hidden as I chased only a few times in the first few laps. About half way through I began to try and get in a break, but everything was being chased down. On the forth lap there was a series of attacks that was putting a hurtin on most of the pack. I had just put in a good move and was about to hook on to another attack when we were ordered to slow down and let the stupid Pro 1,2 guys pass. (It was pretty impressive to see 2 teamates roll by with a few minutes on the rest of their group.) I really think that we were about to lose the pack when we were asked to slow down. We did a neutral roll through the gravel and then the racing started back
up, but all momentum was lost. I just hung around the front and waited for the finish after that. The last lap was pretty intense as the pace rivaled some of the fastest laps at Grattan. On one of the long straights a couple guys went off the front and their teamates covered the front, so guess who had to chase them down. I finally caught them and was pretty tired, but I had about 2 miles to the gravel to recover. I stayed toward the front and was ready for the finish. Chasing had taken a lot out of me, so the glory move was out of the question. As we hit the gravel the pace quickened considerably and I was around 15th. As we continued guys came shooting back, as we were flying. When the finsh was in site I began to hammer and was picking tons of guys off. I really thought I was going to get it, but came up just short in 4th place. Once again lesson learned as I had quite a bit left, but ran out of road. Florida racing is
pretty sweet and they have a ton of good racers. My race had around 50 guys and their was even more masters classes. They had 45+, 55+, and even a 65+.

Dan K

January 17, 2010 – Ride to the beach

Leadout Racing — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:38:45 +0000

On Sunday, January 17, 2010, Geoff, Dan K, Jimmi, Scott, Mark, and I met at the Georgetown Ice Arena for a group ride to Grand Haven and back. The weather was 35 degrees, overcast, and just a hint of wind out of the south/southwest. It doesn’t get much better than this in Michigan in January. We rolled out shortly after 1:00pm.

We kept the pace at a steady 20-22 mph, and rode 2×2x2 along nearly deserted roads. We worked our way across the Grand River, then turned west onto Leonard. As a bonus, there isn’t much traffic, so we had a very nice cruise into into Grand Haven where we stopped for some food and something warm to drink. After a quick break (where Dan K tried unsuccessfully to determine the scores of the NFL playoff games) we went back into the cold and headed south. We rode past the Grand Haven State Park – no bikini’s on the beach today! – and then rolled over the dunes until we reached Lakeshore Drive.

We took that south to Stanton, and took Stanton east back towards home. It was a nice long cruise, and the weather was just warm enough that our hands/feet didn’t freeze. I ended up with 60 miles round trip. It felt great to get some fresh air, and take a break from the stationary trainer in the basement!

Iceman Cometh

Leadout Racing — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:51:19 +0000

I have been thinking about winning this race since finishing 4th place last year. The weather was awesome and it made for an extremely fast race. As I lined up at the front of the expert clydesdale group I went through my race plan one last time. At the start, I immediately went to the front and pulled very hard almost all the way to the trail. As we entered the trail I was in 4th place and already had a gap on the rest of the field. Ray Dybowski was in front and was putting up a good pace. Ray and I took turns pulling and after about 20 minutes Ray and I had seperated ourselves from everyone else. We weaved our way around many of the other slower racers and about 30 minutes into the race I lost Ray on one of the hills. I rode alone for several minutes and assumed I was going to ride alone the rest of the race. Then out of nowhere, here comes Ray passing me and pushing the pace some more. We would ride the rest of the race together taking turns with the pulls. I was able to get ahead at every hill and knew that I could win the race by waiting for the last hill. The only problem was that I didn’t know where the last hill was as I had prerode the coarse but didn’t know the exact route toward the end. Every hill toward the end I took it like it was my last. I went balls out to the top, dropping Ray in the process only to have him bridge back up to me. As I got to the top of the last hill the 2nd place SS passed me and I was able to get on his wheel and ride it to the finish line. I ended up beating Ray by 6 seconds and we were 4 minutes ahead of the 3rd place. This was one of the most exciting races for me. Ray and I battled back and forth through the entire race in the end I was thankful to have the extra push up the hills. I am already looking forward to next years race and defending my win!

Dan K

DeBaets-Devos Pro-Am Criterium Cat. 3

Leadout Racing — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:54:23 +0000

This was the first of three races that I had planned on doing for the day. Mark, Mike, Peter, and myself lined up and had our normal plan ready. The plan was to see what happens and react. The race was pretty uneventful as many people tried to get into breaks, but everything was shut down fairly quick. Leadout put in their fair share of chasing and the field seemed to be willing to work also. The one break I thought would work was when Mark and an MCG guy went off the front. Zack from MCG and I patrolled the front and it seemed like no one wanted to go around us. A couple of guys bridged up and the field finally decided that was enough and put in a decent effort and brought them back. On the 2nd to last lap the pace really slowed as people were anticipating the sprint. On the last lap Mike and I found ourselves on the front. We quickly decided I was going to sprint and he began the leadout. Just as we were getting up to speed, Mark rolled by and took over at the front. Having Mike in front of me was good, but with Mark and Mike I felt we already had the win. Mark took us up to the last 180 turn and left it up to Mike and I. It was still a long way to go and I could see that Kevin Collins was on my wheel. As Mike was climbing the incline to the finish straight I became nervous of the field and came around Mike. It was a looong way to the finish and I had started my sprint. I gapped Kevin a little but let up a little in hopes that someone would come around and lead me to the line. No one came and I hammered down the whole straight. Kevin stayed behind me until the very end and squeeked out the win as I finished second. Second place is good, but I really hated not crossing the line in first as I felt like my teammates worked hard enough for me to win.

Dan K

Cherry-Roubaix Old Town Crit Masters 35+ & Cat. 3

Leadout Racing — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:45:47 +0000

All week the forecast for Traverse City was cold and rainy. Come Saturday morning the weatherman was perfect, as it was in the high 50’s with lots of precipitation. The course was great, but the weather was going to be the biggest factor. There was a stretch of road that was bricks and looked to be quite slippery. As the masters race began a lot of guys were being extremely careful. A small group of riders willing to take some chances with the slippery conditions started to form at the front. The group didn’t really breakaway as much as they just slowly left the overly cautious people behind. I think we had 6-8 people in the lead group and most of the race was pretty uneventful except some unknown rider made a little break in the middle of the race. He went off all alone for a few laps and appeared to be quite strong. We pulled him back and then with about 4 laps to go he broke away again. He continued to extend his lead as I and the group thought we could bring him back. The last 2 laps were pretty frantic as we put in big efforts to chase him down. On the second to last lap I lead around the last corner about as fast as I could. I heard the unmistakable sound of bike on pavement and looked back to see the rest of the group was taken out. Second place was all mine, but now I had to chase all alone. He had about 20 seconds on me and I gave it everything I had. I ended up in second place by 2 seconds and I am sure we would have caught him had the whole group stayed upright.

At the start of the Cat. 3 race I was feeling rather miserable. I was soaking wet still from the masters race and was freezing. It was a very similar start to the masters race as there was a division between the cautious riders and those willing to push it. After a few laps 2 guys, Brian Hill and Adam York, began to break away. I was toward the back of the pack and had no chance to go with them. I quickly moved to the front and began to pull in an effort to bring them back. I had no intension of trying to bridge by myself, but that is what it turned into. I had made up about half the distance when another rider went flying by, I put in a huge effort to get on his wheel and we worked our way to the 2 leaders together. The guy that helped me bridge up was pretty cooked and he soon fell back to the pack and the 3 of us rode the rest of the way. Brian was pulling extremely hard and Adam wasn’t much of a help, as he was sliding all over the place and worked to catch up on almost every straightaway. On the last lap Brian motioned for me to pull through and I decided it was time to start setting up for the finish. I sat in behind him and he realized I wasn’t going to pull. He quickly resumed his pace and pulled Adam and I the whole last lap. I guess he thought he was strong enough to take it the whole way. As we rounded the last corner I started my sprint and didn’t have any trouble going around. I was sort of suprised that I didn’t see Adam and as we crossed, it was me in first and Brian was able to hold off Adam for second.

All in all, a good day of racing. It is too bad the weather was so miserable because the coarse was pretty fun and fast.

Dan K.