Team Globalbike Blog

Sunday’s Out Like a Lion Salisbury Criterium

The Pro 1,2’s would include such personality as Josh Whitmore, Andre Vandenburg, Austin Brown and double dippers like Jim Cunningham, Rodney Dender and Derek Kidd. The race started with no hesitation as the field zoomed around the 4 corner lop sided course featuring a 500 meter stair step hill through the finish followed by a fast downhill into a flat section back into the hill. From the getgo attacks were flying and Global bike green could be seen in nearly every move including as sir Andre Vandenburg who made his way into the second longest break of the day before an ever chasing field brought it back with around a dozen laps to go.

Josh Whitmore deserves the work horse award for his unyielding presence at the front covering move after move allowing his fellow teammates to recover. One such person would be me who had been sitting in for most of the race not feeling so confident about the draining drag race up the hill lap after lap. However noticing that I had not done my fare share of the work and forced myself to make my way to the front even if it meant not finishing.

With 10 laps to go I noticed a group of 5 + 6 straglers rolling off the front without a green jersey in it and decided that it was now or never and jumped across making contact with a few chasers half way around just in time to catch a free ride up the hill. By the end of that lap we were a break of 11 with Mtn. Khakis, DLP and Jetfuel pro teams having 2 or more riders represented = free pass for me to sit in! As we climbed the hill coming into 1 to go the break split and I was forced to jump across and latch onto Adam Myerson’s wheel where I stayed through out the last lap. DLP’s boyd Johnson was to be led out by his teammate as we entered the last 500 meters - with 200 to go Myerson jumped and instantly gapped Boyd and myself who battled it out for the remaining podium spots, Boyd handily held me off - I would be 3rd.
A big thanks to all of my teammates, who certainly helped take the pressure off those not feeling so great for the first 2/3 of the race… Kudos to Jim Cunningham for finishing and playing very active roles in both the Masters and Pro 1,2 races coming back from an early season crash.

For those of us that are in school right now this time of the season is somewhat consumed by trying to gather up enough NCCA points to qualify for collegiate nationals.  Globalbike has 3 riders currently competing in collegiate racing (Tom Smith, Craig McKinney, and myself) and so far the team has been well represented.  Craig and I have both grabbed a 1^st in a RR and a couple of other podiums.  Tom has only been able to attend one RR but on that single outing he finished 2^nd. Not too bad for his first collegiate race.  This past weekend was a particularly good weekend for Globalbike in Athens, GA.  UGA was hosting and South Carolinians dominated.  Craig finished 3^rd in the TT behind Spencer Beamer and Andy Baker.  I finished 4^th which I was particularly pleased with because I ran off the road in the first corner like an idiot. 

The RR also went well.  Andy Baker, Craig’s teammate from Furman, got up the road in the winning break on the first lap so Craig just road in a support role.  I tried for a few laps to get away to no avail.  Craig and I, along with a few others from LMC, were hitting it up the one steepish little climb on each lap.  Every lap we would get a gap and get brought back by a smaller and smaller field.  By the end of the last lap there were only a handful of people left.  Craig and I were together coming through the last corner.  Craig rolled through the corner first and got a bit of a gap.  I was second wheel so I just let him ride away.  Thomas Brown, a very strong sprinter from Emory, and some strong LMC were still in the field so I figured they would either chase and lead me out or Craig would stay away.  LMC chased and Craig wasn’t brought back until just shy of the line.  He still managed a top 10 with a really solid ride.  Thomas won the field sprint at about 2,000 rpm’s and I ended up coming in second for 6^th place.

The Criterium on Sunday is a strange course.  It is almost a circle but it has 2 corners a downhill and a punchy little climb.  LMC was pulling some wild racing-against-themselves tactics that were pretty hard to figure out.  From what I could tell they were going to chase their own riders down unless they had more than half of the break up the road.  So that garbage went on for most of the race and with about 15 min. to go Craig got away with a Georgia rider and 2 LMC kids.  LMC, Georgia, and Furman were the only real teams with numbers in attendance so it was pretty obvious that this would be the move.  I managed to ride across to the move shortly after it began and the 5 of us would stay away.  I ended up 3^rd with Craig 4^th.

That should sum it up from the collegiate side of things.  Thanks for reading.

Congrats to David Forkner for another strong finish in the Salisbury Crit this past Sunday!

-Tyler

I thought I’d check in with a brief Masters 35+ report of the Out Like a Lion RR and City Park Criterium for the weekend of 3/21-3/22.

Saturday’s race can be summed up pretty quick. Jim C. Rodney, Paul, Steve, Rick and I all took part in the event. It was fast from the gun, with lots of attacks in the first 3 laps, we were represented in all of them. When the winning break went I was there…..briefly. Unfortunately, I just didn’t quite have the legs to stay in the break and off they went into the sunset. With all of the money up the road, Jim C., Rodney and I went to the front on laps 4 and 5 and kept the tempo high enough to hold of any further attacks from the field. When the final lap came Rodney jumped off the front giving Steve just the right amount of time to led Rick out to take the field sprint. So, not the greatest finish, but we worked well together as a team and many of us are not quite on form yet.

Sunday at the City Park Criterium we were all aware that it was going to be a slug-fest from the start, it was…Rick and Steve were coming off off good finishes in the 45+ race an hour before. Rodney, Jim C., Derek, Paul and myself were fresh and ready to go. As soon as the whistle blew the attacks started. A crash early on gapped several of us and Paul did a great job of getting us back to the main group. Jim C., Derek and Rodney were covering attacks early on and making some moves themselves. I covered a couple of moves and soon found myself in a group of 4 off the front. Each time I came by the start finish I could hear Josh cheering for me and Steve telling me to ride smart. This really helped me out… it help me dig deep when I was hurting and not do too much work in the break. Let me tell ya, when the attacks came toward the end of the race I really needed this encouragement. I don’t have a very good poker face and when I was diggin’ deep to stay attached I know my face was showing the pain my legs were feeling. That pain was minimal compared to the pain I was about to experience. On the last lap all four of us were still together. I was fourth wheel as we went through the first turn at about 30 mph. The guy in front of me rolled a tubular and went down hard, I had no where to go… by all accounts I hit the curb and flew into a 4 foot chain link fence, and from the scrapes and bruises I have from my shoulder to my feet I bounced off the sidewalk a time or two. As I write this, I don’t think anything is broken, but my hip has seen better days. Back in the race, Rodney easily took the field sprint for 4th. I want to thank all of my team mates for looking after me after the crash….we really have a great bunch of guys on this team and I’m proud to be a part of it. Until next time…

Jim Taylor

David, Sean, Tyler, Austin, Derek and myself headed down to Blythwood, SC and Forest Acres this past weekend to do a weekend of crit racing. Saturday was a 1.4 mile course in Blythwood, SC and was flat with a little rise to the finish. Sunday was held in Forest Acres and was a 1.5 course with a decent climb on the backside of the course.

Saturday: The weather was cold and pouring rain. Luckily for us the rain subsided for bit during our race, but it was still really cold. The plan for today was to try and get a guy in a move, and if one of us got out numbered in a break we were to bring it back. After a talk from Glenn “Papa” Thrift and the mayor of Blythwood the race was on. Right away guys were attacking and counter attacking. Tyler was able to get in a move with Mountain Khakis only to be brought back by by a teammate from Mountain Khakis. Of course Thad Dulin was also bringing everything back. Halfway through the race Sean had the honors of ripping his brand new pair of team shorts, by sliding out on the wet pavement in one of the turns. My hat goes off to him for getting up and getting back into the race! The race started getting close to the end and I soon realized that the race would come down to a sprint finish. I would still have to do a hard effort close to the end to bring back a break because David was out numbered. With 2 laps to go Sean took a flyer hoping to maybe ride away and get a result. He was brought back and guys quickly started fighting for position for the sprint. Sean told me to fight it out and hold my position if I wanted to contend for the sprint. On the last lap David starting railing it from 800 meters out. I was sitting about 5^th wheel or so going into the final turn. I got gaped on the turn and was able to close 2 positions to finish a solid 3^rd place. Tyler finished 7^th, David 14^th and Sean 23^rd. The team once again worked great together. All in all a good race.

Sunday: The race was in Forest Acres and we had Josh, Sean, David, Tyler, and myself racing. It was still pouring rain and cold. The plan for the day was the same as Saturday; try and get a guy in a move and if we get out numbered bring the break back. Sean attacked from the gun and was off solo for a couple of laps. When he was caught Tyler countered and was off the front for a couple of laps before being brought back. When Tyler was caught people tried to counter but nothing was sticking. Eventually Thad Dulin attacked hard in and I and a Mountain Khakis guy were sitting on his wheel. He eventually sat up and I countered and was off the front solo for 2 laps before someone bridged up to me. We worked well together, but could not hold the feel off. We got caught with 6 laps to go. I sat in the field and recovered as best I could for the sprint. Thad attacked hard with two laps two go, but Josh did a great job of covering him and not letting him slip away. With one to go I tried setting myself up as best as I could for the sprint. Unfortunately things did not work out the way I wanted and I got 6^th, David 7^th, Sean 10^th, Tyler 11^th, and Josh 20^th. The whole team made it in the money!

It was a great weekend for the team; we all worked good together and know that we can get results. There is still a lot left to the season, watch out here comes Globalbike!

-Andre

The Elite and Master competed in the Greenville Spring Series over the last three weekends.  The results can all  be found on the results page but here is an Elite recap of the racing.

2/21-2/22 Here we go around Donaldson Center Races

Day One. This was to be  the first test of the 09 season for Globalbike p/b Catoma.  With  6 riders Josh, Andre, David, Craig, Tyler and myself.  We would be well represented.  The first Spring Series race always brings huge fields with everyone wanting to show what they did or did not do over the winter months. This field had over 100 racers, with several large team represented.   Though we placed several riders in moves, we missed the one decisive move of 9 that stayed away.  The team put in some hard chasing and coming through for the last lap, we decided to set up for the sprint and salvage what we could.  With about 1K to go the team lined up four riders on the left of the road and began to move to front.  At about 600 meters we were sitting on the front left ready to make a push, when the moto official that had been strictly enforcing the yellow line moves up the road to help with blocking traffic. I guess this meant to some that we had the full road and due to some very inexperienced bike handling skills and racing intelligence, a crash happened taking down Tyler and Andre.  David managed a top 20 for the best team place.

Day Two. GB p/b Catoma again had could representation with the same 6 from day one (though Tyler and Andre were banged up but determined to help),Austin joined us as well.  It was discussed and determined right away we wanted a much better result than one top 20.  The day was was really windy with gust over 40 mph and we decided to make it hard from the beginning and keep many people from just sitting in and riding around.  Within a half lap David was off the front solo. He began gaining ground with us patrolling the front for another half lap. Knowing the wind and group would not allow him to solo away, we let ones and twos ride up the road. Soon there was a group of 5 established.  They began to work well and put time into the SLOW moving field with us again patrolling the front.  A few more attempts would go and and come back always having a GB rider attached for a ride.  Eventually some solo riders did get off the front and form a chase group of 4 later catching the break of 5 with out having another GB rider with them.  This was our one mistake of the day.  The break stayed away, DFork brought home a 5th and a banged up Tyler managed a top 20 not bad…but the team still feels capable or more.

2/28-3/1 Fork Shoals and Donaldson Center

Day one.  The race has always been a good course for us, Jimbo Cunningham has won 2 SC elite RR titles and Chris was 4th last year on this same course.  We decided to stick with what got us those results, put a guy in a move early and make others chase or give us free rides.  The weather would help with attrition as it was cold and wet.  Within in 5 miles of the race I soloed off, only too be joined by Boyd Johnson and Chris Bulter, both of whom can out climb me on their rest days, not good. I managed to stay with them for a lap and half but got popped on one of the hills. The team seeing this came to the front and we worked to keep the break at a manageable time gap over the next 2 laps remaining.  With about 5 miles to go we decided to attack and counter attack to get our guys in smaller groups up the road.  This picked the pace of the race up significantly, which enabled us to catch Boyd about 3 miles from the finish. This left only Chris Butler to catch for the win.  Craig put himself in a move of 3 that created a big gap. The team patrolled the front jumping onto wheels of attack after attack of anyone trying to bridge. At about a K out another attack occurred and Andre glued himself to the wheel and created another gap.  Unfortunately we never caught Chris Butler (great ride on his part) but Craig stayed away with his group for 4th and Andre jumped the guy he was with for 5th and David put in a great sprint for 9th.  3 Top 10s…now that’s more like it!

Day two. Donaldson Center was cancelled do to the weather

3/7-3/8 River Falls and BMW Crit

Day one. Our goal for the day was to place David (now is 2nd overall in omnium) as high as possible.  The River Falls course is tough with a 1.5K hill every lap that we go up 10 times….ahhh OUCH. The team had David, Josh, Andre, Tom and myself for accomplish this goal. Knowing a bunch of climbers we weren’t,as the lightest person for that day was Tom at 160,  Josh and I both tried sneaking off the front in the first lap. NO doing and when went up the hill the first time at ridiculous speed, it set the tone for the rest of the day. However, somehow we all got in moves and drug our big arses up the hill only to have them fizzle out.  A group finally did get up the road with Josh in it, but once again up the hill tyring to follow guys weighing 130 is well HARD. Josh came back and we again resigned to just getting David to the finish.  The break was brought back from 1:30 to :40 about a 2 miles to go. However, that is as close as we would get.  David put in a good effort to finish in the top 20, gain some more points and stay in the top 4 overall.

Day Two.

Ahh Crit Finally, dont get me wrong we have some climbers but some are hurt and some were racing collegiate.  So with the 160lbs and above crew, a flat windy crit is just what the doctored ordered. The team lined up with David, Josh, Andre, Austin, Rod (doubling) and myself with a goal of getting David and one other team member in a move, in order to move him back into a top 3 overall finish.  The field was once again large with a about 70 guys starting. Three pros team of Jelly Belly, Mt Khakis and DLP, 200 Lees riders and good representation from other strong elite teams.  From the gun I went hard to get the race single file knowing the wind (again gusting up to 40 mph) on the back side would create huge gaps.  It worked out well and Austin countered my move to stay away for 1.5 laps with one other guy.  This dropped 20 guys right away.  I countered Austin agian, and David hopped on a move that countered me.  The group of 5 containing 2 Jellys, Thad Dulin and a Lees Mcrae ride quickly opend a big gap and never looked back.  A chase group got organized with 3 Mt Khakis and one DLP, both of whom missed the move.  Josh attached on the back of this group of 10 as well, but soon with MtK driving the pace in TTT mode, Josh had to close one too many gaps and came off along with about 5 other guys.  About this time the break of 5 containing David lapped the field and Andre and myself went to the front to help drive the pace and stay away from the chase group. This splintered the chase group down to 4.  As we rode a few more laps, the original break got off the front again, and began putting time into the field. The field now content on slowing a bit, allowed the chase group to catch a few laps later and the MtK continued to pull what was left of the field around.  Josh and I stayed up front at this point, ready to jump on any wheels.  No attacks were attempted, as the field being down to about 25 guys were content to just ride it out.  The break finished with David fighting hard for the win but coming up just short to John Clark, a very good sprinter from Jelly Belly  . David did manage a 2nd and thus securing a 2nd in the omnium overall. Josh and I finished 14th and 12th respectively.

Team Goal of moving David up in the Omnium check

A podium finish check

Informing more people about the Globalbike mission check check

Big thanks to Little River Roasting for all the FREE hot coffee, RJ Rockers for the FREE beverages after racing, and all our sponsors for your support.

Thank you to everyone that purchased Globalbike items, you just help better a LIFE with a bicycle!

More to come from Globalbike p/b Catoma….no question…this was just a warm up.

Sean

I finally got away from the collegiate racing and tuned in to the real stuff. I’m glad that I finally got to race with the team on Saturday at the River Falls race in the Spring Series. This was one of my first pro, 1, 2 races so I kind of got to test out the waters. I felt really well after my legs kicked in, giving me some confidence for the remainder of the year. Spring break is coming up and I’m headed to Jackson Hole, WY. I’m paying the extra dough to get my bike shipped to Wyoming so I can continue to train while I’m there for five days (a little overboard I know). I’m so ready for the break, however I’m so ready to get to racing again with the team. Its going to be a great year.

Tom Smith

This is the first post, keep coming back to see how the team is doing.