Masters National Road Race Championships 6/30/09

By Mark Edwards

What’s 50 miles long with 50 power climbs, has 15 death defying high speed technical corners, and has nearly 4,000’ of climbing?

It was the 2009 USA Nationals Masters Road Race Championships in Louisville Kentucky. More criterium than road race, it was 1:55:07 of the most intense racing I’ve ever done.

With 80 of the Nations best masters racers, and an average speed of just over 26 mph for two hours on this hilly course, this was one tough race.

After watching Jim’s race the day before, it was clear I needed to be ready to rock from the start. The start/finish line was Pro Tour in every detail. At the gun we would drop into a series of three serpentine descending corners, the last would push the limits of tire adhesion. Getting gapped off the rear behind unprepared racers could end your race before it even started. I lined up in the second row (after several delays), clipped in smoothly, and rounded the first turn in the top twenty.

I had pre-ridden the course four times on Sunday, four times on Monday, and twice Tuesday before my race. It paid off as I railed the first technical corner. Holding a fast steady line, as many others struggled braking and losing their line, I was positioned comfortably near the front for the first climb. Riders attacked hard as we approached the climb, but slowed near the top. Viewing this as an opportunity to inflict a little damage, I kept the pace high, cresting the climb and on through the flat section that followed. My hope was that this would keep the pressure on the guys who’d been caught behind the gaps that inevitably form on hills.

By the third lap I’d gotten comfortable that my fitness was competitive and I’d be able to animate the race at a few selected points. I was obvious I couldn’t be reckless, as the field was clearly deep with talent, but I was confident I could be a player. We also had a break of three up the road that didn’t seem to me to stand a chance of surviving, staying away for seven more laps just didn’t seem possible.

Around the third lap I was hoping to go into the blind right left descending corner that followed the first climb at the front of the peloton. I knew this corner, and knew gaps would open as riders hit their brakes. I came into the hard right hander a little too hot. The slightly off camber bumpy pavement was too much for my speed. I felt my front, then rear tire start to slip. Staying calm, I rode it out, exiting the corner with a twenty meter gap to the second rider. On the plus side… it forced the guys behind me to close the gap while I rested… but it wasn’t worth the risk to try repeating that again.

The blind right left descending corner was followed by a fast descent which rolled into a short power climb. Ten times we went up this, and ten times there were multiple attacks on this hill, one right after another. I was able to start this climb near the front each lap and drift back with each attack, saving precious energy each time.

The descent off this roller was followed by a long flat section, punctuated by a punchy short climb, and then more flat. The entire loop was a big ring power fest. Cochran climb, the longest and steepest of the loop was next. This ½ mile 8% climb was a favorite spot for the strongest riders to try and thin the herd. NCNCA strongman, and perennial Nationals favorite Kevin Metcalfe, threw down several impressive displays of power here. Each time we’d sprint over this climb in our big ring, I’d look back to assess the damage. The pack would be strung out, but not broken. Each time I was amazed to see 45 guys responding and surviving the brutal attacks.

As with the other climbs on this loop, I’d hoped keeping pressure on after the climb would wear riders down. Unfortunately the Cochran (AKA Dog Run climb) climb was followed by a hairy 12 mph descending switchback, allowing stragglers to catch back on.

Once over Cochran, it was mostly a flat run to the finishing climb. Every lap this climb was taken at a break-neck pace. Fear of getting dropped kept me near the front, and a couple of times saw me attempting to continue the painful pace over the top to the next descent. With no long climbs, the pressure had to be kept high in hopes of weakening the group.

Jim and John Novitsky had been cheering me on while sprinting from one location to another. In my haze of race concentration, Jim and John’s cheers from all over the course made it seem like I had dozens of supporters. Pretty cool… thanks guys.

Seven laps in, Kevin attacked in an attempt to bridge up to the three leaders. I jumped and heard someone say “there he goes!” referring to Kevin. I bridged to Kevin and saw we had about a 30 meter gap. Not enough… as we were reeled back in short order.

On the final lap two guys went of the front. The group didn’t show much interest in chasing them down, as they were left dangling 50 meters off the front. It would pay off for them in the end, as the peloton would start to bicker in the final miles, allowing them to keep their gap to the finish.

Coming into the feedzone at the base of the finishing climb, the pace was coming to a boil. Unfortunately, this is also were we caught a sizeable group of lapped riders. Between the feedzone, several slower lapped riders, and 45 guys sprinting on a single lane around a curve, it was mayhem. I saw three guys jump and I immediately came out of the saddle… but the two guys in front of me didn’t react. I sat back down and looked for an exit. Kevin was next to me and in the same predicament. I moved around my guys just as someone swerved and caught Kevin’s front wheel. Next came the sickening sound that’s usually followed by a crash, but not this time, Kevin stayed upright.

No sooner did I get around these guys and found myself once again blocked. How could this be happening? Where I had been sitting top ten, I now found fifteen guys ahead of me? Oh yea… lapped riders. Looking for a clear path, I once again cringed as another rider moved into Kevin’s wheel. This time Kevin called the guy out, but his chances were now over. There’s only so much you can overcome, even for a rider with Kevin’s skill and experience.

Maneuvering around the latest block I could now sprint… but wait… the finishing shoot narrowed the road from twenty feet to fifteen feet. The steel barricades (with their steel feet extending 18” out) were on my left, riders on my right, I had nowhere to go. I kept the pressure on, but couldn’t safely unleash a full sprint. I came across the line in 9th place.

Somewhat disappointed in that I’d left too much in the tank, I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt that way. I had set what I thought was a stretch goal of top ten for this race, figuring that 6-10 riders would be a step above my fitness level, and several others would finish ahead of me through superior skill and experience. It turns out that I never felt in trouble and that this course just wasn’t tough enough to thin out such a talented field.

In hind sight, I’m very pleased with how I raced and finished. Top ten in my first Nationals, and being able to instigate a little action, has left me with some great memories. I couldn’t have made it this far without the support and encouragement of the Team and all my great training partners. Thank you.

Cytomax Benicia Criterium, 6/27/2009

By Dennis Pedersen

This season hasn't given me any impressive results, which gets a bit old when I'm training so hard. I have missed several races that I had wanted to target, and I was really hoping that this race would be different. The Benicia Criterium's new 8-turn downtown course, with a small hill thrown in, sounded ideal for a small sprinter like me, so I signed up in the 35+ 3/4 race with Russ.

First I want to thank Russ for driving Nils (racing in the Elite 3 race) and I there. And a special thanks to Nils for introducing me to Linda's Seabreeze Cafe, on Seabright Avenue... Geoff has also recommended it, but I had never been there before because the long wait always sent me packing. Well, I had an awesome waffle special, piled with fresh seasonal strawberries, kiwis and banana. Oh my was it perfect!

The weather forecast promised temps over 100 degrees in places, but I thought Benicia might be cooler since it was on the bay, along the delta's mouth where winds usually blow in from the Golden Gate. That proved true, and I don't think we got more than about 90 in Benicia. Speaking of downtown Benicia: I had visualized a blasted, industrial place with smelly air. Was I wrong! Benicia's downtown really is historic, and very pretty, with views over the bay, lots of old houses, parks, shade trees and neat sidewalk cafes.

Russ and Nils warmed up on their trainers while I stood around and relaxed. My warmup was a half lap of the course when it opened up for our race! I ascertained that I wouldn't need to use any gears lower than about 53x23, so that was nice. But I also became aware that the course is 6/10ths of a mile uphill, and 6/10ths of a mile downhill. That really meant "ride like hell for 2 minutes, then try to recover in 1 minute, and repeat until you explode." That isn't ideal for me, so I was a bit bummed. Larry told me later that the previous course was flatter. Oh well.

Our race started with a surprise neutral lap behind the motorcycle referee; I was again bummed because I was positioned nicely near the front and then had to fight people on a supposedly neutral lap just so I could stay there. But in the end I was still positioned well and managed to stay near enough to the front, where Russ was, that I could keep an eye on any breaks and also avoid the yo-yo effect from all of the 8 turns and the climbs.

Russ acted on his pre-race plan by hitting the course all-out for the first few laps. Whew, it was fast! Others had the same idea and several times one or two guys went off the front. All of these breaks were caught though.

Our race was pretty clean, which seems to be what happens on technical courses like this one, and we had no crashes that I recall. It was tiring having to constantly hit the climbs hard and then also fight the wind in some areas, but I found that I could easily move forward as needed by using my momentum on the downhills; it's tricky because you don't want to squeeze in against the curb, but I was careful to only use this move when the pack was a bit strung out.

With 3 laps to go I made sure to be near the front, and even ended up being the point-man in a chase after a solo rider... but I could tell he was blown up and I just soft-pedalled until some guys jumped past me, grinning as if I was being dropped. Not! I was in a good position and stayed in there, but soon my lungs gave out and I spent the last 2 laps just wheezing asthmatically until the final sprint which put me in 13th place, and Russ in 16th. It was a hard race for us but I felt good about how I'd done, though Russ was really disappointed to finish that far back. I tried to remind him that his goal had just been to blow the pack apart at the start, which he succeeded in, but he still hoped for more.

Afterward we had a really good lunch at "Issy's," a Mexican restaurant with outdoor seating right next to the course! We had beers and stuffed ourselves while we watched Nils suffer in the Elite 3 race! Larry had just finished his 55+ race and joined us with Priscilla. This is what racing is all about!

Masters Nationals update Mon, June 29

Masters Nationals Update 55-59 Road Race
By Jim Langley

Note that I'm sorry not to be able to organize the photos better here. They load at the top of the page, so I have added short captions here written according to the photo so they make sense, I hope. The race report is just below. Later I will create a more user-friendly slide show and link you to it, but probably when I get back home.

Photo captions
-this morning: Mark ready to do some damage at the hotel's great breakfast buffet (how many bananas can Jim stuff in his pockets for later?)
-the podium shot from Jim's race: Wayne Stetina 1st, Dave LeDuke 2, not there, Tom Doughty 3rd, Kent Bostick 4th, didn't find the 5th rider's name
-Jim's killer helmet hair after the race - wonderful entertainment for the other hotel guests
-the front of Jim's race, second lap we think - I'm sitting in nicely, barely visible a few riders back
-no, not the line for the portapotties - it's the line for registration last night at our hotel
-the 50-54 pack to show the Nationals' lovely park setting.
-walking around yesterday afternoon, just down the street from our hotel: it's the Louisville Slugger factory/store with this 68,000-pound skyscraper Slugger out front. Reminds me of Kevin Bostick's legs.
-last night after registration: this is the jig you have to check your TT bike against. We had to move Mark's bars back an inch or so, that's all. Thank you Nate at Bike Trip for getting the seat spot on!
-yesterday afternoon back at the hotel we found that The Galt House has a killer workout room, only $5 a day, and a spectacular pool - but everyone knows swimming is bad for cyclists

Here's my race report of the Nationals 55-59 race... it happened today at noon. Weather was much nicer, about 75 degrees and breezy. We did 8 5-mile laps. There were 41 in the field. Super organized start. Lots of officials. Everything goes off like clockwork here. You wear 2 numbers, one on the right, one on the left. A third number goes on your seatpost/seat like a little flag beneath your butt. On to the race action...

Well, while it was awesome to finally be in a race with bona fida former pro riders, it pretty much went the way it was supposed to. For 3 laps I was at the front of the pack, top 8 or so (I am in the photos I'll put on the blog but I'm tucked in so tight I'm hard to pick out).

On the first lap a guy in all white went off the front and we let him go. On the second, we caught him and the fun began. Kent Bostick punched it on one of the little Kentucky rollers on the course and went off the front.

We matched him and brought him back. Then, from behind, teammate Tom Doughty went. Bostick drifted back and blocked, moving perfectly to force us to swing wide to get around him. We got around him and brought Tom back. Then, from the back, Wayne Stetina went (FYI Stetina, Bostick and Doughty ride for Amgen/Giant Masters on Di2-equpped electronic drivetrain Giant bicycles).

I tried to ride smart. In those early laps I never chased down any of the attacks. I was always on the wheel of the 2 or 3 guys that worked to bring them back. Behind, there was a group of about 10 that didn't do any work and just let our little group counter all the attacks.

It was painful and exciting watching the Amgen/Giant Masters work us over and to be so close to such classy riders. The attacks were impressive. Great speed and power. Bostick breathes so heavy he sounds like he's in trouble. But, he's constantly smiling as if it's no worry at all. Doughty and Stetina are way smooth, quiet, strong.

Wayne hides beautifully. You never knew when he would go because he was hard to find in the pack, floating forward and backward with ease. When he went there was no matching it. And, it wasn't predictable, not on the main climb on the course where you'd think he would go but on a headwind section which seemed "safe" but clearly wasn't. Or on a little bump that seemed easy until you saw how much speed a top rider can lay down.

Another thing that gets in your head when you face riders of this caliber is that they aren't afraid to show their stuff. They don't sit in and wait. They're confident. They trust their fitness and they take care of business. Even though there were 3 of them working together to break the pack's will, each one was happy to bury himself on his attack. And also attack as many times as needed. You have to respect that kind of comittment and fitness.

Maybe I should have gone into the race resigned to letting them go and just raced for top 15, but I wanted to stay close and watch these hot shots ride up close and it was something to see. Even following wheels to close the gaps they kept creating with their impressive attacks, I blew up after 3 and a half laps and had to drop off the pace of completely die. Then the group of 10 or so behind that hadn't done any work and were clearly racing for top 10 - happy to let the pros do their thing - came by. And, while it's a mistake I've made before, so I knew it was going to happen - those guys were too strong and dropped me too.

I ended up riding in the 3rd group on the road and was able to compete in that group, attacking on the final climb and taking one guy with me. He sat on me to the sprint and beat me to the line. If I'm lucky I was in the top 20, but maybe I was 20-something.

I'm kind of neutral about the result. I knew going in that I wasn't going to be able to podium. The names are just too big. I'm a good cyclist not a great one. I could have raced smarter and tried to eek out a top 15 maybe, with a different attitude of not trying to race with the big boys. But, it was fun being out there on the Natz stage and I was clearly fitter and a better racer than about half the group, so that's something to build on.

Interesting tidbit: I heard after the race that our race had set the new fastest lap times on the course. The young masters (30-plus) go tomorrow, and more importantly, Mark's group, so we'll have to see if that holds up, but it's good to know that I was up against some real fastmen.

Interesting factoid: Cherokee Park where the race was held was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted around 1894 and it is magnificent, with fabulous fountains, statues, walkways and lush lawns, trees and flowers. It was an exceptional location for the nationals. The course has plenty of challenging corners, just enough climbing, a gradual uphill finish - only a rider who can do it all will win as Wayne Stetina demonstrated. Mark watched Wayne come up the finishing climb like he was still a young pro and blow second-place, David LeDuke (who has a World Championship jersey) away.

I'm still buzzing from the excitement of being out there. I'm sure I'll be bummed tomorrow, but I have to be realistic too.

Thanks for all the team support and for making it possible for me to take this trip. It's been an incredible experience for us. I'll report back tomorrow - or maybe Mark will want to bang out the report since he's going to step onto the big stage at 2pm.

Sidenote: We had a dinner invitation to a nice restaurant from great Aptos racer Jim Fox, but we decided to eat an early dinner in the hotel so Mark could get to bed early. I'm sitting on my bed typing this to you guys and Mark is doing everything right, sleeping soundly so he's 110 percent tomorrow. Keep in mind he doesn't race until 2.

We're trying to figure out the best eating strategy for him with such a late race start. We'll probably do the breakfast buffet and then a small lunch around 11 before heading to the racecourse for his warmup. I'll be in the feedzone for a few laps and then float around the course to try to get some shots. And, I definitely will be at the podium too. I think Mark has a real shot tomorrow - even more so now that I know the course so well. It seems to me to be custom built for a smart, strong racer like Mark. Think positive!

Jim

2009 Pescadero RR mini-report (Elite 3)

I'm too large* to contest a finish at the top of a 3k 8% grade, but I sure as hell can make a good expression during an attack:

Photo courtesy of Michael Robertson at velodramatic.com

This is what you do when you need to be among only 5 racers to be in the top 5. Of course, it didn't work and our two-man break got caught 10 miles later... but man it was fun!

* And I'm not Steve Reaney, who definitively annihilated the p/1/2 race.

2009 Cytomax Benicia Crit + ITT race report (Elite 3)

By Nils Tikkanen

Crit

Russ, Dennis, and me+lauren had a delicious pre-race breakfast at Linda's. Dennis had never gone, but after that giant corn waffle topped with piles of yogurt and granola, I think he's hooked. Seriously, sometimes I swear I do this sport so I can ingest the caloric needs of a horse without the typically subsequent gut.

When we left Santa Cruz at 8am, the fog was gone and it was already warming up: Not a good sign when your race is way inland and starts at 1pm.

The course is 1.2 miles with 8 turns, in a figure-8 layout. 0.6 miles of the course is a gentle (but sapping) uphill; the downhill section is also pretty smooth but has some great, fast corners in it. Nothing too technical if you know what you're doing.

Russ and Dennis race at 11am (Aside: Russ managed to somehow flat his tire while warming up.) They both race, finish in the top 20, and wait for me to race. And I'm sitting on my trainer, sweating (what seems like) every ounce of water and every gram of sodium out of my body. For some bizarre reason, Russ and Dennis decide against doing the E3 race with me and to instead eat fish tacos and drink some Negro Modelos at the local taquería on the race course. Pretty irrational if you ask me: I'd prefer racing in 90something degree weather any day. ;)

So the race. We start with a neutral lap, and I'm toward the front. Our moto ref keeps a pretty good clip to discourage the field from bunching up at the front—great decision. Once the race starts, things became sort of a blurry haze.

A few attacks are launched and brought in. I spend some time in the first few laps responding, bridging, and testing the waters. It seems like a fast group today, and one that's going to chase breakaways down... good to know. I was feeling the heat and regretting my decision to bring only half a bottle, and I look down at my watch to see...13:xx minutes in.

Crap. I swear I've been out here for longer than 13 minutes.

More racing happens. I feel pretty mobile, but the heat and lack of water really is doing a number on me. Yet more racing happens. I'm just sitting in, really. I look down at my watch to see....14:xx minutes in.

Wait, what?

In yet another classic Nils move, I discover that my watch was displaying military time, even though I swore I started the clock at the beginning of the race. It turns out we have two laps to go. HALLELUJAH!

I move up. I get lucky in my positioning to avoid getting pinched in the corners. I come out of the final corner with decent but not great positioning and sprint like mad (which is what I do well) for 6th place. Not bad!

Point of interest:

• Not one, but two riders attacked on the neutral start. One of them did it right in front of the start/finish, which made for some great commentary ("And that rider is sent to the back of the pack. Put on your dunce cap, buddy!")
• Pretty intense crash sequence from our race: When clipping your pedal leads to fail.
• Downtown Benicia is really nice! The course went around a great park, a cute little downtown strip, and there were some really impressive old Victorian and Craftsmen houses in the neighborhood.

Taleo ITT

Sunday. After an evening of stretching, spinning around, and eating some Russ-and-Dennis-inspired fish tacos at Aldo's, I'm ready for the 12-mile rolling TT just east of Benicia. For some twisted reason, I love time trials and I seem to perform well in said events.

Lauren (my awesome girlfriend and occasional race chauffeur) and I arrive with an hour before my start: plenty of time for a good warmup. I discover that Dethklok (a "fake" death metal band, Google it) makes for some of the most awesome high-BPM warmup music ever.

Not much to say about the race itself. The second leg turns to be much harder (wind + net elevation gain), but I'm used to rolling courses. I pass my 1:00 man and nearly catch the 2:00 man, and I know that's a good sign. Total time: about 26:4x. [Nils: I'll edit this when results are online.]

Said time nets me 3rd. 2nd got me by a reasonable 12 seconds, but 1st had nearly a minute on me and is clearly in another league (not to mention he probably has a dedicated TT setup *jealous*).

Omnium!

Turns out 6th + 3rd get me the overall omnium position and nets me some extra cash! Excellent! For once, I came out of a race weekend with a net profit.

Mark & Jim's Excellent Nationals Adventure Update Sun June 28

Hello everyone, Jim Langley reporting:

Well, we're here in hot, humid Louisville. No problems yesterday with the flights. Got here on time and the 3 bikes made it too, though I almost lost mine to a woman who had the same bike case and took off with mine before Mark and I got to the baggage area. I had to sprint after her to catch her.

We're at the race hotel, the Galt House, which is a pretty swanky place (photo). Had a nice buffet breakfast this morning in the hotel. We also went out and rode the course. Pretty tough. Lots of little hills, many tight corners, always up and down. With the heat and humidity it should be a serious test.

Here are some photos taken so far but not in order. The racing photo is the women's 30-35 race which happened to go by when we were checking out the course. There are some sights of Louisville and the hotel. That's us on the curb at SJ Airport figuring how best to check the bikes (we used the sky cap - $50 per bike is Southwest's fee, which is cheap).

I race tomorrow at noon. It seems like the humidity is high in the morning but cooling as the day wears on. We're expecting a super fast criterium-like start. The race begins with a dangerous serious of downhill corners. It'll be important to be up front. On the backside of the course is a reasonably stiff double-stage climb. We think the deciding move will happen here. From the top it should be possible to stay away until the uphill finish. But, we expect repeated attacks and intense action throughout.

Over 'n out for now,

Jim & Mark

Watch my twitter page for updates as possible. That's at www.twitter.com/jimlangley It's easier/faster to upload photos and soundbites.

ADA Tour de Cure, 2009

By Dennis Pedersen

The American Diabetes Association organizes this fund-raising ride every year and this year I was once again captain of the Hewlett-Packard team. While I felt I did a better job promoting than before, the team was only half the size this time and so was our fund-raising... I suppose the economy didn't help, but I was still bummed. This year I dedicated my ride to my wife's aunt Rosa, who passed away from type II diabetes just two days before my ride... we went to her funeral the Wednesday after. But I'm happy to say that many friends, coworkers and family donated to the effort against this increasing disease. Thank you everybody!

My teammate John and I both signed up for the 120K route (78 miles), so it made sense to carpool and do the ride together. I knew ADA had signed up some good sponsors, including Hobee's who supplied their delicious coffee cake! So I didn't have to eat breakfast at home... but I still had to get up at 4:45AM to make the 6:30AM opening of our route (the shorter 25K, 50K and 75K routes opened later).

Even though I rode almost 70 miles in the Pescadero Road Race the day before (and got dropped from the furious pace!) I was hoping to get in some long intervals during the Tour de Cure... It's not a race, but that doesn't mean I can't hit the big climbs hard. I was dubious that my legs would be up for the task though, and figured that mere survival would be hard enough, but it was my goal. Then I could give my legs a well-earned break on Monday!

After a nice warmup through Portola Valley we turned through Woodside to get to King's Mountain Road. I pushed myself at a hard "L4" pace, just short of my endurance race power. I couldn't believe how good my legs felt as I powered past other riders with John holding my wheel. Maybe the rest station at the junction with Skyline Boulevard, with more treats, motivated me! I sure didn't feel like I was well into a 150-mile weekend.

It was very cool to see the many "Red Riders;" people with diabetes who joined the ride anyway, with careful attention to blood glucose levels en route. Sure makes my ride seem easy!

After flying down HWY84 we turned onto Pescadero Road and up Haskins Hill; the same climb that killed me in the race the day before. It's much nicer at a sane pace! Then we dropped into pretty Pescadero town for another rest station stop. Yummy. We tried to make good time so we set off quickly and up another reminder of my race; Stage Road. Ugh. But again I felt good.

Next up for me was the steepest and longest climb, up Tunitas Creek Road on the way back up to Skyline. Before the road went up there was a small rest station set up in a really neat red and white-striped shack with a cool steel sign reading "The Bike Hut." It was built as a place for cyclists to stop and refuel on this cycling popular route. The weather was pretty nice and blue sky was peeking through as I started my next interval. I powered up Tunitas Creek almost as hard as I did earlier on King's Mountain, even though it was 35 minutes long... but this notoriously bumpy road has been repaved and maybe the smooth asphalt helped.

At the Skyline rest station again, I was amazed that I still felt good, and after John and I dropped back into Woodside we were dodging big crowds of riders from the shorter routes on Alameda de las Pulgas. Much more of a party atmosphere! And the party continued as the volunteers cheered us upon our return, which was lots of fun for we racer wanna-bes!

We got back to HP a little after 12:00, earlier than last year, so we rode 4 hours and 55 minutes at an average speed of 16 MPH. I burned 2749 calories. This year the HP team had an awning with nice HP banners (thanks Jessica!) and it served as a meeting point for us as we swapped stories and enjoyed fish tacos from Wahoo's.

Another bright spot was HP Vice President Joe Beyers' visit to accept a jersey signed by 3-time Tour de France winner and ADA promoter Greg Lemond himself! That was a real morale booster for me. Thanks Joe! Getting support from upper management is key to building a strong team.

With all of your help I hope to ride again in 2010 and make the team even more successful! And if you missed this year, it isn't too late to donate. Thanks!