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Team Legacy Energy's Phil Mann, won the Collegiate National Criterium today, successfully defending his title from last year with a phenomenal display of force by his team. In the final 3 laps, a Virginia Tech rider jumped clear and was holding a sizable gap over the field until with 2 to go Dan Workman came to the front and pulled the rider back, setting the stage for Phil's 250m sprint out of the final turn.

Comments...

So to all our readers out there, there is this really neat little function at the bottom of each post, that says comments. Until lately I wasn't sure if anyone read our page, but we have started to get a few comments back from readers. So if you are out there and reading our page please leave us some comments it is good to hear from you all. 

Brad 

Not a pro team but close

I am not much of a blogger nor do I ever read blogs, but in an attempt to fulfill my team duties I though I would post one without even being asked. This post isn't to rant about a bad race or to whine about not getting the result that I wanted. This post is to recognize the men behind the scenes that took care of us down in Silver City, NM. Dan, AC, and our host housing. Dan cooked up great meals and fed us in the feed zones. Let me tell you how nice it is having a meal ready to eat everyday when you get up in the morning and right after a race. It very nice. AC took care of us all and was as a pro as it gets in his director debut. Amidst all the bad luck and trouble we encountered though out the race, he was always cool, calm and collected and never did a negative word leave his mouth. If that doesn't make you want to turn your self inside out for the team I don't what would. To top it all off we had great host housing which always makes things go smooth during a long stage race. We are not a pro team, but last week I got a glimpse of what it would be like to be on one. With daily massages, food prepared for us, and our bikes washed and tuned everyday it made our jobs easy. A big thanks to all of you that worked hard and tool care of us for the week you are greatly appreciated by everyone. Next time we will have our day.

My two Cents.

I too would like to throw out my thanks to everyone who helped make our trip to Gila a success. I would like to put a special thanks out to Daniel for coming to the hospital and spending the afternoon with me in the ER and helping take care of me. He was great all week without him, and the support of Andy and our hosts the trip would not have been a success. For us, we are only as successful as those around us, and everyone that helped us through the week and made it easy for us to do our jobs. You were all incredible and really helped push us to a higher level. Thanks for all of your hard work, and I wish we could have put together at least one day for those working behind the scenes... next time.

Brad

another photo link from Gila

Phil in the break

And another

Thoughts of the day...

So I spit on Joe Sapperstein today, literally... it is funny be a bike racer you get oddly comfortable, or at least understanding when you get spit on.

We finally figured Jarred out... 2+2=4 but for Jarred you think it equals 3 and somehow he steps it up and turns it into 5. He never ceases to amaze.

Surfing is possible even when water isn't present, just ask out cat 1 guys after yesterday.

...and some people still don't know what they are doing on their bikes, even at this level.

Brad

Oh so close

Crits my least favorite of all the races at stage races, but I will rant about that some other time.  Today was the crit. The course was not bad at all only 75 minutes  with one little steep hill and nice long sweeping turns.  Since we have a couple of pretty good crit racers on our team we wanted to try and get them into a break and maybe the big teams would let it go and we could get a result.  Well all of that came true except the result.  Paul jumped across to an early break that contained some big names but then it was quickly shut down.  Not too much later Phil got into a great move that contained  riders from Colivita, Successful Living, Tecos, Arenas.  Phil being a great sprinter and the reigning coliget national champ we had high hopes for him. With Bissel on front riding tempo it became clear that they were not going to pull the break back.  Then with about two and a half laps to go a Vitamin Cottage guy try to jump across and didn't even come close to making it, but in doing so drug the rest of the field with him and shut the break down.  Our hopes for a win gone.  While Phil was grinding in the break Paul, Ian, Brad and I were safely surfing the the waves at the back of the main group saving our legs for the mountainous stage that tomorrow will bring us.  110 miles with 2 cat 2 climbs,  1 cat 1 climb, and finishes with a cat 4 just for good measure.  Tomorrow will definitely separate the men form the boys.  Oh yeah not to mention that the GC lead is less that 2 seconds.   It time to kick the tires and light the fires!!!  Wish us luck.

photo of Phil in the break sitting third wheel...

Jarred 

Almost

I'm not much of a climber or time trialer so I was pinning my hopes for Gila on Saturday's downtown criterium. The cat2 field was obviously fatigued so after winning the first prime my confidence went up quite a bit and I started seriously thinking about the win. Several breaks got away but no one was able to get out of sight and the field chased everyone down. Dan Workman and I spent most of the last 10 laps sitting in the first 5 guys. Dan raced perfectly for me, keeping things together and neutralizing accelerations.

With one corner and a few hundred meters to go Dan hit the front and executed a text book leadout. Unfortunately I dropped the ball, lost his wheel, and then started my sprint in too large a gear. I finished 8th and Dan was 10th. It was frustrating for me to botch the sprint and miss an opportunity to win but both of us finishing in the top 10 is definitely a sign of better things to come.

-Will

Smiles and frowns

Good day faithful followers,

Today was the simplest form of bike racing; one man against one clock, the individual time trial.  We commenced with the third stage of the Tour of the Gila on a beautiful, sunny morning in southwest New Mexico to test our legs on the 16.5 mile rolling course.  Fortunately, we were able to avoid the gale-force winds that challenged us on previous days, but the course proved to be no less demanding.  The course was out-and-back beginning with a long 4 mile grind to the first summit followed by a steep, fast decent.  Three rollers had to be overcome to the turn-around and back before we ascended the climb one last time and came barreling toward the finish topped off in our highest gearing.  For some of us, we rode beyond our limits and surprised not only others but ourselves (Phil), and for some of us, we were on our way to a standout performance but were crossed by misfortune and rode 5 miles on a flat wheel due to nonexistent race support and organization (Jarred).  Nonetheless, we are proving to be a significant standout among all amateur teams and you can be sure to see the ears perk up among the professionals when Team Legacy Energy's name rings throughout the peloton.  

The category 2 race was challenged by more powerful swirling winds in the afternoon, but, although slightly aggravated, Dan swiftly controlled the terrain and finished in 5th place.  He now sits in 6th place in the general classification.  Will, on his normal road rig with clip-on aero bars rounded out the team's hard daily efforts in 51st place.  

Pro,1 Results:

Brad-29th (37:43)

Phil-39th (38:48)

Paul-41st (39:13)

Ian-45th (39:27)

Jarred-50th (39:45)

Stage Winner: Tom Zirbel (34:26)

General Classification after Stage 3:

Brad-26th (Best Amateur Rider)

Jarred-32nd

Ian-36th

Paul-40th

Phil-60th

Leader: Tom Zirbel 

Ciao,

TLE (Team Legacy Energy)

Close but not there yet...

Someday we will get things right and finish off a race. So it was another windy day but the field was fortunate and mother nature was kind with the direction of the wind. We only really had to battle the crosswinds in the gutter for for the last 3-4 miles. The day was much safer and the field more relaxed. The Tecos team, and team leader went to the front and road a steady tempo all day. It was tough at time but significantly easier than the day before. As we approached the finish the whole team gathered towards the front and we began moving to the front, with a kilometer to go we were sitting in the top 15, and five guys. Perfect... or not. As we made a ride hand turn at the km sign the field collapsed on us, and we were swarmed on the outside. We put in a huge effort to move Phil and Paul back to the front and left them to do what they do. By that time it was to late though. The group was at full speed and the guys never found the front. It was a tailwind finish and we lacked the horsepower, but it is a learning experience, and we are getting there. 

Today we have the time trial and are hoping to go fast, but I guess that is the point of every race. We have some time this afternoon to kick back and relax, so hopefully the next update should be up by dinner.

Last piece, check out the cyclingnews.com link below there are some great photos from the race

Results Update:

Team GC 7th (top amateur)

Brad 25th (2nd amateur on GC)

Jarred 31st (4th amateur on GC)

Ian 33rd (5th amateur on GC)

Paul 42nd

Phil 62nd

Brad