Finishing Well and the Mail Man

Legacy Energy Ciclismo is made up of a classy group of guys. It has been my privilege to work with these riders this season. We have come to the end of the year a little worse for wear. August has been a month of adaptation and improvisation. Some of our riders are injured from the shoulders up and some from the shoulders down. Either way, they are no good until they recover. The team has had to change travel plans, plane tickets, entry fees, and racing strategies continuously the last three weeks. As a director, it’s times like these that you count on the Mail Man.

Every August the best Criterium riders in the world descend on Downers Grove, IL for the National Criterium Championships. The course is always the same every year for the Pro/Am race on Saturday and for the main event on Sunday. It is a great criterium course with a small hill and 8 turns. It is hard and fast and can end with a break or a field sprint. Initially, the team’s goal was to add an Elite National Criterium Championship to Phil’s two collegiate titles. Unfortunately, his back did not let him attempt this feat. I guess we’ll need to wait until next year to see that come to fruition. With our goals revised, we decided that we needed to be in the break if there was one and to have a rider finish in the top 10 at the Championship event.

The team went to Chicago with two riders, Paul (Mail Man) Esposti and Rolf (Steak) Eisinger. Rolf’s aunt and uncle put us up in their home and showed us great hospitality. We also found out the family has been trying to “get some meat on Rolf’s bones”. They think he looks like he needs to eat a steak or eight. Yes, we do have some good stories to tell from the family.

Saturday night our game plan was to play the role of the opportunist and get into a break. The boys rode great taking turns and tagging moves. There was not a break without our pinstripes represented. Rock Racing and Team Kelly Benefits wanted it to come down to a field sprint. The lead-out train got rolling and nobody stayed away. Rock Racing ended with a win for the night and our Mail Man delivered! Paul was the first place amateur in 13^th. It was a good ride and the way the boys rode gave us optimism for the Championships on Sunday.

The big event started at 12:30. Our competition was against California Giant Berries and the defending champions, Team Texas Roadhouse. Each team had eight riders. We were definitely out gunned. Rolf was on fire and attacked the race head on taking on the role of five riders. He was in every big move. The big team decided it was going to be a field sprint this year. As the race came down to the final 3 laps Rolf and Paul put themselves in position behind the three lead-out trains that were battling for control. Cal Berries took over the lead-out on the final lap and destroyed the field! The Mail Man made his way through the chaos and delivered a top ten by finishing 8^th. A great result for a team without a field sprinter in a field sprint finish! Rolf and Paul were asked to be successful at an event that does not fit their strengths. They truly showed their commitment and heart.

Nicely done boys.

AC

Sometimes you are the assassin and sometimes you get assassinated.

Rolf Eisinger said “Andy, we came out here with high expectations.” Yes we did Rolf--that is the thing about setting high goals. They are hard to reach and sometimes, most times, we don’t get to be successful at the first attempt. Rolf was Team Legacy Energy’s lone finisher in the RR taking 10^th in the field sprint.

Before the RR let’s look at the Time Trial on Wednesday. Jarred and Robby Ketchell had invested everything into this 33km TT. Robby had worked with Jarred on his position, his training and his mental focus. Since Cascade Jarred has worked solely on this TT. He had everything ready, his brothers were there to support him and everything ran tight. Jarred started at 9:24:30am and ran the plan to perfection. He started well and was catching people on the first climb. As he rode into his effort he keeps bring back the riders that started in front of him. Just over the half way point Jarred had caught 4 riders including the one that started 2 minutes in front of him. The as Jarred was preparing for his final effort on the last climb with 10km to go his brad new tire on his new disk blew out. For it to be equally unfair there is no support allowed on the road. Jarred’s ride was over. His sacrifice and hard work had him in second place with 10km to go in the TT. Everything Jarred and Robby did worked, and that is our only consolation from the TT. Great work boys we all know how much you sacrificed to be ready to succeed.

The Road Race was a sleeper and turned out to be brutal. The course took much more energy than expected and when combined with the heat the race took its toll on the field with only 68 finishers, half of the starting peloton. The last 90 minutes where the hardest on team Legacy Energy Ciclismo and devastated the team. Jarred showing his class overcoming his personal devastation and came to the support of the team and attacked till he had his teammate Ian in the break. His job done he came and helped feed his teammates in the feed zone. Phil Mann countered Rolf’s attack and bridged across to the break. Eighty miles into the race, Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo had two riders in the break of 20 and Rolf was trying to bridge. Everything was going to plan.

As the race entered its final hour the team came apart. Phil’s back could not hold up to the stress his legs where putting on it and he had to retire from the race with pains shooting down his legs. He is ok and will be working on his back now. Ian’s hamstring showed the strain and cramped so bad he almost crashed and had to get off his bike. This happened with 18 miles to go and the break was down to 15 riders. Rolf was left alone repeatedly trying to bridge the gap to the break. He was unsuccessful and managed a good sprint to take 10^th in the field sprint, 26^th for the race.

We take one more shot at a title this year at the Criterium Championships in Downers Grove Illinois next weekend. Rolf and Paul will be our only two riders and we will be aiming to bring home some hardware next Sunday.

Thanks for the support AC

The Final Push! National Championships Are Here!

It’s now August and the final leg of our season. Two more weeks and several National Championship races are left in Team Legacy Energy-Ciclismo’s inaugural season.

The racing kicks off today, August 6^th in Orange County, CA with the Elite National Time Trial Championships. Soon to follow on Saturday and Sunday are the preliminary heats and finals of the Elite Road Race.

Following this weekends California competition is the National Criterium Championship in Downers Grove, IL on Sunday, August 17^th.

After our impressive racing in Salida, CO at the State Road Championships, We’ve orchestrated our final preparation carefully and as I like to say, “we are ready!”

Jarred is already in California racing today in the Time Trial. Please check the blog soon for an update on his performance. He is the only one riding the TT for the Team and has been preparing specifically for the Time Trial since the Cascade Classic.

The National Time Trial Championship is a brutal, 38km Time Trial on an undulating course. The hills are bigger than they look on the profile and we believe it is going to be a good course for Jarred. He is fantastic at the time trial, and as a more compact rider should have a big advantage on hillier terrain.

Saturday will consist of two qualifying heats for the Road Race Championships, with the finals to follow on Sunday. The two separate 55km heats on Saturday will take the field to a more manageable size for a 60 rider final race over 166km (103 mile) rolling terrain.

Ian, Phil, and Rolf will be joining Jarred for the Road Race. California Giant Strawberries will be the home town power-house team with a total of 13 riders entered in the race. They were our nemesis at the Cascade Classic and just beat us out for the best amateur team. In California we are taking a different approach to the race honing in on our elite force of road riders to go toe-to-toe in every break.

Anyone on Team Legacy Energy can win this race if the cards fall in their favor. As mentioned, they are all riding with good form and are well prepared. We are ready to do battle and we will keep you posted…

Andy Clark

Cascade Cycling Classic

The Cascade Classic turned out to be one of the most aggressive and exciting races of our season. Top notch competition flooded the field – BMC (home from the Tour De Swiss), Slipstream (the guys that didn’t make the Tour De France), Toyota United, Rock Racing, Health Net, Type 1, Bissell, … and Astana, who arrived with none other than last year’s 3^rd place Tour de France finisher - Levi Leipheimer. Oh, and did I mention all the best amateur teams in the country, including Team Legacy Energy, rolled into town and worked hard all week trying to get noticed. Lined up and rolling off the line on the first day, all this talent added up to an average speed of 29.8 mph and 84 miles on the first day!

Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo had a challenging and great week. As a team, we grew 10 times over. Weeks like this one will make us the Team we want to be. We have a great group of riders - hard working and talented. I want to introduce the cast we put together for the Cascade Classic.

For the overall race classification, Team Legacy Energy supported Jarred Berger our quiet, hard as nails, TT specialist, Ian Gray, a new member of the team who has the talent to climb with the best, and Rolf Eisinger, a rider who can climb (4^th at Mt Evans –‘ 07), Time Trial (even if he doesn’t think so), and ride a criterium with the fast kids.

Our hard ‘old’ men, Paul Esposti, 36, and Rich Davies, 38, rode in support . Our sprinter, Phil Mann, earned his fitness and the respect of his teammates by doing the work at this climbing stage race. Dan Workman upgraded to a Category 1 rider on Tuesday just in time to get into Cascade! “Welcome to the big league, Dan”

Throughout the week, our crew worked together and grew under the leadership of Brad Cole. Brad has not had the season he had hoped for and it’s been a difficult 8 weeks since the Tour of the Gila. His form wasn’t there to lead the team in the GC at Cascade, so he led them on the road. He showed class and commitment to his teammates and we all are better for it.

Starting out, Team Legacy Energy set the bar high. We wanted to be: the best amateur team, have the best amateur rider, and to have a rider on a stage or a classification podium. Looking back at the week, we were successful. Rolf was 3^rd in the King of the Mountains classification. We were the second place amateur team. Rolf was the 4^th place amateur followed by Jarred in 9^th and and Ian in 10^th. Three Top 10 amateurs ain’t too bad.

Results can’t show how we developed as a team during our Cascade experience. We grew as a team. Rich, Paul, Brad, and Phil all had a day that they hauled 18 or more bottles from the car to their teammates. We had two bike changes – the second one much less costly and much faster than the first! Thirteen people lived, raced, and worked hard in one house for one week and had no conflict. (The Grays are exempt from this statement because they work best with comedy and conflict! Thanks!)

Our support staff made the week possible. Rob Noble spent his vacation riding in the Team car. He filled water bottles, changed bikes, and was our, ‘Can you get me this?’ guy. Rob Ganger, our main sponsor rode in the car too, supporting the boys and making this program possible. Every team should have parents. The Gray’s, Ian’s awesome parents, volunteered to be our in house mom and dad for the week. They ran the kitchen, took care of the feed zones, and fed the team not only pasta, but energy and charm. If we could only afford for them to come to every race…

Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo raced hard every day and came to some important realizations. We are one of the best amateur teams in the country. We know that we are developing good systems – keeping the stuff that works and rethinking the stuff that doesn’t. Everything from bike changes, to feeds, sleeping, and eating, has to have a system that works. And let’s not forget about the racing - what level of fitness it takes, what kind of power we need, and how tactics and teamwork can change a race. All of these puzzle pieces have started falling into place. It is a very exciting and challenging sport, cycling, and WE are going to be great together!

Thanks you for your support and keep up with the team. We aim at winning a National Championship in the Road Race, the Time Trial, or the Criterium this August and we are happy to have you along for our journey.

--Andy Clark

The engine is roaring!

Dead Dog Stage Race: 3^rd, 8^th, 10^th, 15^th, and 19^th. A podium place, two in the top ten and the whole team in the top twenty!

Niwot Criterium: 4^th place and another top twenty finish!

Team Legacy Energy-Ciclismo has had a great build up to the Cascade Classic Stage Race starting this Wednesday. The field consists of 150 of the best pro riders in the world. Levi Leipheimer, 3^rd at last year’s Tour de France; Tom Danielson, top ten at the Tour of Spain; Chris Baldwin, two time national TT champion; not just a handful of good riders, but a strong and deep field. Team Legacy Energy-Ciclismo will be learning, growing, and attacking this week. When everyone is asking: “Where are these guys from?” we will let everyone know where Ft. Collins, Colorado is.

The Cascade Classic is a hard race: 6 stages in 5 days! Two difficult 85+ mile road races with mountain top finishes the first two days followed by a “double” day on Friday with a TT in the morning and a criterium in the evening. Saturday finds the team racing an 86 mile climbing road race and finishing the week on Sunday with a difficult 80 mile circuit race.

Team Legacy Energy-Ciclismo will provide daily updates from the race starting on Wednesday. We hope to hear from you on our blog and are glad to have the support of this great cycling community.

Andy Clark

Dead Dog Stage Race

The engine has started to hum for Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo. The Team enjoyed a great race last weekend at The Fort Collins Cycling Festival. It was nice to race on such amazing roads - our hometown roads - and be supported by our hometown community. The challenging courses are world class which makes for amazingly challenging and exciting racing. The team’s depth has grown with the entire team rising up a level and putting our riders in 4^th (Dan), 5^th (Ian), 10^th (Jarred), and 15^th (Brad) places in the Road Race and 4^th (Ian), 8^th (Paul), 10^th (Brad), 11^th (Jarred), and 13^th (Dan) places in the Hill Climb. The team rides strong, communicates well, and supports each other. It’s great to see the guys truly come together like this.

This weekend the Team races at the Dead Dog SR in Laramie, WY. The road race covers 86 miles and climbs over 2 mountain passes on Saturday. On Sunday, the criterium kicks off at high noon and a 10 mile TT (at almost 9000ft) heads out later in the afternoon. We have 10 days until we leave for our next big National Racing Calendar objective – The Cascade Cycling Classic. It's a 5-day Stage Race with 6 stages. It will be our biggest challenge yet. This weekend we will put the polish on the Team’s form and raise our hum to a roar!

You can read about the Fort Collins Cycling Festival races at www.ciclismoracing.com. You can follow the Dead Dog SR on our blog this weekend and the full story will be up Tuesday. The Team will also post daily updates on the blog burning the Cascade Classic SR.

Enjoy the racing!! And if you're not too busy this weekend, come on up to Laramie!

Andy Clark

Fort Collins Cycling Festival

The engine is starting to hum for Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo. The Team enjoyed a great race weekend at The Fort Collins Cycling Festival. It was nice to race on such amazing roads, our hometown roads, and be supported by our hometown community. The challenging courses are world class and the racing was exciting and amazingly challenging. The team’s depth has grown with the entire team rising up a level and putting our riders in 4^th (Dan), 5^th (Ian), 10^th (Jarred), and 15^th (Brad) places in the Road Race and 4^th (Ian), 8^th (Paul), 10^th (Brad), 11^th (Jarred), and 13^th (Dan) places in the Hill Climb. The team is riding strong, communicating well, and supporting each other. It’s great to see the guys truly come together like this.

We have 2 weeks until we leave for our next big National Racing Calendar objective – The Cascade Cycling Classic. It is a 5-day Stage Race with 6 stages. It will be our biggest challenge yet. We have 14 days to put the polish on the Team’s form and raise our hum to a roar!

The Fort Collins Cycling Festival race weekend started off on Saturday with a world class Road Race over the Dams, up Rist canyon and over the Dams a second time. Then a Hill Climb over the Dams and up Rist Canyon on Sunday. The team was able to execute our game plan to a tee both days, dictating how the races where ridden and flooding the top standings. Cycling is a challenging sport and even when things go well… you don’t always get to win.

The RR started off going up the climb behind the Stadium. Phil Mann started the team’s aggression early although he was not able to get away. However, his attacking set up Dan Workman to attack going over the North dam and into the descent. At 60+ MPH Dan and his two breakaway companions had a one minute advantage on the field at the bottom of Rist canyon. Dan was too strong for his companions and road the climb on his own. Unfortunately, he flatted by the Fire Station, showed his class by staying cool, getting a wheel change and going back to work. It turned out perfectly. Dan got caught by the break at the top of the climb and made the front group of four.

The Team’s depth showed at the top of the climb as Dan and Ian were in the break (5 at this point), with Jarred and Brad just a few seconds behind. Ian is learning that brakes play no part in making the front group on a descent. He was to be in the chase group with Brad and Jarred. (Ian is our recently imported Nebraskan climber). With the team represented in both groups it let Dan be conservative in the break and the boys, in the chase, were able to rest and take the race apart on the dams.

When the break reached the Dams, Dan was unable to follow the surges on the steep climbs. His 130lb rivals left him to ride a time trial to the finish. Dan was able to find the courage to ride the last 35 minutes by himself to finish 4^th the hard way. As the chase group came to the final showdown on the Dams, Brad went about destroying the group, setting up Ian and Jarred for the final. Ian went away with Rio rider Dan Porter, and Ian was able to take advantage of his teammate’s positions and came in for fifth place. Jarred rounded off the top ten and Brad hobbled in for 15^th. What A great team effort!

At Sunday’s Hill Climb, the racing started before the race even left the parking lot. Phil bridged up the two Rio riders and the break was off. Paul attacked on the first climb behind the stadium. He was not so much attacking to bridge the break as he was setting a pace to ride to the top of Rist first! Paul caught the break in the bottom of the canyon (by Whale Rock). Phil went to work and the two started a two man assault on Rist. The Rio riders succumbed to the presser as Paul’s Old Man strength was on high and Phil, the team’s sprinter and College Criterium champion, was clearly on a breakthrough ride. They were never even given a minute by the field, so they were always in sight on the open straights. Together they climbed with full commitment for 30 minutes. The two hit the second mailboxes just 18 seconds in front of the field and with 8 minutes to go were caught just before the false summit.

As the road pitched up and the break just in front Slipstream rider Blake Caldwell attacked what was left of the field. It hit some riders so hard they look as if they were standing still. Brad brought Ian through the chaos and Ian came over the false summit in 4^th. Coming into the final brutal kilometer, Blake and Kevin Nicol were a handful of seconds in front of Ian and the fast charging Aussie. Ian attacked into the final pitch of the climb and got the advantage but the line came too late and Ian was 4^th. A handlebar to handlebar sprint at the top of Rist! How cool is that?! Paul never relinquished the presser on his pedals and came in 8^th place. Brad came in at 10^th , Jarred 11^th , and Dan was able to get 13^th after his big ride the day before.

Some might say that the team was lucky, or that we rode so well because it was our hometown race. We all know that there is very little luck when going up a Cat 1 climb! Our riders demonstrated their unseen hard work, a commitment that other riders don’t understand, and a class of character that is uniquely Fort Collins.

Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo will be racing in next weekend’s Dead Dog Stage Race in Laramie, WY. It will be the team’s final preparation before the Cascade Classic July 9-13^th. You can check back next week to see how Dead Dog went and there will be daily updates from Bend, OR during the Cascade Classic.

Andy Clark