This week in Vegas, all the hype was for the big showdown at the Silverman.
Some of the top time trialists in the area were out in force to contest the
event and they did not disppoint. There were a lot of notable performances
and that I will get in too later. I wanted to take a moment to say how
impressed I was with the level of organization that it took to put this
event on. I can not believe the amount of volunteers and support from the
community as half of Henderson was shut down for the Road events. I have
never been a big Tri fan but that was pretty cool. I hope that some day we
can see that kind of support behind some local bike races. Nice job
Silverman. I also wanted to high light Dave Ellis. His company was a
notable sponsor and most of the team members of CES were out to either race
in the event or volunteer as a worker. Lots of praise out to those guys
for supporting a local event.
NEWS FLASH:
The Arctic Squirrel has arrived. He landed in Vegas via the Audi Turbo
Express on Saturday. He looks fit but looks can be deceiving. Let me know
if there are any Jay sightings on the road.
Silverman Report:
There were lots of Vegas notables involved with the race and I apologize
that I did not see everyone or get your specific times. I did see the
Wolfman in the half iron man looking pretty cool in a Air Force Kit. The
big showdown in the Relay TT of 112 miles was a great event to watch. The
boss was first on the road and maintained his position as the best Time
Trialists in Vegas. We all take for granted his abilities in this event
but he improved his time over last year by 14 minutes and had the fastest
bike time of the day with a 5:08:03. Chicken was second in the Valley with
a time of 5:33:30. Louie's team won the overall relay and the Mens relay.
Chicken team won the coed relay team. Nice job guys. Hansel had a great
showing with a time of 5:52:37. I did not get the ladies time splits
because I was not able to get their team names but I know Hilary was out on
the road with a good effort as well. Big Ryan and Brandon Cunningham both
had good times to support their relay teams as well. I was in the
transition area and it was obvious, every one left it on the table. Dave
Ellis looked pretty sharp on his X-lab TT bike.
Non PT Retrospective
As promised, I am sitting here at my desk and going over all the great
performances of the past year by non-PT riders. It has been a long season
so this is going to be from the best of my memory. If I forgot someone or
did not quite get a fact right, I apologize now. It is much easier for me
to remember races I was in so here we go.
I will start with one of the most impressive riders in the City, Little
Hurt. Andy had an incredible year with many accolades to his credit. From
getting his Cat I to taking on the Zoolander boys at LA College, he has
been solid all year. I think one of his most impressive performances was
taking out Kayle LeoGrand at West LA College. Even before that, the way he
gutted out the finish in Boulevard this year against arguably the best
field that race has ever seen. Not many of us would be willing to line up
in crit against most of those riders, he did it in a tough ass road race
and was one of the top non-pro finishers. Great season Andy.
How could we forget Greg Christian. Now most uf us know that Gregg checked
out after the first part of the season, but before he did he was notching
up some serious placings against some NRC caliber racers. His ride at Red
Trolley was inspiring and he certainly got Lance excited. I recently spoke
with him at Red Rock and he may start racing again. Lets hope so! We need
somebody to give Jay some competition.
Spider Monkey has had a tough year. From going to school to getting plowed
by a car, he was not able to salvage very much of his season. For that
reason I will have to remember him as being a great antagonist at TNW. The
one thing I love about Ryan is he is unafraid. From attacking Burke
Swindlehurst in Utah to trying to disrupt the PT train at TNW, I can always
count on Spider Monkey to mix it up. i know he is training for a big year
next year so keep an eye on him.
Mr Dark Cloud (Tony Gebbia) had a good year in the early part of the
season. He was getting some good placing in the early season crits in
Socal. Again I do not have specifics as I was not at a lot of the CBR
stuff. I will also say that between him and Luna, the two of them have the
sweetest peddle stroke in Vegas. They pedal like glass. The guy just
looks pro. Nice!!
Pitter Pat impressed the hell out of me at the Mt Charleston hill climb. I
know what you are thinking, he is supposed to go uphill fast. He passed me
like i was falling backwards off a ladder. Nice ride on the Mountain Pat!!
One of the biggest character's in the peloton, Troll, had an awesome year.
I love the way he gave it up for his teammates in Indio but his all time
best achivement this year was taking the 4-up sprint at TNW. It looks like
all those videos he had been watching of tactics paid off. Than he goes
down to Socal the next week and wins a crit. That was a breakthrough ride.
Good luck with the new baby!!
Hansel made a great return to the Peloton this year. After a year in
absence he rode strong all year with quite a few crit placings to his
resume in masters races. He has steadily been improving his TT again to
his former level. I am looking for some great battles on the road this
year. He had one of his best rides at the St Valentine's day race. He was
the power in a two up break. Nice job Chris.
Gagne has been improving his sprint all year and doing well at TNW. I have
to say my best memory of Chris this year involved the Tour De Gap. I know
he may not agree but he had a breakthrough ride in the first days road
race. I know we always talk about placings, but sometimes it is the
challenge of a hard event that will take you to a new level. Gutting out
the finish on those climbs that day when your body was telling you to stop,
changed you as a rider and I am sure it will pay off. If he keeps taking
his game to that level, he will be one tough rider in the future. Nice job
at Gap getting over those hills. Trust me when I tell you that you
impressed me and my teammates that day.
I was not at this race but Ryan J had a great day down in Phoenix at the
beginning of the year. He did a crit that had rain, snow and sleet. I
talked to some of the people from that area that were at the race and very
few people finished. Ryan had a good day to get a top 20 finish in the Pro
1-2 crit and tough out the weather. He also just stepped up and completed
the 112 mile Silverman TT. Can you say tough guy!!
Little Nathan, what can we say. This kid is smoking hot this year with
none other that a state title to his name. He has steadily been improving
and it all culminated with a break away win at state. I thought that was
impressive until Charleston. This kid smoked most of the elite field to
have one of the best times in the city, and he does not even have muscles
yet. Keep an eye on him and lets hope he gets picked up by a good
development team for next year.
Hillary had the race of her life at Indio to win some big money. I watched
her come out of the last corner and accelerate to the line for a well
foughtout win. I was laughing all the way home that day thinking about how
she won more money than any of the guys from vegas that placed that day
including myself. here is another vegas athlete that had breakthrough
year to become a threat in almost any race. Awesome!!
Alicia goes right along with that. You would think that she would only be
a sprinter but she actually placed well in quite a few road races including
San Luis Rey. She was also the best finisher in the Pro Crit here in Vegas
at Mandalay Bay. Look for bigger things for her this year.
Last but not least, Big Lance. Always the sprinter, he spent most of the
season working his ass off for members of his team. He stepped up and did
an entire season with arguably one of the best local teams in Socal. Along
the way he was able to win a masters crit and provide lead out after lead
out for his sprinters. It was tough to hold his wheel and even tougher to
beat him at his race, the local TNW. He was by far the dominate winner of
the belt. I am hoping that the rumor of his retirement is just that and we
will have many epic battle to come.
On that note, I am sorry if I forgot you. You are always welcome to add in
your own memory.
Random Thoughts:
Happy Birthday Hileman. I am not gay and Chicken wrote the card!!
Again, special props out to CES for their sponsorship of the Silverman.
How about a Road Race next year??
Is it the training or the P3??? Nice job Boss!!
Tucson is this weekend. It is on Bitches!! I hope I can hang in for the
finish.
See ya next week.
Jim Robbins