The Weekend Rides...

Just a quick post about some of the riding I did this past weekend.

With no races and plenty of beautiful weather, I got in two solid days of riding with the GCC'ers. Saturday we left from the southern part of town and ended up with about 70 miles. A lot of rotation throughout the day made for a relatively quick pace and sore legs. Alex Price was Mr. Aggressive on the day, attacking at every sprint sign (even when nobody else noticed there was a sprint). We finished by coming in on 441 across the Prairie. There wasn't any kind of finishing sprint, but the heat and wind left me feeling pretty worn out just the same.

Sunday saw a good turn out on the North end of town considering that it was Easter morning. I thought that services would surely take a portion of our normal attendees, but that apparently wasn't the case. Scott and Ed had shown up to the Chevron at 8:00am thinking that we had changed our ride time, unfortunately for them, that change is still a couple of weeks away. Rodrigo was dressed up somewhat like an easter egg in his blue and pink Lampre kit which added a little Easter flair to our ride. There were reports that insead of sprinting to the city-limit signs we would stop and look for hidden Easter eggs...but that turned out to be untrue, so Huan sprinted anyway.

Everyone was in the mood to keep the pace civil, so we just rolled along enjoying the weather and the more social aspects of group rides. Soon after the rest stop Jayson (on his TT bike) and Huan rolled off the front in what I'm sure they thought was an attack, but to the group (who maintained our blistering 19 mph avg.) it was just Jayson and Huan getting in some heavier training.

Once we came into Alachua via 241, Ed Joy upped the intensity while climbing Mebane Hill. That turned out to be the catalyst for the attacks, splits and chases on the remainder of the ride. We regrouped at the light waiting to cross 441, but the splits came shortly after when Ed once again rode past me as I was setting the pace on the front over a little roller. I didn't respond so as not to validate his decision to increase the speed. Moments later Scott Pfaff and Danny Lyons jumped across to Ed and it was obvious that the three weren't waiting for the rest of us. Cindy Tompkins pulled through, but that was it...I think everyone else was still looking to end the ride the same way it had gone throughout the day, nice 'n' easy.

Danny came back to the group, then Julie Ficker and Alexis Debroski shot across to the two leaders just before we got to Millhopper Rd.. The gap was opening while Cindy and I did a two-person rotation in an attempt to bring the group back up to the leaders. Julie must've burned all of her matches to bridge the gap because she returned to a now dwindleing chase group shortly before we got to the I-75 overpass. Daryl Tompkins and Ryan Saylor, who had been content with keeping the ride easy, started to work with Cindy and I (probably out of pity). The four of us weren't letting the front three get away, but we weren't pulling them back either.

Ryan rolled away from us just as we were coming up to the overpass and I knew our chances of catching them were gone. However, the benevolent Mr. Saylor sat up and waited for us and made us a deal at the top of the climb. He said that he would catch the leaders for us, but one of us (now only 3 left; Cindy, Julie and myself) would have to win the sprint. And with that, Ryan set off on a 4-mile TT at 28-30 mph, dragging the three of us along in his draft.

Needless to say we caught Ed, Scott and Alexis within the final mile. They looked pretty spent and after a moment of looking around at each other Cindy went. Feeling compelled to not let Ryan's stellar pull go in vain, I followed Cindy for some added insurance. Nobody really followed us and our end of the deal was upheld.

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This post turned out to be longer than intended, but at least you've had a little 5 minute time-waster...Now BACK TO WORK!

Buzzzzzzzz

From the Editor: 5count will be starting a new feature very soon. We're calling it, "2Wheel Reveal".

In this feature we will be posting interviews that we have conducted with people that we feel you, the viewing audience, would be interested in reading about. (as long as they are interesting people that are willing to talk to us)

We are currently in the process of lining up guests for the "2Wheel Reveal" section. Stay tuned to find out who the focus will be on in the first edition of this ground-breaking new feature.

Cover Model

For those of you that didn't know, I've recently been the featured model on the cover of a magazine. Explore is a research magazine that is published three times per year by the Office of Research and Graduate Programs at the University of Florida. Explore highlights research that is being carried out at UF by the varying graduate programs. With a circulation of aproximatly 30,000 - Explore is a highly respected publication around the country as well as here in Florida.

I ended up squeezing a bucket-full of oranges for this shoot. I was dressed in plastic trash bags with publix bags rubber-banded over my shoes so as not to coat myself in orange juice and pulp. The creative director was trying to get just the right amount of "spray" in the picture frame...and with no way to control how an orange is going to spray, I just kept squeezing. The life of a model is so hard.

For personally autographed copies of the Spring 2006 issue of Explore, contact the 5count offices via email to set up payment and shipping.

To find out more about Explore and research from the University of Florida, go to www.rgp.ufl.edu/explore/

photography by Ray Carson

Jax recap

Saturday - Downtown Jacksonville Crit
I was right, this race was hard. Why you ask, well there were a couple of factors.

• Wind- it was bad enough that there were 30 mph gusts coming off of the river, but what made it worse was all the tall downtown buildings. There weren't any clear cut head/tail/cross winds, one section could have a head wind in the beginning, then you'd get slammed by a crazy cross wind in the middle and just as you'd start the corner, a tail wind would push you through it like bubbles out of a jacuzzi jet (how bout that analogy?) At one point, just before the third corner, the cross wind was soo bad that we would slow to 17 mph and have to lean into the wind just to stay in a straight line. So we were going straight, but leaning at like a 67 degree angle...CRAZY! It was supposed to rain as well, so I guess I can be thankful that we at least stayed dry.
• Big-time race, Big-time field - Being an NRC weekend, there were a lot of top level amateur guys who traveled in from out of state as well. This upped the competition level and created a fast, aggressive and hard race.

In the end, I didn't get a result. With two laps to go I was on the wheel of Big Phil from Team Florida. While going through corner #1 I was taken into the cones when Phil flatted. I didn't go down, but the delay was enough to see the entire field charge by. I was annoyed, but not as much as Phil was. I was happy with making it through the windy conditions without quitting. The mental part of this race was harder than the physical part (just by a smidge though).

I stuck around to watch the rest of the races as I had some friends and teammates who had qualified for the amateur finals race. The crowds were great and the venue was top notch. Rebecca Larson once again made it onto the podium in the woman's pro-1,2,3 race. The men's pro race was delayed just long enough to see the first rain drops fall while the pros sat on the start line. Earlier in the day I had seen Frankie Andreu with his United Pro cycling team. The UPC boys were among many top pros who ventured down to the ole F-L-A for some racing. Jittery Joes brought some big guns including Australian, Trent Wilson. Brice Jones from Jelly Belly was also in attendance as well as Dan Larson's VMG boys. Unfortunately, the rain increased in intensity and the crowds dispersed. I watched the remainder of the race from a friends hotel window.

Sunday - Penny Farms Road Race
This was the first race in more than a couple weekends where I felt strong enough to do more than just hold on. I stayed close enough to the front to watch for anything going up the road and never got myself into the "hurt-locker". Coming into the last mile of the final lap of the race, we had all of our guys lined up on the front setting the pace for the eventual sprint. I was fourth wheel as the sprint opened up and the field spread out across the road. In the blink of a eye someone went down right in the middle and before I knew what had happened I was flying through the air and landing directly on my head. A ton of guys went down and I fared better than most thanks to my trusty helmet, which gave it's life to save mine. Obviously not the way I had wanted the race to end, but my teammate John finished well and I didn't die.


Here's the finish of the race just as the sprint started to open up. If you look closely, you can see some red, white and blue jersey's on the ground in the middle...that is probably my teammate Brad, but I'm in there somewhere. Thanks to Jayson O. for sending me the pic.

I did the Hipp ride yesterday and didn't feel the effects of the crash, so that's a good sign. No races the next couple of weeks for me, so I'll probably get a chance to see my wife who's been buried at work (she's an accountant.It's's tax season).

Check this out...

Check out this video by these two guys from Muncie, Indiana. It's in response to the "Narnia Rap" by Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg on SNL. There have been a bunch of remakes, but this one was pretty well done.

If you haven't seen the original, check it out here

See ya in Jax

The only NRC event in the state of Florida is this weekend in downtown Jacksonville. Saturday's crits will take place in front of the Landings highlighted by a twilight pro crit with members of ATG-Toshiba-JetNetwork, Cycle Science, Nerac-OutdoorLights.com, Toyota-United Pro, Jittery Joes, Rite Aid, Target Training, VMG, Navigators, Jelly Belly and Colavita in attendance.

This weekend is sure to attract elite level amatures from around the southeast as well which will undoubtably make the racing tough! Good luck to those of you who will be racing.

The crit course is outlined in the above photo

Carnage Follow-up

In a recent post I told you about the minor crash on our last training ride out at Progress Park. I've just gotten a follow-up on how Doug is doing. The image below illustrates just how bad crashing sucks. I must admit, Doug's bruising is way worse than I thought it'd be...I guess when you're over 50, the blood doesn't circulate quite as well huh Doug?

***Editors Note: the following image is not meant for the weak of stomach. The contents of the following image have been blurred for your protection, if still interested in seeing the bruise in it's full glory click on the image for an un-obscured view. Warning proceed at your own risk!

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!

John Gress/Reuters
Congratulations to us! The Gators dismantled the UCLA Bruins last night 73-57! It truly is great to be a Florida Gator!

Time Change, History and Carnage

Time Change
This weekend we lose and hour of sleep, but we gain an hour of precious daylight. Due to the impending time change, the tues/thurs training rides out at the Progress Park ended last night. We will no longer be riding in circles, so we will now resume our normal tues/thur rides that leave from the Chevron station at 6:00pm.

History
There has been some great riding out at the Progress Park this winter season and those of us who have diligently ventured out to Alachua are now looking forward to training on terrain that doesn't repeat itself every 1.16 miles.

Early on in the winter, we developed an informal contest that we dubbed, "The IronMan Contest", to determine who would attend the most rides out at the "Mobious Strip". Early on it was a tight three-man race between Scott, Jayson and Myself. As time went on, I slipped further and further away from Scott and Jayson who had distinguished themselves as a formidable two-man break. These two stubborn competitors showed up in the rain, the cold and the dark of night...unwilling to concede the victory. Through the months of training, family events and personal obligations kept our two leaders from completing the winter with perfect attendance records and in the end only one man had missed less rides than any other Progress Park attendee. That man, and the winner of the first ever IronMan Award in none other than...

JAYSON O'MAHONEY

Congratulations Jayson! As a result of your dedication, you are entitled to dinner at the restaurant of your choice. see Scott to claim your prize.
Here are a few images from some rides out at the Progress Park this season...





Carnage
Unfortunately, our last ride out at the Progress Park wasn't quite what we would have hoped for. I had stationed myself up the road from the group and was attempting to take a picture of them strolling through the park. A moment later, due to a simple lack of concentration two or our riders went down. Doug Flokerth and our youngest rider, Justin Pfaff (9) each sacrificed some skin to the Progress Park gods.

Aside from some soreness and obvious road rash, both of the fallen soldiers will live to ride another day. This is a reminder that no matter how safe, slow or comfortable the ride is, accidents can happen..oh yeah and it's also a reminder to wear your helmets!

So not a perfect ending, but an ending none-the-less. We look forward to seeing those of you who can attend our rides at the Cheveron, starting on Tuesday the fourth of April.

Burrito Bros. expands to Tampa

University of Florida fans and alumni in Tampa will soon be able to get their fix of primo beef, bean and double-wrapped burritos — with plenty of guac.

For the first time since the hole-in-the-wall restaurant opened in Gainesville 29 years ago on 13th Street just north of University Avenue, Burrito Brothers is expanding. The Burrito Brothers’ satellite restaurant will offer the same menu with the same intimate view of the kitchen.

The grand opening of the restaurant, located in the Carrabbas Center, 11417 N. Dale Mabry Highway, is Monday, April 10.

story originally reported in "Gator News", an online newsletter from the UF Alumni Assoc.

My Spin City Classic recap

click on image
Downtown Crit
While race weekends usually take us to some corporate park or out to some country road in the middle of nowhere, the "night-life feel" of the Spin City Classic offers a change to our race scenery. Downtown O-town on Saturday night was the scene for the Spin City Criterium. A four-cornered course that possessed more than a few bumps, manhole covers, cobbled intersections and holes. The atmosphere of this event is always second to none, and as a result, the bike racers show up by the hundreds.

My race featured a field of 80 guys. That's eighty guys going through corners from curb to curb, eighty guys strung out on the straights at 30+ mph and eighty guys capable of laying their bikes down right in front of me. This race, for me, was an exercise in bike handling skills.

I'll be the first to admit that this crit had me at my limit, rendering me unable to do little more than fill space somewhere in the middle of the field. It took me the first 15 minutes to get comfortable with the rhythm of the race (and by comfortable I mean: able to hold on without entertaining the thoughts of an early departure). During that 15 minutes I realized that taking my chances getting run into the hay bails by cornering on the outside was better than slowing so much on the inside that a full sprint was required just to stay in contact.

By the time my heart rate had come back down to a manageable range, I got cut-off in the first corner sending me into the hay and ripping my foot out of the pedal. The remainder of the field was flying by me as I clipped back in and sprinted all out to get back within the comforting draft that I so desperately needed to stay in the race.

My tank was teetering on "empty" but I needed to situate myself closer to the front if I was going to avoid another crit-ending hay bail encounter. I worked hard to advance my position in the field only to be swarmed the next time the pace dropped a couple mph's. I fought for position on every straight, but my efforts just rewarded me with the same mid-pack placement that I was trying to get away from.

With five laps to go the peloton became overly anxious and I used just about all that I had left to force my way to the wheel of my teammates who were located in the top 20. I didn't feel like there was going to be much of a sprint in my legs but I figured my chances of survival were better near the front.

As it turns out, one of the main instigators of this fast paced race was none other than Gainesville’s own Brett Miller. Brett apparently went on to win this race (not that I could see anything from where I was when I rolled up the finish line).

So no, this wasn’t my best performance, but I came out of it on two wheels and I’ve got a little more race experience in the bag. Even though it sounds like this race wasn’t anything more than an exhausting, nervous and painful event, I loved it. I love that nervousness, I love going through the corners handlebar to handlebar with 80 other cyclists. I love being a part of an event that brings out the aggressive, competitive spirit in everyone.
But don’t get me wrong...at the same time I was happy when that race was over.


Southport Circuit Race
Sunday’s race was a 2-mile jaunt around Southport Park, which is next to the Orlando International Airport. My one and only crash last year occurred at this race and I wasn’t looking to see history repeat itself.

Another good sized field of 60+ guys started a race that saw a good percentage of them dropped by the blistering speeds in the first 10 miles. Most of the straights had me on the tip of my saddle, rolling at 30+ mph once again. Even the section with the soothing tail wind was made painful by attacks and counter-attacks at the front.

Half way through, a pile-up occurred right next to me as a result of a sewer drain that was located dangerously in the middle of the third corner. I was once again pleased with my ability to avoid the crash and stay on the bike (even if my heart rate did experience a bit of a spike at that moment).

I got into a good rhythm and was able to navigate the six-corner course without getting caught in the wind too much. I was probably just outside of my comfort zone judging by my face in the pictures I found of myself from the race (#1, #2, #3)

With three laps to go my bike handling skills were once again tested as the rider in front of me experienced a mechanical which completely locked his rear wheel up and sent him skidding sideways through the corner. I jumped on my brakes, which sent me sliding sideways around him. As I came up next to him I let go of the brakes and my rear wheel was whipped back into line and disaster was once again averted. Unfortunately, not everyone behind me was as lucky.

Steadily hammering on the straights and aggressively sprinting out of the corners slowly chipped away at my “finishing sprint ability”. By the last corner of the last lap, I gave a less than powerful attempt at a sprint, which got me nothing more than to the line safely.

Once again, my result wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but I was able to hang tough in one of the fastest races I’ve ever done and I didn’t crash regardless of how much this course was gunning for me.

The clocks are about to go forward an hour which will create enough daylight after work to benefit my weekday training. I anticipate this will also result in better finishes for upcoming races.

Like I promised...

I'm finally getting around to posting some pics of recent events/races. So without any further delay, I give you...

The Wedding
The weekend of March 11th in Tampa Mike and Kelly finally tied the knot. A much anticipated event, the wedding saw friends from as far away as California, Chicago, Boston, Michigan and Atlanta come together to partake in the open bar. Oh yeah, and to wish Mike and Kelly the best too!
*pictures can be viewed at larger size by clicking on the image


The wedding took place on the water. It was perfect weather and quite picturesque, wouldn't you say?





The reception was just 25 yards away at the Rusty Pelican. These are a selection of guys that I've known forever and recently went to Las Vegas with.








Here's the happy couple cuttin up the dance floor. These two are probably smiling because they were leaving in a couple of days for a two week Hawaiin honeymoon.













When the open bar closed at 11pm, most of us carried the festivites over to Bahama Breeze until 2am. In a classy move, Josh (Mich. State fan) relieved himself in the valet drive.





Orlando crits (3-4/5-06)
Earlier this month I was in O-town of a couple of crits. On saturday, I arrived to the race 20 minutes before my race was to start (due to getting lost in suburbia-hell). I threw on my cycling clothes, pumped up my tires, ran down to registration, had a friend pin on my race number, did 2 warm-up laps and lined up for the race.

The race course was short (<1km) with four corners and a nasty head wind on the back side. I almost got shelled during a 33+ mph stint through the start/finish line, but managed to suck wheel until the wind dicouraged the break two corners later. The pace evened out and I was able to take advantage of an inside line through the last corner (the ouside line got blocked up by a crash caused by a tubular-tire rolling off the rim) for 7th place. I even made enough money to recoup my entry fees, woo hoo


Here's Jason, Brad, Myself and James after our race. The picture on the right is the finishing straight just past the S/F line.








Sunday was eventful not because of the race result, but due to the fact that Team Olympus brought a few of us onto their team. Team Olympus won the Team Florida Points Series for cat. 4 last year, but due to some upgrades and other things their cat 4 ranks have been diminished. I wish I could say that Olympus sought me out afer I solo'd to victory, but the truth is I was in the right place at the right time and some friends put in a good word for me (thanks Jason and Brad). I'm looking forward to playing some race tactics for the remainder of the season and working hard for the team.

By the way, I rode strong on sunday but wasn't as fortunate in the last corner. I took the wrong line and got caught behind a guy who had more speed than he could handle in the last turn.

At the race on sunday. The posting of the cat 4 race from the previous day...even though it looks like rider #820 "Pall Messai" got 7th place, I'm pretty sure that's me (nice handwriting)





Tallahassee Crit (3-18-06)
Last weekend Rodrigo and I drove up to Tally for the crit on saturday. I had raced on this course last year and remember not appreciating the slight incline on the back side. Well, things haven't changed. All in all the race went well, I didn't really do much but watch attacks go up the road by all the colligiate guys in the field. Brett, Phil, Mitch and the Lees McRea guy who ended up winning. There was another crash in the last (and only) corner that slowed me down, not that I was on my way to winning or anything though.

This is a shot of the home stretch, slightly downhill and super fast. Rodrigo was kind enough to take on the driving duties for the day, so his car was our home base while in garnet and gold country.








Roger had one heck of day at the races, taking first place in both of his races (colligiate C & cat. 5). He's got one hell of a top end and I'm sure he'll be making waves in the higher catagories in no time. Congratulations Roger.



In closing...
• I know that was a lot to take in, but lately I have to take my blogging opportunities when they come.
We'll be in Orlando again this weekend for the Spin City Classic (formerly known as the "Festival of Speed"). It should be a good weekend.

• Don't forget to vote in the 5count poll located in the sidebar to your left.

Larson Breaks Free, on Stage Three

photos courtesy of cyclingnews.com
It looks like Rebecca Larson had one hell of a race in California this past weekend. Larson finished the San Dimas Stage Race placing 9th on GC and winning the final stage. Her victory came as a result of getting into a 5 woman break and then attacking them on the last lap to solo in for the win. Along with her stage-three victory came enough points to secure her the green points jersey as well. Congratulations Rebecca!
***you can check out the story at cyclingnews.com

What's wrong with this picture?
This is a picture from the finish of the last stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. It looks like Zabel and Petacchi have become close in more ways than one???

Sham-Rock and Roll

Happy St. Patty's day
Sorry for the lack of updates lately...I've been busy busy busy. Here are some quick tid-bits though.

• Racing has been going well, 7th a couple of weeks ago in Orlando. I've actually got some pics from that weekend that i've been meaning to post, so I'll have a full race report up soon.
• I am now riding for an actual team out of Orlando as well. I'll cover that whole thing in the race report coming soon.
• I'll be heading up to Tallahassee for a crit on saturday...nobody else from my team will be up there so there's no pressure to work during the race (phewww).
• I had a birthday, now I'm actually the age that my racing license says I am (31). point of interest: Also born on March 10th...Sharon Stone, Chuck Norris, my dentist and Danny M...oh yeah, and some girl named Amanda I was in 2nd grade with.
• Today is a sad day in the lives of many women across this great nation of ours. It was 5 years ago today that I took myself off the market and married my lovely wife Jen. Being a bit of a romantic, I made a card today to wish her a happy anniversary (It's a take off of the "peas and carrots" line from Forest Gump).
• Completely un-cycling related...My great friends Mike Gutowski and Kelly Singer finally got married last weekend after almost 8 years of "courtship". The wedding was awesome, lots of friends + open bar = good times! I've got some photos to post for that too...stay tuned.

Again, sorry for the absence of new posts (I've heard reports of 5count withdraws due to the lack of new reading/viewing material). More to come very soon.

Be sure to vote in my super-cool "web-poll" located at the bottom of the sidebar to your left.

I'll leave you with...
a joke of the day.

Sean and Seamus were walking in the woods when they came across a sign saying, "Tree Fellers wanted". One of them said, "Ye know, it's a shame Murphy isn't here. We could have gotten the job".

Poll Results

The first ever 5count poll has officially come to an end. The question for the poll was, "What team in the Tour of California has the best looking kit?" The votes poured in (all 20 of them (2 of those were mine)) and have been counted. For those unobservant readers of 5count, the polls are always located in the sidebar to your left (no Jayson, your other left), underneath the list of links. You may have to scroll down a bit, but you can do it.

And the winner is...
Davitamon Lotto from Belgium! I'm sure Lambert (Lam • bare) will be proud. The Davitamon Lotto team received 30% of the votes and now and forever be known to have the best looking kit from the inaugural ToC. The voting breakdown is as follows:

Davitamon Lotto - 6 votes
TIAA-Cref - 4 votes
KB Homes/Mexican Nat'l team - 3 votes (all coming from Rodrigo no doubt)
Phonak - 2 votes
Gerolstiener - 1 vote
T-Mobile - 1 vote (had to be Danny, cause these are the ugliest things in any peloton)
Team CSC - 1 vote
Jelly Belly - 1 vote
Sierra Nevada/Kodak Gallery - 1 vote

*receiving no votes were: Discovery, United Pro, Health Net, Saunier Duval, Navigators, Credit Agricole and Colavita.

New Poll is now Posted
Be sure to let your voice be heard. Let us know who you think will win the '06 Tour de France. We'll probably leave this one up for a while to see if there is any shift once the TdF draws closer.
Vote as many times as you wish *limit one vote per day