Christmas Gift Idea...

Back in Black...

The Discovery channel pro cycling team just put out there kit design for the 2007 season. You can check it out at ThePaceline.com.

Making Room for Baby...

As you may or may not know, my beautiful wife and I are expecting our first child. As a result, we've been cleaning out closets and guest rooms and last weekend we tackled the garage...all in an attempt to make room for baby!

We were able to throw away a ton of junk as well as take a load of stuff over to Goodwill. The things that were left were consolidated, organized and put back in an orderly fashion. We now have a clean, uncluttered garage so that I can set up my cycling workshop/training center... with just one minor obstruction...

...a 6ft long practice bar from my days as a competitive flair bartender (cough, cough, 5th place at the 2003 world Bartending Championships, cough, cough).

I need to find a good home for this georgous piece of American craftsmanship so that I can move forward with my garage makeover. By going to www.5count.com/bar, you'll be able to find out all the pertinent information regarding the bar. I'm throwing in a few extras to get you started with your dream of being a bartender. Perfect for home parties, flair bartending practice or just to setting your TV on, this bar is a steal!

***click on image for larger view

Ben Brew follow-up

Some of you may remember a couple of posts here on 5count pertaining to Joe Brew's little brother, Ben. (if not, you can check 'em out here) Well, the Gainesville Sun ran a story on Ben today on the front page of the sports section.

Ben is now in remission of his T-cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia that he was diagnosed with on September 8th of 2005. Ben has regained a lot of strength (and hair) and is now getting himself ready to rejoin his varsity soccer team at GHS. You can read the Sun's article here, and you can see Ben in action at Citizens Field on January 20th, as GHS takes on Tallahassee Leon for the teams "Senior Night".

It was just a matter of time though, wasn't it?

2006 SEC Champions!!!

Look out OSU...

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving!
...from the staff at 5count

Christmas shopping through 5count!

Need a Christmas gift idea for your favorite cycling friend? Order a 5count original. Go to the 5count apparel store and get the "Big Trunk" T-shirt in one of 3 different styles. If you like the design, but don't see it on a type of shirt you want, let us know and we'll try to accomodate your request. No minimum order required, act now supplies are limited!!!

Paging Anthony Musalo

Moose, all the email addresses I have for you are bunk. If you see this, email me! If anyone else reading this has a current and valid email for the Moose, let me know what it is.

How bout that HFH t-shirt???

For those of you that opted to purchase the Horse Farm Hundred t-shirt at this past weekends "Gainesville Cycling Festival", I hope you are enjoying my t-shirt contest's winning entry. Thats right, the horsey/bike chain logo came from your's truly. If you are in need of a design for your next event, drop me a line...Daddy needs a new bike ($$$)!

Italy trip

Thanks to the urging of the 5count masses (all 3 of you) I have finally assembled some photos from my trip to Italy. With the help of my "web-guru" Brent Ferraro, there is now a slick little slide show available on 5count.com. I have broken the trip into ten folders, each one containing photos from a specific part of Italy. The ten folders result in over 300 images for your veiwing pleasure, so take your time and peruse them at your leisure.

Below is a screen shot of what you'll find when you arrive at 5count.com.



Here is a quick idiots guide to navigating the slide show:

(1) Click on a rectangle to take yourself to the corresponding folder.
(2) There are eight locations on screen one and two more on screen two. Click "next screen" to navigate to screen two.
(3) Once in a folder, the automated slide show starts automaticly (thus the term - automated). To pause the automation and go through the images at your own speed, click the pause button in the lower-right hand corner of the window. To restart the slide show, simply click on the play button that appeared in the same location.
(4) To scroll through the images on your own, click the "+" or the "-" buttons at either end of the thumbnails at the bottom of the window.
(5) To only view the images that interest you, and skip the ones that don't, you're able to view a slightly larger thumbnail simply by hovering your cursor over one of the thumbnails at the bottom. Click on the disired thumb and go directly to that image. * by doing this, the automation of the slidshow will be automaticly paused if it hadn't been paused already.
(5) While an image is displayed in the main window, a caption of the image is available by hovering your cursor over the image (no clicking required). Many hours of research were finding the names of the things I photographed, so hover over those images and you might learn something.
(6) To return to the main menu click on the little box icon located at the lower-left corner of the window

For those of you itching to see photos of Alp D'Huez or my summit of the Passo di Stelvio, you'll have to wait a bit longer, my travel companion still has the cycling-related images in his posesssion...I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime enjoy the pics, let me know what you think, stay tuned!

5count

Hang in there

It has been brought to my attention that the 5count readers are jones'ing for some info on my Italy trip. Hang in there it's on the way. Check out this panorama of Lake Como while you wait (The DMB shot is probably gettin old huh?)



View from the patio of the B&B we stayed at while in Bellagio, Italy!

DMB tonight

Thanks to Jack DiGiovanna from the Team Florida list serve, I was able to get a couple of tickets to tonights Dave Matthews Band concert at the Ford Amphitheatre in Tampa. This is going to be the sixth or seventh time seeing the good ol' DMB live in action. Should be fun!

Landis' statement...

Hear what Floyd said:
click here

In other news...not drug related

On a day with such bad cycling news, here's something cool. I've recently booked a room at a Bed & Breakfast for the "Bellagio portion" of my upcoming trip to Italy. The place is called Il Perlo and it's directly on the route up to the Madonna di Ghisallo chapel. I'll be there for two days before heading over to Bormio to climb the Passo di Stelvio and the Gavio. And we recently switched our plans up slightly in order to fit in a drive up to France so we can climb Alp D'Huez!

In a related issue...
I'll need to borrow a 10-speed Shimano Cassette with a 27 on it.

Holy S***

USA's Floyd Landis celebrates as he crosses the finish line of the 200.5 km seventeenth stage of the 93rd Tour de France cycling race from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Morzine, 20 July 2006. AFP PHOTO / PASCAL GUYOT

Floyd Landis is one Bad A** Mother F*****!!!
Quite possibly the best TdF stage since the 2003 Tour de France (stage 15), where Lance crashed, pulled out of his pedal, and still went on to win the stage to Luz-Ardiden.

TgF Stage 11...the short version

• Long stage, 5 climbs, one HC climb and 4 cat.1 climbs...oh yeah, and it's hot!
• Iban Mayo had an even worse day than the previous stage, yelled at camera man for recording his failure for the world to see, withdrew from the race...sorry sucka
• Disco boys were all dropped eventually...only the Ace hung in long enough to still have a shot at a high GC finish. The rest of the boys will have to go for stage wins in order to salvage their first "post-Lance" tour...booo, hisss
• Cyril Dessel fell only 8 seconds short of holding onto his yellow jersey for the Quatorze Julliet. Not a bad showing on such a hard day, he was a heck-of-a-lot closer than anyone thought he'd be...close, but no cigar.
• Michael Boogard rode like a man possesed in support of his team leader, Dennis Menchov...oh, and he has big teeth!
• Thomas Voeckler got to within 20 seconds of bridging up to the break, but he hit the wall and ended up finishing in 78th place, 33:47 off of the winning time...keep holding onto the memories of your time in yellow 2-years ago.
• David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval) was the most aggresive rider in stage 11. He managed to ride himself into the polka-dot jersey and as a result of his great ride, he got a contract extension as well...cha-ching!
• Floyd Landis became only the fifth American to don the maillot jaune as he finished third on the stage in an impressive display of poise and power...looks like the "man to beat" to me
• Levi Leipheimer found his form once again as he avenged his poor TT performance with a 2nd place finish in stage 11. He wanted the stage win soo bad, but will have to settle with knowing that he's still one bad mutha (now sitting in 13th on GC)...if only his TT wasn't ridden at the speed of ketchup!
• Dennis Menchov had better hope for the TT of his life on July 22nd if he wants to overtake Floyd and stand on the top step in Paris. Either way, this Russian has just let the world know that he's a serious contender!...nice ride, but Floyd's just too much for you!

In Fantasy world...
The 5count Fantasy team is still sittin pretty in the overall standings. The points earned soo far may be enough to keep us in the top 12, thus earning us some free cycling schwagg!

Another Stage win for 5count

Check out the Fantasy Cycling Game homepage...there's a little write-up about how yesterday's stage went, and how 5count won the stage.

We've accumulated almost a thousand points thus far, putting us solidly in third place overall. Hopefully we've earned enough points to hold off the teams with GC guys on their rosters as we now move to the mountainous stages of the Tour.

A Classic...

Some of you may have already seen this little gem, but for those of you who haven't, it's a classic.

5count's Fantasy TdF team...

One of our 5count fantasy teams has won the past two stages of the its fantasy cycling league and as a result has moved into the number two spot on GC (out of ~200 teams).

You can read the blurb that the promoters of the game sent out this morning by clicking here.

If this keeps up, we here at 5count might be looking at actually winning some free schwagg! Stay tuned.

And what's the deal with Eki's HR???

As I was watching stage 4 of the Tour de France yesterday on OLN, I was noticing the heart rate of Discovery rider, Viatcheslav Ekimov. OLN was broadcasting Eki's SRM info during the stage and it was shockingly low compared to others in the field.

While the peloton was in hot pursuit of the break near the end of the stage...strung out...single file...flying down the road, Eki was chillin' with a HR of 108 bpm! 108! My heart rate is 122 while still rolling out of my driveway at 4.5 mph! Other guys were nearing their max HR and Eki, who is like one-hundred and thirty-seven years old, was just loafing along at just over 50% of his max.

Was this correct or did the SRM transmitter have a glitch? If it was correct, I think Eki should've been countering just as Egoi was brought back to the field...with his TT'ing ability and his aparently low HR, he could've easily solo'd to a stage win...right?

P.S. One of 5count's registered fantasy TdF teams just moved up to 4th overall (out of ~200 teams) after finishing 2nd in stage 4! How do you like that Rowdy? (see Rowdy's Mom's comment here)

Cat 4 Danger...

It aint easy being a Cat 4 bike racer. Check out this clip from the Joe Martin Stage Race in Fayetteville, Ark.
...I can so relate to how these guys feel (see: Jacksonville Road Race)

TdF Fireworks

Only two stages into this year's TdF and there has already been fireworks (and I'm not talking about the doping allegations).

• George missed the Mellow Johnny by less than a second in the prologue.
• George sneaks a 2 second time bonus in the final kilometers of stage one making him only the 4th American to wear the Yellow Jersey in the TdF
• Thor Hushovd gets his arm sliced by a fan during the stage one sprint...loses yellow jersey.
• Thor fights for bonus points and regains the overall lead after stage two.
• Robbie McEwan out-sprints all the fast men to take the Maillot Vert in stage two.
• one of 5counts fantasy teams has moved into 8th place overall after stage 2, Rowdy is in 6th overall...but it's a long tour and the sprinters won't be scoring many points when the road tilts upward.
• Jan has gained fifteen pounds during a weiner-schnitzel binge and won't come out of his room claiming, "I'm der Kaiser, you don't mess vit der Kaiser!"

The Results are in...kinda Ironic, huh?

The results from the 5count Tour de France poll are in. The question was, "Who do you think will win the 2006 Tour de France?" Many of you voted, some probably voted many times and now the results are in.

As you can see from the above graph, the majority of you feel as though Ivan Basso (CSC) has the best chance of winning the '06 Tour de France. Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) was also up there as a contender, but a majority of those votes were probably cast by the same family...we won't name names here but their name rhymes with Fruschlegel. The rest of the numbers came out like this: The irony is apparent...almost 2/3 of all the votes cast are for guys who are now suspended from competing in the TdF. THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!!!

1 Ivan Basso - 410 votes
2 Jan Ullrich - 370 votes
3 None of these - 160 votes
4 Floyd Landis - 120 votes
5 Alejandro Valverde - 100 votes
6 George Hincapie - 30 votes
7 Alexander Vinokourov - 30 votes
8 Levi Leipheimer - 10 votes

* the number of votes have been multiplied by ten in order to compensate for the embarrassing lack of poll voting

5count's new Podium predictions
1st - Landis
2nd - Valverde
3rd - Popovych
4th - Menchov
5th - Leipheimer
* Hincapie, Cadel Evans, Cunego, Sastre, Simoni and DiLuca could all do something special too?

A New Poll...
Please weigh in on our new poll located in the left column of this site.
Thanks,
5count

Win a Ridley frameset...

You too can ride the same brand of frame that pros like Chris Horner, Robbie McEwan and Cadel Evans ride. The Grand Prize for the overall winner of a new fantasy cycling site is a Ridley Damocles Davitimon-Lotto Frameset.

I know what you're thinking..."I don't have time to follow up on a fantasy cycling team"
But this one is easy. I've done fantasy cycling leagues before, and where as they are fun, they can also be time consuming. This new site only takes about 5 minutes, just log in, create a team name, pick 9 dudes and yer done! Best part is...it's FREE! This league is obviously for the TdF, so you only have 1 more day to sign up.

So sign up and let me know what your team name is...5count will keep tabs on all the teams that are "owned" by 5count viewers and we can see who of us really knows our pro cycling. If there is enough interest and enough people sign up in time...5count will even sponsor a prize for the overall winner.

Editors note: in order to qualify for prize, 5count must recieve an email or a comment post letting us know your team name by July 2nd, 2006

Click here to start your fantasy team for the TdF.

My Deland Race Report...

I havn't really writted any race reports lately so I figure I'd ease myself back into it with a quick little post about last weekends Deland Omnium.

Saturday's Ford Road Race
There had been enough rain to fill all the pot holes with water and bring the humidity level up to about 157%. My race was scheduled for 8 laps of a 7 mile loop. Unfortunately, I would only see about 18 of the 56 mile road race.

For some reason the promoter thought it would be a good idea to cram both the Cat.3 and Cat.4 fields into the same race. So with the "yellow-line rule in effect", it was next to impossible to move up in the field or see anything in the road. On the first trip around the 7-mile course somebody went straight into the biggest pot-hole ever and broke his stem. He didn't go down, but his race was certainly over.

In the laps that followed, the field became pretty nervous as we approached the area that the pot-holes were in...and on the third lap that nervousness resulted in a crash right in the middle of the field. I tried to go around, but others began to go down right in front of me. These crashes always happen so quick and the next thing I know I'm sliding on my head and left shoulder through the palmatto brush that laid next to the road. Luckily for me there was a nice little palm tree that stopped my forward motion. Aside from getting the wind knocked out of me and a collection of little scratches, both myself and my bike would live to race another day.

Sunday's Deland Circut Race
I abstained from the time trial on saturday afternoon. I'd like to say that I was too shaken up from the crash to compete, but while that may have had a little to do with it, I really didn't have much intention of doing the TT in the first place (something about seeing my name last on the result sheet just seemed depressing).

So I ventured back to Deland on Sunday after a restful stay at my folks house in Orlando. The rain was off and on all day which created some slick corners, but fortunately the rain stayed mostly off during our Cat.4 race. I uncharacteristically covered a couple of early breaks at the urging of my teamate which made me feel like a team-player, albeit a tired team-player.

Overall I felt good and stayed close to the front. I was able to go where I needed to go and didn't have any problems following attacks. As the race started biulding to it's climactical finish I knew that I wasn't going to have the legs needed to sprint with the favorites, so instead, I launched myself off the front of the field as we crossed the start/finsh line with one lap to go. I knew the 1.2 mile course was going to be too long for me to stay away, but my intention was to be more of a catalyst for a nice fast last lap, thus giving my teamates a smoother finish as opposed to the entire field trying to squeeze through the last wet corner before opening up into a kamakazi-like sprint. Maybe deep down, after saturday's crash, I didn't really want to be in the field for the last wet corner, and blowing myself up before the sprint seemed like a better alternative?

Anyway, I did indeed blow up after only a quarter mile at 30+ mph. Once caught, I dangled just off the back of the field for the remainder of the last lap and rolled through the finish line healthy, happy and in one piece. My team "leader" took a top-ten finish and was happy with the way we rode as a team...so in the end I felt like the race was a success for me.

A Sitcom break...

The following videos are a new pilot called, "Nobody's Watching" produced for the WB by the writers of Scrubs and Family Guy. It's a very different view of the sitcom world and how it's been affected by the reality show generation. Check it out, and remember...if this show takes off, you heard it here first. (unless you saw it on YouTube first.
there are three (3) 9+ minute clips, which together, make one cohesive television show.

Local GCC'er makes the Sun...

For those of you who missed the Gainesville Sun article about Brian Hetz and his two gold medals at the 20th annual National Veterans Golden Age Games in Hampton, Va., here it is.

It's always good to see the local cyclists do good!

photo by: JOSHUA L. HALLEY/Special to The Sun

This is ridiculous!

Look at this freekishly ripped calf muscle. I'm pretty sure this is a body builder and not a cyclist.

It looks like a cartoon character come to life

The Real American "Tour team"...

We all know that the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team is the only American registered Pro Tour team. And as a result, a large majority of American cycling fans view Team Discovery as "their" home team and support them as such.

I admit it, I follow Discovery as much as any team out there, I pay attetion to their results, I know about all their team members and I read the Paceline.com daily. But I'm not sure that Discovery is really the only home team in the Pro Tour.

I think Team CSC offers just as much American representation in European cycling as Discovery, if not more. Yes, CSC is registered as a Danish team and coached by a Danish Director Sportif, but Discovery is coached by a Belgian, not an American (Ed. note: we think Johan Bruyneel is one of the best directors ever). Yes, the Discovery Channel is an American company based in America, but so is CSC (Computer Sciences Corp).

Let's look at the biggest event on the Pro Tour calendar, the Tour De France. The American registered Discovery Team is sending a strong group to contest the overall in France. Of those nine strong riders, only one hails from the good ole US of A. Compare this to the 7 Americans on the 1999 Tour de France squad that saw the then U.S. Postal Service team on the top step of the podium in Paris. CSC has 3 Americans named to their TdF squad this year.

Team CSC
Carlos Sastre - ESP
Fränk Schleck - LUX
Giovanni Lombardi - ITA
David Zabriskie - USA
Christian Vandevelde - USA
Bobby Julich - USA
Stuart O'Grady - AUS
Jens Voigt - GER
Ivan Basso - ITA

Team Discovery
Jose Azevedo - POR
Viatchslev "Eki" Ekimov - RUS
George Hincapie - USA
Egoi Martinez - ESP
Benjamin Noval - ESP
Pavel Padrnos - CZE
Yaroslav Popovych - UKR
Chechu Rubiera - ESP
Paolo Savoldelli - ITA

If you look at the Discovery/Postal teams over the past 8 years, the number of Americans going to the TdF have gotten fewer and fewer:

1999 - 7
2000 - 5
2001 - 4
2002 - 3
2003 - 3
2004 - 3
2005 - 2
2006 - 1

Granted, the Postal/Discovery organization has been the launch pad for several American cyclists who have since moved on to become members of other European cycling teams such as Floyd, Levi, Tyler, Vandevelde, Kevin Livingston and Jonathan Vaughters, thus decreasing our American numbers. But if CSC (who is the odds on favorite to win this years TdF) is able to field a team that is 33% American, why wouldn't Team Discovery be able to do the same?

Even if we look at domestic races, I didn't see any Discovery riders in Philly for the Commerce Bank Triple Crown... but CSC was there.

I'm still going to be following and even cheering for the Disco boys this July, regardless if the team leader is Hincapie, Acevedo or Popovych. But I'm also going to start viewing CSC as my home team as well!

Related TRIVIA
As mentioned, The Postal Service Team sent 7 Americans to the 1999 TdF. They were:

Lance Armstrong
Frankie Andreu
Tyler Hamilton
George Hincapie
Kevin Livingston
Christian Vandevelde
Jonathan Vaughters

So who were the other two roster spots filled by, and what country were they from?

Behind the Scenes

5count had secured it's own domain name and will soon be transferring to www.5count.com

The I.T. department is currently in the process of designing and programming a new look for the 5count blog. The changes that come about will serve to enhance the asthetics, navigation as well the ability for us to offer new features for you, our faithful 5count viewers. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months. In the meantime, please continue to visit us right here at our current location.

Thank you,
5count

They're Back!

Image courtesy of HBO.com

That right Bi***, the whole crew of my favorite show is returning for season three starting this sunday night at 10:00pm.
Drama, Eric, Vince, Turtle and Ari will be tearing up HBO yet again...if you haven't seen Entourage, go out now and buy the first two seasons on DVD and catch up!

Related sights:
LHIOB.com
Entourage on HBO.com
Rooftop Golf
Episode guide
Entourage WikiQuotes- funny!

The new addition...

All together now... AAWWWWWWW!
Rodrigo and his wife have just added a member to their family, no word on what they have named the little furball but my guess is "Taco".

They say that dogs and their owners start to look like each other, but don't you think this puppy already looks like a rabbit (Rodrigo - a.k.a. Easter Bunny)???

Good luck with all the poop!

Gainesville Represents at the State Road Race

Five Podiums for G-ville residents
At this past weekend's State Road Race Championships five local riders made it onto the podium, two of those actually pulling on the State Road Race Champions jersey.

• In the Cat 5 race, long-time friend of 5count, Anthony Musalo won the jersey in his first ever attempt at racing on the road. Not a bad way to start...congratulations Anthony!
• In the Woman's Pro,1,2,3 race Cindy Tompkins, who usually rides in support of Rebecca Larson (who finished second on the day), made it to the finish line ahead of everyone else earning herself some much deserved accolades. Congratulations Cindy!

Also in the Cat 5 race, Dan Connaughton took home the bronze medal for his efforts. Dan's wife Angela Connaughton went one better by winning silver in the Woman's Cat 4 race. Congratulations Connaughton family...maybe you two ought to race more often!

In Addition...
...to the above mentioned Gainesville cyclists, the State Road Race was littered with local riders who made the trip to Tallahassee this past weekend. First-timers, long-timers and even some some-timers were racing through the HILLS of north Florida. Some did better that others, but all are to be commended for getting out there and racing one of the toughest courses in the state. Here are the local brave souls
***List comprised by 5count editorial staff. If there have been local riders not included in this list that should be, email 5count directly and the error will be corrected. Thank you

Men Cat 5
1st - Anthony Musalo
3rd - Dan Connaughton

Woman Cat 4
2nd - Angela Connaughton
5th - Dana Zimmel

Woman Pro 1,2,3
1st - Cindy Tompkins
2nd - Rebecca Larson

Woman 45+
5th - Vicki Santello

Men Cat 4
9th ? - Kevin Collington
13th - Michael Christopher
21st - Paul Messal
- Alex Price

Men Cat 3
9th - Lorne Johnson
11th - Anthony Alexander
- Jayson O'Mahonney

Men Pro,1,2
16th - Brad Davis
- Ryan Saylor

Men 35+
- Ed Joy

Men 45+
7th - Kerry Duggan
9th - Daryl Tompkins
- Mike Robinson

Congratulations!!!

Busted

In the wake of Manolo Saiz's recent detention for his alleged involvement in a blood doping program, Spanish news agency EFE has just released a newsflash, announcing primary sponsor Liberty Seguros have chosen to cancel their cycling sponsorship from the Liberty Seguros-Würth team, effective immediately!

I wonder how this is going to impact Alexandre Vinokourov's chances of winning the TdF...I can only imagine things would get pretty tough for ol' Vino without a Director Sportif, cook, massage therapist, etc. etc. etc...When you're trying to focus on the next days stage, calling around to make your own hotel reservations would probably be annoying. Vino would probably have to rent a car and drive himself to the start line.

Who knows, maybe he can get out of his contract and get picked up by a pro-tour team in need of a GC contender???

Ring...Ring...
"Hello."
"Hey Vino, this is T-Mobile, Jan is still fat...wanna come back and ride for us?"

OR

Ring...Ring...
"Hello."
"Hey Vino, this is Milram, Our overly-pampered poster-boy has recently bumped his knee...wanna come and ride for us?"

Heading North...

I'll be heading to Tallahassee, Florida today for a work related conference. Earlier last week, the 5count staff contacted one of the local Tallahassee bike clubs about group rides during the week. As it turns out I plan to participate in their wednesday ride that they refer to as The Food Lion Ride. From what I understand it's a race paced 33miles over some undulating terrain...not to worry, I've printed a course map and will be able to find my way back to the hotel even if dropped in the "mountainous region" of north Florida.

The State Road Race held in Tallahassee is just under two weeks away so this trip should be good recon of the course and preparation for the race (assuming that the Food Lion ride covers some of the same roads as the State RR course).

We here at 5count hope to post pictures and reports of our week in the Capitol City. We'll see if the 1.3 mega-pixel camera on my new Motorola Razor cell phone will produce some quality images worthy of posting to the blog.

In other news
The Giro de Italia is rolling right along. Robbie McEwan has taken 3 stage wins already...but I think there's a bit of a drop off in sprinting talent after McEwan. Savoldelli choked a bit in stage eight on sunday and lost precious time to Basso...who will probably walk away with this race assuming he can keep his tummy in check. Bettini is so close to a stage win but keeps missing out...but that wont stop him from throwing his hands in the air for a hard faught second place...oops!

Stars and Bars

Rebecca Larson of Team Florida won the individual Division I womans national collegiate title this past weekend in Lawrence, Kansas. Larson placed second in the road race and won the criterium earning her 263 points which put her into a tie with Penn State's Sarah Uhl. According to the rules, ties are first broken by the number of first-place finishes, but since Uhl and Larson each had one (Uhl placed first in the road race), officials went to the second tie-breaker – the number of second-place finishes by each rider – giving the overall title to Larson.

Hmmmm...

So I came across this picture by Graham Watson
on VeloNews.com. It's a nice little picture of Lance Armstrong in the Discovery Channel team car with Sean Yates as they follow the boys during the TTT on thursday. But what really struck me wasn't Lance (you've seen one picture of him you've seen 'em all), but It's the moto driver with only FOUR FINGERS ON HIS LEFT HAND!!! What the hell is going on there...I thought that maybe he just has his middle finger bent down, but I think he really only has four fingers on that hand.
Even Lance can't help but stare at it.

Sugarloaf weekend

I spent this past weekend in Clermont Florida at the Sugarloaf Mtn. Road Race (sat) and Ferndale Circuit Race (sun). Saturday I helped out with the registration in the morning and I drove the lead officials car for the Masters 35+ race in the afternoon. The race didn't seem too hard to me...but I was driving in an air-conditioned car, so that may have been why I didn't struggle up any of the ten-thousand, three-hundred and fifty-seven climbs on the course. I really don't think that there is a more difficult 11 miles anywhere in the southeast, and depending on which race you were in, you had to ride that loop five, six or seven times. The category 3 and catagory 4 race went off together (but was scored separately) and had a field of about 120 guys. The field was cut in half by the first of 5 ascents up Sugarloaf Mountain. And just to illustrate how strong the cat. 4 field is this year, four of the top five finishers of that race were cat. 4’s, not cat. 3’s (which sucks for the cat. 4 who placed higher than a cat. 3, but still received a payout of less money because they were scored separately and cat. 3’s had a larger purse for the race). Hats off to those of you who braved that course. Click on the title of this post to link to the results from this race.


As you can see in this picture taken from the top of the finishing climb, this course didn’t look too much like a Florida race.

Sunday was a flat 2.2 mile circuit race held in pretty much the same location as Saturday’s race. You can see the results from that race here. Since the course wasn’t a mountainous butt-kicker, or even a hilly leg-burner, I gave it a go. No results for me to report, but I did feel a lot more comfortable during this race compared to the past few races I’ve entered. I was able to make it up to the front when I wanted, I didn’t have any problems responding to attacks and I even pulled through on the front a few times. I still don’t have the legs to chase down a break and my big pop at the end of the race is more like a fizzle, but I feel like things are on the rise. I worked pretty well on the last lap to get myself to third or fourth wheel coming out of the final corner going into the fast sprint finish…but when I stood up to sprint, the kick just wasn’t there and I got swarmed pretty quick.

In other news…
The Giro had obviously started and Discovery has brought a strong team in support of Paolo Savoldelli. You can sign up here to get live streaming video of the race from OLN and here

I also read recently that OLN (Outdoor Life Network) will soon be changing their name to “Versus”…as in Man versus Nature or Basso versus Ullrich.

The Mountains of Florida...

Now for those of you who live up near the Rockies or the Smokies, this image may not be too intimidating. However, for me..down here in the good ole F-L-A, this looks like 300+ feet of little-ring hell. If it's too far to roll over and too steep to sprint up...the chances are that I don't want any part of it.

That's why I'll be happily helping out at this saturday's "Sugarloaf Mountain Road Race", as opposed to racing this saturday's "Sugarloaf Mountain Road Race". The race is sponsored by Team Olympus, and since I am a member of Team Olympus I am required to make a contribution to the race production and will regretably be unavailable to race (awe shucks).

If you are planning on attending the race, look for me in the wheel truck when I drive by you once you've been dropped from the field. Or, I may be taking your entry fees at the registration table...but with my luck, I'll be standing on a corner wearing an orange vest and waving a caution flag at oncoming traffic while I fry in the hot Florida sunshine.

The next Jalabert!?

Congratulations go out to Anthony and Michelle Musalo for giving birth to the next great cycling sensation. We here at 5count don't have all the specifics as of yet, but check back in the comment section of this post for more info as it becomes available. I know that Anthony has been anxiously awaiting the arival of Michael "Baby Moose" Musalo for some time now (approx. 9 months we figure).

Best wishes to the Musalo family, we hope to see you out on the bike some time before baby Michael turns 18.

Update 5-11-06:
Here's a new image of Baby Moose...it looks like he's the next World Champ too!

TdG: Stage 2

A flat stage that normally would be a textbook race for the big lead-out trains of Health Net, Davitimon and United Pro was animated by 4 trips over Clock Tower Hill in the finishing circuits. The fast teams worked hard to control the front of the field but ultimately it was Discovery that pushed the pace hard on the last lap and launched Yaroslav "Popo" Popovych to the stage win as well as the overall lead.

American, Fast Freddy Rodriguez retains his lead in the sprint classification by taking a couple of points during the intermediate sprints. The first KOM points of this years TdG were offered up on the first ascent up Clock Tower Hill. Kirk O'Bee of the Health Net team had good position and became the first wearer of the pimp-looking KOM jersey. For his lengthy solo effort off the front in stage two, Alajandro Acton was rewarded with the "Most Aggressive" jersey. Although not pictured here, the leader of the "Best Young Rider" jersey is Florian Stalder (Swi) of the Phonak team. Here's how the stage finished:

1 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel
2 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Toyota-United Pro
3 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto
4 Karl Menzies (Aus) Health Net p/b Maxxis
5 Caleb Manion (Aus) Jelly Belly
6 Cesar Augusto Grajales (Col) Navigators Insurance
7 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems
8 Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak Hearing Systems
9 Florian Stalder (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems
10 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Prodir-Saunier Duval

What's the deal with the leaders jerseys?...
Let me be the first to praise Hincapie Sportswear for producing some of the best-looking, best-designed leaders jersey out there (also producers of the Team Olympus kit). My only problem is that they made the "Best Young Rider" jersey green instead of it's traditional white and made the "Sprint Leaders" jersey blue and grey instead of it's traditional green. I'm all for thinking outside of the box, but in this case I feel that tradition should prevail...not to mention that this could get confusing.

In their defense, the TdG organizers did put some thought into why they changed the colors. Here's there explanation about the "Sprint Leaders" jersey"

"The gray and aqua-blue Sprint Leader jersey design takes its inspiration from the fast-moving, rock-strewn whitewater rapids of Georgia's Appalachian Mountains.....Like the quick currents of Georgia whitewater, strong and fast cyclists specializing in bursts of speed will have the best chance of being awarded the jersey."

Here's what they had to say about the "Best Young Rider" jersey:

"Each day eligible riders who are under 23 years of age compete for this special jersey, which recognizes the future stars of cycling. The GE Best Young Rider jersey's Georgia oaks-themed design takes these strong and 'relatively green' young men as its inspiration."

Nice thought, but the best sprinters should be in green, I don't care about Georgia oaks (which lends itself to the idea of established and defined, not young and inexperienced).

Valverde looking strong...
The northern classic, Fleché Wallonne, was held yesterday and won by the impressive Alajandro Valverde. I'm not going to get into the details of the race, but I wonder if the Tour De France GC contenders need to take a serious look at how to compete with this Spanish stud who can both climb and sprint. you can vote for Valverde in the 5count TdF poll located in the sidebar to the left if you feel that he's most likely to win the Tour.

Larson in a Classic

For those of you who didn't know, local cyclist Rebecca Larson got the opportunity to travel with the woman's national team to Europe for some of the classics.

Today she raced in the Belgian classic Fleche Wallonne, and wouldn't you know it...her mug showed up on cyclingnews already. I can't be 100% sure, but it looks like Rebecca right there on the front of the peloton in the U.S. National jersey.

Larson finished in 76th place overall...Congratulations Rebecca!

Check out the story here

Photo by Mitch Friedman

TdG: Stage 1

Stage 1 of the Ford Tour de Georgia is in the books. I kept going back to cyclingnews.com's live coverage to read the latest of the stage. The actual time line of the race gets a bit skewed while reading a live update 15 minutes at a time. It seemed to me that the first hour or two was attack, attack, attack every 15 seconds, when in actuality I'm sure some of the attacks lasted longer than that.

An eventual break of four was let go and built quite a gap. Of the four, Aaron Olson (Saunier-Duval) was the strong man and was eventually rewarded by earning the "Most aggressive rider" jersey at the end of the stage.

Team CSC added yet another win to their growing list of palmares for the season. Lars Michaelson won the stage ahead of Fast Freddy Rodriguez (Davitimon-Lotto) and Caleb Manion (Jelly Belly) who finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

1 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team CSC
2 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto
3 Caleb Manion (Aus) Jelly Belly
4 Karl Menzies (Aus) Health Net p/b Maxxis
5 Vassili Davidenko (Rus) Navigators Insurance
6 Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) KodakGallery.Com-Sierra Nevada
7 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Toyota-United Pro
8 Henk Vogels (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto
9 Peter Mazur (Pol) Prodir-Saunier Duval
10 Cesar Augusto Grajales (Col) Navigators Insurance

It was originally reported on cyclingnews that the 3rd place Jelly Belly rider was Brice Jones. That turned out to be false, but Brice has a blog where he's reporting on the TdG. Brice Jones also was recently in Jacksonville for the pro classic race and won sunday's road race. He reports on that win in his blog as well...check it out.

Big Day in Pro-cycling
In addition to the second stage of the TdG, the Belgian classic, Fleche Wallonne is taking place right now. Only one American is starting the race, Patrick McCarty of the Swiss Phonak team. Look for CSC, Quick-Step, Rabobank, and maybe Liquigas to finish on the podium.

Tour de Georgia starts TODAY!

Who will be crowned the next winner of the Tour de Georgia?

Will the Disco team be able to support Tommy D in his quest to repeat?

Will the other pro-tour teams in the field get the best of the home town teams?

CSC has brought a strong team to support Dave Zabriskie, but does he have the legs to stay with the pure climbers on the road to the top of Brasstown Bald?

Floyd has obviously been on form this season, but are there lingering effects from his crash in Europe which led to the decision not race in the Giro?

Quick-Step and Davitimon-Lotto are probably looking for stage wins, but will the domestic sprinters out perform them when it's time to drop the hammer?

With Saul Raisin out of the race, who's the front runner for the "Best Young Rider" jersey? Trent Lowe again? Will the TIAA-Cref boys ride as well as they are expected to? Look out for Tom Peterson and Craig Lewis.

It should be an interesting week. I'm going to be performing my sister-in-laws wedding ceremony in Reddington Beach this weekend and therefore will not be attending any of the stages this year. But I can promise you that I'll be glued to the computer when the racing gets underway.

For those of you making the pilgramage to the peach state, feel free to drop a line in the comment section to let us in, first hand, on how things are going. Be sure to note any run-ins with any super-star athletes you might come across.

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.