Race: Gainesville GA Cup
Date: April 8-9, 2006
Place: Gainesville, GA
by Brady Rogers, Team Myogenesis
Today as I sit to write the race report for the Myogenesis Nutrition p/b Landmark Dodge Elite Cycling Team, the letter “W” comes to mind. On this weekend “W” meant several things. Not the usual “W” that is in the news, as in George “W”, but several others including, first off, weather. Ahh, spring showers in the south. ENOUGH ALREADY, I think I’m going to melt! (not really) Early Saturday morning brought quite a nice round of spring showers, tornados and other “w”eather related events to the north Georgia area. Begrudgeonly, I packed up my race gear and headed north to Gainesville, Georgia for the next round of the Georgia Cup.
This weekend of racing consisted of a Saturday morning ITT that was 10K in
length, starting at 9:00 AM. The usual cast of characters from the southeast was
there, as well as a guest visit from a guy named Nathan O’Neill from Healthnet
(ever heard of him?) The Abercrombie and Fitch squad showed up with Rich Harper
and crew, NERAC / Outdoor lights with one of their aces, Thad Dulin,
AEG-Toshiba-Jetnetwork came with Jake Rubelt et. al., Subaru with Slim Tim Henry
and several supporting members of their cast. The Memorial Health guys stepping
over from the masters ranks to mix it up in the 1 / 2 ‘s, with Tony Scott and
Steve Carrell, amongst others. Locos Deli / Bianchi, Pacesetter Steel Services
also were present. Last but certainly not least, the boys from Myogenesis rolled
into to town creating a stir that some had mistaken for the winds from the early
morning storm.
I wish I could say that the Time Trial was uneventful for us…..but it wasn’t.
One of our time trial specialist was rolling nicely on the course until it came
time for the turn around, which was missed. This minor mistake would have a
lasting sting all weekend, but we would overcome. Big Jon ended up further down
the results list than he is accustomed to. Cleve Blackwell continued to improve
on his TT skills finishing solidly in the top ten with Nathan O’Neill taking 1st
by a 1.05” over 2nd. Hey, what do you expect from the 7 time Australian National
TT Champ. Looks like we have our hole to climb out of.
Moving on to the crit, some 11 hours after later, on Saturday night. DRY
pavement, big crowds downtown. Looks like we have a barnburner in the making.
The gun went off for the start, and it looks like I was right on my prediction
about the speed. This course is notorious for being very quick. By the time 10
laps of the race had expired, at least a quarter of the field had dismissed
itself, and there was a very threatening break up the road. Chad Madan (Myogenesis),
Rich Harper (A&F), Tim Henry (Subaru) were three of the six up the road. As the
race drug on, the break stayed off, but finally be widled down to just 2, a mere
7 seconds up the road. The Myogenesis boys moved to the front to pull it back
since they were not represented any longer. After driving for several laps, the
break moved closer, and Thad Dulin (NERAC) jumped to bridge, making it across,
but not by himself. He brought the rest of the field in tow. Groupo Compacto.
The race was nearing the end, the boys in BLUE and on BLUE (competition cycles),
gathered around their sprinter Jon, and began to move him to the front. Starting
the last lap, we had Jon in launch position. Sequence started
10,9,8,7,6,……..turn 3, turn 4 sitting second wheel, 200 meters out from the
line. BLAST OFF. This is where the other “W” from the weekend comes into play.
This “W” was the best of all, for it stood for WIN! Myogenesis takes home their
first victory of the year, and in doing so, put Jon Atkins in the white series
leaders jersey. Big Jon came across the line a couple of bikes in front of Jake
Rubelt (AEG), and Rich Harper (A&F) to round out the podium.
Waking up Sunday for the 11:00 start time for the road race, everyone was still
on top of the world from the night before. As we headed over to the start area,
we surveyed the course on paper. A circuit that was about 6 miles in length,
with a bump in it. Not just any bump, but a bump of right at 1.5k at 9%, 10
times over a 100k. Looks like a day for our KOM jersey wearer, Cleve Blackwell.
This would be a difficult task for Clever as he had a hairline crack in his
collarbone from a crash two weeks ago that was still poking at him. Right from
the gun, Cleve and Tony Scott (Memorial Health) took off, since the first KOM
points would be in less than 3 miles. They managed to stay away for the first
lap of ten before they were eventually caught. The race shattered shortly after
with a group of ten or so getting away. This group had Cleve in it, as well as
other players. Then a chase group of ten or so. This group contained Jon Atkins,
Travis Sherman, and Casey Magner from the Myogenesis squad. Not too much more to
say here except Thad Dulin showed why he is one the powerhouses in the
southeast. He road away and left the rest of the race in his wake. Myogenesis
came in with 5 in the top 25.
This is the last race for the next couple of weeks while the boys get some extra
training in, as it is that time of year for the Athens Twilight NRC race. Athens
is one of, if not the fastest criteriums in the U.S.A. . Do yourself a favor,
and get to Athens on April 29th, if at all possible. You won’t be sorry!
On another note: Long time area official and friend to the cycling community
here in the southeast, LaRue, lost his father this weekend to cancer. We at
Myogenesis ask that you keep he and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
Cancer is an issue very near to us, as we have all had teammates and family
members affected by it. Team Myogenesis helps support Camp Sunshine (www.mycampsunshine.com)
in their efforts to combat this terrible disease.
Ciao-
Brady Rogers
Myogenesis Nutrition p/b Landmark Dodge
Elite Cycling Team
Big Jon Atkins (Myogenesis) on the podium for winning the Pro/1/2 Crit at Gainesville