Team Legacy Energy - News Archive
Cascade Cycling Classic
The Cascade Classic turned out to be one of the most aggressive and exciting races of our season. Top notch competition flooded the field – BMC (home from the Tour De Swiss), Slipstream (the guys that didn’t make the Tour De France), Toyota United, Rock Racing, Health Net, Type 1, Bissell, … and Astana, who arrived with none other than last year’s 3rd place Tour de France finisher - Levi Leipheimer. Oh, and did I mention all the best amateur teams in the country, including Team Legacy Energy, rolled into town and worked hard all week trying to get noticed. Lined up and rolling off the line on the first day, all this talent added up to an average speed of 29.8 mph and 84 miles on the first day!
Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo had a challenging and great week. As a team, we grew 10 times over. Weeks like this one will make us the Team we want to be. We have a great group of riders - hard working and talented. I want to introduce the cast we put together for the Cascade Classic.
For the overall race classification, Team Legacy Energy supported Jarred Berger our quiet, hard as nails, TT specialist, Ian Gray, a new member of the team who has the talent to climb with the best, and Rolf Eisinger, a rider who can climb (4th at Mt Evans –‘ 07), Time Trial (even if he doesn’t think so), and ride a criterium with the fast kids.
Our hard ‘old’ men, Paul Esposti, 36, and Rich Davies, 38, rode in support . Our sprinter, Phil Mann, earned his fitness and the respect of his teammates by doing the work at this climbing stage race. Dan Workman upgraded to a Category 1 rider on Tuesday just in time to get into Cascade! “Welcome to the big league, Dan”
Throughout the week, our crew worked together and grew under the leadership of Brad Cole. Brad has not had the season he had hoped for and it’s been a difficult 8 weeks since the Tour of the Gila. His form wasn’t there to lead the team in the GC at Cascade, so he led them on the road. He showed class and commitment to his teammates and we all are better for it.
Starting out, Team Legacy Energy set the bar high. We wanted to be: the best amateur team, have the best amateur rider, and to have a rider on a stage or a classification podium. Looking back at the week, we were successful. Rolf was 3rd in the King of the Mountains classification. We were the second place amateur team. Rolf was the 4th place amateur followed by Jarred in 9th and and Ian in 10th. Three Top 10 amateurs ain’t too bad.
Results can’t show how we developed as a team during our Cascade experience. We grew as a team. Rich, Paul, Brad, and Phil all had a day that they hauled 18 or more bottles from the car to their teammates. We had two bike changes – the second one much less costly and much faster than the first! Thirteen people lived, raced, and worked hard in one house for one week and had no conflict. (The Grays are exempt from this statement because they work best with comedy and conflict! Thanks!)
Our support staff made the week possible. Rob Noble spent his vacation riding in the Team car. He filled water bottles, changed bikes, and was our, ‘Can you get me this?’ guy. Rob Ganger, our main sponsor rode in the car too, supporting the boys and making this program possible. Every team should have parents. The Gray’s, Ian’s awesome parents, volunteered to be our in house mom and dad for the week. They ran the kitchen, took care of the feed zones, and fed the team not only pasta, but energy and charm. If we could only afford for them to come to every race…
Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo raced hard every day and came to some important realizations. We are one of the best amateur teams in the country. We know that we are developing good systems – keeping the stuff that works and rethinking the stuff that doesn’t. Everything from bike changes, to feeds, sleeping, and eating, has to have a system that works. And let’s not forget about the racing - what level of fitness it takes, what kind of power we need, and how tactics and teamwork can change a race. All of these puzzle pieces have started falling into place. It is a very exciting and challenging sport, cycling, and WE are going to be great together!
Thanks you for your support and keep up with the team. We aim at winning a National Championship in the Road Race, the Time Trial, or the Criterium this August and we are happy to have you along for our journey.
--Andy Clark
The engine is roaring!
Dead Dog Stage Race: 3rd, 8th, 10th, 15th, and 19th. A podium place, two in the top ten and the whole team in the top twenty!
Niwot Criterium: 4th place and another top twenty finish!
Team Legacy Energy-Ciclismo has had a great build up to the Cascade Classic Stage Race starting this Wednesday. The field consists of 150 of the best pro riders in the world. Levi Leipheimer, 3rd at last year’s Tour de France; Tom Danielson, top ten at the Tour of Spain; Chris Baldwin, two time national TT champion; not just a handful of good riders, but a strong and deep field. Team Legacy Energy-Ciclismo will be learning, growing, and attacking this week. When everyone is asking: “Where are these guys from?” we will let everyone know where
The Cascade Classic is a hard race: 6 stages in 5 days! Two difficult 85+ mile road races with mountain top finishes the first two days followed by a “double” day on Friday with a TT in the morning and a criterium in the evening. Saturday finds the team racing an 86 mile climbing road race and finishing the week on Sunday with a difficult 80 mile circuit race.
Team Legacy Energy-Ciclismo will provide daily updates from the race starting on Wednesday. We hope to hear from you on our blog and are glad to have the support of this great cycling community.
Andy Clark
Dead Dog Stage Race
The engine has started to hum for Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo. The Team enjoyed a great race last weekend at The Fort Collins Cycling Festival. It was nice to race on such amazing roads - our hometown roads - and be supported by our hometown community. The challenging courses are world class which makes for amazingly challenging and exciting racing. The team’s depth has grown with the entire team rising up a level and putting our riders in 4th (Dan), 5th (Ian), 10th (Jarred), and 15th (Brad) places in the Road Race and 4th (Ian), 8th (Paul), 10th (Brad), 11th (Jarred), and 13th (Dan) places in the Hill Climb. The team rides strong, communicates well, and supports each other. It’s great to see the guys truly come together like this.
This weekend the Team races at the Dead Dog SR in Laramie, WY. The road race covers 86 miles and climbs over 2 mountain passes on Saturday. On Sunday, the criterium kicks off at high noon and a 10 mile TT (at almost 9000ft) heads out later in the afternoon. We have 10 days until we leave for our next big National Racing Calendar objective – The Cascade Cycling Classic. It's a 5-day Stage Race with 6 stages. It will be our biggest challenge yet. This weekend we will put the polish on the Team’s form and raise our hum to a roar!
You can read about the Fort Collins Cycling Festival races at www.ciclismoracing.com. You can follow the Dead Dog SR on our blog this weekend and the full story will be up Tuesday. The Team will also post daily updates on the blog burning the Cascade Classic SR.
Enjoy the racing!! And if you're not too busy this weekend, come on up to Laramie!
Andy ClarkFort Collins Cycling Festival
The engine is starting to hum for Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo. The Team enjoyed a great race weekend at The Fort Collins Cycling Festival. It was nice to race on such amazing roads, our hometown roads, and be supported by our hometown community. The challenging courses are world class and the racing was exciting and amazingly challenging. The team’s depth has grown with the entire team rising up a level and putting our riders in 4th (Dan), 5th (Ian), 10th (Jarred), and 15th (Brad) places in the Road Race and 4th (Ian), 8th (Paul), 10th (Brad), 11th (Jarred), and 13th (Dan) places in the Hill Climb. The team is riding strong, communicating well, and supporting each other. It’s great to see the guys truly come together like this.
We have 2 weeks until we leave for our next big National Racing Calendar objective – The Cascade Cycling Classic. It is a 5-day Stage Race with 6 stages. It will be our biggest challenge yet. We have 14 days to put the polish on the Team’s form and raise our hum to a roar!
The Fort Collins Cycling Festival race weekend started off on Saturday with a world class Road Race over the Dams, up Rist canyon and over the Dams a second time. Then a Hill Climb over the Dams and up Rist Canyon on Sunday. The team was able to execute our game plan to a tee both days, dictating how the races where ridden and flooding the top standings. Cycling is a challenging sport and even when things go well… you don’t always get to win.
The RR started off going up the climb behind the Stadium. Phil Mann started the team’s aggression early although he was not able to get away. However, his attacking set up Dan Workman to attack going over the North dam and into the descent. At 60+ MPH Dan and his two breakaway companions had a one minute advantage on the field at the bottom of Rist canyon. Dan was too strong for his companions and road the climb on his own. Unfortunately, he flatted by the Fire Station, showed his class by staying cool, getting a wheel change and going back to work. It turned out perfectly. Dan got caught by the break at the top of the climb and made the front group of four.
The Team’s depth showed at the top of the climb as Dan and Ian were in the break (5 at this point), with Jarred and Brad just a few seconds behind. Ian is learning that brakes play no part in making the front group on a descent. He was to be in the chase group with Brad and Jarred. (Ian is our recently imported Nebraskan climber). With the team represented in both groups it let Dan be conservative in the break and the boys, in the chase, were able to rest and take the race apart on the dams.
When the break reached the Dams, Dan was unable to follow the surges on the steep climbs. His 130lb rivals left him to ride a time trial to the finish. Dan was able to find the courage to ride the last 35 minutes by himself to finish 4th the hard way. As the chase group came to the final showdown on the Dams, Brad went about destroying the group, setting up Ian and Jarred for the final. Ian went away with Rio rider Dan Porter, and Ian was able to take advantage of his teammate’s positions and came in for fifth place. Jarred rounded off the top ten and Brad hobbled in for 15th. What A great team effort!
At Sunday’s Hill Climb, the racing started before the race even left the parking lot. Phil bridged up the two Rio riders and the break was off. Paul attacked on the first climb behind the stadium. He was not so much attacking to bridge the break as he was setting a pace to ride to the top of Rist first! Paul caught the break in the bottom of the canyon (by Whale Rock). Phil went to work and the two started a two man assault on Rist. The Rio riders succumbed to the presser as Paul’s Old Man strength was on high and Phil, the team’s sprinter and College Criterium champion, was clearly on a breakthrough ride. They were never even given a minute by the field, so they were always in sight on the open straights. Together they climbed with full commitment for 30 minutes. The two hit the second mailboxes just 18 seconds in front of the field and with 8 minutes to go were caught just before the false summit.
As the road pitched up and the break just in front Slipstream rider Blake Caldwell attacked what was left of the field. It hit some riders so hard they look as if they were standing still. Brad brought Ian through the chaos and Ian came over the false summit in 4th. Coming into the final brutal kilometer, Blake and Kevin Nicol were a handful of seconds in front of Ian and the fast charging Aussie. Ian attacked into the final pitch of the climb and got the advantage but the line came too late and Ian was 4th. A handlebar to handlebar sprint at the top of Rist! How cool is that?! Paul never relinquished the presser on his pedals and came in 8th place. Brad came in at 10th , Jarred 11th , and Dan was able to get 13th after his big ride the day before.
Some might say that the team was lucky, or that we rode so well because it was our hometown race. We all know that there is very little luck when going up a Cat 1 climb! Our riders demonstrated their unseen hard work, a commitment that other riders don’t understand, and a class of character that is uniquely Fort Collins.
Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo will be racing in next weekend’s Dead Dog Stage Race in Laramie, WY. It will be the team’s final preparation before the Cascade Classic July 9-13th. You can check back next week to see how Dead Dog went and there will be daily updates from Bend, OR during the Cascade Classic.
Andy Clark
Three Boys Went to War Like 10 Men
Today, June 14, 2008, was the Road Race of the Western Slope Omnium hosted by the community of Glenwood Springs. The race course was an out-and-back starting and beginning just east of Glenwood Springs in Dotsero. The course traversed a beautiful canyon heading northeast from Dotsero, covering a 12 mile dirt section at the northern tip of the course, which had a short steep destructive power climb and turned the field around to battle a strong headwind out of the west on the way home.
Heading into the day, Team Legacy Energy’s riders including Dan Workman, Paul Esposti, and Phil Mann, anticipated that a breakaway would win the day’s race. Our tactics with three riders, racing against some larger teams including Team Rio Grande, Vitamin Cottage, and Tokyo Joes, were to get into the breakaways. The race became animated right from the gun and Phil found himself in the first well-established breakaway with two other riders (Allen Krughoff and Christian McArthy) that rolled for about 20 miles. Unfortunately, Phil’s front wheel went into the back of his breakaway companions rear wheel destroying several spokes. Frustrated he was forced to wait for the wheel vehicle and chase back to the main field.
Following the races only challenging climb, the field split up a bit only to come back together for the remaining 40 miles. Phil, Paul, and Dan continued to execute their plan and covered every breakaway, until one finally stuck. Phil rode away from the field with what would eventually become a 4-man break including: Kevin Nicol (Tokyo Joe’s), Taylor Sheldon (
The break hovered around the one minute mark for the last 30 miles of the race, and managed to stay away until the end. Phil unleashed his sprint with 200 meters to go and took home the win for Team Legacy Energy!
The following day the same three Legacy boys showed up to race the Glenwood Springs criterium and try to defend Phil’s omnium position. It was a very hot and sticky day. The course contained freshly tarred chip sealed roads as well as some technical corners that made the race single file for much of the day. Paul was all over every important move that went off the front after the first 20 minutes of the race.
The field was dropping riders every lap as the heat and technical nature of the course proved too demanding for many. Eventually Paul made it off the front with a group, and it was clear it wasn’t coming back. Many riders from the peloton tried to get across to the move, with Phil and Dan covering these many bridge attempts. After a brutal chase Phil made it across to the lead group, which had grown to about 10 riders. Paul worked to keep this group together and his efforts found him off the front chasing the 2 riders ahead of him. He worked alone for the next 6 laps and rode in solo for 3rd place on the day. Phil managed to sprint it out for 6th. Team Legacy Energy’s efforts over the two days were enough to secure two podium spots in the overall omnium competition, with Phil taking the win, and Paul getting 3rd overall. It was an awesome weekend!
The Time Between and Restarting the Lawnmower
As in life, after every high there is the letdown afterwards. The same is true with bike racing. Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo has had great success this spring with Phil Mann winning a National Championship and the team achieving best amateur status at the Tour of the Gila. The team is coming off some needed down time. This was supposed to be a time of recovery, but more times than not it becomes a time of stress. Bike racers are happiest when they are a little tired but still going fast. Now we are starting the summer racing season and it is time to get the wheels rolling.
Trying to start my lawnmower after arriving home last week made me think about how hard it is to get momentum going. The Team has had some changes to our racing program this summer. We didn’t get into the Nature Valley Grand Prix or the Tour of Utah. Our big goals for the summer are now Tulsa Tough (this weekend!), Cascade Cycling Classic (July 9-13), and the amateur Road Race, Time Trial and Criterium Championships in August.
The Team left for Tulsa Tough on Wednesday in the “Team Car,” my 1998 Saturn sedan, with four guys, four bikes, and racing stuff for the weekend. The car looked like it had a brick strapped on top of it with all the bikes and wheels as the boys rolled off to Oklahoma. One hour and forty minutes into the drive the team passed through Deer Trail, Colorado. The tree-lined highway ended and a crosswind hit the car blowing the car into the left lane and ripping the bike rack off the car!! The rack bounced once and landed in the median sitting like it was still on the car, everything still in place.
Two bikes were damaged but the other two were not. Fortunately, Patrick was able to pick me up with his bike in the car and we picked up my bike and drove out to Brad’s car at Back On Track PT (it turns out he is most likely racing on broken fingers this weekend). I drove out to Deer Trail in Brad’s car. We swapped cars and got everything loaded up and the team was off! Damn, it is hard to get momentum going again.
Tulsa Tough is made up of three criteriums: Friday night at 9:25pm, Saturday at 6:35pm, and Sunday at 3:25pm. The race is on the National Racing Calendar and has $175,000 in prize money. Guaranteed, this race will be superfast! With all but one of our riders weighing less than 144 pounds, the team is not designed for this kind of racing. That said it doesn’t change much for us. As always, Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo is showing up prepared and counting on success! Phil is the team’s champion sprinter and the team leader this weekend – he has great form! Jarred is only getting faster as this year goes by and will be racing aggressively with Brad and Rolf. This is Rolf’s first race with the team and we are excited to have his power, experience, and class. This weekend will be a big test of how we are developing as a team and to see if we can get the damn lawnmower going again. This lawnmower we will transform into a Ferrari.
Andy Clark
Director Sportif
Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo
Phil Mann WINS
Going out on top is hard to do; defending a championship in your home town is harder than getting it the first time. Everyone is watching you and your team. They are looking to you to see what is going to happen next. It is like having the whole field racing against you. The Legacy boys were up to the task this weekend racing for Colorado State University at the Collegiate National Criterium in downtown Ft Collins. What a great place for a bike race!
It was a hectic criterium with a number of crashes, one causing the race to be restarted after only 20 minutes of racing. Phil, Brad, Dan and Dan Lionberg (CSU rider) rode a brilliant race. They covered every important attack and were never out of position. Dan Lionberg was not out of the top 15 riders during the race. It looked like it was coming down to a field sprint and then with 4 laps to go a Virginia Tech rider made a good opportunistic move and soloed away from the pack. He was holding 15 seconds and if it were not for the determined riding of the Dans he would have won.
With two laps to go the Dans started to ride down their victim. Dan Workman took a lap-and-a-half pull, riding so hard he was involuntarily yelling as his spleen came out of his left eye socket. Two turns to go the Dans' work was done; Phil had been given the opportunity he was hoping for.
Coming into the last left hand corner Phil made the choice to win! He did not follow; he took control, moving out to the right-hand gutter he sprinted to the front and led into the last corner. Right hand gutter to leading through the last left hand turn, DAM! Standing up and sprinting the last 200 meters to the line was a true show of dominance--Phil finished off the team's work and made victims of the rest of the field to win! They all knew it was coming and there was nothing they could do to stop the repeat. Phil now leaves collegiate cycling as a two-time National Champion. Going out on top looked so easy.
Great riding by the whole team!
Tour of the Gila Recap
Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo had a great first NRC (National Racing Calendar) race at the Tour of the Gila! With 9 pro teams represented and over 120 starters, the team rode with class and showed that we are a force in the peloton. We finished as the first place amateur team and the 6th placed team overall. Jarred Berger finished as the second place amateur rider with his teammates, Ian Gray and Paul Esposti the 3rd and 4th placed amateur riders. All this success came with the team being soooo close to truly rocking the race every day. Unfortunately, we seemed to end up behind every crash or mishap that went down...it was a learning process. As a first year developing team this is what we are doing, developing.
Day 1 Recap: 95-mile day with the finish on top of a 5.5 mile Category 1 climb. Legacy has 5 riders in the 40 rider selection with 3.5miles to go. The attacks start, wheels get overlapped and the entire team is caught behind the crash. They stay cool and finish 29th through 35th. Great rides by all and sooo close.
Day 2 Recap: 80-mile day with 6,000 feet of climbing - a hard stage. Coming into the finish the peloton was diminished to 50 riders. Team Legacy was leading out Phil for the sprint. We were on the radios and the boys were ready to go for the win! The team comes up the gutter with 800 meters to go and heads into the last corner 10 riders back. The Colavita team train comes on the outside of the corner and puts the Legacy Boys out of it. Just like that, bike racing changes incredibly fast. Phil and Paul ended up with good finishes in 19th and 20th place. Soooo close!
Day 5 Recap: The Gila Monster! 106 miles over 9,000 ft of climbing and most of it coming in the last 40 miles. This is the day! The atmosphere in the team was high. The talk on the radios was positive and deliberate. The boys were ready to do this ride! Coming over the top of the first of the three main climbs of the day the race was coming apart! There had been an attack over the top and Team Bissell was chasing down the descent. All hell was breaking loose and the Tour of the Gila was being decided. The Legacy boys where there and a huge crash happened on the way down. Brad was on the ground with his dislocated finger sideways and a hole in his blue and white helmet that saved his life. Jarred hit the ground flatted, got back up, changed his tire and was back racing. Paul and Ian got caught behind and had to chase too. Other than the finger and needing a few stitches, Brad was OK and heading to the hospital while the rest of the race was in chaos. The team was able to get reorganized and worked with Toyota United to chase back to the front. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it back to the front, but the boys kept fighting and riding hard to the finish. Sooo close!
Team Lecagy Energy is made possible by the community of Ft Collins, our sponsors, and our Fan Club. We thank you all for being part of this great experience.
See you at the races,
Andy Clark
Team Director
Team Legacy Energy
www.teamlegacyenergy.com
Tour of the Gila Stage Race
Team Legacy Energy is in Silver City, NM this week enjoying our first big race of the year--the Tour of the Gila Stage Race. The five day race runs from Wednesday to Sunday and is comprised of three road stages, one time trial and one downtown criterium. Daily results will be posted on the race website and daily race reports will be posted on our team blog.
Haystack Individual and Team Time Trials
Saturday, April 12th, 2008 Team Legacy Energy started off with an individual time trial just north of Boulder on an undulating 16.8 mile loop.
The field was stacked with pros and pro-lites since there was no National Racing Calendar race that weekend. Ben Day, a Toyota-United rider and former Aussie national champion, took the spoils with a time of 32:54.
Patrick McGlynn was the first Team Legacy Energy rider through in 13th, followed by Jarred Berger in 14th, Brad Cole in 17th, Dan Workman in 23rd, and Phil Mann in 33rd. View Results.
About two hours after the finish, the Team lined up for the Team Time Trial. The five man team consisted of Patrick McGlynn, Jarred Berger, Brad Cole, Dan Workman, and Phil Mann. The team traversed the course in 33:43 and ended up third behind Team Slipstream and Toyota-United.
Sunday, April 13th the team opted for a ride in mountains around Fort Collins.
The team rode down to Rattlesnake and climbed up to the top, then rode up to Stove Prairie, down to the Poudre, back up to Stove Prairie, up the backside of Rist Canyon and down for a nice 5 hour day
Brad Cole and Jarred Berger set the bar for the fastest ascents of most the climbs; Director Sportif Andy Clark set the bar for minimum speed on each of the day's climbs. Twas a good ride and not too dissimilar in topography from the last day of Tour of Gila - the Gila Monster stage.
Plagued by Runner-Up
This past Sunday [April 6, 2008] was the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) criterium, and Team Legacy Energy's Patrick McGlynn, Dan Workman, and Phil Mann represented Colorado State University (CSU) in the collegiate race.
The course differed from last year with more turns and a shortened climb, but nonetheless presented itself to be much more of a challenge; less recovery made ascending the hill 25+ times during the 60 minute race incredibly demanding.
The race started off at a blistering pace splintering the 45-man field in half within the first two laps. Subsequent laps would see the field dwindle and only 9 riders would emerge to finish the race. Early on, CSU was very aggressive launching attack after attack ultimately leading to Dan Workman and a CSM rider, Zach Grabowski sustaining a two-man break away.
CSU, including Phil Mann, attempted to send support to Dan Workman by bridging several riders to the break away but all attempts failed. The hill was simply too demanding and the final seconds separating the bridging attempt and the break away could not be overcome.
In the end Zach launched a powerful attack to overtake Dan Workman on the climb deferring Dan to second place in the finale. Caley Fretz of CSU was able to initiate a powerful leadout to propel Phil Mann to third place and allowing himself to finish in fourth, and CSU rounded out the top five with Dan Lionberg finishing in fifth.
The Classic Continues . . .
With a bit of disappointment the Koppenberg Circuit Race Superior was rescheduled for this past weekend [April 6 - April 7, 2008]. The race had to be canceled due to "unsafe conditions," the weekend before.
Out of principle I have a bit of a problem with this; it is a spring classic: when was the last time Roubaix or Flanders was canceled because of poor weather conditions? That aside the weekend was a success. Paul Esposti, Will Hickey, and I [Brad Cole], loaded up the car bright and early at noon, and rolled down to Superior for the Koppenburg circuit race.
We weren’t sure if the rest of the guys were going to make it after the collegiate race (see "Plagued by Runner-Up") or if we were going to be rolling three strong. After a few phone calls we were in line registering just the three of us, the rest of the crew was going to stay and hold things down in Golden.
So we hit the line, underwent the traditional pre-race chatting, and catching up with old friends who would soon become bitter foes. We rolled out the wind gusting out of the northwest and ready to tackle the gravel.
The day was going to be short, 44 miles, but demanding, half of the racing would be done on gravel roads and the selections would be made on the Koppenburg climb, a 50 meter 17% grade climb. As expected it was a race to the Koppenburg, everyone scrambling for position.
The first ascent was Paul Esposti and I [Brad Cole] running, as someone decided to throw themselves onto the ground. We were forced to chase into the cross-headwind and all three of us tagged on in the tail wind section heading to the start finish.
The second lap saw the winning group roll off of the front, none of us in position to follow. This time on the climb, Paul Esposti again found himself running and chasing back on, while Will Hickey and I [Brad Cole] dug in to stay in the group.
On the next lap I [Brad Cole] found myself in three different moves, the last of which, finally stuck. I ended up spending the rest of the day in a four man break that contained Jonathon Baker (Vitamin Cottage), Corey Carlson (Rio Grande), and Jonny Clarke (Toyota United) we rolled smoothly until the final lap when Baker went on the offensive, attacking every time I came off of a pull.
Baker knew the race was between the two off us after we dropped Corey on the final ascent of the Koppenburg and didn’t expect to beat Clarke, one of the best sprinters in the country, heads up. I [Brad Cole] ended up coming off on the downhill unable to spin my 53x12 any faster as the two rode away in their larger gears.
Paul Esposti and Will Hickey had fairly mundane rides once the break was established, they road strong in the group and made the decisions and moves needed to be competitive. Paul made the splits and road to a solid 14th overall and finished in the main group. Will continued to make huge strides as a rider and fought hard to finish, he finished just outside the main group but took the steps necessary to move to the next level.
5:10 to Buckeye
You’ve probably heard of the movie, 3:10 to Yuma and its 2007 remake starring Russell Crowe. The Wednesday night ride that departs East Vine resembles much of the script in this great action western.
How might you ask? The soul goal of the ride is to catch the train that heads north to Buckeye, which then works its way west & south to Cement Plant Alley for the final showdown at dusk! Along the route many become ill fated, SHOT out the back, or simply deceived and worked over by the tyrants... Like the movie, the end of the road has a twist, and it’s every Cowboy for himself. For he who draws swiftly, simply wins!
Last night April 2nd was no exception, out of the blocks at a steady 25 mph the wind was favorable as the 17 strong group headed north. Uncertain of the decision to go full distance to Buckeye, the group soon became fewer as opinions were voiced aloud. “Left at Owl canyon”, “Go straight”, “That’s easy for you to say, some of us live on the south end of town”, “You guys better pull through if we are going straight”, As the train headed north it gained momentum and was now steaming along at 30+ mph, the pressure soon took it’s toll, several became derailed as the train ceased to let up!
By the time the train changed direction and headed due west to oblivion, there were only 9 remaining passengers. “Two-Gun Davis” (Rich Davis) was first to put the train in the gutter as the strong southerly wind hit home. Quick to draw was “Butch Workman” (Dan Workman) & “Sundance Cole” (Brad Cole). Disgruntled by the attack “Red Ryder Porter” (Dan Porter) came out blazing and launched him self up the climb leaving a trail of chaos! “Iron eyes Esposti” (Paul Esposti) scrambled for the wheel along with the remainder. A ceasefire was called and the remaining 9 passengers took turns cutting the bitter cross wind. More steam was in order as the train turned south, the wind was modestly against the group. “Two-Gun Davis” & “Iron Eyes Esposti” failed to agree on wind direction which would dictate the direction of rotation. “Black Rider” (Forest) brought up the rear as the train gained more steam.
Tension built as Cement Plant Alley came into sight and the passengers were all on board for the final showdown. The train speedily took its final turn, first to attack was “Kid Kirby” (Kirby) he managed to break loose and pull away. It was poker face time for the players. “Iron Eyes Esposti” showed his hand first and minimized the damage of “Kid Kirby” running out of steam he was quick to sling shot “Red Ryder Porter” into the line of fire before becoming derailed. “Kid Kirby’s” efforts were swallowed by the train as it drew near the finish. The train’s momentum slowed momentarily as the players were reluctant to reveal their hand. The final scramble to the summit obliterated the train, as riders derailed.
“Sundance Cole” emerged strongest & quickest to the summit, and took the victory for Team Legacy Energy...
Paul Esposti
Weekend - April 4 - 5, 2008
The team’s busy schedule continues this weekend with races in Golden and Superior. The racing will being with an individual time trial up Lookout Mountain. Starting on the west side of Golden riders will climb Lariat Loop rode, riding under the Colorado School of Mines “M”, to the finish line at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. The 4.5 miles and 1,250 vertical feet will take racers a little under 20 minutes and when the results are tabulated it will be obvious who has been training and who has not.
On Sunday the team will be split with the collegiate riders lining up in Golden and the rest racing the Koppenberg circuit race in Superior. Situated on Colorado School of Mines campus the collegiate race features a 6% climb followed immediately by a technical 6% descent which leads straight back into the climb. There is no where to hide on this course and the attrition will begin immediately. The rest of Team Legacy Energy will be racing the Koppenberg circuit race. The namesake of a climb featured in the Tour of Flanders this race is a Colorado spring classic. The 5 mile loop is half dirt, half pavement with a short, narrow 17% climb in the dirt section. At only 8 laps the race is not a long one, but the terrain will take its toll on the field.
Season Starts...with Success!
Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo has started the season off with success in local races in Northern Colorado. Most of the local races are attended by local riders who live in Colorado. Rock Racings, Tyler Hamilton – 4th place in the Tour De France, Toyota United’s, Chris Baldwin – Professional Time Trial Champion, Toyota United’s, Henk Vogel – Tour de France finisher several times over and a top Classics rider in Europe, Bissell Pro Cycling’s, Tom Zirbel, Health Net Pro Cycling’s, Phil Zajicek, and the list goes on. Needless to say, the competition on any given Saturday is world class.
The Frostbite TT, a 20Km Time Trail on the frontage road north of Wellington, CO started off the season with all four of Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo’s riders finishing in the top eight! Patrick McGlynn was 4th, Dan Workman 5th, Jarred Berger 6th, Brad Cole 8th. Our performance showed great depth. Robby Ketchell, our Anti-doping and Sports Science trainer, couldn’t have been more pleased to have such good rides for collecting baseline performance data. “This is only where we are starting” Robby said after the race as he looks forward to helping our guys become the best Time Trial riders.
Did we mention we’re a new team? I guess we had to have one of those days. After coming off the high of the Frostbite TT, the team just couldn’t keep it together the following day at the Criterium at City Park in Denver. Let’s just say we’re a developing team. The race maintained a hard and fast pace from start to finish. With over 65 starters and 17 finishers, it was rough on just about everyone, including all our team. None of the team finished and we hope to look back at the end of the season and say, “Did we actually ride in that race?” Needless to say, it was a character builder. We’ll need a few days like that in order to grow.
Two weeks later at Promontory Park Criterium in Greeley, the boys showed they have already grown. The team threw down and showed the kind of force they can be this year. The wind blew, the thermometer didn’t get past 50, and the competition was high. It wasn’t a good day for a fun ride, but it was a great day for RACING. Dan Workman had a difficult time hiding the hard work he did this winter and attacked in a crosswind on the first lap! Joined by teammate Brad Cole and three more riders, this race was going to end one of two ways. Either the boys were going to blow up early on or they were going to finish strong. Two laps into it, Hank Vogel and local pro Dirk Friel bridged up and the group was gone for the day! The rest of the team rode great behind and covered the counter-attacks. Phil Mann made his way into a chase group of four that picked up riders getting dropped out of Dan and Brad’s group.
As the race roared on, the front group whittled down to five guys coming into the final laps. Dan and Brad showed courage as they attacked Hank and the rest of the group. For a climber and a time trialer, they sure gave it hell, riding in together, for fourth and fifth place. Phil wasn’t far behind as he crossed the line for 7th, with Jarred Berger, Patrick McGlynn and Paul Esposti leading out Will Hickey to win the field sprint for 12th. Overall, it was an awesome team performance! And to top it off, each rider found personal success at this windswept business park in Northern Colorado. (I think we might already be forgetting about… Where was that race again?)
Stay tuned! We will have race updates and more team news each week. We want to share with you, our fans, the moments of courage, hard work, tactics, challenges and successes we experience throughout the year. And as we leave you after this week’s installment, understand how much it means to our young riders to know that you are behind them, that you are a crucial piece to Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo’s development and future.
New Belgium Brewery Event Report
Early evening sun casts a warm, golden glow throughout the Brewhouse at New Belgium Brewery. Gleaming stainless steel kettles emerge from the floor. Blue and white carbon-fiber bikes lean casually against tables. Young men dressed in dark blue t-shirts with ‘Team Legacy Energy’ embossed across their chests seem nervous with excitement.
This is their big night. A night where they meet the community and the community meets them. A night when they are 'officially' introduced as a new cog on the freewheel that is the cycling community of Fort Collins. With roughly 70 people in attendance, the evening went off without a single shard of glass lodged in someone's tire. Community supporters, bike enthusiasts, family members with young children, and the team ate delicious food and discussed the hope that is Team Legacy Energy - a newly formed amateur team with lofty goals of one day turning professional.
A proud team director, Andy Clark, grabs the microphone and begins. Brad Cole. Phil Mann. Jarred Berger. Paul Esposti. Patrick McGlynn. Will Hickey. Dan Workman. Rolf Eisinger (not in attendance).
These are the names of the young riders thirsting to bring victory to Team Legacy Energy and the cycling community that is Fort Collins, Colorado. Fast young men dedicated to grinding it out up mountain roads, cruising at top speed along country flats, and sprinting with every ounce of energy left after 100 miles of racing to cross the finish line with arms raised in victory.
Come Celebrate Cycling!
Team Legacy Energy invites YOU, the cycling community, to celebrate with us as we present our Team for the start of the 2008 cycling season.
It's getting to be that time of year when we shed our insulating layers and welcome the sun.
Whether you're riding wheelies on a singlespeed, rolling out the full suspension rig, looking forward to more daylight on your commute to work, or preparing for the up and coming race season, we all stick our noses into the same Northern Colorado wind.
AND
We all have HOPE for the new cycling season!
Team Legacy Energy welcomes all types of pedal folks and pedal strokes to join in a celebration of cycling in Fort Collins.
- When:
- March 13th, 6 - 8 p.m.
- Buffet begins @ 6:15 p.m.
- Doors close @ 6:45pm
- Where:
- Upstairs in the Brewhouse @ New Belgium Brewery
500 Linden, Fort Collins, CO - (Please enter through the west entrance. Your name must be on the list to come and play.)
- RSVP MANDATORY
- Send an e-mail to ac@ciclismoracing.com, your name gets put on the list.
Come and celebrate cycling!
Champion Riders Make The Commitment To Race Drug-Free
Grassroots Cycling Team, Team Legacy Energy, Sets Sights On The Future Of Bike Racing
Two national cycling champions and one state cycling champion have spent countless hours climbing northern Colorado foothills, sprinting along back country highways, and submitting blood tests to the lab in their commitment to creating an honorable championship season in 2008. Riders, Brad Cole, the National Amateur Endurance Mountain Bike Champion (2007), Phil Mann, the National Collegiate Criterium Champion (2007), and Patrick McGlynn, the State of Colorado Time Trial Champion (2007) along with their fellow Team Legacy Energy teammates have made the commitment, not only to themselves and their sponsors but also their community, the City of Fort Collins, to train hard and race hard and to do it drug-free.
Team Legacy Energy, a newly formed cycling team based out of Fort Collins, CO, eagerly approaches its first season looking to the future of cycling when all riders approach the starting line with the knowledge that the best man will win based on his hard work and talent, and not on the latest designer performance enhancing drug. Supported by its community, this grassroots team formed with two major goals in mind. The first goal is to develop young, talented riders into seasoned, veteran riders who will one day use their talents to take their team from amateur status to professional status. The second goal is to achieve this first goal by racing without the use of performance enhancing drugs by partnering with Colorado State University to create a health profile of each rider that is monitored throughout the season, much like many professional teams are doing these days.
Team Legacy Energy calls Fort Collins home for the simple reason that Fort Collins loves bikes. It's a community that quietly produces fantastic riders. It's a community that, Team Director, Andy Clark, wants to surround his riders with. Everywhere his team looks, there's a reminder that bikes are a piece of the fabric that holds this community together. Bike lanes and paved bike trails support bicycle commuting year round, the National Collegiate Championships will be held in Fort Collins for the next couple of years, the Tour de Fat attracts thousands of riders annually, and mountain bikers roam the world-class trails just outside of town. Team Legacy Energy sees itself as the cycling ambassador for Fort Collins as it travels the countryside from race to race. It will embrace the community by hosting monthly, easy-going, community rides where people can learn to ride in a group and get to know team riders personally. Already, the riders have been fast at work in order to bring glory to local sponsors and the City of Fort Collins. This team knows that with the support of its community and sponsors and the commitment of its young champions, it can achieve great things.
If you'd like more information visit: www.teamlegacyenergy.com and/or to schedule an interview with Andy Clark, please contact Andy Clark at 970-218-9946 or email Andy at: ac@ciclismoracing.com
New Rides!
As we get older, few moments are as exciting as the memories we have at our childhood Christmases (Chanukahs). Receiving gifts (or coal to some), gave us an elated sense of accomplishment as Santa rewarded us for good behavior throughout the year. Fortunately, for those blessed by Team Legacy Energy, the spirit of Christmas will never die.
On Wednesday, January 23, we reconvened at Andy Clark's (aka Director Sportif) house to relive the emotions of Christmas. Entering through the front door and peering to the left there was the beautiful sparkle of carbon, carbon, and more carbon. All the new Orbea Opal, black and blue, team bikes were stacked in an echelon against the wall. Prepared marvelously by Sean of the Cycologist and members of the team, we are grateful to be riding these gorgeously engineered machines. For some, the Opal will be a new experience, but for many the talent of this bike has already been proven in many victories from previous years. Equipped with Shimano Ultegra SL, we look forward to gracefully shifting ourselves to success in 2008.
Oval Ride
For the northern Colorado cyclist, January and February are unique months. Very few of us venture beyond our borders to take part in early season racing of the southern hemisphere or even the southern US for that matter. This affords us few opportunities to find out where our total body fitness stands. Have we been lazy through the cold months? Or are we training like madmen, yet trying to retard ourselves from coming to form too quickly? Sometimes lazy and overtraining can feel like the same thing; sluggish legs, lack of power, uncontrolled heart rates, etc.
We are the lucky ones up here in northern Colorado. We are blessed with the strength of old school wisdom and the power of youth, all of which come together to answer the same question: what is going on with my body right now? The answer is simple and easily discovered on an early Saturday morning, and with good weather permitting (always a major question), somebody is going to learn a lesson, either about him/herself and his/her body or about how to ride a bike.FAST!
It's called the OVAL ride. The logistics are as follows: meet at the Oval on CSU's campus at around 10 am on Saturday morning. All levels of riding and genders are encouraged to participate. Normally the young ones are diligent and on time, but often times the beautifully-aged feel as if they have done their time and the world should stop for them, which means they are ALWAYS late (much love AC). Aside from the minute bitterness or resentment for age one may read in my words, an eloquent relationship must be maintained between young and old so that a successful ride may venture us into the frontier and home safely. Actually, we (I'm speaking for the young ones) don't know the directions.
This past Saturday, January 26, 2008, we were finally given the opportunity to homogenize all ages, abilities, and genders on the Oval. It was a reunion of sorts, as most of us hadn't chatted as a large group in a long while, spending most of our time throughout the past months playing catch-up with sidelined chores and finally getting the opportunity to socialize as the rest of the world does, partaking in some weekend shenanogans. We headed out around 10:15 am, winding our way through Old Town connecting with Vine st. Heading east the pace was slow and comfortable and conversations continued. To be honest, I cannot tell you exactly the roads we traveled down, but in general we passed through Severance, south to Johnstown, west through Berthoud, rapping around the south side of Loveland along the eastern slope of Carter Lake, and finally through Masonville up to Horesetooth and home. The tempo picked up heading south through Severance and Johnstown, and small attacks ensued from the aggressive members of the ride. During one particular event, Brad Cole and myself (Phil Mann) came hot off one of the corners turning south to west and we were charging hard. Not to Brad's nor my surprise, the others conveniently didn't tell us where the next turn was, allowing us to overshoot the turn by a good 500 meters. To make matters worse, once the group turned south again, leaving Brad, a few others, and myself heading west, they decided to bury themselves to open a gap on the chasing group. Fueled by anger and a knowingness that they were simply attacking out of shear old-man-bitterness, we chased.HARD! The organized caos, which I just described, separated the groups for the remainder of the ride. Exciting to team Legacy Energy, is that all our participating riders (Will Hickey, Patrick McGlynn, Brad Cole, Phil Mann, and Andy Clark) on that Saturday made the selections to join the fastest group. It always feels good to be the fastest in town and it feels even better to have the fitness to lay down the smack this early in the season.
Assuming good weather, we look forward to you all joining us on the next group ride at the Oval. Come get FAST!
