TriFecta Day One

“Get in the ‘Burban!” The line doesn’t hold quite the ‘get in the van’ ring, but the trailer is loaded and we hop into cars nonetheless, twenty-five UA Cyclists trained and ready for a weekend of racing at the TriFecta Omnium in Las Cruces, NM.

Fast-forward a few hours to midnight and we’re pulling up at the Big Chili Inn. Staying here has become a club tradition for good reason, and if you’re ever in town you should definitely stop by—the 30-foot chili out front makes it a hard place to miss. We unload the trailer, split into rooms, and a knock at the door brings a bedtime carbo-load of chips and salsa.

The 6:15am alarm goes off and life’s a blur of coffee, food, coffee, trailer packing, coffee, and a quick drive to the ITT. The ‘Burbans are parked in a line, the bikes come off of the trailer and onto trainers, chairs are set in a circle, the boxes of nutrition we won from USAC for having the most growth over last year come out, and I can’t help but think how legit we look. ASU drives by (the six of them fit in a single sedan) and they flash the “pitchfork” and other obscene hand-shapes at us. We laugh.

Veteran roadies conduct pinning school as they verbally instruct new members and mountain bike shredders on proper number placement over the hum of trainers. Flat tires are fixed (thanks, ASU, for the pump), aero helmets come out, and pump-up music blasts. One-by-one, riders are pushed from the start line onto the 20k out-and-back rolling, windy, rain-spitting course. My turn comes, and from inside the pain cave, I yell “Bear Down” at red-and-blue and black-and-gold blurs alike as we cross paths.

Jenny Quijada begins her ITT

Max Rich pulls off the win in the Men’s A ITT, David Carlson takes third and Joey Iuliano fourth. David Greif and Schuyler Burns go one-two in the B’s, and Ryan Brown grabs third in the C’s. I place third in the Women’s A’s, and Jessica Honea wins the B’s.

The ‘Burbans are parked right smack between the TT start and the crit course, so we spend the next couple of hours refueling, resting our feet up on tailgates, foam rolling, and team bonding. Some people study.

Crit time comes and bibs go back on if they came off (it’s one of those borderline do-I-bother-changing situations), some bikes are thrown back onto trainers while others roll around on the frontage road, then the ‘A Men’ line up alongside the P/1/2/3’s for their start.

It’s a six-on-one battle between us and Constantin Schreiber of ASU, but the combined field takes a bit of the advantage away. The horn sounds, feet clip in, and the pack strings out as it makes its way around the mile-long rectangular course. Nathan Franklin makes an attack, and Iuliano joins him. The pair is caught, several prime laps occur consecutively, the final bell rings, and Rich sprints to victory. Constantin manages to grab second, and Andrew Keller’s just behind.

Max Rich leads a break

Travis Burkel, David Greif, and Alex Alvarez go 4-5-6 in the Men’s B’s. Brand-new-member-this-week Joseph Shaw wins the Men’s C crit, and is followed in second by Club Pres. Ben Elias on his brand-new-last-week cross bike.

In the Women’s A race, the Pro/1/2/3 field sets the pace off the line, breaking riders apart. I take a turn on the front and am swiftly dropped thereafter. Two ASU girls play it smarter than I, finishing one-two, leaving me once again in third. Jessica Honea, in her second-ever crit, manages to win the pack sprint, placing second overall and first collegiate in the Cat 4/Col B.

Jessica Honea takes the win in the WB Crit

With the first day of racing behind us, bikes go back on the trailer, people back in the ‘Burbans, and the need for food beats out the need to shower as we head directly to the lucky chosen local pizza establishment. Various members of the Southwest Conference join us, and we smell up our own little corner of the restaurant as I’m once again amazed at the swiftness of my peers, several of them devouring entire pizzas in a sitting.

At least one of us dozes off at the table.

-Allison Alterman

This past weekend the club hosted our annual BioPark Blast criterium and a new road race in Oracle, AZ. Both events were a huge success! The crit had over 300 riders and the road race netted over 400! The performed excellently across all fields:

Crit:
1st in the Men’s B with Schuyler Burns
1st in Men’s A with Quinn Keogh
2nd in Women’s B with Jenny Quijada
3rd in Women’s A with Kim Truitt

For the TTT:
1st and 3rd in Men’s A
1st in Men’s B
2nd in Men’s C
1st in Women’s B
2nd in Women’s A

In the Road Race:
1st in Men’s A with Quinn
1st in Men’s B with David Greif (on a flat tire!)
1st in Men’s C
4th in Women’s A
3rd in Women’s B

While the results are still being finalized and the points updated, it looks like we should take the lead in the conference omnium over ASU! We have a weekend off from collegiate racing and pick back up with the ASU Crit and McDowell Mountain Circuit race.

Many exciting developments have been made over the past year and the University of Arizona Cycling Club is exciting to be making progress as a competitive team and a growing presence in our community.

Most importantly, the UA has been recognized by USA Cycling to be the cycling club with the most growth in 2013! Please read more about that over at USA Cycling - http://www.usacycling.org/2013-collegiate-club-membership-contest-winners-announced.htm

The club is also proud to not have developing road and mountain biking squads but this year we were able to send a small squad to race at USA Cycling Cyclo-cross Nationals in Boulder, CO from Jan 8-12, 2014.

The team left for Utah on Thursday taking the scenic route around the eastern Grand Canyon and through Southern Utah- quite the views up north for sure! We took ample stops to stretch the legs and take in the scenery since it was a 13 hour drive.

On Friday the team had the team time trials and the new individual time trials on Antelope Island. The men’s team didn’t have too much time to practice since the final roster wasn’t decided until a day before the trip, so 20 minutes prior to start time was our first and only practice. Given 3 of the 4 members were new to the event, we were somewhat pleased with out time of 46:49 good for 17th. It served as a good motivator for next year’s TTT since we will be able to practice together during the off-season. The ITT’s were a little more eventful. Shelby and Allison finished 18th and 19th while on the men’s side yours truly finished 14, David Carlson 20th, and Jake in 30th.

All in all, it was a very good experience for the team- especially since many members on the team started racing this spring. Everyone is excited and motivated for nationals next year which is in Richmond, VA.

Last weekend the UA team headed up to Albuquerque, NM for the Adoption Exchange Classic- the final full weekend of collegiate racing! To say we had success is an understatement!

TT: The weekend started off with a very lumpy (or hilly) time trial along the north I-40 frontage road. The Men’s A swept the podium with Joey leading the charge followed by Max Rich and David Carlson.

In the women’s A, Allison Alterman took 3rd and Shelby Hoglund came in 4th. Liz Schmitt took 1st place in the women’s B. It was a great start to a day of racing!

Photo: Joey rocking out in the SWCCC leader’s jersey.

With team spirits high, the crew headed a few miles down the road to the crit course held at a small auto race track. Fast, flowing and with banked turns, it was sure to be fast. Toss in a small hill and some solid winds and it was going to huuuurt!

Liz had the first race and again took 1st in the women’s B. Next up were the ladies in the A’s who also raced with the Women 1/2/3. Allison and Shelby worked well together during the race and came in 3rd and 4th again behind ASU. The final race of the day had the 5 Men’s A riders line up in the P/1/2/3 Men’s field- a daunting race for a few of them since it was their first A crit! Max was clearly showing good legs and as the field splinted over time, he stuck with the lead group. He played the conservative card on the last lap and pulled out a 6th place sprint! Good for 1st in the Men’s A too!

After a tough day of racing, the team refueled at a local favorite: Sadie’s of New Mexico. The stuffed sopapillas are aaaaaamazing.

Sunday’s road race took the event to the east side of Sadie Peak…and up to 7,000 ft. The elevation wasn’t bad on Sunday at 5,300…but toss in a couple extra thousand and it was definitely felt on Sunday. The course was challenging and stunningly beautiful. 33 miles long with lots of rolling terrain and one big 18% .25 climb in the middle, lovingly named “Heart Break Hill”. It lived up to its name, especially the 2nd time up. Not to mention a howling head wind for 10+ miles.  All races ran concurrently so it was impossible to know how the others did until the end. Liz Schmitt hung tough with the Women 4′s and took 1st again in the Women’s B. The women’s A faced the difficult task of racing with the 1/2/3′s, but the riders put up a good fight with Allison and Shelby going 3 and 4th again. In the Men’s A the field was decimated the first time up Heart Break Hill, with David Carlson making it in the lead group. Max and Joey eventually bridged in the headwind section as the field slowed. The attacks started flying on the rollers and Joey fell off the pace due to a bad day in the saddle. Andrew Keller brought a small chase group up to him and the two riders settled in for a long 2nd lap. Max and David hung tough, with Max again taking the collegiate win and David taking 3rd. Andrew and Joey came in 4th and 5th with Jake in 6th a few minutes in arrears.

The team extended their lead in the team and individual omniums and with one weekend left, it seems assured the team will win it’s first conference title in a number of years!

The Trifecta Omnium in Las Cruces, NM was also the SWCCC regional road race champs. AN epic hilly road race near the Gila Wilderness.

Nothing short of domination could be said. UA swept the Men’s A category with Joey Iuliano taking 1st (and extending his lead in the SW Men’s A omni), David Carlson took 2nd, and Jake took 3rd. UA also swept the Men’s B with Max Rich, Joel Perez, and Andrew Keller. The ladies did well too! With Allison and Shelby getting 3rd and 4th. The team now has a commanding lead in the Men’s A individual omni and the team omnium as well. The team looks to continue this season’s success at the upcoming Adoption Exchange Classic in Albuquerque.

Joel Perez giving it the beans in the Men’s B road race.

Whoa! So much has happened since our last post! Let’s get you up to speed:

UA Crit:

The 2013 BioPark Blast was a HUGE success! Well over 300 riders throughout the day- we were blown away by the attendance! Results can be found here: 2013 results

We had a large number of collegiate racers in the Men’s and Women’s fields (sadly, the NM schools missed out on the fun!)

New for this year, the Flapjacks TT added collegiate categories to help make it a full weekend of racing! While attendance was high for the event overall, collegiate riders were a little sparse- 3 in the Men’s A, 1 Men’s B, a couple of Men’s C, and 3 Women (come on SWCCC…we can do better than that!). The Men’s A TT was won by UA rider Joey Iuliano and thanks to his 3rd place at the crit took the lead for the Men’s Omnium! Maya Cross-Killingsworth (UA) won the Women’s B TT as well!

Joey with the leader’s jersey prior to the ASU crit

ASU Crit and McDowell Mountain:

The following weekend the UA club was back at at the ASU crit and McDowell circuit race.

The results in the Men’s A/B/C race looked similar to the UA Crit with Spencer Crites (ASU) taking the win, Nathan Franklin (NAU), and Iuliano (UA) in 3rd. Max Rich (UA) took the win in the Men’s C in commanding fashion with Andrew Keller (UA) rounding out the podium in 3rd.

In the Women’s race, Maya, Shelby, and Allison took on the ASU and NAU ladies, taking 3rd, 5th, and 6th respectively.

On Sunday the team headed to McDowell Mountain Park for a non-collegiate race. The course was a challenging 1.3 mile circuit with a gradual climb and quick descent- not much time to rest! In the Men’s 5, Max Rich took 3rd and in the Cat 2 race Joey Iuliano took 3rd as well.

The team enjoyed a weekend off last week and is looking forward now to the 2nd Avondale Crit on 2/24.

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NEW SPONSOR

UA Cycling is proud to announce the addition of Aerocat bikes to the family of sponsors!

Aerocat is a small frame designer located in Portland, Indiana. Aerocat takes pride providing a unique quality product to each customer and UA Cycling is excited to be working with them! Look for the Wildcats to be on Aerocats in the future!

The UA Crit is right around the corner (2/2/2013)! And we want to welcome you to our new venue at the UA BioPark (southwest of 36th and Kino Parkway)! We have been overwhelmed by the support from the community for our event- this is truly a well-loved event and we are pleased it was able to continue at a new home! We hope you’ll join us- either on the bike or on the sidelines- on Saturday!

If you are interested in racing, head on over to the UACrit page on this site or go to:
La Roue D’or for more info and registration.

So, how do you get said awesome USAC license? I don’t like reinventing the wheel and this club does an excellent job describing the differences:

https://sites.google.com/site/shipcycling/home/tutorials/licensing

Just sub in University of Arizona where ever they talk about Shipenburg.

Step by step:
1.) Go to usacycling.org, click sign in
2.) Fill out the info on the left side name, d.o.b, hit continue
3.) It’ll ask for some more info, an e-mail, username, pass, etc.
4.) Then you sign in with your newly created account. yay!
5.) License time! Click the license button, then purchase new license
6.) Select either collegiate (just remember you can ONLY race collegiate then…so this is not recommended) or select Road Primary and then collegiate as an add-on (its free)
7.) Say yes to the waivers
8.) Select University of Arizona for your clubs (unless you have a different club you will ride for in non-collegiate events)
9.) pay
10.) done! Your license will arrive in about a week or so. In the mean time on the homepage you can print an “Authorization to Ride” which shows you can race your bike. You can also pull this up on a smartphone (USA cycling has an app too).

Any questions or problems, let me know and I’ll do the best I can to help.
-Joey