- Jul. 10, 2008
- Bike Racing, Teamwork and Milkshakes
Sadly, even with my legit French last name and my French family heritage, the TCB Cycling squad once again received no invite to the la grande danse. So just like last year, the year before and all the other years that came ahead of those years, the team opted for racing stateside during the 4th of July weekend. So instead of laits frappes we enjoyed milkshakes—an oh-so-impressive amount of post-race milkshakes to be exact. “Why milkshakes?” one may ask. Two reasons: Milkshakes are absolutely delicious on a hot day after climbing the same hill 30 times while inhaling smoky air from a large fire that apparently is burning most of California; and Milkshakes are even more delicious when they’re on Velo Promo’s dime. Yup, we won milkshake money. And to think some folks wonder why we risk our necks racing bikes. At the Vacaville GP the team ended the weekend with a very solid effort, Mark Superhara raced like a champ, and when we left Vacaville we left Vacaville with some bigtime milkshake money in our poches.
Here’s the scoop from Superhara...
District Criterium Championships, Vacaville CA
Clif/Shot Summary: 2 Cola Shots, Double Expresso Shot (A.K.A. Hercules)
Race Report:
Tired from Leesville, I was encouraged by Dylan and David to race Sunday in Vacaville for the District Criterium Championships. It was hot and hilly. Before the race Doran and I picked out the riders to look out for. Jackson Stewart and Mike Sayers from BMC and all the guys from Cal Giant (AKA Strawberry) were on our list. During the race our team did a great job of representing the various escapes. That alone was a success; we were represented in every key break. First Doran, then Dylan, followed by David,…I'm sure there were others but after that things got blurry and at one point I wasn't coherent when I was trying to talk to Eric. All I can remember is that I chased a couple of riders who took off about half way through the race. There were about ten of us in the group and the team was doing an exceptional job distancing the chase from our lead group. I could see Clif Bar controlling the lead whenever we would pass the middle of the course, where the figure eight shaped course would intersect. The sight of that and hearing Georgina yell in turn 1 made each lap more comforting.
David ‘Sister Quistain’ Quist had this to say:Mark's group of around ten started rolling off the front past us. Everyone started looking at the pros to do the work, but they weren't ready. And no one took initiative right away.
I thought this was the move we wanted, and stayed on the front and rode tempo for much of two or so laps. I was running out of gas so I dropped back, finding Dylan to let him know Mark was in the breakaway. We both made our way to the front and controlled the race for almost a lap. Dylan stayed up as I dropped back on the hill and then found Eric, then Doran to let them know Mark was up there. They both went up and rode tempo at the very front for a few laps, giving Dylan a break. It was awesome to see such team coordination. Eric and I gave in to Father Inferno about 10 to go. By then Mark's group had 40 seconds. The gap would fluctuate between 30 and 50 seconds but never below, and with four to go it was pretty clear the group would stay away. The eventual winner from Lombardi was chugging a big gear about 30 seconds ahead of Mark's chase group but looking solid. Webcor tried to bridge but only lasted about a lap out before blowing up and coming back to Mark's group. Mark took 5th in the breakaway sprint for 6th.
I was really stoked on this team effort where EVERYONE pitched in and had a role in the outcome. Chapeau!
Nice job out there fellas! I’ll race with you guys anytime—and I’ll get milkshakes with you even more often than anytime. (That last sentence would probably make more sense in French.)
- Posted by:
- Le Sensation American
- Category:
- Team Clif Bar
- Add A Comment
Hey dudes:
Tells us more about the ‘shakes! What flavor, which establishment, were they spiked with recovery powder?
Rygar
Rygar,
Thanks for your comment and for your continued interest in Milkshakes.
Truth of the matter is that after racing around that Vacaville GP course far too many times, we were all too shattered to really focus on the details of where we were going or how we got there – we just sort of ended up at a magical milkshake oasis.
During our post-race warm-down we’d had our bottles of Shot Recovery, so once we had our sights on the milkshakes, all we were really concerned with was getting the largest milkshakes on the menu. Who knew you could race the district criterium championships and still end up gaining weight? Ah, the power of a gigantic milkshake.
The Dornado and I played the reliable and always delicious chocolate card. Little Eric went a little madcap on us and ordered strawberry. And Big Eric threw a bit of a curve and ordered a vanilla malt. Still not sure what that was all about. In his heat-induced delusion, he must have thought he was back in 1952 – he sorta went ol’ school on us. Maybe this weekend he’ll be racing with downtube shifters.
On the drive home we all heard The Dornado claim he was turning into Milkshake Man – “Half-man… half-milkshake.” Whenever one of the guys on the team turns into Milkshake Man, you can bet we’ve had a good day at the races.