Tour of Red River Gorge

Erin Hetzel-

I raced at Red River Gorge this past weekend and did well...4th in the tt and another 4th in the first road race and was contending for a top 3 in the omnium but dropped my chain during the road race on the last day and had to ride alone for the last 30ish miles. I still managed 8th and 5th in the omnium though...but the races were so much fun and the terrain was so awesome!

Eagle Creek Fast Crit

The CAT 4 race had 2 riders in the field from Indiebike P/B OrthoIndy. Brad Sheridan and Jeff Laux. A field of nearly 40, brad and jeff played their hands well. They were both seen taking pulls in the front, hiding, and usually always positioned in the top 10 which means coming into the final laps they were in perfect position. Brad took a strong pull with 3 laps to go and the group reacted and the pace then increased. As the finish neared, Brad was in position to score well, but was boxed in and finished 10th. Jeff came around at the end with a clean sweep and made a strong final sprint to finish 4th. Great job guys!

The CAT 1-2-3 race had a field of 24. Only 2 from our squad, Cory Swihart and Steve Ellis. A strong field with some strong names to go up against. The entire race was all about covering attacks and trying to make moves. Cory took an effort about 22 minutes into the 65 minute race to solo for nearly 2 laps and then settled back into the pack. Immediately followoing, Steve Ellis counterattacked perfectly and solo'ed off for a few laps and then was brought back by the group. At this point, IndieBike was marked and seen doing some work to show some threat and also build our squad's respect. The rest of the day, a few breaks were tried, but never stuck. Towards the end with 3 to go, Nuvo sent a guy off the front, then followed with a block. The group realized it was a block and then took off after him and went for it. Coming into the final lap, Steve and Cory were in good position for sprinting it out. Fatigued from Saturday, Steve and Cory both sprinted into the final to only find themselves 7th and 12th. Great efforts guys!

McCormick's Creek RR

Highlights

1. We were all together at the starting line
2. A successful bottle hand-up from Sherry to Gus late in the race
3. Aaron kept his 9 year streak of not eating taco bell in tact. TB is also the place where Aaron made the comment that he could have ridden a few more laps and felt great at the end. Also the place where Gus, Joe, and Sherry wanted to punch him in the face

Cat3 Race

The entry list was small for the 3 race, so they combined the 3's with the Masters. This made for a fast race with the Zipp Factory Team and CFW Team for a full 10 laps of racing up a hill that featured three separate kicks. Three guys broke off the front, including riders from Zipp and CFW. Both teams had guys in the break and plenty back to block. The remaining riders could not mount an organized chase. The field came to a sprint on the final lap. Dustin took 1st place in the 3's (6th overall) and Cory took 2nd place in the 3's (7th overall) for a clean sweep of 1-2 in the 3 race. Steve Ellis had a mechanical midway through the race, and stuck in and rode out the race solo, which is very respectable considering the wind and climb. Great job Steve!

Cat4 Race

Indie had some great numbers in the 4's race and finished with three in the top 8. B-Rad, Big Wobbly, Joe, Gus, Michael, and Mike made the trip, and while I can't speak for everyone, a few of us probably wished we hadn't. My legs told me this was one of the hardest races they've ever done. It must have been a combination of heat, humidity, and 9 times up a hill with a little kicker at the top but to say they were "torched" would be an understatement. The race turned into a war of attrition and by the end, the starting group had been whittled down to 8. Some great riding by Aaron brought back a few breaks that looked like they could stick and only some "unfortunate" positioning on the final turn meant the results weren't quite what we were hoping for. That said, a day on the bike is better than a day at work; though this race felt a little too much like work.

Team indiebike.com p/b OrthoIndy Family,

The race was the final of the Ohio Spring Race Series. Three team members made the trip; Michael, Steve, and myself. The course was an 18 mile loop that was mostly flat with the exception of one bitch of a hill. And I mean this thing was serious; steep and well over a mile long.

Michael rode in the 5s race, finishing in the pack. They did 36 miles (2 loops). He thought he placed somewhere in the 20s. I didn't hear an elaborate race report from him.

Steve and I were in the 3s race. We did 4 loops for a total of 72 miles. The race started slowly, and then about 9 miles in, the hill happened. By the time the hill had been conquered there was no single group, and there wasn't for the remaining 63 miles. This was great for me b/c myself and another rider had gapped the group. A small group of maybe 5 riders were chasing, and we figured they'd catch us on the flats, which would be great b/c we'd probably have enough guys to stay away from the pack. For whatever reason, they didn't chase us down. We kept on it and by the final lap, according to Michael who was at the start/finish line, we had about 10 minutes on the next rider. Of course we didn't know, so we continued to push ourselves to complete exhaustion. The separation between the two of us in the break happened a bit outside of the 200 meter mark. He had made an attempt to drop me about a half mile before the finish, but i was able to hop on his wheel and rode there until i made my move. He wasn't able to counter.

When I finished, Steve was already off his bike. And i believe he said it was a "mechanical" issue that kept him from finishing. Isn't that right, Steve?

Chalk it up: another victory for team indie bike!

Awesome results yesterday.

Brad Sheridan grabbed another top 5 in the 4/5 race and Justin and Dustin both placed top ten in the 3/4, 8th and 10th respectively.

But the even bigger story is that Brad was also able to finish 20th in the 3/4, ahead of Josh Prater and Chris Jolivette, simply by standing on the side of the road and cheering. Impressive. Dustin also turned in a big finish in the Pro/1/2/3 race. Despite being at Marsh grocery shopping during the race Dustin placed 17th just behind Brett Stewart. Great work everybody.

Cory and I were casualties in a crash on the last lap in the 3/4 race. We both had good legs and were toward the front in good position going into the first corner of the last lap. Two guys ahead crossed wheels and went down collecting a few other riders with them, myself included. I had nowhere to go so I rode over the top of the pile. Cory managed to slow down enough not to hit the deck but his chances at a good finish were over. I have a puncture wound in my right butt cheek, a scraped up left forearm and got stabbed in my left quad by my chainring but other than that not too bad. The bike is repairable. Scratched up bartape, shift lever, pedal and skewer all on the left side. Broke two spokes on my front wheel. Both bike and body survived well enough to ride another day.

here's a quick rundown from the weekend of racing. a couple of top 31's and a few crashes highlighted a weekend of racing.

tom's intro to cat 3's included a 4th place finish in the road race and being crashed out of the crit on sunday. heading into the final turn in 5th place proved to be exactly the wrong place to be positioned. a few scratches on the new groupo and a torn kit were his reward for a hard ride that was headed toward another top finish.

i won the 4's road race and got 2nd in the crit on sunday. in keeping with tradition, i made it rain at wendy's afterward - though it just wasn't the same without sherry ordering a baked potato.

mark g. got a jump on the DINO series by winning his age group and was top10 overall in his mtn race on saturday - nice work, mark! rumor has it that he replaced his post ride shake with a bloat (beer float) at the festival.

cory turned his focus to road racing and traveled to ohio on sunday. ever wondered what skin looks like after a crash at 42? talk to cory. sounds like he's still pretty sore and he has some equipment that needs to be sent to zipp for repair/replacement. luckily, cory has more bike gear than any one person should and skin will heal. luckily, or unluckily for Tim, cory didn't break anything.

Erin had a solid finish in the road race on sunday. she was certainly a marked rider in her sweet indie kit - as 3/4 of the field were her former teammates - alderfer bergen. she road well to a 5th place finish.

there you have it. see you tonight for a recovery ride or tomorrow for a few beers after the ride from the shop.

-Gus