Christian Leask
10:51 AM  |  0 comments

Stage One, Ocho Rios Prologue Time Trial

A 3:00 pm start time, 100+F temperatures and 100% humidity pretty well set the scene for the four days of racing to come. This first stage would determine the race leader going into the first road stage, and not surprisingly, it was Kiwi Greg Henderson...Health Net pro and World Champion on the track, and recent winner of two of the three Triple Crown races in the US...Reading and Philly. Greg had won both of these races previous week, and was obviously in phenomenal form. Greg set a blazing time of 6:25 over the short 3.5 mile course riddled with traffic and potholes. What came next was a bit of a surprise...putting two Pacesetter riders within seconds of Henderson's winning time. Chris finished up a close 15 seconds behind in 5th place at 6:40 and Tyler only two seconds behind at 6:42. The tone was set for a great race with two early options for general classification, and the rest of the team all fell easily within a minute of the race leader. Henderson later proclaimed this as the scariest TT he'd ever raced...No one disagreed. This was going to be an interesting several days if nothing else.

Stage Two, Ocho Rios to Montego Bay Road Race

We often wondered what it would be like to race Paris Roubaix. Now we have a better idea, and I don't know that any of us have an interest in ever riding anything that remotely resembles it. We were told to expect some rough roads, but this was unlike anything we had ever seen, much less ever ridden or raced on. During our 10K 30+mph "neutral" start, Chris hit a pothole the size of an SUV and rocked his bars forward. It was going to be a long day. Uncomfortable, but no sheared fork or flat, so all was good. Before the end of the day, three of us would have the same issue. Both Pacesetter and Subaru took the initiative to go to the front and drill it before and through all of the many construction zones (roads go from bad to completely unpaved and riddled with enormous potholes, mud holes, dust storms, large rocks, and some traffic just to make things exciting). After a few of these sections, the race had blown to pieces, and it seemed as though the final selection had been made. About fifteen riders were now at the front of the race, with both Chris and Tyler in that selection. A small group then attacked and appeared gone, but after another reshuffling at the front and some great work from the chase, the break was brought back together in what would be the last 5K of the race. Chris was in the front group once again, and Tyler was not far behind. Unbeknownst to anyone but the Jamaicans, this race would be a good 25K shorter than advertised. We took a surprise left hand turn, and the finish was about 200 meters ahead. Whatever spot you came out of the turn was where you finished in the sprint. It should be noted that Chris "beat" Greg Henderson in the sprint, and this is the only way that it'll ever happen. We'll take it any way we can get it. Tyler finished in a chase group with Russ only a couple minutes back, and Charles and Travis rolled in shortly thereafter after doing an amazing job of controlling the field.

Stage Three, Montego Bay- Negril- Montego Bay Road Race

After dinner, a couple Red Stripes, and a good night's sleep, we woke up to yet another day of 100+F temperatures and 100% humidity. We were all drenched in sweat at 7:00 am for breakfast. Luckily, the race started very slowly today, and we were all able to adequately eat and hydrate on the bike. Unluckily, a rider who had lost about a week's time the day before attacked and unbeknownst to anyone in the race brought 8th place on GC with him while we were contently riding along at about 12 mph. With our lack of knowledge of the placement of this mystery rider, the field allowed the break to gain entirely too much time, and next thing you know, said mystery rider is now leading GC...by almost 3 minutes with one flat stage to go. Major mistake. Unfortunately, we received this news about three hours after the race finished...a little too late to do anything about it.

That being said, there were some offsetting factors to the days stage, which saw Chris gain time on some of the other major GC contenders when the race exploded on the day's only major climb, a 3K climbing loop with switchback grades steep enough that they wouldn't allow team vehicles to drive the route. The descent was even more interesting than the climb, with a rough concrete road surface and a huge grate in the apex of one of the switchback turns. After the steep climb and sketchy descent, it was down to six riders at the front of the race, aside from the three that had departed much earlier in the day. Greg Henderson, with mechanical difficulties, was forced to climb the monster in his 53x14, traversing all the way up, and instigating some knee issues in the process. This would be the end of the race for Greg, as he got in the car immediately after the descent and called it a day and withdrew from the race (unfortunately while in the Sport Playaz leaders jersey). On the run into the finish Chris' chase group caught one of the three up the road, so in the end final kilometers the chase group was racing for third, and Chris ended up 7th on the day, with the remainder of the Pacesetter riders controlling things from behind. Good thing too, since what was left of the field finished not a minute behind, with Charles, Russ and Tyler at the front end of the field sprint. Another very impressive day of the Pacesetter Steel Service team controlling the race...aside from the one minor miscommunication which allowed for a new race leader. He was nearly three minutes ahead on GC with second through 6th within 10 seconds of one another.

Stage Four, Negril- Whitehouse- Negril Road Race

The day started with another sweltering breakfast after another night of gorging ourselves on a huge buffet of food and attempting to keep the Red Stripe consumption in check... After a quick meeting of the American contingency (Pacesetter, Subaru, and Aerospace Engineering) it was decided that things would need to be very aggressive from the gun today in order to blow the race apart early in an attempt to isolate and make up some valuable time on the new race leader, a Jamaican National Team rider. Aerospace had a rider sitting second overall (Seth Hansley), Subaru had a rider in fourth (Brian Bibbens), and Pacesetter had Chris in fifth, so everyone was quite motivated. What ensued was Pacesetter leading the charge in a barrage of attacks of epic proportions. The Jamaican National Team had never seen anything like it, and was quickly on the ropes as Travis, Tyler, Russ and Charles took turns going up the road, forcing the Jamaicans to chase. As soon as one attack would get reeled in, another would go in an impressive display of aggression. The attacks quickly softened the group, and before long, a selection was made on a horrible section of road with a short, steep climb. This group included both Russ and Chris. Russ completely sacrificed himself and drove the break to establish a sizable gap, insuring Chris and the group would stay clear to the finish. Unfortunately for Seth of Aerospace Engineering sitting second, he flatted at the worst possible moment, just as the break was established. The train had left the station, and unfortunately Seth's chase was futile. This ill-timed flat would ultimately move Chris up another spot on GC as Seth would not catch on. Aerospace Engineering was the only GC team unrepresented in the break and their chase was unable to bring things back together with the break stretching its lead to the end. Hayden Brooks of Subaru attacked in the last 15K to set things up for Brian. Unfortunately Brian flatted out of the break with about 10K to go and never bridged back. In the last 5K, Chris repeatedly attacked the break in an attempt to put a bit more time on the other GC contenders in the break, but in the end the break would finish all together. Hayden stayed away for the win, and Chris managed 4th in the sprint for 5th place on the stage. Once again, Russ, Charles, Travis and Tyler were present at the front end of the field sprint, all finishing up in the top 15. The amazing team effort had officially solidified 3rd place overall on GC for Chris and put 3 Pacesetter riders in the top 15 overall, which was good enough for 2nd place overall on the Team Classification. Needless to say, the race had gone even better than anticipated...and the Red Stripe began flowing.

Home again, and we owe many thanks...

Special thanks goes out to all of our amazing sponsors that made this experience possible...and it must be noted that Schwalbe Tires gets the MVP award. There are certain races where certain pieces of equipment really shine, and this was one for Schwalbe. Flat tires are obviously part of bike racing, but they played a tremendous role in the outcome of this race considering the conditions. Chris was running Schwalbe Blizzard tires (which are normally reserved for training) and suffered not a single flat the entire race. This proved to be the difference between a decent result and a podium finish. In fact, over the course of the entire race, the entire team suffered only ONE flat, and everyone else was running the lighter Stelvio Front and Rear race tires. Very impressive. Not that we didn't ride well, but there's much to be said for riding the right equipment, and we're very fortunate to have that opportunity. Our Litepseed Pavia frames dampened even the roughest of roads and potholes, and our Thomson Stems and seatposts once again proved their strength as well.

Through many hours of racing through 100+F heat, not one Pacesetter Steel Service rider cramped thanks to many gallons of Accelerade, and our Endurox always insured our proper recovery. Throughout the course of the race, the team consumed nearly 100 Clif Shots and many Clif Bars. Our faith in the product goes without saying. Additionally, EP-NO insured our blood levels were kept safely and legally healthy through four days of back to back racing and the breaking down of many red blood cells.

Aside from all the sponsors that provide financial backing to the team, special thanks to Dr. Steve LaScala and Greenleaf for contributing above and beyond their committed level of financial sponsorship in order to make this specific race possible for the team.

And lastly thanks to the team...good things happen when a bunch of great friends (that happen to race bikes together) completely sell out for one another to reach a common goal. And this especially includes Ben, who despite not being able to race himself, worked tirelessly the entire trip acting as team manager, director sportif, mechanic, soigner, travel agent, and sometimes babysitter. It was an amazing experience to step off the bike, hand it to someone and find it cleaned, repaired and ready to ride again in the morning sitting aside a cooler full of dozens of pre-mixed bottles. I think we could get used to that sort of treatment.

Till next time...

Christian Leask
7:43 PM  |  0 comments