April 29, 2005 - AZ Races - Vuelta de Bisbee

The Fiordifrutta spring trip to some western races is still in full swing, with the guys taking on some big stage races, as well as one day races. Look for final results from the Tour of the Gila next week!

Dietrich and Timmerman Take 2nd and 3rd at Collosal Cave Road Race, April 17th

This is the big daddy of AZ races, with probably the biggest turnout out of all Arizona one day races Fiordifrutta lined up with 4 riders ready to throw down. The team Consisted of Phil Wong, Dan Timmerman, Chris Rosdilsky and Mike Dietrich. The goal was to try and get TImmerman in the early move, but sitting a top his 21 cm Cannondale his view was again skewed by a pack of riders. Phil wong bridged across a gap to join one other rider for almost a full lap of the 9 Mile circuit. After one lap MIke Dietrich went on the attack drawing 4 others. They worked together for about 55 miles or so untill they were caught. Wong, TImmerman, and Roz were back working the field over. After Dietrichs capture, the boys went on the attack immediately and after about 1 mile after being caught Dietrich AGain attacked and managed to get a gap and bring two riders along. One rider was dropped and Dietrich and the other rider formed a large gap. Back in the shrunken field Timmerman 's view was no longer skewed by a full pack of riders and was able to attack and get a gap with one other rider, he almost made it across to Dietrich but timed it a little wrong which ended up leaving Dietrich to fend for himself against the fresher rider. Dietrich was unable to win the sprint and took second while TImmerman rolled in for third. Rosdilsky took second in the field sprint for 6th, while Wong took 9th.

La Vuelta de Bisbee, April 22-24 – Wong, Dietrich, and Timmerman Take 3rd, 4th, and 9th

Wong and Dietrich Make the Top 5 in the Prologue

On this outing in southern Arizona, Dietrich, Timmerman and Wong were joined by Rozdilsky. Roz flew in a week and a half before to adjust to the desert climate and mix it up on some training rides. First up was the prologue. It started in historic downtown Bisbee, rich with mining history and eclectic art culture. The town is home to quite an interesting mix of people from bikers (harley bikers) to old hippies. All of which seem to have deep respect for cyclists bringing their tourist dollars to the town. As the fine Bisbee citizens lined the streets the racing was getting underway hot and heavy. They watched as the cyclists set off individually speeding through their town and up the mountains that cradle it. The time trial finished 2.8 miles later at the pass which is known as Mule for no known reason.

First up for Fiordifrutta was Dietrich. He was followed by Roz, who was being chased by Timmerman, who was being pursued by Wong. All the boys put in excellent uphill efforts. When results were posted they learned they were in good position on G.C. for the weekend of action. Wong was in 2nd place, 9 seconds off Aerospace Engineering's Ivan Stevic who just had and excellent ride at the Sea Otter Classic, winning a stage. Dietrich was lying in 4th just 22 seconds back, and Timmerman was in 7th, 27 seconds off the pace. The teams lightweight Cannondale Six 13's were a great asset in this stage as well as in the upcoming road stages.

Stage 1 - The Sulfur Springs Road Race – Dietrich and Wong Top 10

After a long discussion of tactics, the previous night was made longer after finding out the bar across the street had live bands that weekend. After whining about the minimal sleep, the race started on a long gradual downhill which it would finish up. But first there were two big loops of flat windy terrain to be covered. It was decided that Roz and Timmerman would follow any attacks that looked good. The two did an excellent job and Timmerman even won a bonus sprint. Roz covered too many attacks to be counted. With the long drag to the finish approaching Dietrich was going to repay Timmerman for the hard work by doing a leadout. But on this slight 5 mile drag there was constant fighting for position.

Timmerman got boxed in and didn't have the chance to unleash the furry of a sprint that he possesses. As Timmerman got swarmed Kyle Colavito (Eclipse) tried a crazy solo move that almost stuck which put a little split in the field. Dietrich and Wong were able to come in the top ten in the sprint even though Dietrich’s sprint got messed up by a motorist that wandered onto the finishing straight. Stevic(Aerospace) managed to sprint in for the win and David Clinger (Webcor) was second.

Stage 2 – Warren Time Trial – Dietrich 2nd and Wong 4th

With some lunch and rest the boys headed out to the second stage of the day. The course is an out and back style and 8.3 miles total. The way out is barely downhill and the way back is barely uphill. While warming up it seemed pretty windy. Roz was the first one out on the course for the team, and when he was done he shared some tips about the conditions. There was definitely a cross headwind the whole way out.

But all four put their new On&Off long sleeve skinsuits to good use. Dietrich on his new TT bike put in a excellent ride to get third even though his foot unclipped coming down the start ramp. He ended up lopping more than 20 seconds off his time from last year with a 16:57 and an average over 29mph. Wong ended up fourth with a 16:58 surprising himself since he previously hasn't had the best time trials. But he had committed to training 1-2 days a week on his Cannondale TT bike as well as having Roz make sure he was in an optimal position and that seemed to make all the difference. Timmerman also posted a very good time for someone riding a standard road bike and not a TT bike.
He came in just 53 seconds behind Stevic’s winning time of 16:40. Roz also bettered the top half of the field even though he was saving energy to help the boys in the following days tough road stage.

Stage 3 – Tombstone Road Race - Wong and Dietrich 4th and 5th

After another night of poor sleep despite earplugs the four rolled down the street to the start and learned that Dietrich was now in 3rd on G.C. and Wong maintained his 2nd spot. It was also noted that Clinger (Webcor) moved up to 5th on G.C. The 87 mile Tombstone Road Race started on a 2 mile neutral climb followed by a long downhill into the high desert. This final day would end on three climbs in succession. Again Roz and Timmerman were to cover any moves that looked like they would stay away. As the race headed off into the desert it was extremely windy. It was challenging for the team just fighting for position trying to stay out of the wind. But the boys’ favorite Clif Bar flavors kept them fueled throughout the day.

After a lot of accelerations a break finally got away including Timmerman who was told to sit on the back and not do anything. This break contained two Aerospace and two Webcor riders. So nobody wanted to chase at all. Eventually the break split and Timmerman missed it as his vision was obscured from sitting on. So Timmerman, a Webcor and a Aerospace rider came back to the safety of the peloton. Unfortunately the break contained a rider from both Aerospace and Webcor. So neither team would chase, and the break reached a maximum of 5 minutes advantage.

Finally Roz decided he needed to bring it back. No other teams were willing to help the chase. But Roz went to work and strung out the field in the windy conditions for more than 20 minutes. The break’s time gap slowly started to drop as it was one man against four. Next Timmerman started to help out and also with about 5 miles to go before the first of three climbs Eclipse started to aid in the chase. By the time we hit the first climb the break was shattered but one guy was still holding almost a four minute lead.

After the first climb and a few attacks the peloton was breaking apart. Dietrich, Wong and Timmerman were in the lead group heading onto the second climb. Halfway up Clinger attacked further shattering the group. Dietrich and Wong responded. The race leader Stevic was there along with a handful of others. Next Colavito( Eclipse ) attacked over the top. The now small group headed off the highway climb onto Mule Pass. Wong in his big ring put in an attack that was quickly covered. After a flurry of attacks by different riders the group was whittled down to Stevic, Clinger, Dietrich, Colavito, Wong, and Peterson( 3d Racing).

With less than 1k to go Clinger launched and got a gap with Stevic a few seconds behind. Wong and Dietrich responded but couldn't quite close it. Clinger was 2nd on the stage, Stevic 3rd, Wong 4th -4 seconds off Stevic, and Dietrich was 5th with the same time.
Timmerman came in not too long after. The remnants of the field rolled in one by one.

After the dust settled Clemente Calvaire( Aerospace) had enough of an advantage to take the stage by 2minutes. He ended up winning the G.C. His teammate Stevic was now in 2nd. Fiordifrutta kept Wong on the podium in 3rd place overall. Dietrich ended the weekend in 4th overall and Timmerman despite working hard throughout the road stages hung on to 9th overall.