September 14, 2005 - A Win

Timmerman 4th at Bear Mountain Fall Classic, September 11

After finishing 2nd at the Green Mountain Stage Race, Dan Timmerman was psyched to continue to put his good form to use at NY’s Bear Mountain. Timmerman and Chris Rozdilsky put themselves in the first move of the day, with Roz pulling strongly for the next 40 miles to ensure the group’s success. However, the group was brought back by the UPMC and Louis Garneau teams that had missed this move.

Mike Cody and Matt White covered the front for the next few miles until just two fourteen mile loops remained in the race. On the climb, Chris Peck and Timmerman powered off the front in a 10 man group with Peck working to try to keep the gap up. As the bell rang with one to go, the front group had split, with Timmerman in front with Davide Frattini (Colavita) and Melito Heredia (GS Gotham/Toga). But by the finish, these two riders left Timmerman to suffer in the second group where he outsprinted most of them for 4th place on the day. Roz did a great job to lead out Cody for 12th and Roz hung in for 16th.

Hamblen Wins 4th Street Criterium, Winston Salem, NC, September 9th

Vying for a second consecutive win at the 4th Street Criterium in his home base of Winston Salem, NC, Fiordifrutta’s Jon Hamblen and friend Jacob Fetty came up with a winning strategy. The plan, ride just slightly faster than everyone else... a crazy idea that just might work. Jon practiced his cornering all week, spending hours on the Xbox racing MotpGP3 and honing his high speed cornering technique. Sometimes racing as Biaggi but mostly racing as Rossi, Hamblen plugged away through simulated 200 mph crashes and driving rain, never quitting for the evening unless he had put in the fastest lap time. It took a lot of sweat, coffee, and thumb muscle but the hard work would prove to pay off handsomely.

When the gun fired Friday night in downtown Winston, Hamblen began playing his move. By the first corner Jon had a 5 second gap with one rider, Eric Murphy (Aerospace Eng), on his wheel. Amazingly, these were also the two smallest riders in the field. The two quickly built a 15 second lead by the end of the first 1km lap. Aided by Eric's Aerospace team and Fetty, the gap grew over the next thirty laps until the two small riders lapped the field. Since Hamblen's Michelin tires were gripping so well and he was not content to ride and crash with the field on this demanding night time course, he decided to have another go at attacking.

Jacob put in two laps of hard pulling to set up Jon for the attack and Jonny hammered hard off the front. Murphy was quick to find his wheel as were a few other riders, one of Eric's quick Serbian Aerospace teammates (whose name is not pronouncable or easily spelled), Carl Menzies (Advatage Benefits/Endeavor/etc), Charlie Storm (BTD), Chad Gibson (Outdoor Lighting), and several others. This group rode hard, except for the two Advantage Benefits/etc riders who chose to sit on, and lapped the field with ten laps remaining. In the closing laps Fetty and the Aerospace team took control of the field and kept the pace high. However, Jon and Eric agreed to drift to the back of the field and avoid the inevitable last lap crashes. They would sprint each other for the win instead of competing with the corner-divers and unskilled bike drivers. On the finish stretch Hamblen accelerated hard and Murphy eased up slightly, aware that this was Hamblen's home town race. A very nice gesture from the biggest little guy on the racing circuit