April 20, 2006 - Podium Spots in CO

Fiordifrutta riders are spread out across the county at the moment, but we are seeing strong results in New England and in Colorado where Josh Gewirtz and Todd Nordblom go to school.

Dillon 2nd at BATTENKILL ROUBAIX Road Race, April 15th

It was not quite like the real thing in France, but it was a nice day to race bikes with Whitey and Ben Z. There was a decent turnout for the start, ~60 riders + Mike Jones (Heathnet), and the course promised to make for some good racing with 55 miles of numerous climbs and several dirt sections. The early part of the race was fairly uneventful as Jones rode tempo on the front of the race, probably out of habit, and he was heavily marked. Finally, a few riders had a go themselves and established a break at ~25 miles into the race.

As the race rolled onto the longest dirt section of the course, the pace in the main group lifted and started pulling the 3 man break back in. Just as the group was back intact, our man Matt White drove the pace on the front. By the end of the long dirt climb Matt (coming off an impressive field sprint down at Tufts Criterium but determined to show his versatility) had trimmed the lead group down to 5 riders. There was another group of 5 about 20s behind so Matt continued to drive the pace across the flat into the final ascent of the day, the summit of which was about 5 miles from the finish. Over the final climb, the lead group was down to 3 and we worked well together for a couple miles until I attacked the other two. Jones clawed back onto my wheel with just under 2k to go and would not come around (after the race he said he would have gone to a track stand to make sure I led out the sprint) so I lead out the sprint from about 200 meters. I should have waited a little longer because I almost held him off. Whitey deserved the win for the work he put in to make the race, and once again demonstrated his sprinting prowess to take the two-up for 4th place.

Gewirtz 2nd at Ore Digger Classic, Golden Colorado

Under clear skies and warm weather I decided to venture to wonderful Golden Colorado for the annual Ore Digger classic. Todd Nordblom could not attend, as he “had” to enter a big air contest in near by Vail Colorado. His Cannondale was seen at the lodge, holding overpriced French fries in the water bottle cages. This short criterium stood in the shadow of the Coors Brewing factory, which also brews Molson and Rolling Rock beverages and happens to be the one of the largest, longest and most successful employers in all of Colorado. Or so the tour guide said

It must have been the smell of fresh hops in the air, as my racing prowess seemed honed for so early a race in the season. A break of 7 quickly went up the road and established a 50 second gap. Without much doubt I waited for the 30-minute mark to try to make a bridge to the break, which looked like it was going to stick. When that time came, I quickly punched it on the top of the one short rise and dragged a Creffy (Team TIAA Creff) along for company. We both made good work and within three laps were up to the break of 7. From this point on, I acted like a Quebecois and said I didn’t speak English, sat on and recovered. With three laps to go, attacks were frequent and ferocious. I covered two critical moves to keep the bunch together so it would come down to a group sprint. In the end, I jumped way too early but held on for a solid 2nd place. Satisfied and still needing a little more training, I rode up the famous Lookout Mountain, and watched base jumpers fling themselves off the neighboring rocks. All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday and I would like to thank Curt, Chris and Claudio for putting together a wonderful team.

Gewirtz 3rd at Fort Lewis Collegiate Cycling Weekend: “Squaker Classic”

The Fort Lewis College cycling weekend brings two things. The first is a tough and brutal road race, and the second is a bunch of road and mountain bike pro’s that occasionally attend class but are still considered collegiate athletes. As I lined up with a bunch of “college” participants who sported various trade team arm warmers, I knew this was gonna be a tough one. The course was a six mile lap, with one super steep ¾ mile hill, a fairly long false flat, and a switch back descent. The race began with a group of 5 Fort Lewis teammates getting a substantial gap within the first lap.

I began organizing an immediate chase, as that was a threat that needed to be dealt with. When the group got to about 45 seconds, I managed, with the help of Collegiate National Mountain bike Champion Alex Hagman, to bridge across on the steep part of the hill. Hagaman and I made it across in one lap. However, when getting to the break, Fort Lewis rider and Target Training Pro, Matt Schriver, had already flown the coupe and established a 2 minute lead. With the help of a Colorado State University rider and a Montana State rider, we worked well together to bring the gap down to 30 seconds. With one lap remaining, the three non FLC riders took turns covering various sky hawk attacks. Upon approaching the steep hill, I attacked at the base and brought Shriver within 10 seconds. Unfortunately, Hagman was able to come around me at the end and I had to settle for a satisfying yet still disappointing 3rd. All in all, it was a great race and felt wonderful to be in the great town of Durango.