2018 Roster Announcement

Excited to announce our roster for the 2018 season! The team will continue to focus on rider development, select USA Cycling national calendar races, and local Texas events.

Joshua Buchel
Jonathan Spangle
Omar Nunez
Patrick Mannon
Canyon Emmott
Shane Poncik
Mitchell Sides (Director)
Austin Mallet (Director)
Brady Reed (Director)

USA Road Nationals (by Brady Reed)

2017 would be the first year that I raced at the USA Cycling Amateur Road National Championships. I've done a few Collegiate Nationals, but the races are shorter with smaller fields. I was excited to race in the Elite race this year! Originally we planned to have our full roster at nationals, but after some last minute conflicts, nine riders turned into four. Whoops! A big part of our program is preparation and in-race support. Our program operates on a small budget, but we try to make the most of this budget. We don't have a fancy team van, a follow vehicle with four spare bikes, or a full staff. Our team decided to skip the TT and focus on the road race (Friday for the Elites and U23s, Saturday for the juniors) and the criterium on Sunday. Hopefully we will have a bigger budget next year and can focus on getting the guys better prepared for TTs. I was pretty bummed I wasn't going to be doing the time trial, as I've done pretty well that past three years at collegiate nationals in the TT, but without a time trial bike to dial in this year it just would've been a waste of energy, time, and money to do the TT. Next year!

Carson, Omar, Gabe, and myself started the 15 hour drive from College Station to Louisville, KY on Wednesday. We made a quick stop in Little Rock, AR for a spin before stopping for the night in Memphis. The next morning we drove to Nashville, stopped for lunch (white bbq sauce = perfection), and finished the drive to Louisville. We had a little bit of time before sunset, so we quickly did a pre-ride of the road course. The course was a really unique road course - 23 laps of a short 4.7 mile loop for a total of 110 miles. Lots of turns and up/down the whole way. Should be an interesting day to say the least!

Carson and I had the first race - bright and early at 7am (6am Texas time!) on Friday. All of my training since collegiate nationals in late April has been focused towards the road race, and I thought with a little luck I might be able to get a result, or at the very least help set Carson up for the finale. With only 2 riders we had to be very careful with our efforts and just follow, follow, follow for the first 2/3 of the race. I started in the middle of the 120 rider field, knowing that with a long day ahead of me that starting right at the front wasn't super important. The gun went off and the field started along a slight downhill and then turned right onto a kicker of a climb. After a short two minute effort, the road leveled off and started down. After two fast left turns, we started climbing again into the feed zone. Riders were fighting hard on the downhill turns for position, with seemingly half the field wanting to be in the early break. Right before the second left, a rider dove inside of me and I had to change my line to avoid a crash. I went right into a huge pothole and my rear tire exploded. GREAT. Pretty much the worst time to flat, right at the bottom of a twisty narrow climb. I panicked a bit and pulled to the left side of the road. The neutral service car pulled around me and yelled "SERVICE FROM THE RIGHT ONLY". As a domestic elite team, we were technically allowed a team car with our own mechanic during the race, but with our budget and staff this year we decided to just rely on neutral and roll the dice, since the course was so short and opportunities to grab bottles were a plenty. I awkwardly clunked over to the right side of the road in my cleats, and the mechanic proceeded to have an issue getting the wheel changed. Not the best start. I finally got a neutral wheel, but the field was at least 3 minutes ahead of me, with constant attacks going trying to establish the early break. I took off, riding as hard as I could to try to catch the back of the field. After 30 minutes, I was told by a moto that the gap was just growing, so I called it a day. No use trying to catch the field when I was guaranteed to get lapped on the short course. Pretty devastated, but after a few minutes of composing myself at the car, I hurried to the feedzone to help Gabe feed Carson. Carson rode an excellent race, staying hidden until the last few laps, and making the final selection of 25 riders. He attacked with another rider going for glory at 3 kilometers to go, but was reeled in and finished 17th in the sprint. Not too bad for our two (but mostly one) man team!

Saturday was the 17-18 Junior Road Race for Gabe and an off-day for Carson, Omar, and me. The road race was in the afternoon, so Gabe chilled in the hotel room while the rest of us went on a quick spin outside of Lousiville. I made a 20 mile route using Strava heat maps . Louisville has some awesome roads! Once we got back to the hotel we filled up bottles and headed back to the course. Gabe's race would be a little shorter - 72 miles (15 laps).

Gabe road great, limiting his matches and following a good move in the last few laps to finish 11th - an AWESOME result as a first year 17-18. Watch for him on the podium next year! Our plan for the elite crit was tricky, as neither Carson or I are sprinters. Our goal was to be in a late breakaway, or for either of us to launch a late attack at the beginning of the last lap and try to catch the field off guard. I felt absolutely terrible for most of the race - I went through two bottles in the first 45 minutes of the race and ended up pretty dehydrated. Turns out that spending 8 hours on Friday and 3 hours on Saturday in the feed zone in 95 degree heat isn't the best prep for the hot, hilly crit! I had trouble moving up in the field, which felt like it was single-file the entire time. Carson put in a great ride, narrowly avoiding some late crashes to finish 11th in a top-caliber field.

We jumped in the car after the elite race and started the trip back to Texas. Our plan was to make it as far as we could on Sunday and then drive the rest of the way on Monday. In the middle of a rainstorm on Monday morning (in MiddleofNowhere, Tennessee) we hit a huge piece of debris on the interstate, ripping the transmission pan off of the bottom of the car. Turns out the best-laid plans don't always work out (and the day before the 4th of July is the WORST time for your car to breakdown)... Four hours later our tow truck dropped us off in Memphis, where we decided to get a rental car to take us back to Texas. Omar and I flew back up to the Memphis the next weekend to pickup the car from the repair shop. Expensive and stressful trip, but still fun!

Tulsa Tough (by Carson Lange)

This past weekend we made the trip out to Tulsa tough for for 3 days of crit racing. This was my first trip out here and and I'm looking forward to next year.

Day 1: Race started at 8:50pm and was lit up good from the set up lights and fireworks haha. Course had lots of corners and was wide, fast, and flowed good. It was very aggressive and sketchy from the gun, which led to lots of crashes and 2 neutralized restarts. I tried to stay towards the front of the 150 man field to help avoid the hard surges and crashes. Was sitting in a good spot and feeling great with 5 to go but lost some valuable spots in the last couple laps. Left it all out there kept it on 2 wheels and walked away with a top 25.

Day 2: Todays 80 minute race started around 7:45pm and the course had a slight gradual climb followed by a fast gradual decent into a left turn to the finish. Everyone seemed to have got the nerves and madness mostly out of there system the night before and it was a lot safer race then Friday night. I made the mistake of staging late and starting towards the back, which led to burning most of my matches just trying to move up the big field. Once I made it to the front, legs we're feeling pretty flat and knew it was going to be a rough last couple laps. I was hurting the last 2 laps and was just trying to hold onto the wheel in front of me. Managed to hang on to 30th, right outside of the money.

Day 3: Cry baby hill. This was the race I was most excited for and it seemed most of Tulsa Oklahoma was too. This is one of those races that is hard to compare to any other. 4 corners with the famouse "cry baby hill" thrown in there. With All kinds of smells and 1,000+ people lined up the road cheering, partying, and having a good time helps block out the pain some. Around halfway through the race a break of 9 guys went up the road and had around 10 seconds I was feeling good and made a move to bridge to them with 3 others. I was hoping this was the move, but the dominant team Cyclance team didn't want that to happen so it didnt haha. Once we were caught I was able to stay in A good spot, recover, and get ready for the finish. With 2 to go I was sitting a couple wheels off the cyclance train. The last lap things blew up, I made it up and over cry baby hill for last time still in a good position but couldn't hold on to the wheel in front of me on the little decent and flat section after the hill. I looked back waiting for guys to jump around me but I had a gap, put my head down and emptied the tank to the finish. Ended the fun weekend of racing 19th.

OKC Pro-Am Race Report (by Omar Nunez, aka THICC or LEAN)

This weekend a couple of us headed out to Oklahoma City for the annual Oklahoma City Pro-Am Classic. We had a smaller squad this weekend but the race would be excellent prep for Tulsa Tough and Nationals in a few weeks, as well as a solid opportunity for some coveted Category 1 upgrade points. With Brady and Mitchell doing the Pro/1s, I would be racing the Cat 2’s by myself.

Day 1:

It was a long drive from Magnolia to OKC, so I wasn’t able to get in a morning spin (RIP), which is usually good to do the day of a crit. We got there with just enough time for me to get in a decent warm up. The course for day 1 was not too technical -
a rectangle with four right turns, one medium-sized hill, and a fast descent just before the finish. I raced conservatively for most of the race, just covering attacks, conserving my energy for the finale, and staying well positioned near the front. With 3 laps to go, I moved up to the top 5 wheels and stayed there until 1 lap to go. I knew having solid positioning would be super important in the last lap as it is difficult to move up on the downhill right before the finish. Two guys from DNA RACING attacked halfway through the hill and I instinctively followed them. We opened up a significant gap that was just enough for us to stay away for the last 1 or 2 minutes of racing that were left. Before we went into the last corner (which lead into the straightway for the finish), one guy that had also gotten in the move attacked into the corner- I jumped right onto his wheel sprinted into 2nd place! A great start to the weekend with some upgrade points and prize money!!

Numbers: 
Time: 46:18
Average Speed: 27.3
Normalized Power: Magnet came loose (RIP)

Day 2:

After a successful first night of crit racing, I was stoked to see what my legs could do in the remaining two days. The 2nd day was pretty hectic. It was an figure 8-shaped course in downtown OKC. About halfway into my race, it started drizzling and some of the corners got very slippery. Some people were drifting and sliding when sprinting out of the corners, which made it for a very sketchy race at some points. With about 8 laps remaining, I got a flat. I went to the wheel pit as fast as I could and got the first wheel they gave me. I later realized that it was a 10 speed wheel (once again... RIP) - that doesn’t work too well when you’re running an 11 speed drivetrain. This also meant that my smallest gear was a 16 tooth cog. I had a major throwback to my days as a junior racer, spinning the last 7 laps at 120 RPMs and still not moving up to where I wanted to be in the pack. Coming into the last corner I was sitting in the top 10 wheels, but someone crashed in front of me. I barely managed to avoid it and safely cross the finish line in 17th place. It was a bummer, but at least my skin and bike were intact! The situation was out of my hands and all I could do was turn my attention to the last day of racing.

Numbers: 
Time: 1:00:52 hr
Average Speed: 26.9 mph
Normalized Power:

Day 3:

Coming into the final day, I was hungry for a win. I started in the 2nd row and stayed mid pack for the first 10-15 minutes of the race. I was sitting mid pack, and by the time I realized it, I had missed the breakaway. About 10 guys were up the road and they had a 20-30 second gap on us. Knowing that most of the teams were in the breakaway, I realized that I was going to have to work hard if I wanted to catch them. I did a bunch of attacks to try to motivate the field and followed every single move that attempted to chase. Unfortunately, my efforts were in vain. I gave it my all, but in the end it came down to a small tactical error. I was bummed, but I learned a lot from this race weekend and was really happy to come out with a solid result on day 1.

Numbers: 
Time: 58:31 min
Average Speed: 27.4 mph
Normalized Power:

Next weekend the team will head back to Oklahoma for the final weekend of summer crits. Tulsa Tough, we’re coming for you!

Thanks to Lee McDaniel for the photo!

Houston Grand Criterium

We had a small squad for Houston Grand – Alex, Omar, Gabriel, and me (Brady). This would be the first time that I raced Houston Grand (even though I’ve lived in the Houston area for 10 years). This was also an important race for our team as our title sponsor Strike USA is headquartered here. Originally I thought But then I got a text from my friend “Hey look who signed up for Houston Grand hahah.” I checked the prereg list and found some big names – Lawson Craddock (World Tour pro who raced in the Tour de France last year), Colin Strickland , Tristan Uhl, Devin Carroll… Our task would be a bit tougher but it still would be good practice for the criterium heavy part of our schedule later in the summer with Texas State Championships, Bike the Bricks, Oklahoma City Pro-Am, and Tulsa Tough.

Numbers (Strava link)

     Distance: 32 miles

     Time: 1:08 hr

     Average/Max Speed: 28.1 mph (39.2 Max)

     Normalized Power: 320 watts

     Max Power: 1358w

Wild Frontier Road Race (by Omar Nunez)

This past weekend Brady and I (Omar) raced at the Wild Frontier Road Race in Crockett, TX. My legs were feeling great and I had my mind set on a win. The course was a lollipop loop full of rolling hills, 17 miles out, 2 loops, and then 17 miles back for a total of 65 miles. It was pretty cold at the start line (as usual for January racing in Texas) with a decent wind blowing as well. The course was well covered with trees, with only a few sections exposed to the wind. We lined up next to 25 other guys. The big team at the race was Team CCR Roofing, so Brady and I focused on 2 riders each.

The race rolled off with a neutral start, and about 10 minutes in the attacks started coming from left and right. Pretty quick 2 guys (Kyle Swanson from Richardson Bike Mart and John Bain) slipped away off the front, not to be seen again for 50 miles. I stuck to the plan and followed my two assigned CCR guys. There was still plenty of racing left, so the field didn’t react aggressively to it by chasing. Rather, the attacks and surges kept coming non-stop for the first 2 hours of racing. Eventually, one of the punchier climbs right before a turn led to a split in the field. I found myself in the front group with 11 other guys. I raced conservatively from this point on, taking quick pulls and hiding from the wind wherever I could. With about 10 miles to go we caught the 2 man break. This is where all the “games” started. CCR sent guys back and forth trying to split up the newly formed lead group, until eventually Beau Edwards (CCR Roofing), Eli Husted (Hot Tubes Junior Cycling Team), and a Shama Cycles rider got a gap with only 5k to go. I sat in the group and was waiting for Michael Pincus (CCR Roofing) to attack, since he had been conserving for a while and seemed to be the guy they were working for. Nick Minnery (Super Squadra) took a hard pull, Pincus followed, and as soon as the pace slowed back down, I attacked. With only 3k to go I was going as hard as I could to chase down the 3 man break. I got close, but not close enough to catch them before the finish line. I knew I had the legs in me, and if I had been in the winning move it would’ve been a different story. Ultimately, it came down to tactics, but I was happy with my 4th place in the Pro/1/2 category. I learned a lot and definitely had fun on such an awesome course. Looking forward to Sealy Road Race on February 11th!

Also, below is the link to a video of the last 3k. Fortunately, Michael had a GoPro and caught the attack on camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTE3R6yqFjM

Numbers (Strava link)

     Distance: 64 miles

     Elevation: 3500 ft

     Time: 2:42 hr

     Average Speed: 23.5 mph

     Average Power: 237 watts

     Max Power: 1144w