spin / second sole multisport team

If you ever go and participate (or spectate) at a local athletic event and ask around, chances are you will hear dozens of reasons why the people toeing the line choose to compete. It could be a bet between friends, a personal test scored as a pass/fail exam, or the celebration of a life changing decision to live an active lifestyle. For some though, they want to win. They want to measure themselves against their contemporaries and come out on top. Winning can be a lot of things, but often it’s one thing above all others…..fun!

Last weekend saw SSSMST participate in three separate events, and go three for three overall. On Saturday Mike Schaefer bagged his first win at the Findley Lake Triathlon; a venue he returns to year after year and has come close to winning in the past. Rob Thompson continued his focus on bike racing and managed to win the CAT 3/4 race in Zoar, Ohio. While Jim Lamastra maintained his perfect record for 2010 by winning the Greater Cleveland Triathlon.

Any weekend with this many races is a treat, and to have SSSMST on top of 3 podiums is sweet indeed! Brian Stern turned in a solid top 10 result at the GCT, while Patrick Kolozvary found himself 5 miles off course on the bike and turned the race into a solid training day.

Read on for some race reports.

Mike at Findley –

Aaron Heneley (from Spin rides) rode from Grafton down with me and I enjoyed his company and the great weather!  The swim/bike was uneventful as usual, but the trail run was as gnarley as ever, had a few puddles, lots of ruts and roots, and even some downed trees to jump (and Vault) over!  I was 5th out of water giving up ~1min to the lead guy (had a Hammer jersey with nice BMC bike! – he said to say Hi to Marty but I forget his name).  He was also strong on the bike. but I managed to ride him down with ~4 miles to go, and I put ~30 seconds on him before T2. I figured he’d track me down in the trail, but I managed to stay out of sight in the woods, and (as it turns out) he accidentally took a brief off-course detour, just enough for me to get out of sight for good.  I also held off Jason Zangmeister (Snakebite) who outsprinted me at the finish last year!  My run split was over a minute faster than any of my previous 5 outings on this course, probably ’cause I felt like a fox being chased by hounds the whole time!  Turnout was not that great, but I’ll take a “first OA” anyway I can get it!

Jim at the GCT –

Unlike my first triathlon of the year (Huntington) I was able to swim like a two armed swimmer from the start.  After my initial 10 strokes, I realized I had 0/10 pain in my left shoulder girdle and decided to really push the pace.  I think I might have pushed as hard as I’ve ever pushed in the swim.  It made the intial half of the bike really hard but I was able to regroup by the end.  For the second time in this race, I followed the pace motorcycle off course for a brief period.  Luckily, I heard a police officer shout that we went the wrong way.  It probably cost me less than a minute in time and I was able to get off the bike feeling pretty solid.  I ran fairly quick for miles 1-4 but by the last 2 miles of the race I was pretty much drained…if anyone was on my heels, I would have had nothing to chase with.  Overall, I pretty much raced as hard as I could and left nothing on this challenging course.  It feels good to finally, after many years, win in our good friend Mickey Ryzmek’s big race.

Aussie at Zoar –

Leading up to this race i had heard about the two “hills” that we would have to negotiate 4 times each (4×10 mile loops) and that gave me pause after discovering earlier this summer I’m not the worlds best climber (shocking, i know, especially at my weight). So my plan was to sit in, be attentive if anything good went up the road, and conserve as much energy as possible for a big finish. I was racing with Tom Humphrey and John Ehrlinger of Team Spin.

Most of the race was uneventful – although one potential threat went up the road solo fairly early. He kind of just sat out there though, and when the time came to bring him back my peeps rolled to the front with their best HTC-Columbia impression and swept him up. A couple of the “climbers” looked good early, and clued me into a potential move they were planning on lap 3 of 4 (no idea why they told me, i guess they thought i could help the break). The climb came, and they sorta accelerated, so i went with it – but it wasn’t much of a move and we were all together on the back side of the climb. After seeing this, i rolled next to Tom and told him i planned to attack next lap on the final climb rather than risk a sprint. I may not be much of a climber, but if it’s short enough (it was….just) i can throw watts at the problem and try and solve it that way.

Last lap comes, Tom and John sweep up the early break i spoke of earlier, and Tom proceeds to roll off the front solo about 5 miles from the finish. People look at me to chase, and i shrug. Maybe Tom will win…..sweet. They start to bring him back though as we approach the climb (~3 miles from the finish) and i move.

The “climbers” had been waiting for the top of the hill, where it’s the steepest, to attack. This doesn’t suit me, so i drill it from the bottom; no one comes with me. It’s pretty far out so people must have figured i’d fade or something. I bridge to Tom and use him as a springboard hoping he’ll either jump on my wheel, or ride his gap to 2nd place. Manage to get a good gap over the top and begin the long descent to the finish…..red zone all the way and I’m hating life. See the 200m to go sign and know ive got it. Sweet. Totally worth it. $125 for the win which i split with my peeps. Good day  🙂

Patrick at the GCT –

I should have known it was going to be a rough day when the USAT head ref giving the morning talk was the same lady that carded me in Rhode Island a couple of weeks ago.  Damn preregistration, I should have volunteered. The swim was comfortable, I got to witness Jim shoot off like a rocket.  The bike is where things got fun.  I got about 14 miles in(or so) and came to a hard left turn.  I started turning left and said to the volunteer “this is where we turn, right?” & he replied “long course stays straight”…so I went straight.  After a mile or so the roads got a bit choppy & then turned to chip & seal….hmm.  I saw one person a ways behind me(so I thought ok, Im not the only one headed this way.  After I passed 2 T intersections that were unmarked and unmanned & turned around only to see a group of 4 more coming the same way.  So I turned around & kept going what would eventually be known as “the wrong way”   Eventually 2 guys in front of me came back & said they realized this was not the right way from last year.  At this point it became a training day.

Oh well, about 4-5 extra miles on the bike.  Thats what I get for signing up last minute & racing on the east side, my bad.  After we got going again I got stopped by 2 trains…at least I got to spend some quality time with the Lentini family while waiting.
The run went well.  Jim & Stern looked strong finishing as I was (finally) getting my run underway.
It was great to see so many SSSMST out there helping out, Jen, Brandy, Andy, Rood…great to have the support. thanks.

Brian at the GCT –

I was fresh back from a week of vacation in Southwest Michigan for some downtime after Steelhead 70.3. I ran some and biked some but mostly read and enjoyed my wife’s company. I figured my peak would carry me through the GCT. Well …. for the most part it did, I did not feel sharp but suffered all the same. My swim was alright and I hammered the bike until about 2.5 miles to T2. I must have hit a set of RR tracks too hard because my tubular tire went flat and I  crawled at 21MPH from Blackburn Rd into the park. The return section on Rte 44 should have been a speed burner, instead I was riding behind someone on a hybrid. Tubulars have an advantage over clinchers in that you can ride them gently without air pressure. So onto the run and suffer until the finish (attempting to make up the lost bike time). All in all it was a good day.

Filed under: 2010 | Tagged: bike races, lamastra, schaefer, thompson, triathlon, winning is teh win |