This was a really fun school visit. We had about 50 to 60 students at the IB Lesher Middle School, here in Fort Collins.

Georgia Gould (Bronze Mountain Bike Olympian, and multi-time national champion) was there as well. It was awesome. The kids were super engaging and this went really far for our community. I gave the teachers some Beans to give out during the rest of the week however the saw fit. They’re going to have a bunch of hyper kids on bikes running around!

Thanks y’all,
Alex

Go to the Source – jellybellycycling.com

“We’re more than excited to obtain Fred Rodriguez and have him part of the team for the remainder of the season,” said team General Manager and Director Danny Van Haute. “Fred’s experience and leadership will be a huge asset for Team Jelly Belly p/b Kenda, not to mention he’s a great bike rider who will no doubt garner great results.”

Rodriguez raced for the now defunct Exergy team last season and showed well at major U.S. races like the Amgen Tour of California and USA Pro Challenge in Colorado, notching several top 10-stage placings.

“After dialogue with several teams, I decided Jelly Belly was a good fit,” said Rodriguez. “There are a lot of things this team does both on and off the bike that makes sense for me at this stage of my career.  The team has been a staple of American racing for more than a decade and I admire that stability. Plus, Jelly Belly Candy Company is a great company with great values to support.”

Van Haute added that Rodriguez had impressed him in recent races, and, coupled with his character and business approach, were an intriguing mix for both Jelly Belly and his team. He noted that along with current sprinter Brad Huff, the squad has a strong one-two punch in fast finishes.

The 39-year-old Rodriguez, who resides in Berkeley, said he’s been rejuvenated in recent years after racing his early career primarily in Europe.  He said he hopes to show well in major North American races Jelly Belly competes, beginning with the U.S.A. Cycling National Championships for road race later this month in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Nicknamed “Fast Freddie”, Rodriguez’s professional career spans more than 15 years. His career highlights include three U.S. professional road race wins in 2000, 2001, and 2004; stage wins in big European stageraces: Tour of Luxembourg, Tour of Switzerland and Tour of Italy.  He has won sprint points jerseys in the Tour of Switzerland and twice in the Tour de Georgia, at one time the largest American stage race. He was the long-time lead-out man for Aussie sprinter Robbie McEwen who amassed 12 Tour de France stage wins, many thanks to Rodriguez’s work.

Rodriguez also has many business interests, including his inaugural Fast Freddie Gran Fondo, scheduled for August 17, 2013, in Berkley.  Go to www.FFgranfondo.com

Go to the Source – jellybellycycling.com

More often than not our race programs involve stacked races in a variety of locations which all coincide in one single trip from home. This can make packing a challenge as the weather in North America can fluctuate dramatically from one region to another. Having packed an entire line of Ironclad gloves and Pactimo clothing, suitable for anything from the coldest wintery weather to full-blown summer desert heat, I was pleased that the Tour of the Gila arrived with a great forecast.

It turned out that we had little need for our cold weather gear and didn’t need to make any trips back to the car during the race to get the “rain bag.”

Photo by Brian Hodes

While the weather cooperated marvelously, there was no changing the altitude factor. The most challenging aspect of racing the Tour of the Gila is coping with the lower pressure up in the high desert. Nutrition, hydration, race strategy, sleeping and recovery are all dramatically affected and whoever can deal with it the best comes out on top. The five-day race featured a dynamic range of events including three road stages, a downtown crit, and a challenging time trial course. With such variety in the stages our mechanics were pumped to have 3T wheels onboard; the Mercurio 40 carbon race wheelset was light enough for the first day’s Cat 1 mountain finish and extremely aerodynamic and strong for the big power sprints in the crit and rolling breakaway. One wheel, any conditions — the fewer decisions athletes need to make the better.

Photo by Brian Hodes

We stayed safe throughout the race, always keeping close to each other and near the front, and it paid off well as the first few days saw some carnage on the road. The non-altitude guys were the helpers for the tour and kept those on the squad who were acclimated and ready to climb sheltered and fueled. The most notable ride of the tour was Serghei Tvetcov finishing in the top ten on the queen stage, the Gila Monster, among some of the best climbers in North America.

Our lives were made much easier throughout the tour as we were staying in a massive 1800s home only two blocks from the heart of Silver City. The house itself showed the character of the region with adobe style walls, several courtyards, and great gardens throughout the property. It was large enough to sleep 10 people and the kitchen was up to the test of pumping out some gourmet and extremely healthy meals. What a difference home-cooked food makes on the road! We were so thankful to have the option to choose our own menu and have a few “tastes of home” which are often lost when traveling.

Photo by Brian Hodes

The proximity to all the races allowed us to ride to and from most stages, which again, made an enormous difference. Thank you to the great hosts we had in Silver City and Mel at the Three Dogs Café who took great care of our caffeine and dessert needs. Silver City was a town full of smiles, warmth, and unique culture – something that was not lost on us. Many of us are already talking about coming back to train and all of us are certainly keen to return next year and have another crack at the top step in New Mexico.

Thanks for reading and look for the Jelly Belly p/b Kenda team in St. Louis, Missouri next weekend for the Tour de Grove.

-Nic

Go to the Source – jellybellycycling.com

After an all too speedy but successful swing through New England after the spring Classics of which you can see the highlights in this brief photo essay, I hopped aboard a plane bound for the crisp, thin air of Colorado.

Tour of California is next on the racing horizon, so an amalgamation of friends, family, and ample New England training in late April provided me the opportunity to press-and-hold what I call the Life Reset button. Thoroughly brought back up to speed on life, backed mail, and bills, plus it brought me here to the Centennial State. The first few days upon Coloradan touchdown, I was with my aunt and uncle, with whom I lived briefly back in 2001 when I had a few months of relaxing, outdoorsy reprieve before starting college. So not exactly parents to me, they’re superb people whom I know and love and like to pretend to call my three-months surrogate parents. Back then in aught-one, I soaked up the mountain life and continued to cement Colorado in my mind as an excellent place to someday call home — that is, when I hang up my bike and move more permanently out of my suitcase. Ahh, someday…

So now thoroughly lost in the time warp that I’ve unfolded to you above, fast forward to last week, the weather was stellar here in Colorado those first few days, the training was stunning as testament to my laser precise tan lines, which had previously long been hidden by the arctic freeze across Europe all spring. Here I am soaking in natural excellence near the very top of Flagstaff.

This being spring in Colorado, they’ve already received their standard alternating snowy dump/beautiful weather/blizzard/stunning weather that’s characteristic of this area the past month or two. Thinking that this was now out of the system — especially with the last storm less than a week ago dropping a foot of snow in Boulder — it came to some as a surprise that there was another big’n in the forecast.

Because it’s been so frigging freezing across Europe the previous six months, I finally had my first hard effort amid 70 degree heat which resulted in acidic sweat burning my eyes. It hurt so good. So that happened one day and then I woke up to this the next day. Please note Timmy front and center out for a morning hunt with Karli:

Let me toss in the reminder that this is Colorado Awesoming, so how does one make limeade from these limes? I hung out with my cousins by road tripping it to Denver to speak to my cousins’ 2nd and 3rd grade class. It’s hilarious speaking to really well versed seven and eight year olds as found here in the fittest state in the nation, Colorado. For example, when one of these adorable kiddos politely raises his hand when I am telling the crew about the “Tour of Colorado” by correctly explaining that it’s the “USA Pro Cycling Challenge”… now that’s a kick.

Cousin Billy, with his radical bleach streaked hair and his ear to ear grin, is just a little bit stoked that he got to bring me to school for Show-and-Tell.

It’s not just fun and games and making excuses when there’s a blizzard spewing outside. Back to Boulder and back to the office.

And, of course amid Colorado Awesoming, one day later we had a bit of this cloudless sky and brisk perfect training weather.

And on a side note, I also met Justin’s of Justin’s Nut Butter fame. He’s the frigging man, so I’m mildly star struck in this photo. The King of Nut Butters meets the King of… iamtedKING. The entire operation at Justin’s is outstanding — their original farmers’ market to going big story, their ethics and ethos, and best yet their FLAVOR. Consider me a fan.

Go to the Source – http://iamtedking.com

I’m not a bragger by nature, but what Team TIBCO accomplished at Joe Martin is worth a boast or two. We dominated the race from start to finish by winning the prologue, the first road race and today’s criterium. By virtue of winning those stages came the individual and team classifications. Claudia earned the leader’s jersey on the opening day, and we all worked together to defend it until the finish. By coming together the way we did as a team to defend the pink jersey, the team classification was just an added (and very welcome) bonus.

Claudia has primarily raced in Europe during her lengthy career, and, as a result, she doesn’t have much experience racing American-style criteriums. She’s a natural climber, and sprinting doesn’t always come easy for her, so she was a bit nervous about today’s crit. We repeatedly reassured her that we were confident in her abilities and, should anything go not quite as planned, we would be by her side to make things right.

She had heard us call the course ‘technical’, and I think that was part of the reason she was nervous. The course IS technical, but it’s mostly technical because of the descents. The field isn’t too large. The roads aren’t too narrow – even narrow roads here aren’t narrow by European standards. The corners aren’t particularly tricky. There was nothing about the course that she couldn’t handle.

(photo credit: Wil Matthews)

We developed tactics to counter-balance Ali Power’s (NOW) strength and protect Claudia’s weaknesses. Claudia started the day’s stage with a 16” advantage over Ali in second, and she remained the biggest threat to the overall win. Ali is a technically strong rider who excels on descents, so our goal was to keep the pace as fast as possible on the downhill to prevent Ali from slipping away on this part of the course. Claudia would easily be able to hold her own on the uphill sections.

After two rainy road races, we were greeted with sunshine and blue skies this afternoon. It was a welcome departure from the previous cold, wet races.

From the gun, we raced full gas. We knew we’d drop a lot of the field with this strategy, and that was our goal. We wanted to thin the field from the start to help Claudia feel more comfortable in the bunch. It was advantageous for the entire team – with fewer riders in the field, we had less people trying to attack us.

(photo credit: Wil Matthews)

I took over at the front of the peloton on descent on the backside of the course on lap one. I led as fast as I could downhill and through the first few corners at the bottom of the descent. The road kicks up ever so slightly before the turn onto the hill that leads to the finish, and Chantal came around me on the small grade to take us up the climb. My job was done, and my race was pretty much over at that point.

We stuck to the plan throughout the entire race. String things out on the descent to prevent attacks on the backside of the course, and let Claudia do her thing on the climbs. We knew she could hold her own when the road went up, so our main concern was keeping the field intact at any other point. Each and every rider had her turn on the front whether it was down the hill, up the hill or chasing down a break.

(photo credit: Wil Matthews)

It was a race of attrition, and as the front group began to take shape, we had five riders make the selection. Shelley won the small group sprint – her second stage win in four days. Claudia finished just a few places behind Shelley to easily maintain the overall.

The day went perfectly to plan. It’s rare that this happens in bike racing – rarer still that we can say that about an entire tour. I couldn’t be prouder! Everyone worked really hard today as they did all week, and we all contributed however we could. It feels really great to be leaving Fayetteville with several wins to our name. It’s been a long time since Team TIBCO has been this dominant, so it’s extra sweet to be back on top.

I fly home tonight, but I’ll be keeping a close eye on my teammates who are heading to Silver City, NM for the Tour of the Gila. I hope they can carry the momentum we’ve created here with them into our next stage race. Gila will definitely have a different feel than Joe Martin. The courses are harder and the fields are deeper. If we recover well, I know we can show that we’re on the up and up – a real force to be reckoned with this year.

Go to the Source – meredithmiller.missingsaddle.com