Thursday, April 17, 2008

Zack Takes GLMGP Crit!!!

Zack picked up his first Category 2 victory at the Garrett LeMire GP on Sunday April 13th! Awesome!!! I'll post Zack's report and some photos. Jose, Sky and I raced the Pro/Cat 1 NRC event and it was fast! Jose finished in thefield, but not after a HealthNet wrecking crew demolished the peleton! Only 60 out of 120+ riders finished. Good on ya, Jose!!

Chris

We Need A Montage!!!


Images from Anthill

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

DET Victory Numero Uno

I knew we were going to win a race or 2 this season, but I couldn't have guessed who would take our first win or when we'd get it.



Adam Bickett was inspired in 2007 to see what he could do as a racer. He joined Swamis hoping to upgrade from Cat 3 to Cat 2 in Spring 2008. Adam worked hard in the winter and kicked butt at Valley of the Sun in February. Voila, we had a new teammate! Adam did a few Cat 2 races with Zack (and did well), but his focus has been qualifying for Collegiate Nationals. Adam did his first combined Pro/1/2 race with us at the UC-Irvine Anthill Crit...and he won. He won! When you help a teammate win its like you win too. And when a team collectively puts one of their guys over the line first, it's an awesome feeling. And it was a team effort! Zack, Dana, Adam, Colter, Jose, and I all worked to make it happen. Dana again displayed amazing fitness and covered almost all the attacks in the first half of the race. Zack and Adam also snuck away in a promising break, but it got reeled in. A big attack went halfway thru and Adam and I both made it into the group. At this point I was thinking we'd come away with a top 5 finish. Adam followed another rider off the front of the break and that proved to be the decisive move! Adam and his breakaway companion lapped the field and Adam got an awesome lead out from Zack and Jose to win the race! I finished in 7th.

When you help a teammate win its like you win too. And when a team collectively puts one of their guys over the line first, it's an awesome feeling.

Chris

April 7th was a big day for the DET

This pic says it all.



Racing, Racing, and more Racing!

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been sick. I'm better now, but uuugghhh.

Lots to update so here we go!

March 22nd-DEL MAR #2 Great racing by the Swami's we were all over the front of the race. It was hard racing too- Toyota-U, HealthNet, Time, Successful Living, and many more great teams and riders were represented. Breaks were going all day and Swami's covered them all. Marc, Jose, and I made the final break but got outfoxed by Jose Garcia from Toyota-U. Our group got swept up on the last lap, but Sky pull it out in the sprint and picked up 10th. It was a preview of things to come!

March 23rd-ONTARIO. What do racers do on Easter? We got a bike race! Zack and I headed to Ontario. Not much to report. I got 8th in the Masters race, but had plenty left for the Pro/1/2 race. Zack and tried hard, but it came down to bunch sprint. Zack was 29th. Afterwards we put in some more training as penance for our riding!

March 28-30th-San Dimas Stage Race. SDSR is a big race for the Category 2's and Zack was pretty inspired. The big news was the return of Dana! Dana had been at both Del Mar Crits, but his knee was finally feeling good enough to do a race weekend. SDSR was an ambitious comeback, but Dana was up for the challenge. Dana had a solid TT and showed that he still had lots of fitness despite the time off. Zack had a tough TT, but finished in the group in the RR after attempting to bridge to the break. Both Zack and Dana were looking for a result in the final stage crit. The crit ended in a sprint with Zack and Dana both in the field. It was a tough weekend for Zack, but Dana rode extremely well for his first race back and again that was a preview of things to come. Zack's performance was short of what he hoped, but he too had a better ride to come.

Chris

New! Official Swami's Riding Weather!

Now you can get your riding weather forecast from the blog! Check out our current weather feature from AccuWeather.com!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Blogger Sick!

Sorry all been sick for a few days. But I've got updates:

Del Mar #2
Ontario Easter Smackdown
SDSR (for the Cat 2s)
the return of Dana
fancy new helmets!

Chris