DClog

GTC @ Rome Team Time Trial

Georgia Cup Series
Team Time Trial

July 23, 2005 Rome, Georgia - GTC Masters brought three riders to the start line for this 25k mostly flat time trial. On the roster was Steve Simpson, Dan Coy and Marshall Millard. Most teams had three, four or five riders, there were a couple of two-man teams and one team had ten riders.

The rules stated that the clock stopped on the second rider (fourth rider for the Pro/1/2 teams). The GTC strategy was for Simpson and Coy to pull and have Millard in tow for insurance against a flat or mechanical.

The team started off a little bit conservative, but by about a mile into it the pace was heating up. Millard dropped off as Simpson and Coy began riding at their absolute limit. Simpson was riding well and took the lion's share of the pulls, Coy came to the front as often as possible giving Simpson a hand.

With four turnarounds on the course the riders were able to gauge the nearest competition, and team GTC was gaining on both the team 2 minutes before (RBM w/Randy Prunty & G.W. Wenzel) as well as the team 2 minutes after (Geri Atrix w/George Heagerty & Tom Bain).

The unofficial results had GTC as 4th place in the Master 35+ and first place for the 45+ bonus (not bad for a couple of fifty-something riders). As expected, team Smith Barney took the top spot and possibly the fastest time of the day overall.

Team GTC time (Coy/Simpson) :
25k @ 0:34:02 = 27.39 MPH (44.07 KmPH)

Photos and official results coming soon.

Bethlehem TTT Rehearsal

Marshall, Steve, Gerard and Dan met in Bethlehem this morning to practice for tomorrow's Team Time Trial in Rome, Georgia. Theron was unable to attend but I assume he will be ready to ride in the morning.

Marshall, Dan, Steve and Gerard

Here's a Short Video Clip of the riders cooling down and coming back in from the workout. The video file is a 4.1 MB Windows Media Video.

Team GTC Scores Upset

July 16, 2005 Bishop, GA - The turnout for the Masters 45+ race was surprisingly good, in fact it was a bit intimidating seeing that many strong riders at the start line. Representing GTC in this event was Stephen Simpson and Dan Coy while other teams fielded much larger squads. RBM/Velo Voodoo had five teammates, Smith Barney had four riders and teams like Cycleworks and Locos also had numbers.

Stephen Simpson (GTC), who has not been on the local race scene much this season, came to support his teammate and his efforts left quite an impression on the whole peloton. In the opening laps the attacks, chases and counter-attacks were relentless and the action was the most fierce of any of the races so far this season. Like a tenacious bulldog, Simpson chased, shut down breaks, rode hard tempo, and neutralized everything RBM and Smith Barney threw at the peloton.

Halfway through the third lap Kent Williams (Smith Barney) and Phil Bonfiglio (RBM) got a good gap on the field. Sensing the two largest teams were about to shut down the pace and begin blocking, Dan Coy (GTC) launched out of the group and bridged solo to the breakaway. Williams, of the Smith Barney squad, was instructed not to work because Coy is a contender in the overall series standings. Bonfiglio and Coy traded pulls while Williams sat on the back for the next five laps.

The Gwinnett Touring Club was in attendance around the course and cheering for their team and the moral support was having a positive effect on the GTC racers!

The breakaway's gap increased slowly and was about 5 minutes back to the peloton by the 8th and final lap. Then the attacks began among the leading trio, Bonfiglio flew up the inclines but found they were not long enough to separate himself from the other two. Williams attacked from behind and tried to get away on the flats. Coy felt his chances were good in the sprint and followed as close as possible, waiting.

Turning onto the final straight to the finish line, Bonfiglio went for the long flyer. Coy sat on Williams wheel and waited for the counter-attack. Williams went hard and flew past Bonfiglio, but at the line Coy had come around Williams and won by half a bike length.

In the end, the two-man GTC squad of Simpson and Coy conquered all the big teams and shared the spoils.

Dan's HRM data

Magical Mishap

A friend took this photo of me playing guitar at Violette the other day. I'm pretty sure it did not come out the way it was intended to, but it's a strange and wonderfiul image and I like it.

D&M@V

Tu-W-Th jazz duo at Violette Restaurant

Dan and Mack at Violette

A couple more images in the Photo Gallery.

Weather Blows Through Town

Originally scheduled to play outside both afternoons and evenings this weekend, hurricane Dennis put a damper on those plans. Suits me just fine I'd rather play inside in the air-conditioning, my instruments are happier there too.

Wet Roads

Yesterday while going down a big hill with a left turn near the bottom, I was try to gently slow down the Time Trial bike while using my rear brake (other hand was signaling a turn), the rear wheel locked for a second and the bike slipped out from under me. I wasn't going real fast but I did body-surf about 10 yards to the bottom of the hill. I always thought street luge looked kinda cool, next time I would prefer to have a luge.
image of aftermath - fresh wounds

Piano & Guitar

Jazz at V's this week features Bill Wilson at the piano (search this blog for other entries about Bill) along with guitarist DC.

Dan & Bill at Violette

Coys on the AT

Dean drove Nathan, Stephen, the dogs and myself to Unicoi Gap where the hiking began. We hit the AT around 3PM and headed west up and over Blue Mountain. The trail gains about 1000 feet of elevation in the first mile or so, so the pace was slow but strenuous. Thunder in the distance warned about the possibility of a shower. A little over halfway to the top the rain was upon us and we stopped to cover our backpacks.The rain didn't last very long, but long enough that all our clothes were soaked.

Passing the Blue Mountain shelter, it looked like a storm had hit that very spot in recent weeks from the looks of all the broken trees. We continued to the Southwest for about a mile and down about 500 feet where the weather would be less likely to be severe.

The sky was getting dark and the winds accelerating, so we gathered water, hustled to the campsite at Rocky Knob and pitched the tents before the next front came through. Everyone got into dry clothes and relaxed in the tents for a couple hours until the rain passed.

Eventually the clear skies prevailed and everyone had some dinner then assisted in trying to get a campfire going. The campfire project was not extremely successful but kept us all occupied.

After a restless night's sleep, thanks to the camping-crazed canines, we got up, had breakfast and broke camp. The hike back out was enjoyable except the heat and humidity was increasing rapidly. Everyone emerged unscathed and mostly satisfied. I enjoyed the adventure.

Windows Media Video
15.7 MB
You should right-click on the link and select "Save Target As...", then play the Windows Media Video from your computer.

The Coys backpacking on the Appalacian Trail

Still photos in the photo gallery.