Peake Racing - Race Reports

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2007 USCF District Time Trial Championships
by Eddie Corcoran, 10/04/07

This year's USCF District Time Trial Championships were by far the most organized TT I have ever been involved with. We integrated a pre-registration only format for the time trial which resulted in a very smooth race morning. There were a total of 108 riders ranging in age from 10 years old to 77 years old, and represented were riders from Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Florida.

There were some really fast times posted at the 2007 District TT. Bain Foote from Hearing Gas Cycling posted the fastest time of the day with a 52:49 40K. Amazingly there were 32 riders who went under the 1 hour mark. The riders faced a head/cross wind on the way out and a nice tailwind on the return trip but ultimately the conditions were great for racing.

Peake Racing would like to thank all those who came out to support this event whether it was by racing or working..

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World Triathlon Championships; Hamburg, Germany
by Brett Reagan, 9/04/07

Flying on the plane back form Germany and I thought it would be good to get out the low-down on the World Championships as I am sure all of my "fans" want to know....

I have done us proud. The race performance was one of my tops. I wound up 16th in my age group (2nd US athlete) and clocked in the 8th fasted bike split overall out of all 1900 athletes that competed from over 45 countries.. The day will be one I will likely never forget. The race was in the middle of the town center, so there were literally thousands of spectators. The weather for Hamburg standards was descent, but from a southerners perspective - it was wicked cold and windy.

It didn't really hit me what I had accomplished until I arrived in Hamburg and we attended a few team meetings. Putting on the red, white and blue and being able to represent the country again was something that brought back some great memories AND created some great emotions.

The venue was amazing. The town hall (a massive government building that makes Buckingham Palace look small) and other massive stone buildings encapsulated the starting area. My wave, 35-39 year old males, was the last wave to go off at 10:30am. While we thought this was an advantage over earlier waves because of the temperature, it never really warmed up, rather, it hovered around 60 degrees and the wind just got a little stronger.

Even though the event was wetsuit legal, at 62 degrees, the water hit us like ice picks. The head referee was answering ALL of our prayers by firing the start gun allowing us to get underway. As you may know, the first few 100 meters is a cross between a swimming race and a boxing match. However, since it was a World Championship, the field never really "thinned out" since the caliber of those in the race was comparable. So for about 800m, I found myself battling for lines with other competitors. Even though I am a lover and not a fighter, I held my own and got a few good slaps and scratches.

The one interesting thing about T1 was the length. We were required to run from the swim exit on cobble paved roads to the actual transition over 500m away, and then once we grabbed our rides, we needed to run another 300m to the "bike mount" line. I gotta tell you, 62 degrees does some nifty work to feet, especially when you need to run on them. Even though they were numb, I felt every cobble running through the transition area.

Looking back, the 800 or so meters we needed to cover in T1 was likely a blessing in that it got some blood into the legs and prepped them for the ride. From the get go, I was on fire. While the crosswinds were fairly brutal at 10-20mph, my speed was good (26-27mph), and even though the course was relatively flat, some of the gradients allowed me to punch it up to 35+. I was passing guys like they were standing still. And even though, there was a no drafting rule, guys were not shy to "tag along", but they did not stick around to long. The one frustrating thing was that it appeared the officials were asleep on the job as there were two distinct packs of riders 20-30 strong. And while I did not lose ground to them, I knew there would be some fresh legs out there for the run. Overall, the ride was one I will not forget for some time. I was rolling and I was loving it.

T2 was less eventful than T1, but the feet never really got a chance to warm up on the ride, so they were still pushing for toe sucking from Matt instead of a 10K run. While in T2, I got a clear sense of where I was due to the number of bikes in transition - not many. Sandra, along with the hundreds of other screaming fans in the transition area got me pumped for the run.

In past races, running has typically proved to be my Achilles heel when it comes to national caliber (not to mention international caliber) racing. The advantage I create with my riding is usually chipped away through the 10K run, and for the first 5k, this was proving to be the case. In that timeframe, I had 6 guys in my age group pass me. I was more than just slightly pissed, because when a group of 5 guys pass you in a tight pack (4 of them Germans), it does not take great deduction skills to figure out they were working well together on the bike. But then, the psychology really kicked in. This was "the race" that I had battled to get to for the past three years. I put aside the notion that I was a 40 minute 10K runner and at the 5K point made an oath that I would have nothing left when I cross that line, and I started to dig. I caught one of the competitors that passed me earlier and just kept digging. At the 2k to go mark, my legs and lungs were on fire, but the crowd was one for the record books. Even though the thousands of fans were probably cheering for the Germans I was slugging it out with, I was using them to buffer the pain. The last turn of the run put us about 800m from the line. While that was likely one of the longest 800m I had run in a long time, crossing that line was simply UNBELIEVABLE.

The finish area was simply amazing: thousands of screaming fans (one of them Sandra) and an atmosphere fit for a World Championship. When the results came in, I was very pleased. I finished 16th in my age group (2nd American), but the icing on the cake was the bike and run splits. I clocked the 8th fastest bike split overall at 58:44 - Nice. And my run split - 38:33 - Sweet. My overall time was a 2:08:31, but with over 7 minutes in transition and a long swim and bike - I was REALLY happy with the performance. If you guys want to check out the results go to the following: http://www.hamburgcityman.de/ and look at the September 2nd AG Olympic Distance race.

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- Meridian-Cuba Challenge Omnium Criterium
by Eddie Corcoran, 8/11/07

Hot Hot Hot!

Kevin, Woody, Mikie and myself drove up to race the Crit Saturday afternoon while Todd and VJ drove up later to race the Road Race on Sunday morning in Cuba, Al.

The temperature gauge on my rear view mirror read 105 degrees as we prepared for the Masters 35+ Crit in Meridian. We didn't have too many positive thoughts as we warmed up, in what felt like a convection oven. The field was pretty stout so we were expecting a fast race. The Alabama Masters team always seems to race aggressive crits and that's is exactly what they did. John Brock with A.M. launched an early attack that most everyone must have been thinking, he's crazy, it's too hot, and it's way to early in the race. Anyhow, we all watched him roll off the front all the while we had a little in fighting happening in the chase group. G.W. attacked and ultimately bridged across to John Brock. At this point, I felt pretty good so I gave it a go hoping to get some action from the field. Sue enough, Mark G from MSM rolled up to me and I thought " this is a good move" but I think the heat wasn't cooperating with Mark so he was not up for the task of being in a break.

At this point, Woody new he had the green light because I was being watched pretty closely. Woody attacked dragging Michael Hurley from the A.M. team and within a few laps John Brock peeled off of the GW break and teamed up with Mike Hurley and Woody. The chase group stayed together until the finale. Mike C. rolled up to me with a few laps to go and I asked him for a lead out on the back side of the course on the last lap. Unfortunately, the dynamics of a Crit can change faster than the temperature in New Orleans. After a few attacks, Mikie was out of position and with about 500 meters to go things were pretty strung out. I virtually had little choice because I was toward the front so I decided to go for it. I quickly opened up a nice little gap and took the pack sprint. Woody finished third overall, second masters 35+ as G.W. soloed for first.

Kevin, Mikie, Woody and myself rode about as well as we could have considering the HEAT and the tactics.

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- Meridian-Cuba Challenge Omnium Road Race
by Eddie Corcoran, 8/11/07

Well, it was a little cooler for the Road Race, compared to yesterday's crit. The race started around 9am and the temperature on the rear view mirror reaD only 96 degrees!! The RR was only 45 miles, however it felt like a good 60-plus miles. The course is fairly hilly and the temperature was hot so I knew we were in for a challenge. The race stayed in check for the entire first lap and the beginning of the second, finally ending in a 3 man break.

There were a few attempts from numerous teams to try and break things up but nothing was happening. Somewhere just into the second lap, Todd Herbet bridged across to Mobile Velo rider Tim Carbonneau who was dangling about 10 seconds off the front. This break looked strong and at one point I thought It would stick till the end. Unfortunately, this course can be brutal. The pace severely picked up on the second big climb which halved Todd's gap. Shortly after the climb the road makes a hard left and you hit a nice short steep climb. This is when Jay Sheib with MSM attacked and really strung out the group. This move eventually became the winning break. The Alabama Masters team and a few others took up the chase to close the break but due to a lack of organization the break was off for good.

My recollection of the last 10K is pretty vague because I was barely hanging on. I do know that Woody continued to stay aggressive giving himself a chance for the final sprint.

The Cuba RR was far from our best performance but as always everyone on our team played some pivotal role to help in some way and as always, we fought to the end.

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2007 LA/MS Crit Championship
by Mike Corcoran, 7/27/07

We had a total of eight of the Peake Boys racing the Masters 35+ Criterium. ( VJ, Eddy Delgado, Howard Luna, Woody, Matt Rinard, Kevin Hargis, Eddie C, and myself).

We knew the race would be somewhat tactical because of the double LAMBRA points available and with so many of the LAMBRA leaders racing. We had our own plans as for as tactics but as you know, they rarely work as planned.Their were several breaks early on but with all the horsepower and tactics playing out, nothing was going away early. Eddie C. bridged across to Jay Scheib once and then once with Mark Graffaginini but neither seemed interested in getting in a break with Eddie C so we went to plan B.

Shortly after we started attacking and that's when myself, Jay Scheib and Guy Lott with Mobile Velo went clear. It wasn't long after when Reo, Randy Legeai and Woody bridged across to us. All the while I could see Eddie in the chase group sitting in while he was being watched carefully by the MSM guys.

Everyone in our break worked equally well together so we were able to stay clear of the chase group. With 4 laps to go, Reo attacked just after the U turn section so I chased, finally catching him just after the long windy stretch by the Museum. Reo gave me the unwanted flick of the elbow to signal me to come through so I obliged. We were hovering around the 28mph range so coming through at that pace after bridging across was to much for me. Reo was simply in another class!

I'm back with Woody, Randy, Jay and Guy Lott with 3 laps to go. I felt pretty good so when we went through the last hard left hand turn I tried to lift the pace to string out the group. This spurred Jay Scheib to stretch things out even a little more along the backside of the course behind the Museum. It seemed a little too confusing heading to the final 200 to go so I just picked a lane and drove to the line winning the bunch sprint. We never did catch Reo but I finished 2nd overall while Woody was nipped by Randy for 4th place.

We mustered some pretty good team results with a 2nd, 3rd, 8th, 12th, 15th, and 17th in the Masters 35+ and in the 45+ we were 3rd and 6th overall.

The course was pretty challenging and the race venue was great. The competition is always stiff and our Team as usual was outstanding.

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Tour de Louisiana Time Trial
by Todd Herbet, 6/26/07

This weekend was the Tour de Louisiana bicycle race on the northshore and we had 6 Peake / NBO boys heading to init to do battle in the masters 35+. It was myself, Kevin Hargis, VJ Liberto, Ryan "woody" Boudreaux, and Mike and Eddie Corcoran. The Tour de La is a timed stage race which consisted of a Saturday morning 3 mile TT followed be a Saturday afternoon 64 mile road race; and a finish that consists of a Sunday morning 50 minute criterium.

We started with the Time Trial on Saturday in Abita Springs and figured we would do fairly well because that is a great strength of ours. We are all big guys (by cycling standards) so the straight, flat roads are not so detrimental to the riders who are carrying a litlle more weight.

Anyhow, we all arrive in Abita ready to go. Here is the part I hate - the warm up. You see, if it was a longer TT, you probably could get away with a 10 minute warm up with a couple of efforts because you can gradually build your momemtum into the race. However, with a short 3-miler, it's such a violent effort from the beginning that your legs, heart, lungs, and the rest of your body needs a longer warmup. The riders go off at 30 second intervals unlike the 1 minute intervals in longer TT's so you are trying to get your warm up and at the same time making sure you don't miss your start. Its very much like organized chaos.

The morning conditions were warm with what seemed to be a very little wind. I figured from past experience our times would be in the 6:15 to 6:30 range. My personal plan was to break this up into 3 two minute efforts and hang on for dear life the last 30 seconds. The first 2 minutes your adrenaline is so pumped up you have to be careful because you can blow yourself up right away by going to fast. I was going to start out at 28 to 29 mph which i thought would be manageble and try to hold that until the end.

I get to the start line and cleared my computer so i could see speed and time. I tried to convince the starter (Randy Legeai) to count me down in french but he wouldn't do it. Anyway, I start out of the saddle and immediately build my speed to 25 mph. I then get into my aero position, switch to my 13 cog and proceed to get my speed up to that target of 28 to 29 mph. I get to the 1 minute mark on my computer and I am already thinking this is not feeling as comfortable as my practice runs. I knew then that I was in trouble. The rest of the way the speed dipped from 28 to 27 to 26 mph and it was a struggle to keep the gears moving. I was hoping my teammates faired better than me because I knew my time wasn't going to be up there.

I ride back to our vehicles to cool down and pack up. We were all coughing like it was one of those cold morning rides where you go to fast and burn up your lungs. Its amazing how a little 3 miler can make you feel. In the end we placed 3 riders in the top 7. Eddie and Woody were tied for 3rd only 2 seconds off the winning time. We were happy with that because we had our 2 best riders and finshers within striking distance of 1st place. Mike was lurking a couple of seconds behind them and myself, Vj and Kevin were in the middle of the pack. I think everyone's times was probably about 20 seconds slower than normal for whatever reason. The road surface has been resurfaced to chip seal which probably played a big part of that.

Off to the RR we went.

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Tour de Louisiana Road Race
by Todd Herbet, 6/26/07

The start of our road race was at 1:20 Saturday afternoon. It's real hot here in south Louisiana so it has been the talk of the week about how we are going to avoid cramping. The race was 64 miles in hilly terrain, so it was going to be a tough one.

Eddie, Woody, and Mike had really good TT's and were sitting only seconds off the lead. Myself, VJ, and Kevin were a little too far back so our roles in this race was going to be keeping the pressure off of our leaders so they could sit in as much as possible and conserve their energy. The race got under way on time and we quickly settled into a nice pace. Kevin Hargis rode at the front for the first several miles keeping things at bay. His knee has been bothering him ever since he has come back from doing two century rides back to back in Tennesseee so we knew we had to use him early on.

The pack stayed together with the exceptions of a few little attacks that really had no chance to go away. As we were coming into the last km of the first lap, things started to heat up a bit. There are hot spot bonus seconds at the end of the first lap, and we needed Eddie or Woody to grab them. With VJ and Mike doing a superb job of keeping the race together, we approached the last km. Larry Carbonneau from Alabama made a perfectly timed attack up the hill and everyone just looked at each other. Larry kept the pressure on and now it looked like we were going for the 2nd and 3rd hot spot points. Here is where Woody and Eddie took the bull by the horns. Woody nailed it from about 200 meters out with Eddie on his wheel. The midsouth boys seemed to be boxed in and couldn't react. Woody moved over to let Eddie get the 2nd place points and Woody got the 3rd place points. We couldn't have done it better. Now we have Eddie sitting in first place on the road and Woody in second.

The next 2 laps was more or less the same type of things happening. People would attack but there was simply too much horse power in the group to let things go away. We started the 4th and last lap and the pack had twindled down to about 17 to 18 riders left. Larry Carbonneau kept on attacking it seemed like everytime the road turned uphill, but between Mike, VJ, Woody, and myself nobody was getting away. We wanted Eddie to basically have a free ride to the finish so he could take care of things there.

As we approached the 3 mile to go mark, Midsouth's Mark Graffignini launched an attack and rode off by himself. The packs mood was to let him go because surely he won't last to the finish. Mark is now dangling off the front by about 10 seconds as we are approching the last km to the finish. There are 1st , 2nd, and 3rd place points available at the finish and now the pack is starting to panic. Mark is very strong in the hills and he still looks good off the front. Well when we hit the hill at the km mark, the pace picked up significantly. As we started to approach the 500 meter sign, Mark was gobbled up and now it was going to be a race to the finish. Jaro Jarenko from Midsouth timed his sprint perfectly to get the win but the train of Eddie and Woody was able to finish 2nd and 3rd, which further solidified their strangle hold on 1st and 2nd overall.

It was a good race for the whole team with very nice team tactics. VJ and Mike spent the majority of the day in the front of the field keeping things at bay. We were able to utilize Kevin at the beginning of the race. I launched a couple of attacks to make the other teams chase to take the pressure off of our guys, and Eddie and Woody rode like seasoned vets knowing exactly what moves they needed to make.

I think we were all happy campers at the end of the race.

The Crit was the next day and I would rather kiss and hug my mother in law than doing a crit. I got dropped after a couple of laps so my teammate Kevin Hargis will give us the report because i quite frankly don't know what went on at the front.

Till next time!

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Tour de Louisiana Criterium
by Kevin Hargis, 6/26/07

Breaking News: Peake/NBO wins the Tour de La!!

With competition between Mid South Masters and Peake heated, the crit proved to be an event not to be missed. The pace was fast and furious from the start. With Eddie in the lead for the Masters 35+, the team set out for the challenge of protecting his standing.

The race began with 21 riders. Of those 21 riders, 5 were NBO, 5 MSM, 2 Herring Gas, and the rest consisting of other surrounding area riders. Amongst the 5 MSM riders were Eddie's strongest competitors, Mark G. and Jaro.

The crit began with the riders shooting all-out riding very fast. The second lap was a "prem" lap, and as Eddie sped by winning the "prem" , I knew he would ride strong and aggressive with no holding back.

Throughout the race there remained a constant battle between Peake and MSM, with MSM on the front during several laps demonstrating aggressiveness by initiating attacks to get things shaken up. Several times around, MSM remained on the front assisting Mark and Jaro and effectively challenging Peake's riders. For every lap, there was always 2-3 Peake and MSM riders leading the pack. Herring Gas riders popped up to the front once or twice, but their attack was to no avail for them.

When the bell rang for the "hot spot", Woody attacked and broke away, unfortunately, coming into the final seconds, Jaro was there and nipped him at the line. Although Woody gained second for the "hot spot", his aggressive attempt to win the lap protected Mark from getting any points thus impeding Marks progress. Woody, not becoming discouraged, continued to ride aggressively throughout the race trying to move up the GC maintaining the front line. It was evident at this point that we could not afford to have Jaro win the crit, nor could we afford to drag him to the line, and we had to overcome his lead.

The whole team was riding strong. Mikey road strong and tough working for the team keeping things together in making sure Eddie was protected and nothing got out of hand. Noted was Shelby's aggressive lead off the front as he worked to shake things up a bit as well. Todd and VJ sat in, riding well, as they road an incredibly successful road race Saturday. Hats off to them.

After an exciting 45 minutes, the 3-to-go card was displayed and the intensity accelerated, as did the speed. The riders were now moving rampantly jockeying for positions. At the sound of the bell for the bell lap, the pace increased even further.

Spectators were out of their seats as they realized the imminent excitement of the race for the finish. At the sound of the bell for the bell lap, the crowds were roaring for their favorite competitor.

Eddie must have attacked in the rough section of the last turn, maintaining control of a bouncing bike due to the road condition, because as I observed his arrival at the last turn, there he was hammering down toward the finish line with quite a gap behind him. (At this point, I knew it would be Peake all the way!) Eddie completed the race with a 4 second lead over Jaro and Mark, who were both fighting for second. Jaro nipped second place by a hair, leaving Mark coming in third. Woody quickly followed in fourth.

The crit was certainly challenging as the competition between Peake and MSM heated up. Peake team proved to be up to the challenge and came out on top. The results of this race show how our team came together, worked strong, rode well, and accomplished a goal. In my opinion, this is the sign of a strong team.

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LA/MS State Road Race
by Eddie Corcoran, 6/14/07

Two words " TEAM EFFORT" was the story for the 2007 State RR Championships.

We had a really good turn out, having a total of eight show for a very Hot, Humid, Fast 50 miles. It was somewhat comical trying to put on our bib tights before the race while sweating profusely. Those things just don't slip on to easy when your wet!

The course is pretty challenging with a few stair stepper hills that eventually take their toll. We followed our game plan but due to the horsepower and race conditions, we, for the most part were put into survival mode.

Woody found himself in a early break with a few thoroughbreds only to come back to our chase group to help us after a few laps. The pace stayed steady hard for most of the day, finally taking it's toll on me on lap 7 of 9. The cramps kept getting worse but I was surrounded by my TEAM MATES as they encouraged me to "stay strong and keep fighting".

I want to personally thank all of my TEAM MATES and because of our TEAM UNITY, we were able to place 5 guys in the top 12 for points.

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Racing Rapides Omnium TT, RR and Criterium
by Eddie Corcoran, 6/05/07

Since I have a moment I want to give you a few details on the race last weekend. VJ, Woody and myself drove up late Friday night to race the Racing Rapides Omnium TT, RR and Criterium. The TT was the roughest roads that I have ever ridden on a time trial bike. All of us had pretty good times but it was our own Woody who had the fastest time of the day.

The RR course was pretty rough with plenty of potholes that were marked but nonetheless, rough. The course had just enough hills to have plenty of attacks but because of all of the horsepower and the mix of 35+ and 45+ riders no break was going to happen. It was the first really hot day for us and it showed as Woody and I started cramping with about 10-15 miles to go. I don't think VJ had cramping issues but if you would have seen all of us after the race you would have thought we just finished 200K with a mountain top finish. Woody did a terrific job of getting me to the 250 to go but because of the cramps I just couldn't finish the race off.

The crit course was fantastic and the three of us plus Patrick Marr were ready to battle. Unlike normal crit starts, I got into my pedals super fast and noticed that I had a little gap so I just bolted. The idea was to string out the field and see who the players were. When the pack caught me, Woody attacked hard and put the other guys in chase mood again. The attacking went on throughout the race until around 3-4 laps to go. Pat Marr rode up to me and said that he felt great and If I wanted him to lead me out he would. So we picked a time (with 1/2/ lap to go) that he would attack and I would grab his wheel and go. However, the pace was super slow and everyone was going to be to fresh so I asked Woody to go for it to stretch out the field. When Woody attacked, everyone just looked at each other and before Jason Miller started to take up the chase, Woody already had a nice gap. I sat Jason's wheel while he tried to get across to Woody but he was not making up to much ground. With a lap and a half to go Jason looked back and saw that I was on his wheel and slowed a little to insinuate he wanted help. That's when Jaro came flying around Jason as we were heading into a turn. I'm not sure what caused Jaro to go down but he did right in front of me and there was no place to go so I went down as well. The first thing that came to mind was Woody's got it now! I got back on the bike but the handle bars and saddle were messed up and I had a flat so I rode to the pit and asked Shane for a free lap and he laughed. He suggested that I change my rear wheel and make the last lap so that I can get some points.

The weekend was fun and pretty eventful and VJ and Woody rode great.

Congratulations to Woody for taking first overall in the Omnium. He was first in the TT, seventh in the RR and first in the Crit.

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Giro de Rankin Stage Race
by Eddie Corcoran, 5/18/07

It was a last minute call but VJ and myself drove up to Brandon Ms to race the Giro de Rankin.

The 3 mile TT was scheduled to start at 8am but for whatever reason the TT was delayed and our warm up was totally miss-timed. After trying to time our warm up to perfection we were told they would be a little delay. The race promoters finally posted the TT start times and they made an announcement to the riders to add one hour to the time posted. It was pretty hot Saturday morning and we has some time to relax and try to avoid over doing another warm up which could ultimately come back to haunt us in the RR.

I guess 20 minutes elapsed when we heard "VJ and Eddie to the line or you'll miss your start time". I jumped out of a very comfortable chair and grabbed my helmet and bike and yelled to VJ to go to the start line. We both arrived in a panic…when Shane told VJ to put his foot down and then gave him a count of 3,2,1 go. I went 30 seconds behind VJ, which seemed more like 10 seconds when your in that state of panic and you just know that a 5-10 minute warm up would have been nice. I was so rushed that I didn't have time to reset my computer so I had no Idea what my time was but I knew it wasn't to good.

When we arrived at the RR (which was delayed from a 12:45 start to 1:45 start) and we checked the results we both were in pretty good shape because the race format used was Omnium Points. Omnium ranks on placing rather than time. The RR was three fairly hilly 20 mile laps of some good and bad roads. We really didn't have any specific game plan but we knew we wanted to be in any break or help others keep the race together, at least for a while. My main objective was to watch David Hyde, John McLaughin, Michael Hurley, Donald Davis and the MSM guys. That's not such a big deal!

For the first 25 miles we all stayed together however no sooner I slipped to the middle of the pack, a break goes. I was boxed in but I wasn't too alarmed because I had David, Bo and Chuck from Herring Gas as well as VJ and I felt we could close the gap if needed to. Well I was wrong!!! David and I fought our way to the front without getting DQ'ed and put the hammer down. What seemed like the next 5 miles, he and I traded pulls with everything we both had and were barely closing. VJ and Bo eventually were able to make it to the front to help in the chase but we were still not closing in on the breakaway group.

Eventually we had to shut down our chase or we would have cooked ourselves and never finished the race. Immediately after we slowed down, Jay Shieb attacked and he actually drug a few other guys with him. The next 25-30 miles were miserable for me because I was so mad at myself for missing the break. Eventually we finished the race but I personally learned an important lesson that day. Sometimes you can get so caught up in obsessing about the win that you forget about getting the best placing you can get because of the omnium scoring. I personally gave in mentally and allowed Jay's group to get away and I also didn't finish off my group giving up valuable placing because I had time on my mind rather than placing.

VJ and I met up with the MSM and NOBC guys to eat dinner Saturday night at Macaroni Grill in Jackson.

The Crit was super fast with plenty of attacks early by Michael Hurley. It must have been a little less than halfway through the crit when I noticed John McLaughin, Donald Davis, Micheal Hurley and Keith Duet splitting of the front of the main field. I didn't want the same thing to happen in the crit that happened in the RR so I bridged across just in time not trying to bring anyone along with me. When I get across to the break I look back and I see Jaro and immediately think to myself, it's going to be tough to beat him because he's sprinting so well. After the six of us go pull for pull for what seemed like an eternity, the four laps to go sign goes up. We actually got within a couple hundred yards of the chase group but we were coming up on the one lap to go and the tactics started to come into play. The finishing straight was pretty long and into the wind so I figured I didn't want to be first going into the final turn but I certainly didn't want to be last, and last I was. I had to do a little maneuvering and when I started sprinting I was able to pass Keith, John, David, Michael but I ran out of real estate to catch Jaro.

The races were all competitive and VJ and I had a great time. VJ was awesome and had a great showing in all three races.

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MS Grand Prix TT & Circuit Race
by Eddie Corcoran, 4/23/07

All of us were cooked to the level of well done after the grueling RR Saturday morning and were not looking forward to the 4 mile TT. Mike posted the fastest time from our team but as a whole we all were pretty respectable. They did have a few really fast times in the 35+ group but more importantly we as a team had the coolest equipment out there.

The five of us had a nice dinner Saturday night at Ruby Tuesdays in McComb Ms. as we all sat and ate we were all complaining on how hard 4 miles can be and wondering how the General Classification would look in the morning. After arriving at the circuit race Sunday morning and looking over the GC, we all gathered to discuss a little team strategy, if there is such a thing as strategy in a Crit. We knew the race would be fast especially since seconds separated second through tenth place. Well, we were right, there was one attack after another and the race was definitely fast. I personally didn't think any breaks were going to stick because they had to much horsepower in the race and the fact that just a few seconds separated the top spots. Sure enough, the race was still all together with a few laps to go and it was going to be a slug fest for the final sprint. Everyone was pretty gassed at this point and I was lucky enough to be third from the front when a Alabama Masters guy came flying by me so I latched on to his wheel for a few seconds. Thinking quickly on the fly is one of the biggest challenges that any cyclist encounters so I quickly thought it would be a good idea to attack early and as hard as I could in order to be first in the final turn. I buried my head down (literally went of the road) hoping that one of my team mates would be on my wheel and we could totally upset the entire field. When I crested the small climb which is about 100 yards out and I looked back, I saw Jaro with MSM coming hard so I had to give it one more push to the line to hold him off.

The Team was great all weekend and I commend everyone who raced.

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MS Grand Prix Road Race
by Eddie Corcoran, 4/22/07

The MS Grand Prix was everything and more than we expected. Eddie, Mike, Matt, VJ and Kevin made the trip to Brookhaven to race the Ms Grand Prix. This race always attracts plenty of talent so we were definitely expecting to have a tough weekend. The RR was fast and furious the entire 2 laps of the race finally ending in a mad chase to catch David Hyde who rolled off the front at the top of the last big climb. I'm not sure how long Kevin hung with the main field but their were many who didn't make the finale with the pelaton. I did see VJ at the front of the pelaton a few times and then he suddenly disappeared only to find out later that he got caught up behind a crash and was gapped and could never catch back to the main field. Matt, Mike and myself hung on and tried our best to take it to the main field. I halfway killed myself tying to get the time bonus that was awarded at the end of lap one. Ultimately I got second and was given a 3 second time bonus that almost cost me the race. The group attacked just after the time bonus sprint and I barely hung on to the tail end of the group. I was gassed for the next 5 miles. I found out later that the guy I was sprinting (Jaro Juenka) never could make contact with the main field when the group attacked after the sprint. Mike spent plenty of time on or around the front keeping things together while I was at the back of the group recovering. Matt was with me at the rear making sure I was OK while I gathered myself. I guess around 3/4 through the second lap I rolled off the front nice and easy and they actually let me go. I guessing that I had at one time 30 seconds on the main field and I just knew sooner rather than later they were going to start chasing me down. The pelaton finally caught me and soon after that Matt rolled of the front and he had a nice gap that I thought could possibly stick to the finish. We were rapidly closing in on the big hill which is about 5k from the finish and the main players were getting pretty exited. So, Matt was caught and I think he was pretty cooked but managed to catch on to the back of the group and finish pack. The big hill got the best of Mike the second time around but he to was able to catch on to the group and finish with the pack. I was starting to cramp a little leading up to the climb and I knew that the climb probably would be the demise of my RR chances. Well, I got over the top and was in contact with the top guys but was still cramping. I quickly assessed my options and knew that sprinting for the finale would not be in the cards because the final 400 yard is all uphill. I attacked with 500 yards to go hoping to get a little gap and try and hold it to the line. Not being able to stand and sprint due to cramps put me at a disadvantage but I held the few chasers till the 50-100 yard to go and held on for 6th. I burned an entire book of matches in the race so I was wondering just how effective we would be in the TT.

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Raising Cane's Individual TT Race Report
by Eddie Corcoran, 4/15/07

Windy, Windy, Windy. Time Trialing is always challenging and usually a good test of your fitness or motivation but Time Trialing in what seemed like hurricane force wind seemed almost unfair no matter how fit or motivated. Todd, Mikie, Howard, VJ, and myself made the trek to Baton Rouge for the third leg of the Raising Cane Time Trial Series. All things considered we made the best of what was a tough day and still garnered some points.