Saturday Morning Ride

We had a great turn out this morning for our weekly Saturday morning ride. Lots of regulars and some students returning from summer break. Remember, our Saturday ride is a year round ride so if you miss a week come out the next time. 8:00am while it's warm, 9:00am when it's cold. It's always a great ride, Cam and Mitch give it two thumbs up!

Oak Ridge to the Blue Ridge Parkway

This past Sunday Bradley Ungarait, Brian Lee and Brent Lester did the old "Challenge" route from Oak Ridge to the BRP. Brad and Brent are training for the Shenandoah 100 taking place over Labor Day weekend. Brian was out seeking his pain threshold riding his second century in two days!

121 miles, ~14000ft of climbing, great fun! Some of the best roads I have ridden on in the Danbury area of NC. From Hanging Rock to VA, the roads were eerily quiet, something I'm not used to in the Triad. Tight, twisty mtn roads and only cars to slow you down on the descents...

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/6486663

Virginia Border...what you can't see is the "friendly" Doberman just a few feet away...waiting for our return down the mtn! Brian's assertation he was a "friendly" dog proved correct...only when we were standing there not moving!




















The impending doom lurking in the distance. 10% grade for 3.3 miles



















They didn't even break a sweat!




















The three Amigos as someone liked to call us at the BRP! The climb was worth the 10 degree difference. Funny when 80 and a breeze feels cool at 2600ft






















Hey Eric...we were in Bordeaux



















Lunch

Paceline crew sizzles at the Sizzler Race

Soma Fab-ulous

Keith Charles is the proud new owner of this amazing touring bike. It is called the Smoothie ES and man is it smooth. It's built up with a Campy group and arguably one of the most comfortable saddles you can buy. A Brooks!
This is a Paceline Special Edition! Come and get yours.

GREAT PICS FROM THE TRIAD OMNIUM

Paul Paisant sent us these great shots from the Triad Omnium last weekend. Check out Julie Paisant (in her first race ever) leading the pack and the utterly intimidating look on her face in the time trial. I think we'll see her racing more in the future.

A big thanks to Paul for the pictures and his involvement in setting up Crown Automotive's sponsorship of our Paceline Team. Crown has been a sponsor for two years now and we really appreciate their support.

PACELINE RIDE TO MT. VENTOUX GREAT SUCCESS

Eric Morrison and Brian Lee led a ride up Mt. Ventoux recently. As you can see, not many Paceliners were up for the challenge.





Look how happy they are to be at the top. That's Eric in the picture...Brian was looking for the sodas and cookies apparently.

Thanks for the beautiful pics, guys.

Hekman Dominates!

Toshiba-Santo strongman Mark Hekman showed the form he displayed in 2007 by winning Saturday’s fourth annual Iron Hill Twilight Criterium in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Hekman, who held the lead in the 2007 USA CRITS Series until a crash at Downers Grove ended his pursuit of the title, lapped this year’s Iron Hill field with 20 laps remaining in the 60-lap event, run on a 1km course.

“I got away on the 10th lap and just crushed it." Hekman said. "This is a really technical course with the hill on the back side and I thought I was going to die.”

A few days prior to Iron Hill, Hekman switched to a 54-tooth chain ring; he felt the change helped him power away from the competition on a warm, humid Pennsylvania day, leaving the others to fight for the remaining spots on the podium.

With 15 laps to go, Hekman’s teammate, 2007 USA CRITS champ Frank Travieso, made a bid for a cash prime, marked by Time Pro Cycling’s David Guttenplan, and the twosome never looked back. Guttenplan took second with Travieso third.