High Uintas Classic Road Race: Derek Edwards takes 1st, Mark Otterson 8th

Congratulations Guys!  Derek takes a huuuge win for the team at the High Uintas Classic Road Race. 70 miles through the beautiful Uintas countryside - lots of climbing with a long rolling descent to the finish. Derek hammered it all the way to the finish to take the top podium spot, underscoring once again, the dominance of team Zanconato in the local racing scene. The "wrecking crew" is a force to be reckoned with!  scroll down for a race report from Mark

From Mark:  "Derek and I both raced the cat 4-5 group of the High Uintas.  This is a race that Derek also won last year on a 45 mile solo breakaway.  The profile of the race is the first 30 miles gives you about 4500 feet of elevation gain.  Derek and I pushed the pace pretty hard up the first 25 miles taking a lot of time on the front in the hopes of splintering the group but to my surprise there were quite a few of the 45 guys that stuck with the pace.  At that point it was in my 190 lbs interest to ease up and catch my breath for the kick up in grade but I think we may have waited a bit too long.  The grade kicked up and one small guy attacked and put a 1:20 lead on the rest of the pack with about 2 miles to go on the climb.  I was dying and even with a little push from "Slaughterhouse" I couldn't hold to my redline any longer and to my great frustration I popped with about 1.5 miles to go on the climb.  I had the next 15 miles descending by myself to reflect on rule number 5 and try to catch some of the approximately 25 guys in front of me.  I caught a few guys who were happy to work together to try and make up lost ground.  The group grew as we reeled other riders in.  I got to one guy in our group and asked him how many guys were out front and he was very vague about it and when he came to the front to take his turn in the rotation he would slow the pace from about 32 miles per hour down to about 26 miles per hour which was his strategy to prevent us from catching his team mate.  I caught onto his strategy and basically just skipped him in the rotation.  We caught his team mate and then I asked him the same question on how many were out in front and what the time gap was.  Unfortunately I didn't know how many were still out and they led me to believe there might have been 15 or 20 guys still.  On the final stretch when I still thought we had a couple of miles to go the one guy who was slowing the pace to 26 sprinted off the front.  I jumped out to catch him and two other guys came including his team mate.  As we rotated his bloody team mate blocked me and slowed the chase.  Unfortunately we were about 500 meters from the finish and not 2 miles.  I was pretty bent that those two guys let me do so much work to chase down other racers and benefited by about 10 overall positions due to the work I did and then blocked me at the end but I guess that's racing and I need to learn not to trust any of the other bastards around me.  I finished in 8th place and due to not quite 50 participants I got a goose egg on upgrade points!

...basically when I was dying up the climb at 180 bpm heart rate Derek was chatting it up with another guy beside me and putting his hand on my back giving me a little boost.  He summited with a small group and they quickly caught the solo breakaway climber and spat him out the back.  They worked together for the remainder of the race with Derek doing his usual high percentage of work out front and still had enough in the tank to win the final sprint and take another Zanconato win for the season!!

Derek also got his upgrade to Cat 3 with this win.  Way to go Slaughterhouse!  You set an impressive standard my friend.  It was a pleasure racing with you - while it lasted :)"



The "Wrecking Crew" - GoPro video from last week's Bear Lake Classic road race

Thanks for getting the nice video Devin (cyclist hosting the GoPro on his bike). To quote Devin, here's some footage of "Elias, AFCU, and the Zanco' wrecking crew from behind!".  Our team has a new moniker. The Wrecking Crew. I like it.

Nice shot of Aaron looking pro, rockin the Carbones at the start. Then around 2:10 Devin bridges up to a break with none other than Mark...drafts off Mark's arse for awhile. Mark went on to win. It's a long video, but you'll see a smattering of Zanconato kit here and there..including Derrick and Derek. You can see the Zank boys were at the pointy end of the pack for a good part of the race. The only thing missing is Devin got caught up on the final run in so there's no video of the sprint finish with Mark pipping the other dudes at the line.

Bear Lake Classic Road Race: Mark takes the Podium

Congrats to our own Mark Otterson (AKA the tall Aussie fella disliked by the racoon community along Legacy Parkway. Since he can't wrastle gators, he'll take on the racoons. Sorry for yet another down-unda stereotype Mark, but you're an easy going guy so i know you don't mind mate. Crickey!!!).

Mark took first in a very tightly packed Cat 4/5 field, in a crazy sprint finish with 40+ mph speeds at the end. 51 mile course around Bear Lake, clockwise. Derek Edwards rode in a very fast Cat3/4 field. - speeds averaging close to 27mph over the full course. Crazy. Unfortunately Derek flatted around mile 30, was not able to chase back onto the fast moving pack, and finished a few minutes down @ 02:07:15.7.

Congrats also to Derrick W, Aaron, and Dave:

Derrick Warlaumont  - 9th place (more accurately, three dudes, including Derrick, all tied wheel to wheel for 7th place), only .7 seconds off Mark's winning time of 02:02:51.5. *Derrick posted the fasted sprint time to the line - 40.7mph!

Aaron Branham - 39th place, 5.1 seconds off  the winning time. That should tell you how heavily contested the finish was.

Dave Baker rounded out the team placings at 02:14:16.4, a little further back, coming in with a chase group.

Here's a look at the top ten:

Race Updates: TOUR of the DEPOT / ANTELOPE ISLAND CLASSIC

Tour of the Depot: Brutal weather conditions. Wind & pouring rain. Temps down in the mid 30's. It was a race of attrition. Our own Derrick Warlaumont takes 5th across the Cat4/5s. Nice.

Antelope Island Classic Road Race:  Derrick W, Derek E, and Mark O raced this past Saturday. The course was mostly rollers, some short kicker type climbs, and a final climb to the finish. Around 47 miles. No one really lit it up for most of the race as the pack stayed together and the fast guys more or less marked each other. On the final climb Derek had a nice position and launched out of the group, but ran out of road, to finish 5th. Mark and Derrick W both had great times finishing at the front of a large field of 50+ riders.

Derek Edwards - 5th Cat4/5s
Mark Otterson - 9th Cat4/5s
Derrick Warlaumont - 18th Cat 4/5s

2014 ZANCONATO TEAM KIT is LIVE!

Click    HERE    to purchase the new 2014 Zanconato Racing Team Kit.

...Pictures can be seen here (the ordering site doesn't have the higer resolution pics yet)

R.O.U.S. – Raccoon of Unexpected Speed

Last Tuesday at 4:30am we gathered, by what can only be attributed to the Svengali-like power of Mark O., to ride as many hard miles (65-70) as possible before work.  For those who had extra time, this would include ascending Emigration Canyon, east of the University of Utah.

Four of us departed along the Legacy Parkway bike trail: Mark O., Derrick W., Dave B. (myself), and Colt F. from America First CU Racing.  No more than twenty minutes in, while Mark was pushing the pace in front, he noticed something on the side of the path.  As the pre-dawn brain cells attempted to identify the object, and just as Mark considered the idea of slowing down, a large (and surprisingly swift) raccoon darted across the trail and in front of Mark’s tire.

Like the R.O.U.S. (Rodents of Unusual Size) attack in “The Princess Bride”, Mark was unceremoniously knocked to the ground, while peril ensued.  Amid the chaos, I either heard or said an expletive.  Somehow the rest of us were able to brake, weave or skid past the pile of man and machine.

The first order of business was to inspect Mark.  With the use of our headlights, it was clear he had some serious road rash and bruising on his hip and forearm, yet the team kit remained remarkably intact (Go TEXmarketUSA!).* Fortunately, his full-finger gloves took the brunt of what would have been some major lacerations to the back of his hand.

The next order of business was to tend to the Zanconato.  Maybe we should have done this first.  Anyway, aside from a scraped up saddle and bar tape, and a tiny tweak of the derailleur, the steed was in great shape (Go Zank!).

Once Mark collected himself, we were riding again.  After just one rotation of the paceline, Mark was back up front, pushing a big gear as usual.  When we reached Emigration Canyon, Mark faced it like Inigo Montoya vs. the six-fingered man (Go Mark!).

And thus the pronouncement: “Raccoons make lousy speed-bumps!” Indeed they do.

*It should be noted I believe this retelling is in compliance with Rule #81, since after the ride Mark went to InstaCare to have his wounds scrubbed and treated.  Also, no selfies of the injuries will be posted; otherwise, Mark may be accused of being a Congressman.  I’ve seen the pictures - definitely not safe for work.

Ride on,
Dave

TOUR DEL SOL STAGE RACE: Another amazing result for the team / 2014 Kit is almost here!

Zanconato Racing leaves a big mark in the Southern Utah red rock country with a  1st overall by Derek in the Cat4 race! (scroll down for complete results).  Another great development: The 2014 Zanconato Racing team kit is almost here. Stay tuned for links to order. Anyone who has last year's kit knows that Tex-Market gear is top notch - they supply many of the kits in the pro peloton. This year's getup is no different, and the new design is killer! Here's the final design for a few pieces - we'll have arm warmers, hats, etc, as well.

TOUR DEL SOL STAGE RACE RESULTS

Congratulations Derek! Zanconato Racing establishes an early season presence in Southern Utah

 

Overall
1st Place Cat4: Derek Edwards (8th overall Cat3/4)    GC Time: 3:58:52

20km Time Trial - Saturday 3/29, 7AM

 2nd Place Cat4: Derek Edwards (17th overall Cat3/4)    Time: 26:51

Criterium - Saturday 3/29 2PM

3rd Place Cat4: Derek Edwards (20th overall Cat3/4)    Time: 45:21

60 Mile Road Race - Sunday 3/30 8AM 

2nd Place Cat4: Derek Edwards (12th overall Cat3/4)    Time: 2:46:40 



Race report from Derek:

Very competitive and large cat 3-4 group (60 plus dudes).  Big team turnout from Intermountain LiveWell (Imagine that) and Las Vegas cyclery.  These two teams had big advantages with strong riders and planned out tactics.

Time trial was a great course with 1st half slight downhill and the 2nd half slight uphill (15ish miles).  Definite advantage with TT bike for downhill portion, but road bikes had a slight advantage coming back up.

The Crit race was a 1.1 mile course that took place on the old airport runway in St. George.  NOBODY out of our huge group dropped out of the race because they couldn't hold onto the peleton.  The corners were fast and smooth.  We hit max speeds just under 40 MPH in some laps and averaged 28 MPH!  I got a few great breaks but couldn't stay ahead of this strong group.  The final sprint entailed team tactics that lasted over a half mile.  OUCH!

The road race was just under 60 miles.  It started in Ivins, UT and climbed up old HWY 91 where we were greeted with a small rain storm.  We turned around at the top and then peeled off towards Gunlock reservoir at the bottom and started climbing again.  Just before the town of Veyo, there is a steep 3/4 - 1 mile climb that broke off more than half the group.  I couldn't hang on to the aggressive climbers, but was able to catch up with the group after the climb a few miles down the road.  The terrain out of Veyo I actually pulled away from the lead group for several miles but they reeled me in with 10ish miles to go.  The major decent out of Snow Canyon had a massive crosswind.  We all had to slow down our pace considerably to stay on the road.  The last few miles entailed a brutal headwind.  Our group of 13 then became very 'lazy' and nobody wanted to work out in the wind so I spent a lot of time out front.  But of course, the last kilometer, things heated up, and I popped on the last slight incline combined with headwind.  Felt like I was pushing some major power but wasn't able to move very fast!

Valley of Fire Stage Race - Derek Edwards places 12th in a very strong field

Congratulations to Derek on a fine showing in Overton, NV this past weekend at the Valley of Fire Stage Race.  He finished an impressive 12^th place in a very strong Cat3-4 field of 72 racers mostly from the warmer climates of Nevada and California.  Way to represent Derek!

Miche and MPI to the Rescue

About two weeks before Team Zanconato's historic run at LOTOJA, Stephen was spending time hunkered down in Wayne Bingham's shop in Purcellville VA lamenting the lack of good lightweight cassette options for Campagnolo 11 speed drivetrains. Wayne is the owner of the Velo Classique bike shop and also the proprietor of Mel Pinto Imports that bring Miche bicycle goods to the US.  Super Record Cassettes were way over the team budget, and all steel Chorus Cassettes are close to a full pound of rotating mass.  In addition, ideal spacings for a mountainous event like Lotoja render most typical spacings obsolete.  Wayne mentioned that the Miche Supertype was a fabulous option....super light weight at as little as 150grms w/lockring and at almost 50% of the retail of Super Record....the best news is that Wayne could work magic and configure most of these cassettes to be the perfect spacing.... and that brings me to the cool part of the story.

Fast forward to two days before the race at our designated Team Planning Meeting (short for a fast tempo 25 and a whole lot of pizza). Stephen surprised the team with a box full of Miche Supertype cassettes...poof, at least 100-150 grams gone off of most of the team bikes, but the best part was Mark Otterson's comments to Stephen.  "Mate", he said. "I have been needing an 11-26 cassette....the 12 tooth top end gear is just spinning out during my sprints, and I could sure do with one more small gear on the low end for the hills in Lotoja."  Little did the team realize how prophetic that verse was from the big Aussie.

Come the big race day and Mark finds himself in a 3 up sprint at the line after 206 Miles and close to 11K Vertical feet, Mark had to throw that big steel Zank in the 11 and go for broke.....Well the rest is folklore.  Not only did Mark win his category by just a wheel, he also finished 3rd overall ahead of every Pro 1,2 registered in the race.

Some may call his good fortunes luck, others would chalk it up to his mind bending 1000KM suicide training week two weeks before the race.  I kind of think the result had something to do with that new fancy Miche Supertype cassette with that 11 tooth cog that gave Mark just the little bit more top end needed to take the historic win for Team Zanconato.

Thanks to Wayne and Miche, Team Zanconato will be well stocked for 2014 with Miche Supertype Cassettes, and other surprises to come.

Zanconato Racing notches an epic WIN at the 2013 Lotoja, and 3rd fastest time overall. Congratulations Mark!

Mark posted the 3rd fastest time overall, completing the 203 mile race in 9:00:33! Mark also won his Cat5 flite / race category.  We also had some great performaces across the board for others on the team.  More to come!

Congrats to Mark: 6th place at the Tour of Park City

Congratulations to Mark Otterson for representing Zanconato Racing so well at the recent 150 mile  Tour of Park City.  Mark notched a 6th place finish, even after a mid-race wheel change, catching the main group after a long solo pursuit, passing said group, and then catching the break away. Aaron and Dave both rode solid support, putting in super efforts! I had to bow out of the race the day before unfortunately (see below).
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Watch those NSAIDs

Just had a recent run-in with NSAIDs. Scary, but oh so glad to be alive.  Since I'm now off my bike for the time being, but enjoying life nonetheless, I thought I'd post a little story about the experience. Others might not be as ignorant to the side effects of taking too much ibuprofen, advil, alleve, etc, as I was, but I hope this little story educates those that might be in the same boat. Educated or not about NSAIDs, sometimes our passion for sport, competition, and general love for what is undoubtedly the greatest sport in the history of mankind (yes, that would be racing and riding bicycles...duhh) clouds our judgement. 

Let me also say that if you are a serious cyclist and wish to begin a doping regimen, this is not a recommended way to go about doing that. (heyyyy....I jest!)

click here to read the rest of the story... 






Just say No to the little pill man



The Philosophy of Round...another build complete

As cool as carbon fiber road bikes are these days, there's just something about round tubes...timeless and subtle.  The molding process for carbon fiber allows it to be shaped into just about anything, and just like hairstyles, a carbon bike frame sometimes takes on a look that very much reflects what was cool that year. The popular aesthetics of the moment (which the marketers would have us believe serve some higher performance purpose) are just that..a snapshot of what was groovy at the time. We had the curvy "melted in an oven" look for awhile there, then things got all angular and industrial looking, and now things are getting all organic again. Don't get me wrong, the technology rocks - it's harder to build something as light or stiff using other materials...But how often do you see some carbon fiber vunder-frame and you think, "hey, 2003 called and they want their bike back". 

Carbon frames incorporate visual queues in the weave designed to remind the rider that the bike between his thighs possesses visceral qaulities well beyond what a bike frame could conceivably possess:  ...It's purpose built for a spec-ops mission! It's a large sea-going beast of prey (huh?) ...It floats. It's weightless....It flies! It's a freaking F22!  It's the very essense of Madonna del Ghisallo herself!

Everyone likes a little design flair to set things apart. But the beauty of a well balanced bike does not come from excessive styling, material where none needs to exist, or any other type of market-driven design navel gazing. It comes from simplicity and functionality and a consistent aesthetic. I'd argue that beauty and functionality can co-exist, and that when the two can succesfully live together, these objects we surround ourselves with are most satisying to look at and live with, not just for the moment, but for years to come.

Hence the round tube. It has served us well for a long time, and continues to do so. I will always admire the F1 car equivalent bikes that Pro-Tour riders use. It's my junk food. I had a really nice CF bike myself and loved it. An Argon Gallium Pro. It was loud, it was light and stiff, but it looked like a billboard. If the "pro-look" is your bag, then I say go for it. But when it comes to something that is going to be pretty, year in and year out, nothing beats round tubes. Maybe I'm just getting old.

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8/5/2013 edit: Now that I've had a chance to put some miles on it, how does it ride? Rather than use meaningless superlatives, I think reviews are always better when compared to known reference points. For me, those points of reference would be some of the bikes I've owned in the past, each of which represent a different material. In this case, Aluminum (Klein Quantum), Titanium (Serotta Concours), and Carbon (Argon 18 Gallium Pro).  This is my first custom steel-alloy bike.

On the first few rides I immediately noticed how stiff in the bottom bracket area this frame is.  It's every bit as stiff as the Argon was.  Stomp on it, and it responds immediately.  Get out of the saddle and it just lurches forward as it should...no hesitation or sway in the lower half of the frame whatsoever.  My Serotta and Klein were still adequately firm in the bottom bracket, but not as much as the Zanconato and Argon.  The MAX tubes of the Zank are the real deal here.  -Incredibly solid leading to a feeling of stability through very rough pavement surpassing that of the Argon.  As much as I loved how light and stiff the carbon fiber Argon frame was, I don't miss the typical hollow "plasticky" feel most CF frames have.  The Zanconato is quiet and solid.  It makes no sound.  Dead silent.  Stable and direct. There I go with the superlatives...  Handling: I asked Mike to build the bike with an 8mm bottom bracket drop, so I lost some criterium tight cornering clearance and gain high speed descending stability.  This was a quality I loved in my Serotta and wanted to continue with that in this build.  My Argon and Klein had more of a crit-style geometry with 7mm of bb drop, so I felt a little more "above" the bike, rather than "in" the bike, if that makes any sense.  Needless to say, it handles as it should.  Nothing crazy or unusual in the geometry department.  Mike set up the frame geometry such that it is not overly specific - I wanted something that would work in crits and in longer euro-style races.  Comfort: This bike definitely fits into the "sports-car" vein when it comes to comfort.  Meaning, it's plenty comfortable for me; it smooths out the road buzz just fine, but it has a direct feel not quite as buttery plush as my Serotta was.  It has better road-feedback than the Serotta, which had more of a Grandpa's plush Buick feel about it. Both excellent bikes, but in different ways.
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So enough of that. I posted pictures of a few other super-duper-awesome team builds awhile back - for Aaron, Mark, and Dave. After Mike Zanconato delivered another masterfully built frame, this time my own, I spent some time building it up a few weeks ago, took it out on it's first tour of the asphalt, and got some gratuitous pics. Warning, these may be NSFW:

DT Swiss hubs laced to Edge.Enve 1.38 carbon tubular wheels. 1150 grams of sweetness! 

 The "Z" says it all

And the cycling Gods said "Let there be Bike". And Bike was made. The Gods were pleased. (So whoever said assigning qualities to an object like a bike, that it can't possibly possess, was wrong?)  

I don't care what you say about the whole Campy vs Shimano debate. Campy levers are prettier.

Mmmmmmm...A nicely glued tubular. Courtesy of Steve.

In the foreground, hangin off the bars is the SRM "brain". I'm so not worthy to be rockin one on my bike.

B4K Stage Race

Here are the official B4K Road Race Results....

Click here for rider race reports.....see below for pics

Overall

Mark Otterson 9th

Aaron Branham 12th

David Baker 29th

Stage 1: Criterium

Mark Otterson 7th

Aaron Branham 14th

David Baker 18th

Stage 2: Road Race

Aaron Branham 11th

Mark Otterson 12th

David Baker 29th

Stage 3: Time Trial

Mark Otterson 9th

Aaron Branham 15th

David Baker 30th

Soul Crusher Rises: The Dawn of Dominance

Dave Baker's write up on Mark's new ride and the RMR criterium:

The latest addition to the Road Team arsenal made its debut this week: Mark Otterson's weapon of choice -- Soul Crusher.  The name stems from the directive penned on the top of the shipping box: "Mark, Crush some souls! -Zank". 

Soul Crusher did not have a 'Maiden Voyage'; it had a 'Primordial Conquest'.  Rather than a simple 40-mile morning commute, Mark sensed the need to satisfy its hunger, so he got an early start Monday and took a detour through Emigration Canyon east of Salt Lake City.

Tuesday evening Mark gave Soul Crusher (SC) plenty to devour at the RMR Crit.  Here they are near the front, early in the race.





And here.

And here.  Mark and SC are on the wheel of Don from Biker's Edge, who gets my vote for Most Combative for attempting two breakaways (one of which Mark and SC chased down).

Once again near the front.

A bit of back story: this weekend I pulled a hamstring doing some household repairs.  Apparently I need to stretch first.  Anyway, even though I wouldn't be racing, I wanted to see Mark and SC deliver some punishment.  On the drive over, I decided to stop at home and bring along my wheels as spares - just in case. 

With 5 laps to go, SC got a flat on the back side of the course.  Mark hoofed it across the midfield over to the pit at the start/finish line.  We swapped the front wheel, and just as Marked checked in with the race official, the peloton went by.  Even though he could have taken a free lap, Mark sprinted after them and proceeded to close a 10+ bike-length gap.  By the time they came around again, he had moved to the middle of the bunch.

On the bell lap, Mark and SC were in the front 5.  Down the final straightaway, Mark jumped and Soul Crusher responded.  They began to pull away...and stayed away.

The blur below is Mark and SC crossing the finish line in First Place.

And then...

Eventually...

The arrival of crushed, defeated souls...as foretold.

 Warrior and weapon reveling in a hard-fought and well-earned victory.  There will be more.

Ride on.
Dave