trplay
Zen MBB Master
The cozy flower filled French countryside proved to be much tougher than anticipated. Many teams were caught out at the start by the first winding rolling hills. When it's a fast course and you drop off the back, we all know catching back up isn't easy. If Thursday's racers didn't know this last night, they know it now.
So, I guess we should start off with High Speed's futile efforts. Like as it is often said, a mother will always love her baby no matter how ugly that baby might be. Well, we love our High Speed team even though they fell short in last night's efforts. They did turn a decent time, especially when considering one of their riders showed up on a Time Trial bike. A time trial bike is, of course, a no-no since it doesn't allow drafting the other riders. This is a race after all, a drafting race. We will give him kudos for sticking with the group for the entire race! This is actually quite a feat and a hint that the team might ride him like a rented mule next week. The good news is the record is still out there and High Speed has the best chance at grabbing it. Next week guys.
High Speed's little brother Low Drag had a similar experience in that they failed to achieve their goal to pass someone but they did manage a decent ride. They were able to synchronize those cranksets and maximize the group speed most of the time. On those few occasions where an engine sputtered the group pumped seafoam into the injectors and they were quickly hitting on all cylinders again. They finished well up the pecking order from the week before and can expect to see this trend continue.
Our ladies were, as always, very predictably, steady and fast! Don't be fooled by those girly looking kits and smiling faces. Those girls are killers. Every week we see them getting faster and faster. The only sad part is so many recumbent ladies are missing out on the fun. I cannot figure this one out. I know they are out there and I know they would love it if they simply gave it a try. Perhaps someone can fill me in on why they will not come out and play.
The Poaching ATP group used an interesting strategy this week. They abandoned the fastest Espresso league and placed all their Espresso riders in Frappe league teams. The plan was to dominate the tough, tough Frappe league. I think it was moderately successful as they place two teams (4th, 7th) in the top ten and two more in the top 25 spots (18th,25th). Jason powered his ATP Argon to 17th, while in his second race of the night he assisted the ATP Oxygen team to 25th. Larry rode with Jason for the first time in the Argon team. If you are a hard core racer these ATP teams are made for you. Both Jason's teams averaged over 300 watts for the race.
Lots of noble efforts but the Recumbent Rider Star of the Night goes to Benphyr Knou. You will not find team ATP Radon in the Frappe Division which is where they were registered. ATP was especially devious when they attempted to sneak in a fourth sandbagger A+ rider into that roster. The WRTL wise to such shenanigans caught them and promptly forced moved them into Espresso to the delight of the other Frappe teams. Ben wins the star because he not only held on to this steroid laden team he led them across the finish line averaging 43 kmh.
Another Team in the espresso is the killer Bees and stalwart recumbent racer Chris Cooper. The Bees had another good run but their single A+ racer automatically moves them into a higher category than the mostly B level racers can be expected to compete against.
We had several lone recumbents on teams this week. When comparing the stats for Larry and Ben they are exactly the same and Chris is not far above them. In the distance far, far, away you can hear. Hey! That looks like three strong B racers add this to our strong C racers and we have a high octane charged Latte Class recumbent group.
Team avg Speeds (kmh):
ATP Argon 44:35
ATP Oxygen 44:16
ATP Radon 43:08
Killer Bees 42:98
Flamingos 36:78
High Speed 35:60
Unicorns 34:90
Low Drag 33.10
So, I guess we should start off with High Speed's futile efforts. Like as it is often said, a mother will always love her baby no matter how ugly that baby might be. Well, we love our High Speed team even though they fell short in last night's efforts. They did turn a decent time, especially when considering one of their riders showed up on a Time Trial bike. A time trial bike is, of course, a no-no since it doesn't allow drafting the other riders. This is a race after all, a drafting race. We will give him kudos for sticking with the group for the entire race! This is actually quite a feat and a hint that the team might ride him like a rented mule next week. The good news is the record is still out there and High Speed has the best chance at grabbing it. Next week guys.
High Speed's little brother Low Drag had a similar experience in that they failed to achieve their goal to pass someone but they did manage a decent ride. They were able to synchronize those cranksets and maximize the group speed most of the time. On those few occasions where an engine sputtered the group pumped seafoam into the injectors and they were quickly hitting on all cylinders again. They finished well up the pecking order from the week before and can expect to see this trend continue.
Our ladies were, as always, very predictably, steady and fast! Don't be fooled by those girly looking kits and smiling faces. Those girls are killers. Every week we see them getting faster and faster. The only sad part is so many recumbent ladies are missing out on the fun. I cannot figure this one out. I know they are out there and I know they would love it if they simply gave it a try. Perhaps someone can fill me in on why they will not come out and play.
The Poaching ATP group used an interesting strategy this week. They abandoned the fastest Espresso league and placed all their Espresso riders in Frappe league teams. The plan was to dominate the tough, tough Frappe league. I think it was moderately successful as they place two teams (4th, 7th) in the top ten and two more in the top 25 spots (18th,25th). Jason powered his ATP Argon to 17th, while in his second race of the night he assisted the ATP Oxygen team to 25th. Larry rode with Jason for the first time in the Argon team. If you are a hard core racer these ATP teams are made for you. Both Jason's teams averaged over 300 watts for the race.
Lots of noble efforts but the Recumbent Rider Star of the Night goes to Benphyr Knou. You will not find team ATP Radon in the Frappe Division which is where they were registered. ATP was especially devious when they attempted to sneak in a fourth sandbagger A+ rider into that roster. The WRTL wise to such shenanigans caught them and promptly forced moved them into Espresso to the delight of the other Frappe teams. Ben wins the star because he not only held on to this steroid laden team he led them across the finish line averaging 43 kmh.
Another Team in the espresso is the killer Bees and stalwart recumbent racer Chris Cooper. The Bees had another good run but their single A+ racer automatically moves them into a higher category than the mostly B level racers can be expected to compete against.
We had several lone recumbents on teams this week. When comparing the stats for Larry and Ben they are exactly the same and Chris is not far above them. In the distance far, far, away you can hear. Hey! That looks like three strong B racers add this to our strong C racers and we have a high octane charged Latte Class recumbent group.
Team avg Speeds (kmh):
ATP Argon 44:35
ATP Oxygen 44:16
ATP Radon 43:08
Killer Bees 42:98
Flamingos 36:78
High Speed 35:60
Unicorns 34:90
Low Drag 33.10
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I think the whole team learned about it last night. And yes, High Speed kicked some ass. Especially you in being able to keep with us the entire 41 minutes!
