Think Racing, Inc.

Riding probably his last race as a Cat 4 - Anthony “Ricky” Lowe continued his total domination of the local scene by winning his 6th in a row in his usual commanding fashion at Prospect Park.

Doubly impressive was Ricky’s ability to win whilst having to perform late night hospital duty watching over his sick son. Congratulations on a great season and more importantly all on the VisitBritain team (and I’m sure everyone in the NY cycling community who knows you) are praying for a speedy recovery for Anthony Jr.

Focus for this weekend is the Green Mountain Stage Race in Vermont. A hilly escapade if ever there was one. VisitBritain will be strongly represented in all categories with Smilie looking to continue his phenomenal season in the Pro 1,2 ’s , Alex looking to upgrade to Cat 2 in style by doing what hes done all season - kick arse (or ass) , and Roger Freidman and Ted Neu looking to sign off their Cat 4 careers with podium slots in their Category.

…Alex fought the rules and Alex WON ! (Clash references this time).

So how many myths can VisitBritain’s Alex Gulla debunk in one season ?

Myth #1 - Sure he can ride away from a Cat 5 field, but wait till he moves up to Cat 4 then he won’t find it so easy - WRONG - Case in Point - Solo victories in CRCA and Spring Series
Myth # 2 - OK - so he can handle the other New York City riders - wait till he rides in a few out of town races - WRONG - evidenced by Jiminy Peak and Harriman
Myth # 3 - Well Cat 4 fields are notoriously weak - lets see how he does against a CRCA A field - WRONG - CRCA Cup Race #1 - Alex rides to another solo victory
Myth # 4 - Cat 3 hilly races ? The prosecution is running out of options now - but the myth busters defense throws up Hilltowns - Cat 3 hilliest race around and what do you know another Victory for the G-man.
Myth # 5 - Cat 3 race - out of town where people now know Alex and know hes the guy to watch and the wheel to follow - WRONG - Capitol Road Race - every rider in the Cat 3 field has their eyes glued to Alex back wheel - wherever he goes 4 or 5 will follow immediately. Sound in theory but when push comes to shove and Alex puts the hammer down - its another solo victory and another step closer to Cat 2 status.
Myth # 6 - He doesn’t know how to handle his bike properly and his upper body is far to stiff to be fully effective - well…….I guess its the exception that proves the rule. Although a bike fit from his team mate and New York’s premier artisan at the discipline Smilie Upton could see even more progress in this direction.
Myth # 7 - Cat 2 will be a totally different kettle of fish……..maybe, but if I were a gambler (what do I mean if ?) and having backed red 6 times in a row - I may now be inclined to shuffle my chips over to the black blaize and let it roll.

Seems to work for Alex.

(Apologies to the late great Johnny Cash but….) The Wind was definitely whistling through the thorn trees in Central Park on Saturday August 14th as VisitBritain’s Craig “Smilie” Upton tore around the 2 laps of CRCA’s Championship Individual Time Trial. Over the past 3 years Smilie has seen a multitude of challengers come and go and with the exception of a slight hiccup last April (when riding training wheels) the mighty Kiwi has vanquished all before him in this most testing of disciplines. Saturday, again the pressure was on, but like the true CRCA Legend that he is, Smilie dealt a fatal blow to anyone with aspirations to the Crown. Conditions were uncomfortably humid but undoubtedly fast and the crowd were treated to a truly memorable performance. Catching his 30 second marker and one of his chief rivals David ‘Tiger’ Williams after one lap gave a hint that something special was in the air and sure enough come the final results Smilie had not only retained his title for another year but added what is thought to be a new Central Park record for 2 laps 25.46.

Not to be outdone the entire rest of the VisitBritain squad again showed their incredible strength in depth by placing 5 riders in the top 20, all this with Mike Henson away training in Colorado. Alex Gulla again exceeded expectations powering his way round to take a full minute off his previous best time and to grab the bronze medal in the process. Every other rider on the team set a personal best (well nearly everyone and Leon’s was close enough!) but the ride of the day belonged to Cat 4 Roger Freidman who locked down the silver medal in the Cat 4 category with a scintilating time of 27.48. Its no exaggeration to say a time of 30.00 would have been a target for Roger last season, but such is the determination and grit shown by the man from Brooklyn that immediately after the race he was identifying ways in which he could trim at least a further 30 seconds from that time.

Next up the Individual Road Race Championships in 2 weeks time.

Upton, Henson, Moser, Gulla, Harris and Suter saddled up for a showdown of Wild West proportions this past Sunday (August 8th) for the latest round of the CRCA Team Cup in Central Park. Fully expecting to have to do Battle Royale with our nearest rivals Sakonnet and ReMax - the boys came ready to rumble. 2 pre-conceived race plans were set in stone and unlike the last Team Cup scratch race the was no derailing our charge for the top of the leader board. Early laps saw Alex cast aside the weariness in his legs from his win the previous day and act as “the glue” alongside Ken “Yul Bryner” Harris (the only one of the team bearing even the slightest resemblance to an actual member of the Magnificent 7, although Henson could , at a push, be palmed off as the youthful kid who captures both the heart of the local Mexican lady and the respect of his fellow bandidos, but I digress….) These 2 made absolutely sure nothing was getting away until with under 3 laps to go Mike Henson saw the move he liked and launched an attack that helped set up the breakaway move of the day. Riding shotgun with the guy threatening to become the new King of CRCA races Rob Latannzi (NEXT) and a game but not quite as strong rider from Axis - these 3 worked like demons to keep the wolves of Sakonnet and ReMax from the door. Riding at an average of just a shade under 27 mph for the last 2 plus laps (the Powertap doesn’t lie my friends) the 3 breakaways came to the Cat with a slim but decisive advantage. Rob and Mike agreed to gentlemanly duke it out mano-a-mano and Rob’s finish was alittle to much for the resurgent Henson, who nonetheless put in his best performance for a number of weeks. Close on their heels was the pack sprint which Leon, utilising a fantastic lead out from Smilie and Ken in particular, took 2nd spot in and 5th overall. So a quick totalling up of the points revealed 2 Vb riders in the first 5 and surprisingly no Sakonnet riders scoring at all - With the TTT and one more scratch race to come things are looking solid for an Team Cup win for the VisitBritain / Think Racing set up.

In the B race - having helped sow up the Team Challenge championship the week before Ricky Lowe was given free reign to score some USCF upgrade points in Prospect Park which he dutifully did - taking a clean sweep of all the sprints in the Cat 4 Points race. Ted Neu had earned a week at the back after his herculian efforts the week before, and the rest of the B field dutifully obliged me in my first race back after broken collar bone and scapular with perhaps the slowest 6 laps in recent memory and a 4th place sprint finish.

Next weekend (August 15th) sees the individual time trial championships. Smilie will be seeking his 4th title in a row and the rest of the squad will be competing hard for places on the A squads for the Team Time Trial race and the dubious distinction of spending 3 laps trying to pull through behind Smilie….hhhhmmmmmmm.

WRONG ! Courses don’t come much hillier than Hilltowns, and riders don’t come much bigger than The G Man (Alex Gulla), but this Newton-challenging combination yielded huge dividends this past weekend for VisitBritain’s Cat 3 phenom. 50 plus miles of Massachusetts’ finest vertical roads saw Alex simply outstength then finally outsprint his rivals to take his biggest victory to date. The spoils of victory were well worth the suffering Alex had to endure to bridge up solo to the breakaway group of 3 in the final 15 km - a Native American floor rug and a pair of size 8 socks (for his size 13 feet)- rewards beyond the dreams of avarice !

Smilie had another incredible (though by his own self appointed high standards slightly disappointing) ride to take 4th in the Pro, 1,2 category, whilst Ted, Roger and Andrew Cohen performed “at par” to take 9th, 11th and 20th in the Cat 4 race.

Way back in the cold, distant past - February time in fact - the riders on VisitBritain held a team meeting to decide some team goals for the season. Putting personal ambitions to one side the one theme that stood out was to pull off the unique double of CRCA Team Cup and Team Challenge in a single year. Not an easy task for the Team Cup riders with the wealth of local A Subteams around, and certainly not a foregone conclusion either in the Team Challenge stakes with the competition thrown up by the region’s other Cat 4 Powerhouse team Merril Lynch.

Well the first part of the double was achieved this past Saturday thanks to tireless team work and a dynamite sprinter. The team of Ted Neu, Roger Freidman, Paul White, Jeff Kanter, Andrew Cohen and John Kuhn worked selflessly throughout the 7 laps of Central PArk to ensure every dangerous looking breakaway was brought back in time for Carl Roberts to drop our “Ace” off at Cats Paw. All this was done to perfection, despite the non-stop efforts of Merril Lynch to both form breakaways and nullify Ricky’s lead out train. Amazingly enough in the most important team race of the season Ricky was able to score his easiest victory yet - but was the first to point out there would have been no way he could have achieved the win without ALL of his team mates.

This victory was again only one piece of another fantastic weekend for all VisitBritain riders across a range of disciplines and states. At the Empire State Games Alex Gulla turned in an inspring set of performances against Cat 1/2 standard opposition. A 6th place in the Time Trial followed by a duplicate 6th place in the Road Race left many feeling Alex was destined to impress but perhaps not medal at these Games. Not the case, as on Saturday Alex showed skills not previously evident by taking a fantastic 3rd place Bronze medal in the Criterium. VisitBritain team-mate Leon Moser wasn’t far behind in 6th place. This was another stepping stone for Alex towards hopefully another jump up in class over the winter.

Elsewhere at Mount Holly Smilie Upton held his own against a truly National Class field - picking up 9th place against riders who week s previously had rubbed shoulders with Lance Armstrong in the Tour of Georgia. Smilie is really setting the roads alight this season, and hes only getting started ! Season long goal for the Kiwi has always been the Univest Grand Prix in September.

Sunday brought more podium spots at Prospect Park as Ken “Jens” Harris helped power a 2 man break away in the Cat 1,2,3 Field holding on nicely for 2nd spot. His best result in this category to date, whilst in the Cat 4 Race justice was finally seen to be done and “the best Cat 4 Rider never to have won a race” Roger Freidman finally shook off that title by outsprinting 2 breakaway companions and tasting the spoils of victory. In a role reversal from the previous day Ricky Lowe played the role of spoiler and did what he could to ensure Roger’s break was successful- and then rode out to take the field sprint. Yet another win in the bag - but be warned Roger - its VisitBritain tradition, once you win one race you have to then win 2 more in a row. Pressure is on to continue the trend started by Alex and Ken and recently extended by Ricky !