Harvest Moon Crit is on!!!

Contrary to what the Utah Cycling Assoc. website says, the Harvest Moon Crit on Spet 26th in downtown Ogden is back on! The previous promoter decided he did not want to do the event anymore so I have picked up the pieces and put the event back on. All the logitics and infrastructure is in place and the US Cycling permit is pending. We'll have prizes, medals and $1000 in primes! Stay tuned for more details.

Also, good luck to everyone doing LOTOJA this weekend! Ride hard and be safe!

Finishing Strong

As the season winds down, Team Excelerator p/b Pinnacle Auto Company is still in high gear. Crazy hard races, team time trials, charity rides and gearing up for LOTOJA are just a few things we've been up to.

Jerald Olsen once again tackled the insanely difficult RANATAD, the race around Nebo and Timpanogos in a day. The combination of mileage, heat and 12,000 feet of climbing make this race a doozy. Jerald improved on his time and placing over last year, but it took some creativity to get there. See, Jerald broke some spokes during one of the descents. With no chance of dropping out, he scooted bike to the nearest shop along the race course and they repaired it for him! He climbed back into the route and finished 25th out of 85 riders! The guy's a mountain goat and nothing can stop him!

Kevan, Todd, Blake, Jim, Chad and I all contested the 111 mile ULCER Team TT. The weather felt more like November than August. It was cold! Having the max 6 rider line up was a huge benefit this year and we were able to create quite the draft on the first half of the course. Kevan, Todd and Blake peeled off for the duration leaving me, Chad and Jim to bring it home. I wish I could say I was a huge contributor to the effort, but this was all Chad Holmes! His pulls were wicked strong and he never showed any sign of letting up. The headwind was fierce! Jim, having just completed the 170 mile Tour of Park City and me, having put in intense miles but not long miles this year, really limped to the finish. When we cross the line, we did so in 5 hrs 17 minutes, good enough for 7th place. I have yet to see the full results, but that time beat all the other classes winers, so we feel good about what we accomplished. Looking forward to next year!

Our ladies continued their strong rides as well. Jaqueline Mason rode her goal time in the 60 mile edition of the ULCER. She has been busy this summer riding the Tour of Riverton and will ride the Legacy Parkway ride in Seprember. Keep up the good work Jaqueline!

We also had Todd and Blake riding in the 1000 Warriors ride. This is a charity ride supporting military families that runs along the "queen stage" of the Tour of Utah. It finishes with the grueling 10 mile Snowbird Hillclimb. The race suffered a terrible accident in the beginning as one rider went through the rear window of a lead car. Todd and Blake weren't involved, but we hate to hear of things like
that! Todd was feeling some knee pain and decided to call it early. He needs those knees for LOTOJA. Blake finsihed strong however and it was all for a good cause!

Up next is LOTOJA then a season ending crit at the U of U. We have Todd, Blake, Greg and Jerlad all racing Cat 5 this year for the whole 206 miles. Kevan, Targhee, Cory, Tim and I will once again take on the relay, hoping to improve on our 16 place out of 50 from last year. Rob and Rhonda will also do some marital therapy in the 2 person relay. Good luck to everyone! This is what most of us train all year for!

Team Update: The women ride, crits and more!

It has been an exciting summer so far for Team Excelerator p/b Pinnacle Auto Company. While the hillclimb took up a lot of time and attention, team riders have been busy riding and racing.

Two of our ladies rode in the Little Red Riding Hood tour in June. Derai Paul and Emily Price enjoyed brisk but pleasant weather in Logan. Over 2500 women participated in total. Emily rode the 36 mile option while Derai pushed herself hard to complete the 45 mile option. Derai is riding this year after dusting off her bike. She last rode regularly 16 years ago! She's been getting back into things this year and has already put her goal time for next year on her to do list. We had the team car there to support and there were plenty of families around as well. This female only ride benefits breast cancer research and it was a great day for all involved. Great job ladies!

The Ogden Cash Crits have been well attended by TE riders as well. Ben Towery was successful in not only finding someone to watch his daughter so he could race but put one in the W column for TE as well, winning a prime 2 weeks ago and then taking 3rd in last nights final crit. He missed 2nd by a tire width! Check out the photos on http://www.jossiephoto.com/. Ben also finished a respectable 13th in the Chalk Creek Road Race last weekend. This was the race where he crashed last year, so it was nice to get that monkey off his back.

Coming up for TE is the ULCER Team TT. Ben, Kevan and Jim took 7th out of 22 last year in this event. This year the team is stacked with these 3 being joined by Chad Holmes, Todd Anderson and Blake Mason. The goal is to break the 5 hour barrier for the 111 mile race. And our resident mountain goat, Jerald Olsen, will once again tackle the RANATAD, the Race Around Nebo and Timpanogos is a Day. Good luck to all!!

And finally, The local outdoor TV show, At Your Leisure, aired and excellent piece on the Powder Mountain Hillclimb. If you didn't catch the show, here's a link to the clip:
http://www.atyourleisure.info/episodes.asp?season=7&episode=47&category=4

Powder Mountain Hillclimb p/b Diamond Peak Mountain Sports

Eden, UT - The first ever Powder Mountain Hillclimb, presented by Diamond Peak Mountain Sports, was held this past weekend in the Ogden Valley. The road bicycle race, organized by Team Excelerator, attracted weekend warriors and elite riders alike. 50 cyclists lined up on SR 158 to tackle one of the toughest bicycle climbs in the west. Chris Hong, a rider for the elite Bob’s Bicycles team, said that this was one of the toughest races he’s ever done. Chris was using this race to tune up for the Tour of Utah which runs in August. He finished first in the Men’s Pro/Cat 1/2 division and third overall.

The battle for the fastest time to the top, an almost 6 mile, 3300 ft slog up to Powder Mountain Resort from Wolf Creek Utah, was fast and furious for the best climbers. 15 year old Keegan Swenson of Cole Sport, Nathan Cisney from Rooster’s Brewing Co. and Hong were absolutely railing it up the road. Hong attacked Swenson and was able to gap a bit, but Swenson’s steady tempo proved too much and Hong was eventually overtaken. It was then Swenson and Cisney who battled it out for top honors. In the last grueling mile Cisney wasa bale to pull ahead and finish in a standard setting time of 41 min 20 sec taking the overall and 1st in the Men’s Cat 5 division. Swenson was only 30 seconds back good enough for second overall and 1st in the Men’s Cat 4 class. Hong crossed the finish line 2 min 9 sec back.

Everyone who finished this race can consider themselves winners, says event

promoter, Ben Towery of Team Excelerator (shown here rockin' out). He was very pleased with the turnout and the quality of the riders who competed. The weather was absolutely perfect and the difficulty of the ride was countered by the beauty of the Ogden Valley.

Team Excelerator p/b Pinnacle Auto Company was well represented with 9 riders. Jerald Olsen, Kevan Steed, Greg Stuart, Kirk Johnson, Cub Newton, Mike Christoperson, Todd Anderson, Blake Mason and old friend Jim Gilland. All put in an outstanding effort and we thank them for representing the team well!

A very special thanks goes out to the sponsors of the race: Diamond Peak Mountain Sports, Rooster’s Brewing Co., Peregrine Health, Powder Mountain, Wolf Creek Utah and EBSI Websites.

Full event category winners:

Overall: Nathan Cisney (shown below right)

Men Pro/Cat 1 /2: Christopher Hong
Jr. 10-18: Kyle Wright
Men Cat 3: Manny Cypers
Men Cat 4: Keegan Swenson
Women Cat 4: Lisa White
Men Cat 5: Nathan Cisney
Male Masters 55+: Shannon Storrud
Male Masters 45+: Todd Flitton
Female Masters 35+: Vicky Nielson
Male Masters 35+: Dan Minert

Team Update

Team Excelerator p/b Pinnacle Auto Company is in high gear as the season moves forward. As you can see, our presenting sponsor, Pinnacle Auto Company has outfitted the team with a sweet Jaguar team car! Matrix Signs did an awesome job on the graphics as well! Look for the car at events around the states and of course when you take a trip to Lehi to shop for a car!

Two of our ladies will be riding the Little Red Riding Hood tour this weekend. Emily Price and Derai Paul will be in Logan to participate in one of the biggest women only rides around. Good luck to them both! We'll be there to cheer them on. On June 13th, look for TE to contest the Utah State Road Race Championships during the Little Mountain Road Race in Logan as well. Kirk and Marcy Johnson will also be riding on June 13th to support the fight against diabetes in the Tour de Cure in Brigham city.

And, as you can see from the pic below, TE doesn't just ride on the road. We have triathletes, mountain bikers and cyclocrossers as well. This is Rob Perkins, owner of one of our sposnors, Peregrine Health, running in the St. George Tri. We have some talented and dedicated athletes and we're proud to support them all.

Utah State Crit Champs and Bear Lake Classic

Team Excelerator p/b Pinnacle Auto Company's racing season is in full swing. This past 2 weeks has seen TE racers in the Utah State Criterium Championships and the Bear Lake Classic.

Kevan and Ben took it on the chin in the Cat 4 crit champs in downtown Salt Lake City. These 2 guys made the jump from Cat 5 to Cat 4 this year and are learning quite a bit about racing and the kind of fitness needed to compete at the next level. It looks like it will take some time to get their legs under them, but they're putting up a great effort. To fulfill the goal of at least being with the lead groups, Kevan and Ben have significantly increased their training intensity. No longer will just getting out to ride suffice, so training has become more technical and focused. The next race these 2 will be June 13th for the Utah State Road Racing Championships at Little Mountain.

Jerald Olsen contested the Bear Lake Classic and notched TE's best result of the season so far. Jerald contested a group sprint for the finish of the 50 mile lap of Bear Lake and came in 15th out of 50 riders. The finish was close as he was mere seconds off the podium. Jerald has seen continual improvement over the last 2 years and he really deserved this great result. Kevan was registered for the event but came down with pneumonia. He's assured us he hasn't been kissing any pigs, so H1N1 isn't the worry.

You'll see TE riders at the RMR crits and the Cash Crits in Ogden starting in June. Good luck to all!

East Canyon and Antelope Island Road Races

The past 2 weekends have seen TE riders in the East Canyon Road Race and Antelope Island Classic. Both races provided a great early season challenge for our riders. Of the last 7 weekends in Utah, only one has been sunny and dry. Niether of these races fell on that weekend and what were already tough races were made even tougher with cold, wind and rain.

Jerald Olsen was the lone TE rep at East Canyon. The race starts with a brutal, steep climb. It tends to seprate the group. Even with an injured back, Jerald attacked the hill with strength and held on the rest of the race to finish his first race of the season strong. Jerlad travels a lot for work, but takes his bike wherever he goes. I'm sure he puts more miles under his tires than anyone else on the team.

Kevan Steed, Greg Stuart, Todd Anderson, Blake Mason and Ben Towery all tackled the Antelope Island Classic out on the Great Salt Lake. Conditions were nothing less than epic with rain falling steadily almost the entire race.

For Kevan and Ben, who are racing up one class from last year as Cat 4's, the race was eye opening. This is a super competitive group with strong weekend warriors and aspiring prod alike. The race started on the causeway and the leaders set a blistering pace of 28 mph. With spray from the tires, finding a good line to draft was difficult. We were soaked instantly.

Once on the island, we did 3 laps of the inner loop then took a 10 out and back to the south end of Antelope. It was here that all involved needed to prove their metal. Ben and Kevan took turns pulling each other ro finish near mid pack, which was the goal for this first race.

Todd, Blake and Greg all contested the Cat 5 class in the same brutal conditions. Greg and Todd both suffered flats but got back on the horse and finished strong. I think most everyone involved were happy to have that race over with. Our clothes were balck and soaked and it took quite a while to get warm. Congrats to all involved.

Next up is the Utah State Crit Champs in downtown SLC. TE shines in the crits and we have high expectations. Hopefully our training lives up to that!

RMR Crits

The racing season is now in full swing. Jerald Olsen will be representing the team at the East Canyon Road Race this weekend and we'll have no less than 6 racers at the Antelope Island Classic on May 2nd. Kevan Steed, Todd Anderson and Blake Mason have also been taking part in the weekly crit series out at Rocky Mountain Raceway. Here's Kevan report from last night:

"The race was fast and furious last night.

"They made some modification to the coarse. Only using the top or East half of the ¼ mile track and weaving in and out of the pit area. It was fun and exciting. A and B Flites were extremely fast and I was getting nervous. I arrived early enough to run through the coarse to get comfortable with it, noticing where the hazards are and the good spots to break. Blake and Todd arrived after the As & Bs were racing so they didn’t get to run the coarse, which I feel is a disadvantage.

"We lined up and I would say there were easily 45-50 racers in the C Flite. The first lap was neutral for those who didn’t get practice runs in, then it was off to the races. No one broke away at first, but the tempo increased with every turn. My only advice was to ‘not get dropped’. This coarse strings you out, most of the time in a single pace line. If you lose the wheel in front of you, you’re on your own. Which is what happened with Blake & Todd.

"My goal was to stay with the lead group, and for the most part I stayed top 10-15. When the call rang out with “3 laps to go”, I found myself in a small group of 5 off of the front and my HR at 180. Not knowing how much longer I could hold on, unfortunate or not, a few others were able to join us, which allowed me to slip in behind and recover. Just before that, I was sad to see that we were coming up on a familiar jersey, and ended up lapping Todd. With words of encouragement to my teammate, I desperately struggled to hang on to this lead group. As we entered the straightaway towards the finish line and having counted how many were in front, sprinting my guts out and making sure no one was going to pass me in a spread out finish, I found myself taking 10th place.

"Realizing afterwards how strung out the race was and 3 or 4 groups that were created and actually lapping others, I feel pretty good that I stayed in the 1st group and actually had a top 10 finish. For the first timers (Blake & Todd) not counting the oval, which I feel is a completely different race, I think they did great and most importantly learned a lot. They are anxious to do it again."

Thanks Kevan! And good luck next week!

Velo Vie Vitesse 300 SE review

For 2009 Team Excelerator p/b Pinnacle Auto Company has added an exciting group of industry partners: Velo Vie Bicyles and SRAM. Thanks to our shop, The Bike Shoppe in Ogden, UT, Jerald and I have been able to take advantage of the sweet opportunity to ride SRAM equipped Velo Vie Vitesse 300 SE bikes this year. Kevan will also be building up the "team bike" very soon. I have had about 2 weeks on the bike so far and I thought I'd write a little review.

When the frameset arrived on my doorstep I was amazed at how light the package was. After taking the new steed from the box it was quickly noticed that the box and packaging weighted more than the frameset! This thing is wicked light. I was also impressed at how sexy the bike is. My mouth was watering to get the thing built and get it out on the road. I felt like a kid at Christmas.

For budget reasons, I went with SRAM's Rival groupset. SRAM doesn't make anything low end, and Rival is no exception. You get plenty of carbon and sexy black componentry in a package that weighs less than Shimano Ultegra SL but comes in at a price slightly below. Jerald's bike is equipped with SRAM's top end Red, but Rival has benefited from some trickle down tech from Red. Many pro teams actually spec Rival parts for their rigs. Bontrager Race Lite wheels, Race Lite handle bars, Race X Lite stem and Race X Lite seatpost round out the spec on my bike and is how Kevan's will be equipped as well. My bike weighs in at a respectable 16.5 lbs with pedals and bottle cages. Jerald's Red equipped bike comes in just under 15 lbs. with Reynolds carbon wheels.

Nate Folger at The Bike Shoppe built up the bike with incredible attention to detail and the bike was dialed from the first pedal. "Pleasantly surprised" was his reaction to the finished product. Kudos to Nate for his mad building skills!

The finished bike is striking to look at. The in-your-face graphics scream "this is a race bike" and the ride matches the message. From first pedal, I could tell this was no beach cruiser. It is stiff, very stiff. And according to Velo Vie's marketing, it is unabashedly so. Why such a stiff bike? Well, its built from ultra high modulus carbon in order to have every available watt of power to be put down on the road, where it should be. All this stiffness rewards the rider with a ride that is fast, very, very fast. This is a true to the core race bike.

The sensation is hard to describe. I came from a relatively high end aluminum frame to this bike and I could tell instantly the difference. The Vitesse 300 SE is such an upgrade, I feel like I may have unfair advantage. It's now up to me to make sure I have a motor in good enough shape to be worthy of such a thoroughbred. I have been able to hammer a bit and the bike reacts with excellent quickness. With every pedal stroke I can really feel the power being put down. Nothing is lost in the frame and fork. I love the feeling of speed and responsiveness with this bike.

The SRAM drive train is also impressive. The shifting is quick and deliberate. I also like the minimalist carbon lever set up. All the cable housings are run under the bar tape for a clean and aero cockpit. The hollow cranks are plenty stiff and there's nothing cooler than black colored stuff.

I'm super stoked about my new rig this year. I'll be focusing on crit racing this summer and I think I have the right tool for the job. Thanks to Velo Vie, SRAM and The Bike Shoppe for getting Team Excelerator p/b Pinnacle Auto Company race ready for 2009!

2009 Jersey Revealed

Here's a snap shot of what you'll see Team Excelerator p/b Pinnacle Auto Company wearing this year. Thanks again to all our sponsors!


A big shout out to David Bunnell of Bunnell Concepts for creating the jersey. You rock, Dave!

Team Excelerator p/b Pinnacle Auto Company 2009

Our inaugural year was nothing short of a huge success! Here's a brief summary:

4 riders moved up in racing category.
A few of us raced for the very first time.
Our founding female member completed her first century.
22 top 10 finishes.
11 podiums.
4 wins.
3 crashes.
1 photo with Miss Utah (see below).

Because of this, we head into 2009 with even bigger goals. We lost a few riders but have gained even more and we have even more depth this year. We have a group of 4 women now. We have added key financial partners and industry sponsors. We have adopted a bike trail in Davis County and will be hosting a hillclimb this summer boasting the highest finish of any road race in Utah.

Keep an eye out for Team Excelerator presented by Pinnacle Auto Group!

A special thanks to our sponsors: Pinnacle Auto Company, Peregrine Health, Price Orthodontics, Vitality Nutrition, The Bike Shoppe, Velo Vie Bicycles, SRAM, Bunnell Concepts, Best Impressions Photography, Matrix Signs and World Bicycle Relief.