July News

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July 20, 2002

Leon does his job

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Super Domestique, Smilie

It was another beautiful summer morning in Central Park. Unlike last week's race the A field started at a somewhat leisurely pace and were almost caught at the end of the first lap by the B field. Honus Wagner lifted the pace with numerous attacks, but this time he was recognized despite his non-descript standard issue club jersey. Honus was heavily marked by the large and powerful Think Racing team which was not letting anything get away.

Knowing that Think Racing's happy New Zealander, Smilie, can single handily close any gap, some racers lost their spirit to attack. However, many others tried to get away only to see the strung-out field right behind, led by the yellow and black checkered clan.

Going into the sprint everyone was together and riders knew the script to this story very well, but some thought they could change the ending. Think Racing started their lead-out train around Tavern, Gap's Ray Diaz parked himself behind Think Racing's designated sprinter Leon Moser. Going down the hill Team Remax formed a small train trying to get their sprinter John Idone to the front. John jumped early on the right with Ray quickly deciding to follow that path, Leon jumped wide left. Although John had built a two bike length lead he faded quickly to see Leon then Ray pass him before the line. Metro/Sanchez's Chung Chiang and ReMax's Mihael Ginghina rounded off the top five.

July 13, 2002

Think Leon

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Leon Moser

The Renaissance juggernaut has been officially replaced by Think Racing. In the past few years team Renaissance dominated the club racing scenes with a large and powerful line up, now Think Racing has found the formula for success. With Renaissance's Kyoo Min chasing his entrepreneurial dreams, and Kevin Malloy losing his taste for racing after his ankle injury, these two riders have fallen down from the top of the big board as Think Racing's Leon Moser is slowly moving up to the number one spot.

Think's time trial specialist and super domestique Smilie attacked at the gun with ReMax's Mark Siega with a couple of CRCA riders in tow. The CRCA riders turned out to be a CRCA presidential candidate, and former Keith Herring Manger, Hounus Wagner (also known as Cubi), and his favorite junior (now an espoir riding for Harvard), Stu Gillespie. Cubi and Stu kept the hammer down with ReMax's manager Mihael Ginghina, and Renaissance's Chris Romero who bridged up while the gap was manageable. Chris could not hold the pace and was dropped before the completion of the first lap. The threesome worked well together with Stu and Cubi doing the lions share of the work.

With 25km remaining Metro/Sanchez's Chung Chiang attacked with Renaissance's Basil Moutsopoulos from the peloton. Hoping for a bit more firepower in the chase group and noticing a few riders attempting to bridge, they let up for a moment and soon the chase grew into five with the addition of Team Nutrition's Yann Blindert and Jacek Lewandowski and Think Racing's George Suter.

This is Basil

It was clear to the field that the escapees were not coming back on their own and Think Racing decided it was time to work. They put their big man, Smilie, at the front and caught the chase with 15km remaining. Think Racing motored on to bring the break back with 6km to go. Stu made a valiant attempt to hold off the field by riding solo a couple of miles longer, but the Think train formed bringing their long haired sprinter Leon Moser to the line, where all he had to do was win the race. Win he did.

RACE NOTES: Mihael Ginghina, (not known for his ability to break-away) "When I bridged up, I heard Cubi say to Stu 'OK. Good, Mark Siega is with us.' I thought, 'Boy! Are they going to be disappointed.'"

July 6, 2002

Wilson, King of the Hill

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Wilson already stripped down after the race

Mengoni's Wilson Vasquez, after many frustrating losses to Marty Nothstein, proved to be the King of Cat's Paw Hill by beating Nothstein in a field sprint to win the Lou Maltese Pro/1/2/3 event (70km). Almost a hundred competitors were present ensuring that it was going to be a fast race. Just as the race began two riders jumped away from the field, Ideal Tile's Pablo and CRCA/SBGC's Eugene Boronow. The peleton was more interested in warming up and let the two go. Only CRCA/Think Racing's Craig Upton and CRCA/ReMax's Chris Rozlidsky responded and chased.

Idling along at about 40.3kph, the field was soon caught by the junior/master field which started a little after the pro/1/2/3 field. Confusion arose through the peloton wondering about how the fields would be separated. But the pace picked up. After a few laps, the chase and breakaway were caught. Several other breakaway attempts were made, but were unsuccessful. On the last lap Mengoni moved to the front of the field and began their train on the Westside. Racers were jockeying for position behind them. Then a rider crashed at West 72nd street causing a massive pile-up. Only a third of the field managed to escape and hang onto the Mengoni train which continued to power along. Eventually Mengoni launched Wilson off at Cat's Paw Hill to take the win.

RACE NOTES:
Caught up in the confusion of combined fields, Mark Siega sprinted a lap earlier, but won the Junior race! Although Mark is the youngest rider on ReMax, he still isn't young enough to qualify as a junior.

Overheard in the back of the peloton in a conversation between two racers while climbing the 110th street hill: "Could we stop talking for a moment? I need to breathe."

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