Spring race season update
Great job to everyone over the last month!! Team BooKoo blasts the crit
circuit and scores some great placing in a couple of road races. 

MS Gran Prix
Hugh- RR - 8th; TT - 2nd; CR - 11th; Overall 10th 

Athens
35+ Doug P 1st
45+ Terry 2nd, Doug P 6th, Andeas 9th

Twilight
Doug P 7th, Jason 11th, Terry 12th

Roswell
35+ Doug P 2nd, Terry 6th, Andreas 9th
45+  Doug P 1st, Terry 2nd, Andreas 3rd
Cat3 Wael 9th

Cuba RR
Darrell- 1st cat4
Jeff C- 4th cat3
Sally- 2nd

Sunny King Crit
Michael 3rd, Ian 11th Cat 5
Elizabeth 1st Kelly 3rd, Brooke 4th, Maaike 8th
Darrell 1st cat 4
Doug P 2nd masters,
Terry 6th 2/3

Posted by Beth on May 16, 2007 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

jDon's Race Recap: Giro de Rankin
Though the start of the race came with a much delayed and unorganized time trial, the course was a short three mile downhill which allowed the team to place well and post some good times.  Darrell posted the best time around 6 minutes 15 seconds with a fourth place finish. Hugh and Shawn did well placing in the top 20; I ended up finishing 23rd with a time of 6 minutes 47 seconds.  Kelly and Elizabeth did a great job representing the team in the TT, with Elizabeth coming in (not positive though) second. The day continued with a delayed Road Race which turned out to be very interesting.  The course was rolling but the ridiculously rough roads and patchy pavement made for a tough 60 miles.  My race started early, within the first 15 miles when I inadvertently road off the front on the only significant uphill.  I was riding at a good rhythm up the hill when I looked back and saw the peloton behind by about 100 meters.  I was about to back
off and get back in when a kid from Memphis bridged up to me and wanted to work for a break.  He said others were coming so I figured why not; I felt strong and we put in a lot of effort over the next couple of miles.  We stayed together, out of sight of the peloton for the next lap and a half, at this point he said we were caught, I looked back and saw a couple of guys about 30 seconds back.  He dropped off as I maintained my rhythm thinking that if we were caught I would get pulled back in, but after a few minutes I looked back and was by myself.  I paced myself but continued my effort. Ultimately I ended up riding solo for the next 20 miles or so. When I eventually got caught by the peloton I had spent a total of 35 miles off the front and had about 18 to go.  My time out front gave Darrell time to relax as other teams chased, as a result he was able to counter an attack soon after I was caught.  A couple of guys went off the front, with the peloton putting in no great effort to chase.  Darrell maintained the break and took a decisive stage win, with me coming in with the sprint to take 12th. Sunday's crit was fast and flat it started with an early break instigated by Darrell and me. Four of us stayed out front for several laps until about 4 others bridged up to us.  I was struggling to maintain the pace and dropped
off the break about 20 minutes in.  Shawn was working hard in the chase group and I caught onto his wheel.  Shawn and I did a good job of blocking by not doing any work at the front but rather riding around third and fourth wheel.  Ultimately, with 3 laps to go we were lapped by the leaders which integrated into the front of the group.  The last 500 meters were a little sketchy but Darrell came in 7th of the guys in the break and I came in 8th finishing in the front of the chasers.  Darrell's effort in all three events gave him enough points to take the overall.  I came in 12th overall.  All together the team put in a lot of effort and received compliments from many of the teams on our ability to be a dangerously competitive factor in both the crit and the road race.  Hugh did a great job racing in his first cat 4 event, likewise Elisabeth demonstrated her talent by making the podium in each of her races and taking 2nd overall. All in all it was a tough weekend
of racing but we pulled it off.

Posted by Beth on May 16, 2007 1:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Race Calendar

The race calendar has been updated and links were added. Let me know if I missed anything.

Posted by Beth on May 17, 2007 9:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Roswell and Athens race reviews (by Maaike)

Saturday: Athens, W3/4 race, 8:45 AM
About 30 women rolled up to the start line Saturday morning on the 4-corner crit course a few blocks from downtown Athens, including Kelly and myself sporting BooKoo-BBC colors. Unfortunately Mike and I had hit traffic leaving Atlanta that morning, so I had only about 5 minutes of warm-up, resulting in a nauseated feeling about half way through the first lap, wondering why in the world I used to like doing crits... Luckily I could focus on Kelly's MedPlan-marked behind, and I hung on for about 15 minutes. It was supersketchy though, with scary turns, and a crash in the first lap did not remove that sinking feeling from my stomach that this was going to be a hard race. Luckily we both avoided the downed riders so no premature end of the race for us. After about 15 minutes the MedPlan advertisement could not prevent me dropping from the main pack, and after chasing the pack for about a lap and a half I gave up and started to slow-pedal. I got picked up by 2 other dropped riders, and we worked together to not get lapped, in which we succeeded (small silver lining right there). Kelly ended with the main pack and sprinted to 15th place, I got 22nd of the 25 riders that ultimately finished the race. Funny detail about the race was that Kelly did not realize I was behind here when she spit out some superfluous salive halfway through the race, hitting myself and my bike full on. She mumbled an apology, but I assured here that she only had covered her team mate in spit, so nothing to worry about, hahahaha!

Saturday: Athens, Men's 5 race, 2:00 PM
Mike's first crit! Sporting a BBC jersey graciously provided by Jeff (no more Sponge Bob :- )) he waited nervously for the starting signal in the midst of about 40-something guys, and got to the front quickly once they went on their way. He was in the top 5 or so in the first few laps, but then realized that it's much easier to be a bit more in the back of the pack, so he was able to recover some. He was able to hang with the main group, unlike at least half of the contestants, and finished strongly in about 15th place, despite looking more and more pale with each lap :-). It was a fast race, averaging about 25 mph, and was definitely a good experience.

Sunday: Roswell, W3/4 race, 12:45 PM
A beautiful day in historic downtown Roswell saw 3 BooKoo-clad women at the start: JC, Kelly and myself were going to represent the best energy drink and coolest bike shop in the US of A! Again about 30 riders at the start, and all three of us were able to wiggle ourselves to the front line of the line-up. This course had way smoother corners than the Athens crit, and it was a much better race with less sketchy riders. I actually had warmed up thoroughly for a change, and what a difference it makes! Granted, the pace wasn't as fast as in Athens, but it was still a dynamic race with multiple attacks that were all covered. Kelly and I were able to hang with the pack, and with 2 laps to go I told Kelly that I'd attack on the straight-away across the start-finish line, to string the pack out, wear the other girls out, and position her in a good spot for the final lap. Well, as soon as I said that they announced it was a preme lap, so I sighed 'so much for that idea' - of! course everybody was going to sprint the next lap, no chance of me attacking and getting away. Fortunately, I was actually in a good position when we came around the last corner, so I figured I might actually go for the preme. That didn't work (got 4th or so I think), but I was able to get to the front of the pack (be it with heart pounding in the chest and thinking to myself why the heck I need to be so aggressive), and when the actual finish came in sight I was able to sprint to 6th place. I was actually wondering why this was the case - with a sprint the lap before and not being in supershape this was a bit surprising result! Well, as it turned out, half the pack did not know we were on the last lap! Lots of bitching and moaning could be heard, but in Dutch we have a saying: 'if you're not strong you gotta be smart', so I guess I was smart enough in that race to pay attention to the signs with the number of laps to go :-)... Kelly raced strong and finished 15th (again: ! so consistent!), JC was able to finish and flash BooKoo-BBC colors for lots of photographers along the course, so way to go!

Posted by Beth on May 17, 2007 2:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunny King race review (by Maaike)
Saturday May 5th, Anniston, W3/4 race
That Saturday started with a drizzling rain, reducing the enthusiasm with which I was heading to Anniston, but luckily when we were about to start the race the skies had cleared and the pavement was actually pretty dry. We had 5 girls in the race, definitely dominating the 20 or so women that showed up. We actually had a tactical plan: Meridith, Kelly and myself were going to be on the front of the pack, attacking and/or controlling the pace, whereas we'd save Brooke and Elizabeth for the sprint. I was happy to hear that some of the strong racers in Athens and Roswell had catted up to a 2 and were going to play with the big girls in the afternoon: more chance for us to take control of the race.

The race started off horribly with a big crash in the field due to inept riders, resulting in Elizabeth going down and the rest of us thoroughly startled. Thanks to Jeff B. who'd put in his campy 10-speed wheels in the pit, Elizabeast was able to continue after her free lap, ignoring the road rash and what turned out to be a broken helmet. Brooke, Kelly and Elizabeth were able to sit in the pack whereas I was too afraid to be in the back since I figured I'd be blown off the back after a couple of turns. This unexpectedly resulted in me pulling a heck of a lot in the race, interpreted by competition and fans as 'dictating the pace', and 'attacking', hahaha! If they only knew it was all show... A lap before the end a girl named Whitney (I think) went off the front, but everybody was too pooped to chase, including myself. Luckily Elizabeth's fresh road-rashed legs served her well, and she easily bridged up to her, taking the win with 'two fingers in her nose' (pardon the Dutch expression). Brooke sprinted to 1st W4 place (we were scored separately), Kelly was 5th W3, I finished something like 8th W3 and Meridith completed the BooKoo triumph by finishing 4th in the W4 category. In the race we were also able to take some wonderful primes, including a lifetime supply of Utter Butter which is currently at my house...anyone in need of shining smooth buttocks is welcome to take some :-). Finally, this race report cannot be complete without mentioning the awesome cheers from the sidelines: there were so many BooKoo fans and friends that every lap we heard our names called out: it definitely lifted our spirits during the race: thank you all!

Posted by Beth on May 17, 2007 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Edgar Soto - Women's report (by Meridith)

Friday, Time Trial (6 miles): Elizabeth 10th Kelly 22nd Meridith 27th Brooke 31st
Saturday, Circuit Race (33 miles, AWFUL hills): Elizabeth 5th Brooke 21st Kelly 25th Meridith 26th
Sunday, Crit (40 mins around downtown Nashville): Elizabeth 6th Kelly 19th Brooke 22nd Meridith 28th
Monday, Road Race (58 miles, last 3miles a 6% grade, I think): Elizabeth 8th Brooke 18th Kelly 19th Meridith 22nd
Overall GC: Elizabeth 6th Kelly 18th Brooke 19th Meridith 23rd

There were 35 girls total, with Pro/1/2/3/4 racing all together. Elizabeth obviously kicked butt, and proved that she can hang (and beat) the Cat 2 ladies. The rest of us worked hard as well, and showed a respectable standing in the end. The race was very well put on, and we had a great time overall. I hope we get more gals out racing this year. BBC had the one of the largest teams, with only 4 gals, I can't imagine how well we'd do with the whole pack out there. The guys did great as well, with Darryl taking 7th in the Cat 3 GC (his first Cat 3 race...nice).

Posted by Beth on May 29, 2007 2:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)