Driveway Miniseries Pro Race Overall Winner

Congratulations to Colton for taking the overall this month at The Driveway Race Series with his field sprint win for 2nd Place last night. Drew spent the entire race off the front with Stefan Rothe of Team Hotel San Jose and held off most of the field for 8th. Thank you to The Driveway Series and all the sponsors for putting on such an awesome and unique event every week. This race really brings a lot to our daily lives here in Austin, TX.

Colton posing next to himself within the Holland Racing logo.

Jed, Joseph, Colton, and Drew enjoy the podium.

University Oaks Criterium 6/20

Drew Hill sprinting to second behing Andy Wilson and Colton Jarisch taking the field sprint for sixth after a late race 5-man break narrowly holds their lead to the line at the University Oaks Criterium.

OKC Rocks Crit Saturday

Jed Rogers takes the win by a massive margin on a vicious cross-head-wind finish around the capitol after a strong chase and lead-out by teammates Colton Jarisch (7th) and Drew Hill (11th). The teams ROL wheels flew great in the crosswinds and headwinds assisting Jed in his victory along with stellar coaching from Adam Mills at Source Endurance.

Tulsa Tough

Hot Alchemy Custom crit bikes on display. Halfway through the season and these bad-rigs have been a dream to rip through the city streets.
Toyota Sienna, tent in Pro-pit area set up at the corner of turn 1 Friday night. This spot on the race course gave the team maximum visibility from all angles in the single most crowded and busy part of the race course. This provided for multiple fan interactions and questions about all products being used by the team.


Friday night, towards the end of the race with 5 laps to go, Drew Hill's last effort attack stayed for 2.5laps. Being out on the front alone like this at the end of the race gave the team and sponsors maximum coverage through the big screen and television crews as well as the announcers. The team road well and walked away with a respectable 5th place out of over 100 racers with Sprinter Jed Rogers.

Victory at the Gary Glickman Crit

Victory: ATRA National CAT3 Omnium

I won the CAT 3 Omnium this past weekend at the Superdrome in Frisco, TX. Friday night was a slow start, but my legs came back 'round on Saturday and Sunday. Below is the video of the 8-Lap Scratch Race. I beat out Eric Attayi by a mere 3 pixels for the win.

Jed Rogers wins the CAT3 8 Lap Scratch Race at the ATRA Nationals from Toyota Cycling Team on Vimeo.

Drew Hill 3rd Overall at Grueling Hammerfest in Fort Davis, TX

Drew did a great job riding solo for Toyota / GCCA last weekend. Read below for his accounts of how the events unfolded.

Arrival
Friday morning 6:30am. I roll over taking a long spiteful glance at the bleeping and buzzing phone alarm next to me and resign myself to the fact that I have to get up and on the road for the very long day of driving ahead of me. Bikes; check. Food; check. Gear; check. Driving tunes; check. Fort Davis... ok.... here we go.

The drive out to Fort Davis is for some, a race and challenge in its own right. A few lonely country highways leading out to the endless drag of asphalt that is Interstate 10. The only saving grace once on this grand creation is it’s bendable 80mph speed limit that if utilized liberally can easily turn an 8hr trek into less than 7. I made it in under 6...

After calming down from the death metal and red bull once arriving in Fort Davis, I made my way to my housing at the Davis Mountains Education Center just on the outskirts of town. After unloading and organizing all of my gear, I kitted up for an hour or so spin up to the Prude Ranch for packet pick up and a chance to loosen up the legs after far too long in the car.

Upon arriving back at camp, I was informed by my fellow housing mates from Wooly Mammoth Cycling that we were indeed going to be graced by the presence of a true Native American mystic Shaman! (this had previously been discussed but neither confirmed nor denied) After a hearty dinner of well balanced veggies (courtesy of Wooly Mammoth Dinner Tyme) and some self provided meats I was very ready for some seriously awesome ancient magic. And oh how magic it was.....

I am not at liberty to discuss the inner workings of our truly epic ceremony other than to say that we were visited by multiple Eagle and Dragon spirits, given invisible healing treatments and for the finale were group hugged by a bunch of angels.... oh yes. There was much, much, more discussed and many more secrets divulged to us, but if I go on the government might try to sue or kill me..... according to our mystic shaman.

After my 2 or so hours of time spent in the spirit realm (and outside, in the cold, in shorts) myself as well as my legs were very ready for bed.

The Hill Climb
The first stage of the three in Fort Davis is a 16 mile hill climb with about 1.5k of 17-18% gradient up to the finish line at the top of the McDonald observatory. This is consistently one of the hardest things I have ever done on a bike, domestic or abroad.

After a chilly start of about 48 degrees or so things quickly started to warm up after we began to make our way up the slowly rising canyon to the true climbs. An early break of 3-4 went away early on containing 2 Cat 2 riders one of which I didn’t know. Having ridden this climb before I sat patiently knowing that the steeper longer grades would, in all likely-hood, bring the break back.

As the false flats and the lesser hills passed, nervous tension began to build approaching the first real hill. As some of the larger teams started setting a solid pace at the front I slowly worked my way forward, knowing that just after this climb there would be a perfect opportunity to move all the way to the front on a very short speedy down hill curve just before the second and longest climb. Just as we crested the climb I made my move forward and put myself into the top three with ease. Perfect. Now stay here....

Progressing up the climb of about 12-13% I was able to comfortably hold my position and cover small surges up to the next relatively flat portion. By this point, the breakaway had appeared to be shattered and we were the front group.

Approaching the final grade is a small false flat rise past a parking lot and then the final kick of around 18% for the last 1k or so. On this false flat is where I started to feel less than good. Maintaining my spot in the group was proving to be slightly tougher than 2min ago. As we hit the final slope I felt my legs leave and slowly slid off the pace of the top 6 riders. However, knowing the break was behind along with all of the other Cat 2 riders I continued to suffer up the grade to the finish. Yes. Got it.

No. Didn’t get it. A single remaining Cat 2 rider from the break had stayed away to the finish for 2nd overall in the climb and first in the Cat 2’s. 2nd place. That’s ok. Time Trial this afternoon.... and I’ll destroy it.

Time Trial
The time trial course is a simple 16mile out and back with a deceptively difficult constant rising false flat, out with a headwind or crosswind and an insanely fast return on the same slope with the wind.

There isn’t really a lot to say about time trials. Put on goofy wheels, goofy clothes, and a really goofy helmet. Warm up. Ride hard. Really hard. So hard that you want to puke. Then you’re done.

I started my time trail slightly slower than I would have normally to try and give my legs a little more time to warm up properly and get into a faster tempo. After that I really just settled into the pain and kept closing on the rider 30sec ahead of me. At the turnaround I knew I had to really shatter myself after saving some on the way up so I clicked my gears down to 55x11 (front ring x rear gear) and told myself that there was no other gear. Stay here.

In the last 3-4k I gave everything left I had, caught my 30sec man, and though I was going to die. Probably a good TT.

It was good enough for 2nd. 1st place was about :40 faster. That’s a lot. At this point I was now 2nd GC (general classification) by only 9 seconds. The guy that had won the hill climb was in third behind me by about 30 seconds. This was shaping up to be a tight race.

Road Race
Sunday’s road race is a 74 mile loop that begins on mostly flats and rolling hills for the first 30-40 miles, then is broken up into roughly 3 longer, harder climbs, and then finishes with a long descent down the previous hill climb course onto a flat run out to the finish line at the top of a short steep-ish hill.

Beginning the road race on Sunday I was only nervous about two things. One: the prospect of getting tagged by a stray lightning bolt in the middle of a desert rain storm. And two: The guy behind me in GC getting into a break and taking the 30seconds or so he needed to pass me in the classification..... I didn’t get hit by lightning.

The day started slightly wet but not raining and thankfully not too cold, only cool. As we made our way out through town and past the end of the neutral start things got under way with various break away attempts going off here and there. As nothing seemed to be sticking the pace slowed slightly which ultimately gave way to a small group of about 3-4 getting away up the road, none of whom were any real GC threat for either the Cat1’s or 2’s. However, the three riders that bridged up to the breakaway at some point that I missed were. Heath Blackgrove 1st GC Cat 1’s, Chad Haga 2nd GC Cat 1’s, and Fortunato Furraro..... 3rd place GC..... Cat 2’s. That one guy.

Not panicking, I made my way to the front and waited for the first real climb to see where the break would sit at that point. A consorted chase effort was being made by Metro VW who had missed the break and were trying in vain to move their top ranked GC rider (Christian Helmig) up the road to the move that looked to be sticking. At the approach of the first climb (Bear Mountain) the selection began and the pack quickly evaporated from roughly 50 or so riders to a front group of about 13-16 riders. The break was still up the road and was drifting in and out of sight. This was bad.

After the summit I began to work with the remaining Metro VW riders to bring back my one rival up the road but after a couple of evaluations of the group and who was present quickly realized that my work efforts would only end up tiring myself. Team Hotel San Jose had the majority of riders in the group who were all working for their man up the road and would do nothing but cover attacks and sit on while others chased. Also in our group was the Cat 2 GC leader Scott Simmons who, to his credit, did a very good job of hiding at the back, and it wasn’t even until the end of the race that I, and others, even knew that he was there.

Our group was set. We dropped a few riders over one or two of the climbs but overall maintained a steady pace that allowed for the three riders up the road to hold their gap until the end.

The finish of my race led me to believe that I had maintained 2nd GC and the Italian up the road had surely won from the large time splits that we had been receiving from the motor bike referees. This was not the case....

The Italian rider off the front had been dropped on the last descent and had finished just in front of our group..... and had bumped me from 2nd place GC..... by 4 seconds. Scott Simmons (also in our group) had as it turned out, held his lead by also.... 4seconds. Ouch. Radios would have been nice. 9 seconds to first and 5 seconds to second.

The Davis Mountains had never previously been “beautiful” or “enchanting” in my eyes, but this year they managed to catch my attention and really make my time on the bike there enjoyable. Pretty much one solid attack could have given me the win or taken me out of the race. All in all I tried to race smart and conservative and paid the price. A lesson learned for another race and another day. That’s what this is all about anyways right? Live and learn.

Big thank you’s to family, friends, team mates, and sponsors for everything from hugs and handshakes to bikes and bills. None of what we do would be possible without your help and support. And we like what we do!!!!! So thanks!!!

Until next podium, cheers.

Drew Hill

Toyota / GCCA & DCM Photography

We are proud to announce a new sponsor for the remainder of the 2010 racing season: DCM Photography. Dave McLaughlin is the man behind the lens, and if you've ever been to the Driveway Race Series in Austin, you may have browsed through all of his images the next day. However, photographing cycling is just one of his creative outlets—check out his portraits, wedding photos, and commercial work.

Main site: www.dcmphotography.com
Weddings & Portraits: www.dcmphotography.blogspot.com
Cycling: www.dcmcycling.blogspot.com
Commercial: www.dcmcommercial.blogspot.com

We will soon have a new GCCA website to showcase his talent. Stay tuned.

Alchemy Bikes, Rol Wheels, The Driveway, and DCM Photography

Here's a professionally shot photo of our new rigs by Dave McLaughlin of www.dcmphotography.com. Go buy a beautiful racing shot here or hire him for your wedding and show up here.

We'd like to thank Alchemy Bicycles and Rol Wheels for setting us up with these super light, insanely stiff, and extremely responsive crit machines. This recent Thursday was my first race on it at The Driveway Series here in Austin, and I sliced through the last chicane of riders to grab second place just inches behind Team Hotel San Jose's sprinter, Will Ross and in front of Jet Fuel's 2007 Canadian National Track Champion, Daniele DeFranceschi. I was not expecting to even finish the fast-paced crit due to all of my recent injuries, setbacks, and lack of training, much less get second. Check out the bike throw at the line here.

My boys, Drew Hill, Colton Jarisch, and Joseph LaFico played an awesome roll in chasing everything down and dragging the field to breakaways in order to keep the finish as a pack sprint. Colton even crashed, got back in, then drilled it towards the front to keep the pace high at the end.

Cheers to fast bikes with fast wheels on them and great teammates! This season is going to be a fun one!

Colton Jarisch in the Austin's American Statesman

Colton was featured in Austin360 today. Grab a copy inside the Austin American Statesman, or go here to read the article.

Colton and I have our new Alchemy bikes built up, complete with new Rol wheels. Joseph's and Drew's are being built as I type this.

Our sweet Alchemy paint jobs go great with our 2010 Toyota Venza. However, we're about to get a brand new 2011 Toyota Sienna. Be sure to come check out this sporty new van at the next race.

Colton's Pace Bend 5th Place Race Report

Photo courtesy of Tom Craddock

Pace Bend, a race notorious for not suiting a break-away, and ending in a dangerous bunch sprint. This wasn’t the case last weekend though. The morning started off with Joseph arriving at my apartment early Sunday morning. The lactic acid from the prior days tough race was tingling in my legs, along with the anxious hope in my chest at the thought of a podium finish in one of the state’s most well known races. After a fairly ordinary start, with a few moves unsuccessfully trying to get up the road, a group of ~10 guys rolled off the front. Having a ten second advantage on the filed, I decided to bridge to it, in the hopes of staying away. After a few reshuffles, dangling off the front of the peloton, Brant Speed (Team Hotel San Jose), Thacker Reeves (Garmin Transitions), and myself decided to “pull a fast one” on the chasers and put in a few strong digs. Around mile 15 of the 80 mile race and working hard together with our partners for the day (including representatives from Bike Barn, AT&T, Austin Bikes, Metro VW, Velossimo, and ALS-C3) the break got some momentum and eventually put in 5 minutes time to the chasing peloton. Around mile 60, only 7 of the original 12 men were left. With 12 miles left in the race Ryan McFeely (Team ALS-C3) attacked with Brant Speed following. Thacker, David Arteaga (Velossimo), and I stared at each other a little too long trying to make the others bridge the gap. The move worked, leaving the race for third between the three of us and Andrew Gonzales (Metro VW). I attacked through the feed zone with ~4 miles to go and shed Andrew, leaving only Thacker and David to contest against. After slew of attacks, counters, and cat and mouse tactics, Thacker jumped 2km from the finish. He was brought back by David and I countered. Eventually getting brought back and pinned in front of my two break away companions, forced to lead out the sprint. Thacker ended up taking 3rd and David 4th, leaving me with 5th place the 2010 addition of Pace Bend. My data file can be found at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/25483636

Congrats, Colton!

The Drew Hill/Joseph LaFico train did their best to deliver Colton Jarisch as close to the front as possible on the last lap of the Kenny Hill Autowerks Spring Classic at Driveway Austin. Colton then proceeded to go around a bunch of riders and sprint his way to 4th for some well-earned upgrade points and a few greens. He finished along side top sprinters, Josh Carter, Alan Ting, and Will Ross. Congrats, team—very well done!

Welcome to the Team!

We are proud to announce yet another addition to our Elite Team—Drew Hill. Welcome, Drew. We're all excited to see what this multi-faceted squad will do this year.

Welcome to the Team!

Toyota / Cycling Team presented by GCCA is proud to announce the addition of Colton Jarisch to the Elite Team. Colton comes from Victoria, TX and is currently pursuing degrees in International Business and Finance from St. Edward's University here in Austin. He started racing road bikes only three years ago and has moved up through the categories quickly. Last year he placed well at the U23 Nationals and Tulsa Tough and had many strong rides and finishes in Texas. Colton has a ton of drive and passion and we are very excited to see what the 2010 season will present to him. Welcome to the team, Colton.