Morgan Stanley Smith Barney/Specialized Racing

Remember: Get Your Bikes for Tots Tix Today!

Remember, we'll be hosting the 2009 Bikes for Tots (spirited) ride and fantastic lobster dinner in the fabulous Napa Valley on October 17th 2009. Proceeds go towards a great charity for the region's needy children.

Join us and have fun, and do good. Just click on the "Bikes for Tots 2009" link on the upper left of this page.

Thanks!

Sweep at San Ardo

Team Morgan Stanley/Specialized/Team Spine had, you could say, a good day.

You could say that. You could also say it doesn't get much better than a winning sweep in the Masters 35+, 45+, and 55+ 1/2/3 categories.

Just saying.

Congrats!

Lyman Takes Second at Worlds!

Team Morgan Stanley/Specialized/Team Spine's Chris Lyman powered to a strong Silver Medal at the 2009 Masters World Championships! Thanks to all our fantastic sponsors. And note that in the race photo, Chris is actually on his Specialized TT bike; it's just so aero' to the wind that you can barely see it.

Here's Chris's report:

"Finished second, fourth fastest overall.  By comparison, Mike Olheiser elite national champ and masters AG champ) was two seconds faster. Third best time was one second faster than me. Jens out-classed us all by 20+ seconds. Feldman was roughly 30 seconds behind me.  Hard to think that 30.6 gets you second place, but that's how the competition is here.  My time (24:21) was about the same as Jens' time last year.

Really hot day, the winds turned around from what we were anticipating -- sounded like everyone struggled a little bit with the heat difficulty but still a very fast course. With a head wind out the plan was to go out a little bit harder and I mistakenly chased too many watts and paid the price. Lesson learned that next time I would dial it back and take what the body's giving instead of working to hit a number.Heat and elevation contributed to a tough day and sapped the energy.  Even though it was not going well, I hit the turn in approximately 12:30 so I thought maybe I had a shot. Managed to finish strong and covered in soupy combo of sweat, drool and likely other assorted bodily fluids. I rolled back to an area near the finish line with the time board and plenty of room to pace off energy (where was all that reserve on the course???). Had first place but with 20 people yet to come in I was far from ready to celebrate, as the fastest guys were still out on the course including Jens Volker who had the fastest time overall last year. One by one, people came in and you could see toil with times ranging from 25-29. Came right down to the very end with the final bunched together; just had a sense the winner was in there. Sure enough, Feldman came through 30 seconds back but Volker was right on his wheel with a time of 23:56. Fastest time of the day and the only person to go under 24.That night, after many beers and wine at dinner, I congratulated Jens before walking to the stage, and spoke again after the ceremony. I commended him on the incredible time. he responded in his German accent -  "I know Richard but I look you up on ze Internet and say "who iz dis man who come from the U.S. to race me?" 

We both laughed at that and traded a few German-US backslaps. I told him I'd hopefully see him next year to give him a run for his money. Very humble, nice, fast guy.

Epilogue: what a fantastic experience, beautiful venue and cherished opportunity to see and race in such an event. As a bonus, I learned that trophies make great biersteins and that a silver will hold just shy of 2 pints. Looking forward to 2010."

     

US Bicycling Hall of Fame Super Saturday

Trish Black for the Win, Chris Black for Third in Somerville NJ

This was a four corner criterium in Somerville with a small hill; uphill between turns 3 & 4, downhill between 1 & 2. Trish was up first today with the open women's field. There were 20 starters (there were 10 cat 4's who were picked separately). Trish rode smart and stayed near the front the entire race. She was sure to cover all of the attacks from Team Type 1 and let the TT1 riders close the gaps from other attackers. The race came down to a bunch sprint with TT1 setting up the leadout. Trish was smart and followed the two rider TT1 train; she popped out with 50 meters to go and pipped Monique Hanley (TT1) on the line for the win!

I was up next in the 45+ men's event. I sat near the front for the first lap and attacked on the hill on lap two. I was caught on the back straight but went again when Dirk Cowley (SBO) attacked on the hill. Dirk and I kept the gas on and were off the front in different groups for most of the race. Patrick Gellineau (Unattached) took a prime and kept going. There were two away but we caught them with two to go. Dirk set a high tempo but pulled off too early. I ended up second wheel when a Liberty Cycle guy went. He died on the back straight and Someone jumped on the left side. I went around on the right and the guy who jumped first swerved violently to the right, into my front wheel. I stayed up but it set me up for a crappy line into turn three. I hit a big pothole and heard a loud crack. I thought I flatted my front tire but was not sure. I sprinted hard up the hill and was first into the final turn. I was unsure about the pressure in my front tire so I backed off in the turn. I hit it again when I straightened out, but I slowed too much in the corner and two guys got by me in the sprint.

-- report by Chris Black

Get Ready for Bikes for Tots 2009

Remember to get your tickets now!

Join the Morgan Stanley Cycling team for our annual Bikes for Tots bike ride and amazing lobster dinner at the scenic Rutherford Grove Winery (http://www.rutherfordgrove.com/) of the Napa Valley on October 17th 2009..
The proceeds go towards purchasing new bikes for children in need for the holidays as well as funding promising  junior bike racers.     

The bike ride leaves Yountville's Washington Park at 9:30am. The two options include:
a 25 mile flat rolling  ride
a 60 mile rolling to hilly ride (challenging pace) ride with the fastest masters racers in the US along a surprise guest.

Party begins 3:30pm
Live music, silent and live auction
Amazing lobster dinner feast begins at 6pm

(To see the menu and images from a recent lobster dinner, click here)

Tickets are $75.00
includes the ride, & dinner party, lots of fun!
(the party is limited to 125 people and sells out -- so book early!)

How to book:
send a check to Trips For Kids, please include guest names.
1083 Mee Lane
St.Helena CA
94574
Att: Shawn Oliver   
Questions
shawn.oliver@morganstanley.com

Chris Lyman on National Win: "It Was a Team Effort"

Chris Phipps had a great road race and nearly pulled it off – so close. The course was probably too flat for him but still made 4th to bring home some hardware.  All Scott Cole needed was a lack of bad luck to be right in there too.

I had a few goals this season: Cat 1 upgrade, win a stage race and podium at others, and Districts. As my TT form came along all of a sudden nats snuck in the picture, and was bolstered by finishing 2nd (and very hung over) in the P-1-2 race at Dunlap, and then throwing down at Sattley to win the State Championship jersey. After comparing numbers and trading emails with Hutch I realized there’s a chance – albeit a very outside one since the 40-44 field was stacked: top three guys from last year’s 40-44 race plus 2nd in the 35-39, and of course Richard Feldman, the multiple world TT champ. Feldman notwithstanding, trying to go against that field with my 1.5-season bike racing career was a lot to chew on.

Phipps and I pre-rode the coarse Monday and I have to say there’s not a flat spot to be found. It’s either up or down with a lot of long rollers in between. Race day came early and we headed out to the staging area only to find out there was a one-hour delay, shortly followed by another one-hour delay. We kicked back under the Specialized crew’s phat Sprinter and shot the bull with Innes, Metcalfe and newly-crowned road champ Roemer. During our stay we got to talking about fast guys we each had to deal with and Innes emphatically told me about Feldman’s crazy palmares.

While thunderstorms were threatening, the weather turned out to be ideal for a TT: cloudy, breezy and only about 70, although the high humidity was a bit of an X-factor. Start time finally arrived and I took it out easy on the 4-5% 2kish climb that began right away. From there it was just get on the gas and drill it. The course was extremely unforgiving and ended with the downhill which would be a 70kph screamer. At the top I decided to get up on the horns to be cautions since I was riding a disk wheel and getting blown around, but after a quick glance at my computer I realized I’d go under 30, got in the horns and pointed it, pedaling my ass off. At about 1.5K to go I smashed it and held 430+ watts to the line. Crossed the line, heard the announcer boom “fastest time so far in 40-44 race”  and knew it would be close. 

Feldman and the other fastest guys started about 10 riders behind and I watched everyone come across. One after another the major players finished well back, and then here comes Feldman storming to the line. I kept looking from him to the clock. As he finished the clock (and nearly my heart) stopped at 29:42 – same as my time. Damn! Then the announcer gave his split - .56 back, and I knew it was in the bag.  Crazy, crazy crazy. Won by a blink – taping the cuffs on my skinsuit, a pedal stroke, smashing it down that hill.

Even though this was an individual race against the clock it was a team effort to win. Thanks to:
·         Phipps for convincing Brian and Shawn to put me on the team, and the two of them for taking a flyer on a rookie rider
·         Steve Archer for graciously giving up the Transition frame he’d ordered
·         Hutch, who shared a lot of insight and kicked me in the nuts when I needed it
·         John O’Donnell, a buddy I met racing from Washington state, who gave me a ridiculous amount of advice on position, component/gear choices and other TT knowledge
·         Jesse Moore, who coached me from a wonky triathlete to national champ in a little more than a season
·         And most importantly, my wife Carm, for putting up with the endless training days, weekends away from home racing, infinite amount of cycling dialogue, and many more things than there’s time to recount here

Thanks again everyone – I’m honored to have been able to get this for the team and make everyone’s contributions pay off.

Chris Lyman

LYMAN WINS NATIONAL TITLE

Chris Lyman brought home the first 2009 National Championship title for Morgan Stanley/Team Spine with hard-won victory in the M40-44 Time Trial. More details to come. Congrats, Chris!

Chasing Lance and Levi at the Nevada City Classic

Lyman Sets Best Time, Takes State TT Champ Title

Phenom Chris Lyman, racing in the Masters 40-44 division, set the best time of the day at the 2009 Northern California/Nevada Time Trial Championships, held  on 14 June in Sattley, NV. The course and altitude favored the locals but Chris dominated the race, finishing over half a minute ahead of Pro rider Paul Mach, and minutes ahead of competitors in his class. He finished the 40km course in a time of 49 minutes and 35.2 seconds.

Teammates Thomas Coulter and John Ford hit with a 1-2 punch in the Masters 45-44 class, and  Brian Fessenden and Paul Chuck rode to victory in the  Tandem Elite class.

Here's Chris's race report:

"The Northern Cal / Northern Nevada District championship was my first 40k TT, and the distance, combined with Sattley’s elevation of 5,000 ft, left a few question marks on pacing. Luckily Hutch straightened that out and put it all to rest with advice to “just smash it.”

With Jeff Angermann and Craig Roemer in my age group, I needed to be on it. The elite open field had its share of heavy hitters too: Paul Mach/Bissell; Phil Mooney from the reigning UC Davis national champion TTT squad; James Mattis, the national elite road race champion; Jesse Moore (my coach) and former teammate Josh Rennie among others.  It was stacking up to be a fast day. 

The weather was about perfect for the distance: sunny, low-60s at the start, light cross winds. The scenery around Sattley is also spectacular, with the course traveling through a beautiful wide-open alpine valley.

I started out a little too hot and paid the price within 10k but stayed on the gas to the turn and held up as best I could for the 20k return trip. After finishing, Buckley and I went for a spin and when we returned, results were posted. Needless to say I was shocked to have not only won the men 40-44 field but also post the fastest overall time of the day.

Upon arriving home I found my dogs were generally unimpressed with that morning’s effort. Taking solace in the fact that not much impresses them beyond food and chew bones, I did enjoy a nice bottle of bubbly with the wife as a brief celebration prior to setting sights on masters nationals. "

Joe Martin Stage Race

This race was on the way to the east coast and was in Velo News' edition of "Races You Have To Do." It was in Fayetteville Arkansas and the profiles looked very hilly. Luckily fro Trish and I, there were 50+ mens and 40+ women's categories. This was an NRC event and was four days for the Pro,1 men; 1,2 men; and 1,2 women. The other categories were three stages over two days. We both started with the same goal: make all of the time cuts to get into the criterium (final stage) and win it!

Stage 1; 2.5 mile 6.8 % hill climb TT:

Trish was off first and was shooting for something around 14 minutes. With 30 second start intervals, she caught and passed her minute woman (rider who started two places in front of her) and thought she was closing on her 30 second woman. Turns out that Trish's 30 second woman won the hill climb. Trish ended up surprising herself by finishing third.

I started behind an OKC Velo rider, who I had been told was going to win the whole thing. I had a great course report from Trish and was able to big ring the first third of the course. I knew I would blow up if I tried to make it all the way so I dropped it into the small ring and tried to settle into a rhythm. I still had my 30 second guy in sight as he passed his 30 second man. I went by my minute man and could see I was closing on the OKC rider with one kilometer to go. I went back into the big ring at 200 meters and gave it everything. I was pretty happy with the ride as I was sure I could not have gone any faster. I was pretty shocked later when I saw the results; tie for fourth, 34 seconds down on the leader!

Both Trish and I would not have made the time cut in the Pro fields by around 30 seconds.

Joe Martin Stage Race

Stage 2 Road Race:

This was a hilly course around Devil's Den State Park south of Fayetteville. Lucky for us, the start/ finish was across the street from our hotel! Trish was off first and was 46 seconds back on GC. The master women's field was combined with the women 3/4, picked separately. This increased he field size to around 35 women. It started to rain immediately after the start but just rained enough to make it miserable, then stopped. Trish made it over the toughest climbs with the lead group of 16 riders. This lead pack contained the top three master women. Then Trish flatted. She was able to get a wheel from the support vehicle, and chased back on to the second group. Trish did most of the work and pulled the group to within a few hundred meters of the leaders. She wasn't getting much help and they were never able to reconnect; they lost 2:20 by the finish. I took a little time for Trish to make the others realize they were all going to get the same time and that they were riding for GC. This made things a bit better but the 4th place master woman, Deborah Dunn (Tyson), who didn't contribute to the chase,  sprinted Trish at the line to take the final 5 second time bonus (she was 20 seconds behind Trish after the TT).  So Trish was fourth on the stage but lost GC due to a mishap. Bummer.

The 50+ started about an hour after the women's finish and we headed out with 19 riders. We hit the first climb and I was really suffering. The bunch seemed to stay all together but I wasn't looking back; I just was trying to hang on. I made it over the top (barely) as the attacks started flying on the downhill. We seemed to be all together when we hit the steepest climb of the day. It was hard, but no one really drilled it and I was able to hang on to the false flat at the top. We hit the next climb and a group of four went clear. This looked to be the move of the day so I put it in the big ring and went across. We were caught soon after the top. We had reduced the lead group to 10 guys. There were no real climbs left other than some small rollers that I could easily big ring. I covered everything and was in a couple of good moves, but nothing was sticking. These guys were going HARD! Finally I got frustrated and didn't follow when George Hagerty (Geri Atrix) attacked with Gary Ziegler (OKC Velo). Ziegler was the guy I was told to peg for the win before the TT. I had an opportunity to jump across, but didn't take it. The top six GC guys were in the bunch and I thought they would chase. I sat at the back and didn't help. We got real close, but no one would finish it off. The Geri Atrix & OKC Velo guys would attack every time the pace dropped a bit and this scared the four GC leaders. I went back up and started to pull like mad, but could only get help from Gary Calton (VeloTek). The others would not pull through; it was like they were blocking. Probably my fault for sitting on for about 5 miles. Heagerty took the win over Ziegler for the stage, and I took the bunch sprint for third (and a time bonus) over Tom Bain (Geri Atrix). Ziegler now had the overall lead, 13 seconds ahead of Heagerty. I was still in fifth, 32 seconds back. There was some change in the top five as there were several riders penalized 10 or 20 seconds for centerline violations. One interesting note: I was 4 seconds back of fourth place, Phil Sladek (Geri Atrix). Phil grew up in Santa Maria and his brother is the homeless guy we see riding around SLO on the black Cannondale MTB with the "Lefty" fork!

Joe Martin Stage Race

Stage 3 Criterium:

This was a tough Crit course! Lots of turns, 40+ mph downhill into a tight corner, long false flat uphill leading into a steep climb to the finish. 

Trish was up first and, due to yesterday's flat, was over two minutes back on GC; her only chance of winning GC would be to get away and put that much time into the two leaders. Time cuts had reduced the field to 7 riders. Pam Hinton (Mercy) took off from the gun and forced Trish to chase. Trish was vigilant and stayed in the lead group the entire race. The primes were for Jazz Apples so Trish didn't contest any of the sprints. With 4 laps to go Trish covered another attack by the GC leader. This resulted in the two of them riding away from the other two left in the lead group. Trish took the win and remained in third on GC behind Shari Woiwood (Bike Shack).

The weather had held so far, but the sky opened up just before the start of the 50+ race. Time cuts and the weather reduced the field to 13. Tom Bain (Geri Atrix) said he was just going to cruise and finish as he didn't want to go down. I rode the first lap on the front in order to set  the pace through the turns. I was immediately attacked on the start/finish hill by one of the OKC Velo riders. I closed the gap and settled in to the lead group of 8 riders. After a couple of laps I heard a crazy loud noise behind me. It turned out to be George Hagerty's (Geri Atrix) Mavic freehub. The added drag caused him to drop his chain repeatedly. He refused to stay at the back and gapped me a couple of times while he tried to get his chain back on. The bell rang for a two place prime (1st was cash) just past the halfway point.  Gary Ziegler (OKC Velo) went for it. I tried to time my jump on the hill. I was a couple of pedal strokes late and was second by inches. I stayed on the gas and we were away. I thought this was the race but was surprised when we were caught in the false flat. I hung out and waited for the field sprint. On the last lap, I moved forward on the false flat and hit the turn leading into the finish hill in fifth. I punched it around the outside and grabbed another gear. I blew past everyone, except Ziegler, who was almost able to match my speed. I took the win by a wheel and a half and the two of us had opened up a three second gap to Phil Sladek (Geri Atrix) who took third. The 10 second time bonus moved me up to third on GC, behind Ziegler & Hagerty.

A big thanks to the guys at Truvativ (SRAM) for setting me up with a prototype BB30 crank. The crank is incredibly stiff and, no doubt about it, really helped me use some big gears in this uphill sprint!