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2008 Race Reports
Jason Miller's 24 Hours of Clear Springs 2008 Race Report
photo by Amy Morvant
Hurricanes disrupted the road bike season and most folk’s training in LA and MS in 2008. It also caused enough damage to the Homochitto Forest in Mississippi that the 24 Hours of Clear Springs (24HOCS) mountain bike race was all but cancelled as late as the end of September. With a huge effort from Brian Coleman, the race organizer with msmtb.org, as well as the US Forest Service the event was back on as of the beginning of October and my “racing” season would be extended for one more event. I would join fellow SEECA / New Orleans Fish House racer Rusty Bernard on Team Buckwheat along with Branden Morvant and Nick Burckel both from New Orleans Bike Club.
Last year’s 24HOCS was my first MTB race so in 2007 I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting into. This year I knew and agreed to race anyway. This may be a possible reflection on my judgment skills but more likely the great work Brian does with the race and the fun I had racing with Rusty and Branden last year. They were both a go for the race from the start. Although I was probably less enthusiastic from the being a little out of shape, I was onboard as well. The problem we had was finding a fourth rider for the team.
Nick is a good MTB rider and wanted to do the race so Team Buckwheat was complete. The only hitch was Nick’s son was having his birthday party Saturday afternoon. He wouldn’t make it up to Clear Springs until around 7PM so we would have to use just three riders until then.
(read the full report)
Jason Miller's 2008 Rocktoberfest Criterium Race Report
Jason waves for a stray car to move
| NOBC’s Rocktoberfest race has always marked the end of a long racing season that starts way back in February. It would be the last road race for me again this year, even though the district individual time trial has been pushed back to the end of October due to Hurricanes Gustov and Ike. There was talk of having the Rocktoberfest race back on the New Orleans lakefront but I suppose those plans were complicated by the storms as well. Instead, the event moved back to the St James office park in Kenner which isn’t too bad although there were definitely some less than ideal sections of road. The Masters race had about twenty riders including five racing for our SEECA / New Orleans Fish House team – Jaro Jurenka, Jay Scheib, Mark Graffagnini, Robert Santopadre and me. The field definitely had some muscle with Tim Regan and Woody Boudreaux racing for Herring Gas and the Jeep team with three riders including Donald Davis and Destry LeBrun. Peake also had three racers as did the Tristar team from MS.
(read the full story)
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Jason Miller's Giro de Rankin 2008 Race Report
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My feet are soaking wet as I walk through ankle deep water in a driving rain at a Jackson, MS hotel. I am heading to the Giro de Rankin road race and am not alone as Jaro, Mark and Robert will be racing for our SEECA / New Orleans Fish House team as well. The recent hurricanes have caused a shift in priorities so counts will likely be low for this event and I am a little surprised that we were able to get four guys up for the race. The heavy thunderstorms won’t help increase turnout either. Saturday’s road race is a 14.5 mile circuit east of Jackson. We do four laps on the circuit and each lap includes a King of the Mountain (KoM) omnium bonus of 5 points to the first rider up something called Ware Hill. The thunder storms have moved on but it is still raining and the roads are holding water as we start the race. The field is small at about 20 riders with mostly individuals except for the Jeep team which has four riders as well. (continue reading the rest of the report)
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Jason Miller's 2008 Meridian / Cuba Challenge Race Report
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As we move into the final stretch of the racing season, we finally have most of the team healthy and able to race. For the Meridian / Cuba Challenge event our SEEECA / New Orleans Fish House team would field six racers – Charlie, Heath, Jay, Jaro, Mark and me. Saturday afternoon is the criterium in downtown Meridian, MS and Sunday morning is the road race on a tough course in Cuba, AL.
I wasn’t able to attend this race last year but the previous year it kicked my butt. I ended up on a hay bale during the criterium and fell off the back of the pack during the road race before fighting to get back on. I was definitely hoping for a better result this year.
There were about forty riders in a strong Masters race that included 35+ and 45+ categories as well as three riders in the 55+ group. There were quite a few teams in the race including us, Jeep, Alabama Masters and Herring Gas as well as a host of individuals from various teams. (read the rest)
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Jason Miller's 2008 Vuelta de Acadian Stage Race Report
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The Vuelta de Acadiana is a new stage race for 2008 promoted by the Precision Bike team in Lafayette, LA. Lafayette is a place with some of the best food and people in the country and I am always looking for an excuse to go there (although I admit I am a little biased since that’s where I grew up). Mark and Heath are the only other riders besides me racing for the SEECA / New Orleans Fish House team. It seems like vacation time for quite a few of the other guys.
The first stage is a 48 mile road race on dead flat roads through cane fields around St Martinville. These were the same roads I would ride while staying in Lafayette following Katrina. The Masters field is a little light with just 17 riders. Fortunately for Precision Bike, it looked like other fields were pretty good size as I am sure it is not inexpensive to put on this race.
We start our race and things stay pretty much together for the first lap. There are a few folks who drift off the front now and then but not anything that stays away very long. The Jeep team is here in force with seven riders but the rest of the field is made up of mostly individuals.
(read the rest)
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Jason Miller's 2008 District Criterium Race Report
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| Jay Scheib riding past the Museum of Art |
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The New Orleans Museum of Art would again serve as the back drop for the District Criterium Championship promoted by our very own SEECA / New Orleans Fish House team. The total riders increased by over a third this year which is great since proceeds benefit the City Park and Museum in the effort to recover from Hurricane Katrina.
The one mile course through the park around the museum continues to be a favorite with an additional technical turn added to the route this year making it even more of a challenge. As in the past, the team was pretty busy right up to the start of our Master’s race so there wasn’t a lot of tactical planning time before the event. Fortunately, all in the race, which included Charlie, Heath, Jaro, Jay, Mark and me, had a good idea of what to expect.
(read the full race report)
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Jason Miller's 2008 Tour de Louisiane Stage Race Report
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Although the Women’s and Senior categories were quite large this year, the Master’s field was surprising small at around twenty riders for the Tour de LA stage race promoted by The New Orleans Bike Club. Our SEECA / New Orleans Fish House team had six riders in the race as did the Jeep team. Charlie, Heath, Jay, Mark, Rusty and me would be doing the event. Jerry and Jaro are still out with due to schedule problems and injuries. Rusty was finally back racing after an extended battle with a nagging cough.
I continue to not be a fan of the time trial which is the first event for the TdL. The only redeeming point for me is that at least this is a fairly short one at 3 miles and there was little wind. I finished about mid-pack again in seventh place 22 seconds behind Larry Carbonneau with the Jeep team. Mark finished one second behind Larry to take second place and Jay was thirteen seconds back to finish 4th. Charlie finished just ahead of me and Rusty was right behind me with Heath a little further down.
(read the rest of the report)
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Jason Miller's 2008 District Road Race Report
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| Photo by Randy Legeai |
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2007 was a great racing season filled with excellent results for our SEECA / New Orleans Fish House team. The only real regret I had was our poor performance in the District Road Race Championships in Natchez, MS. We had a few people who had been sick and other who quickly felt that way after a few laps in the summer heat. I seemed to constantly be in the wrong place when the big breaks formed and just watched them move away. When we were discussing the race calendar early this year, this event was one I wanted to focus on for a better showing.
As things turned out, we were going to be a little thin for this event. Jaro is still not back to racing shape following a crash and Jerry, who made a few trips to the Natchez course to train, was not be able to make the race due to family commitments. This would also be Mark’s first race back after some nagging injuries took him off the bike in March so he wasn’t sure how he was going to be feeling.
Jay, Charlie and Heath would be racing with me as well. I had been feeling pretty good although a busy travel schedule with work had drastically reduce my training time over the last two weeks.
(read the rest)
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Rusty Bernard's 2008 12 Hours on the Butt Race Report
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Arguably the hardest thing that a promoter can do is to have a first time event come off as advertised with little to no surprises. Jayce & Brian's obvious excellent planning, organization & implementation were evident throughout this race. A special thank you has to go to Jeremy Wesson for his many hours put in helping get the trails ready the day before, and then the guy throws down an awesome solo effort in the 12 hour !
Being a participant in a number of previous mountain bike & adventure endurance type races as a team member, I have for some time now been looking to try one in a solo effort. Like a favorite pair of shoes, I wanted to find the right event that would be (all-day) comfortable. Having ridden & enjoyed the Butts park trails before, when the 12 hr. format was originally kicked around, I became very interested.
(read the rest)
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Jason Miller's 2008 Mississippi Gran Prix Race Report
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It seems like every season there are few races where things just don’t click and unfortunately the MS Gran Prix was one of those races for our SEECA / New Orleans Fish House team. The fact that the competition was extremely stiff no doubt added to our difficulties. The Master 35+ field was large at ~65 due to some extra cash bonuses. Charlie, Heath, Jay, Jerry, Robert Santopadre and me toed the line for the start of the 52 mile road race on Saturday morning. Jaro “the crit master” took a pretty bad spill during a training ride the Tuesday before the race and was still too sore to ride. We would miss him especially for Sundays circuit race. Mark made it up for the road race but was just there as a spectator as his knee is still recovering.
(read the complete report)
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Jason Miller's 2008 Rocky Mount Race Report
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| Jason Miller leading an early break |
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| Team LaS’port’s Rocky Mount Stage Race in Shreveport, LA would again mark the first race of the season with numbers for our SEECA / New Orleans Fish House team. Charlie, Heath, Jaro, Jay, Jerry and me made the drive up for Saturday’s 54 mile road race. Mark is having some issues with his knee and unfortunately will need to spend some time off the bike. A tough break considering he won the road race last year. The Master’s category is separated into three fields with different races for 35+, 45+ and 55+ age groups which dilutes the numbers a little. We end up with about 20 riders in our race with our team, NBO, Colavita, and Dallas Racing making up the bulk of the field.
(read the rest)
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Jason Miller's Raising Cane's 3 Man TT Race Report
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| Note Robert's Speed Zebra in the middle |
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I help Robert Santopadre load the Speed Zebra on top my car as we head out to Baton Rouge’s River Road for the three man team time trail. For those not in the know, the Speed Zebra is Robert’s tricked out TT bike complete with zebra striped frame and some type of home grown aero bars. There is no front shifter or derailleur. “Real men don’t need a small chainring” I am sure would be Robert’s answer if I asked.
(read the rest)
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Jason Miller's Rouge Roubaix 2008 Race Report
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I am beginning to associated time changes with pain. Last November I did a 24 hour Mountain Bike race with Rusty Bernard’s team as we moved our clocks back. Moving them forward meant an earlier start on the drive to St Francisville for suffering at the Rouge Roubaix race. The approximately 100 mile route with its three sections of gravel is one of the hardest around and the uniqueness of the race draws more riders from surrounding areas. Since there is only an “A” and “B” race for this event, our Master field is combined with the Cat 1,2,3 riders making the racer talent even stronger. On the drive up I question why I want to do this race year after year.
(read the rest)
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