MIDSOUTH MASTER CYCLING CLUB

NOLA LENDING
RACING TEAM
Home
News
Product Reviews
Race Events
Race Reports
Race ResultsRider Profiles
Route Maps
Sponsors
Team Articles
Members Only
 
 

Club Contacts

President:
 Jay Scheib

Vice President:
Charlie Davis

Web Site:
Jason Miller

2009 Race Reports

 

Jason Miller's 24 Hours of Clear Springs 2009 Race Report


Ed, Mike, Jason and Rusty - Photo by Rosanne Simons
With the 24 Hours of Clear Springs Mountain Bike race still a few months out, it looked like we may have had enough interested riders to complete two teams.  The event is always held over the weekend when the time changes and unfortunately this year that was right smack on Halloween.  Potential racers with younger kids were almost instantly excluded - either by choice or at the strong suggestion of significant others .  A few others backed out following completion of a long road racing season due mostly to fatigue.  With a few weeks remaining before the race, Ed Novack and I were still up for the race and were planning to join up with Branden Morvant and Mike Lew to complete Team Buckwheat.  Rusty Bernard, one of the original Buckwheat's, was planning on racing the solo event and Rosanne Simons would be providing support to both Rusty and us.

October has been a very wet month in the area and there was a lot of concern about the course.  The course has been dry the last few years I raced so I didn't know what to expect.  Those in the "know" were cautious and weren't even sure if the event would take place for the noon start time on Saturday.  Strong storms came through the area Friday evening forcing Branden to work late that night.  The muddy course kind of kept us all on the fence and the late night at work pushed Branden over.  Ed and I were too naive to know what were getting into and made our way up to Clear Spring, MS Saturday morning like moths being drawn to a light.  Rusty jumped in with the team instead of doing his solo event (thanks again Rusty) and Rosanne was even going to do a lap if needed in the event Mike didn't make it.  Mike pulled in shortly before registration closed and Team Buckwheat was set with Ed, Mike, Rusty and me.  (read the full report)

 
 

Lucky Eddie’s Down and Dirty, Nitty, Gritty, Wet and Wild Cat. 4 Demolition Derby District Road Race Championship Adventure Report


Ed Novak waits to start his adventure - picture by Randy Legeai

Jason was right.  I’ll never be the fashion risk taker that he is, and it was raining.  I believe all of the different rain types were represented, but in general the rain fell into one classification.  Crappy.  I was already apprehensive about the wet conditions coming back from a small but bitter crash that was a tincture of wet road and poor judgment, so naturally I elected to borrow a helmet and put on a brand new pair of bibs that I hadn’t paid for yet.

My chips were in for helping out the Cane’s Guys establish a break to position their points leader, Dan Wisner, against Tiger’s Dustin Flint.  (No offence to Dustin, Cane’s had just asked me to dance.)  In return, I could take advantage of the Cane’s muscle to get me away from the pack, or up the road for a sprint.  For the first several laps we jumped here and there but neither one of those things ever really panned out. 

Despite the fact that I had clipped in my light sensitive lenses, the spray and residual grime was so bad I had to put them in my pocket, deciding to just deal with the grit in my eyes.  Soon I would learn why the pros put their glasses on their helmets.  Clouds have silver linings I’m told, so the upside to all the water flying around must have been that my mouth never had the chance to dry out.  (read Ed's full report)

 
Jason Miller's 2009 Master and Category 3 District Road Race Report

 

The District Road Race Championships in Natchez, MS would be the final series of road races of a very successful 2009 season for our NOLA Lending Racing team.  We would field a strong group of guys for the weekend with six riders in Saturday's Masters race including Charlie, Ed, Jay, Jerry, Mark and me.  On Sunday, Ed was racing in the Category 4 race in the afternoon while Jay, Jerry, Mark and me would compete in the Category 3 race on Sunday morning.

 

As has been the case for the last four years I have raced with the Masters, the district road race would be one of the strongest fields of the year.  Russ Walker was there looking to repeat his win from last year as were Frank Moak, Tracy Martin, Woody Boudreaux and a bunch of other strong riders.  We know the field is going to split and will try to get a rider in with the break.  They combined the 30+, 35+ and 45+ field.  Ed, Jerry, Mark and me are racing as 35+ while Jay and Charlie are 45+.  (read the complete report)

 

 

Jason Miller's 2009 Meridian / Cuba Challenge Race Report

This year we were a little light on racers for the Meridian / Cuba Challenge event as only Mark and me were racing for our NOLA Lending racing team.  Family commitments and last minute illnesses kept a few guys at home.  The event usually attracts some pretty strong riders just because it is centrally located picking up riders from LA, MS, TN and AL.  This year would be not different with about forty riders for the Masters categories.  The Saturday evening criterium included five or six Alabama Masters guys, John McLauchlin from TN, GW, Donald Davis, Randy Legeai and a host of others.  The race officials also noted Terry Duran in the field donned in the stars and stripes jersey as the Master 50 - 54 2009 criterium champion.  He was only runner-up in the road race.

 

I figured things would go crazy from the start but to my surprise the first few laps were very tame.  Eventually the attacks started.  Three Masters categories, 35+, 45+ and 55+, were all racing together but scored and paid separately.  This made things a bit confusing trying to figure which riders needed to be watched.  Fortunately for me and Mark, the strongest field was 45+.  About half way through the race Donald Davis who had been quite active on the front  attacked.  I waited for the chase to start but nothing really got going.  I figured the AL Masters team would work to pull him back.  As it turns out, Michael Hurley on their team was already off the front.  I always seem to miss things on this course.  Last year I was chasing a rider off the front who had actually been caught a few laps earlier.  (read the full report)

 

 

Jason Miller's District Championship Team Time Trial Race Report
We had a full crew for the District Championship Team Time Trial in Baton Rouge.  Our club with 11 riders would field two complete four man teams plus Rosanne would race on one of the women's teams.  We would have a Master 45+ team with Charlie, Jay, Rusty and Shannon and a Master 35+ team with Ed, Jerry, Mark and me.   

Rosanne's women's team would do two laps on the course (21 miles) while our other teams would each do three laps (32 miles).  This is the same flat River Road course that host many of the local time trials.  The wind is normally a factor but today it would be relatively light with just a headwind on the last few miles of each lap.

I enjoy the team time trials but I know today that I am going to be the guy suffering on the team.  The other three guys are all strong and Mark and Ed have especially been ringing up some strong time trial efforts at recent stage races.  If no rider is really hurting then you just aren't going fast enough.  We figure our rotation order based on size with me behind Mark and ahead of Ed with Jerry behind him.  We take a warm up lap before the race at a steady pace doing 30 - 45 second pulls at the front and things go smooth.  (read the full report)

 

Jason Miller's La Vuelta de Acadiana Race Report
The heat was by far the hardest obstacle at the Vuelta de Acadiana stage race in Lafayette.  My T-shirt was immediately soaked with sweat as I walked over to pick up my number along with Charlie, Ed, Jay, Jerry and Mark on Saturday morning.  The road race was 64 miles on dead flat roads in cane fields outside St Martinville.  There were 20 riders at the start.  With little wind on the course, it was going to be hard for attacks to stay away.  As the race started there were a few attacks all of which contained at least one rider from our NOLA Lending team.  Dan Morgan, a strong rider from Texas, attacked during the first lap with me and Jay working with him in the break.  As the pack caught us, he pulled off with a flat and would never be a factor in the GC loosing close to 20 minutes in the road race.

There were attacks along with riders gently pulling off the front but nothing was able to stay away.  There were a few breaks that seemed to have the right mix of riders but they still didn't stick.  I think the only riders who got dropped were a few LaS'port guys when their teammate, Patrick Marr, attacked hard in the feed zone at the start of the final lap.   With about 10 miles left in the race, I started having some bad stomach problems and wasn't sure if I was going to finish the race without stopping to visit the cane fields.  About 5 miles before the finish, we collectively moved to the front as a team and set a pace to discourage any further attacks.  We probably set the pace a little fast considering the heat and the previous pace of the race.  Mark was gatekeeping while the rest of us rotated on the front.  Jay started cramping up a few mile from the finish and had to drop back leaving Charlie, Ed, Jerry and me to keep tempo.  (read the rest) 

 

Jason Miller's Tour de Louisiane Race Report


Jason and Jaro leading the way through the first turn - picture by Wayne Schnell
The Tour de Louisiane Stage Race is the local stage race promoted by the New Orleans Bike Club and one of the top events on the calendar.  We have always done pretty well, finishing a rider second each of the last two years, but never won first in the General Classification (GC).  This year I mentioned a few times to the team that we needed to focus on this race and win it.  We were able to field one of our strongest teams yet as Charlie, Ed, Jaro, Jay, Jerry and Mark and me all would be racing in the Masters group.  Robert was doing to race with the Category 4 group.

There was about 40 riders in our field but Robert would have close to 60 in his.  In our race the Dallas guys with Jorge Merle would be there, as would be Peake, some of the old Jeep team (now Gulf Coast), Dave Patterson and Jorge Perera with NOBC as well as some very strong solo riders in Donald Davis from FL and John McLauchlin from TN.  With a strong team we decided we wanted to push the pace in the road race which was now moved to the first event on Saturday morning.  Almost all of us could contest for the GC if things worked out so we figured if we rode aggressively on the front, we could try to force a break or at least weaken the other teams as they chased us down.  (read the full report)

 

Jason Miller's S3 Racing Rapides Race Report


Sunday Criterium race in downtown Alexandria - picture by Alan and Jonnene Moore
Ninety degree temperatures were back as we got ready to start theS3 Racing Rapides road race on Saturday afternoon.  We all skipped the morning time trial so that we could spend another night a home and not need to get up so early to make the 3+ hour drive to Alexandria for the three race omnium.  We would again have a strong team for the race with Jaro, Jerry, Robert and me in the Master 35 road race.  Mark was racing with the Cat 1,2,3s to get in a longer race.  His race was 73 miles while ours was just 44 miles.  Our race would include both Master 35 and Master 45 riders being scored separately so it always make things more interesting.

The combined field was about 30 riders.  There were a couple of guys from Texas who I have raced against here in the past as well as some of the Peake guys and others from local teams.  S3 does a great job with this race and obviously invest quite a bit of money into it.  There is never a shortage of police support plus their payouts are some of the highest in our area.  I am not a huge fan of the road course however.  It seems like the hills aren't big enough to really split the field but they do wear on my legs.  (read the full report)

 

Jason Miller's West Feliciana Classic Stage Race Report
Jason takes first place in Saturday road race sprint with Mark second - picture by Scott Mackey
A new stage race close to home is always nice and the West Feliciana Classic Stage Race in St Francisville, LA proved to be just that.  St Francisville has some of the nicest roads around with cycling friendly people.  The race promoters and volunteers did a great job putting on the event which I am sure will continue to grow in size.  The stage race would start with a 5 mile time trial on rolling hills followed by two road races.  The original event was to include one of the more challenging criteriums courses I have seen but due to the threat of street flooding, a second road race was done instead.

Our NOLA Lending Racing Team would be fielding a very strong group of riders for the event with Charlie, Jay, Jerry, Mark and me.  The Master's field was fairly small at just 16 racers so we would definitely have the advantage of numbers. 

Saturday morning's time trial was made a little harder by the rolling hills.  The start was going to be pretty fast with more downhills than ups and a light tail wind.  There was about a half mile hill somewhere after mile three before the course finished mostly flat.  I pushed the pace from the start and felt pretty good.  The longer hill was hard on me and I saw my pace dip under 20 mph before I crested the hill and pushed hard to get my speed back up.  I finished strong and was able to post the top time at 11:21.  The rest of the team also had strong times with Jerry, Mark and Jay finishing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place just a few seconds behind me.  (read the rest)

 

Jason Miller's Rocky Mount Race Report
picture by Alan and Jonnene Moore
The Rocky Mount Stage Race in Shreveport has always been one of my favorite events of the season.  The races are normally pretty tactical plus our NOLA Racing Team has always posted pretty strong results.  Last year Jerry was able to win the GC and I hoped this year we would continue with that tradition.  Normally the race comes early on the calendar but this year the event moved back to May.  Unfortunately some family commitments like graduations and baptisms kept a few guys from making the drive to Shreveport for the weekend so our team would only field three riders, Ed, Jerry and me.  The Peake team wasn't there this year but the Texas guys would be - Colavita and Dallas Racing - so it would still be a team battle.

The 54 mile road race just before noon on Saturday has been a very big factor in the GC placing in past events.  The course is rolling hills offering many occasions to attack.  We do four loops on a circuit before returning up a long hill for the finish.  We figure that a break will form again this year and, as long as it had a member from each of the three larger teams in the race, it would have a good chance to stick.  Our plan was to have at least one guy in the breaks and try to get me or Ed to take the hot spot time bonus during the second lap.  (read the rest)

 

Jason Miller's Time Trial Palooza Race Report
Jay, Jason and Robert push for the finish - picture by Randy Legeai
 

I often think the hardest thing about racing a four man time trial is to field a team.  The Time Trial Palooza event in Baton Rouge would include a four man time trial in the morning and then a two man time trial in the afternoon.  The next day would be an individual time trial.  A few weeks ago, it looked like we were going to have enough riders for a 45+ team as well as a 35+ team with someone having to sit out plus Rosanne racing on one of the women's team.  Fast forward to a few days before the race and between nicks and pains, illness, and work it was just Robert, Rusty and me.  Jay agreed to jump back in the day before the race so we would at least be able to field one team.

The course is slightly more than a ten mile loop and for the four man race we would be doing three laps.  Warming up it was apparent that the wind was going to be a factor in the races.  We would be starting out to a strong head wind for a short section but for the most part, the rest of the course will be mostly crosswinds.  We figure out our order and get ready for the start.

We had a less than impressive start.  Jay, Rusty and me take off in unison leaving Robert on the line trying to clip in for what seems like forever.  When he finally does get clipped in, he is riding right into a headwind and takes a while to get on.  Jay is wearing number "13" glued up-side-down of course so the bad luck runs out.  He completed over ten miles of warmup on the course with no problems but suddenly right when the starter says "go", the number is peeling off and flapping.  It doesn't make it through the first lap before it is gone.  (read the full report)

 
 

Jason Miller's Mississippi Gran Prix Race Report
MSGP Road Race Start - picture by Johnny Smith


I was pretty pumped up for the Mississippi Gran Prix this year.  Last year it seems like we were missing a few key pieces when a couple of riders were hurt and we kind of bombed the race.  This year it looked like we would have a full squad of racers for the three event stage race that always seems to attract some of the top riders around from TN, AL, and GA in addition to MS and LA teams.  Unfortunately as the event drew near, a few riders were hurt or sick or had family commitments and we ended up with just four of us in the race - Charlie, Ed, Jay and Me.  (read the rest)

 

Jason Miller's Tour de Tuscaloosa 2009 Race Report


Jason, Jay, Charlie, Jaro, Ed and Jerry before the start of the Tour de Tuscaloosa
The Tour de Tuscaloosa would be one of the first events for our NOLA Lending Racing Team in 2009 and it would no doubt be challenging attracting strong teams from AL, GA and TN.  Saturday afternoon was a criterium race in downtown Tuscaloosa and Sunday afternoon would be a road race in rolling hills north of town.  We would have a good group of riders with Charlie, Ed, Jaro, Jay, Jerry and me. 

The criterium course felt pretty tough during our quick warmup.  The route was right near the river and had a steep downhill right after the start before tracking back up the hill.  I think the strong wind was more of a factor than the hills and I don't recall ever really feeling a tail wind anywhere on the course.  The Masters field is strong as expected and people are already jockeying for position at the start line which leads me to believe this is going to be a fast one.  (read the full report)