台灣 Team Cinelli Ritchey 車隊

Rick 和一家人上週六早 5am 從美國回台。9am 到台中家。11am 趕到大甲參加捷安特盃。。。

My journey began on Thursday noon in Northern California USA with a 7 hour car drive to drop off family and head to the airport for a 1:00am flight back to Taiwan. With 3 adults and 2 kids, that car was full of luggage! The flight was just over 12 hours landing in TPE 5:00 am on Saturday. A bus then taxi ride back to Taichung was next, arriving by 9:00am. Shower, food, gear and tool grab I was out the door around 10:30am in my car headed to Dajia.

This man earned some bragging rights last Saturday. Jet lag? What jet lag?

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Rick 隊上新聞 Team News

My ride in the north coast series stage one road race was a good example of selection, timing and steadfast commitment. Either that or I got lucky, ha! Mere minutes after the starting gun, two riders attacked off the front. Not long after another rider accelerates to bridge. In the time of two heartbeats I knew this was my opportunity to get out of the pack and into a promising breakaway, so I chased hard… Once the initial accelerations and rotations were over, we had six grouped together with representation from: Giant, Equinox, Columbus, Cherry. With this mix there was less motivation for the main pack to chase, and those that attempted to chase weren’t organized well enough.

yeah yeah, it's another plaque... but the fans were impressed

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Rick Toughts from Rick, 賽事記錄 Race Reports

Here’s a pic of my early Strato build. Once I threw the wheels on I had to take this picture. This is a stunning bike! I feel some major motivation coming on…

Cinelli Rocks!!!
You need to put yourself on the list and order one of these. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

in the meantime, OUR Stratos are ready to hit the road (and did already this morning)

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Rick 隊上新聞 Team News

Ray, Inigo, Rick

The Good
Beautiful Puli roads; Excellent team camaraderie; Wonderful company; Amazing meals; Unforgetable character building experiences.

The Bad
Rain, and more rain.

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Rick 隊上新聞 Team News

The points racked up for Team Cinelli Ritchey in the National Series Races last year.

E30:
Tim – 41pts. – 4th Place
Inigo – 37pts. – 7th Place
E40:
Rick – 69pts. – 2nd Place
RM20:
Ray – 32pts. – 4th Place

In Elite team standings – 128pts. – 9th Place

However this doesn’t seem to add up. We should have accumulated 147pts. in Elite which would put us in 7th place, one point ahead of Specialized. Anyone care to follow-up on this?

Rick 隊上新聞 Team News

A not so ghoulish day in Dajia (hint… it’s Halloween), cool breeze, bright but not too sunny or hot. Team CR was looking sharp in top shelf kit and equipment. No matter, it was my little kids that gained most attention! We rode a warm up lap, prepared for the start. Delayed! .. and worse, only 3 laps instead of 4. Wait some more. Warm-up was long gone, time for a nap, or some lunch. Finally racing, and predictably fast.

chicken little Kaikai, the lovely Xiaoyu, and princess Olive

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Rick 隊上新聞 Team News

Excellent altitude riding during my trip to Lake Tahoe in the USA. I rode some of my favorite rides from my youth: Donner Summit, SkiSlope, Brockway Summit, Mount Rose… to name a few. I also rode some beautiful mountain bike single track on Tahoe Rim Trail. Two weeks of riding at an average elevation of 2500m has me in pretty good shape.

Rick 隊上新聞 Team News

There’s a lull between races, hot weather, rain and typhoons… sound to me like a good time to take a break from the bike. Don’t get me wrong, I love to stay fit, but sometimes you can get burned out from the bike. I’m taking 10 days without touching or looking at my bike. I’ll take advantage of this time to do a little cross training to stay fit. One of my favorites is hiking the steep trails of Dakeng. It’s nice I get an upper and lower body workout AND get to spend time with the family!

cross training with the kids in Dakeng

Rick 隊上新聞 Team News

Preliminary results from the long climbing race:

E- 11th Place – Inigo
EM- 2nd Place – Rick
EM- 3rd Place – Tim
RM20- 1st Place – Ray

We received 4th in team standings.

Another great Team Cinelli-Ritchey effort on a very difficult day! Congratulations to all…

Rick 隊上新聞 Team News

I was really looking forward to the Ilan races; first day a fast climb; second day a circuit race with fast rolling terrain, with a not-so-long climb. Perfect courses for me! I had high expectations for myself, especially after a so-so result in Huadong. The first race started fast, even in the neutral! As soon as the neutral ended I pushed hard to move towards the front. Much of the climb was exposed, with the sun baking us on the outside, and the hill cooking us on the inside! Inevitably the pack separated and formed smaller groups. I didn’t like the pace of my group and I forged ahead, a few others joined and kept the pace to the top.  I felt strong throughout the race and knew I must have placed top three in my category. It wasn’t until I was called to the podium at the award ceremony that I knew I got first place!

Sprint on 2nd Day... MAD!

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Rick 隊上新聞 Team News

Tim on his way to 2nd place.

Congratulations to Team Cinelli Ritchey ! First day Inigo placed 5th in E30, and Rick placed 5th in E40. Second day Tim broke away from the main pack and placed 2nd in E30! We garnered enough points to place 11th in Elite team standings. Not bad for only 3 riders in Elite class. Kudos to Ray for placing 15th on the first day in RM20! Getting stronger day by day…..

Rick 隊上新聞 Team News

staying near the front

Ah yes.  Another flat race with a climb at the end! This time I reserved some energy for the end. Even though I stayed near the front for much of the race and pulled through a few times I didn’t over exert myself, and maintained a steady pace up the climb. For my efforts I got 2nd place in the E40 category (29th overall). A good sign that I’ll be improving in each race. Keep your eyes open for a new look from Team Cinelli-Ritchey….

2nd place E40

Rick 隊上新聞 Team News

Cool Under Pressure

Race concentration is easy when your head is comfortable!

Cool, light, and comfortable fitting without pressure points.

Only the best for my head.

Rick 我們的器材 Team Equipment

break of seven

During the team pre race meeting I determined to use some energy during the flat and rolling section of the race, before the long final climb. I wanted to test my training progress. There were several attacks in the race and some breakaways, but nothing that stayed away. At the 40k mark I saw an opportunity. A slight incline. Two riders had gone off the front and were looking around for others to join. I accelerated hard out of the saddle and took the lead position with the intention of maintaining this effort for at least 2-3 minutes. More riders joined, and they too were accelerating hard. We made a gap from the main bunch! There were now six rider ahead of me, but I hadn’t accounted for the strength of the group. I dropped off the back about two meters. I was in oxygen debt! I was riding solo in the wind, trying to keep up for about 1km, but I was determined not to give up. I was able to push hard, rejoin, and pull through the paceline of seven strong riders. My quick recovery after this effort is my reward from good training. This breakaway stayed away for 40km, until halfway up the final climb. There are not many opportunities to be in a long breakaway in Taiwan races. I was glad to be with this motivated group.

Rick 隊上新聞 Team News