Schroeder Iron Racing

Article by Bert Glennon:

45+
Paul Formby,  Craig Miller, and myself lined up for the first race of the day. We decided to keep to our usual format for the sprint on this circuit as it has worked well all year for us.

The race was on from the start with a faster than usual tempo and aggressive attacking. The only serious break was brought back quickly when a group of 15 went up the road at the mid way point after a sprint. The high tempo controlled all the smaller groups from going clear.

Team Edge by far had the strongest team driving on the front coming into the bell. I had chosen to pick up Johnny Walsh’s wheel from Amgen as he has be sprinting well lately. Coming down the back straight Team Edge had it strung out nicely, turning into the hill and a stiff head wind they started to slow slightly, I waited for the Amgen group to open the sprint up in front of me but they hesitated so I decided to do it myself. I moved up from 6 wheel and took over and started to wind it up, coming into the last turn I borked enough to force the 3 Amgen guys on my wheel to make a move, instead Craig took a flyer around the out side and had a good 5 length lead. I held the gap and waited for some one to make a move. 100m out Craig started to fade and the gap began to closed quickly I held the tempo hoping he could hold on but had to make a acceleration at the 50m mark to hold off Johnny Walsh from passing both of us and took the win with Johnny second and Craig holding on to third.
40+
Bud Owens, Scott Raymond, Allen Richburg joined us for the 40’s race which was lined up on the finish line by the time we did our cool down lap.

We were straight back into it from the gun and the pace was solid and steady for the first few laps and then things started back up with the attacks. Once again the tempo was higher than normal helping control the breaks with the guy’s doing a fantastic job keeping everything together. The lap board seemed to come fast in this one which was a nice feeling.

I started to move up at 3 to go and again looked for Johnny Walsh who was following Thurlow Rogers.  Allen and Bud were still up front pushing things along, I was still 20 odd riders back and it was busy. Coming into the bell 3 riders held a slim lead but I was confident I could pick them up once the sprint started. Down the back straight the last time riders started to pop off and I move up the inside to about 10th wheel. Rounding the second last turn into the hill they started to slow slightly again at the same spot. I left the wheel and started the sprint. Mike Johnston with Sho-air had the same idea and was going down the outside at the same time. I hit the corner just in front of him and headed for the line, we picked up the last rider off the front with time to spare and crossed the line in that order with Mike McMahon coming in third.
35+
The race tempo was again high but lacked the intense attacking of the previous 2 races but was no walk in the park either. Every time I checked the front it seemed one of the guys was their controlling thinks. I had missed most of the action at the front as this was the race I wanted to win and had been conserving as much energy as possible in the previous to races. I think a lot of guy’s made the mistake of sitting out races to save their energy for this one and it showed in the nervous tension and lack of real aggressive attacking compared to the earlier races. (from my perspective anyway).

The guys did another fantastic job controlling and holding things together once again. The lap board came out with 5 to go and things started to quicken. I decided to sit back a little further than normal and see who was doing what. Knowing from the last 2 races what was going to happen coming up the hill. Down the back straight Amgen was at the front driving the pace. As we rounded the corner and started up the hill the pace slowed I moved out to start the sprint even though it was a lot early than the last 2 races and saw Chris Demarchi 10m ahead of his lead out train.  Being his first race of the day I expected him to be still accelerating and going strong.

I should have stayed in control and move up on him but I panicked and hit the 11 and went flat out,  I picked him up way to quickly and had to go straight bye, coming out of the last corner I knew I had made a rookie mistake but was committed and just had to keep on going and dig deep. I ran out of gas the same place as Craig in the first race, 50m short.

Anthony Galvan came bye on the right followed be Sean Watkins on the left and finally Mike Johnston on the right, at the line and we finished in that order.

I was pretty mad at myself for letting this one slip away.

One small mistake that’s all it takes.

“Stay Relaxed”

With the smell of jet fuel in the air, the Schroeder Iron team was able to pull off the double. First in the 45+ Bert and Craig pulled off another 1-2 finish this season. Another strong team performance gave Bert and Craig the advantage they needed to coast across the line. In 35+ Bert was lead out by Doc into the last turn, giving Bert the gap he needed to pull off his second win of the day.

(Bert and Craig at CBR)

For 2009 the Schroeder Iron team will once again be running Cannondale bikes. After the last 2 years of running the top of the line System6 and Super6, we decided to head a different direction and run the all aluminum Caad9 frames. Cannondale has added the BB30 bottom bracket to this already stiff frame. With a re-designed top tube to head tube connection this frame is proving to be one of the fastest race frames out there.

Thanks again to Cannondale and Incycle for another season of support!

Just one week after traveling north to Santa Barbara for the Mothballs Crit and going 2 for 2 in the 45+ and 35+ masters races, the team set it sights on the second of the BAR series crits put on by CBR at Dominguez Hills. Despite the beautiful So Cal weather turning nasty for the last five laps, Bert “No Drama” Glennon and Craig “Family Man” Miller finished off the excellent work done by the Schroeder Iron team  with a 1-2 finish. With Frank Schroeder, Scotty Raymond and Bud Owens nullifying attacks by opposing teams and launching a few of our own we were able to control the field for a sprint finish. With a lap and half to go the Schroeder Iron lead out train assembled and kept the speed high enough to discourage any late escapes. Bert launched from turn three and was able to carry it all the way to the finish, with Craig coming by Thurlow Rogers of Amgen to roll across the line first and second.