This report is less a report on who placed when and how then a celebration of how far the ZMotion team has come this year and the impact we have made on the sport.
In 2008 there were a few individuals that raced under the ZMotion banner and the focus was the Club and the extremely important Charity Events such as the MS 150. In 2009, we have almost doubled the riders participating (close to 600 riders) in this year's MS 150 ride which happens this weekend.
We have also grown the Club from a bunch of A1A hammer riders to a Club that supports the development of Women and Juniors. Finally, we went from a few riders that participated in P12 races to having a team with serious representation in almost every category. We started the season with just a Master's 35+/45+ and P12 teams and have added a Men's 55+ team, a Men's Cat 4 team, a Men's Cat 5 team, a Women's Cat 4 Team, a Cat 3 Team and a Junior Team. Wow!!
A perfect example of what we have brought to the sport was the races hosted by ZMotion this weekend, especially the one at BankAtlantic Center. Under the guidance of Gina and the rest of the gang at Zimmerman, ZMotion hosted one of the best run races with the highest purse of the year. Pat and company are still receiving accolades on the professionalism of this race as well as the downright fun to be had.
I am proud to say that I race for ZMotion and here are some highlights of our ZMotion race teams accomplishments (looking at top 20 or above):
Master's 35+
- Jeff Fleming is leading the Individual Florida Point Series by a rapidly growing margin.
- The 35+ Team is leading the Florida Point Series
- Chris Hoch in 7th, Vinny in 10th, Pedro in 16th, Amir in 18th, Julio in 20th
- We have also had at least 5 victories (yes that means #1)
Masters 45+
- The 45+ Team is leading the Florida Point Series
- As Individuals we have Raife in 4th, Shaun in 7th, Chuck in 15th and Steve in 16th
Pro 1,2
- Hector Pastorino is leading the Individual Florida Point Series
- Victor is 9th, Juan is 11th
- We also have 3 victories with a boatload of 2nd and 3rd places
Women's Cat 4
- As Individuals we have Shannon in 9th, Ashly in 18th, Lisa in 19th
Masters 55+
- Billy Tittle is in 17th after only 5 races
Cat 3
- Calixto Bello is 8th in the Individual Florida Point Series (and he just moved up to P12 team!!)
Cat 5
- Ramone is 15th in the Individual Florida Point Series
Junior 13-14
- Recent addition Jay Major is 1st in the Individual Florida Point Series
- Max Thilen is 7th in the Individual Florida Point Series
Junior 15-16 (all just recently added)
- Amir Merali is 4th in the Individual Florida Point Series
- Ruben Del Cristo is 7th in the Individual Florida Point Series
- David Cueli is 9th in the Individual Florida Point Series
Cat 4/5
- Adam Mayer is 17th in the Individual Florida Point Series
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Race Report - Brian Piccolo Training Race - 4/23/09
I am starting to get behind on the Race Reports. There are so many cool things to report on (and I still have to train and race). I have to update everyone on this non-FPS race because it was soooooo amaZing. Every Thursday at 6:30pm there is a Training Race at Brian Piccolo park open to Category 1..4, but I can tell you that this last Thursday there were not too many 4's there and it was basically a Pro 1,2 race. There was BIG money on hand with 6 - $50 primes, a first place prize of $300 including a monster huge trophy.
The course itself is a 1K course that is shaped like a capital "B" and is very technical and super fast. The starting line-up was almost 50 guys and looked like a who's who of South Florida racing. Within 1/2 lap we were already doing 30mph and it didn't slow down. ZMotion had great representation with 6 racers.
The field was strung out for over 30 minutes until a slight gap happened. Being a super smart racer, Jody helped make the gap a little wider and around 10 guys were off including 3 ZMotion riders. Coming into the final lap, Juan drag raced for 500 meters with Hector on his wheel. Hector came around his wheel to win yet another race for ZMotion. Great racing guys.
The course itself is a 1K course that is shaped like a capital "B" and is very technical and super fast. The starting line-up was almost 50 guys and looked like a who's who of South Florida racing. Within 1/2 lap we were already doing 30mph and it didn't slow down. ZMotion had great representation with 6 racers.
The field was strung out for over 30 minutes until a slight gap happened. Being a super smart racer, Jody helped make the gap a little wider and around 10 guys were off including 3 ZMotion riders. Coming into the final lap, Juan drag raced for 500 meters with Hector on his wheel. Hector came around his wheel to win yet another race for ZMotion. Great racing guys.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Race Report - Chain of Lakes Criterium
Winter Haven hosted a new race course for 2009 and I for one hope it returns next year. The course has eight (yes 8) turns around downtown and it was pretty technical.
The Master's 45+ was fast as always and numerous breaks were attempted and reeled in. With just under 5 laps to go Mark took a flyer off the front but was caught by the field with one lap to go. In the final sprint Shawn weaved his way to the front for a solid 3rd.
Always an exciting race, the Master's 35+ started with a beatifully executed three man break featuring the amaZing Pedro, but a big early race crash caused the race promoters to neutralize (stop) the race for several minutes and then restarted it giving the 3 only a 5 second head start. The three of them worked well together and stayed away for many laps but the pack smelled blood and finally was able to reel them back in (I am almost 100% sure that if they hadn't restarted then they would have stayed away). ZMotion continued to police the front until Jody tried (another) daring solo breakaway. A few laps later he picked up a racing partner and the two of them got up to a 38 second lead on the main field with Jody getting his 2nd win of the season. Curtis Long did a late breaking move for third and then we killed the field sprint with Vinny in 4th, Pedro in 5th, Jeff in 6th and Chris in 8th. Talk about ZMotion domination!!!
In the P1,2 race, they again had to neutralize the race due to another corner 2 crash. Victor, Yosvany from Champion Porche and a Toshiba guy were off in a break for along time but itn came back with Toshiba doing quite a bit of the chasing?? Near the end a Toshiba guys took a solo flyer and opened a huge gap quickly. He ended up staying away for the win. In the field sprint, Durango took it with Juan and Hector right behind for 3rd and 4th!
Finally our newest junior Reben Del Cristo, again did well and placed 8th.
Race Report - Chain of Lakes Road Race
What is exciting about Zmotion team's, is that we are improving across the board. We field rider's in almost every category and today was the Cat 4's day to shine. The course itself is a 13 mile loop. It is not too hilly but the finishing straight is a surprisingly difficult false flat that is almost two miles long.
The Cat 4 came down to a field sprint due in large part to some monster long pulls at the front by Pat (a.k.a The Boss) who made sure that there was constant representation at the front. As the field came up to the finish line, Joel started up a z-train with Ramone and Mark Lim on his wheel. After Joel gave it all, Ramone took over delivering Mark to the line where he got 2nd place with Ramone still hanging on for a 7th overall with a 5th in Category 5. This was also Ramon's first race so a double congrats are in order.
In the Master's 35 plus, the indomidable Jeff got away with Vinny and four other's with half the race still to go. Jeff did a ton of work to help keep the break away with Zmotion taking up blocking duties in the main field. In the final sprint, Vinny was cramping badly but still managed to secure 3rd with Jeff coming in 6th. We then won the field spring with Chris next at 7th, Pedro in 9th and Joe in 12th.
Our girls cat 4 team is growing and improving with Lisa Fink in 6th, Shannon Odonnel in 8th, Ashley Diveronica in 10th and Joleen Turner in 11th. Congrats ladies in general and Joleen specifically for doing well in her first race.
Our newest junior Reben Del Cristo, starts his tenure with ZMotion in fine style and placed 3rd.
I am missing details (hint hint) from the P12 category, but I did hear that Juan drag raced with Grant Potter to win yet another race for Zmotion. What a rider! Also a special thanks to Joleen for some pictures and race updates.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Race Report - Webster
The race is billed as the hardest race of the season and after doing it, the promoters called it correctly. The course is a 9 mile loop with 2.5 miles of dirt roads. The women and 55+ did 4 laps, the masters and cat 3 did 7 laps and the Pro 1,2 doing a whopping 12 laps (180k).
Zmotion had representation in just about every category and the results started early. In the Masters 55+, Dave Viney took off early and Billy went with him for a while. By the third lap the field had shattered (a recurring theme for the day) with Dave gone and Billy and newbie Mike in a six man break. A crash in the break threw it into chaos and Billy took off solo and time trialed into a podium position of 2nd with Mike coming in 4th. Wow!
In the 45+ we had Steve, Raife, Mark and Chuck. Today was the Steve Show with a break by Steve and Chuck Jerebek on the first lap. Zmotion got right up front and policed the peleton to assist Steve. On lap 3 the front guys hammered on the dirt section and blew up the field with the front group whittled down to just around ten guys. JRC seemed motivated to chase their own guy and we finally picked up Steve again. With just two laps to go the field again separated and Steve made the final cut and finished in a solid sixth place.
The Master's 35+ was absolutely the best teamwork of the season and was represented by Captain Jeff, Chris, Julio, Jody and the amazing Pedro. On the first lap Jody got away with three others and Zmotion shut down the chases until lap two when five others including Jeff bridged up. By lap four the front group had a couple of minutes on the field and Jody was helping pull Jeff back to the group since Jeff seemed to think he was on a slip and slide. By the next couple of laps the front group deteriorated into four, then two and two with Jeff in it. In the much diminished main field Pedro launched attack after attack and finally got away with Brian Lancaster, with one lap to go, who bridged up to Jeff. They proceeded to drop Jeff's original breakaway companion with Jeff finishing 8th and Pedro in 9th. As the next group approached all you could see was Chris charging to the line for 10th followed by Julio in 12th with Jody rounding out the top 15. Beautiful racing.
The Pro 1,2 field had 47 total guys who were just asking for pain by the boatload with 12 laps (108 miles) through the dirt section that was getting severly mushy. In an absolutely stunning display of power and prowess, Juan broke away solo for lap after lap until he had several minutes on the field. In a late breaking move, Hector followed three others up to Juan and the five of them were never to be seen again. It came down to the sprint and Hector yanked the win from the breakaway group to give Zmotion it's second victory in P12. Juan still had enough gas in the tank to come in 4th. Only 18 people finished and Victor came in a strong 10th with Alex in 14th. What an amazing race!
In the Cat 3 and 4 race, Joe found himself in a 9 man break. He got dislodged from them and spent several laps in no man's land with a couple of other guys. Finally a group of 15 guys bridged up to them and the combined group then caught the breakaway. Joe then hung on for 7th. In the 4's, Joel got dislodged from the 35's but still managed to place 10th in his category. No flat's for him.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Race Report - The Dump (4/5/09)
I really appreciate Claudio sharing this with all of us...
The Pro,1,2 Team participated in the Vista View race this weekend. With all major South Florida Teams in attendance, Alex, Flaco, Hector, Juan and Victor were in for more than just a training race. At the start they announced that they were going to give several primes in the race ensuring that the race would have a fast pace from the gun. After a few laps Juan and Hector were part of a 10 person break with Flaco and Victor blocking and chasing anyone who tried to bridge across. Hector was able to out sprint the guys in the break to take the first prime. Towards the end of the race two more riders had bridged across when they took advantage of a prime to form a gap and jumped to the break. As the field disintegrated, Flaco and Victor attempted several times to bridge across but were unsuccessful as the remaining riders quickly chased them down. On the final sprint Hector was beaten at the line by a Santos rider to finish second with Juan finishing 4th on this hilly South Florida race. When the field Sprint came we had Flaco and Viictor take the sprint to finish in 12th and 13th.
The Pro,1,2 Team participated in the Vista View race this weekend. With all major South Florida Teams in attendance, Alex, Flaco, Hector, Juan and Victor were in for more than just a training race. At the start they announced that they were going to give several primes in the race ensuring that the race would have a fast pace from the gun. After a few laps Juan and Hector were part of a 10 person break with Flaco and Victor blocking and chasing anyone who tried to bridge across. Hector was able to out sprint the guys in the break to take the first prime. Towards the end of the race two more riders had bridged across when they took advantage of a prime to form a gap and jumped to the break. As the field disintegrated, Flaco and Victor attempted several times to bridge across but were unsuccessful as the remaining riders quickly chased them down. On the final sprint Hector was beaten at the line by a Santos rider to finish second with Juan finishing 4th on this hilly South Florida race. When the field Sprint came we had Flaco and Viictor take the sprint to finish in 12th and 13th.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Race Report - Update on Brian Piccolo
Max Thilen emailed me an update to the BP Race. I have posed it here. Thanks Max and congrats on a good placing!!
I saw the disclaimer and in case you wanted to write about the juniors races they were pretty eventful. In the 13-14 race at Brian Piccolo a kid from the Bahamas broke away from the start and stayed away the whole race. There was a sprint for second, I started sprinting a second late and I almost passed the other racer but the line came to soon and I got 3rd by less than a bike length. In 15-16 one of the zmotion riders I think his name is David was destroying the field in the last few laps but didn't have enough energy for the sprint and got something around fifth. Richard placed I think somewhere between 10th and 17th. I don't know much about the 15-16's on the second day. The juniors had to restart because they stopped our race because someone almost had a heart-attack. In my race, 13-14's the first time I was doing great drafting off a good kid in my category who was really tired. When they restarted, I lost my energy and he got a second wind. So he got a big lead on me. Towards the end I started going really fast and I passed a few 15-16's, I saw about 5 kids or so at the top of the finish line climb and I was closing in on them. Then towards the top of the climb I shifted to the little ring without thinking and my chain fell off. Two guys came to help and it took them a long time. I tried to chase but had lost too much time. I ended up getting a third place.
Max
I saw the disclaimer and in case you wanted to write about the juniors races they were pretty eventful. In the 13-14 race at Brian Piccolo a kid from the Bahamas broke away from the start and stayed away the whole race. There was a sprint for second, I started sprinting a second late and I almost passed the other racer but the line came to soon and I got 3rd by less than a bike length. In 15-16 one of the zmotion riders I think his name is David was destroying the field in the last few laps but didn't have enough energy for the sprint and got something around fifth. Richard placed I think somewhere between 10th and 17th. I don't know much about the 15-16's on the second day. The juniors had to restart because they stopped our race because someone almost had a heart-attack. In my race, 13-14's the first time I was doing great drafting off a good kid in my category who was really tired. When they restarted, I lost my energy and he got a second wind. So he got a big lead on me. Towards the end I started going really fast and I passed a few 15-16's, I saw about 5 kids or so at the top of the finish line climb and I was closing in on them. Then towards the top of the climb I shifted to the little ring without thinking and my chain fell off. Two guys came to help and it took them a long time. I tried to chase but had lost too much time. I ended up getting a third place.
Max
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