Cat 5 Provincial Champion ..... Alex Shaw !!

Here he is.... on the top step of the podium!

Nice work dude !

Provincials this weekend and Master Provincials Sept 9th.

Hey guys. I am planning on going up to Provincials with Alex and maybe Mike G. on Sunday morning. Post a comment here if you want to carpool with someone, or just let us know who is coming.

Sept. 9th is the Master's Provincials in Crossfiled (close). I will be competing, and I know some of you other old boys can too (over 30). I would like to volunteer again like we did before the Stampede RR and do the signs and course prep. Please leave a comment here if you can help out prior to the race and I'll sign us up for those duties.

Matt...good luck this weekend !!

Trev

Trev the monster and impending IMC sufferfest

Congrats to Trev on another epic ride. The Trans Rockies is a full on international affair, to place within spitting distance of the win is amazing. Podium next year?


This upcoming weekend is IMC, which will bring me to my knees, or perhaps lower. Crazy long work hours the last 6 weeks hit up my training somewhat. Nevertheless, I'm excited to see the whole show as a competitor.

My wife is amped up also- she actually is getting custom shirts made for this .

Kyle M should be a holy terror, at least with a loop course I won't see him on the way home as I get 1 or 2km into the run. Hope to see some of you there, though with about 10000 visitors I expect it will be fairly crowded. Look for the orange t-shirts.


Matt

Trans Rockies Final Results

The Final Results:
A brief 48km run into Fernie rounded out the 2007 Trans Rockies challenge. The racers were grateful as stage 6 proved to be hellish at best with only a handful of teams making it to the finish under 5:30 and many teams struggling for the 10 hour cutoff at 6pm.

That being said, this is not the Tour de France where the last day is ceremonial. No, the race continued right up to the line with the RockyEA duo fighting against the courageous Costa Ricans of La Ruta (I have been waiting all week to use that line). So how did our triumphant twosome fair on the final day? A rock solid 7th placeb on the day for Scheffer Andrew who finished the event placing in the top 10 almost every day. No small feat for a duo that certainly do not ride mountain bikes for a living. Hats off to Trev and Charlie for their courage and discipline in this most rugged event. I bet they show up in Penticton for IMC as a vacation.

Final GC:
Well, it really depends who you ask. Velonews has the boys at fifth.
While the TR results have them at 6th. I have to be honest, it is really splitting hairs at this point. Finishing in the top 10 in their debut is such an outrageously successful result these guys are heroes. The reality is, most of the top teams ride for a living so to keep pace with them like Trev and Charlie is incredible. Congrats on an awesome race!

1 Tim Heemskerk (Can) / Roddi Lega (Can) United Cycle Team                                     24.39.23
2 Federico Ramirez (CRc) / Ivan Amador (CRc) La Ruta                                              26.17
3 Matt Green (Can) / Hadley Matt (Can) Rocky Mountain / EAsports                                1.26.29
4 Danilo Mathez (Swi) / Pierre Berberat (Swi) Frenetic-Volvo                                    1.52.12
5 Henning Dybendal (Nor) / Kristian Torgersen (Nor) Norefjell CK                                1.52.21
6 Trev Williams (Can) / Charlie Cooper (Can) Scheffer Andrew Ltd.                               1.54.50
7 Angus Jennings (NZl) / Nick Ross (NZl) 100% New Zealand                                       2.10.40
8 Kelly Servinski (Can) / Hazen Simson (Can) Big Guy little guy                                 2.25.21
9 Ryan Leech (USA) / Chip Kogelmann (USA) VisitPA.com                                           2.49.16
10 Daniel Sessford (Can) / Jonah Clark (Can) Midnight Sun Coffee                                3.06.29

(source: a huge thanks to cycling news and Dan Hudson for pics)

Provincial RR in Red Deer next weekend

Any of the Speed Theory Cat 5's planning to do the Provincial RR next Sunday? James T & I did the one last year and it was plenty tough if this course is harder (as mentioned in the description on the ABA site) the race will be quite selective, so no big mass finish likely.

I am looking to drive up in the morning and will have room for at least one in my van.

The link to the write up on the ABA site is http://www.albertabicycle.ab.ca/pdfs/road_pdfs/Grand%20Central%20Road%20Race%20Summary.pdf

You can register online at Karelo.com: http://www.karelo.com/menu.php

Michael

Trans Rockies: Stage 5

Stage 5 marks the glorious return to civilization for team Scheffer Andrew. After roughing it for real in the Canadian wilderness, Trev and Charlie rolled into Elkford BC in style. If you're wondering what Trev and Charlie are dealing with day to day, velonews has a great story.

Stage 5:
Yet another epic and extremely hot day in the saddle for our dynamic duo. With two passes on their plates the suitcases and hat boxes of courage where unpacked and opened. The 2100m Crossing Creek pass features an nifty rock garden for 3km (seen to the left). This stretch is notorious for claiming a few riders every year. As the late Steve Irwin would say, "Crikey, look at the chompers on that one!". The leaders (United Cycles and La Ruta) continue their slugfest continuing to try and force the opposition into a compromising position using clever tactics, raw power and sheer audacity. Despite it being their team manager's birthday, the La Ruta was unable to overcome the mighty United Cycle boys. Regardless, these two sets of rivals are putting on a show. Sadly, Team Opus was forced to withdraw from the race, congrats to a great race gentlemen, here's to a speedy recover.

What about the Scheffer Andrew Duo? Well, the continuing strategy of Charlie and Trev is consistency. Slotting in an amazing 5th on the day our dynamic duo ate away some serious time on the Swiss Frenetic Volvo team.

Stage Results:

Open Men

1 Tim Heemskerk (Can) / Roddi Lega (Can) United Cycle Team          4.02.18
2 Federico Ramirez (CRc) / Ivan Amador (CRc) La Ruta                   4.37
3 Matt Green (Can) / Hadley Matt (Can) Rocky Mountain / EAsports      11.48
4 Daniel Sessford (Can) / Jonah Clark (Can) Midnight Sun Coffee       19.39
5 Trev Williams (Can) / Charlie Cooper (Can) Scheffer Andrew Ltd.     19.41
6 Angus Jennings (NZl) / Nick Ross (NZl) 100% New Zealand             22.11
7 Henning Dybendal (Nor) / Kristian Torgersen (Nor) Norefjell CK      22.12
8 Danilo Mathez (Swi) / Pierre Berberat (Swi) Frenetic-Volvo          25.16
9 Adam Erritzoe (Den) / Thomas Dam (Den) Team Mermaid                 30.07
10 Ryan Leech (USA) / Chip Kogelmann (USA) VisitPA.com                30.24

GC after Stage 5:
With the retirement of Team Opus, Scheffer Andrew moves comfortably into 6th on the GC.
With the work put in on stage 5, the boys have taken a serious chunk out of the 5th placed
team Frenetic Volvo.  5th place is securely locked in the sight of Trev and Charlie.  In other GC
news, the Danish squad, Team Mermaid, is back in the top 10.  I just thought that name was rather
intriguing. 

Open Men

1 Tim Heemskerk (Can) / Roddi Lega (Can) United Cycle Team                                     17.53.45
2 Federico Ramirez (CRc) / Ivan Amador (CRc) La Ruta                                              25.59
3 Matt Green (Can) / Hadley Matt (Can) Rocky Mountain / EAsports                                1.05.39
4 Henning Dybendal (Nor) / Kristian Torgersen (Nor) Norefjell CK                                1.20.33
5 Danilo Mathez (Swi) / Pierre Berberat (Swi) Frenetic-Volvo                                    1.27.23
6 Trev Williams (Can) / Charlie Cooper (Can) Scheffer Andrew Ltd.                               1.28.01
7 Angus Jennings (NZl) / Nick Ross (NZl) 100% New Zealand                                       1.40.40
8 Kelly Servinski (Can) / Hazen Simson (Can) Big Guy little guy                                 1.48.02
9 Ryan Leech (USA) / Chip Kogelmann (USA) VisitPA.com                                           1.54.11
10 Adam Erritzoe (Den) / Thomas Dam (Den) Team Mermaid                                          2.11.22

Source: cycling news
Picture: Images by Dan Hudson

Trans Rockies: Stage 4

Sadly, there is no dispatch on stage 4 from the folks at cycling news so I cannot launch one of my typical updates with cool pictures and color commentary. As soon as a report pops up I will update accordingly. Results, however, we have.

Stage 4:
A mere 100km stage. These types of stages are suited to the Scheffer Andrew boys given their massive conditioning.

Open Men

1 Federico Ramirez (CRc) / Ivan Amador (CRc) La Ruta                                            4.35.04
2 Tim Heemskerk (Can) / Roddi Lega (Can) United Cycle Team                                            
3 Steve Gaffney (Can) / Brian Cooke (Can) Opus                                                     6.51
4 Danilo Mathez (Swi) / Pierre Berberat (Swi) Frenetic-Volvo                                       7.57
5 Henning Dybendal (Nor) / Kristian Torgersen (Nor) Norefjell CK                                   9.52
6 Trev Williams (Can) / Charlie Cooper (Can) Scheffer Andrew Ltd.                                 12.45
7 Matt Green (Can) / Hadley Matt (Can) Rocky Mountain / EAsports                                  14.44
8 Kelly Servinski (Can) / Hazen Simson (Can) Big Guy little guy                                   18.25
9 Angus Jennings (NZl) / Nick Ross (NZl) 100% New Zealand                                         19.50
10 Ryan Leech (USA) / Chip Kogelmann (USA) VisitPA.com                                            22.19

Oh yeah! Trev and Charlie continue to be the crew of consistency slotting in at 6th on the day. Note the time gaps, ever smaller. Trev and Charlie continue to reel in the big fish.

GC after Stage 4:
Scheffer Andrew is well poised at this point in the race with several grueling days of racing ahead.

Open Men

1 Tim Heemskerk (Can) / Roddi Lega (Can) United Cycle Team                                     13.51.27
2 Federico Ramirez (CRc) / Ivan Amador (CRc) La Ruta                                              21.22
3 Steve Gaffney (Can) / Brian Cooke (Can) Opus                                                    41.32
4 Matt Green (Can) / Hadley Matt (Can) Rocky Mountain / EAsports                                  53.50
5 Henning Dybendal (Nor) / Kristian Torgersen (Nor) Norefjell CK                                  58.21
6 Danilo Mathez (Swi) / Pierre Berberat (Swi) Frenetic-Volvo                                    1.02.07
7 Trev Williams (Can) / Charlie Cooper (Can) Scheffer Andrew Ltd.                               1.08.20
8 Kelly Servinski (Can) / Hazen Simson (Can) Big Guy little guy                                 1.17.14
9 Angus Jennings (NZl) / Nick Ross (NZl) 100% New Zealand                                       1.18.28
10 Ryan Leech (USA) / Chip Kogelmann (USA) VisitPA.com                                          1.23.47

Trans Rockies: Stage 3

Yesterday was stage 3 for Trev and Charlie at the Trans Rockies Challenge. Fresh off their 7th place from the day before our tenacious twosome rolled to the start looking to cause some discomfort for their rivals.

Stage 3:
The longest stage of the race so far set in the picturesque Kootenay River Valley. While this is the home of 'the beer out here' racers did not have to contend with a surly sasquatch or goofy park rangers. Instead they were treated to 90km of trails, climbs, mud, and river crossings in some oppressive heat. Featuring two climbs in and out of the valley this stage offered some shakeups in the overall standings. Team United Cycle continues to dominate the open men category while the Rocky Mountain EA sports team had a rough day falling from second to fourth as team La Ruta handily moved into second. On the day, Trev and Charlie remain steadfast and consistent logging another day in the office and finishing a remarkable 5th on the stage a mere 18 minutes behind the leaders and spitting distance behind 3rd and 4th. As the race drags on the extensive conditioning team Scheffer Andrew have done will likely prove to be the key as they continue their march to Fernie. Rocky Mountain EA sports, unfortunately, have shown how quickly the tides can change in this grueling race losing 29 minutes on the day. Don't count those boys out but they have their work cut out for them

The GC picture after Stage 3:
There were some shakeups in the open men category with the RockyMountain EA sports boys tumbling out of the top 3. Scheffer Andrew moves up to a 7th over all but note the time gaps. Trev and Charlie are spitting distance from 5th and 6th, commando-crawling distance from 4th and one ill timed mechanical from the podium (or a Trev and Charlie super watt surge). Keep on it boys, you're kicking ass.

Open Men

1 Tim Heemskerk (Can) / Roddi Lega (Can) United Cycle Team                                      9.16.22
2 Federico Ramirez (CRc) / Ivan Amador (CRc) La Ruta                                              21.22
3 Steve Gaffney (Can) / Brian Cooke (Can) Opus                                                    34.42
4 Matt Green (Can) / Hadley Matt (Can) Rocky Mountain / EAsports                                  39.07
5 Henning Dybendal (Nor) / Kristian Torgersen (Nor) Norefjell CK                                  48.30
6 Danilo Mathez (Swi) / Pierre Berberat (Swi) Frenetic-Volvo                                      54.11
7 Trev Williams (Can) / Charlie Cooper (Can) Scheffer Andrew Ltd.                                 55.35
8 Angus Jennings (NZl) / Nick Ross (NZl) 100% New Zealand                                         58.39
9 Kelly Servinski (Can) / Hazen Simson (Can) Big Guy little guy                                   58.49
10 Ryan Leech (USA) / Chip Kogelmann (USA) VisitPA.com                                          1.01.28

Moving ahead, the race grinds on with even longer stages ahead. The weather is nothing short of scorching with the heat starting to take it's toll on the athletes, dehydration and heat exhaustion have forced some athletes to retire the race early. Expect more shakeups as the race continues, the relentless pace and machine break down will start becoming more frequent as we get further into the contest.
*Source: cycling news (pics and results)

Trans Rockies Challenge: Stage 2

Yesterday was the second day for the dynamic duo, Trev and Charlie at the 2007 edition of the Trans Rockies Challenge. After finishing the grueling first stage it is reported that the riders village suffered a freak windstorm which pummeled tents and caused carnage. Things settled down into the evening allowing riders to rest up for stage 2.

Stage 2:
Stage two marks the first grueling day in the race more than doubling the distance that riders have to cover. With a 3km neutral start (enforced by Canada's Finest: the RCMP) racing began in earnest after the peleton left Invermere. With the GC leaders looking to see how people were feeling launched an early attack shattering the field with all but the top teams hanging on. After a 20km climb up Bear Creek and a precarious and wet descent the trail opened up into friendly territory for our Scheffer Andrew boys for the last 40km. Featuring buffed trail suited to the power riding Trev is known for it can only be assumed the lunch boxes were opened and the boys got to work. Up ahead, the GC leaders suffered some mechanical difficulties and (likely) saw a 10 minute lead cut down to 5 minutes as the rest of the contenders mercilessly pressed on. Welcome to the Trans Rockies folks, the race where a flat is not serviced by a speedy caffeinated mechanic in a team car but by the racer themselves. Fortunes change in a heartbeat. Team Scheffer Andrew finished the stage in an impressive 7th place a mere 16:04 off the leaders. Keep in mind, 10 minutes is a tire change and that is just one of the many possible mechanicals these athletes could face.

The GC at this point:
The GC picture after two days of racing looks like this:

Open men

1 Tim Heemskerk (Can) / Roddi Lega (Can) United Cycle Team                                      5.21.38
2 Matt Green (Can) / Hadley Matt (Can) Rocky Mountain / EAsports                                   9.40
3 Federico Ramirez (CRc) / Ivan Amador (CRc) La Ruta                                              12.54
4 Steve Gaffney (Can) / Brian Cooke (Can) Opus                                                    20.41
5 Henning Dybendal (Nor) / Kristian Torgersen (Nor) Norefjell CK                                  23.26
6 Danilo Mathez (Swi) / Pierre Berberat (Swi) Frenetic-Volvo                                      31.21
7 Ryan Leech (USA) / Chip Kogelmann (USA) VisitPA.com                                             32.35
8 Craig Stappler (Can) / Jon Nutbrown (Can) Ridley's Cycle / Deadgoat                             32.36
9 Mike McKee (Can) / Erik Bakke (Can) Specialized / Solo-GI                                       36.13
10 Trev Williams (Can) / Charlie Cooper (Can) Scheffer Andrew Ltd.                                36.43

As you can see, the spread between the top teams is not huge at this point. A 10 minute buffer between 1st and 2nd can be erased with an ill timed crash or mechanical and with 3rd through 10th separated by only 24 minutes it is safe to say this race is still wide open. Look for the signs of attrition to start showing in the 3rd and 4th stages and the greatest equalizer of all, weather, to join the fray. Today will likely be scorching hot and rain is slated to move in later this week. Things will likely get even more exciting.

Keep on rocking Charlie and Trev.

*source: cycling news (pics and report)

Team SchefferAndrew

Today marks the start of the 2007 edition of the Trans Rockies Challenge. One of our Speed Theorists and his comrade (who are we kidding, Charlie is an honorary teammate just for racing with Trev) lined up at the start today at the Village Departe in Panorama Village. Trev and Charlie form the Scheffer Andrew team for the Trans Rockies Challenge. Of course, Trev and Charlie would like to thank Scheffer Andrew for their generosity and support and those of us at Team Speed Theory also express our gratitude. (Scheffer Andrew Rocks!)

Stage One:
With a depart from the Panorama Village and a finish in the nearby town on Invemere BC, the Trans Rockies starts with a bang. And a lot of climbing. With a base elevation of 3800ft and topping out at 7800 ft you know what direction our intrepid racers are going. Up. To provide some perspective, most tour du france climbs start at close to sea level, so imagine hitting Alp D Huez but starting at the top then climbing for 15K. I have been unable to decipher the precise race route but I obtained some satellite imagery for interests sake. The initial stage is a 33KM 'prologue' of sorts that is designed to let the racers settle in to what will be an action packed week. Granted, 33KM on a mountain bike with 4000m of climbing is not for the faint of heart. The route will no doubt feature several bottle-necks to try and spread the field out. Keep in mind the sage wisdom of any stage race, you can't win the race in the prologue. Look to later stages where fire road descents and hard packed speedways are present. I suspect our guys will light it up on those sections. It's a packed field this year Trev and Charlie will have to contend with rival teams like the Afghan Hounds, the Irish Bear Wrestling Team, and numerous others.

Race Report:
Results of stage 1 can be found here at cycling news. Now the race report is covering the big names so there is no mention of the Scheffer Andrew boys but never fear, they placed an impressive 14th on the stage slotted in behind last years winners Andreas Heslter and Kevin Calhoun. Keep in mind (especially you roadies watching the time gaps) this is a mountain bike race, racers can gain or lose time in minutes if not tens of minutes quite easily. Make no mistake about it, Trev and Charlie are in the hunt.

Best of luck to Trev and Charlie, keep the rubber side down boys!

Good Luck Trev at the Trans Rockies

I spoke to Trev today as he was pulling together the uniform for him and his team mate Charlie for the TransRockies and other last minute items.

He looked psyched and ready to take on one of the biggest challenges of his life - the TransRockies!







As he kissed his wife and little girl goodbye, it was obvious he was ready!




Good Luck Trev, we'll be cheering for you!

The CAT 5 MONSTER

Hey fellow Speed Thoerists, as my healing process hasn't moved along as quick as I would like I took the opportunity to take my camera and my fat a** down to the race. What a race it was, there were more ups and downs than a skinny kid on the teeter totter.

There were a couple of familiar faces to the Speed Theory nation. Ryan "Lunch Pail" Murray and Michael "Godfather" Godfrey. Both lads put in a great showing Mike in his standard 5th wheel position and no not the TV show, dude's married. Ryan was moving around from 2 spot to 8 spot with some excellent early patience.

It basically started out with some "prems" to get the lads ramped up and spastic over a hundred bucks. Well, it worked the speed got up there and the pack was looking as dodgy as dude selling knock offs on Canal St. I think it was about the 3rd "prem" when a Ryder from Bow Cycle had his back wheel slide out. Using his Right side as a magic carpet he slammed into the padded retaining wall that I was cowering behind. (I got a great pic of the tops of my shoes) As I stood up, I saw the rest of the guys making the corner and the tell tale sound of tires popping and the smell of dude from bow cycle's flesh burning. Then the next impact happened, this included the Godfather hitting the padded wall. At this point, I stopped watching as a flash back from June reminded me why I like my cruiser bike. Fortunately, the lads appeared to be okay. The "godfather" was out with flesh wounds and " lunch pail" was still lurking about 8 guys back.

At this point an independent decided to attack off the front, Ryan kept his position and let Team Bow Cycle and Team Bicisport take up the chase. 5 -7 laps later the attack was quelled only to have 2 BICI riders and another dude create a large gap from the pack. At this point, Ryan tried to get the guys in the pack to work together to bring the leaders back into the fold. No Dice! So, Ryan grabbed his lunch pail and went to work for the next 5-8 laps riding away from the disorganized pack and reeling in the leaders. I must say this was one of the more impressive efforts I've seen. Ryan stayed with it and finally caught the leader going into the bell laps. Coming into the crash corner Ryan was working the leaders over like a NARC at a Biker rally with 2 laps to go. Last lap came and Ryan was in great position sitting in forth spot coming into the incline on the back of the course. He narrowly missed the move by Bici sport and ended up taking third on the day. Ryan picked up some great PR from the commentators in regards to his big effort in catching the leaders. Another Great result for Team Speed Theory. Another Great result for Ryan "Lunch Pail" Murray

Well done Ryan!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monstrous!

Ok, I'm a huge JJ Abrams fan. You know, the guy who does LOST and other various cool films. He's got a new gig coming down, you may have heard of it. Well folks, youtube delivers to you again. I think I found some more footage from this exciting but secretive film. That or it's Trev at the Bowness hill climb. It's hard to tell, low quality, grainy, and Trev is kind of a monster on his bike so . . .

Yikes.

Today....after I stopped skidding, I opened my eyes and see my shoe still swinging from it's pedal on my beat up MTN bike. Latch still firmly closed. My foot decided to exit the shoe through other means.

I'm serious... who fricken breaks a shoe?

Close call today. New shoes today. I've got to keep it together until the big show in a week.