Exclamation Point (eks'kle ma'shen point) mark (!) used to show surprise or strong emotion.
What better way to end the 2009 road season than with a finish that required numerous !!!!! After Saturday night's awards party in which Team Colavita walked out with BOXES of trophies and jerseys, the only way to top it would be another State Championship in Sunday's category day races. Bradley Gordon gave us the perfect ending by out-sprinting his team mate, Taylor Warren by .o1 second (or about an inch), to win the Cat 4 road race. Wow! Not just one but TWO Colavita riders on the podium. This year has been full of great races, lots of fun and (I hope) some learning. I would like to thank all the juniors for training hard, racing hard and behaving like true sportsmen. You are all a credit to cycling. I would also like to thank all the parents who tirelessly drive, feed, cheer and unwaveringly support the juniors. It will reap benefits many years down the road with young adults they can truly be proud of. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did this season and I can't wait until next year! Diane
Dahlonega, what a great team weekend! I was going to write my version of the ride but I think I'll just give you the short bites.
The drive up and back was special, what with when's-dinner-I'm-hungry-Brad, not-on-my-legs-Brandon and I'm-totally-innocent-Michelle. Yeah, a real three ring circus.
How much food keeps 21 people happy? About $200 worth at Wally World.
Jeff Major is REALLY brave to sit quietly while I tear around the mountain curves and chase the riders.
I don't know what Eddie says, but he has a golden ability to motivate kids to excel on the climbs.
Ian is the Colavita version of a mountain goat. He was flying up the mountains.
Christian, Taylor, Dean, and Ian deserve special note for climbing Brasstown Bald after doing the three gaps. Anselm gamely tried, but was defeated by the steep grade. Don't feel bed, Anselm, your mom's van didn't see humor in the climb either...
I NEVER heard a complaint about the climbs or anything all weekend.
On Saturday morning when we first left the Hostel and all the juniors were in team kits, riding toward Turner's Corner in a two-abreast formation, all I could think of was "WOW, IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!"
Thank you very much to the parents for driving up and all the help.
And, thank you very much to the juniors for doing such a grand job on the mountains
Diane Blake
Taylor Warren The trip to Georgia for me was amazing. Being the new guys, I was a little skeptical but I decided to go on the trip not really knowing what to expect. Riding in the mountains was crazy intense, I had to give a lot to push it to the top. Once at the summit of a gap though, there's no better feeling of accomplishment. Descending is wicked fun too!
Not only did I get stronger riding the mountains but I think I bonded with the team in ways I couldn't have done without the trip. At the hostel there was lots fun, from playing manhunt to trying to start a fire. I also loved the way the team encourages each other to fight to the top. The Georgia weekend is something I will remember for a long time.
Zoe Mullins
Dahlonega was great. It was my first time climbing up a mountain and I was really nervous. Saturday I climbed up Neels and Woody gaps. Neels gap was pretty hard, plus it was my first ever climb, and Woody was pretty easy. I didn't descend Neels, but I did go down Woodys which was really fun and my favorite part of the weekend. Sunday I climbed up Jacks and Unicoi gap. Jacks gap to me was pretty hard and long and Unicoi was kind of hard and short. I descended Jacks gap, and it was fun to do, I didn't descend Unicoi though. I was very happy when I made it to the top of Neels gap on Saturday because it was a big accomplishment to me. It was also fun that weekend to spend time with the team and overall I think this was a great experience.
Michelle Blake Team Colavita; will the fun times never end? I sure hope not.
Another weekend gone by with our fabulous team, this time in Dahlonega, GA to work on our mountain climbing skills. As a true Floridian, my world of cycling pretty much consists of flat and fast so heading into the hills was a big change in terrain. But I was looking forward to it anyways.
The car ride up proved to be another epic one. Both Brandon Forman and Bradley Gordon outright stated that they were going to be in our car, no matter what, making for a very entertaining ride. There are two things that are now common knowledge on our team that had the effect of making it so fun. One is that we have been campaigning for what seems almost forever to get Brandon to shave his legs like a normal cyclist. Illustrating the benefits and joys of cutting away that wild forest of hair that men like to cultivate on their legs. And two, it has become widely known the story of what I did to Casey Braga when he fell asleep in the car on the last trip to Dahlonega. Basically, every guy on the team is scared to death of me and my makeup kit. So put those two together plus my mom and you've got yourself a three ring circus on wheels...
To Read More of this Summary Click Here
Congratulations to our new Colavita Florida State Champions: Jos Chalmers and Casey Braga. Both racers gave it their all to come out with first place this weekend, on their 20k and 10k courses. Colavita had a total of 6 podium finishes this Saturday, even sweeping the 13-14 category with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.
Junior 13-14 (10k) Casey Braga 1st 14:27 Jay Major 2nd Christian Teather 3rd 15:22
Junior 15-16 (20k) Jos Chalmers 1st 28:17 Bradley Gordon 6th 30:24
Junior 17-18 (20k) Ian McGauvran 4th 30:31
Women 4 (20k) Michelle Blake 7th 34:38
Category 3 (40k) John-Paul Russo 59:57
Category 4 (40k) John Gibson
Masters 50-54 (40k) Paul Hardison 12th 1.06:34
Masters +60 (40k) Neville Brabrook
(more times and results coming soon)
What a GREAT weekend! Our riders were just super by winning TWO state TT titles. I would like to give a lot of credit to the PARENTS of our juniors who did a fantastic job of keeping the kids cool and hydrated while warming up and providing portable shade on the start line. You people are the BEST!
I want to especially thank Paul Hardison and Doreen McGauvran for coming to the aid of a young rider that passed out at the end of his TT. It is nice to know we have such caring people on our team. -Diane Blake
If you are planning on riding the State Time Trial championships and are over 14 years old, they will be checking bikes for conformity to the USACycling regulations for TT bikes. I have manufactured a jig like they use at nationals to check the bikes and will have it in Jacksonville. It measures seat angle, length of the TTbars, wheel base and height among other things. Check Florida Cycling for links to the site with the rules and measurements. I will also have the jig at Lakeland for anyone who has their TT bike and wants to see if it conforms.
The team gear bags are in and look really nice. If you ordered one, see me ( Diane) to pick it up. The price is $28 and I have one without a name embroidered on it for $22. Hopefully, you won't leave it home when you go to Dahlonega and have to borrow YOUR MOTHER'S riding clothes for the weekend....like someone we know.
Thank you to the fantastic parents and friends who got up early saturday morning to set up and serve pasta and fixin's to the racers. Jonathan Greene, Nancy Matteson, Wanda Luthman, Joe Luthman, Jacques Mertens, Doreen McGauvran, Brad Gordon, Henry Willis, Anne Teather, Jan Chalmers and Eddie Braga were busy serving linguine, brownies, peanut butter balls and hot chocolate to make money to support our junior race team. What a great crew! Thank you to Brad and Debbie Gordon for opening up their beautiful home and hosting the second annual Colavita Team dinner. Wow! Debbie, you sure know how to feed many hungry bike racers and their families. Thank you to the junior and adult racers on the Colavita Team for doing a great job of riding safely, having fun and winning!
