A Soigneur Story: Tales From the Feed Zone

After the hustle and bustle of working both Sea Otter Classic and Joe Martin, things started winding down for me locally. Dana Point came and went, and then Tour of California began.

The whole entire time the race was up north, I found myself pouting that I wasn’t working it. I had a few friends that were, and I was both ecstatic and jealous of them. It wouldn’t be until the Tour was over that I would realize that even though I am pretty confident in my work, I knew that I was still a bit too green for this type of race. Instead, I lived vicariously through Dan Horndasch, a really good friend of mine who is 2nd mechanic for Bissell Pro Cycling and spent most of his time at the tour in the team car. Between our “spectator to team car” hijinx during Stage 7 and my unofficial course recon for Stage 8, I felt at home with the tail end of California and the camaraderie between staff members/riders of different teams after the conclusion of the tour.

I was hoping to run into my boss from Joe Martin Stage Race, Frankie Andreu, but I knew it would be nearly impossible due to the fact that Frankie is a very busy man at races like these. Kenda 5 Hour Energy wasn’t racing (unfortunately), but Frankie was making his rounds doing media work, and also goofing off with Neil Browne. The life of the greatest team director ever. Geeze.

So AToC came and went. I have some awesome memories from that weekend that I’ll forever remember. And hopefully be able to make some in the future while actually working it. However, this isn’t the end of the story.

Yesterday (Friday, May 25th) I checked my email for the first time in a week. My phone had reset itself so emails weren’t being sent to my phone. Facebook, facebook, random sponsor inquiry…. The same old stuff. But one caught my eye. The subject simply said, “utah.” My heart stopped. If you know anything about the American racing scene, you know that Utah is home to Tour of Utah, “America’s Toughest Stage Race” (also ranked as 2.1; a step down from a 2.HC like Tour of California/US Pro Challenge) . I opened it and read,

“I’m writing to see if you would be interested to work Tour of Utah with us. 8/5 to 8/13?”

I think you know what the answer to that.

I’ll write more when all the details are figured out ;)

It’s halfway through the Southern California race season and the NRC/NCC season is in full swing. Our current SCNCA standings are:

TOP 10 RIDER STANDINGS

Junior 17/18:

• 1st: Riley Everett - 89pts
• 2nd: Justin Oien - 83pts
• 5th: Dominic Galenti - 53pts

Masters 35+:

• 1st: Chris DeMarchi - 153pts
• 3rd: Phil Tinstman - 119pts
• 4th: Kayle LeoGrande - 113pts
• 9th: Chris McDonald - 67pts

TEAM STANDINGS

• 2nd: Overall
• 3rd: Masters
• 6th: Juniors
• 6th: Elite

TOP THREE FINISHES

• 1st place finishes: 30
• 2nd place finishes: 27
• 3rd place finishes: 21

STAGE RACES

• Yellow Jersey: 4
• Green Jersey: 1

OVERALL PODIUM FINISHES (including GC finishes): 83

Great job team!

“Now is the time that determines who makes it or not. You can quit and let all of your hard work go down the drain, or you can sack up and make your dreams happen. You have to get your stuff together act like an adult, bear down and deal with it and still show up with a game face when the team needs you. Now isnt the time to get sad.” -Kyle Harwick.

I seriously have the best friends in the whole entire world. When I doubt myself or feel like giving up, they are there for me. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.