Christine gets another win for team NOW! Thank you to sponsors

Great NOW-MS Society weekend continues thanks to Christine Barron who won the Women Cat 4 CBR race today in Dominguez Hills... Julia Lafranchise placed 6th in the Women Pro 1/2/3. Nick Hare won the two bottle Australian wine prime in the Mens 30+ 4/ 5 race.

Thanks to everyone who helped make Barry Wolfe Grand Prix such a success yesterday including Linda Smith for her great work organizing the race and all the volunteers who came out to help.

A special thanks to the following sponsors of individual races:
Radius Payments - Cat 5
Performance Fitness Concepts - 50+
Fast Friday - 30+ 3/ 4
Minatura 45+ (1-4)
Loyal Coaching - Cat 4
Schindler Eyrich, LLP Attorneys - W 3-4
Newbury Park Bicycle Shop 35+ (1-4) [MCL] & Women's 1-3
Velo Fit - Cat 3
No Opportunity Wasted Pro 1/ 2

And thank you to the following sponsors:
Clif Bar
Axis Sports Group
Riptide Tattoo
Prolong Energy
Ride 2 Recovery - Making a Difference in the Lives of Injured Veterans
G Systems Concepts
Cynergy Cycles
MCL
Abigail Lufkin Sports Psychology Consulting

NOW womens team update

Hello women's team,

It's been a great weekend for the girls all round this weekend.

Betsy and Trudi did a GREAT TTT yesterday at State Championship and nabbed a
bronze.

Kendall Ryan got 1st in the Barry Wolfe State Champ. Her team (Julia,
Lauren, Jenna, Jen Jo, Ivie and me) did her proud and died a million deaths
due to the heat. It was brutal but fun. There's is nothing more rewarding
than seeing your team mate with her hands in the air doing a victory salute.
Very, very proud.

Dora did her first crit in a long time and looked so strong. She raced with
Betsy, Ivie and Christine (who got heat stroke).

But Christine bounced back today and came 1st in the Cat 4 race at Dominquez
Hills. Cat 3 upgrade guaranteed this week. Christine is a National Champ on
the track and has only done a handful of crits.

Julia La Franchise got 6th in the Women's Pro 1 2 3 at Dominquez Hills. She
is officially living on the road now, having committed her summer to racing.

Thank you Linda for doing an amazing job with the Barry Wolfe race and
organizing all the volunteers! It was a huge success. Linda also takes
care of membership, which is a big job.

Abigail is looking terrific and will be giving birth to a champ in the
making, in 6 weeks. Then she's back on the bike the week after that :) We
can only fantasize about that.

Debbie had a birthday last week. Happy birthday. Julie Guthrie has had
weekend after weekend of family celebrations, including her grandmother's
birthday. She's been preparing food and doing up the backyard for a big
family BBQ since Friday.

Angela is working hard as a police officer. We miss you Angela. Do we need
to get arrested to see you? LOL

Nicole is loving her new job. She was able to sneak in a trip to Greece with
her man. Gorgeous photos Nicole.

Lauren Jacobsen is preparing for some big track races. Watch out. I pity
those other riders having experienced her sprint first hand.

Kendall Seyer continues to keep everyone up to date with club cycling news.
Can't wait for the next Pedalin Press.

Vikki Appel, we miss your wee face. Any chance you can come to the westside
so we can catch up!? Email me.

The U25 girls are off to the Tulsa Tough Stage Race this Thursday. Good luck
girls.

That's it for now.

Check out the stats for our FB fan site. Please add photos and comments to
keep our site alive and kicking. We are popular but we need to feed the
monster

Love to you all

Louise

Congratulations Kendall and Sergio! Great job by NOW volunteers

Congratulations Kendall Ryan and Sergio Hernandez, 2010 Elite State Crit Champions!

Incredible team race today at Barry Wolfe Grand Prix. Great job by both the elite women and men attacking, counter-attacking, controlling the race, great teamwork! Danny Heeley and Cory Greenberg both had time in the break with Sergio.

Good job to Betsy Kogan who raced women 3/4 and placed 3rd of the Cat 4s, Lawrence Novitch got 12th today in Masters 45+ and 24th in a very fast Masters 35+ race.

Stay tuned for race reports from Kendall and Sergio!

Thanks to Linda Smith for all her hard work and thanks to all the club members who came out to race, volunteer and cheer on our teammates! GO NOW-MS SOCIETY!!!!!!!!!!!

Men Ride Strong at Brea Crit

Strong showing by the NOW-MS Society trio of Danny Katz, Cory Greenberg, and Danny Heeley at the Brea P/1/2 Crit and by Will Chesebro in the Men 4 race. In the Men 1/2 race, the men rode fantastic as a team with great attacking and covering in their group.

Men Pro 1/2:
Danny Heeley 4th solo
Cory Greenberg 6th chase group sprint
Dan Katz 7th chase group sprint

Men Cat 4:
Will 19th

Christine brings home win!!!

Christine Barron won the Women 3/4 this morning in Brea, CA. Congratulations to Christine!!!!!!!!

Sacramento Grand Prix Race Report-NOW women

What: Sacramento Grand Prix aka Tour of Ca Women's Crit Race Report by Lauren Liscinski
Who: Jenna, Julia, Kendall and myself
Where: I didnt realize Sacramento was this far north
When: Sunday May 16
Why: Because who doesnt like to travel 15 hours w/in 36 hours for a 60 minute crit?

After getting to my dads house w/ enough time to ride, clean bikes, have dinner and go out for ice cream, Julia and I made our way to bed on Saturday night. We were both really eager and excited about the day ahead of us.....oh and exhausted from all the driving. Sunday was the smoothest wake up/get ready and out the door situation I have ever experience for a race. We arrived in Sac with plenty of time to pick up numbers, leisurely pin our jerseys, visit the portapotties, and get in a good warm up. Oh, and Julia was number 69. Highlight of the day.

I sat on the rollers while the others cruised around and finally proceeded to the start when it was time. Well, I should have gotten there earlier because everyone was already lined up just to get on the course. Oh well. We roll up finally and then the call ups begin. And so do my nerves. It is always unsettling when you here "She's the former National Champion..." "Former world Champion" "25 time national champion..." etc and you realize your best result is 2nd in a socal crit....Well, thank goodness there are no hills here!

We start and the pace was surprisingly conservative. I was prepared to be holding on for dear life from the gun but that was definitely not the case. It seemed as though no one really wanted to take control or risk doing too much work with such a prestigious win on the line. So the washing machine began. I would go from tenth wheel to eightieth in a lap just to work my way back up again. It was no problem getting to the front, but staying there was a completely different situation. I simply decided to just sit in and try to save as much energy as possible.

It was a rather uneventful race to be honest. The speed picked up quite a bit with 6 laps to go and the last 3 were very dicey as everyone was trying to manage the front. I was top 15 coming into 2 to go and then a near crash caused me to come to an almost complete stop and try to get back on w/ 1 to go. Well... there goes that. I rode as hard as I could but was not making up much ground at this point. Finished at the back of the group for 55th place.... not the result I had been looking for.

I am learning more and more to have fun with each race and not get so disappointed with less than stellar performances. All in all, I had a lot of fun at the race, and the road trip was a blast. Just ask Julia. Even though I didnt finish how I wanted I know that I was strong enough to ride with these women and I simply need to learn how to hold my position at the front and not let myself into anymore precarious situations.

That is all for now.

Thanks for reading,
Lauren Liscinski

Kenall Ryan-Race Reports: Grazia-Orlova and Spain

Hey Everyone,

Most of you know I was in Europe racing for the National Team. I was at the womens house in Lucca, Italy, then traveled to Czech Republic for a stage race, and finally a two day race in Costa Brava, Spain. I had an awesome experience racing and seeing the world. Enjoy, it's a bit of a long read.

Grazia-Orlova:

In this race our team was Coryn Rivera, Ally Stacher, Jessica Prinner, Kaitie Antonneau, and I, a young team, four juniors and a U23 rider. There were 120 starters in this four-day five-stage race. All were pro women, most were on national teams. Among us were two of the top women racers in the world, Marianne Vos with her strong team from Holland and Nicole Cooke with the elite Great Britain National Team.

The first day was rolling terrain that finished on a cobble stone climb, I finished in the pack in 54th. Second day was the hardest day of the whole stage race. There were three major climbs, the first was the hardest, it was 8km long with a sustained gradient of 8-9%. Vos and Cooke were just battling it out the whole time, which absolutely blew the field apart. I was in the 3rd chase group, finishing 55th. The TT the next day was in the early morning and it was raining really hard, I was really tired from the day before and I ended up 58th. Then the circuit race was later that day, I was on Coryn Rivera the last lap, since she was my lead out, and I kept getting hacked left and right by other riders because they knew I was setting up for the sprint. There was a round-about and then a 500 meter uphill finish, I almost got taken out at the round-about, and I lost Coryn's wheel and finished in 13th place just behind her.

On the last stage it was a circuit race that had a couple hard climbs in it. It was raining/freezing cold and there were crashes left and right every lap. I was in the group about a third of the way through the race, and then I got caught behind a crash and had to chase back on. I killed myself to get back in the group and then once a climb came up I popped and was stuck in the caravan for literally an hour. I finally got back into the group and when we hit the climb I tried to shift from the big to the small chain ring and my front derailleur was broken and I had to do a bike change. I got on a spare team bike and chased back to the field quickly. I road for half a lap with the field and my legs just cramped up really bad. I hadn't eaten any food the whole race because I was scared to take my hands off the bars. The two other junior girls racing on the national team, Kaitie Antonneau and Jessica Prinner, crashed 10 times between the two of them throughout the four road stages. It was the squirrliest race I have ever done, combining a lot of different riding styles from all different countries and putting them together, in a pack on roads that have massive holes and where the weather was far from desirable just adds to the chaos. Manel Lacambra, the USA Womens National Team Coach, pulled up next to me in the car when I was cramped up and absolutely spent, asking me what I wanted to do. I wanted to keep going so I could get a GC finish, but I had absolutely no energy left. He told me to just go take a shower. He promised things would be different in Spain for me.

Spain:

Spain was definitely different. The people, the food, the beach, and the racing was much more enjoyable than CZ had been. We raced in a vacation spot.

The first day we got there we ate Paella and laid on the gorgeous beach of Costa Brava, Spain. Our team was Evelyn Stevens, Ally Stacher, Coryn Rivera, Jessica Prinner, Kaitie Antonneau, and I. Evelyn and Ally did the pro womens race and the rest of us were in the Junior category. The first day of racing was a rolling 10k time trial. USA absolutely dominated. Evelyn Stevens placed first in the pro womens category, beating the pro mens winning time by 30 seconds. Jessica Prinner won the time trial for the juniors, with Coryn in second place less than one second behind her, I took third place five seconds behind Coryn and Kaitie was in fourth just 12 seconds behind me. We signed autographs on shirts and bottles, took pictures with the locals, and did our awards ceremony.

It was our last day of racing. We were leading both the GC for the pro womens race and the GC for the Junior race. Our plan for the race was to get Evelyn Stevens and Coryn Rivera in a breakaway together and the rest of us would have to cover attacks from the field. The pro women started 30 minutes before our race did, because they had to do an extra loop. Before the womens race came through to start another loop, our race started. There were about 30 junior 17-18 girls. We rode for about 25 minutes in the pack, until Evelyn Stevens came flying by us saying "Americaaaa, f@#$ yeahh!!" Coryn Rivera and Jessica Prinner both jumped hard to get on Evelyn's wheel. They brought two other riders with them, but they soon popped off their wheels. They were now team time trialing away from everyone. Ally Stacher, Kaitie Antonneau, and I were all left to control the field and make sure that the breakaway, stayed away. We kept that race together like professionals, no one was getting away. We had word from the moto-ref that the leaders had finished. We had done our job. With only 7k to go, two of the teams attacked together. Ally Stacher ramped up the speed with me on her wheel and Kaitie right behind me. Right before we were about to go through a round about, I jumped across to the two riders in the chase group. They did the majority of the work and the work I did I only went 80%. We were about to make the last turn when I attacked the two riders into the corner. It was a 500 meter uphill finish. I had enough speed through that corner and enough energy for a sprint. I crossed the line in 4th place. Kaitie won the field sprint taking 7th, and Ally was 9th. USA owned that race!!

Thanks for reading,

Kendall Ryan

Ontario #3 Pro 1,2 Race Report

Ontario Pro 1,2,3
Racers: Sergio and myself (Danny K.).
Results: 4th and 18th respectively

Made the decision to come down from SB the night before and glad I did. the course was the four corner variety of Ontario and it was really windy. Started with a decent sized field. Racing with Sergio is awesome. Besides the fact he's amazingly strong he also has a lot to teach. He told me to stay up front, sit in, of the wind, surf the pack and watch for splits and the early move likely to go in the wind.

Sergio was never sitting in, he was always attacking or covering which made my life pretty simple and it was fun to watch. I tried to sit in and surf the pack, staying at the front trying to cover moves that Sergio didn't make (which wasn't often). Eventually a break stuck with Sergio in it about half way through and started with four but a split in the pack created by Chris Walker nearly led to the break swelling to 15. I tried to go across but I hit the head wind section and my chances were less than ideal in making it across. Naturally at that point it all came back together after Sergio attacked the break and drew out 4 guys again and the other group came back. The gap was hanging at 20 seconds so I just stayed at the front to make sure I didn't stupidly miss another move.

The efforts in the wind were not exactly pleasant and we were in the gutter for a significant portion of the race. Apparently Sergio's break-mates were sitting on him in the last few laps and we ended up nearly catching them in the sprint. Sergio took 4th and it was hard earned for sure. The sprint got dicey as everybody tried to fight for Bahati's wheel on the inside. I followed a Socalcyling guy fast on the outside figuring I might as well sprint from in front of Bahati since my chances of coming around him or some of the other big sprinters like Demarchi were not the best. A replay of my collegiate nationals experience transpired and a guy flatted on the inside going around one of the corners and went straight and I had to go wide around him. The sprint hit the headwind and a lot of people died including me as I lost my wheel going into the last turn and in the wide, spread out sprint I pulled out an 18th. Not one of my better results but I'll take a top 20 . It was fun and hard racing and I'm looking forward to the rest of the Spring and Summer racing.

Danny

NOW U23 Collegiate Cycling Championships

Hi everybody,
For those who don't know me (I think I've met most at one time or another), I'm one of the U25s and have spent a good chunk of the season racing collegiate races along with Danny Heeley for UCSB. I apologize for the length of the report-it is two races. A few of us qualified individually but for the first time in a long time we did not qualify as a team due to some rule changes.

Madison, Wisconsin hosted this year's nationals which always includes a Road Race, a Criterium and a Team Time Trial. The trip started off well- we ran into the great UCSB Alumnus and NOW member David Adler at LAX. The race started with poor weather and due to being form California we were a little under prepared leading to a weird experience trying to explain to a clerk at a pharmacy why I needed latex gloves, Vaseline and some sort of warming oil. She wasn't a cyclist.

I will try not to go into too many details that are unique to collegiate cycling, but one of the strange aspects of collegiate cycling is that pros and graduate students can race. This makes things very interesting and creates a rather large disparity in age and skill levels. Racers have to be Category 3 riders or above-most are 1s and 2s.


The Road Race:
The race organizers managed to put the race in the only hills in Wisconsin and they had a state park just to honor one of the few interesting geological features in their state. The D1 men were to race 73 miles and the total climbing was to top 8000 ft. I'm not exactly a skinny climber but none of the climbs were quite terrible enough that I didn't think I could make it over them. We were to ride out down a neutral steep descent after getting staged rider by rider then stage again to start the circuits, 15 mile laps. Terrible idea. Another interesting aspect of the day was that it was 40 degrees and raining and with 140 college kids going for one jersey, it was going to be a fun neutral roll out. Indeed it was one of the scarier experiences of my life that turned extremely frustrating when we didn't stop to stage again and kept going, pinning the descent.

The big teams going for the team omnium title, the biggest goal in all of collegiate cycling, were clearly marking each other. The teams included Marian University, Midwestern State University (located in Texas), Lees-Mcrae, Fort Leisure/Lewis, CU Boulder and UC Davis. If you haven't heard of these schools, don't worry, they are small universities that emphasize cycling that I hadn't heard of until I raced collegiate. Nothing seemed to really get away and I had to fight my way to the front.I really cannot give much of a race report after the first lap- I flatted which was less than ideal. The course was brutal, the rain was terrible and the situation in the pack was just chaos. After flatting, I got a wheel from one of the Shimano Neutral Support Cars but the effort was futile with the wind and the pack still going pretty fast. It was frustrating to say the least but motivating for the next day.It was a race of attrition won by a true hard man, Blake Anton of Cal Poly SLO. He guest rode for NOW at Redlands and rode a great race actually trying to set up his teammate, a pro mountain biker, who took third.


The Criterium:
The D1 men's race took place at 6:15 PM on Saturday night, literally around the State Capital Building. The course was four corners (weird to have such a basic course for collegiate nationals) with a little elevation change. It was right down town near the University and the crowd was absolutely massive and loud. The weather was cold and windy, about 40 degrees but dry. Staging and theatrics took a solid frigid twenty minutes. But with the sound of the gun, everything seemed to go crazy. It was a Pro 1,2 crit in cat. 5 form.The problem with collegiate racing is that there is no control. The biggest teams have 4 guys and because the strongest teams are vying for team overall, the strong teams want to put as many guys as far up as possible in the final sprint-which a lot of times means not winning and not leading out.

The crit itself was insane, fun and extremely fast and dangerous, averaging 29 MPH despite the wind and hill. There were lots of crashes and it was pretty clear everybody was willing to go down to get a jersey. I rode like I needed to,less than cordially, but everybody was riding like that and it was the only way to hold position.

Definitely the sketchiest race I had ever ridden and it's really hard to race collegiate without a team. I knew covering moves was futile unless it had Davis and the other big names all in it (Lees-McCrae, Fort Lewis, UVM and/or Marian College-the cycling schools you've never heard of). With two to go I was holding strong trying to avoid the surge when a guy from Marian chopped my wheel hard for no apparent reason but to move up one wheel. I did everything I could to keep it upright but lost a lot of speed and my chances disappeared as I moved back to about 25th or 30th in a split second. Going through with one to go all I could hear was Dave Towle yelling on the PA and the crowd banging on the barricades as I desperately tried to move up. I only had a downhill stretch and headwind stretch to move up and I full on sprinted into the second to last turn going into the hill when the guy in front of me flatted and ended any hope for me. The guy who won the race was a 31 year old undergrad.

I'm hugely frustrated knowing I was there with the best guys but I needed to protect my space a bit better and needed to give myself more of an out per se. I am super motivated for the rest of the year but definitely mad to have collegiate season end like that for me, especially with some friends watching. The crit definitely gave me the confidence that I can ride a super aggressive crit and ride it at the front but am looking forward to the non-collegiate season now. I learned a lot despite the bad luck.

Looking forward to the rest of the year racing with NOW,
Danny (Katz-as opposed to Heeley)

Big race weekend for NOW women!!!

The NOW-MS Society women covered the map this weekend, racing against some of the top cyclists in the sport and coming home with results.

Kendall Ryan got 2 top-10 finishes. Saturday, Kendall placed 9th in the Scotts Valley Grand Prix. Today, she was 9th in the Sacramento Grand Prix at Tour of California. Julia Lafranchise was 25th. Both races included a field packed with riders from teams like Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12, Team TIBCO, Team Vera Bradley Foundation, Webcor.

Also Saturday... Jenna Kowalski was 3rd at the Winters Criterium in Winters, CA. Trudi Schindler and Julie Guthrie competed in the California State Championship Individual Time Trial.

Today, Betsy Kogan came in 2nd in the Ontario Women 4 race. Ivie Crawford competed in 3 races in Ontario. She came in 1st in the Junior 15-18. She also raced in the Women 1/2/3 and the Men 3s.

Congratulations to all who raced! Nice job representing NOW-MS Society!

NOW women to race in tour of CA Crit!!!

This Sunday, May 16th the Tour of California begins at 11:45am... Stage 1 Nevada City to Sacramento 104.2 miles.

AND THE NOW-MS SOCIETY WOMEN'S TEAM WILL BE REPRESENTED ON SUNDAY AT THE SACRAMENTO GRAND PRIX WOMEN'S CRITERIUM.

Kendall Ryan, Jenna Kowalski, Lauren Liscinski and Julia Lafranchise will race with some of the top women cyclists of the world including riders from the U.S. Women’s National Team and 2012 U.S. Women’s Olympic Development Team, Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12, Team TIBCO, Team Vera Bradley Foundation, and Webcor with Amber Neben the 2008 World Time Trial Champion. Race begins at 10am. The course is 1.4 miles and circles the Capitol building. It duplicates portions of the Tour of California circuit just hours before the Stage 1 race is scheduled to finish in downtown Sacramento.

Stay Tuned for updates: http://twitter.com/KSMCycling
For more info on TOC: http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/

NOW women's race report for Paramount State Crit Championship

Dearest Team:

Grey hair; reading glasses; sweater vests, none of these were present at today’s Paramount Grand Prix Master’s State championship. Some of the eldest and wisest in the sport rubbed elbows for roughly one hour vying for the Master’s state champion jersey (luckily the Paramount race organizers were kind enough to include races for us young grasshoppers). After a fabulous weekend in Santa Barbara; Lauren Liscinski and I lined up for the start of the Women’s pro/1/2 race, alongside recent (read: under 60 minutes prior) third place state champ Louise Koeghan (she raced in a master’s category. . .I’ll let you decide which one).


Incycle; LaGrange; Helen’s, all the SoCal teams represented and ready to race, as soon as the gun went off, the attacks began. Our race strategy. . .oh wait, that’s classified info. . .the short of it is: we covered moves, made sure to be in all the breaks and even got our elder star Louise off the front for a brutal 2 laps! For those two laps, no one, could stay with her; unfortunately her run came to an end, however, it was THE perfect set up for a nine woman break which included both Lauren and I. Being the only team with two riders in the break (go us!) we were responsible to keep the break moving. This we’ll just say. . .didn’t happen as planned, and we were brought back with a mere three laps to go.

The peleton was itching for a sprint finish; I’m talking about the kind of itch Gold Bond just doesn’t fix, and the women of NOW MS-Society were right there in the mix! Lauren swooped up alongside me and said: something I couldn’t understand; but luckily I was on the same brainwave, I hopped on her wheel as she braved the wind. We pulled up near the InCycle lead out, and the bell rang for one to go, suddenly the pace shifted and we were fighting for 17th place?? Fortunately Lauren took another heroic effort and pulled me back up to the front. With two corners to go I wizzed by; she said: something else I couldn’t understand. . . .but fear not, I knew she wanted the win and I wasn’t going to disappoint. Just before the last corner Pam Schuster attacked hard and I jumped on her wheel; needless to say this wasn’t an easy task. As we rounded the final turn and started to sprint I jumped around her with all my might; the finish line only meters away, and try though I did, Priscilla Calderon (former NOW MS-Society rider) nabbed the win; I finished second, and Jen Weinbrecht third. What a race; great preparation for next weekend. Thanks for reading.



Yours Truly,

Julia Lafranchise

2 Podiums of NOW women today!!!

Women's team took two podiums today at Paramount Grand Prix and SCNCA Masters State Championship!!

Julia Lafranchise 2nd in the Pro 1/2/3, led out by Lauren Liscinski. PC Calderon, a
NOW-MS alumn, won the race.

Louise Keoghan 3rd overall in Women's Masters. Julie Guthrie and Betsy Kogan raced really well, initiating attacks. Betsy got 4th in her category which combined 35+ and 45+. (Suzanne Sonye from Helens was 1st and Pam Schuster from SC Velo came 2nd.)

This week's Racing Highlights & New product from NOW

Good luck to U25 rider DANIEL KATZ who's off to race USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships this week in Madison, Wisconsin.

This is an incredible opportunity to get results and get noticed. Per VeloNews, "Nick Frey and Jamie Driscoll both signed to Jamis-Sutter Home for 2010 after winning the road race a year ago. Carla Swart won the women’s DI road race in 2009 and joined TIBCO-To the Top this season."

Here is this week's schedule:
Friday, May 7: Blue Mounds Road Race (73 miles)
Saturday, May 8: Criterium (60 minutes)
Sunday, May 9: Team Time Trial


KENDALL RYAN is on her way to Barcelona, Spain. This will be Kendall's final race in Europe with the National Team before heading back home on Monday. Buena Suerte Kendall!


Also this weekend, the 2010 Masters Crit Championships is this Sunday in Carson. (It's also Mother's Day so tell your mom you love her, then go race.)


Introducing the new formula NOW Energy Bar as requested by hundreds of athletes, including you! Now with more protein and less carbs. It's All-Natural, High Protein and Gluten Free! AND it tastes delicious! The flavor is caramel and peanut... two more flavors coming soon.

http://www.nowenergybar.com/

Available in stores SOON. Stay tuned for details.

NOW men-Gila Final day

Sunday, May 2, 2010
Stage 5 - Gila Monster RR
And Final Results

Another epic day at Tour of the Gila. Another challenging course: 105.7 miles... 9,131 feet of climbing... 8,252 feet of descent. (For the Cat 2 Men: 102.6 miles with 894 feet of climbing.) Racing against some of the best names in the sport. The Gila Monster Road Race lived up to the notoriety.

The day began with a raging tailwind driving the field forward at 40mph. The wind continued to blow hard all day. The cold never let up. In the higher altitudes, the men faced snow. They then descended into rain and back into snow with each climb throughout the day.

There were big crashes early on, fortunately our riders avoided. Sergio Hernandez had a good ride today. He was in the first chase group behind a break of 10 or 12 that held for most of the race. Sergio was right off being in that lead group. He finished 31st, a lot of very strong riders finished behind him. Corey Farrell also toughed out Stage 5, and finished 89th. Danny Heeley rode well all day and unfortunately crashed, going down rather hard. He is okay and walked away from the crash. Final GC: Sergio 53rd, Corey 92nd. It should be noted that to finish this race is a serious notch in the belt for any rider. Of the 177 Pro Men who raced Stage 1, only 101 finished Stage 5.

Darren Lill of Fly V won Stage 5. Levi Leipheimer won the overall for the 2nd year in a row. Tom Danielson (DZ Nuts) was 2nd overall. Phi Zajicek (Fly V) 3rd and Dave Zabriskie (DZ Nuts) 4th. All results are posted online. http://tourofthegila.com/

The Cat 2 Men began 45 minutes ahead of the Pro Men so they faced the same conditions. Cory Greenberg placed 40, Aaron Schneider 44. Kit Karzen fought against the altitude and gave it all he had. Final GC: Cory 31st, Aaron 44. Of the 79 Cat 2 Men who raced Stage 1, only 47 finished Stage 5. This experience will certainly pay dividends for all 6 of our riders.

Congratulations to all on their epic battle against the Gila Monster! Thanks to Team Director Kurt Stockton for all his support, daily briefings and Tweets!

In Other News:

Congratulations to Will Chesebro for winning the Defi Sportif circuit race today, his first win!!

Nice job masters men at Signal Hill! In addition to Jens Wallrabe's great report on the 40+ 4/5, Barry Fink got 12th in the 30+ 3/4.

Masters 40+ 4-5 Signal Hill Race Report

Race Report by Jens Wallrabe

Crit: Signal Hill

Race: Masters 40+ 4-5

Date: 5/2

Who raced: Hugh Templeman, Mike Myles, Nick Hare, Kevin Hinton, and Jens Wallrabe

Results: Jens Wallrabe 14th, Hugh Templeman 15th, Nick Hare 18th, Kevin Hinton 20th.

Ok. We lined up at the start all feeling like shit (combination of colds, no sleep, maybe a hangover, although no one admitted that), APART from Kevin, who had rolled to the line straight after finishing the prior race. ..AND doing the Breathless Agony Race (2nd race in the King of the Mountain Series) yesterday, which consisted of 114 miles and over 12500 feet of climbing with over 40 miles of that uphill. What the hell!

Anyway, the race started, we went around and around. Around some more, for about 35 minutes. The wind was brutal on about 50% of the course, creating significant head wind!!...the speed varied from 30+ down to around 20 mph. The NOW Masters’ Team did some work during the race closing down any attacks, so nothing stuck. The advantage of that was we did not have to chase anything down later in the race. The disadvantage of doing that was the peloton, on the whole, stuck together and moved around the race course like a big lump of Jell-O…

On a side note, we are a newly formed team and have only been racing together since the beginning of this season. We have been practicing a number of basic tactics and lead out strategies. Things have been slowly coming together and we are beginning to work more as a cohesive unit. Every race, particularly over the last three, has been getting better…

…Finally, we got the command “five laps to go!” As soon as we heard that we all looked for and found each other. I must say the kits look really good in a bunch near the front of the peloton…I don’t know why but I could not get my eyes off the Sierra Nevada logo…

Mike Myles made the first AGGRESSIVE jump around the outside of the peloton, I instantly followed him, behind me was Hugh, behind him Nick, and behind Nick was Kevin. Mike did his job after a super strong attack/pull and then I took over, I was 4th at that point, level with another rider. At well over 30mph we hit the final corner; Hugh was clued to my rear wheel like a barnacle on the underside of a boat, he was ready to launch himself like Apollo 12!

I felt REALLY strong; I am talking about walking through a 3 foot thick concrete wall strong! As we go around the corner, the bozo next to me apexes the corner and then catapults himself across the race course, inches from taking out my front wheel!!! I had to sit up for a second to slow down, since I did not want to hit my brakes with Hugh and the boys behind me! Close call…in that millisecond of me sitting up, about 10 riders came around us Before we could get our momentum back again it was too late…so close and yet so far (going around that last corner, I was already envisioning a podium spot for us!!!!)…oh well, there is always the next race.

…and yes, I did talk to that “I-do-not-know-how-to-keep-my-line” rider after the race. He probably won’t be doing that again anytime soon!

I just want to give a shout out to Hugh, Kevin, Mike, and Nick, my racing buddies today, who put so much effort into racing like a team. This is what makes it so much fun, to be racing with friends who always give their best!

Will wins 1st-Defi Sportif Circuit Race

After 3 years of racing, today was the day I got a win. I was happy with my 4th in the TT yesterday, but knew I was a favorite for the flat, straightforward 50 kilometer circuit race. My teammates were with me as we covered breaks, split the field, and out rode the heavily Canadian field. With 500 meters to go I was 3rd wheel, and as we went under a bridge there was the screeching of carbon wheels as the field went down. It was just me and a Canadian national team member who led it out. coming into the final meters my crit racing days kicked in, and I was able to slip around him for the win. I still can't believe I won, having never experienced crossing the finish line with a clear view of the course ahead. I head home tomorrow, and hope to see everyone soon. Will

NOW men-Stage 4 at Gila

Saturday, May 1, 2010
Stage 4 - Downtown Silver City Criterium

Today was a great, exciting day of racing with an enthusiastic crowd that lined the course. It was a nail-biter, and the weather held, in the 50s mostly, with a slight breeze nothing like the wind of the past couple days. Today's 1.08-mile 4-corner crit course is not flat at all, with 80 feet of climbing per lap and a high speed descent on the 4th corner, 43.2 miles or 40 laps for the Pro Men and 32.4 miles or 30 laps for the Cat 2 Men. Everyone rode to their abilities and is getting stronger everyday despite the tough altitude, a sustained 6,000 feet.

The Cat 2 Men raced first today. Aaron Schneider, Kit Karzen and Cory Greenberg raced well and near the front. They stuck to the day's game plan: let the race sort itself out for the first 1/3 to 1/2 of the race. Cory was very impressive, in a lot of the action today, rode smart at the front of the pack. He had a couple go's at it including a move at the end of the race, he got caught with just over a lap to go. Then the winning break got away. Cory held on for awhile and came in top 15.

Kit, Aaron and Cory then watched the Pro Men race with Kurt. The Pro Men race was an all-out gun fight, an aggressive, fast race. The level of this race is impressive, and our men rode comfortably in the pack. Sergio Hernandez and Danny Heeley rode well toward the front.

Taylor Phinney of Trek-Livestrong won the race. Ivan Dominguez of Jamis-Sutter Home 2nd. Charles Dionne, Fly V 3rd. Mellow Johnny's Lance Armstrong and Jason McCartney worked the front to protect and retain Levi Leipheimer's overall GC lead, 59 seconds over David Zabriskie going into the final stage tomorrow.

Tomorrow... The Gila Monster!
Stage 5 Gila Monster RR... For the Pro Men, it's a 105.7-mile course with 9,131 feet of climbing and 8,252 feet of descent. Men Cat 2 have 102.6 miles with 894 feet of climbing. Both have an uphill finish. Expect a tough day for all. Men 2 start at 7:55am local time, Pro Men at 8:40am.

Check out attached photos: NOW-MS Society Gila Posse, Corey Farrell at TT yesterday and Kendall Ryan ready to TT in Europe earlier today.

Also today, at Barrio Logan, Ivie Crawford raced both the Junior 17/18 State Championships and the Women's 1/2/3 race. She placed 2nd the Junior race and 2nd among the Cat 3s in the 1/2/3. Julia was 11th overall in the 1/2/3.

Stage 3 Update - TT at Tour of Gila

Friday, April 30, 2010
Stage 3 - Dan Potts Memorial Tyrone Individual TT

Team Director Kurt Stockton makes Velo News photo highlights on today's cold and windy Stage 3 Time Trial. Scroll down to check him out (incognito)! http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/04/news/sergent-shocks-stars-at-gila-tt-leipheimer-leads_113849

Today, the NOW-MS Society men experienced TTing with the best in the sport. All 6 men started today and braved the 16.15-mile course that was anything but flat-- in cold weather with a wind that still had something to prove. Pro Men Sergio Hernandez, Corey Farrell and Danny Heeley back after struggling against the altitude yesterday. In the Men Cat 2, Kit Karzen, Aaron Schneider and Cory Greenberg who came in 16th and holds onto 37th place in GC.

GC: Pro Men Sergio 103, Corey 142, Danny 162. Men Cat 2 Cory 37, Kit 72, Aaron 67.

Trek-Livestrong’s Jesse Sergent won today's Pro Men TT in 34:09, 14 seconds ahead of Levi Leipheimer who is still #1 in GC. David Zabriskie (DZ Nuts), U.S. TT champ, came in 3rd, 26 seconds after Sergent. Lance Armstrong 13th, behind 1:50 (16th GC). Taylor Phinney 14th. Floyd Landis 15th (11th GC).

Stay Tuned! All our men are ready and resting up for tomorrow's Stage 4 Downtown Silver City Criterium, the 1.08-mile 4-corner course includes a high speed descent on the 4th corner and 80 feet of climbing per lap.
11:35am Men 2 (32.4 miles / 30 laps)
3:15pm Men Pro 1 (43.2 miles / 40 laps)