THF Racing

Barberi takes a step

admin — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:28:41 +0000

Last weekends Tulsa Tough event may have been dominated but one team but the final day saw Stefano break the stranglehold on the podium after the toughest day of the 3 races. After spending a few laps off the front spolo he was joined by a group of riders which would stay away. As the final laps came down the break had spilt into pieces and by playing his cards perfect Stefano grabbed the third spot behind a Toyota United duo to become the only rider that wasn’t wearing red and blue to stand on the podium.

1 for 1

admin — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:39:19 +0000

After a successful collegiate season racing for the Colorado School of Mines Zak Grabowski lined up on Saturday for the first team with his THF Realty Cycling teammates Brent Hanlin and Dan Schmatz at the Wheels of Thunder criterium in Denver. In typical fashion the attacks started early and didn’t stop till the end. About 20 minutes in Zak bridged across to a small group which later grew to about ten riders. After splitting the group with about 7 laps to go Zak had it down to three and started setting up for his final move which came at one lap to go. As the three made the turn after the start finish Zak put in a dig which got him about 15 seconds that he held to the line for the victory.

Tour of St. Louis

admin — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:15:44 +0000

Last weekend Brian Alferman, Austin Allison, Nolan Froese, Terry Kennan, Tim Kakouris and I did the Tour of St. Louis and it went pretty well for us. We knew going in to the races that we had to race for breaks because both crits were flat without many corners. Saturday at the Carondelet Park criterium the race started fast and about 10 minutes in I put in big counter-attack and after being off for a lap guys started coming across to form a 20 man break with three THF riders in it. With such a big break Austin, Terry and I had to stay vigilant and at the 30 minute mark a group of four with Terry in it got away. That group of four lapped the field and around the hour mark the rest of the group got caught. So we all worked to set Terry up but in the end we couldn’t get it right and Terry ended up second.

That afternoon in the time trial Nolan got a very good third place against some really good time trialists.

So going in to the Forest Park crit on Sunday we didn’t have much a shot at winning the overall so we raced for a break. It was really fast with nothing going and the whole team just rode at the front marking moves and trying to get away. About 40 minutes in I attacked and stayed out front for about five laps and when I got caught Nolan launched a perfect counter-attack that formed the winning five man move. The rest of the team rode at the front in case Nolan’s group got caught, but it stayed away and Nolan got second on the day and ended up second overall for the weekend. Terry got ninth on the day in the field sprint.
Brian Dziewa

THF tops Tilles

admin — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:52:52 +0000

Saturday April 12th

Brian Dziewa (java) takes the top step at Tilles Park.

Under cloudy skys in cool temperatures the THF Realty Cycling team lined up 5 rider to do battle with the top riders in the St. Louis area. The race was fast from the gun and featured a impressive two man break away with Nolan in it that spent most the day off the front. While Nolan was away the Tim, Austin, Brian and Terry were able to sit back and follow moves but with the high winds and chasing pack the break came back with about 15 minutes left to race. A strong solo move by Brian gained about 20 seconds and as the laps counted down his time gap didn’t. In the end he crossed the finish line alone for the teams 5th victory of the season. As Brian crossed the line the field was in full flight with Tim driving on the front to keep the field together and setting Terry up for a 5th place finish.

New colors

admin — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:52:11 +0000

And the winner is!

admin — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:45:09 +0000

We have it on video but I still can’t get it to upload so you will have to take our word for it.

The winner is:

Craig Basler

Raffle

admin — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 04:13:03 +0000

Look for the winner of the raffle to be announced by Friday.

Thanks to everyone who donated.

Ups and downs

admin — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 03:32:41 +0000

A weekend of ups and downs ends with Stefano on the podium in the green points leaders jersey at the San Dimas Stage Race.

Check back for details for San Dimas and Hillsboro soon.

Stefano continues his roll

admin — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:51:46 +0000

Stefano was on again last weekend at the University of Northern Colorado Cycling Promontory Park Criterium. He found his way into a tough group and finshed second on the day to Henk Vogels. The podium spot is nice but more importantly the weekend served as a tune up for the upcoming San Dimas Stage Race and Redlands Bicycle Classic. For San Dimas the THF Realty Cycling Team will have Brain Alfermann and Stefano. For Redlands they will be joined by Terry Kennan, Nolan Froese, Pete Lopinto and Brian Dziewa.

While Brian and Stefano are battling in San Dimas the St. Louis contingent will take part in what has become one of the classic road races in the area, in fact the Hillsboro-Roubaix has be consistently voted as the top road race in the area. Along with the excellent event the promoter is also offering a chance for everyone involved to Fight Cancer and Support the Montgomery County Cancer Association.

Hells Kitchen

admin — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:43:12 +0000

Last weekend we went to Arkansas to do the Hell’s kitchen road race. I did this race once before as a cat 4. I remember in the 4s I attacked early and soloed for 40 miles and won by 6 minutes. That was my first Cat 4 race ever and needless to say I was all pumped up about being the next Lance.That was then and this is now and it seems as many things have changed. I’ve moved up through the ranks embossing my self to a category 1 rider. Racing in professional level races is never easy for an inexperienced kid like me. However, unlike the small events, the pressure for you to do well isn’t too high. You can take your time to learn the race and how everyone races. These smaller races, there always feels like there is more pressure on you. I’ve done well for my fair share of cat 1,2 races, but I wouldn’t consider myself a dominate rider in the Midwest peloton.

Hell’s kitchen is a race that splits up due to the rolling terrain, a lot of attacks and one really steep mile log hill. It’s a shame more people don’t come down to that race, as the scenery is beautiful. Rolling hills and some sunshine doesn’t hurt the eyes. However, it can hurt the legs.

We ended up riding 4 and half hours before the race, and it wasn’t too easy. We always met other people who seemed to go hard up every hill. After that we did 20 miles of endurance pace on some flat highway, in skidmark Arkansas. Needless to say, it was dark and we were starting to get a little scared at the end.

Despite the long ride the day beforehand, I felt pretty good. The legs seemed fresh enough and I wasn’t too sore. The race started off pretty fast but that’s the way I wanted it because I was a little cold from standing around at the starting line. A break ended up getting up the road, which had three of our guys in it, one of them being me. I attacked at the top of the hell’s kitchen climb the second lap and then Steve Tilford countered, followed by my teammate Terry. We let both of them get up the road and we were happy with that. Terry took 2nd, and I broke the top ten and so did Brian Diewza. Austin patrolled the pack and made sure no one could get to the break.

Thanks for reading,

Nolan