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     = Tour Commentator

The Pre- Race Show

   Greetings race fans and riders,  the end has rapidly come upon us for this is the last race of the 2008 Tour de Schwinn. What a tour we have had, I think this was the best we have ever had in several ways. We saw some new faces and had a couple returning riders that missed last year. We also had a small number of riders compete in their 5th tour (that's every year) , so happy to see that.  The tour has been an exciting one for the GC has changed with every week. Francis Manfred started in the tour with the number 2 on his back again, having come 2nd in the GC for the 3rd time last year. He quickly gained the top spot by, as always, winning the prologue. He kept the lead after stage two, the Wall, but Ron Moore was hot on his heels sitting in 2nd just 36 seconds after (Ron) won the Stage.  Ron's win helped his team The American Flyers take over the top spot from the Flying Squirrels. The American Flyers won last year's Team GC and they stated that they were planning on doing it again this year ( a feat yet to be done). Meanwhile Clark Griffin( AmF) stayed in 4th on the GC giving the Flyers 2 in the top 5.  On the third stage (The Stairway)  Ryan Hulce of the newly formed Flying Squirrels team took top stage honors, this launched him into 4th on the GC (where he had finished last year) and with  fellow Squirrel Mark Bettinger in 5th the team was looking good. In fact the FS moved back into 1st on the Team GC. Meanwhile Ron Moore finished 4th on the stage which was good enough for him to over take Francis Manfred and for the first time Ron was seen in YELLOW. That's wearing the yellow leaders jersey. Francis was in 2nd only down by 6 seconds as the tour moved to the next stage: the Team Time Trial.    Continuing the battle between the American Flyers and the Flying Squirrels : the AmF took the time trial win and took back the TEAM GC lead from the Squirrels. Not sure how things were going between Ryan and his former team (AmF which he was on last year) but their battle was looking like one of punch and counter punch. Meanwhile the other teams stood by and hoped they could make a move later in the tour.  Ron Moore retained extended his lead with the team win on the stage so things were looking good for the Flyers squad.  The Hill climb, our next stage, was bitter sweat for the American flyers however, for Ron did not have a good race and lost the GC lead. That's the bad news, the good news was that he lost it to none other then his team Captain Clark Griffin and the team remained in the top GC spot (Team Event). The Hill Climb saw a few other people fall downward in the GC, in fact we had our first abandonment as Kevin Wisher pulled out of the race. Illness struck several riders during this stage, Ron for one and Ryan Hulce also did poorly. Ryan had moved into 3rd after the Time Trial but with illness and a reported crash he was now found at the bottom of the GC. Ryan later abandoned the race.  Ok going fast here to save time and room.  Next we had Mike's Revenge. And once again things changed up in the GC. The Stage itself was won by Tom Linn of the Amercian Flyers  giving the team its 3rd stage victory this year, and gave Tom his first stage win in 4 years of racing the  tour. Mitch Reeves of the Majestic Moose took 2nd on the stage with Moose Stan Shuey coming in 3rd. Meanwhile the American Flyers' Clark Griffin slipped out of the top spot down to 5th in the GC after placing only 22nd on the stage (that would be last with the loss of 2 riders by the start of the stage). Ron Moore also continued to feel the effects of illness as he finish just in front of Clark in 21st. Things seem to be going south for the Flyers, as the Team GC was taken over by the Majestic Moose. The Tour GC was taken by none other then Francis Manfred but just barely. He (Francis) had less then a second to spare over Majestic Moose Mitch Reeves in 2nd place.  Jeff Bell also had a good race and moves up to 3rd in the GC only 15 seconds back.  Its tight this year, in fact this year the average GC deficit is now only 1:35 which is 2:00 closer then in the last 3 years at this point in the race.  Only 3 seconds separate 4,5,6 and 7th (:35 - :38 back). You have to look down to 18th to get next to a 2 minute deficit.  So its very close, so close just about everyone has a chance to take the win this year. It all comes down to who has  good or I should say great Epilogue. Speaking of which just a few notes on the race: it will be the same 4.6 mile course that was used for the Prologue all those weeks ago. We run it like a time trial with the riders going in reverse order of the GC. That means last place to first place, so here is the list and when they start.

1st  Stan "the Man" Shuey (MM) : GC 22 : (+3:15)
2nd  Miss T Rider (KCF) : GC 21st : (+3:15)
3rd Andrew "Moto" Maibaum (TL): GC 20th : (+2:30)
4th Walt Kosiak  (TL) : GC 19th : (+2:29)
5th  Roxane "Wonder Woman" Burrous (BRW) : GC 18th : (+1:54)
6th Larry "Eki" Barnhart (KCF): GC 17th : (+1:37)
7th Tom "Capt. IronLegs" Linn (AmF) : GC 16th : (+1:36)
8th Cory "The Mule" Jackson (AmF) : GC 15th : (+1:36)
9th Adam Cloud (KCF) :GC 14th : (+1:33)
10th Todd Brandenburg (BRW) : GC 13th : (+1:30)
11th Ron "The Instructor" Moore (AmF) :  GC 12th : (+1:26)
12th Rick "the Dream" Weaver (KCF) : GC 11th : (+1:21)
13th Shawn "Hampston" Leonard (MM) : GC 10th (+1:16)
14th Mark "the Badger" Bettinger (FS) : GC 9th (+1:09)
15th Stephen Sehr (FS) : GC 8th (+ 0:59)
16th Tom "Squirrel" McMahan (FS) : GC 7th (+0:38)
17th Markus "the Moosiah" Naegeli (MM) GC 6th (+0:37)
18th Clark "Ernesto" Griffin (AmF) : GC 5th (+0:37)
19th Charlie "Do Gooder" Skoog(TL) : GC 4th (+0:35)
20th Jeff "Cipollini" Bell (TL) :GC 3rd (+0:15)
21st Mitch "SuperMan" Reeves (MM) : GC 2nd (+0:01)
22nd Francis "The Professor" Manfred (BRW) :GC 1st   (1:32:03)

So what about predictions?  I have none, who has the best chance well.. Ron and Clark if they recover from the last couple of weeks might have a chance: Francis is in the best position he has ever been in if you ask me. Yes he only has a 1 second lead however Mitch just had a great race and so did Jeff. Either one of them would have to put two great races back to back to take the win. I am not sure either man can do that. Shawn Leonard has been coming on strong I give him my best outside chance. Larry would be my dark horse bet and my best chance would have gone to Tom McMahan of the Flying Squirrels. However I have just gotten a report that he is ill.  He only has 38 seconds to make up but only 4.6 miles to do it in, I think he might have done that if he was in good health, being sick kind of put a damper on that. Markus and Charlie are both in prime spot for that elusive win, Charlie has shown himself to be in the best form of his tour career, Markus got his illness over early enough that he has had the chance to regain his power and is now firing on all cylinders. Stephen Sehr and Mark Bettinger can not be discarded either, I think Mark has struggled a bit trying to get use to the velodyne. Mark has, I think, gotten the hang of the thing finally plus he just got a new ride. That and his extra training he has been doing by going to spin class Mondays and Wednesday should give him an extra edge. Like I said predictions, I have none: it is way to close to call, all the data in the world would have a hard time predicting the winner this year. In the end however I do think that everyone that has done this or any tour is a winner. The TdS is a perverse sort of fun and good motivation for the winter training. That, if kept up, should help a rider have a better ride season. Exercise is always a good thing for most of us. So there are no losers in this event, having said that let's go watch the last race and find out who the BIG winner is.

Addition ...

 FROM THE OBSERVER OF THE TOUR. TAKEN FROM THE BABC MESSAGE BOARD.
"Well, things have really changed since I last checked on the tour. It still looks like my predictions are going to hold true. If you remember I said this is going to be Francis year to take it and the Flyers would go back to back. Here is the way I see it: Overall GC 1. Francis, 2. Clark and 3-10 could be anyone of 15 people. As for the Epilogue, I think it will be won by one of 4 people, Cory, Larry, Roxane, or Ron. The Teams will play out like this: AF will win for the second time in a row. BRW, TL, MM, KCF, and FS* not sure how they will be figured since a team member is out. Well that's all I have, it's suppose to be 70 here today so I'm getting ready for a nice ride outside, maybe next year I can get up north and show you turkey's how it's done. "

Personally I believe that the observer has it all wrong. I do agree that the Flyers have a very good chance at the Team event, but as for the rest; I don't think so! Francis  is as I stated in the best position, in my opinion, that he has ever been but I really am not sure he will take it. I think as for the stage I would not look for Ron to be in that list of possible winners, Ron has had his ups and downs this year. He could have good race and maybe win the state but there again, I don't think so!  As for the final results its time to just sit back and see how things unfold.

THE EPILOGUE : TdS 2008 .....

First out of the Start House today was Stan "The Man" Shuey of the Majestic Moose herd, Stan had a good race last week finishing 3rd on the stage and taking about 2 minutes off his GC deficit (still at 3:15). We are going to keep the time checks down to a very few this week mainly cause I am not even sure that anyone is still paying this commentary any attention at all. So we ( I ) will put up a few times for the 2.2 mile mark (about halfway) and then some of the final time checks. So to start Stan sets the bar today (being the first rider out) for the halfway point at 5:59, to be honest I don't expect that to last as best time for very long.  Having started 2 minutes back we should have our next rider coming by shortly; that would be our mystery rider : Miss T. Rider, there has been some talk about this rider all year (tour that is), as one would expect when you don't tell humans who someone is for weeks on end. I have to say that several riders in the race do know who this rider is and I am sure the full detail of their (MTR) identity will be made know somewhere down the road. And on the Road MTR has just come to the time check with a 6:12, so things have changed already in the stage (ie. we have a second rider get to this point).     Andrew "Motto" Maibaum of the Time Lords should be next to be seen at this point and he is, seen I mean; and even timed. At the speedy time of 5:50, besting Stan by a whole 9 seconds. This is nearly meaningless right now so why don't I just list the first 10 riders after they get here, that way I don't bore you too much and I can grab some lunch. Ok here are your first ten riders, heck let's make that 11 since we have only 22 riders in the field.  Oh was it mentioned that Ryan Hulce abandoned the race?  Not sure if that has been covered. Anyhow your first 11 riders in order of best times so far

1. Ron Moore(AmF) 5:30
2. Adam Cloud(KCF)
3. Andrew Maibaum (TL) 5:50
4. Larry Barnhart(KCF) 5:54
5. Tom Linn(AmF) 5:59
6. Stan Shuey(MM)  5:59
7. Todd Brandenburg(BRW) 6:00
8.  Walt Kosiack(TL) 6:06
9. MTR(KCF) 6:12
10. Roxane Burrous(BRW) 6:28
11. Cory Jackson(AMF) 6:37

So with half the field done it looks like Ron Moore is on his way to the top with an impressive time, could he get enough time back today to return to the Yellow Jersey State. That's the state of wearing a yellow jersey or leading the tour. Its so hard to tell with half the field still to ride, and the second half is the top half. They are there for a reason, that being they are going faster then the other riders, which means it's more likely for one of them to better Ron's time then those that have ridden so far. At least I think that's what that means. Next to cross the line will be , ok who stole my notes.  Hang on be right back. Ok found my spare notes. So next will be Rick Weaver of the Kokomo Cycling and Fitness Team. You all know the sponsor of this team very well, its the same place that host this fine event. Yes Kokomo Cycling and Fitness the only bicycle shop in Kokomo dedicated completely to cycling. Demonstrated time and time again by not only doing things like hosting this event and the BreakAway Bicycle Club's  Sunstroke 74, but  with other helpful things dealing with cycling year round. You may from time to time spend an extra buck or two but you get personal service from their knowledgeable staff. Fast repairs and even sometimes helpful ridding tips. You know them, you love them (well maybe not love them: especially not Mike if you are a TdS rider. ) they're the Iron Mechanics: Larry and Mike. Together more then 40 years of experience!  Ok enough of the commercial, back to the race: Rick, you remember Rick he is the racer this part of the commentary is supposed be about, Rick was hanging around the start house for some time this morning. He likes to get here earlier then most of the riders, we don't know why. Rick, who is racing as we speak, has just flew by the 2.2 mile mark with a time of 5:55. That's just 1 second off the time of his team Captain Larry Barnhart (yes the same Larry who is the owner of KCF). His time is off that of Ron, who has the best time so far. Still looking good for Ron today. Won't know anything however until Francis rides, and that is last. Builds more suspense that way.  Shawn Leonard of the Majestic Moose squad will be our next rider. Shawn is also one of our 5 year vets of the Tour. Shawn best finish in a tour was 2006 where he was 3rd. He is sitting 10th in the GC right now, I am sure he would like to move up just a bit if he can. He has 1:16 to make up however, might be a bit much for this short of a race. Shawn comes through the 2.2 mile mark with a 6:18,  decent time but not likely to be enough to take the cake.  And in about 2 minutes we should see Mark "the Badger" Bettinger of the Flying Squirrels team. I can see him just down the road as he climbs this small hill up to the time check. He looks, well not what I would call smooth as he powers up the hill, his pedal strokes look a bit choppy. We expected him to show up with his new ride but the team manager decided not to change things with it being the last race so he is on his old steed.  5:54 is his time which means he is tied with Larry so far.
Next victim will be Stephen Sehr of the Flying Squirrels, Stephen is our youngest rider this year, he is 59 seconds back in the GC so he has alot of time to make up if he is going to wear the yellow. Stephen comes by with a 6:16, that will not move him up unless he can really gain some time on the second half of this ride.  And the next rider is yet another Flying Squirrel Squad member: Tom "Squirrel" McMahan.  Tom has been riding fairly well this his first tour, and with a time of 6:06  he should at least stay were his started th day in the GC (7th).  Our 6th place GC rider will be passing by soon, that would be Team Captain of the Majestic Moose:  "the Moosiah" Markus Naegeli.  Markus is part of very tight group in the GC (4th - 7th) which are separated by only 3 seconds. Markus looks slow at 6:20 at this point. Clark Griffin comes in next, Clark has the same time as Markus in the GC but is listed as 5th cause we like him better.  No there is actually less then one second difference between these riders. Clark is a bit ahead of Markus here with a 6:17. Charlie Skoog is 4th in the GC and he is next in line here and comes in with 6:02. That leaves us with only the top 3 to go but before we get to that lets look at how the others are stacking up. Ron still has the best time on the day so far so if he keeps that up he should move back up to the top of things where he was a couple of stages ago. So here is everyone's times at the 2.2 mark: excluding the top 3 GC riders.

1. Ron Moore(AmF) 5:30
2. Adam Cloud(KCF)
3. Andrew Maibaum (TL) 5:50
4. Larry Barnhart(KCF) 5:54
5. Mark Bettinger(FS) 5:54
6. Tom Linn(AmF) 5:59
7. Stan Shuey(MM)  5:59
8.  Todd Brandenburg(BRW) 6:00
9. Charlie Skoog (TL) 6:02
10. Tom McMahan(FS) 6:06 
11. Walt Kosiack(TL) 6:06
12. MTR(KCF) 6:12
13. Stephen Sehr(FS) 16:16
14. Clark Griffin(AmF) 6:17
15. Shawn Leonard (MM) 6:18
16. Markus Naegeli (MM) 6:20 
17. Roxane Burrous(BRW) 6:28
18. Cory Jackson(AMF) 6:37

So before we post what Jeff(3rd), Mitch (2nd) and Francis(1st) does by this point lets go see how things have been going at the finish. Stan was the first rider to finish since he was the first out... but I am going to just post the first 15 rider which have just finished the race. So here they are in order for stage places and times:

Finish Line 4.6 miles
1st Ron Moore 9:59
2nd Andrew Maibaum 10:12 (+:13)
3rd Tom Linn    10:37 (+:38)
4th Rick Weaver  10:43 (+:44)
5th MTR 10:44 (+:45)
6th Stan Shuey 10:46 (+:47)
7th Larry Barnhart 10:47 (+:48)
8th Todd Brandenburg 10:50 (+:51)
9th Mark Bettinger 10:51 (+:52)
10th Stephen  Sehr 11:12 (+1:13)
11th Shawn Leonard   11:23 (+1:24)
12th Walt Kosiak 11:26 (+1:27)
13th Roxane Burrous 11:38 (+1:39)
14th Adam Cloud
15th Cory Jackson  12:13 (+2:14)

So with 15 riders done and 7 to go its hard to tell how things are shaping up, back at the 2.2 mile mark Jeff has just came to the line with a 6:50 which is well off the pace, he was only 15 seconds out of first place but looking at that time it does not look good for him.  Mitch Reeves will be the next one and seems he is having a disaster of a ride with the time of 7:15, the slowest time of the day. Mitch might be able to regain some of that time on the down side of this course but not looking to promising for him either. Last to get to  the line for the 2.2 time will be Francis with a 6:15.  Thats about 45 seconds behind Ron, so Ron has made up some time, will it be enough by the end? No clue. Ok back to the finish line.   Finishing up his last race of his first Tour  will be Tom McMahan who was in 7th on the GC by only 38 seconds at the start of the day. Tom is on the Squirrels team and his time will be  11:11 which puts him at 10th for now. Markus Neageli of the Moose herd will be next to finish, he is in 6th on GC and was 16th at the first time check 5 seconds behind the time of Francis, so unless he has made up some time on this second half he won't be moving up ward in the standings. Markus' time  11:17 for about 12th right now. Not thinking that will be enough for the overall win today. So Ron is still our best time and with more and more riders coming in it looks more and more like its going to stay that way. Clark Griffin will be next being 4th in the GC at the start of the day. His time is : 11:17, the same as Markus. They came into this ride with a tie and we have to go down to the .1 of a second spot to break the tie. More on that later. Clark will share the fate of Markus at the end of the day for good or bad. Charlie Skoog is coming in with a time of 11:05. Still not enough to break Ron's hold on the lead for the stage but could it be enough for the tour win?  He was only 35 seconds back at the start of the day and had taken 13 seconds from Francis by the 2.2 mile mark but has he taken another 22 seconds?  Behind Charlie we have Jeff finishing , Jeff leaped into 3rd place last week after making a good move during Mike's Revenge. He is only 15 seconds down by the start of today but had lost another 30 seconds or so by the 2.2 miles mark, so not looking good here. His time I don't think will do it : 11:20, that may not do it but it should keep him in front of Charlie at least.  So now its down to Mitch Reeves who was less then one second behind Francis going into today.... Mitch however was down about a minute at the 2.2 mark. So unless the down hill has been good to him like last week I don't see it happening.  His time is : 11:44. He has been passed by a few riders in the GC so either  Ron has won or Francis will do it.

     Francis is coming to the line now his time will be just good enough for Francis to keep his lead and win his very first Tour de Schwinn.... after 3 years of coming in second this must feel wonderful for this rider. He has finally shaken off all the bad voodoo or what ever it was that kept him out of first. Actually he has final beaten Mike's insane system which has kept him so close but not allow him to win for the last 3 years. It is great to see him do this he deserves it more then most do. Congrats Francis Manfred!!!!  It is only fitting that you have won!!!! 

Epilogue's Epilogue

 Ok in case any of you missed the meeting where the awards were presented you also missed the announcement that Mike ( me ) has officially resigned as TdS Director.  I will not do this next year. I hope that something can be arranged so that the event can go on but if not I want to thank all 49 riders that have done these tours, you have made this event great for me personally. I like to thank Larry for letting us do this at Kokomo Cycling and Fitness plus helping do the rides, Markus for the idea and help in designing things and getting things going. Ryan for his help this year, all other volunteers for their help through the last 5 years. All the readers for putting up with my horrible typos and bad grammar not to mention the hideous attempts at humor. I like to thank Diane for her support and help during the first 4 years of this. I am not sure how I made it through this one with out that help but I did. Mitch Reeves I would also like to thank for all his ideas and prodding that has kept me sane during the tours. You all have been wonderful and great, you put up with my yelling and coxing while you tried to ride and never once hit me ( well some has Suzie do it for you), and I know all those horrible names you all called me were just in fun ,,, Right?  RIGHT!!! Fine then I take it all back !!! And I hope you all have a horrible winter next year getting fat and lazy.. oppps  sorry just kidding there. Honestly I do thank everyone that has had anything to do with the Tours , it has meant a lot to me. Good luck and have fun riding on the road.

ONCE AGAIN FRANCIS  CONGRATS!!!!!

Mike signing off.