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TEAM TIME TRIAL
"The Race of Truth"

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  Mike  =   Commentator = Mike

   Hey you! Out there in the cold.  It's race time once again!  This week we have the Team Time Trial but first let's look at last week; the Stairway!  The stage was one by the oldest rider of the tour Stan Shuey of the Big Ring Wraiths team, which was the good news for that team this week, the bad news was that fellow Wraith Francis Manfred, who was the tour leader, slipped down to 3rd overall.  Stan got his win with a well timed attack on the small group who had already chased him down once. This group had two members of the Flying Squirrels team in it: Land and Sehr. Both Squirrels tried to escape from the group but were well marked by the group and after a set of attacks by the Squirrels, Stan saw a chance and snuck away for the win. The Squirrels did give chase and in the end, though they did not win the stage, I have to say they were the big winners on the day. Sehr came 2nd on the stage which was enough to put him into 2nd on the overall, Rob Land took 3rd and the Overall led in the Tour. A 3rd Squirrel, Steve Brewer, was able to get 5th on the day. All this gave the Squirrels team a good lead in the Team Event.  It seems that these Tree Rodents have planted a seed for victory, yet with more races to come I sure no one is ready to hand everything over to this team yet.  This week we will see if Rob's team can keep him in the yellow jersey.

    Since this is a time trial the team will each go off 2 minutes apart starting with out last placed team... The Time Lords.
The Time Lords ( Ryan Rossiter, Lantz Gill, Kaleb Naegeli and Andrew Maibaum) are 2 minutes and 17 seconds behind first place. They will be wanting to move up some, or they may really only be wanting to improve Kaleb's 4th place in the GC. Kaleb has been riding well so far this year and with some help from his team today might be able to make up some of his :56 deficit.  The team is at the starting blocks, they are being held by a special quad of  The Swedish Bikini Team today. The start is also elevated a bit so it should be a fast start as they get up to cruising speed. And they are off... wait they have not moved, I was afraid of this. The riders are all chatting with their holders and missed the sound of the start. The official are now giving the team a warning as they reset the clocks. The team looks ready now ... and they are off. So are the Swedish Bikini Team, they are being replaced by new holders. I don't think the race director wants a repeat of the last start. Oh well. Andrew is the led out man for the squad Ryan is next then Lantz and Kaleb. They are quick to get organized and are up to speed nicely, I would expect to see Andrew doing a fair amount of pulling today as he is known for his time trialing. Andrew is also in his 6th year being one of our riders that has done every Tour here and if you will recall he was the winner of the 2004 Tour. Kaleb is currently the best placed of the team in 4th so I'm sure the squad would like to try to help him some. We will get the first time check at 2 miles so until then we will look at the other teams.
    Next up will be the Majestic Moose team, Jeff Bell: Jim Glover: Tom McMahan: Scott Gill, who are the 4th placed team at 1:32 out of first. Jeff Bell is the vet on this team and also one of the tour's time trial specialist, he will be looking for his team to help him back up in the GC after a disappointing Stairway stage. He lost 5 places going from 5th to 10th making Tom McMahan in 8th now the highest places member on this squad. Tom had a good Stairway and climb 8 places in the GC so there maybe some question as to who the team will be working for the rest of the Tour. Rumor had it that the team had been built around Jeff this year but you know how rumors are.

Facts: stick to the facts Mike. bleep.

<Mike> HAL!!!!! Your back!

(Hal9000) Actually this is my front Mike. my back is flat and shinny.

<Mike> ummm I really don't care about what your back looks like Hal.

(Hal9000)Then why bring it up Mike? you organic life forms are indeed strange.

<Mike>Whatever Hal, it's good to have you with us again. At least I think it is. So have you been following the tour so far?

(Hal9000)No, i just came back online. Though give me a moment and I will update myself........ ok update complete and the winner has been computed.  And the winner shall be...

<Mike>HAL!!!!! We don't want to predicted a winner, though some incite would be nice. But let's just stick to today's stage for now.

(Hal9000)by your command.

<Mike> Hey I'm not Boltar and your not a Cylone so stick with the right references will you.

(Hal9000)I'm sorry mike i can't  do that right now.

<Mike>What? Oh I get it, much better Hal. Now back to the race. The Majestic Moose are at the start line and are about  to get underway.

(Hal9000)That is correct, shortly they shall be instructed to pedal their machines along this 7.4 miles pathway as fast as they can while remaining in close proximity of each other until the completion of their appointed task.

<Mike>huh?

(Hal9000)They are about to get off on their merry way.

<Mike>Right you are Hal and there they go... Tom gets out in front first, Scott, Jim then Jeff line up behind him as they get organized and some speed going.

(Hal9000)yes speed certainly is the goal today for these athletes. Tom has done his first pull and Scott takes over they are looking fast and smooth.

<Mike>oohhh Smooth Moose!!

(Hal9000)Get over it Mike. The Time lords have come to the 2 mile mark , Ryan R. is on front and they get a  3:38 so they are going 33.02mph so far

<Mike> Sounds like a good time to me but then what do I know.

(Hal9000)I'm calculating less then 64k of information is stored in that soft tissue of yours.

<Mike>Frag you Hal. The Kokomo Cycling and Fitness team is about to get underway. This team is  Sue Barnhart, Larry Barnhart, Markus Naegeli and Ryan Hulce.  Ryan takes point as they slide down the start ramp, Sue, Larry then Markus falls in behind as they speed along their way.

(Hal9000) And next to go will be The Big Ring Wraiths headed by Francis Manfred. With Francis are Stan Shuey, Lee Flasche, and Shawn Leonard. Last stage Stan pulled off a victory by out witting and out riding the rest of the field proving that tactics can out do pure power.

<Mike>I would agree that Stan did his attack last stage at the perfect time while the rest of his break group were watching each other he launched his own attack and escaped, steeling the win from FS team members Land and Sehr.

(Hal9000)The Wraiths have started their race, looks like Francis is taking up the rear with lee on front for now, Francis is known for his time trialing so I'm guessing he has worked this ride out in every detail and knows how to get the most out of this team today.

<Mike>The Moose team rolls through the first time check looking fast .... the time 3:39, one second behind the Time Lords team. I'm sure they would like to reverse that if they could.

(Hal9000)Back at the start line our last team is about to go, remember they start last cause they are first in the team event, they start the day with a 59 second advantage over the second place team. and with Rob Land in first on GC. Also they have Stephen Sehr in second. That means this team seems to be doing well this year. Also on the team is Steve Brewer and Mitch Reeves. yes folks this is the Flying Squirrels team, nick named the Flying Tree Rats. Like the other teams they will be looking for a good race and have hopes of keeping their led both as a team and for Rob in the over all. A lot of pressure is on this team. Mitch Reeves is the old vet of the squad so it is likely they have been looking to him for some guidance. Mitch over the years has proven himself to be a very good domestique, the likes of George Hinncapie.

<Mike>Not sure everyone would agree there but Mitch has done all the tours so far which does give him the experience. KCF has come to the first time check with a 3:38 which ties the Time Lords. So with 3 teams to the first check its a close race. KCF and the TL both at 3:38 and the Moose at 3:39.

(Hal9000)Michael the Time Lords have reached the 4 mile point already and it seems they are still going well 7:15 was the time for them. making their speed 32.95 mph, meaning they have slowed down just a touch which we would expect since the road has a few more turns in it.

<Mike> The Majestic Moose are the next to get to the 4 mile mark and they are 2 seconds behind the Time Lords so a 7:17 for them so far

(Hal9000)Back at the  2 mile mark our fourth team are 16 seconds behind the best time of the day for the BRW come in with a 3:52. A little off the pace but its early for them.

<Mike>OK at the 5.5 mile mark the Time Lords don't look to be slowing down to me. 9:57 is their time .

(Hal9000)Times are coming in from all over the place so its going to get confusing for you organics. here is what we have so far

<Mike> Looking like the Flyers are a bit off the pace today, from watching them so far I've seen only short pulls from Rob today, they maybe trying to rest him a bit since he is in first place on GC. However that means riders like Mitch will have to do a bit more work and could cost them some time today.

(Hal9000)The KCF team have cross the 4 mile line with a 7:14. They were tied with the Time Lords but have now moved ahead by one tiny second.

<Mike> The Moose can't seem to best the Time Lords today as they are now 5 seconds back at the 5.5 mile point with a time of 10:00. This point of the race the road slopes down a bit over the next 1.9 miles to the finish. We are expecting the speeds to go up a bit during this section and maybe the Moose can gain on the TL team.

(Hal9000) Our next report will be the Time Lords at the finish line from the looks of it. Being first they have set the fastest time at each time check of course so with the best time so far here come the Time Lords to the Line. The time is off the third rider as he crosses the time. the Team is all together, Kaleb is on front pushing hard. Ryan is tucked in behind him with Lantz and Andrew following. So as Lantz crosses the line the time is a very fast 12:26.  Looking like they have done well today but was it enough to make back the 1 second on the KCF Team  or will someone else best this time.

<Mike>Meanwhile back at the 4 mile mark its the BRW team with a 7:42, so they have lost some more time verses the other teams.

(Hal9000)Another update will be loaded shortly.

<Mike>Ok then. Well while we wait on that, all the teams seem to be riding well today with no problems reported so far which is the way we like it, a nice safe race with no flats. However we do have a report that Markus Naegeli had a tire change just prior to the start of the race. Mechanics spotted a bulge in the tire they did not like and quickly changed it out.

(Hal9000)next update loading now

<Mike> So with the KCF next to finish we will see if they could continue to keep the best time. However with the down slope of this section they may loose some time for Larry is not known for his down hilling and may slow the team a bit. Also the Flying Squirrels are loosing some time time here today so Rob's lead may be in jeopardy. They also have to be concerned with Stephen Sehr's second place spot. The Tree Rats maybe falling from their nest today. Here they come to the 5.5 mile mark with a 10:39.  So they continue to loose more time.

(Hal9000)So the question about to be answered is can the KCF team maintain their advantage over the TIme Lords or did they not have enough left. Larry brings them home with Sue behind him, markus pulls up beside them with Ryan sprinting around on the left so they cross the line near all at once. they have done it  a 12:24.

<Mike> One would think that will hold up with both the BRW team and the FS team having been at least 30 seconds behind at the last time check.

(Hal9000) So right now its  the KCF  1st , time Lords at +:02 and the MM at +:05.

<Mike>The BRW are next to finish and they will not improve their placing as its a 13:12 for this team today.

(Hal9000)Well I think that sums it all up then.

<Mike>Hal we still have one more team to come in. Time is running they are in the last bit  the clock is ticking away 12:10..12:11.. 12:13 and they are still some ways back.

(Hal9000)Correct we are now at the 13 minute mark and they have not finished so the KCF take the day. 

<Mike> 13:19 is the final time  for the Squirrels. I'm sure this will have an impact on the GC.

(Hal9000) yes it has Mike however Rob has managed to hang on to first place. your TOp five are now

1. Rob Land  
2. Kaleb naegeli         + :04
3. Markus Naegeli     + :13
4. Stephen Sehr          +:14
5. Francis manfred   +:15

<Mike>Well this has tightened up the GC nicely.

(Hal9000) The Teams have changed a bit too it seems. Though the FLying Squirrels still hold the lead.
1. FS
2. KCF +:25
3.  MM +:43
4. BRW +:52
5. TL +1:25

<Mike> Things are certainly heating up. Next week may see more changes as we hit the big climbs.

(Hal9000) Yes there is no rider who is far beyond the others. This is how you wanted it I believe.  So it looks like many riders can still have hopes of a win this year. And there are many questions to answer.

<Mike>And for those answers we will have to wait until the next stage. So since this is over for now its time to say so long.

(Hal9000)Until next time.