Racing Heats Up for Litespeed-BMW Cycling Team

The 2011 road racing season is in full-swing. The Litespeed-BMW Cycling Team already has some solid wins and strong finishes on the team resume. In mid March, the team raced at the 13th edition of the Rouge Roubaix (sponsored by Litespeed dealer, Precision Bikes) and in early April, a regional race in Rome, GA.

Team member Tim Henry finished lucky 13th at Rouge Roubaix in a stacked field that included such notables as Cesar Grajales and Michael Olheiser. In what can only be described as "epic", the race is 105 miles (for all classes of racers!) that includes slow, dirt sections and steep, gravel climbs. With the winner finishing in over 4 hours and 30 minutes, you can bet there was some real suffering out there.

You can read the race report here, but for a taste of the fun, check out the excerpt from Tim below...

...The first dirt section was 8 miles long and relatively flat. No big deal until we come around a curve and there is a lumber truck parked across the road, leaving only one lane for riders to pass. This broke the field up quickly and I had to chase hard to get back to the front group of 15. I think I was the last to make it on at this point. Our tempo increased as the strong riders realized the gap we had and our group rolled along at a good pace through that first section. After we got back onto pavement, our group really slowed down. Realizing I only had 5 hours of food with me, I decided to attack to get things going again...

Wow.

April found things a lot more traditional in Rome with criterium and road races-no gravel to be seen. At the crit, Litespeed-BMW teammates Colby Millen and Chris Brown lined up in both the Masters and Pro,1,2 races for some extra race action. They walked away with one win in the bag and a top five finish. At Sunday's road race, new teammate Artur Sagat joined the guys in the Pro,1,2 road race, and the team earned a top ten finish amongst a strong field.

Action from the Masters crit on Saturday...

...The group never really got organized so Brown just kept rolling and eventually lapped the field. Once back in the field Brown tried to help set up Colby for the finish. Colby was very attentive and aggressive and took a solo flyer on the 2nd to last lap only to get caught with about 3/4 lap to go and was a bit cooked for the sprint. Brown wins and Colby pulls 6th, solid results for both guys....

Nice work, guys. For a full report on the weekend and other team items, please check out the Litespeed-BMW Cycling Team website.